Almi Television Productions

Background
Almi Television Productions was a subsidiary of the Almi Group, formed in November 1978 by Albert Schwartz and Michael Landes (hence the name of the company). They introduced themselves as "The dynamic, innovative producer/distributor (...) The fresh idea company for the 80's". Their ident appeared on some Almi productions prints for television in the early 1980s, and despite having a library of more than 500 films, most current prints of their previously distributed material is now controlled under several different companies. Le Canal+ (now StudioCanal) acquired and folded Almi in 1987. Video releases of After the Fall of New York, BC Rock, Superstition, I Am the Cheese, and Prime Risk had the standard Almi Pictures logo. There is no information on the Web about Almi Television, but Almi Pictures and Almi Television were basically the same. Most of their catalog was released on video by Vestron Video and its offshoot Lightning Video, and later on by Palm Beach Entertainment and Empire Pictures (not to be confused with another well-known outfit of the same name) through First Run Features.

1st Logo (1981-1983)
Nickname: "Almi Shield"

Logo: Against a black background, two blue copies of the word "ALMI", in a fancy broadway theater-esque font, streak in from the top and bottom of the screen and meet in the center and flash brightly. "TELEVISION" and "PRODUCTIONS", in an arc and in the same font, are wiped in on the top and bottom of "ALMI", respectively. Then, two sparks form a bronze frame from the top and bottom of the text, traveling clockwise. The finished product shines with a few "pings".

FX/SFX: '80s quality animation.

Music/Sounds: A deep synthesized jingle, with a few high-pitched notes to go along with the "pinging".

Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on an Australian VHS and other international prints of The Creature Wasn't Nice (AKA: Spaceship).

Editor's Note: A rather solidly-animated logo for its time.

2nd Logo (1983-1987)
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Nickname: "Linewriter Block"

Logo: On a dark blue background, we see several tri-dimensional red stripes move in from the left and then zoom out, forming the word "ALMI", in the same font as before. When the forming is complete, the logo starts to shine twice. Then a rounded red rectangle zooms out from nowhere, and places itself around "ALMI" and the word "Television" in cursive, with two red lines connecting to its sides, draws under it and shines.

Variant: There is a variant where it shows only the parts starting with the rectangle zoom-out. In this variant, the name and rectangle outline are orange at first, turning red when the rectangle stops zooming out.

FX/SFX: The forming of "ALMI", the shining, the drawing of "Television", all top '80s CGI.

Music/Sounds: A relaxing and synchronized synthesized jingle. Sometimes, it is silent, or has the opening theme to any given film.

Availability: Very rare. Is and may be intact on some Vestron Video releases of their output such as I Am the Cheese, The House by the Cemetery, and Spaceship. Can be seen on the 1998 Fox Lorber DVD and a 2008 Showtime airing of La Historia Official (a.k.a. The Official Story).

Editor's Note: A nice logo with some great CGI for the '80's as well as a gorgeous and lush musical theme.