Almi Television Productions
V of Doom
Captures by
Supermarty-o, Eric S, and Silversword55
Editions by
BudtheChud1989, V of Doom, Shadeed A. Kelly, and thehugetvfan
Video captures courtesy of
GDelva2003
Background
Almi Television Productions was a subsidiary of the Almi Group, formed in November 1978 by Albert Schwartz and Michael Landes. 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. 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)
Visuals: 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".
Technique: Likely Scanimate.
Audio: A deep synthesized jingle, with a few high-pitched notes to go along with the "pinging".
Availability: Seen on an Australian VHS and other international prints of The Creature Wasn't Nice (AKA: Spaceship).
2nd Logo (1983-1987)
Visuals: On a dark blue background, there is 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.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A relaxing and synchronized synthesized jingle. Sometimes, it is silent, or has the opening theme to any given film.
Availability: 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).
