Cross Creek Pictures

Background

Cross Creek Pictures is an American film production studio founded in 2009 by Timmy Thompson, Tyler Thompson and Todd Thompson. In September 2011, the company signed a deal with Universal Pictures, where the studio would release at least six of Cross Creek's productions over the following three years. In late 2015, they signed a new three-year distribution deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The name was derived from a train station that was in New Zealand.

1st Logo (December 3, 2010-September 28, 2013)

Nicknames: "The Train", "Cross Creek Train"

Logo: We fade into a rocky mountain scenery with a train track against a dark cloudy sky as a train runs down and the camera zooms into the left. When we get closer to the train, it zooms in further as windows pass by rapidly against a dark background, revealing three small squares consisting of black, gray and white with "crosscreek" on the top left and "pictures" below it on the bottom-right, as the finished result shows it on a very dark gray-green background.

FX/SFX: The camera zooming in, the train passing and the logo forming. It's all in great CGI.

Music/Sounds: The sounds of a train chugging with a whistle, ending with a film reel.

Availability: Common. Seen on films from the era beginning with Black Swan and ending with The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet.

2nd Logo (September 19, 2014- )

Nicknames: "The Train II", "Cross Creek Train II", "Train Redux"

Logo: We fade/cut into a cloudy backdrop as the camera then pulls back, making way for a train to come in as it rides down a track against a much more detailed landscape than before. As we get to a comfortable distance from the track, it passes by the camera very closely (with sparks hitting out of it for a split-second) as the windows pass through, forming the company name from before; this time in CGI (resembling that of dark brown gradients) with the text also in 3D and silver as it briefly shines.

FX/SFX: The train moving down and the company name forming. All done in exceptional CGI, which definitely improves from its predecessor.

Music/Sounds: Nearly the same as before, or the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds Variant: At the end of American Made, the logo is silent.

Availability: Common. Seen on films from the company beginning with A Walk Among the Tombstones. Don't count seeing this logo on Roman J. Israel, Esq, despite being involved.

Legacy: An excellent update to the previous logo.