Picturehouse Films

Background
Picturehouse Films was launched by marketing/distribution executive Bob Berney in 2005 as a joint venture between New Line Cinema (when it folded Fine Line Features) and HBO Films to distribute documentaries, foreign films, and independent films. In 2008, Time Warner moved away from producing independent films, and closed both Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures. In January 2013, Berney purchased the Picturehouse trademark and logo from Warner Bros. and revived it as an independent film company. Picturehouse went dormant in 2015 when Berney became the marketing and distribution head of Amazon Studios, but it came back in 2019 when his contract expired.

1st Logo (2005)
Logo: Just the word "PICTUREHOUSE" on a black background, with a TimeWarner byline.

Variant: Sometimes the logo doesn't have a byline. This can be seen on the trailer for The Thing About My Folks.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming in slowly.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the trailer.

Availability: Rare. Seen on the trailers for the earliest Picturehouse-released films, including The Notorious Bettie Page (some trailers have the next logo preceding this one), Ushpizin, and The Thing About My Folks.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (July 22, 2005-October 9, 2008, June 5, 2013-)
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Nickname: "The Picturehouse Sign"

Logo: We see the camera looking down from a tall building at dusk, and some sparks fly off an unidentifiable object. We then cut to a camera panning across the first few letters in a neon sign reading "PICTUREHOUSE", lighting up, and startling some birds. We then cut to the camera panning back at a different angle, and all the letters in the sign brightly illuminate. When the last letter lights up, all the letters flicker, sending off some more sparks. The text then fades from neon to 3D as the standard TimeWarner byline fades in below.

Variants:
 * An open matte version exists and was seen on 4:3 airings of movies from the company.
 * When this logo returned in 2013, the logo became bylineless, due to the company now being independent.
 * The closing variant is just the final few seconds of the logo.
 * At the end of Fatima, the "corporate" version of the logo (with a different sky background) is used.

FX/SFX: Excellent CGI.

Music/Sounds: A string fanfare with a piano and trumpets playing, ending with an orchestral hit when the last letter in "PICTUREHOUSE" lights up, and three piano/string notes. Electric sparking/buzzing sounds are heard throughout, and if you listen closely, you can hear the sound of the birds flapping their wings to fly away from the "PICTUREHOUSE" sign.

Availability: Common. Seen on foreign and indie films as well as documentaries from the company from 2005 to 2008, and from 2013 onwards.

Editor's Note: None.