The Montecito Picture Company

Background: This is the production company of producer/director Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock. It is named after the community in which Reitman grew up:Montecito, California.

1st logo (May 19, 2000-2020)

Nickname: "The Bell Tower"

Logo: We fade in on a rock formation in the middle of the ocean. As a wave hits the rock, we begin to zoom out, passing over some mountains and then some trees. During the zoom-out, the sky changes from dawn to midday. We pass through the belfry of a bell tower in which the bell is ringing. We continue to zoom out as the image becomes enclosed in a box on a black background. Below, the text "The Montecito Picture Company" zooms out with the box while the bell stops ringing.

Variant:

"Road Trip" (2000) was the very first movie to use this logo, seen here as a prototype. Here, the logo starts from the halfway point with a slower zoom-out and the scenery is less detailed. The text appears via a "shine" effect. A short version appeared on Hitchcock and Baywatch.

FX/SFX: It's all CGI.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic synth tune, with water and bell ringing sounds, ending with a fanfare, composed by Bill Byrne. In other cases, it is usually the film's soundtrack, plus the accompanying sound effects. The prototype variant uses a different arrangement of the theme.

Availability: Seen on such films as Road Trip, Old School, Evolution, Disturbia, Post Grad and Up in the Air. This can be also seen on the animated series Alienators: Evolution Continues.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd logo (2020-)

Nickname: "The New Bell Tower"

Logo: We fade in with the ocean view at sunrise, with mountains on the background, then the camera moves quickly to the left then zooms out while the dawn changes to midday (as in the previous logo), revealing a huge mountain/hill scenery and what appears to be a small set of houses. We continue to zoom out and then pass by the bell tower. The bell is now gold and everything from background to tower is now more detailed. As the bell rings, we zoom out and the image is again enclosed on a box. As the box zooms out, "THE MONTECITO PICTURE COMPANY" in all-caps, with "MONTECITO" wiping in as it zooms out, appear below the box in a salmon-ish color.

Variant: The new print logo appears at the very end of the closing credits from "A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting". FX/SFX: Beautiful CGI, largely upgraded from the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A majestic string and brass fanfare, with the bell ringing sounds at the end. If you listen closely, the bell sounds are faster than the bell animation.

Availability: Debuted in front of the film cited above, right after the Netflix and Walden Media logos.

Editor's Note: None.