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Paragon Entertainment Corporation was a Canadian film and television production company that was formed by Jon Slan in 1977, and declared bankruptcy in 1998.

History

In 1977, Jon Slan, who went on to be a founding member of YTV and Superchannel (later Movie Central) founded Paragon Motion Pictures to produce feature films.

After producing a series of feature films, the company entered television production in 1983 with the television series, Philip Marlowe, Private Eye. In the late 1980s, the company had set up Paragon International, headed by Isme Bennie, who represents the Degrassi series.

In 1989, the company became Paragon Entertainment Corporation, while expanding to be a major Canadian studio to compete with the likes of rival TV producers, like Alliance Entertainment Corporation and Atlantis Films, and in 1990, it worked on a pilot for Detective Spot, which later became Dog House.

In 1991, PBS partnered with Paragon Entertainment to revive the long-dormant Lamb Chop franchise, with Shari Lewis returning to host, and helped PBS to syndicate the series to affiliates. The following year, Paragon had lured away CBC producer Carol Reynolds to head up the company to serve as president for Paragon Productions.

In 1993, the company became the first Canadian major film and TV producer to become a public-traded company. In order to keep up with the expansion of the U.S. market, the company hired Gary Randall to head up the company's U.S. TV operations, and hired Julie Lee to set up the company's Vancouver operations.

In 1994, the company had bought out Handmade Films, and its title library. In 1995, the company had bought out animated studio Lacewood Productions for $3.2 million, and two years later, raised its stake to 75%, before taking full control later that year.

In 1998, the company posted a $9 million loss to the company, and as a result, the company went bankrupt. As a result, the company's unit, Handmade Films would become independent, after an aborted buyout by Rubicon was aborted, with backing from Cartier Investments, with The Equator Group took over business.

After Paragon went out of business, Jon Slan had formed a new company Steering Wheel Entertainment in 2003 to produce new projects. The company's library has been sold to Octapixx Worldwide after Paragon went out of business.

Productions

Television series

• Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1986)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1987–1989)
• Dog House (1990–1991)
• Beyond Reality (1991–1992)
• Lamb Chop's Play Along (1992–1997)
• Forever Knight (1992–1996)
• Kratt's Creatures (1996-1998)

Films

• High-Ballin' (1978)
• Fish Hawk (1979)
• Improper Channels (1981)
• Threshold (1981)
• Wyatt Earp (1994)
• Intimate Relations (1996)
• The Wrong Guy (1997)
• The James Gang (1997)
• The Assistant (1997)
• Dinner at Fred's (1997)
• Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
• Twice Upon a Yesterday (1998)
• The Secret Laughter of Women (1999)

Television movies

• An American Christmas Carol (1979)
• The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (1980)
• Anything to Survive (1990)
• Held Hostage: The Sis and Jerry Levin Story (1991)
• Power Pack (1991)
• A Town Torn Apart (1992)
• Split Images (1992)
• Rapture (1993)
• Sherlock Holmes Returns (1993)
• A Stranger in the Mirror (1993)
• Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio (1994)
• Lives of Girls and Women (1994)
• Rent-a-Kid (1995)
• Kissinger and Nixon (1995)
• Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah (1995)
• Lives of Girls & Women (1996)
• Frequent Flyer (1996)
• To Brave Alaska (1996)
• The Teddy Bears' Scare (1998)

References

1. "Paragon of reinvention". The Globe and Mail. 2002-08-12. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
2. "'Marlowe' returns to HBO" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. 1985-09-23. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
3. Television/Radio Age: Volume 35. Television Editorial Corporation. 1988.
4. "DOG DAYS". The Vancouver Sun. 1990-03-27. p. 2.
5. "Shari Lewis: Lamb Chop Featured". The Vancouver Sun. 1991-06-11. p. 4.
6. Murray, Karen (1992-10-08). "Paragon hires Reynolds, exec for pubcaster CBC". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
7. Murray, Karen (1993-06-02). "Paragon Ent. moves into public arena". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
8. Murray, Karen (1993-07-29). "Paragon taps Lee, Randall". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
9. Cuthbert, Pamela (May 23, 1994). "Paragon purchases HandMade library". Retrieved 2023-07-12.
10. Cuthbert, Pamela (January 30, 1995). "Paragon buys 50%". Retrieved 2023-07-12.
11. Armstrong, Mary Ellen (April 7, 1997). "Slan projecting 30% growth for Paragon". Retrieved 2023-07-12.
12. Enchin, Harvey (1997-08-27). "Nielsen to topline animated series for Amberwood". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
13. Kelly, Brendan (1998-03-06). "Paragon posts $9 mil loss". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
14. Kelly, Adam Dawtrey, Brendan; Dawtrey, Adam; Kelly, Brendan (1998-05-17). "Handmade handover". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
15. Dawtrey, Adam (1998-06-30). "Talks fall apart for Handmade, Rubicon". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
16. "HandMade offering". Variety. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
17. Blackwell, David (16 May 2006). "HandMade set for Aim after £15m deal". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
18. "Equator Group PLC Interim Results - 6 months ended 30 June 1999". Investigate.co.uk. FE fundinfo. 28 October 1999. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
19. Tillson, Tamsen (2003-02-04). "Slanted Wheel steers int'l". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
20. "MIPCOM '99: business focus sharper". October 18, 1999. Retrieved 2023-07-12.

• Defunct film and television production companies of Canada
• Film production companies of Canada
• Companies based in Toronto
• 1977 establishments in Ontario
• 1998 disestablishments in Ontario
• Television production companies of Canada