Icon Productions
Independent film production and distribution company founded by Mel Gibson.
Icon Productions is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producer Bruce Davey. Its headquarters were established in Santa Monica, California, and it later expanded into film distribution with branches in Australia and the UK. As of 2025, the parent company Dendy Icon Group in Australia, still held by Gibson and Davey, owns Icon Productions, Icon Film Distribution, Dendy Cinemas, and Icon Film Finance.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- August 1989
- Headquarters
- Sydney, Australia; Santa Monica, California, U.S.
- Industry
- Film
- Products
- Motion pictures
Facts from the source article.
History
Icon Productions was co-founded by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey in August 1989 after Gibson encountered difficulties financing his film Hamlet. The company's name was chosen because icon means "image" in Greek, inspired by a book on Russian icons in Gibson's den. The logo originally featured a sketch of Michael the Archangel in 1993, later replaced by a crop of the mother's left eye from the Theotokos of Vladimir icon. Unlike many independents, Icon financed most development and packaging costs internally, primarily through Gibson, retaining creative control. In late 1996, New Zealand producer Timothy White became founding head of a co-production venture called Fox-Icon, based at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, which shut down in December 1999 without producing a film. Initially based at Warner Bros. Pictures under a ten-year deal, Icon signed an exclusive production deal with Paramount Pictures in 1999 for North American rights, then moved its first-look deal to 20th Century Fox in 2002. In August 1999, the UK division signed a home video deal with Warner Home Video. In 2000, Icon established a film distribution company in Sydney, Australia, headed by Mark Gooder, and a UK distribution subsidiary. After the financial success of The Passion of the Christ (2004), there was frequent mention of Icon functioning as a mini-studio, but Davey downplayed expectations. Icon owned a library of over 250 film titles. At the beginning of 2008, Icon was co-financing and co-selling the thriller Push with Summit Entertainment, and had stakes in The Black Balloon and Infestation.
Current operations
The 2025 film Flight Risk, a thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, is a co-production between Icon and Davis Entertainment Company, directed and co-produced by Gibson along with Davey, John Davis, and John Fox. As of January 2025, Icon Productions LLC's business registration in California shows a founding date of 29 May 1997, with agent Vicki Christianson at 808 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 400, Santa Monica, Ca 90401. The Australian arm, part of the Dendy Icon Group, remains owned by Gibson and Davey and focuses on quality feature films and alternative content in Australian and New Zealand markets.
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