Entropy Films (Canada)

Background
Entropy Films is a film production company launched in 1981 by Madelyne Dern and Ruth Dodd as "Entropic Productions", and based in Steinbach, Manitoba. The company produced a number of low budget b-movies/softcore pornography before getting acquired by Sternwest Productions to take advantage of cheaper filming in Canada. Sternwest's ownership was considered toxic, as Dern and Dodd were left without any control in the company. Sternwest would sell it off after the failure of its last film in 1990. The company would get acquired by British businessman and director Rod Livermore in 1992. Dodd would work with Livermore on a television film in 1992 before leaving the company (see Those Characters from the Coast for more information.) They would rebrand as Entropy Films in 1994 and open an office in Lichfield, Staffordshire. In 1999, Entropy acquired Dunn Films, who were hired to assist in American co-productions and its founders became co-operators. Dennis Friedman would join as well and help acquire and open a new headquarters in Emeryville, California. Adding to their expansion. Entropy's business model lied on arthouse and genre films, most of which being international co-productions. In 2004, the company was sold to Crédit Lyonnais, but was spun off following a lack of business after an eight year period of inactivity. Entropy was set to be acquired by Relativity Media, but due to the company facing bankruptcy proceedings the deal was called off. After releasing two more films in 2017, the company closed. Livermore was brought down due to association with producer Michael Cowan, who faced fraud allegations and a management probation, as well as comments by Livermore surfacing relating to derogatory comments made against Byron Allen following a failed buyout attempt by Entertainment Studios, though the latter was dismissed as frivolous as they were only deriding the quality of Allen's acquired assets. In 2019, the company re-emerged from bankruptcy and launched a deal with Tubi to produce original films for the service. Around that time, producer Elliot Strange joined the company. With some exceptions, the company's library is currently held by Universal Studios.

1st Logo (1982-1986)
Logo: We zoom in toward a woman who appears to be topless (actually wearing a brassie that's the same color as her skin), as she does a vocal action (varying from appearance to appearance). After the camera is close enough to her face, the text "ENTROPIC" and "PRODUCTIONS" appears in front of her in red.

FX/SFX: Live action. Either the woman howls, screams, gargles, hisses, or whatever. On one tape she does nothing, and there is a delay of the text appearing, which she gestures toward.

Music/Sounds: Sounds corresponding to the actions, followed by a snare beat.

Availability: Seen on a number of softcore pornographic films and b-movies released straight to video. These fetch high prices on the collection market.

2nd Logo (1986-1988)
Logo: We see a video of a pale muscular woman with a beastly face, snarling and moving toward the viewer. The video freezes as the text "AN ENTROPIC PRODUCTION" is scrawled in.

Trivia: The footage was taken from the TV movie Betty: Fugitive of the Atom.

FX/SFX: The video and the text.

Music/Sounds: The sound of a roar or the closing theme of the program.

Availability: Appeared on the syndicated run of The Halloween Gang. It was removed on newer prints due to the aforementioned contemptuous circumstances and can only be seen on early VHS releases through Family Home entertainment. It also appeared on Betty: Fugitive of the Atom and the short-lived County Law.

3rd Logo (1989-1990)
Logo: We see a woman from the chest up wearing nothing but a giant feather hat sitting against a black backdrop. She slowly turns toward the viewer as "ENTROPIC FILMS" appears in a green script font. Suddenly, the woman's face turns demonic and the screen cuts to black.

FX/SFX: It’s all live-action.

Music/Sounds: A quiet piano tune, ending with a loud scream.

Availability: Appeared on The H Word and Down to Size.

Editor’s Note: Seemingly made as a parody of the famous Gainsborough Pictures logo. The screamer at the end is certain to catch people off guard.

1st Logo (1994)
Logo: We fade in to footage resembling an old film projection. Suddenly, we see letters in the word "Entropy" zoom out while spinning and leaving a trail effect. "films" does the same, but whole and without the trail effect. Both shift toward the bottom of the screen as the background turns blue and a butterfly appears by the word "Entropy". and turns green, while the open section beneath everything wipes away leaving a more defined blue color.

FX/SFX: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: An ambient theme with a harp glissando.

Availability: Appeared on The Milkman.

2nd Logo (1997-2001)
Logo: On a black background we see a white box containing the right half of a butterfly, which contains half of an owl’s eye. “ENTROPY” is below the box and the “N” in the word is mirrored. This is set to either the left or right of the logo for The Spice Factory.

Variant(s):
 * At the end of Keeper of the Crypt, we see the logo next to that of Winchester Films and Working Title Films. Above it is the text "A WINCHESTER FILMS/WORKING TITLE FILMS/ENTROPY FILMS co-production" and below them is the text "for CHANNEL 4"
 * On Tales from Under the Influence, the logo for Mind's Eye International is wedged between the aforementioned logos.
 * On Inch to a Mile, it's the same as above, but this time the logo for Working Title Films is between either logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on Keeper of the Crypt, Fisherman’s Den, Tales from Under the Influence and Inch to a Mile.

Editor's Note: This was used primarily on early co-productions with Spice Factory, before they adopted their own on-screen logo.

3rd Logo (2003-2021)
Logo: A pair of yellow eyes rapidly appear and disappear on a black background. Suddenly, various white butterflies rapidly fly by as the eyes reappear along with an illusion depicting a creepy face. As the actions get faster, a butterfly fades in. Its wings feature a design that resembles an owl's face, with the butterfly's body further pushing the illusion by resembling its beak. "entropy" is below in a Courier New font, which jitters.

FX/SFX: The butterfly and the text.

Music/Sounds: A series of whooshes and static sounds, ending with a vibraphone reverb.

Availability: Appeared on Field Trip, Tonka: Search and Rescue and Channel 2, and was brought back for Elvis and the Devil and 7 Deadly Tales. Was first seen on Sundown.

4th Logo (2021-)
Logo: We fade into a livingroom, featuring a group of girls, an anthro creature and five adults (caricatures of Livermore, the Dunns, Strange and Friedman) staring at the viewer perplexed. Suddenly, one of the girls begin to hold in a sneeze, but once it is let out, the background explodes in a graphic fashion, leaving behind the word "eNTROPy" in a jumbled font.

FX/SFX: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Just the sound of the girl sneezing, followed by a splatter sound.

Availability: Debuted on When Daisy Moved In.