Caspian Entertainment

Background
Caspian Entertainment's roots can be traced back to the 1950s, as the vanity label of actress Winona "Win" Wills known as Willwin, Inc. The company was created due to trouble she encountered with film producers over creative rights. Wills would pass down the company to her niece, producer Lisa Dunn who would relaunch the company as Dandy Films (stylized as D&Y to reflect the inclusion of partner Jason Adderly.) Dandy produced horror and exploitation films; their business model centered on producing films that would be sold at a loss to discount theaters, drive-ins and television stations. The company faced some controversy through claims of plagiarism involving their film The Unexpected and Faces of Death. Lisa's daughter Linda would be appointed the new head of the company in 1984, and she would coordinate distribution deals for the company catalog. Dandy's production operations would be rebranded as Caspian Entertainment, while the Dandy name would continue to be used for copyright registration. The company would form a partnership with Bishop Films to produce films in the mid-80s, and would later agree to a merger in 1990, with Bishop's owners Mandy York and Ruth Dodd becoming co-chairs. Caspian would relocate to Edmonton, Alberta while opening an office in Kingston upon Hull from Bishop's former headquarters. Caspian would distribute Dandy's films on television, but they would help distribute and sell television programs too.

Caspian's business model would change to that of general productions with an emphasis on genre and mid-budget films that would be backed by international units. The company would acquire VFX and post-production studio Filmsmiths in 1996, and in 2000 they would acquire Dinsdale Films and bring on its owner Denise West as a fourth partner. Due to their films rarely ever breaking even at the box office, Caspian had found themselves in financial straits, compounded by cancelled acquisition agreements from companies like Carlton Communications and National Amusements. Following the financial failure of 2002's Far Darrig, Caspian was closed and ultimately supplanted by Kingston to fulfill the completion of other films in their pipeline.

LionsGate currently owns Caspian's pre-2001 catalog of films; the company previously sold it to Modern Entertainment to pay back losses during the production of Witnesses and LionsGate would gain control of Modern's libraries in 2005. The remainder of Caspian's films as well as their Kingston titles now lay with FilmRise.

(1984-1989)
Logo: On a black background, we a rainbow-graphic silhouette of a bishop chess piece slide into view along with a tiger silhouette. They are encased in an ovular iris which slowly closes in. The screen flashes as the top half of the oval is covered by a segmented semi-circle and the text "CASPIAN-BISHOP FILMS" appears in a bold white Slab Serif font. "A" and "production" are also seen above and below in a white souvenir font. The background changes to a white background with a hazy grey oblong rectangle with a black shadow toward the bottom, the semi-circles turn black and a white drop shadow is now present in the area where the company name is.

FX/SFX: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Silence, leading up to a phaser-like sound. In its later uses it's entirely silent.

Availablity: It was seen on Rain: The Last Pegasus, Death Squall, No Air, The H Word, Nest, D.O.A.D. and Santa's Little Helpers. Also appeared on English dubs for Esteem, The Fairies of Silver Platte and Beauty and the Beast (1978 anime adaptation).

1st Logo (1987-1988)
Logo: On a black background we see the bold blue 3D word CASPIAN zoom back as an orange star follows suit, settling below it. As the word comes into view we see it's next to the skinny text "Television". The star moves to the right in a trailing effect which becomes a solid orange line.

FX/SFX: Early CG animation.

Music/Sounds: A simple synth tune. Availability: Near extinction.


 * It was seen on syndicated episodes of The Halloween Gang.
 * Modern prints delete the logos that appear on episodes from this season in favor of those from the first.
 * A few episodes of the syndicated episodes were released on video through Family Home Entertainment, and most of the episodes were broadcast on Nickelodeon throughout October in 1989.
 * It also appeared on old televised prints of Dandy's catalog.

2nd Logo (1993-1995)
Logo: On a black background, a half moon ripples into view along with the red text "CASPIAN ENTERTAINMENT"

Variant: A print version exists, where the half moon is encased in a white box, with "CASPIAN" below.

FX/SFX: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A suspenseful theme,

Availability: Appeared on Camp Trouble, the 1995 remake of The Beast of Yucca Flats.

3rd Logo (2001-2002)
Logo: We fade in to two blurry eye charts on a black background. The charts get magnified and cleared up before they merge in the middle. As they do an opening eye fades in and explodes, becoming an abstract eye and quarter moon. “Caspian” fades in below.

FX/SFX: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A marimba sample with some industrial sound effects.

Availability: Appeared on Beauty and the Beast (2001) and Far Darrig.