The story
CBS chairman William S. Paley and Frank Stanton founded the network's first film division, Cinema Center Films, in 1967, with Gordon T. Stulberg as its first chief.
In February 1967, CBS had bought for $9.5 million the studios of Republic Pictures (which would be renamed CBS Studio Center). The following month they announced Stulberg's appointment, stating they intended to make ten films a year at a cost of $3.5 million each on average. Paley and Stulberg met with Gulf & Western chairman Charles Bluhdorn, who had just acquired Paramount Pictures, in a search for a distributor, but Bluhdorn's over-chumminess turned off Paley. Stulberg reported to John A. Schneider, CBS network president.
The studio's first notable talent signing was with Doris Day which resulted in their first movie With Six You Get Eggroll. Initially, CCF was generally termed by the film community as a maker only of "fluffy films" that seemed designed for rebroadcast on CBS.
Their second signing was with Bob Banner Associates, who were to make a series of projects that did not come to fruition. National General Pictures agreed to distribute their films in August 1967, agreeing to provide $60 million for 22 movies.
They signed a four-picture deal in October 1967 with Jalem Productions, Jack Lemmon's company, worth $21 million – Jalem was to produce four films, two in which Lemmon was to appear. The deal gave way to The April Fools (1969) and The War Between Men and Women (1972).
Other people who signed deals with the company included producer William Graf, and actor Steve McQueen via his company Solar Productions. Robert Culp's company also signed.
Ogilvy Mather was hired in July 1969 to provide advertising for the division. To counter-act the film community's perception of being a "fluffy films" producer, Stulberg recommended making The Boys in the Band to Paley. Little Big Man was CCF's biggest hit at the box office despite a cost overrun. CCF also financed a Broadway production, Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, a Don Petersen drama that opened in February 1970. Paley moved responsibility at CBS for CCF from Schneider to Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records, which was then owned by CBS.
Twenty-six films were produced under Stulberg until he left to work at 20th Century Fox in 1971. CBS closed the unit in 1972; its last film was the Peanuts animated musical Snoopy Come Home. The studio never reported a profit in any year of its operation, losing money on 20 out of 27 films for a total loss of $30 million.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cinema Center Films, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4