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Section Eight Productions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Section Eight Productions
TypeProduction company
IndustryEntertainment
PredecessorMaysville Pictures
FoundedDecember 1999; 26 years ago (1999-12)
FoundersGeorge Clooney
Steven Soderbergh
Defunct2006; 20 years ago (2006)
FateDefunct
SuccessorSmokehouse Pictures
Extension 765
Key peopleJennifer Fox
Gregory Jacobs
Ben Cosgrove

Section Eight Productions, or just Section Eight, was an American film production company founded in December 1999 by film director Steven Soderbergh and actor/director George Clooney, following the success of the film Out of Sight.[1]

Its name was taken from the military base of the character Maxwell Q. Klinger on one of George Clooney's favorite TV shows, M*A*S*H.[2]

History

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Predecessors

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In February 1996, ER star George Clooney founded his first production company, a television company called Mirador Entertainment, which signed a deal with NBC Studios to develop television programming.[3] Deborah Leoni joined in as partner in July of that year.[4]

In November 1996, George Clooney founded another company to supplement the television-based Mirador, Left Bank Productions with partner Robert Lawrence, and the company signed a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.[5][6][7] In 1997, Left Bank Productions changed its name to Maysville Pictures (named after Clooney's hometown in Maysville, Kentucky) to avoid confusion with a music-based management firm with the Left Bank name.[8]

In 1998, the Mirador deal was supplanted by a new television deal at Warner Bros. Television and CBS with the Maysville Pictures name, was headed by Clooney as well as Pam Williams and Ben Cosgrove.[7] In 1999, Robert Lawrence and George Clooney broke their partnership, with Clooney continuing to run Maysville on its own.[9] Only two works were released under the Maysville Pictures name, the television movie Fail Safe, and the 2001 film Rock Star.[10][11]

When Section Eight was first formed, the company signed a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, and took the exiting Maysville staff with them, including Ben Cosgrove, who was with Maysville before Section Eight was formed.[6][7]

Section Eight

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The company was founded in 1999 after George Clooney met Steven Soderberg and secured a deal at Warner Bros. Pictures. Although Section Eight remained in the old Maysville offices, Soderbergh worked from New York City.[12]

It produced the critical hits Far from Heaven, Insomnia, Syriana,[13] A Scanner Darkly and Michael Clayton, as well as Clooney-directed films Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck.[13] In 2005, Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck picked up eight Oscars nominations between them.

In 2003, the company set up a television division, led by Grant Heslov.[14] The company's two television productions is the show, K Street which aired on HBO in 2003,[15] and Unscripted, which also aired on HBO in 2005.[16]

With Soderbergh citing a desire to focus on directing through Extension 765, and Clooney forming production company Smokehouse Pictures with Grant Heslov (who worked at Section Eight for just five years) in the same building, but under a new name where Maysville and Section Eight were, the two decided to shut down Section Eight at the end of 2006.[13]

Films

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Year Film Director Notes
2001 Ocean's Eleven[13] Steven Soderbergh Remake of Ocean's Eleven (1960)
2002 Insomnia Christopher Nolan Remake of Insomnia (1997)
Welcome to Collinwood Anthony Russo
Joe Russo
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind George Clooney
Full Frontal Steven Soderbergh
Far from Heaven Todd Haynes
2004 Criminal Gregory Jacobs Remake of Nine Queens (2000)
Ocean's Twelve Steven Soderbergh
2005 The Jacket John Maybury
Good Night, and Good Luck[13] George Clooney
Syriana Stephen Gaghan
Rumor Has It... Rob Reiner
2006 A Scanner Darkly Richard Linklater
The Good German Steven Soderbergh
2007 Wind Chill Gregory Jacobs
Ocean's Thirteen Steven Soderbergh
Michael Clayton Tony Gilroy
2009 The Informant! Steven Soderbergh

Television

[edit]
Title First aired Last aired Co-production Network Notes
K Street September 14, 2003 November 16, 2003 Interface Media Group HBO
Unscripted January 9, 2005 February 27, 2005 Warner Bros. Television

Notes and references

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  1. ↑ Stone, Rob (April 10, 2018). The Cinema of Richard Linklater: Walk, Don't Run. Columbia University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-231-85124-4.
  2. ↑ "George Clooney's biography (from various sources)". clooneysopenhouse.forumotion.com. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Clooney, NBC ink pact". Variety. February 12, 1996. p. 15.
  4. ↑ Richmond, Ray (July 10, 1996). "Leoni, Clooney operate". Daily Variety. p. 17.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Ted (November 22, 1996). "Clooney in deal at WB". Daily Variety. pp. 1, 64.
  6. 1 2 McDonald, Paul (May 2, 2019). George Clooney. Bloomsbury Publishing (published May 2, 2019). ISBN 9781911239321.
  7. 1 2 3 Cox, Dan (August 5, 1998). "Maysville will add 3 exex to expand bill". Variety. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  8. ↑ Karon, Paul (August 19, 1997). "Clooney tunes prod'n pipeline". Variety. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ Petrikin, Chris (September 30, 1999). "Clooney, Lawrence split Maysville". Variety. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  10. ↑ Fries, Laura (April 11, 2000). "Fail Safe". Variety. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ Koehler, Robert (August 31, 2001). "Rock Star". Variety. Retrieved October 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ Moerk, Christian; Chris, Petrikin (December 2, 1999). "Inside Move". Variety. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 McLean, Thomas J. (October 13, 2006). "Section Eight goes up in Smoke". Variety. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  14. ↑ Schneider, Michael (July 31, 2003). "Section Eight musters deal with WBTV". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  15. ↑ Fleming, Michael (November 24, 2003). "HBO, Section 8 end 'K Street'". Variety. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
  16. ↑ Martin, Denise (September 15, 2004). "HBO ups Heller to senior drama veep". Variety. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
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