Gracie Films, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks on January 4, 1986. The company is primarily known for producing its long-running flagship animated series The Simpsons. The company's headquarters is located on the Fox Studios lot at 10201 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Overview
James L. Brooks, who had previously founded John Charles Walters Company, founded Gracie Films at 20th Century Fox on January 4, 1986, with Polly Platt as executive vice president. Named for comedian Gracie Allen, the company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made". Its primary distributor is currently Sony Pictures Entertainment, though it continues to produce The Simpsons at Fox's studio in Century City, Los Angeles.
According to Simpsons Confidential, Brooks gave The Simpsons writing staff free rein, as he firmly believed they were the most important part of the process, and "in the legal battles over The Simpsons, it was Fox that was being sued, not Gracie Films". The company also coordinates international distribution and dubbing for The Simpsons, "[finding] voices for dubbing that would match those of the original American actors as closely as possible." Gracie Films’ main production office is at the Sidney Poitier building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. In 1989, Gracie Films had struck a deal with ABC.
Logo
Gracie Films' production logo depicts noisy patrons in a movie theatre being shushed by a woman in the back row, while the theatre lights dim out and the company logo appears on a projector. This is occasionally changed or parodied in episodes of The Simpsons, particularly in the annual Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes.
Filmography
Television series
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="90" | Years active
! width="150" | Title
! Genre
! width="120" | Creator(s)
! Co-production company(s)
! width="140" | Network(s)
|-
| 1987–1990
| The Tracey Ullman Show
| Sketch comedy
| James L. Brooks<br>Jerry Belson<br>Ken Estin<br>Heide Perlman
| Klasky Csupo (animation production)<br>20th Television
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Fox
|-
| 1989–present
| The Simpsons
| Animated sitcom
| Matt Groening
| 20th Television (1989–2021)<br>20th Television Animation (2021–present)
|-
| 1991–1992
| Sibs
| rowspan="2"|Sitcom
| Heide Perlman
| Columbia Pictures Television
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"| ABC
|-
| 1993–1994
| Phenom
| Sam Simon<br>Dick Blasucci<br>Marc Flanagan
| Columbia Pictures Television<br>ELP Communications
|-
| 1994–1995<br />2000–2001
| The Critic
| Animated sitcom
| Al Jean<br />Mike Reiss
| Columbia Pictures Television
| style="text-align:center"|ABC (1994)<br>Fox (1995)<br>AtomFilms/Shockwave.com (revival)
|-
| 2001
| What About Joan?
| Sitcom
| Ed. Weinberger
| Columbia TriStar Television
| style="text-align:center"|ABC
|}
Television episodes
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Series
! Director
! Writer
! Original air date
! Network
! Co-production company
|-
| "The Simpsons Guy"
| Family Guy
| Peter Shin
| Patrick Meighan
|
| Fox
| Fuzzy Door Productions
|}
Feature films
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="30" | Year
! width="250" | Title
! width="115" | Director
! width="115" | Writer(s)
! width="115" | Producer(s)
! Co-production company(s)
! width="140" | Distributor(s)
! width="80" | Box office
! class="unsortable" width="10" |
|-
| 1987
| Broadcast News
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="text-align:center"| 20th Century Fox
| $67.3 million
|
|-
| 1988
| Big
| style="text-align:center"| Penny Marshall
| style="text-align:center"| Gary Ross<br>Anne Spielberg
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Robert Greenhut
| $151.7 million
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1989
| Say Anything...
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Cameron Crowe
| style="text-align:center"| Polly Platt
| $20.7 million
|
|-
| The War of the Roses
| style="text-align:center"| Danny DeVito
| style="text-align:center"| Michael J. Leeson
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Arnon Milchan
| $160.2 million
|
|-
| 1994
| I'll Do Anything
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Polly Platt
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|Columbia Pictures
| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center"| Sony Pictures Releasing
| $10 million
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1996
| Bottle Rocket
| style="text-align:center"| Wes Anderson
| style="text-align:center"| Owen Wilson<br>Wes Anderson
| style="text-align:center"| Polly Platt<br>Cynthia Hargrave
| $560,069
|
|-
| Jerry Maguire
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Cameron Crowe
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai<br>Laurence Mark<br>Cameron Crowe
| style="text-align:center"| TriStar Pictures<br>Vinyl Films
| $273.6 million
|
|-
| 1997
| As Good as It Gets
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| <br>Mark Andrus<hr><br>Mark Andrus<br>James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Bridget Johnson<br>Kristi Zea
| style="text-align:center"| TriStar Pictures
| $314.1 million
|
|-
| 2001
| Riding in Cars with Boys
| style="text-align:center"| Penny Marshall
| style="text-align:center"| Morgan Upton Ward
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Laurence Mark<br>Sara Colleton<br>Richard Sakai<br>Julie Ansell
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Columbia Pictures
| $35.7 million
|
|-
| 2004
| Spanglish
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| Julie Ansell<br>James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai
| $55 million
|
|-
| 2007
| The Simpsons Movie
| style="text-align:center"| David Silverman
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Matt Groening<br>Al Jean<br>Ian Maxtone-Graham<br>George Meyer<br>David Mirkin<br>Mike Reiss<br>Mike Scully<br>Matt Selman<br>John Swartzwelder<br>Jon Vitti
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Matt Groening<br>Al Jean<br>Mike Scully<br>Richard Sakai
| style="text-align:center"| 20th Century Fox Animation
| style="text-align:center"| 20th Century Fox
| $536.4 million
|
|-
| 2010
| How Do You Know
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| Julie Ansell<br>James L. Brooks<br>Laurence Mark<br>Paula Weinstein
| style="text-align:center"| Columbia Pictures
| style="text-align:center"| Sony Pictures Releasing
| $48.7 million
|
|-
| 2016
| The Edge of Seventeen
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Kelly Fremon Craig
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai<br>Julie Ansell
| style="text-align:center"| H. Brothers<br>Tang Media Productions<br>Virgin Produced
| style="text-align:center"| STX Entertainment
| $19.4 million
|
|-
| 2018
| Icebox
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Daniel Sawka
| style="text-align:center"| Julie Ansell<br>James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai
| style="text-align:center"| Endeavor Content<br>HBO Films
| style="text-align:center"| HBO
|
|
|-
| 2023
| Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Kelly Fremon Craig
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Julie Ansell<br>Richard Sakai<br>Kelly Fremon Craig<br>Judy Blume<br>Amy Lorraine Brooks<br>Aldric La'auli Porter
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" | Lionsgate
| $21.5 million
|
|-
| 2025
| Ella McCay
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai<br>Julie Ansell<br>Jennifer Brooks
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 20th Century Studios
| $4.5 million
|
|-
| 2027
| The Simpsons Movie 2
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center"| 20th Century Animation
| style="text-align:center"| 20th Century Studios
|
|
|-
| TBA
| Girl
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Lulu Wang
| style="text-align:center"| James L. Brooks<br>Richard Sakai<br>Kelly Fremon Craig<br>Steven Spielberg
| style="text-align:center" | Amblin Entertainment
| style="text-align:center" | A24
|
|
|}
Theme parks
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="30" | Year
! width="140" | Title
! width="115" | Director
! Co-production company(s)
! width="140" | Distributor(s)
! width="220" | Notes
|-
| 2008
| The Simpsons Ride
| Mike B. Anderson<br />and John Rice
| Blur Studio<br>Film Roman<br>Reel FX Creative Studios
| Universal Creative
| Located in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood.
|-
|}
Shorts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="30" | Year
! width="300" | Title
! width="115" | Director
! Co-production company(s)
! width="140" | Distributor(s)
! width="220" | Notes
|-
| 2012
| The Longest Daycare
| rowspan="11" | David Silverman
| 20th Century Fox Animation<br>AKOM<br>Film Roman
| 20th Century Fox
| Shown with Ice Age: Continental Drift.
|-
| 2020
| Playdate with Destiny
| 20th Century Animation<br>AKOM
| Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
| Shown with Onward.
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2021
| The Force Awakens from Its Nap
| 20th Television
| rowspan="9" | Disney+
| rowspan="9" | Exclusive Disney+ short film.
|-
| The Good, the Bart, and the Loki
| rowspan="2" | 20th Television Animation<br>AKOM
|-
| Plusaversary
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2022
| When Billie Met Lisa
| rowspan="3" | 20th Television Animation
|-
| Welcome to the Club
|-
| The Simpsons Meet the Bocellis in "Feliz Navidad"
|-
| 2023
| Rogue Not Quite One
| Walt Disney Pictures (logo only) / 20th Television Animation
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2024
| May the 12th Be with You
| rowspan="2" | 20th Television Animation
|-
| The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
|-
|}