Editing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (section)

==Overview==
MGM was the last studio to convert to sound pictures—nonetheless, from the end of the [[silent film|silent film era]] through the late 1950s, it was the dominant motion picture studio in Hollywood.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Daniel H.|last2=Bohn|first2=Thomas W.|last3=Stromgren|first3=Richard L.|title=Light & Shadows|date=1978|publisher=Alfred|location=Sherman Oaks, California|isbn=0882840576|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Gomery|first=Douglas|title=The Coming of Sound|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=0415969018}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}} It was slow to respond to the changing legal, economic, and demographic nature of the motion picture industry during the 1950s and 1960s;<ref name="Maltby">{{cite book|last=Maltby|first=Richard|title=Hollywood Cinema|date=2003|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=0631216154|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}}<ref name="Wyatt">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Jon|title=The New American Cinema|date=1999|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|isbn=0822321157|edition=3rd|page=[https://archive.org/details/newamericancinem00lewi/page/93 93]|url=https://archive.org/details/newamericancinem00lewi/page/93}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}}<ref name="Browne">{{cite book|last1=Browne|first1=Ray B.|last2=Browne|first2=Pat|title=Defining Concise Guide to United States Popular Culture|date=2000|publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press|location=Bowling Green, Ohio|isbn=0879728213}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}} and although its films often did well at the box office, it lost significant amounts of money throughout the 1960s.<ref name="Wyatt"/><ref name="Browne"/> In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]], whose son [[Edgar Bronfman Jr.|Edgar Jr.]] would later buy [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} Three years later, an increasingly unprofitable MGM was bought by [[Kirk Kerkorian]], who slashed staff and production costs, forced the studio to produce low-quality, low-budget fare, and then ceased theatrical distribution in 1973.<ref name="Browne"/> The studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were distributed through other studios, usually [[United Artists]] (UA). Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and an expanded film library when he bought UA in 1981.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

MGM ramped up internal production, and kept production going at UA, which was continuing to thrive, particularly with the lucrative [[James Bond (film series)|James Bond]] film franchise.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cook|first=David A.|title=Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970–1979|date=2000|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=0684804638|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica0000unse_x8l5}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}} It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production.<ref>{{cite book|last=Prince|first=Stephen|title=A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989|date=1999|publisher=Macmillan Library Reference|location=Old Tappan, New Jersey|isbn=068480493X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofamerica0000unse_x8l5}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2017}} The studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, [[Ted Turner]] bought MGM, but a few months later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt, while keeping the library assets for himself. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt.<ref name="Bart"/> MGM was bought by [[Pathé|Pathé Communications]] (led by Italian publishing magnate [[Giancarlo Parretti]]) in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio.<ref name="Browne"/><ref name="Bart"/> The French banking conglomerate [[Crédit Lyonnais]], the studio's major creditor, then took control of MGM.<ref name="Browne"/><ref name="Bart"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/08/business/the-media-business-bank-takes-mgm-pathe.html|title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Bank Takes MGM-Pathe|date=May 8, 1992|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 31, 2019|agency=Associated Press|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325121451/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/08/business/the-media-business-bank-takes-mgm-pathe.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer [[Frank Mancuso Sr.|Frank Mancuso]], and Australia's [[Seven Network]] in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/18/business/international-briefs-seven-network-criticized-for-mgm-purchase.html|title=INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS;Seven Network Criticized For MGM Purchase|date=July 18, 1996|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 20, 2014|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426211534/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/18/business/international-briefs-seven-network-criticized-for-mgm-purchase.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGM's ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. After a bidding war which included [[Time Warner]] (the current parent of [[Turner Broadcasting System|Turner Broadcasting]]) and [[General Electric]] (the owners of the [[NBC]] television network at the time), MGM was acquired on September 23, 2004, by a partnership consisting of [[Sony Corporation of America]], [[Comcast]], [[TPG Capital|Texas Pacific Group]] (now TPG Capital, L.P.), [[Providence Equity Partners]], and other investors.<ref>{{cite news |author=Andrew Ross Sorkin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/business/time-warner-is-said-to-join-mgm-bidding.html |title=Time Warner Is Said to Join MGM Bidding – ''The New York Times'' |website=The New York Times |date=July 1, 2004 |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426210954/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/business/time-warner-is-said-to-join-mgm-bidding.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E7DF1E39F937A1575AC0A9629C8B63&scp=24&sq=MGM+Sony&st=nyt |title=Company News – Consortium Led By Sony Locks Up Mgm Deal |website=The New York Times |date=September 24, 2004 |access-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426211839/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E7DF1E39F937A1575AC0A9629C8B63&scp=24&sq=MGM+Sony&st=nyt |url-status=live }}</ref>

After its bankruptcy in 2010, MGM reorganized, with its creditors' $4 billion debt transferred to ownership. MGM's creditors controlled MGM through MGM Holdings, a private company. New management of its film and television production divisions was installed.