After Transamerica Corp bought 98% of United Artists in 1967, tensions between the corporate parent and UA’s creative executives simmered for years. Transamerica bristled at UA releases that courted controversy—films like Midnight Cowboy and Last Tango in Paris had X ratings—and ordered the removal of the 'A Transamerica Company' byline from prints and advertising, even flirting publicly with phasing out the UA identity entirely. By 1978 the relationship had soured into open conflict: disputes over administrative costs and corporate control with Transamerica chairman John R. Beckett culminated in a dramatic walkout. Arthur B. Krim, Robert Benjamin, president Eric Pleskow and other top officers resigned within days and announced the formation of Orion Pictures (backed financially by Warner Bros.). The defections robbed UA of experienced leadership and signaled that the old alliances between financiers and film talent were brittle; the episode also launched Orion into the business as a formidable creative force. The split left lasting scars—Transamerica had underestimated the value of UA’s film-savvy executives, and the industry watched as a major studio hemorrhaged its brass and talent into a rival venture.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
The 1978 Executive Walkout and Birth of Orion: How Transamerica’s Hold Nearly Cost United Artists Its Soul
United Artists (Arthur B. Krim, Robert Benjamin, Eric Pleskow) / Transamerica / Orion Pictures / 1970s
After Transamerica Corp bought 98% of United Artists in 1967, tensions between the corporate parent and UA’s creative executives simmered for years. Transamerica bristled at UA releases that courted controversy—films like Midnight Cowboy and Last Tango in Paris had X ratings—and ordered the removal of the 'A Transamerica Company' byline from prints and advertising, even flirting publicly with phasing out the UA identity entirely. By 1978 the relationship had soured into open conflict: disputes over administrative costs and corporate control with Transamerica chairman John R. Beckett culminated in a dramatic walkout. Arthur B. Krim, Robert Benjamin, president Eric Pleskow and other top officers resigned within days and announced the formation of Orion Pictures (backed financially by Warner Bros.). The defections robbed UA of experienced leadership and signaled that the old alliances between financiers and film talent were brittle; the episode also launched Orion into the business as a formidable creative force. The split left lasting scars—Transamerica had underestimated the value of UA’s film-savvy executives, and the industry watched as a major studio hemorrhaged its brass and talent into a rival venture.
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