 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | David Michael Latt David Rimawi Sherri Strain |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California |
Key people |
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| Divisions | Faith Films |
| Website | theasylum |
The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company based in Burbank, California. The company is known for producing low-budget, direct-to-video films, in particular mockbusters, which capitalize on the popularity of major studio films with similar titles and premises. The Asylum's business model revolves around producing as many low-budget films as quickly as possible, which earn around $150,000 to $250,000 in profit. Since the company produces dozens of films every year, this model generates millions of dollars, and the company claims to have never lost money on a film. The Asylum spends around 4-6 months making a film, and since the company is not affiliated with any industry guilds other than SAG-AFTRA, this means their employees will sometimes work upwards of 22 hours a day.
Initially founded as a distribution company for low-budget drama films, The Asylum switched to in-house productions in the mid-2000s due to competition from larger studios like Lionsgate Films. In 2005, The Asylum released the film H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds the day before Steven Spielberg film War of the Worlds. Blockbuster ordered 100,000 copies, which inspired The Asylum to focus on mockbusters. This led to a partnership with the television channel Syfy, and with the rise of video on demand (VOD) services in the early 2010s, partnerships with Pluto TV and Tubi. The Asylum's greatest success came in 2013 with the film Sharknado, which is about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and drops them over Los Angeles. The over-the-top premise went viral, and led to the creation of the Sharknado franchise. In response to the popularity of Sharknado, Syfy commissioned The Asylum to produce a zombie television series called Z Nation, which ran for five seasons.
Many of the company's films can now be found on Tubi.