# Raybert Productions > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raybert_Productions > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raybert_Productions.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raybert_Productions > Source revision: 1342843718 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Raybert Productions** was a [production company](/source/Production_company) that operated in the 1960s, founded by [Bob Rafelson](/source/Bob_Rafelson) and [Bert Schneider](/source/Bert_Schneider). Its principal works were the [situation comedy](/source/Situation_comedy) *[The Monkees](/source/The_Monkees_(TV_series))* (and the [group of the same name)](/source/The_Monkees), and the 1969 movie *[Easy Rider](/source/Easy_Rider)* (co-produced with [Peter Fonda](/source/Peter_Fonda)'s Pando Company). Raybert was also the predecessor to **BBS Productions**, a [New Hollywood](/source/New_Hollywood) production company founded by Rafelson, Schneider, and Schneider's childhood friend [Stephen Blauner](/source/Stephen_Blauner).[1] BBS Productions' best known film is *[The Last Picture Show](/source/The_Last_Picture_Show)*. ## History of Raybert Productions Wishing to break into movie production, but lacking experience, Rafelson and Schneider used their [Hollywood](/source/Cinema_of_the_United_States) connections to get the chance to produce a [pilot episode](/source/Pilot_episode) for a television series. Adapting what they saw in the [Beatles](/source/Beatles)' movies *[A Hard Day's Night](/source/A_Hard_Day's_Night_(film))* and *[Help!](/source/Help!_(film))*, and throwing in ideas of their own, Schneider and Rafelson developed *The Monkees* as the misadventures of an as-yet undiscovered rock band, with songs by the (originally) fictional band as [soundtrack](/source/Soundtrack) music, and as a [tie-in](/source/Tie-in) for promotion and merchandising. The original edit of their pilot episode (filmed late in 1965, with music provided by [Boyce and Hart](/source/Boyce_and_Hart)) rated poorly with a test audience, but a re-edit scored one of the highest ratings ever, and [NBC](/source/NBC) bought a season's worth of episodes. [Screen Gems](/source/Screen_Gems), the television wing of [Columbia Pictures](/source/Columbia_Pictures), had a [music publishing](/source/Music_publisher_(popular_music)) department, with ties to some of the best [songwriting](/source/Songwriting) talent in the US (including [New York City](/source/New_York_City)'s [Brill Building](/source/Brill_Building) songwriters), and were able to provide top-notch songs for the show, while [Colgems Records](/source/Colgems_Records) was set up to issue records from *The Monkees* and other productions. When the Monkees became a hit in both television and popular music, Rafelson and Schneider in turn became famous. They used their success to achieve their initial goal of producing movies. The first, called *[Head](/source/Head_(movie))*, also starred the Monkees, and was intended to lift both producers and stars to a new level. Unfortunately there was a falling-out between the two sides, with only [Peter Tork](/source/Peter_Tork) showing up for the first day of filming, and by the time the completed movie was ready for release, the television series had been cancelled (after two seasons and two [Emmy Awards](/source/Emmy_Awards)), and the Monkees phenomenon appeared to be winding down. Schneider and Rafelson distanced themselves from the band even during the shoot (pointedly playing records by other groups around the set), and promptly involved themselves in other projects, including *Easy Rider*. ## History of BBS Productions After producing *[Five Easy Pieces](/source/Five_Easy_Pieces)* in 1969, the two partners took on a third partner, [Stephen Blauner](/source/Stephen_Blauner), naming their expanded company **BBS Productions** (for Bert, Bob and Steve). Blauner, who'd also been involved with the Monkees series (even getting a name-check in one episode, as a gangster), later produced *[New Monkees](/source/New_Monkees)* in the 1980s, under the name Straybert Productions. On December 31, 1971, BBS sold all of its outstanding shares of its stocks to Columbia Pictures.[2] *[The Last Picture Show](/source/The_Last_Picture_Show)* (1971) and *[Hearts and Minds](/source/Hearts_and_Minds_(film))* ([1974 Academy Award winner](/source/47th_Academy_Awards#Best_Documentary.2C_Features) for [Best Documentary Feature](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Documentary_Feature)) were but two distinctly iconoclastic features from BBS Productions among some of the most influential and enduring classics of the early 1970s [New Hollywood](/source/New_Hollywood) era which anticipated the rise of American [independent film](/source/Independent_film) through the 1980s and '90s. After a cameo in *Head* and small part in *Easy Rider,* [Jack Nicholson](/source/Jack_Nicholson) starred in three others—*[Five Easy Pieces](/source/Five_Easy_Pieces)* (1970), *[A Safe Place](/source/A_Safe_Place)* (1971), & *[The King of Marvin Gardens](/source/The_King_of_Marvin_Gardens)* (1972)—as well as co-wrote *[Drive, He Said](/source/Drive,_He_Said)* (1971), which was his directorial debut. In fact, the only BBS [narrative film](/source/Narrative_film) that Nicholson does not appear in is *Picture Show.* ## Home video releases A multi-disc boxed set entitled *America Lost and Found: The BBS Story* was released by [The Criterion Collection](/source/The_Criterion_Collection) on Blu-ray and DVD in 2010.[3] The set included the films *[Head](/source/Head_(movie))*, *[Easy Rider](/source/Easy_Rider)*, *[Five Easy Pieces](/source/Five_Easy_Pieces)*, *[Drive, He Said](/source/Drive,_He_Said)*, *[The Last Picture Show](/source/The_Last_Picture_Show)*, *[A Safe Place](/source/A_Safe_Place)*, and *[The King of Marvin Gardens](/source/The_King_of_Marvin_Gardens)*.[1] The set, which "originated as a 'New Hollywood' set under the auspices of [Sony Pictures Home Entertainment](/source/Sony_Pictures_Home_Entertainment)",[3] marks the first time that either *Drive, He Said* or *A Safe Place* have ever been released on home video in any format.[citation needed] ## References 1. J. Hoberman (28 November 2010). ["One Big Real Place—BBS From Head to Hearts"](http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1671-one-big-real-place-bbs-from-head-to-hearts). [Criterion Collection](/source/Criterion_Collection). Retrieved 2011-04-09. 1. [COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. v. SCHNEIDER](http://www.leagle.com/decision/19771177435FSupp742_11079.xml/COLUMBIA%20PICTURES%20INDUSTRIES,%20INC.%20v.%20SCHNEIDER) leagle.com July 26, 1977, Retrieved on August 31, 2014 1. Travis Crawford (December 16, 2010). ["America Lost and Found: The BBS Story"](http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2010/12/america-lost-and-found-the-bbs-story/). [Filmmaker](/source/Filmmaker_(magazine)). Retrieved 2011-04-09. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Raybert Productions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raybert_Productions) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raybert_Productions?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.