Jerry Gross(1940-2002)
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Jerry Gross was a semi-legendary exploitation movie
producer/distributor, but--unlike his more notorious colleagues in the
exploitation business such as Kroger Babb,
David F. Friedman and
Dan Sonney--very little is actually known
about the man himself.
He started in the film industry in the 1960s as a director, but found his forte in distribution--or, rather, outrageous film promotions. Sensationalized come-ons, titillating taglines, wildly suggestive posters and titles scored Gross hit after hit on the grindhouse/drive-in circuit throughout the 1970s. His company, Cinemation, released titles like Buveurs de sang (1971), Teenage Mother (1967), The Seducers (1962) and Zombie (1971). In the mid-'70s he was quoted as saying, "I guarantee that all these are selling titles. The public just cannot resist a film if the title drags them in. Stars don't matter. Titles do!".
Gross didn't limit himself to just exploitation pictures, though. He also distributed important movies like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) (although in a slightly re-cut version) but he is chiefly remembered for the sort of promotions that would have done P.T. Barnum proud (as would his name). When he released the first two "Mondo Cane" films--Mondo cane (1962) and L'incroyable vérité (1963)--on a double bill, he hired actors to dress up as native tribesmen and dance around cinemas to emphasize the films' subject matter of primitive rites.
Gross' finest hour unfortunately spelled the beginning of the end. "I Eat Your Skin", Oeil pour oeil (1978) and Spectre (1980), all released by The Jerry Gross Origination, are fondly remembered and were big hits. By this time, however, major studios were securing a monopoly over America's screens and the smaller companies were quickly going bankrupt, which is eventually what happened to The Jerry Gross Origination. Gross' post-bankruptcy company Ambassador Pictures quickly went out of business. That was around 1983, and since then Jerry Gross seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.
He started in the film industry in the 1960s as a director, but found his forte in distribution--or, rather, outrageous film promotions. Sensationalized come-ons, titillating taglines, wildly suggestive posters and titles scored Gross hit after hit on the grindhouse/drive-in circuit throughout the 1970s. His company, Cinemation, released titles like Buveurs de sang (1971), Teenage Mother (1967), The Seducers (1962) and Zombie (1971). In the mid-'70s he was quoted as saying, "I guarantee that all these are selling titles. The public just cannot resist a film if the title drags them in. Stars don't matter. Titles do!".
Gross didn't limit himself to just exploitation pictures, though. He also distributed important movies like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) (although in a slightly re-cut version) but he is chiefly remembered for the sort of promotions that would have done P.T. Barnum proud (as would his name). When he released the first two "Mondo Cane" films--Mondo cane (1962) and L'incroyable vérité (1963)--on a double bill, he hired actors to dress up as native tribesmen and dance around cinemas to emphasize the films' subject matter of primitive rites.
Gross' finest hour unfortunately spelled the beginning of the end. "I Eat Your Skin", Oeil pour oeil (1978) and Spectre (1980), all released by The Jerry Gross Origination, are fondly remembered and were big hits. By this time, however, major studios were securing a monopoly over America's screens and the smaller companies were quickly going bankrupt, which is eventually what happened to The Jerry Gross Origination. Gross' post-bankruptcy company Ambassador Pictures quickly went out of business. That was around 1983, and since then Jerry Gross seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.
