Channel Productions, Inc.

Better Off Ned

Most people would be thrilled to work in Hollywood, but blockbuster producer Ned Tanen decided it was more of a Holly-won't. (Ugh. Sorry: that joke wouldn't be out of place in some of John Hughes' weaker films.)

As a studio executive, Ned Tanen worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Jaws, E.T., the mountain from the Paramount logo. He worked with some notable humans too, like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

But in 1982, Tanen was frustrated with the "Hollywood game." Is that like Connect Four? (Source)

So Tanen, needing to change the channel on his life, formed his own production company, Channel Productions. And his first film was a little pictured called Sixteen Candles. (He had already passed on One Candle through Fifteen Candles. But the sixteenth candle was a charm.)

John Hughes had actually written both this and The Breakfast Club, but Tanen believed that Candles was more commercially viable.

It was a nice birthday present for John Hughes when Tanen purchased the script (let's just pretend he did it on Hughes' birthday, shall we?). The film was a hit, and Channel Productions would later produce The Breakfast Club was well. It was a birthday wish come true.