Background: Almi Television Productions was a subsidiary of the Almi Group, formed in November 1978 by Albert Schwartz and Michael Landes (hence the name of the company). They introduced themselves as "The dynamic, innovative producer/distributor (...) The fresh idea company for the 80's". Their ident appeared on some Almi productions prints for television in the early 1980s, and despite having a library of more than 500 films, most current prints of their previously distributed material is now controlled under several different companies. Le Canal+ (now StudioCanal) acquired and folded Almi in 1987. Video releases of After the Fall of New York, BC Rock, Superstition, I am the Cheese, and Prime Risk had the standard Almi Pictures logo.
1st Logo
(1981-83)[]
Nickname: "Almi Shield"
Logo: Against a black background, two blue "ALMI"'s, in a similar font from before, streak in from the top and bottom of the screen and meet in the center and flash brightly. "TELEVISION" and "PRODUCTIONS", in an arc and in the same font as before, are wiped in on the top and bottom of "ALMI", respectively. Then, two sparks form a bronze frame from the top and bottom of the text, traveling clockwise. The finished product shines with a few "pings".
FX/SFX: '80s quality animation.
Music/Sounds: A deep synthesized jingle, with a few high-pitched notes to go along with the "pinging".
Availability: Extremely rare. Seen on an Australian VHS and other international prints of The Creature Wasn't Nice (AKA: Spaceship).
2nd Logo
(1983-87)[]
Nickname: "Linewriter Block"
Logo: On a dark blue background, we see tri-dimensional red stripes forming the word "ALMI". When the forming is complete, the logo starts to shine twice. Then a rectangle zooms out from nowhere, and places itself around "ALMI" and the word "Television" in cursive, draws under it and shines. "Television" is between 2 red lines.
Variant: There is a variant where it shows only the parts starting with the rectangle zoom-out. In this variant, the name and rectangle outline are orange at first, then it turns red when the rectangle stops zooming out.
FX/SFX: The forming of "ALMI", the shining, the drawing of "Television", all top '80s CGI.
Music/Sounds: A relaxing and synchronized synthesized jingle. Sometimes, it is silent, or has the opening theme to any given film.
Availability: Very rare. Appears intact on some Vestron Video releases of their output such as I am the Cheese and Spaceship. Can be seen on the 1998 Fox-Lorber DVD and a 2008 Showtime airing of La Historia Official (a.k.a. The Official Story). Also makes an appearance in widescreen on the Jef Films bootleg of DVD of House by the Cemetery (which appears mastered from a 16mm print of the U.S version), while all legit releases use the original Italian version, and thus do not have it. It is unknown if it appears on any public domain releases of the film (though it does appear on the 1984 Vestron Video VHS).