Raybert Productions

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Raybert Productions was a 1960s production company, founded by Robert (Bob) Rafelson and Bert Schneider. Its principal works were the wildly successful situation comedy (and corresponding rock group) The Monkees, and the 1969 movie Easy Rider (co-produced with Pando Company Inc.).

Wishing to break into movie production, but lacking experience, Rafelson and Schneider used their Hollywood connections to get the chance to produce a pilot episode for a television series. Adapting what they saw in the Beatles' movies A Hard Day's Night and Help!, 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 music, and as a tie-in for promotion and merchandising.

The original edit of their pilot episode (filmed late in 1965, with music provided by Boyce and Hart) rated poorly with a test audience, but a re-edit scored one of the highest ratings ever, and NBC bought a season's worth of episodes. Screen Gems, the television wing of Columbia Pictures, had a music publishing department, with ties to some of the best songwriting talent in the US (including New York's Brill Building songwriters), and were able to provide top-notch songs for the show, while 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, 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 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), 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.

[edit] Offshoot production companies

After producing Five Easy Pieces in 1969, the two partners took on a third partner, Steve 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 in the 1980s, under the name Straybert Productions.