Cinicraft Productions

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Introduction

Cinécraft Productions, Inc. (also known simply as Cinécraft) is a privately held American film studio established in 1939.. Cinécraft is the oldest commercial producer of corporate and industrial films in the United States. Cinécraft was established by Ray Culley (1904-1983) and Betty (Buehner) Culey (1914-2016), then subsequently owned by Paul Culley, Neil McCormick, and Maria-Keckan-McCormick. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 2515 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio, United States .

Cinécraft is a member of the  a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Filmography

Film Title	Year	Length	Client	Director	Notes
You Bet Your Life	1939	30 min., B&W	Cleveland Railway Company	Ray Culley	Through Fuller & Smith & Ross (Cinecraft’s first film)
C-5 Galaxy World’s Largest Aircraft	1947	27 min., B&W	Military Airlift Command	Paul Culley	Covers how the C-5 Galaxy was manufactured, why it was needed, its unique capabilities, its subsystems, and the revolutionary impact it will have on military and civilian transportation	Naturally it’s FM*	1947	21 min, color	General Electric	Ray Culley	Introduced FM radio to dealers and consumers.
Home Miracles of the 1950s	1949	30 min., color	Vitamix Company	Ray Culley	This movie starring William Grover (Pappa) Barnard, the founder of Vitamix is said to be the first TV infomercial.
Miracle on Mulberry Street*	1949	16 min., B&W	Seiberling Tire and Rubber	Ray Culley	Introduced puncture proof tires to the American public.
It All Adds Up	1954	B&W	Westinghouse Appliance Service Division		Westinghouse marketed the film as “the most ambitious promotional efforts every undertaken by a service department of a U.S. manufacturer.”
Milestones of Motoring*	1954	30 min., B&W	Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO)	Ray Culley	The film on the evolution of the automobile starred Joe E. Brown and Merv Griffin (in his first movie and first singing role)
Long Ships Passing	1960	25 min., B&W	Great Lakes Carriers Association	Paul Culley	Discusses the advantages of shipping iron ore, coal, and grain by a lake carrier. All major companies shipping on the Great Lakes at the time were included.
Bill and Sue Boynton Get into Politics*	1963-1964	28 min., color	National Association of Manufacturers		Backed by Republic Steel, the four film series was designed to encourage middle management in American companies to get more involved in politics.
The Spoilers	1970	15 min., color	Food Marketing Institute (founded as the Supermarket Institute)	Paul Culley	Distributed to grocery stores and home economics classes, the film was important in improving food handling techniques in the food industry. It’s said that more copies of “The Spoilers” were made than any Hollywood movie made up to that time.
Where’s Joe	1973	B&W	United Steelworkers and 10 US steel companies	Bob Haviland	The film showed the damage of cyclical striking and is said to have led to the first no strike agreement between labor and management in the U.S. steel industry.
Where the River Enters the Sea	1982	28 min., color	Standard Oil of Ohio (SOHIO)	Neil McCormick	Residents of a tiny village north of the Arctic Circle, dramatize the emergence of Eskimos into modern life and show the opportunities as well as the cultural challenges that this change has brought.

History

Cinécraft is the oldest commercial producer of corporate and industrial films in the United States. Cinécraft played a critical role in crafting the messages of  DuPont, Hercules, Standard Oil of Ohio, Seiberling Rubber Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Bethlehem Steel, Owens-Corning, Ohio Bell, General Electric, American Greetings, Carling Brewing, and Republic Steel in the 1940-70 period.

Cinécraft’s client list includes the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), American Society for Metals (ASM), The Lake Carriers Association, the Supermarket Institute (now the Food Marketing Institute), and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most Cinécraft films were produced through advertising agencies including Fuller, Smith & Ross and McCann (formerly McCann-Erickson).

Founders

Cinécraft was established by by Ray Culley (1904-1983)  and Betty (Buehner) Culley (1914-2016). Ray Culley, started his Hollywood career in 1930 as an actor before becoming a production manager and director for Allied Pictures, Liberty Pictures and Republic Pictures. Culley has been credited for work on 23 westerns, dramas, and comedies featuring leading stars of the day including Gene Autrey, Hoot Gibson, Bill Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Sidney Toler (in his pre-Charlie Chan days), Irvin S. Cobb, Mickey Rooney and Monte Blue.

Working first as an actor, then as a production assistant, and finally as a director, Culley would help develop the careers of other actors such as Gene Autry. The majority of the 24 known films Cullen made were in the ten years he was located in Hollywood and were associated with M.H. Hoffman, former general manager of Universal Pictures, then later president of Tiffany Pictures (1927)

In 1969, Paul Culley, Ray’s younger brother, took over the studio, continuing the motion picture focus and added video tape production. Cinécraft then prospered as one of the few production houses to incorporate mixed-media services.

Neil McCormick and Maria Keckan bought Cinécraft from Paul Culley in 1986. Today Cinécraft specializes in developing custom learning solutions using interactive video, 3D animation, and eLearning techniques

Early works were shown in movie theaters as ‘fillers’ between reels and intermissions. These were essentially early forms of advertisements and corporations at the time were clamoring for time on the screen. Organizations like GE Lighting, LTV Steel, The Sherwin-Williams Company, and The Department of Defense used these spots to motivate, inspire, transfer knowledge, and change behavior of the American public. Cinécraft was at the forefront of creating these advertisements. This was the primary revenue and growth model of the company in its early years.

The Cinécraft Studio Historical Building

Cinécraft historical landmark

In 1898, John Eisenmann (March 26, 1851 – January 6, 1924), an architect that pioneered structural steel construction in the United States, designed the building that houses the Cinécraft Studio. Eisenmann co-designed the Cleveland Arcade (1890), the first commercial building in Ohio designated an historic landmark in architecture. The City of Cleveland Planning Department designated the Cinécraft Studios building a Cleveland Landmark

Early set with founder Ray Culley in Director's chair

CineCraft Productions

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