The Hemdale Film Corporation was an independent film production company and distributor founded as the Hemdale Company by actor David Hemmings and his manager, John Daly. It initially operated as a talent agency, and in this area helped launch the careers of such rock bands as Black Sabbath and Yes. When Daly bought Hemmings out in 1971 he restructured the Hemdale and established it as both a a film production company and film studio
Among Hemdale's most successful features were: The Terminator (1984), Hoosiers (1986), Salvador (1986), River's Edge (1986), Platoon (1986), and The Last Emperor (1987); with the latter two films winning the company back-to-back Best Picture Academy Awards. Unfortunately Hemdale followed these films with a series of box office failures and the company was declared bankrupt in 1995. The company's film library was subsequently acquired by Consortium de Realisation, a French holding company set up to handle the rights to titles acquired by Credit Lyonnais Bank.
Hemdale's association with Australian film production was largely as a production partner with International Film Management and/or Film and General Holdings during the late 1980s or as a distributor. Among the co-productions were Great Expectations, The Untold Story (1986), High Tide (1987) and The Everlasting Secret Family (1988)
