Paramount Pictures is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994.
Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world, the second oldest in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Six" film studios still located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood.
In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 22 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. These fortunate few would become the first "movie stars".