Marifransia Studios

Marifransia Studios (formerly Marifransia Motion Pictures, Marifransia Television, and Marifransia Television Studios; often known as simply Marifransia) is an independent production company based in Portland, Oregon, formed by John Caidin in 1989. Marifransia is mainly associated with ArgosyMTM Group, similar to Village Roadshow’s relationship with Warner Bros, though it has rejected offers to be bought out by ArgosyMTM directly. Marifransia has always been run by the Caidin family. It also has deals with OBC, the ADTV franchise for Oregon.

Caidin Film Company
The immediate predecessor of Marifransia was known as Caidin Film Company (CFC), formed by John Caidin in 1981. It had a distribution agreement with Judy Garland Pictures. CFC was exclusively a film production company, and did not venture into television production. After a series of box office failures, the company declared bankruptcy in 1988. There was a prior Caidin Film Company created by John’s ancestor Mark Caidin, which once owned Argosy Pictures assets, but it was later folded into Marcus-EMI Systems.

Transition between CFC and Marifransia
In 1988, the company, which had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, renamed as CineCara Motion Picture Society. It did not produce any films during this transition period, and was mainly restructuring to prepare for the Marifransia period.

Marifransia Motion Pictures
In 1989, John Caidin formed another company, known as Marifransia Motion Pictures, and used that company to buy out the failed CFC/CineCara company. The name “Marifransia” came from John Caidin’s three daughters: Marie Caidin, Frances Caidin, and Siana Caidin. Unlike CFC, Marifransia was much more successful; also unlike CFC, Marifransia went into television production, which soon became its main business.

Marifransia Television (Studios)
In 1992, the company was reorganized to focus on television, being renamed Marifransia Television. In 1993, it was renamed further to Marifransia Television Studios, though that name did not appear on-screen until 1999.

After the death of John Caidin
In 2005, after John Caidin died of a heart attack, Marie, Frances, and Siana took over the studio their father had named after themselves. In 2013, the company rebranded as Marifransia Studios.