Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Irwin Yablans has gained a reputation for distributing horror films, cult films and exploitation pictures. Becoming an independent producer in the mid 70s, he started distributing films that didn't become large hits and released them overseas. Among the films was John Carpenter's 1976 film "Assault on Precinct 13". Yablans released it overseas, through his small studio Turtle Releasing Corporation, where it did rather well. In 1977, Yablans joined Joseph Wolf to form Compass International Pictures, a small scale theatrical company. Again, Yablans worked with John Carpenter and released his 1978 film Halloween (1978). Yablans pre-sold it into Kansas City where Halloween premiered and became very popular, ranking it the top grossing independent motion picture of the 1970s. 

Halloween seemed to boost Yablans' reputation, but only little success came when making low budget films for Compass International, including "Tourist Trap", "Nocturna" and the Linda Blair films Roller Boogie (1979) and Hell Night (1981). Due to the small scale flops of theatrical releases, Compass International Pictures collapsed, and Yablans and Joseph Wolf returned to release two more Halloween films, Halloween II (1981) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), for Universal Pictures. Yablans didn't form another company after the Halloween films, he joined Charles Band of Empire Pictures where he stayed for the next few years. Since then, Yablans has been associated with releasing direct to video films and has also since retired from the filmmaking industry.

He and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0937810/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Joseph Wolf</a> funded Compass International Pictures in 1978. Despite
that their first film, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0077651/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Halloween (1978)</a> had so much success, Compass
International Pictures only released three more films, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0080040/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Tourist Trap (1979)</a>,
<a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0079822/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Roller Boogie (1979)</a>, and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0082511/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Hell Night (1981)</a>, which only had minor releases and then Compass
International Pictures eventually folded in mid-1981, before <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0082495/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Halloween II (1981)</a>
was made.

His brother, Frank Yablans is also an experienced movie executive and from 1981-1986, served as Chairman and CEO of Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM/UA).

Brother of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0944747/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Frank Yablans</a>.

Father of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0944749/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Mickey Yablans</a>.

President of Compass International Pictures Inc. with Joseph Wolf in the 1970s and early 1980s. The theatrical production/distribution company is now a division of Trancas International Films.

Was Chairman and CEO of Empire Pictures from 1988-1989 when it was consolidated into Epic Entertainment, Inc.

Trivia

Irwin Yablans

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