Anthony Goldschmidt, a graphic designer who founded Intralink Film Graphic Design and was instrumental in some of the most iconic movie posters of the last forty years, has died. He was 71.
Goldschmidt died this past Tuesday in Los Angeles of liver cancer, according to industry colleagues. Goldschmidt received an Award for Distinction from his undergraduate alma mater, Washington University, in 2012. That same year, he worked on the design for the 84th Academy Awards poster, featuring classic movie posters from “Gone With the Wind,” “Casablanca,” “Giant,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Godfather,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Gladiator,” along with the Oscar statuette itself.
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Intralink has been behind some of the most memorable movie poster campaigns of the modern era, including the Christian Bale series of Batman films, “Beowulf,” “300,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “American History X,” “Apollo 13,” “Showgirls,” “Twister,” “Thelma & Louise,” “The Crow,” “L.A. Story,” “Misery,” “The Princess Bride,” “Scarface,” “Gremlins,” and “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial.”
The company also turned its talents to television, turning in posters for projects like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “The Shield,” “Sex and the City,” and “The Sopranos.”
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Friends and colleagues took to Twitter after hearing of his passing, expressing their grief and appreciation for Goldschmidt. Alex Griendling, who was a colleague of his at Intralink wrote, “Sad to hear Anthony Goldschmidt has died. I was lucky to work with him at Intralink.” Designer Annette Orban wrote, “A great artist, teacher, entrepreneur & mentor … has passed away.”
Goldschmidt personally was credited as the title designer for such modern classics as “Young Frankenstein,” “Spaceballs,” “Stargate,” and “Blazing Saddles.”
Born in New York, Goldshcmit achieved his bachelor’s in fine arts from Washington University in St. Louis, before moving on to Yale University for his master’s in fine arts. He then began his professional career as an art director for J. Walter Thompson in New York.
After a move to Los Angeles, he launched his Hollywood career as a production assistant for Warner Bros., working on films like “The Wild Bunch.”
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In 1971, he formed his first company, Anthony Goldschmidt Graphic Design. His clients at the time included Great Western United Corporation and 20th Century fox Film Corporation. Then, in 1979, he founded Intralink and served as the company’s president.
Intralink has the distinction of being a pioneer in motion picture marketing. They were the first design firm to offer both print and audio-visual materials as an integrated package.
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Goldschmidt received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequence for the telefilm “Eleanor and Franklin” in 1976. Throughout his long career, he was also honored with 10 Art Directors Club of Los Angeles Awards, 6 Graphic Gold Awards, 9 CLIO Awards, and 26 Golden Trailer Awards, as well as numerous Key Art Awards.