Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by
producer Ismail Merchant (d. 2005) and
director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by Merchant, directed by Ivory, and 23 (of the 44 total films) were scripted by
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (d. 2013) in some capacity, all but two of those with solo credit. The films were often based upon novels or short stories, particularly the work of
Henry James,
E. M. Forster, and two novels by Jhabvala herself.