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Well this sucks. So this means that Warners is now out of the low-budget business? Or is that going to be part of the new New Line?

They are out of the business... and pretending that Toby Emmerich will be there to catch flies if they fall out of the sky.

Not challenging you, but would be interested to hear how Paramount Vantage is doing better than big Par. I heard they lost a sheeetload of bucks last year. Won some accolades and prizes, but spent out the wazoo to do it. Also, pretty huge overhead there, no?

Big Par lost money last quarter too.

I don't think the financial situation at Vantage is a good one. So far, they have bought their success at a loss.

But the perception over there is that Lesher is a star and has been given a greater role in the big company...in no small part because Big Par hasn't had the perception, awards, or financial success.

So, your point is taken... but until Grey goes away in 18 to 30 months, the Vantage he created will be there.

Any thoughts on this WSJ article? It addresses small indies looking at VOD or other non-theatrical distribution.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120994858243766429.html?mod=djemMM

Hoo boy ... if Paramount proper is doing better than Vantage, does that mean they'll both be gone within five years?

Megan Coligan is one of the dumbest people in Hollywood today ... fired from Searchlight and basically given a "fuck you" by Rudin on "No Country." Maybe she'll pull another "Arctic Tale" out of her fat ass and put them so far in the whole they're still trying to recoup millions of dollars with their subsequently awful films ("How She Move 2: Done Moved Right There, Ya'll").

WIP OWNED.

THIRLBY.

I saw every movie by the other five dependents last year but could not get excited for any by these two. Might have missed Picturehouse if this was announced a year ago but looking ahead at Amusement and Kit Kittredge, this looks like a mercy killing.

I thought Vantage had a pretty good year last year but what the hell is How She Move and the Foot Fist Way? The whole idea of a dependent studio is for branding purposes. How many people who rented How She Move got pumped up to see Defiance or the Duchess? Searchlight used to piss me off the same way with shit like never die alone and the hills have eyes.

I've never thought branding on the level of distributor was very important at all - I understand when an ad will say 'from Pixar' or even 'from Disney' but despite their quality-ridden track record, does anyone go to see a movie because it's from 'Paramount Vantage'?

Chucky?

RocketScientist... whoever you are... not only are you rude in the way you attack personally, but you are clearly ignorant about the workings of these companies... or you are just guessing after someone over there hurt your feelings.

1. Megan doesn't make movies... she sells them.
2. Artic Tale was a Classics movie and the choice to push it out of last summer and then dump it was made by others.
3. The No Country/TWWBlood split had nothing to do with Megan or any marketing at Vantage. There were issues, but you mischaracterize them completely. And do you realize that Megan's husband is Rudin's president of production?
4. Peter Rice still talks about Megan leaving Searchlight with regret.

I am completely capable of being very tough on Megan and all of Vantage. You won't see me hanging out with Lesher anytime soon. But $40 million domestic for Blood is a lot more impressive to me than $76m for No Country. There are plenty of movies that others can sell better, but no one (and the rest of the team certainly deserves a lot of the credit) could have gotten a dime more out of Babel, An Inconvenient Truth, or There Will Be Blood.

And yes, I imagine that the Grey regime will be gone and all the transition that comes with that will occur. I don't neccessarily think that Vantage will continue spending as much in future... maybe one expensive film and more cheap ones. We all write our own futures, in many ways.

If you want to take a shot at what Megan has done, so be it. But to call her one of the dumbest people in Hollywood is off-the-charts stupid and for me, deeply offensive.

Variety has updated their article: Alan Horn says that Warner Bros would still like to buy/produce the kinds of movies like "March of the Penguins," "Before Sunset," "We Don't Live Here Anymore," "La Vie en Rose" and "Snow Angels".
http://www.variety.com/VR1117985299.html

Anyway, I'm a big fans of Bob Berney; I feel sad to see that he received this kind of treatment from Warners.

I'll miss WIP, but failed to see the need for a separate arm for them in the first place. A Miramax & Touchstone made sense for Disney. Warner Bros, however, can simply release whatever they like, and no parent's groups will be up in arms over brand imagery, Looney Toons or not.

Yeah.

Alan Horn says a lot of stuff.

The reason WIP was floating was because Section 8 ended, which was the main reason to start a division in the first place. When Gill got uppity and wanted to actually make movies that could compete with Searchlight and Focus, he was shown the door.

Either you are in that business... or you are not. And doing an occasional favor to talent will not cut it. A big movie machine just doesn't sell specialized product well, 99.9% of the time.

Waiddaminute, let's get this straight. Cohen takes over a thriving division, runs it into the ground, it gets 86ed, and everyone loses his/her job EXCEPT HER??

Thank you for the info, David.

By the way, Polly Cohen accepted interview with Hollywood Reporter.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ie18fbd8cbed30d57f63f6b5fd4d2499a?imw=Y

>>>they're still trying to recoup millions of dollars with their subsequently awful films ("How She Move 2: Done Moved Right There, Ya'll").

HOW SHE MOVE is a Canadian production that Vantage picked up for distribution.

to answer jeff from above, I see movies because of the branding of the studio. I might be in the minority but I think a studio creates a body of work the same as an actor, director, or writer. If I see a decent warners brothers movie it makes me check out one or two more. These boutique studios are all chasing what miramax accomplished which is being able to brand art films the same way disney brands kid films.

Branding on the level of distributor works only if you're Disney, Miramax, Focus Features or Sony Pictures Classics.

Unfortunately a lof of writers casually mention Disney when writing about a picture from that company. Such conduct reeks of product placement.

Tofu: Disney used Touchstone as a mainstream adult imprint with the occasional upmarket title.

Hcat, you're the first person I've ever heard of who thought that way - it's like the head of development is the boss in your auteur theory?

Chucky - Branding at the distributor level works for focus and sony because they have kept tight reigns on the brand. Instead of releasing bride of chucky as a focus title they created Rogue protecting the brand. When Universal Focus debuted with Billy Elliot it looked like it could compete with searchlight and SPC, six months later it was mired in crap because of the flimsy material it released. Now you see Focus as more of a quality name. This is no different than what Vantage is trying to do. They are not simply Par classics with a new name but a whole different animal putting out more prestigious higher budgeted movies that can compete with Focus, Searchlight and Miramax.
whew...

Jeff- not so much an auteur theory as a mogul theory. The heads of these dependents are given more carte blanche than their studio counterparts and the slates reflect that. The constant level of quality that Focus maintained from thier debut with the Pianist to the release of Brokeback can be just as celebrated as Pacino's early 70's run of extraordinary acting roles.

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