The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 56

C12 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1998 LOS ANGELES TIMES Company Town WB Network Names New Entertainment Chief Company Town Film Profit Report Television: Susanne Daniels replaces Garth Ancier, who is expected to join NBC as entertainment president. The report is based on projections of total U.S. box-office gross from a consensus of industry sources and studio financial models. U.S. returns (about 55 of gross) represent only 20 of a film's final revenue, which includes overseas theatrical, video and TV income.

The industry marketing average of $30 million per film is factored into these profit equations, as is the relative strength of specific film genres in foreign markets. Results for Dec. 4-6: Projected Box- Estimated U.S. box-ofdc office cost, In receipts, in working with writers and who brought hit shows such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to WB. The nearly 5-year-old network is the only one with significant gains in viewership this season.

Daniels' previous contract stipulated that she become president of entertainment next June. Had Ancier renewed his contract with WB, he would have been elevated to president of the network, with WB founder Jamie Kellner serving as chairman. Under her new five-year contract, Daniels will also oversee Kids WB. Daniels, a mother of two who is married to Greg Daniels, creator of Fox's "King of the Hill," says WB's Saturday morning programming is sometimes more geared to adults than children. She said she will work to make the schedule "more kid-friendly." The former Fox and ABC devel opment executive said her goal for WB is to expand the schedule from five to seven nights and to create a hit comedy.

She said her team's inexperience in drama worked to their benefit, in part because of their ignorance of convention. "Rules can be so constricting," Daniels said. "People said, 'Don't develop Buffy, because you can't take a movie and make a successful She said that even though she had more experience with comedies, she is forcing her group to try new approaches, "not what's familiar and safe." Daniels said she learned how to deal with writers from Ancier, as well as from her husband. "The greatest thing I've learned from Garth is that you can shape a project, but in the end you have to trust the people you are getting in business with and get over this executive-itis," she said. Rather than free Ancier to join NBC immediately, WB is requiring him to fulfill the rest of his contractmeaning he will miss the key development season for next fall.

Sassa has no experience in developing programs for network television, and NBC's lead in the ratings has quickly been slipping this season without its blockbuster "Seinfeld." Ancier was the founding entertainment chief for WB, but most television executives expect business as usual at the network Time Warner controls in a partnership with Tribune Broadcasting. One television agent said no program gets on the network today without the approval of Daniels, a highly regarded development executive who is known for her skills By SALLIE HOFMEISTER TIMES STAFF WRITER After five years of stable management, WB Television Network faces its first shake-up, with Su-Sjanne Daniels named Monday to replace Garth Ancier as the president of entertainment at the network. Daniels, 33, will assume her new post immediately, even though Ancier will remain at WB until his contract expires in May. Ancier is expected to join NBC as president of entertainment, replacing Scott Sassa, who will succeed Don Ohlmeyer as president of NBC West Coast. Sassa and Ancier worked together under Barry Dill-er in the early days of the Fox network.

Movie title Studio rank millions in millions wmmmmmm- i TheWaterboy Disney 5 $23 $160 Rugrats Paramount. 4 25 100 A Bug's Life Disney 1 85 150 mmmimmm-- i I Still Know What You 9 $25 $40 Enemy of the State Disney 3 85 100 1 Very Bad Things PolyGram 11 $9 $10 Elizabeth Gramercy 8 24 22 Ringmaster Artisan 12 5 10 twrnmrnm i Psycho Universal 2 $25 $22 Babe: Pig in the City Universal 7 85 20 Meet Joe Black Universal 6 90 50 Home Fries Warner 10 15 12 THE BIZ: PolyGram Unit Waits for Ax to Fall Notes: Cost estimates are for production only. Only half of box-office receipts come back to the studio. NA not applicable. Researched by RICHARD NATALE ff you have Information or comments about the chart, call (213) 237-2001 or send ennail to company.tmnlatlmes.com.

Send faxes to (213) 237-7837. For weekly box-office listings, see Calendar section on Tuesdays. Los Angeles Times the international organization is that Universal doesn't solely control its own foreign distribution. It is a one-third partner with Paramount Pictures and MGM in United International Pictures, which distributes its movies overseas. And the studio has a joint venture with Paramount in the foreign video distribution outfit CIC.

While Universal is committed to UIP for another three years, it could extricate itself from the CIC partnership much sooner and start putting video product out through PolyGram. (Also, since UIP markets and releases the bigger movies, Universal could presumably put' smaller theatrical films through PolyGram's foreign pipeline.) Rick Dobbis, former president of I PolyGram's continental Europe di-; vision, will take over in January as executive vice president of Sony Sony Forms New Movie Division Gram's film businesses were redundant with Universal's. (Seagram paid $5.7 billion for 80 of Universal in 1995.) Bronfman had originally hoped to sell the movie company intact for as much as $1 billion to help offset the acquisition of the music enterprise. Instead, the Montreal-based liquor company sought a buyer for PolyGram's movie and television library. Even that didn't go according to plan.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer owner Kirk Kerkorian was interested in purchasing only the movie portion. In late October, he agreed to pay $235 million in cash for about 1,300 titles that include "The Graduate," "The Crying Game" and "Fargo." Carlton Communications of Britain is said to be close to buying the remaining ITC portion of the library, mostly TV programming, for what Daily Variety reported as about $130 million. Some PolyGram assets may complement Universal's operations. One is PolyGram's international distribution operation, which directly releases products in 14 key countries around the world. For some time, it was speculated that French TV giant Canal Plus may buy the operation, but talks reportedly broke down over price.

The motivation for holding on to Continued from CI sal's top brass to evaluate what to do with PolyGram's movie assets, which include a domestic distribution and marketing operation, an international distribution organization and various movie labels. Analysts said Bronfman is unlikely to find a buyer willing to pay what he wants for those assets. Some, such as PolyGram's U.S. distribution company, are redundant to Universal's own operations. PolyGram's specialized film marketer and distributor, Gra-mercy Pictures, presumably would be combined with Universal's own October Films since the two entities are in the same business.

There are several meetings set fjor this week and next between Universal and the heads of PolyGram's various film labels to discuss the status of their operations. "We've been waiting seven months, and it's tough keeping our morale up and our business going," said Steve Golin, co-founder and head of PolyGram-owned Propaganda Films, which is involved in (he production of movies, commercials and music videos, as well as falent management. "I'm looking forward to having a clear plan and finding out what the agenda is," added Golin, whose company began production Monday on "Nurse Betty," starring Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock. Golin, who meets with Universal on Thursday, said that any number of things, including a management buyout, could happen to the company he co-founded 13 years ago and today employs about 135 people. For Golin, keeping his company up and going in its current state is what's critical.

"It's the only real job I've ever had," said Golin, whose company is behind such films as "Sleepers," "The Game," "Red Rock West," "Wild at Heart" and Madonna's "Truth or Dare." While the future of Propaganda is unclear at this point, Universal is close to a deal with producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, who run PolyGram's London-based production company, Working Title. The producers are behind such hit independent movies as "Bean," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Fargo" and "Dead Man Walking." Their new movie, "Notting Hill," a romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, is a highly anticipated offering for next year. Universal wants to keep Bevan and Fellner in its fold and are in the throes of extending the partners' contracts with Working Title, which expire in late June. The pair have been pursued by virtually every studio in town. When Bronfman agreed to buy PolyGram from Philips Electronics in May, he said he never intended to keep the company's movie assets since much of Poly- Sony Sony Pictures Entertainment said it's forming a new division to distribute about six low-to medium-budget genre and specialized movies a year.

The label, called Screen Gems, will release films that fall between Sony's more mainstream Columbia Pictures division and its Sony Pictures Classics art-house label, which typically releases films costing less than $10 million. Screen Gems' releases might include genre product such as horror and teen-oriented films, as well as independent projects developed by emerging filmmakers. Sony, which released such movies as "Men in Black" and "The Mask of Zorro," said it is creating the new division to help it expand beyond its traditional slate of movies. The move comes as other major media companies are generating strong profits from their smaller, specialized film distributors. The new label will open a couple of years after Sony closed a similar low-budget movie division, called Triumph Releasing, after a spotty record at the box office.

Screen Gems, unlike Triumph, will have its own marketing chief, allowing the label to focus more on promoting the films and tailoring them to specific audiences, a Sony spokeswoman said. Bloomberg News Music International. Dobbis is the first senior executive to quit PolyGram and join a competitor as a result of the upcoming reorganization, which will follow the announcement Thursday of Seagram's purchase of PolyGram. Chief Executive Jan Cook is expected to resign Wednesday. 21 years experience ANY TYPE-nationwide 6 nen.rurcn.Vagn uui W70 '99 CALSRY CE IN STOCK! EVERT Ff NEIV LOCk-ln Rate NOW SFR 30 yr.

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