Smith's new consultancy lands Bond, other pix & vids
Ex-UIP exec names 007, Imagine, D'Works as clients
Additionally, Smith and his small team, trading as Hy Smith & Associates, are overseeing the media spending for the international homevid release (via CIC Video) of DreamWorks' "Antz" and "The Prince of Egypt."
Smith, who retired from UIP last year after 15 years with the distrib, told Daily Variety he is negotiating to represent films from three other top-drawer Hollywood producers.
Licensed to Bond
Smith has started work on the Bond epic (slated for Nov. 17 domestically, the U.K. the week after and the rest of the world, excluding parts of Asia, in December) and Imagine's "EDtv" (rolling out overseas in late May/early June). After that, he'll take on Eddie Murphy/Imagine vehicles: "Bowfinger's Big Thing" and "Life."
Smith held back on announcing his company, its personnel and initial slate of projects until he secured premises in Hammersmith, West London, a couple of blocks from his old UIP office.
Old faces, new team
His team comprises Nicola Lyons, a media consultant who worked for him at UIP; Victoria Miller, his former personal assistant who signs on next month as an associate, working across all facets of film sales and marketing; and an exec, whom he isn't ready to name, who is steeped in the ad biz.
On the Bond and Imagine films, he will be reunited with many of his former colleagues at UIP. "I welcome working on films that are being released by UIP; this reunites me with a lot of people whom I brought into the marketing area. But I won't just be working on UIP-based films," he said.
