New prez for USA
Gigliotti heads pic prod'n at specialty house
Gigliotti, who will be based in New York and divide her time between both coasts, will assume her new duties Oct. 18.
USA president Russell Schwartz told Daily Variety, "Donna has exactly the right cachet -- upscale movies will be a key part of our release plan. Plus, her writer and director relationships are precisely the ones we want to build."
Chairman Scott Greenstein added, "Donna is a unique force in the world in independent filmmaking. ... She has managed to combine good commercial instincts with an exceptional eye for intelligent and challenging material."
Gigliotti said she's likely to augment USA's development and production ranks, including at least one senior level production exec, but won't be able to make that determination until she gets her feet wet.
"Everything I know about the process, I learned from the master: my first boss, Marty Scorsese," said Gigliotti. "Everything I know about the business of movies, I learned from my second boss, Arthur Krim. I want to take everything I learned from the two of them and create an environment at USA Films that will encourage and support the production of original, audacious movies with commercial potential. This is a singular opportunity -- challenging, exciting and possibly unique in today's film climate."
Asked what types of films USA intends to make under her watch, Gigliotti told Daily Variety, "One thing I learned from Marty (Scorsese) and Arthur Krim is that the way you are successful is that you go for quality material -- good stories that are well-written and are made by people with a vision."
She said the company will strive to produce eight to 10 films per year, with budgets ranging from $15 million to $25 million -- although she didn't rule out making more expensive pics.
Oscar winner
Gigliotti is one of only four women producers ever to have received a best picture Oscar, having won for "Shakespeare in Love," directed by John Madden for Miramax Films and Universal Pictures. She shared the award with David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick and Marc Norman.
Gigliotti's other credits include the Academy Award-winning films "Emma" (she served as exec producer for director Douglas McGrath) and "Restoration" (as exec producer for helmer Michael Hoffman).
From 1993-1997, Gigliotti served as exec VP of Miramax Films. There she oversaw all European film production for the company. Prior to Miramax, Gigliotti was president of Kennedy/Marshall Prods., at the time based at Paramount Pictures.
In 1982, Gigliotti co-founded specialized film banner Orion Classics with Tom Bernard and Michael Barker (they now run Sony Pictures Classics).
Orion co-prexy
Under Gigliotti's co-presidency through the 1980s, Orion fostered and released such pics as Pedro Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," Louis Malle's "Au revoir, les enfants," Gabriel Axel's Academy Award-winning "Babette's Feast," Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" and Claude Berri's "Jean de Florette" and "Manon des sources" (Manon of the Spring).
Prior to her years at Orion, Gigliotti was veep of acquisitions at United Artists Classics, where she was involved in acquiring such films as Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Veronika Voss," Francois Truffaut's "The Woman Next Door" and Jean-Jacques Beineix's "Diva."
Gigliotti began her career as assistant to Scorsese during production of "Raging Bull" and pre-production of "The King of Comedy."
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Gigliotti is the youngest woman ever knighted to the rank of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the Republic of France.
Among the upcoming releases from USA Films are Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich," which won the Grand Prix at the Deauville Festival, and Ang Lee's "Ride With the Devil."
