Lowry tops Gaylord Films

Producer ankles Mouse pact to head new division

By BILL HIGGINS, CHARLES LYONS

After four years, producer Hunt Lowry ("A Time to Kill") is ending his first-look deal at the Walt Disney Co. to become president of Gaylord Films, a newly created pic division of the Nashville-based, publicly traded company Gaylord Entertainment.

Gaylord Entertainment also owns Paris-based finance and distribution company Pandora, and the two film entities will complement each other -- with Gaylord Films focusing on mainstream fair and Pandora on mid-budget and specialty films.

Gaylord will develop, acquire and produce roughly 12 movies over the next four-five years. The parent company will invest $5 million-$10 million annually in the new company.

The company is in discussions with several domestic distributors and is on the verge of announcing several projects.

"I'm thrilled about our new partnership with Pandora," said Lowry. "We plan to increase the number of films Pandora makes each year and are also ramping up a slate to include bigger-budgeted mainstream films for the major domestic studios."

Lowry added: "This is a dream come true. I had a great experience at Disney but having my own financing is terrific. I have been talking about this with Gaylord for literally 20 years."

While at Disney, Lowry was one of the producers of Jon Turteltaub's "Instinct" as well as the director's Bruce Willis starrer, "The Kid," currently in post-production.

Outside of "A Time to Kill," his producing credits include "First Knight," "My Life" and "The Last of the Mohicans."