Two's company at Fox
Prod'n vet Rothman, int'l chief Gianopolous to lead studio
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The pairing of Gianopulos and Rothman brings together two men with widely different backgrounds. Rothman's experience is largely in putting movies together and overseeing their production; Gianopulos is a top figure in international distribution. Fox said that the two will "jointly run the company with equal responsibilities."
Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of parent News Corp. and Fox Entertainment Group, said, "It's not them splitting up the company and having one side report to Tom and the other side to Jim. It's every executive reporting to both of them."
Chernin had also looked outside the studio, interviewing a succession of top industry figures for the job. "I'm in a position of luxury," he told Daily Variety on Monday. "I have two great executives uniquely suited for the job. The two of them together is the best possible solution," he added.
"The good news is we're a neat fit," said Rothman. "The grooves fit together sweetly. ... It's like a good presidential ticket."
Fox had been searching for achairman since Bill Mechanic, who held the post since late 1996, was ousted at the end of June. Mechanic departed after a string of box office disappointments despite the fact that the biggest box office winner of all time, "Titanic," was also released on his watch.
Ironically, since his departure, Fox has released its strongest domestic performer of the year, "X-Men," which has taken in $122.9 million so far. Fox is also a partner with DreamWorks on "What Lies Beneath," which has grabbed $69.4 million since opening July 21. The new duo will have the benefit of other high profile releases in the pipeline, such as the Harold Ramis-directed "Bedazzled," "Moulin Rouge" from helmer Baz Luhrmann and holiday pic "Cast Away," with Tom Hanks starring for director Robert Zemeckis. "Cast Away" is also a DreamWorks co-venture.
Rothman has the type of production experience that's typical at the top of big studios. But the choice of Gianopulos to join him as chairman underscored that Fox, under News Corp. topper Rupert Murdoch, is the studio that has put perhaps the greatest emphasis on exploiting the international market, often with striking success.
Under Gianopulos, Fox handled the international distribution of "Titanic," bringing in $1.2 billion (the total take, including domestic, of $1.8 billion was shared with Paramount, although Fox got the lion's share). Fox has also managed to turn domestic underperformers like "The Beach" into strong pictures at the overseas box office.
Long transition avoided
Many in Hollywood hadn't expected an announcement of a new chairman until after Labor Day, and the relatively quick action was applauded by many in town. Some also noted that by promoting from within, the studio will avoid a drawn-out period of transition.
"Fox has been a very stable, steady studio to deal with the last bunch of years," said UTA agent Richard Green. "I was concerned they would bring in somebody new and it would signal an obligatory three or four month period when things were rocky. This means business will continue on course."
With possible actors and writers strikes looming next year, Green noted, promoting experienced figures from within also means the studio won't lose valuable time preparing for what could be a bumpy period for the whole industry in 2001.
Left unclear is the future of Tom Sherak, the longtime exec who's chairman of 20th Domestic Film Group. The domestic distribution operation reports to Sherak, and he has other key duties as well. It's known that Sherak has expressed interest in pursuing discussions about joining Joe Roth at his newly formed Revolution Studios, but his Fox superiors have nixed that possibility until now. The ascension of Rothman and Gianopulos may clear the way for Sherak to consider other options.
Production overseer
Rothman has been president of the film group since that post was created last fall, overseeing production at the studio's two mainstream live-action divisions, TCF and Fox 2000.
Before that he had been president of production at TCF since 1995. Formerly an attorney in the independent film world, Rothman served as an exec at Columbia Pictures and as president of production at the Samuel Goldwyn Co. before joining Fox in 1994 to start the studio's specialty film division, Fox Searchlight.
Fox's exec corps is one of the more stable in town, with several key figures having worked for Rothman when he was president of TCF. That includes Hutch Parker, now president of TCF; Elizabeth Gabler, president of Fox 2000; Peter Rice, president of Fox Searchlight; and Sanford Panitch, who's president of production at New Regency, the production house that partners with Fox on several pics a year.
Chernin and Rothman said they didn't expect that Rothman's latest job as president of Fox Film Group would be filled anytime soon, partly because of the long experience the current execs already have working together.
Rothman's tenure has been highlighted by the success of such pics as "There's Something About Mary," "Doctor Dolittle," "The X-Files" and "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet," along with "Titanic." In recent months, Rothman (with Parker) has been hard at work putting together such pics as the "Planet of the Apes" remake being directed by Tim Burton and starring Mark Wahlberg.
Gianopulos said that a global perspective would continue to inform the way Fox made films in the future.
"The focus is on appealing to a global audience," he said. "The success of that strategy has really been self-evident. Right now, I think we're at the top of our game."
Split rights status quo
Toward that end, Gianopulos said he expected the studio to continue its conservative policy on splitting rights so as to retain a steady pipeline of product that can feed Fox's own international theatrical distribution and ancillary channels.
Gianopulos praised the studio's senior international executives as a "synchronized unit" that would continue to move smoothly. But he added that the studio did expect to fill the post he has left fairly soon.
Gianopulos joined Fox in 1992 and was president of international and pay television for 20th Century Fox before being upped to president of Fox international in 1994. In that post he ran Fox's international marketing and distribution operations. In 1998, 20th Century Fox combined its international theatrical and home entertainment units and placed Gianopulos at its head, removing some of the management burden from then-chairman and CEO Mechanic.
Before joining Fox, Gianopulos served as exec veep international at Carolco and senior VP of business affairs and international at Paramount Pictures. He also held a senior VP of business and legal affairs post at RCA/Columbia Pictures Intl. Video.
The choices drew strong praise from key figures working with the studio.
Praise from filmmakers
"I was relieved to hear it was Tom and Jim," said producer and director Harold Ramis, whose Ocean Pictures is based on the Fox lot. "Tom's great in a crisis; he's great not in a crisis. He is generous and wise. He's a very wired guy with tremendous nervous energy -- when the going gets tough, he gets calmer. I couldn't be happier that it's them," he added.
"I was thinking it would be one or the other, but I couldn't have picked, either," said filmmaker Bobby Farrelly, who, with his brother Peter, reupped their deal at Fox just before the release of the Jim Carrey-starrer "Me, Myself and Irene." "They really enjoy what they do, and it's fun to make movies with them. If you have a good idea, these guys will recognize it," he added.
"Fox showed great wisdom in appointing two excellent executives who have complementary skills and who work well together," said Arnon Milchan, head of New Regency. "We look forward to a long association."
