Godfrey is hoisted
Davis picks new prexy, ups Manis to sr. VP
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Separately, former Peters Entertainment exec veep Brian Manis has been tapped senior veep at Davis.
A three-year veteran at the company, Godfrey has been the heir apparent to the position left vacant when former prexy Teddy Zee went to Overbrook Entertainment after his contract at Davis expired earlier this year.
As prexy, Godfrey would manage the company, oversee its development slate and partner with chairman John Davis to produce on certain projects. Godfrey is exec producing upcoming Fox pic "Behind Enemy Lines."
"John and I want to provide a home for young filmmakers where we'll make successful broad-appeal movies so those young directors won't want to make movies anywhere else," Godfrey told Daily Variety.
Prior to working at Davis, Godfrey served as senior veep of production for Paul Schiff and Michael London's Horizon Entertainment. Before that, he was director of development at New Line Cinema.
"Without Wyck's organizational skills, there is no way we could have managed the activity we've had in the last year," Davis said. "And Brian has already had a big impact on the company by bringing in high-profile projects."
Manis, who came over to Davis at the beginning of the year, is responsible for finding new material in the book and spec market to develop for film and television projects.
"I plan to be an aggressive buyer and John (Davis) is an active and prolific filmmaker," Manis said.
Spending five years at Peters, Manis started as an assistant and later became an exec veep.
Davis Entertainment has four pics in production: "29 Palms," "Behind Enemy Lines," "Dr. Doolittle 2" and "Life, or Something Like It."
Upcoming projects include "Alien vs. Predator," "Fat Albert," "I Robot," and "Harlem Globetrotters."
