GOOD MORNING FROM NEW YORK and Variety & Wertheim Schroder's Big Picture, the fifth annual media conference, where Ted Turner told the packed ballroom at the Pierre Hotel, "We wanted to kick a little butt in the movie business. I'm a concept man, not a bean counter." Turner spoke to the crowd late Tuesday afternoon after an already full day of talking toppers. The day started with a welcoming by Variety's Gerry Byrne, who also made the introduction of Turner. Prior to the effusive, energetic Turner, Variety's Peter Bart moderated a panel that included Jane Fonda, Jonathan Dolgen, Tom Pollock, Joe Roth and Harvey Weinstein. More than 900 media mavens, press, execs from the financial and showbiz world wandered in and out of the ballroom as each program segued into another with the briefest of breaks, during which coffee and breakfast cakes gave sustenance throughout the morning. The lunch, a lavish four-course meal, was served at tables spread around the several levels of the Pierre's ballroom. The crush of bodies going in and out was described as the subway's "rush hour." The press corps and TV cameras surrounded the participants of the business panel discussions like they were movie stars. And the usually tight-lipped execs seemed to be happily donating bon mots for quick quoting. Federal Communications Commission chairman Reed Hundt even delivered his address while the group was seated at their luncheon tables. The address was piped via monitors to the various dining rooms. Screens were also placed in lobbies to feed the overflow crowd from the ballroom. Interest ran high on all subjects -- movies, TV, the interactive world of the future -- and in general, the future of all the ancillary entertainment fields. The general consensus was there are plenty of questions still ahead to be answered. And a lot to be learned, invested in, and perhaps regulated. Hundt told of the need for the new technologies to provide for education, retraining and help for the disabled.
"IT'S BEEN HAPPENING FOR YEARS," noted Tom Pollock when I spoke with him about the new MCA studio buyout rumors. I had caught up with Pollock Monday night, at the theater where we were seeing "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Dolgen had met, prior to the conference, with Sherry Lansing in N.Y. as she continues on to London to look in on Par's giant bigscreen version of "Mission Impossible" starring Tom Cruise ... Weinstein and Brandon Tartikoff had a meeting about their pix for '96 -- two or three, said Weinstein. Brandon told me he's readying five or six. Tartikoff and Weinstein are also talking TV series versions of Miramax's features "Muriel's Wedding" and "Clerks." Tartikoff reminded that TV remains his first love -- and Weinstein knows it. Miramax will also do the feature version of "Bull Boy," with Marlon Brando, Sean Penn directing a script by Liz Swados. Brando had written the story, he told me about it while shooting "Don Juan DeMarco." Weinstein also said Miramax's book publishing division has printed 100,000 copies of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and is expanding into the celebrity book bio market ... It was Turner who really brought the crowd's attention with his down home conversation. "I'm an adrenalin junkie," he admitted of all his companies, ranches, etc. Turner (56 ) also admitted, "Jane has me working out -- my cholesterol is so low it's not even measurable." He bragged that he owns more movies than any studio, even more cartoons than WB or Disney, telling the financial world on hand what a good buy Turner is! "We don't want to be in the back of the bus"... Howard Stringer today sets his entertainment division moving with its new topper. He admitted the first thing is to get projects on their lines and next to create their own product. The former web boss said he liked the Oscars -- he's a longtime Letterman fan. And talking Oscars, Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter was there, and said he and Steve Tisch will probably do their Oscar party at Morton's again next year. The magazine will have another exclusive-to-Hollywood issue next April. Distaffs will be well represented -- Sherry Lansing, properly.
I SPOKE WITH CARROLL O'CONNOR who, with wife Nancy, will make his first public appearance since the tragic death of son Hugh when the couple attends Saturday's John Wayne Cancer Clinic event at the BevHilton. The O'Connors' involvement with the clinic began when Hugh had Hodgkin's disease and was treated, at 16, at the clinic. Following last Saturday's funeral services, Hugh was cremated Monday. Carroll told me they'd received countless letters from friends including the President, Nancy Reagan and Ted Kennedy. Carroll said they also got notes from Hugh's fan club --"I didn't know he had one," said O'Connor of his son, who had appeared on his TV series, "In the Heat of the Night." Carroll would gladly testify against the accused drug dealer. "I never met him," said Carroll, "but I had him investigated. I should have moved on it sooner. The West L.A. police and narcotics squad did a great job. We must support them."
Contact Army Archerd at
army.archerd@variety.com