West Coast prez ankles Miramax
Gill to drive Stratus indie company
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Gill becomes president of a new indie company with the aim of making medium-budget pictures. The company will be bankrolled by real estate developer Bob Yari, who will partner with producer Mark Gordon.
Gordon will continue to run his separate shingle at 20th Century Fox.
The new entity, called Stratus Films, will seek an affiliation with a domestic distributor, but Gill would not disclose its capitalization or its financing arrangements.
Gill functioned principally in marketing at Miramax, but also involved himself in acquisitions. His departure, combined with the recent exit of co-head of marketing David Brooks, leave a major gap at Miramax. It is understood Miramax is interviewing candidates to fortify its marketing structure.
Gordon won't produce Stratus films, but will help in attracting and selecting projects.
Gordon is producing the Roland Emmerich-directed "The Day After Tomorrow" as a summer 2003 Fox tentpole and "Tripoli," a Ridley Scott-directed Russell Crowe starrer that will begin production in early 2004.
Miramax said the parting was appropriate because while Gill wanted to broaden into production and acquisitions, Miramax wanted him to concentrate on marketing.
"Considering Mark's interest in production and acquisitions, he will be well served by this exciting new opportunity to focus on these areas," Weinstein said in a statement.
Miramax said that Weinstein will be personally involved in the marketing of upcoming films like "Gangs of New York," "Chicago," "Pinocchio," "Frida" and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." He's tapped Jason Cassidy, senior veep of marketing, to work closely with him in Gill's absence.
"It has been a fantastic ride at Miramax, and I learned a lot from Bob and Harvey Weinstein," Gill said. While Mark Gordon will continue to make his event movies through his other company, we will be doing a lot of movies that are hopefully smarter than the Hollywood norm."
Yari started by working for producer Edgar Scherick and made it to assistant director status on several projects that include the NBC miniseries "On Wings of Eagles." He directed one feature, "Mindgames," but found much greater success in developing office buildings and housing complexes around the country.
Yari returned to the film business by purchasing an interest in Cutting Edge Entertainment, which he sold to Splendid Pictures. He is a producer on "Without Apparent Motive," a project that has Richard Gere and director Bille August in tow, and "Where the Red Fern Grows" for Crusader Entertainment and Splendid.
