Parker moves to New Regency

Exec becomes chairman alongside Harper

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Parker

Harper

Hutch Parker, vice chairman of the 20th Century Fox Film Group, has been named chairman of Fox-based New Regency alongside Bob Harper.

Parker will end a 13-year run as a Fox exec when he begins the new job in mid-June. At Fox, he had a hand in such recent successes as “X-Men,” “Night at the Museum,” “Borat,” “I, Robot,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Alien vs. Predator,” “Dodgeball,” “Fantastic Four” and “Master and Commander.”

Jim Gianopulos, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said, “This is an ideal partnership of perfectly complementary skills and experience. With New Regency’s resources and their long and close relationship with Fox, Bob and Hutch will be forming what is one of the most dynamic and compelling production teams in the business and we’re thrilled about this exciting new phase of our partnership.”

Parker hopes to use his talent relationships and familiarity with the Fox marketing and distribution system to help Harper transform New Regency into a stronger supplier of commercial fare.

The company recently fielded the comedy hit “What Happens in Vegas.” Upcoming titles include the Eddie Murphy starrer “Meet Dave”; Alex Aja-directed thriller “Mirrors,” with Kiefer Sutherland; Owen Wilson-Jennifer Aniston starrer “Marley & Me”; and “Bride Wars,” toplined by Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway.

Fox is a part owner of Arnon Milchan’s production/finance company and distributes Regency films under a 15-year distribution and equity agreement signed in 1998. Milchan owns 80%.

After spending more than a decade as part of the Fox studio machine, Parker said he sparked to a move that allows him to focus on fewer projects, at a company that has all the financial resources of a studio.

“There is tremendous infrastructure at Fox, where you manage 15-18 movies a year and process hundreds of titles through development,” Parker said. “Regency has the best of what you appreciate about being a studio, which is the ability to fund films without having to sell territories, but it also gives me flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurial opportunities.”

Fox will not replace Parker, as the studio streamlines the reporting process of its well-established exec team. Production prexies Alex Young and Emma Watts, and Fox Animation president Vanessa Morrison, who had reported to Parker, will now report directly to chairmen Tom Rothman and Gianopulos. Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler already reports to the chairmen. Fox Atomic prexy Debbie Liebling continues to report to Fox Searchlight president Peter Rice.

The move allows Parker to renew the relationship he built with Harper during their time together at Fox, where Harper spent 22 years before taking the top spot at New Regency last year.

“Bob and I were at lockstep at Fox for so long, there is an instinctive partnership,” Parker said. Both Harper and Parker said they will increase investment in project development and will emphasize building relationships with filmmakers. They don’t have a specific output goal but want 40% of their product to be self-generated titles that go through Fox, another 40% to be Fox-developed titles and the rest to be self-generated projects that don’t go through the Fox distribution machine. They will also look to ramp up TV series development under Regency Television president Robin Schwartz.

“We don’t have to fill slots, but we want to make films that we feel can be commercial and profitable and compatible with the Fox distribution and marketing system,” Harper said. “We want to be in the event business, the comedy business, and while we will avoid older-skewing dramas, some of our development will be geared to a young audience.”

Harper and Parker said they will see how the pieces fit before they decide whether to replace Sanford Panitch, who’d been president of Regency’s filmed entertainment before he left to run Fox Intl. Prods., a new division that will hatch projects designed to play in offshore territories Japan, India, Germany and Russia (Daily Variety, May 13).