Studio Pacts: A removable feast
Studios have only 180 producer deals
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In the last few years, MGM has gone from being under Sony's oversight to a stand-alone company again, and New Line has been folded into Warner Bros. Several specialty arms have come and gone, and multiple producers lost their studio homes during the writers strike.
- Highs and Lows: Studios now have 180 producer deals, the first time the number has dipped below 200 in Variety's 11-year survey. More fallout is expected if/when DreamWorks departs Paramount, and Warners fully digests New Line. Those majors represent the two extremes on the current chart: Par has the fewest deals of the majors at 16 and Warners the most at 37. Par has legal claim to DreamWorks' dozen pacts, but isn't necessarily expected to retain them all. And Warners may or may not keep New Line's additional 10 pacts; New Line's former co-toppers Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne have their pact at Warners. Consolidations of specialty arms have also affected pacts: Ron Yerxa and Al Berger's Bona Fide shingle has moved from Warner Independent to big Warner and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez banner has migrated from Paramount Vantage to big Par.
- What do you mean by deal? Many deals run for a couple years, while others can be structured as loosely as month to month (as in the case of Bryan Singer) or lifetime (as with Clint Eastwood); both are based at WB. Other shingles have even murkier relationships: Spyglass occasionally co-finances Universal projects, but that relationship is nonexclusive.
- Tubular pacts: Several film producers now have their overhead covered by TV pacts. Jinks-Cohen, Mark Gordon, Curtis Hanson and Barry Sonnenfeld are among those currently without film deals. Uberproducer Jerry Bruckheimer maintains both, as do John Wells and McG.
- Stars under realignment: Star deals come and go, depending on the vagaries of their projects and heat. Nicole Kidman, Vince Vaughn, Salma Hayek and Ashton Kutcher make their first appearance on this chart. Drew Barrymore, Charlize Theron, Sandra Bullock and Jamie Foxx drop off the list, as do Denis Leary and Julie Andrews.
