Memo to: Peter Chernin
From: Peter Bart
Congratulations on your liberation, Peter, and welcome back to the real world. Or what passes for it.
To be sure, you've long been accustomed to a surreal environment. While your peers have been managing publicly held corporations, you've run a fiefdom -- Rupert's fiefdom. Hence, your performance has hinged not merely on the normal corporate cycles of growth and contraction but also on Murdoch's personal power surges.
Rupert savored Dow Jones, not to pacify his vassals but to satisfy his appetites. News Corp. inevitably is having digestive problems, but the good news is that these are no longer your concern.
While some are surprised by your departure as chief operating officer Peter, those familiar with the details of your parachute would be surprised had you stayed. The community respects your creative talents (unlike those of most other corporate mandarins) and has no doubt that you will be able to fulfill your commitments to supply two "put" pictures a year, launch some TV adventures, and thus justify fees equivalent to (or superior to) the highest in the industry.
At the same time, friends have noticed your incipient political interests; having sat on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum from Murdoch for all these years, perhaps you are now ready to act upon those impulses.
No one would be surprised if you turned up on some imposing boards -- Providence Equity Partners has been mentioned by some -- as well as advancing your philanthropic interests in fighting malaria and other diseases.
And there also might be dalliances with other corporate power positions. Having served in your present gig for 12 years, you surely believe that the coming years will offer great opportunity as well as appalling problems, that some of the present corporate giants will splinter and that companies will be up for sale at distressed prices.
Your colleagues at News Corp. apparently don't think your departure will signal any immediate dynastic shifts. Rupert, approaching 78, is still the man in charge, and fiercely so. Elisabeth Murdoch recently turned down a seat on the News Corp. board and, having built a billion-dollar company from virtually nothing over a course of six years, seems intent on pursuing that path. James Murdoch apparently is not deemed ready to assume a spot atop the fiefdom, but continues to loom large.
I suppose what this means, Peter, is that you can go about your new initiatives without worrying about an entirely new power structure. Your associates are curious to see how you will cope with the exigencies of production. Having adopted a considerable corporate swagger, will you be prepared to assume the routine of listening to pitches or negotiating for superstar slots?
Powerful agents believe Fox has become so tough on deals, and disdainful of high-maintenance filmmakers, that the studio has lost its creative mojo. There is curiosity whether, given your extraordinary autonomy, you will pursue these rigorous business models.
I have had the opportunity to observe you in various career modes, Peter. When I was president of Lorimar Films, you were a diligent young marketing executive. Here's the bottom line: You were good company then, as well as being diligent and ambitious, and you have remained that way over the years, despite the stresses and strains.
One Chernin moment comes to mind: When you first began to hit the big paydays at News Corp., you pulled me aside at one function to complain about one aspect of
Variety's coverage. "Your paper ran the numbers on my salary yesterday," you said, "and it's put pressure on my kids. Classmates are waving the story in front of them and even asking for loans."
Alas, we weren't able to oblige. And now your annual payday -- $28.8 million last year, including bonuses -- is emblazoned all over the press.
I'm sure your kids have learned to accommodate these pressures, Peter. Big Daddy has done pretty damn well; guiding the Rupert Express has required both finesse and restraint, and the next year or so will be demanding, to say the least.
As Rupert himself wrote in his memo to staff this week, "The downturn we are operating in is more severe and global than anything we have seen before and no company is immune to its effects."
I think liberation was a shrewd option.
Contact Peter Bart at
peter.bart@variety.com