June 21, 2005-From a press release:
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures Pact in 25-Movie Co-Financing and Production Agreement
Burbank, CA – Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that they have tentatively completed a multi-year, 25-picture agreement, subject to certain provisions, with Legendary investing $500 million in a variety of films to be jointly produced with and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and COO of Warner Bros.; Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures; and Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures. The slate under this agreement will include a variety of films, among them major event releases and pictures of varied genres. In addition to partnering on Warner Bros. Pictures-developed projects, Legendary Pictures will actively develop its own projects as a part of the 25-picture slate.
“We are extremely pleased to be in business with Legendary Pictures,” said Horn and Robinov in a joint statement. “As the process of mounting, marketing and distributing motion pictures remains highly competitive and costly, we welcome the partnership of a skilled, knowledgeable team who can help us manage our risk as we continue to develop and produce top-quality filmed entertainment for the global marketplace. It is a pleasure to be working with Thomas Tull and his group, and we look forward to an exciting and gratifying collaboration.” Agreed Tull, “We are thrilled to be in partnership with Alan Horn, Jeff Robinov and their world-class production, marketing and distribution teams at Warner Bros. Pictures. We look forward to joining our creative and financial resources in this long-term relationship.”
Legendary Pictures investors include ABRY Partners, AIG Direct Investments, Banc of America Capital Investors, Columbia Capital, Falcon Investment Advisors and M/C Venture Partners. The Legendary management team consists, in addition to Tull, of industry veterans Chris Lee, president; Larry Clark, COO and CFO; Scott Mednick, Chief Marketing Officer; and William Fay, President of Physical Production. Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, has most recently been president and a director of The Convex Group, a media and entertainment holding company. Tull executed M&A activity, including the acquisitions of content company How Stuff Works and content distribution platforms LidRock and FlexPlay. He developed the company’s relationships and partnerships with motion picture, music and videogame companies. Prior to Convex, Tull was a principal at the Southeast Interactive Technology Funds, the largest venture-capital IT fund in the Southeast.
Chris Lee, Legendary’s President, will manage the relationship with Warner Bros. Pictures’ development teams. He is the former head of production for TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures. He has supervised such motion pictures as Jerry Maguire, Philadelphia, As Good As It Gets, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Fisher King, The Mask of Zorro and Apt Pupil. Lee is currently producing 300, which is a Warner Bros. Pictures film slated for worldwide release in 2007.
Scott Mednick, Chief Marketing Officer of Legendary Pictures, has been a leader in the entertainment, marketing and technology sectors for the last 25 years. He has been involved in the marketing for more than 170 films, including such varied titles as Jerry Maguire, Coal Miner’s Daughter, This is Spinal Tap, X-Men and Dirty Dancing; his individual entertainment clients have included Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Denzel Washington. Additionally, Mednick has created the logos for such Hollywood entities as Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures.
Larry Clark, COO and CFO of Legendary Pictures, will oversee finances and day-to-day operations, including analyses for use in making Legendary’s greenlight decisions on films. He was most recently CFO for Creative Artists Agency and, prior to that, was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
William Fay, President of Physical Production for Legendary Pictures, has produced or executive produced such films as The Patriot, Godzilla and Independence Day. He also spent six years as president of Centropolis Entertainment, a major motion-picture production entity owned by director Roland Emmerich. Perseus Group LLC, the San Francisco-based investment banking firm, acted as financial advisor to Legendary Pictures for the transaction.
June 22, 2005-Hole announces that their reunion album, Celebrity Skin, will be released around Thanksgiving. "I'm very proud of this album," Courtney Love announces. "It feels like we were never gone, and this easily could've come out back in the '90s."
June 24, 2005-The prosecution in the Weinstein trial rests their case, and the defense starts by calling a former lover of Rose McGowan to impugn her videotaped testimony. Clearly, Weinstein, if he is going to testify, is being saved for last, but odds are likely that he won't be called.