November 3, 2005

The Lesher Of All Evils?

The first thing most people said when I mentioned that Endeavor's John Lesher had finally secured the Paramount Classics job, after being rumored for more than nine months, was a laugh and a "You're kidding, right?"

Nope. Not kidding.

Lesher also made the rookie mistake of announcing the deal to journalists himself without consulting Paramount or, by the way, having a signed deal. Fortunately for Paramount, Fox Searchlight doesn't want to buy Lesher, so the deal should be papered as soon as Lesher returns from his trip to Brazil. But the point is, agents don't self-promote to the public… they self-promote (and promote clients) to relationships inside the industry.

So the story that ran all over town became: "John Lesher, whose never made a movie and represents some well-respected by cash-challenged directors, is in charge of a division of Paramount… which is already a company under scrutiny for hiring a manager to run things and a TV exec as his second-in-command."

Oh yes, and by the way, the head of marketing has failed to open two big films in a row (Elizabethtown & The Weatherman) with Get Rich or Die Tryin', Yours, Mine & Ours, and Aeon Flux due next… that key component got renewed and is busy remaking the department, firing skilled veterans - most of whom have not been the problem children - and replacing them with former employees from MGM.

And while they do have the next Jared Hess comedy for next summer - he created Napoleon Dynamite, if the name rings no bell - and Tom Cruise will deliver a third very, very expensive Mission: Impossible, the studio really isn't making many movies under this regime yet. But they are now the hot place for agents to sell spec scripts that no one else wanted and are unlikely never to be made.

Oh yes, and if the notion that Lesher is negotiating/closing in the press seems familiar, it befits his employment by Brad Grey, who negotiated the price of M:I3 in the press, announced his hire to the press from Hawaii before Paramount had a chance to do the job themselves, and has generally acted like a guy on the other side of the aisle.

None of this is to say, however, that the Paramount ship, Classics or major, will not turn around.

There are a lot of opinions about Lesher in town… but I take the opinions of people who deal with other people with a grain of salt. You can find angels who are vilified, devils who wear halos, great decisions from morons, and bad decisions from geniuses all the time.

Personally, I have always believed that the job defines the player. I could run Paramount Classics and do it well. But I would need to hire a great marketing mind, a seriously experienced business dealing mind, and some sharp acquisitions people whose taste I was very familiar with. John Lesher understands the ins and outs of business dealing better than I could begin to, but until he proves otherwise, his insight on marketing has never been challenged and his "taste" is that of someone who acquires sellable talent, not someone who knows when to say "yes" or "no."

For instance, Lesher client PT Anderson is brilliant. But he has not been able to get funding for a movie in a couple of years because he wouldn't cut Magnolia to a reasonable length, damaging both its business and awards potential, and because he is difficult to work with. So, will PT write his own check at Paramount Classics? And, more importantly, will he respect his former agent enough to be "controlled" in the decisions about the next film?

I love Lesher's former client list. But none of them are "money directors," either in the world of the majors or the indies.

Fernando Meirelles is a genius, but he had no interest in working for the studios after meeting with all of them, and ended up in Constant Gardener late in the game in what was somewhat of a fluke. His current plan is to make a Brazilain-financed film in Africa.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is brilliant, but 21 Grams grossed $16 million domestic and $44 million worldwide, which was not enough to make it into an awards movie here or a major moneymaker for anyone. Of course, Brad Pitt wanted to work with this guy. But the pressure to deliver a movie in Babel that grosses more than $100 million worldwide will be great.

Martin Scorsese plans on going back to smaller films, he says, and having him housed at Par Classics would be a feather in their cap indeed… if it happens.

Walter Salles is a great guy and a terrific director and producer, but he is still Brazilian first and his last two films were box office disappointments, though The Motorcycle Diaries was acclaimed. Could a new team under Lesher have better marketed that title? I guess we'll find out.

And David O. Russell is another great mind, but a pain in the ass to studios.

But all that said, Lesher obviously cannot run a division based solely on his agency clients. No one wants to experience AMG again. And Lesher is smart enough and tough enough to get where he has already gotten.

There is no question that the very short list of people Paramount looked at for this job indicates a problem with Paramount… especially as Lesher and Sloss are both movie salesmen, not filmmakers. (For whatever reasons, Cassian Elwes and Bart Walker - the other two muscle men - appear not to have been approached.) The other two candidates, Michael London and Tom Ortenberg, were more daring choices. But the fact that the list was four deep for month after month after month - others were interviewed, but none were splashy enough to hire - points up the trouble with managers who have only lived in one quadrant of the business.

Additionally, there is every indication that Paramount is not after becoming the next Sony Classics, which befits Lesher's client list. The indication is that they want to be Dimension/New Line/Searchlight. But any of those plays would be well outside Lesher's current box.

There will be an announcement soon for Paramount Classics' release of "The Next Penguins." But that is not Lesher's deal. It's been in the works for months. But it will be on of Lesher's first challenges. Can his new team do with this what WIP did? Ah, the double edged sword.

Lesher could turn out to be a great leader. He might have a vision that is special. He might have ideas that haven't been seriously considered by others. He might hire a great marketing exec - Classics already has a former Miramaxer holding down the fort who could do the job for him and who has experience with big Paramount - who knows how to find the target that will draw more than a pure art house crowd. He might show the cleverness that WIP showed this last year by buying cheap and reconceiving a tiny film. He might have the insight to do as Peter Rice has done and really embrace his marketing and distribution minds as true partners in the process. Maybe he will team with a filmmaker, like Focus, and bring Michael London in for an overall deal and really make London part of the system while allowing the producer to make films happen freely. Or he may just find his own way.

I wish him the best of luck, because a strong Paramount Classics is good news for film lovers. And at the end of the day, it is what Lesher does, not what he's done, that will define his tenure.

E-ME.