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John Dartigue, who spent more than two decades in the publicity department at Warner Bros., died Nov. 9 in Los Angeles following a sudden illness, his family announced. He was 82.
Dartigue entered the film industry in 1965 at United Artists through Robert Benjamin, the company’s co-chairman and a family friend. He started as a reader in the story department before becoming a trainee in foreign advertising and publicity under pioneering studio executive Ashley Boone.
Dartigue switched to the domestic side of PR, where he rose through the ranks before serving as director of publicity beginning in 1975 and then vp advertising and publicity in 1978.
During his tenure at UA, he helped promote the first 10 James Bond films, the four Beatles movies, Sergio Leone’s Westerns with Clint Eastwood and features from Federico Fellini, François Truffaut, Martin Scorsese, John Schlesinger, Brian De Palma and Francis Ford Coppola.
John Dartigue, who spent more than two decades in the publicity department at Warner Bros., died Nov. 9 in Los Angeles following a sudden illness, his family announced. He was 82.
Dartigue entered the film industry in 1965 at United Artists through Robert Benjamin, the company’s co-chairman and a family friend. He started as a reader in the story department before becoming a trainee in foreign advertising and publicity under pioneering studio executive Ashley Boone.
Dartigue switched to the domestic side of PR, where he rose through the ranks before serving as director of publicity beginning in 1975 and then vp advertising and publicity in 1978.
During his tenure at UA, he helped promote the first 10 James Bond films, the four Beatles movies, Sergio Leone’s Westerns with Clint Eastwood and features from Federico Fellini, François Truffaut, Martin Scorsese, John Schlesinger, Brian De Palma and Francis Ford Coppola.
- 11/21/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be taking a trip to Vienna for a six-week programming initiative including a symposium and film series with a distinct cinematic connection to that fabled Austrian city.
The museum announced today the series launch on December 10 and running through January 31. It is designed to explore what the museum describes as the “large community of predominately Jewish, Austrian-born film artists and professionals who helped shape the films and industry of classical era Hollywood.” Titled “Vienna in Hollywood: Emigres and Exiles in the Studio System,” the series is presented in collaboration with the USC Libraries and the USC Max Kade Institute. The Austrian Consulate General in L.A. also is offering support.
Bill Kramer, director and president of the Academy Museum, said: “During the classical Hollywood era, so many beloved films and so many components of the movie industry were developed and shaped by Austrian émigrés,...
The museum announced today the series launch on December 10 and running through January 31. It is designed to explore what the museum describes as the “large community of predominately Jewish, Austrian-born film artists and professionals who helped shape the films and industry of classical era Hollywood.” Titled “Vienna in Hollywood: Emigres and Exiles in the Studio System,” the series is presented in collaboration with the USC Libraries and the USC Max Kade Institute. The Austrian Consulate General in L.A. also is offering support.
Bill Kramer, director and president of the Academy Museum, said: “During the classical Hollywood era, so many beloved films and so many components of the movie industry were developed and shaped by Austrian émigrés,...
- 10/25/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced Vienna in Hollywood, a new six-week program launching on Dec. 10 that explores the history of the predominantly Jewish, Austrian-born community of filmmakers and professionals who helped shape the classical era of Hollywood.
Jewish immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe including actor-director Erich von Stroheim and composer Max Steiner were major players in the early establishment of the American film industry in the 1920s. Due to Nazi persecution, a larger wave came in the ‘30s and ‘40s, bringing in talent such as the directors Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang; actors Hedy Lamarr and Peter Lorre; producers Eric Pleskow and Sam Spiegel; screenwriters Vicki Baum and Gina Kaus; and composers Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Ernest Gold. With a symposium and film series, Vienna in Hollywood will pay tribute to these artists and many more.
The two-day symposium is titled Vienna in Hollywood: The Influence and...
Jewish immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe including actor-director Erich von Stroheim and composer Max Steiner were major players in the early establishment of the American film industry in the 1920s. Due to Nazi persecution, a larger wave came in the ‘30s and ‘40s, bringing in talent such as the directors Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang; actors Hedy Lamarr and Peter Lorre; producers Eric Pleskow and Sam Spiegel; screenwriters Vicki Baum and Gina Kaus; and composers Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Ernest Gold. With a symposium and film series, Vienna in Hollywood will pay tribute to these artists and many more.
The two-day symposium is titled Vienna in Hollywood: The Influence and...
- 10/25/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood studio executive William Bernstein, a co-founder of Orion Pictures who also worked for United Artists and Paramount Pictures, died Wednesday. He was 87.
Longtime associate Mike Medavoy confirmed Bernstein’s death, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “He was a brilliant guy, just very very smart,” Medavoy said.
Bernstein, Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow departed United Artists and launched Orion in 1978 as a mini-major that was the first significant new player in Hollywood in many decades. Medavoy credited Bernstein with conceiving the name of the studio. Bernstein explained the choice in a 1992 interview with the New York Times
“Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us, and it was the brightest constellation in February, when we were forming the company,” he told the newspaper. “Besides, it was simple to spell.”
Between 1984 and 1991, Orion released four films that won the Academy Award for best picture: “Amadeus,...
Longtime associate Mike Medavoy confirmed Bernstein’s death, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “He was a brilliant guy, just very very smart,” Medavoy said.
Bernstein, Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow departed United Artists and launched Orion in 1978 as a mini-major that was the first significant new player in Hollywood in many decades. Medavoy credited Bernstein with conceiving the name of the studio. Bernstein explained the choice in a 1992 interview with the New York Times
“Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us, and it was the brightest constellation in February, when we were forming the company,” he told the newspaper. “Besides, it was simple to spell.”
Between 1984 and 1991, Orion released four films that won the Academy Award for best picture: “Amadeus,...
- 10/8/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
William “Bill” Bernstein, who spent six decades in the motion picture business, died today at age 87, according to his longtime friend, Jeff Frankel.
In 1978, Bernstein, along with four other executives from United Artists, including Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, Mike Medavoy and Robert Benjamin, departed United Artists to found Orion Pictures. Mr. Bernstein conceived of the name of the studio. In an interview with the New York Times in 1992, Mr. Bernstein was quoted as follows: “Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us…..”
Bernstein was an executive vice president during the time the company distributed such pictures as Amadeus”, “Platoon”, “Dances with Wolves” and “The Silence of the Lambs”, all of which won Academy Awards for Best Picture. Dances with Wolves won seven Academy Awards, and The Silence of the Lambs won all five major Academy Awards (a feat that has only occurred three times in history).
Born in the Bronx,...
In 1978, Bernstein, along with four other executives from United Artists, including Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, Mike Medavoy and Robert Benjamin, departed United Artists to found Orion Pictures. Mr. Bernstein conceived of the name of the studio. In an interview with the New York Times in 1992, Mr. Bernstein was quoted as follows: “Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us…..”
Bernstein was an executive vice president during the time the company distributed such pictures as Amadeus”, “Platoon”, “Dances with Wolves” and “The Silence of the Lambs”, all of which won Academy Awards for Best Picture. Dances with Wolves won seven Academy Awards, and The Silence of the Lambs won all five major Academy Awards (a feat that has only occurred three times in history).
Born in the Bronx,...
- 10/8/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
William Bernstein, the longtime studio executive who exited United Artists with four others to launch Orion Pictures in 1978, then spent a decade at Paramount Pictures, died Thursday at his Bel Air home of Parkinson’s disease, a family spokesman said. He was 87.
Along with Mike Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow, Bernstein departed UA, which had been sold to Transamerica in 1967, to form Orion, the first new major player in Hollywood since the 1930s.
It was Bernstein who came up with the name of the studio; he once told The New York Times, “Orion is the ...
Along with Mike Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow, Bernstein departed UA, which had been sold to Transamerica in 1967, to form Orion, the first new major player in Hollywood since the 1930s.
It was Bernstein who came up with the name of the studio; he once told The New York Times, “Orion is the ...
- 10/8/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
William Bernstein, the longtime studio executive who exited United Artists with four others to launch Orion Pictures in 1978, then spent a decade at Paramount Pictures, died Thursday, a family spokesman said. He was 87.
Along with Mike Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow, Bernstein departed UA, which had been sold to Transamerica in 1967, to form Orion, the first new major player in Hollywood since the 1930s.
It was Bernstein who came up with the name of the studio; he once told The New York Times, “Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us....
Along with Mike Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow, Bernstein departed UA, which had been sold to Transamerica in 1967, to form Orion, the first new major player in Hollywood since the 1930s.
It was Bernstein who came up with the name of the studio; he once told The New York Times, “Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us....
- 10/8/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MGM is re-launching its Orion Pictures as a mean to amplify underserved voices and has hired veteran executive Alana Mayo as president of the label.
The studio announced Thursday that Orion will concentrate exclusively on underrepresented voices and authentic storytelling in film with a focus on developing, producing and acquiring feature films that amplify underserved voices, both in front of and behind the camera.
Current Orion president John Hegeman will be stepping down along with his team in early October, after the release of “Bill and Ted Face the Music.” The announcement was made jointly by Michael De Luca, MGM’s Film Group Chairman and Pam Abdy, MGM’s Film Group President.
“We are at an exciting and critical tipping point in our industry. For years many filmmakers and creators who have been considered and treated as outsiders have nonetheless persisted in creating visionary films that drew audiences across the globe and defined culture,...
The studio announced Thursday that Orion will concentrate exclusively on underrepresented voices and authentic storytelling in film with a focus on developing, producing and acquiring feature films that amplify underserved voices, both in front of and behind the camera.
Current Orion president John Hegeman will be stepping down along with his team in early October, after the release of “Bill and Ted Face the Music.” The announcement was made jointly by Michael De Luca, MGM’s Film Group Chairman and Pam Abdy, MGM’s Film Group President.
“We are at an exciting and critical tipping point in our industry. For years many filmmakers and creators who have been considered and treated as outsiders have nonetheless persisted in creating visionary films that drew audiences across the globe and defined culture,...
- 8/20/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Eric Pleskow, a long-time Hollywood executive who served as the head of Orion Pictures and United Artists and oversaw the production of 14 different Oscar winners for Best Pictures, has died. He was 95.
Pleskow’s death was announced Tuesday by the Vienna Film Festival; the Austrian-born executive and film producer had served as the festival’s president since 1998.
“His death is a great loss for all of us. Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight,” the Viennale said in a statement. He will be missed deeply. We express our sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to his family.
Also Read: Jessye Norman, Opera Legend, Dies at 74
As president of United Artists between 1973 to 1978 Pleskow — the first European to lead the company since...
Pleskow’s death was announced Tuesday by the Vienna Film Festival; the Austrian-born executive and film producer had served as the festival’s president since 1998.
“His death is a great loss for all of us. Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight,” the Viennale said in a statement. He will be missed deeply. We express our sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to his family.
Also Read: Jessye Norman, Opera Legend, Dies at 74
As president of United Artists between 1973 to 1978 Pleskow — the first European to lead the company since...
- 10/1/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Eric Pleskow, who ran United Artists, co-founded and led Orion Pictures and produced John Boorman’s Beyond Rangoon, died today in Westport, Ct. He was 95.
The Austria native also has served as president of the Vienna International Film Festival since 1998. The Viennale announced his death but did not provide any details:
Eric Pleskow (1924-2019)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our president and friend Eric Pleskow. pic.twitter.com/80dJc5J0p9
— Viennale (@Viennale) October 1, 2019
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the Vienna fest said in a blog post.. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
Born on April 24, 1924, in Vienna, Pleskow and his family fled Europe via France days before...
The Austria native also has served as president of the Vienna International Film Festival since 1998. The Viennale announced his death but did not provide any details:
Eric Pleskow (1924-2019)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our president and friend Eric Pleskow. pic.twitter.com/80dJc5J0p9
— Viennale (@Viennale) October 1, 2019
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the Vienna fest said in a blog post.. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
Born on April 24, 1924, in Vienna, Pleskow and his family fled Europe via France days before...
- 10/1/2019
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Eric Pleskow, who was a key management player in United Artists and Orion Pictures over a 30-year period and was involved in the production of 14 Oscar best-picture winners, including “West Side Story,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Platoon” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” died on Tuesday. He was 95.
The Vienna International Film Festival annouced his death.
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the festival said in a statement. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
The Viennese-born executive rose through the ranks at UA under Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin and eventually became president and CEO at Orion Pictures, a motion picture company formed by Pleskow, Krim,...
The Vienna International Film Festival annouced his death.
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the festival said in a statement. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
The Viennese-born executive rose through the ranks at UA under Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin and eventually became president and CEO at Orion Pictures, a motion picture company formed by Pleskow, Krim,...
- 10/1/2019
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
Eric Pleskow, the former studio head at United Artists and Orion Pictures whose companies won seven best picture Oscars under his watch, has died. He was 95.
Pleskow died Tuesday in Westport, Connecticut, Eva Rotter, managing director of the Vienna International Film Festival, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had served as president of the Viennale since 1998.
"His death is a great loss for all of us," the festival said in a statement. "Eric had a fulfilled and long life, and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of ...
Pleskow died Tuesday in Westport, Connecticut, Eva Rotter, managing director of the Vienna International Film Festival, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had served as president of the Viennale since 1998.
"His death is a great loss for all of us," the festival said in a statement. "Eric had a fulfilled and long life, and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of ...
- 10/1/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eric Pleskow, the former studio head at United Artists and Orion Pictures whose companies won seven best picture Oscars under his watch, has died. He was 95.
Pleskow died Tuesday in Westport, Connecticut, Eva Rotter, managing director of the Vienna International Film Festival, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had served as president of the Viennale since 1998.
"His death is a great loss for all of us," the festival said in a statement. "Eric had a fulfilled and long life, and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of ...
Pleskow died Tuesday in Westport, Connecticut, Eva Rotter, managing director of the Vienna International Film Festival, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had served as president of the Viennale since 1998.
"His death is a great loss for all of us," the festival said in a statement. "Eric had a fulfilled and long life, and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of ...
- 10/1/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has slowly worked its way out of a financial morass, and now chairman/CEO Gary Barber has revived its venerable Orion Pictures label as a full-service distribution company with marketing executive John Hegeman as president. Positioned right before the Toronto acquisitions market, Orion has announced its first release with Michael Sucsy’s young adult romance, “Every Day” (February 2, 2018), starring Angourie Rice, Maria Bello, and Debby Ryan.
Founded in 1978 by the United Artists management troika of Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert Benjamin (partnering with Warner Bros.), Orion Pictures produced and released films and television until 1999. In its prime, Orion was home to four Best Picture Oscar winners: Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” (1984), Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” (1986), Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” (1990), and Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Also landing Best Picture nominations were Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning...
Founded in 1978 by the United Artists management troika of Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert Benjamin (partnering with Warner Bros.), Orion Pictures produced and released films and television until 1999. In its prime, Orion was home to four Best Picture Oscar winners: Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” (1984), Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” (1986), Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” (1990), and Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Also landing Best Picture nominations were Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning...
- 9/6/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has slowly worked its way out of a financial morass, and now chairman/CEO Gary Barber has revived its venerable Orion Pictures label as a full-service distribution company with marketing executive John Hegeman as president. Positioned right before the Toronto acquisitions market, Orion has announced its first release with Michael Sucsy’s young adult romance, “Every Day” (February 2, 2018), starring Angourie Rice, Maria Bello, and Debby Ryan.
Founded in 1978 by the United Artists management troika of Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert Benjamin (partnering with Warner Bros.), Orion Pictures produced and released films and television until 1999. In its prime, Orion was home to four Best Picture Oscar winners: Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” (1984), Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” (1986), Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” (1990), and Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Also landing Best Picture nominations were Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning...
Founded in 1978 by the United Artists management troika of Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert Benjamin (partnering with Warner Bros.), Orion Pictures produced and released films and television until 1999. In its prime, Orion was home to four Best Picture Oscar winners: Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” (1984), Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” (1986), Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” (1990), and Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Also landing Best Picture nominations were Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and Alan Parker’s “Mississippi Burning...
- 9/6/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Orion, the precursor to Sony Pictures Classics, has taken on new life. When MGM bought the label in 1996 after its declared bankruptcy in 1991 was over, it waited until 2013 when it once again used the name Orion as a tv brand for “Paternity Court”, the syndicated court show. Now, as reported by Variety, September 11, 2014, “MGM intends to use the venerable indie name Orion as a brand for smaller releases, both domestically and internationally, on VOD and limited theatrical.”
See Orion Pictures Label Returns for First Time in 15 Years
Variety recalls Orion as the distributor of ‘80s and ‘90s independent hits such as “RoboCop,” “The Terminator” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”
I remember Orion Classic’s Donna Gigliotti, my counterpart when I was at Lorimar and her two colleagues, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, now of Sony Pictures Classics. Together we bought Working Title and Channel Four’s “My Beautiful Laundrette” in 1985 and “End of the Line” together and briefly thought we would do Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Spaulding Grey’s “Swimming to Cambodia” together with producer and now-professor of film at Nyu, Peter Newman. Some drama with Donna pouring her white wine over Peter as the film went to Cinecom where now-Columbia Film School’s Chairman, Ira Deutchman, exec produced it at while at Cinecom. It was Ira who gave me a pirated version of Q&A, the first database which I turned into FilmFinders, my company of 25 years until bought and buried by IMDb in 2008.
But most of all I remember Orion’s principals and founders Arthur Krim, Orion's board chairman; Eric Pleskow, president and chief executive officer; William Bernstein and Mike Medavoy who were the most wonderful men in the business. Smart and well educated men with a respect that touched me deeply and led me gently into the business.
In 1982 they acquired the almost equally well-loved Filmways after investment banking firms of Wertheim and Company and Bear, Stearns and Company chose them as the top contenders for the troubled Filmways. At that time, in 1982, Orion’s own movies were not doing so well either.
Orion had been formed in the spring of 1978 by the former top management team at United Artists, which had left in a dispute with Transamerica, the insurance company parent of United Artists. Orion had been releasing its films through Warner Brothers but was eager to acquire a distribution network of its own. Filmways had the nation's seventh-largest film distribution network, with 16 branch offices in the United States. (The other six were the major studios.) New York Times reported extensively about this in 1982 and as I was getting my sea legs on this ship of fools we call the film business, this was the most important news of the day.
And now Orion is making its first theatrical appearance in 15 years with
“The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” a horror movie from “American Horror Story” director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. A recently released trailer of the film features the Orion label, its first appearance since 1999’s “One Man’s Hero.” “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” is the second recent production to carry the Orion label, following Brazilian film “Vestido Pra Casar” which is to go out theatrically later this year. “Town” will also be released under the Bh Tilt label, a recently-created multiplatform expansion from Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse’s international sales are handled by Stuart Ford’s Im Global.
MGM’s Orion Releasing is also releasing Mark Platt’s production, “ We’ll Never Have Paris”, which is being represented internationally by K5 (“The Visitor”) and distributed in Benelux by Cdc United Network, in the Middle East by Falcon, and in the U.K. by Metrodome Distribution.
As a postscript, I want to say that I still love this crazy business. Plus ça change, plus c’est la mĕme chose.
.
See Orion Pictures Label Returns for First Time in 15 Years
Variety recalls Orion as the distributor of ‘80s and ‘90s independent hits such as “RoboCop,” “The Terminator” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”
I remember Orion Classic’s Donna Gigliotti, my counterpart when I was at Lorimar and her two colleagues, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, now of Sony Pictures Classics. Together we bought Working Title and Channel Four’s “My Beautiful Laundrette” in 1985 and “End of the Line” together and briefly thought we would do Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Spaulding Grey’s “Swimming to Cambodia” together with producer and now-professor of film at Nyu, Peter Newman. Some drama with Donna pouring her white wine over Peter as the film went to Cinecom where now-Columbia Film School’s Chairman, Ira Deutchman, exec produced it at while at Cinecom. It was Ira who gave me a pirated version of Q&A, the first database which I turned into FilmFinders, my company of 25 years until bought and buried by IMDb in 2008.
But most of all I remember Orion’s principals and founders Arthur Krim, Orion's board chairman; Eric Pleskow, president and chief executive officer; William Bernstein and Mike Medavoy who were the most wonderful men in the business. Smart and well educated men with a respect that touched me deeply and led me gently into the business.
In 1982 they acquired the almost equally well-loved Filmways after investment banking firms of Wertheim and Company and Bear, Stearns and Company chose them as the top contenders for the troubled Filmways. At that time, in 1982, Orion’s own movies were not doing so well either.
Orion had been formed in the spring of 1978 by the former top management team at United Artists, which had left in a dispute with Transamerica, the insurance company parent of United Artists. Orion had been releasing its films through Warner Brothers but was eager to acquire a distribution network of its own. Filmways had the nation's seventh-largest film distribution network, with 16 branch offices in the United States. (The other six were the major studios.) New York Times reported extensively about this in 1982 and as I was getting my sea legs on this ship of fools we call the film business, this was the most important news of the day.
And now Orion is making its first theatrical appearance in 15 years with
“The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” a horror movie from “American Horror Story” director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. A recently released trailer of the film features the Orion label, its first appearance since 1999’s “One Man’s Hero.” “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” is the second recent production to carry the Orion label, following Brazilian film “Vestido Pra Casar” which is to go out theatrically later this year. “Town” will also be released under the Bh Tilt label, a recently-created multiplatform expansion from Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse’s international sales are handled by Stuart Ford’s Im Global.
MGM’s Orion Releasing is also releasing Mark Platt’s production, “ We’ll Never Have Paris”, which is being represented internationally by K5 (“The Visitor”) and distributed in Benelux by Cdc United Network, in the Middle East by Falcon, and in the U.K. by Metrodome Distribution.
As a postscript, I want to say that I still love this crazy business. Plus ça change, plus c’est la mĕme chose.
.
- 10/21/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Dallas International Film Festival, which will run from April 12-22, 2012, has announced its 2012 lineup. The lineup features several world premieres, including the debut of Timothy Armstrong's "Cowgirls N' Angels" and Will Moore's "Satellite of Love." At their Film Society Honors event, the festival will give an award to former United Artists and Orion Pictures President and CEO Eric Pleskow, who oversaw the release of such classics as "West Side Story," "Midnight Cowboy," "Amadeus" and "Silence of the Lambs." It was also announced that the winner of the festival's Texas Competition will receive a camera rental package worth $30,000 courtesy of Panavision. The complete lineup is below. For more information on the films, visit the Dallas Film Society website here. Centerpiece My Way (South Korea) – Texas Premiere Director: Je-gyu Kang Premiere Series ...
- 3/15/2012
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
On Monday afternoon, I had the opportunity to chat by phone for about an hour with Mike Medavoy, the Hollywood insider with a star on the Walk of Fame who started out in a studio mailroom over 50 years ago, worked his way up to casting director, morphed into a talent agent, became head of production at a studio, and then decided to be a producer himself. Last year, Phoenix Pictures, the production company that he and Arnold Messer co-founded in 1995 and have run together ever since, released two critically-acclaimed and commercially-triumphant films: Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” and Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.” Thanks to the best picture nomination for the latter, Medavoy is now, for the first time — after more than four decades in the business, and having previously helped to guide no fewer than 16 films to best picture Oscar nominations, including seven that won — an Oscar nominee himself.
- 2/17/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
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