Polygram is a major maker of Asian Karaoke titles. They may play a part in MTV for DVD.
"PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) has formed PolyGram Films, a
new motion picture distribution company, to release major studio
level features in the domestic market, announced Michael Kuhn,
president of PFE.
Kuhn further said that all of PFE's domestic film distribution
activities will henceforth be consolidated under the newly formed
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution (PFED) unit headed by
president Andrew Fogelson.
Fogelson will spearhead the creation of the long-awaited new
releasing organization, as well as oversee PolyGram's successful
four-year-old specialized film distribution division, Gramercy
Pictures, which will continue to operate as a separate entity from
PolyGram Films.
Fogelson announced that the PolyGram Films' executive team will
be headed by Peter Graves, who will serve as president of the
marketing group, and William C. Soady, who will serve as president
of distribution. Together, they eventually will oversee the release
of ten to twelve major pictures per year.
PolyGram Films plans to distribute five films in its first year
of operation. Both David Fincher's thriller, The Game, starring
Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and Robert Altman's The Gingerbread
Man, from an original John Grisham screenplay and starring Kenneth
Branaugh, Embeth Davidtz, Daryl Hannah, Robert Downey, Jr. and
Robert Duvall, will be released this fall. In 1998 PolyGram Films
will release Vincent Ward's What Dreams May Come, starring Robin
Williams and Cuba Gooding, Jr., Peter Hewitt's The Borrowers,
starring John Goodman and based on the beloved children's stories by
Mary Norton, and Steve Gomer's Barney's Great Adventure, in which the
popular TV star will make his motion picture debut.
"PolyGram Films will be a cornerstone of our program to establish
PFE as a major force in the global motion picture industry," said
Kuhn. "The motion picture business is financially viable only when
managed as an integrated international business that fully leverages
assets in all markets and media.
"Controlling and exploiting U.S. distribution rights also
enhances our film library, which now numbers over 400 features and is
exploited through PolyGram's own home video and television
distribution companies in the U.S. and abroad."
"The existence of PolyGram Films enables us to control the
domestic release of the increasing number of big budget features we
produce each year," added Fogelson, "That is precisely what Gramercy
Pictures has done so successfully with our specialized release
pictures to date.
"It has been my privilege to know Peter and Bill both personally
and professionally for many years," said Fogelson on announcing his
appointments. "I'm looking forward to working with two executives
who have accomplished so much in this business and who are so highly
regarded by their peers."
Fogelson, has been working with PolyGram since 1995 on the
strategic planning of this new major distribution operation. He is
founder of the AFA Company which was established in 1988 to provide
management and consulting services to entertainment companies. His
clients included Carolco Pictures, Nelson Entertainment, Roland
Joffe's Lightmotive, Le Studio Canal + and a number of independent
producers. He oversaw the launch of the mega-hits Total Recall,
Terminator 2, Basic Instinct, Cliffhanger and Stargate.
In 1986 Fogelson became president of worldwide marketing at
United Artists Pictures. He also served as president of Rastar
Films, where he worked on The Electronic Horseman and Chapter Two.
Named president of worldwide marketing of Warner Bros. in 1977,
Fogelson supervised the promotional campaigns for Superman, Oh! God
and The Goodbye Girl, among many others. Prior to that, he was
executive vice president of Columbia Pictures from 1973 to 1977 where
he initiated the marketing of such pictures as the Who's Tommy and
Shampoo.
PolyGram Films president of marketing Peter Graves has been a
marketing consultant for PolyGram since 1992, working on the
successful theatrical releases of such Academy Award winning films as
Fargo, Dead Man Walking, The Usual Suspects and Priscilla, Queen of
the Desert, as well as Sleepers, Mr. Holland's Opus, French Kiss,
Nell and Four Weddings and a Funeral. He was a long-time advisor to
Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, working on Maverick, Man Without a
Face and Braveheart. His other clients included Scott Free
Productions, Douglas/Reuther Productions, New Regency Films,
Lakeshore Films and Spelling Films. Previously, Graves was executive
vice president of worldwide marketing at Nelson Entertainment,
overseeing the box office hit Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,
among others. Graves has also held executive posts at Warner Bros.
and MGM.
William C. Soady joined PolyGram Films from Showscan
Entertainment Inc., where he was president and chief executive
officer. Under his leadership, the company operated profitably in
two of three years, reversing the firm's previous nine years of
fiscal losses. From 1988 to 1992, he was president of domestic
distribution for TriStar Pictures, orchestrating the release of such
blockbusters as Terminator 2, Sleepless in Seattle, Total Recall,
Philadelphia and Look Who's Talking, among others. From 1981 to
1988, Soady was president of Universal Pictures Distribution. One of
his most notable successes there was the release of 1982's E.T.: The
Extra-Terrestrial, which until recently was the all-time box office
record holder.
PFE is a division of the global music and entertainment group,
PolyGram. The PFE division embraces Hollywood based production
companies Interscope Communications, Island Pictures and Propaganda
Films, and the UK based Working Title Films. PFE also has production
pacts with Jodie Foster's Egg Pictures, Tim Robbins' Havoc Inc.,
David Fincher, Def Pictures, Revolution Films, Act III Productions
and Specific Films. The PFE division encompasses production
companies in France, and the Netherlands, as well as theatrical
television and video distribution operations in Australia/New
Zealand, Benelux, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the UK and
Ireland, and the US (PolyGram Films and Gramercy Pictures). PolyGram
acquired ITC Entertainment Group's film and television catalogue and
television distribution operations in 1995. PolyGram is quoted on
the Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges (ticker symbol: PLG).
--30--rc/ny*
CONTACT: PolyGram Holding, Inc.
Dawn Bridges, 212/333-8357
or
PolyGram Films
Bruce Feldman, 213/634-3490
or
Clein + White
Harry Clein, 310/659-4141
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT
REPEATS: New York 212-752-9600 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-236-4266 or
800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473
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