With regard to the events at Cannon - this short excerpt from THR should give you an idea:
"Israeli cousins Golan and Globus came to America in the late 1970s and shortly thereafter acquired Cannon, then a small public company. During the first half of the 1980s, the cousins turned Cannon into the largest, loudest, most prolific independent distributor in the world, creating the model for the modern specialized film company. Their mix of exploitation and art films included the "Death Wish" series, "Enter the Ninja," "Revenge of the Ninja," "Bloodsport," "Breakin'," "Salsa," Robert Altman's "Fool for Love," Franco Zeffirelli's "Otello," "Runaway Train," "Maria's Lovers," "Over the Top," "Cobra" and "Delta Force."
Cannon's rise was tied closely to the growing presence of Credit
Lyonnais bank as a primary financier of the independent film industry.
When Cannon got into a cash crunch in about 1986, the bank encouraged Golan and Globus to find new investors. That's when Parretti and Florio Fiorini, a pair of fast-talking Italian businessmen who later described themselves as corporate "asset strippers," entered their lives.
Parretti and Fiorini convinced Credit Lyonnais to lend them
millions of dollars with which to take control of Cannon. Parretti
promised to build a major new entertainment company, and Globus bought into his vision.
Golan did not, leading to a major falling-out between the cousins.
Golan left Cannon in about 1989 and revived a small film company, 21st Century Pictures, as part of his settlement. He did not speak to Globus for more than five years, and 21st Century later went bankrupt and was overtaken by Credit Lyonnais.
Parretti, with Globus as a close associate, took over MGM, mostly with Credit Lyonnais' money. The takeover was a disaster, however, and within a year, the bank took back MGM, which it sold last year. There was a spate of lawsuits, billions in writedowns by the scandal-ridden bank and criminal charges against Parretti, who is now a fugitive from U.S. justice living in Italy.
Since leaving MGM, Golan has been based in Israel, where his Globus Group owns a significant distribution company, Noah Films, that handles Paramount, MGM, Universal and Warner Bros. films. Noah also owns the largest film studio in Israel -- which Golan said will be used for production of some Miracle films -- as well as other assets.
Golan said he has only pity now for Parretti, whom he calls "a
stock manipulator." He said he believes that if Parretti had not
come along, Cannon "would have lasted, and today it would be as big as anybody in Hollywood."
[Apologies to THF for this]
As you can - it was quite a messy business |
