Movies reel in funding, Funder feeds $250 million to 8 top directors
Garondo Marondo
By VARIETY STAFF
Despite a worldwide credit crunch, equity funding is still pouring
into the movie business.
Media Rights Capital has committed $250 million to fully finance eight
films from directors Robert Rodriguez, Ricky Gervais, Walter Salles,
Ryan Murphy, Richard Kelly, Bennett Miller and Todd Field. Funds come
from a combination of Fortune 500 companies, Wall Street money and
private equity, and investors including AT&T, Goldman Sachs and WPP
Group.
The eight pics span the comedy, drama, family and horror genres, and
MRC partners Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu are betting big that
distributors will place a premium on high-quality fare to fill holes
in their 2008 and 2009 slates. MRC will be racing against the same
clock as the majors in trying to get its pics completed in advance of
an expected Hollywood work stoppage next June. The MRC duo said they
expect to complete production on all eight by next summer.
Distribution rights to nearly all of the pics are available, with one
exception: "Bruno," the Sacha Baron Cohen starrer based on the
Austrian fashion reporter character, which, like Borat, originated on
Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show." Universal has already committed $42.5
million to license English-speaking territories, winning a four-studio
bidding battle just before "Borat" was released last year.
While MRC has begun to expand into broadband Internet programming and
is on the verge of a TV division launch, its eight-pic slate marks the
company's most ambitious step since the company was formed in 2003.
That happened while Wiczyk was an agent at Endeavor, and shortly after
his Harvard classmate Satchu was looking for a challenge after selling
his 2-year-old startup Suppliermarket.com for $1.1 billion to software
technology company Ariba.
MRC started off with about $15 million in capital that Satchu raised,
with Endeavor getting a small stake by being a ground-floor supporter
and helping get films like "Babel" off the ground.
Wiczyk left Endeavor last November to join MRC. He brought a
philosophy in indie financing honed by his stints at Summit
Entertainment and Endeavor, while Satchu had legitimacy on Wall Street
through his track record of turning a profit for his dot-com
investors. The combination has helped MRC raise a war chest of more
than $400 million.
Because of Wiczyk's tie to Endeavor and the fact that the agency
continues to hold a minority stake, MRC has battled the perception
that it is a financing arm for an agency trying to flout rules that
prevent percenteries from producing. The new list of projects won't
entirely quiet doubters, because Rodriguez, Gervais, Salles, Baron
Cohen, Miller and Field are all Endeavor clients.
Neither MRC's Wiczyk nor Satchu see it as an issue, and neither did
CAA; That agency reps directors Murphy and Kelly, as well some of the
high-profile talent that will headline the films, including Cameron
Diaz, Anthony Hopkins and Mirren.
Wiczyk said MRC is in business with UTA, ICM and WMA on upcoming TV
and online programming ventures. He said the new films came together
after a long courtship of artists he and Satchu wanted to be in
business with.
"We get up in the morning, and we call every attorney, agency and
manager that we want to be in business (with), relentlessly," said
Wiczyk, 35, who shares an office with Satchu, 36. While MRC has a
staff of 25 (most of whom evaluate risk and crunch numbers), Wiczyk
and Satchu make the ultimate call on which films they back.
Their pitch to talent boils down to a simple concept that MRC road-
tested on "Babel," and with the upcoming films "Sleuth" and "The
Tourist."
"It comes down to more money, and more control for artists, and this
company's core strength, the ability to valuate films and place them
for distribution in an optimal way," Wiczyk said. For talent, that
means equity partner treatment, high upfront fees against gross
participation and creative control. MRC doesn't develop material or
take producing credits on films it bankrolls.
Another lure for talent is an ownership deal that no studio would
make. Since MRC's licensing deals give studios short-term distribution
rights -- Universal has "Bruno" for only 15 years, for instance --
MRC's offer of shared copyright ownership is more meaningful than
similar deals that are of lesser value because studios have tied up
distribution rights in perpetuity.
The funding cushion gives MRC the luxury of being able to carry
through production on any of the eight films in the event they are not
pre-sold to a distrib.
Wiczyk and Satchu bankrolled films they feel they can match with the
right distributor in deals that will give artists high upfront fees
against gross participation. If MRC doesn't get what it wants, the
company will rent a distribution system, Wiczyk said.
"With our deep capital base, we have the luxury of not having to pre-
sell all our films," Wiczyk said. "We have the ability to select the
appropriate and optimal deal and distributor for each territory, each
media and each project."
Wiczyk added that MRC gives its filmmakers input into those decisions
on distribution.
Satchu noted that "given the uncertainty of film production for the
foreseeable future, there is great demand for greenlit, elite projects
right now."
In addition to Baron Cohen's "Bruno," MRC will be financing:
n "Shorts," a film Rodriguez wrote and will direct and produce at his
Austin, Texas-based Troublemaker Studios. Family-friendly project in
the vein of Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" series concerns a group of kids who
stumble upon a magical device.
n "This Side of Truth," a comedy that marks the feature directing
debut of Gervais ("The Office" and "Extras"). Set in the present day
in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, project focuses
on a loser who changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to
full advantage to get ahead. Gervais will co-direct with co-writer
Matthew Robinson, and Lynda Obst and Oly Obst are producing.
Production begins in March.
n "Linha de passe," a film that "Motorcycle Diaries" helmer Salles is
shooting in Brazil, is about a group of brothers who struggle to
escape the slums in a variety of ways. Salles is co-directing with
Daniela Thomas, who wrote the script with Salles and George Moura.
Salles, Mauricio Ramos and Rebecca Yeldham are producing.
n "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho," a film that "Nip/Tuck"
creator-exec producer Murphy will direct in January. Hopkins is set to
play the legendary helmer and Mirren his wife and longtime
collaborator, Alma Reville. Tom Thayer and Alan Barnette are producing
the John McLaughlin-scripted drama.
n "The Box," a previously announced horror film written and directed
by Kelly ("Donnie Darko"), will star Diaz and shoot in December, with
Kelly and Sean McKittrick producing.
n "Foxcatcher" is Miller's directorial follow-up to "Capote." Scripted
by E. May Frye, the drama focuses on John E. du Pont, the paranoid
schizophrenic heir who, after building the wrestling training facility
Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate, shot and killed Olympic
gold medal-winning grappler David Schultz. Miller will produce with
Jon Kilik, with lensing set to begin next spring.
Also on deck is an untitled drama from "In the Bedroom" and "Little
Children" helmer Field. Plot's under wraps, but Field wrote the script
and will produce with Leon Vitali. Production begins in the spring.