Kevin Spacey and his production partner join Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...n-spacey-relativity-media-20160108-story.html
Highflying mini-mogul Ryan Kavanaugh is turning to a respected Hollywood celebrity to revive his struggling movie studio.
"House of Cards" star Kevin Spacey and his production partner Dana Brunetti are set to join Kavanaugh's Relativity Media in a surprising development for the entertainment company that has been in bankruptcy since last summer.
Relativity said late Wednesday that it has entered an agreement to acquire Los Angeles-based Trigger Street Productions, the company owned and operated by Spacey and Brunetti, though Kavanaugh's firm did not say what it is paying for Trigger Street.
Spacey will become chairman of Relativity Studios — the film unit of Relativity Media — and Brunetti will be the unit's president, starting in mid-February. The pair will "oversee all creative content and film production for the company," Relativity said in a statement.
Relativity declined to comment beyond its news release announcing the deal, and neither Spacey nor Brunetti were made available for interviews.
The reputations of Relativity and Kavanaugh have taken a major hit from the bankruptcy after court filings listed Relativity's liabilities at nearly $1.2 billion and its book value at $560 million. Many in Hollywood have wondered how the flamboyant chief executive would get the financing to continue to make and release new movies.
But the recruitment of Spacey and Brunetti could bring the enterprise a sense of much-needed credibility as it prepares to put out delayed pictures, such as the Halle Berry thriller "Kidnap" and the Zach Galifianakis-Kristen Wiig comedy "Masterminds."
Spacey's appointment would not be the first time that an entertainment company has turned to a powerful celebrity-turned-executive to boost its business. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Tom Cruise famously rebooted the storied United Artists in 2006, but that venture fizzled after releasing movies like "Lions for Lambs" and "Valkyrie," which both starred Cruise.
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Hadn't heard of this move until Chaplin mentioned it.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...n-spacey-relativity-media-20160108-story.html
Highflying mini-mogul Ryan Kavanaugh is turning to a respected Hollywood celebrity to revive his struggling movie studio.
"House of Cards" star Kevin Spacey and his production partner Dana Brunetti are set to join Kavanaugh's Relativity Media in a surprising development for the entertainment company that has been in bankruptcy since last summer.
Relativity said late Wednesday that it has entered an agreement to acquire Los Angeles-based Trigger Street Productions, the company owned and operated by Spacey and Brunetti, though Kavanaugh's firm did not say what it is paying for Trigger Street.
Spacey will become chairman of Relativity Studios — the film unit of Relativity Media — and Brunetti will be the unit's president, starting in mid-February. The pair will "oversee all creative content and film production for the company," Relativity said in a statement.
Relativity declined to comment beyond its news release announcing the deal, and neither Spacey nor Brunetti were made available for interviews.
The reputations of Relativity and Kavanaugh have taken a major hit from the bankruptcy after court filings listed Relativity's liabilities at nearly $1.2 billion and its book value at $560 million. Many in Hollywood have wondered how the flamboyant chief executive would get the financing to continue to make and release new movies.
But the recruitment of Spacey and Brunetti could bring the enterprise a sense of much-needed credibility as it prepares to put out delayed pictures, such as the Halle Berry thriller "Kidnap" and the Zach Galifianakis-Kristen Wiig comedy "Masterminds."
Spacey's appointment would not be the first time that an entertainment company has turned to a powerful celebrity-turned-executive to boost its business. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Tom Cruise famously rebooted the storied United Artists in 2006, but that venture fizzled after releasing movies like "Lions for Lambs" and "Valkyrie," which both starred Cruise.
---------------------------
Hadn't heard of this move until Chaplin mentioned it.
