Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc.`s exclusive, long-term movie and TV deal with James L. Brooks is the latest example of the studio`s willingness to spend whatever it takes to secure Hollywood`s top creative talent, analysts say.
Brooks, the Oscar-winning producer-director and writer, had been pursued by almost every major studio for months. The creator of ”Broadcast News,”
”War of the Roses” and ”Terms of Endearment” is now earning kudos as executive producer of ”The Simpsons,” Fox`s prime-time animated mega-hit.
A Columbia spokesman would not disclose the terms of the deal, expected to last at least five years. Analysts, who estimate its worth at around $100 million, say it is a richer, longer and more varied deal than most, even by the escalating standards of Hollywood.
”Sony must be opening up some kind of treasure chest,” Paul Marsh, an analyst with Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards Inc. in Los Angeles, said Monday, referring to Columbia`s owner, Sony Corp. of America.
Columbia has signed Brooks as negotiations continue on a possible relaxation of the rules limiting network production. Studios have been snapping up top talent in recent months for fear they could be squeezed out of prime-time lineups.
”This is a time of unsteadiness for the studios,” said Chuck Slocum, director of industry analysis with the Writers Guild of America. ”In the shadow of fin/syn (financial interest and syndication rules), studios have to bring extra value to the deal.”
Columbia will bankroll Brooks` Gracie Films company so that it can produce movies and TV shows Brooks will write, produce and direct. Brooks brings to Columbia a three-series commitment with ABC-TV. The deal is unusual because it encompasses both movies and TV. It also is rumored to extend to live theater.
The venture starts June 1, subject to a movie commitment with 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
The Brooks deal is the latest example of Columbia`s free-spending ways when it comes to snaring creative talent.
There is speculation that Columbia has just signed a $32 million, three-year deal with Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye, the producers of the hit series ”Married . . . With Children.” It would be the largest deal for a TV comedy writing team in history.
After Sony announced plans to buy Columbia for $3.4 billion in September, the Japanese giant stunned Hollywood when it offered more than $200 million to buy the services of producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters. Columbia already has a number of top writers and producers in its roster, such as Hugh Wilson, Ed Weinberger and Norman Lear.
