Friday, November 18, 2011

ARTICLE: New Regency Studios. Heaven or Hell?

The Devil? Is that Prada around her neck?
Let's take a little trip into the weeds of Hollywood, shall we? The real nitty gritty of it all. Where the rubber really meets the road.

Hollywood, at its core is a business driven first and foremost by people.  It is about relationships. When you need something, and everyone in HW needs something, who can you call to get it? Movies and television are at their core collaborative efforts.  Talent, ambition, drive, creativity ... all of this helps on an individual level, but when push comes to shove none of that is going to matter if you don't get along with people, if you don't have strong relationships. Because your talent and instinct and ambition may help get you off the ground, but in the end you as an individual in Hollywood are only as good as those who are around you. And that's true whether you're James Cameron starting out and making The Abyss or the PA (Hollywood's form of the grunt) trying to get your opus into the hands of the director - if you aren't someone who people want to work with, you best be related to somebody who people do.

And I mention Cameron, because he seemed to start off that way - personable. But now it seems according to rumors, he's not. But he has built such a legacy that people want to work with him still. HW wants to be in the James Cameron business. But most HW folks are not nor will they ever be James Cameron. So for most, these relationships will matter for their entire tour of duty.

So it is with that, I read about the move of Carla Hacken to New Regency, who was a former Executive Vice President at Fox 2000, with a certain degree of fascination.

There were essentially two paradigms:

1) The article itself. The article painted a very rosy picture of a studio looking to be a home for "filmmakers." On its face, great news for creatives!  Carla Hacken was responsible for finding and launching The Devil Wears Prada and Walk the Line, two extremely successful films (both based on existing material ... but we'll let that slide. For now). So for her to go to a place that wants to focus on making films first, sounds like a match made in heaven.

Then I read the comments.

2) The comments. Deadline is read by many HW insiders. So keep that in mind as you read this selection of comments by its readers:

"15 years in the biz and Carla’s one of the most miserable people I’ve ever worked with. Hooray for Hollywood. Carla Hacken has “made” films such as Walk the Line and Devil Wears Prada? Really? MADE? Wonder what the directors, writers, cast, and crew of those films think about that."

"I wanted to wait and see if anyone else would post the truth about what a miserable, psychotic person Carla is. Thanks for making my day! I know this for sure, having worked with her."

"Carla is disorganized panicky and very unhappy. She has taste but no ability to handle stress. Brad has made terrible move. He will find out soon enough."

"One of most miserable, meanest and rudest. Ugh."

"Uhhhhhh. So, the new regency offices will now house brad weston, Alexandra Milchan, and Carla hacken? Sounds like a blast. Gonna be some great karma going around that place. Wonder who comes out in the top of that heap"

My Favorite: "Today is the day the hope died at New Regency. God I hope Brad [CEO of New Regency] is looking over these comments and coming to understand the heinous error he has just made."



THE TAKEAWAY: Well, to be honest we'll have to wait and find out what exactly this means. We'll have to wait and se exactly how long Carla lasts at New Regency. We'll have to see if New Regency starts making more money, which will certainly help her position. Money still talks too of course. HW movies are a business remember. And talk of her taste was, even among the blog-posters, far from criticized and even lauded.

Carla Hacken. We'll be watching her career with a certain fascination now.

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