NYT TAKES A VICTORY LAP WITH GIANOPULOS AND ROTHMAN
By Tom Tapp
The New York Times' Laura Holson spends some time with Fox chiefs Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos to run through the laundry list of reasons why it's a very good time to be them. Number one would have to be record profitability.
According to The Times (which likely got its numbers from Fox):
"...the studio has increased operating profit in the filmed entertainment division (which includes television production) year over year for the last four years, from $473 million in fiscal 2002 to $1 billion in fiscal 2005.
Rothman and Gianopulos are on record saying that profit is a record for the studio. It's also helped them place number one year to date in theatrical market share. Holson attributes this to what she says is a studio mantra handed down from parent NewsCorp: keep your "eyes fixed on the bottom line while remaining fearless about creative risks." The studio heads manage to put a less-nice face on it.
"We are not here to be liked," Mr. Rothman said. "We don't work for talent agencies. We work for Fox. Our job is not to worry about agents who jibber-jabber to reporters, who worry about headlines." Mr. Gianopulos added that currying favor "is not tolerated around here from anyone; you are not going to get ahead scheming."
They do, of course, have their loveable moments, especially when they're talking about beating each other up.
"O.K., I admit it. I didn't understand 'The Day After Tomorrow,' " Mr. Rothman said, referring to the blockbuster about global warming that brought in $187 million at the domestic box office in 2004. "That was Jim's call and we had a big fight over it."
"Come on," Mr. Gianopulos shouted. "I like that kind of movie!"
"I had a question about how to make it look fresh and original, and if we could execute in time," Mr. Rothman said. "But he was totally enthusiastic."
"I beat him into submission," Mr. Gianopulos said, laughing.
"It wasn't that I yielded; I was happily persuaded," Mr. Rothman countered.
To further the point, Holson investigates Rothman's legendary temper with director Baz Luhrmann.
"It's no secret that it took a long time for Tom and I to work things out," said Baz Luhrmann, who has been making films for Fox since 1993, including the critically acclaimed "Moulin Rouge," and continues to do so. "There are a lot of Tomisms. He'll say 'It's not exactly my first day.' "
Holson goes on to relate Brian Singer's surreptitious abandonment of "X-Men 3" and the friction it caused with Rothman. Of course, that's a story with a happy ending, as the film has made $200 million worldwide.
