Sony Pictures and Tom Rothman, former Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, announced today that they will launch TriStar Production on September 1st. Here’s the full press release:
Beginning September 1, 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Tom Rothman will launch TriStar Productions. The new joint venture will augment the studios strong output of motion pictures and television programming, it was jointly announced today by Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment and Chairman and CEO of SPE, and Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of SPE.
Sony Pictures will provide financing for the new entity and retain all distribution rights worldwide. Rothman will serve as Chairman of TriStar Productions and have an equity interest in the venture. He will report directly to Lynton and Pascal.
TriStar Productions will have its own in-house creative production executives and strategic marketing capabilities while relying on Sony Pictures infrastructure. TriStar Productions will be additive to the studios pipeline of filmed entertainment, and is meant to be complementary to titles from Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Classics and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. The TriStar Pictures banner will also be used, as it has in the past, for other product, including titles from Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. The newly formed venture will have the ability to take on outside investments as well.
The new unit is slated to produce up to four films per year, all of which will be released under the TriStar Pictures banner. Additionally, TriStar Productions will develop television long form and series programming for Sony Pictures Television.
Commenting on the announcement, Pascal said, Tom is a rare executive who loves movies, loves filmmakers, understands how to make money and has exquisite taste. He has the perfect programming sensibility to add to our slate mix and it will be a thrill to have him as part of our team.
Added Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television, Sony Pictures Television is in business with the best in the business and we couldnt be more excited to have Tom join our family.
In the late 80s, Amy and I worked together for Dawn Steel on the old Columbia Lot in Burbank, said Rothman. I admired her hugely then and I admire her more now – she has a truly exceptional film mind. I have known and respected Michael just as long. Together they run a superb company, loaded with outstanding executives at every level, including Steve Mosko, with whom I share a special heritage. From working with both Fox 2000 and Searchlight for many years, I have seen how effective a diversified filmmaking strategy can be, and the opportunities today in television are obvious. As a fan of Hollywood history, I know TriStar has a noble name. I am honored that Michael and Amy would choose me to try to lead a new chapter in it and look forward to collaborating with all the great people at Sony, a truly terrific studio. It feels like coming home.”
Forthcoming films from Sony Pictures include Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster from acclaimed writer-director Neill Blomkamp; The Mortal Instruments, directed by Harald Zwart from a screenplay by Jessica Postigo Paquette; One Direction: This Is Us, directed by Morgan Spurlock; Battle of the Year, directed by Benson Lee and written by Brin Hill and Chris Parker; Sony Pictures Animations Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, the mouthwatering sequel to the 2009 hit; Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay by Billy Ray; Carrie, starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore and directed by Kimberly Peirce from a screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; American Hustle, starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence, directed by David O. Russell and written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; and The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett, and directed by Clooney from a screenplay by Clooney & Grant Heslov.
Rothman departed in January as Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment after 18 years at the company, where he oversaw all its filmmaking operations (including TCF, FOX 2000, Searchlight, Blue Sky Animation) and, starting in 2009, Twentieth Century Fox Television. Many of those years set profit records for Fox and his track record includes the two highest grossing films in cinematic history, over 40 billion in worldwide box office, more than 150 Academy Award nominations, three Best Picture winners and multiple Emmys. He previously headed the Samuel Goldwyn Company, worked at Columbia Pictures and was an entertainment lawyer and independent producer. He is the recipient of the IFP Industry Tribute, its lifetime achievement award, and is active in many civic and philanthropic endeavors.
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.
