{"id":8772,"date":"2013-04-05T11:42:49","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T15:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=8772"},"modified":"2013-04-12T10:51:03","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T14:51:03","slug":"spyglass-entertainment-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2013\/04\/05\/spyglass-entertainment-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Spyglass Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Mack Bleach<\/pre>\n
\"Spyglass<\/a>
Logo<\/p><\/div>\n
245 N. Beverly Dr.
\nBeverly Hills, CA 90210
\n310.443.5800 (Tel)
\n310.443.5912 (Fax)
\nhttp:\/\/www.spyglassentertainment.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n
ORIGINS [1<\/a>][2<\/a>]
\n<\/strong>Co-founded by veteran producers and executives Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum in 1998, Spyglass Entertainment Group, LLC, is a small, private American production company that was forged from the joint investments from The Walt Disney Company\u2014a later distributor for them\u2014and several European investors, including Scandinavia\u2019s Svensk Films, Portugal\u2019s Lusomundo, Germany\u2019s Kirch Group, and Italy\u2019s Mediaset. Its current lone European distributor is StudioCanal UK. The Cerberus Capital Group, a private equity firm, acts as its parent holding company.<\/p>\n
\"Birnbaum<\/a>
Birnbaum and Barber<\/p><\/div>\n
KEY PEOPLE [3<\/a>]
\n<\/strong>Gary Barber – Co-founder, Co-chairman, Co-CEO<\/span>
\n<\/a>Roger Birnbaum – Co-founder, Co-chairman, Co-CEO
\n<\/span>Jonathan Glickman – President
\n<\/span>Jose Gutierrez – CFO, Executive VP
\n<\/span>Peter Oillataguerre – Executive VP of Production
\n<\/span>Rebekah Rudd – Executive VP of Post-Production<\/span><\/p>\n
ROLE
\n<\/strong>As a younger, smaller production house, Spyglass is owned and maintained by other companies and has either co-financed, co-distributed, and most importantly, co-produced, its films alongside other production groups; never has it produced a film on its own. However, Spyglass is known to finance and produce television and films for international distribution purposes, partnering with Canal Plus for television distribution in France, Sweden and Poland, Sogecable S.A. for Spanish television, Pony Canyon Inc. for distribution in Japan, and Forum Film Ltd. for Israeli cinema [2].<\/p>\n
CINEMA SUCCESS [4<\/a>]
\n<\/strong>Since its inception in 1998, the company has released films with every one of the \u201cBig Six\u201d film studios, garnering over $5 billion in global sales.\u00a0 Spyglass has co-produced a variety of different types of films for over a decade, including, most notably, the $661-million-dollar worldwide launch of The Sixth Sense<\/em> (1999), followed by Bruce Almighty<\/em> (2003), Memoirs of a Geisha<\/em> (2005) Star Trek<\/em> (2009), and Get Him to the Greek<\/em> (2010). Prior to Spyglass and MGM\u2019s merger in 2010, The Sixth Sense, Bruce Almighty<\/em>, and Seabiscuit<\/em> (2003), dominated domestic box offices, helping to bring US totals to nearly $2 billion in revenue before the end of the decade.\u00a0 Spyglass films have collected over 34 Oscar nominations and 3 wins.<\/p>\n
\"Bruce<\/a>
Theatrical poster<\/p><\/div>\n
The Sixth Sense<\/i> (1999)<\/strong>
\nProduced for Disney\u2019s Hollywood Pictures affiliate, the M. Night Shyamalan-directed thriller pic starring Bruce Willis earned six Oscar nominations and grossed over $500 million worldwide, ranking it as the ninth highest grossing film in history at the time. Its commercial success confirmed investors\u2019 faith in Barber and Birnbaum and was the company\u2019s first breakthrough [2].<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Theatrical poster<\/p><\/div>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
Bruce Almighty (2003)
\n<\/strong>Its most important film of the 2003-2004 releases, the Jim Carrey comedy pulled in nearly $500 million worldwide and its particular international draw heavily bolstered Spyglass\u2019 financial standing through the international rights it acquired with co-financing partners overseas [2].<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Theatrical poster<\/p><\/div>\n
Seabiscuit<\/strong><\/i> (2003)<\/strong>
\nComing after a split with Disney and a proud new partnership with co-financier DreamWorks, the film adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand\u2019s novel about the famous racehorse, starring Tobey Maguire, proved to be a commercial and critical success that earned seven Oscar nominations. Spyglass put up half the budget with Universal Pictures, agreeing to rights for all international markets while Universal handled domestic markets [2].<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Theatrical poster<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Memoirs of a Geisha <\/strong><\/em>(2005)<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/em>Based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden, the Rob Marshall-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced and Spyglass-produced drama starring Ken Watanabe and Michelle Yeoh garnered three Oscars out of its six nominations, including Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design in 2006 [5<\/a>].<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
By the end of the decade, with analogous companies like Bel-Air, Mutual Film, Alcon, Mandalay, and New Regency facing financial ruin and scaling back activity, Spyglass\u2019 success in the movie business was considered a fluke in the system. Because Spyglass Entertainment Television division\u2019s debut endeavor, Miracles<\/em>, failed in 2004, followed by the television failures of The Ranch<\/em> and Out of the Shadows<\/em>, Spyglass devoted itself to a strictly film content producer, and throughout the 2007-2008 year was especially prolific, producing fifteen films, from The Lookout<\/em> (2007) to Four Christmases<\/em> (2008). Today, Spyglass\u2019 competition consists of Beacon Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, and IFC. [2][6<\/a>]<\/p>\n
MERGER [7<\/a>][8<\/a>]
\n<\/strong>Around Christmas 2010, the ailing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) was ready to declare bankruptcy when Spyglass, one of the studio\u2019s creditors, wrote off nearly $5 billion in debts, accumulated interest and fees in a trade for ownership of MGM, although both Spyglass and MGM would be considered separate entities. Barber and Birnbaum became co-charman and co-CEOs of the studio, despite Spyglass\u2019 stake being reduced from 5% to 1% in a move by business magnate Carl Icahn, who, as a 14% owner, agreed after the plan was re-packaged to exclude titles from the Spyglass archives.<\/p>\n