Focus vet climbs up Adirondack shingle
U's Hardart hangs prod'n co.
By CATHY DUNKLEY
PRESS
Posted: Tue., Oct. 26, 2004, 10:00pm PT
Focus vet climbs up Adirondack shingle
U's Hardart hangs prod'n co.
By CATHY DUNKLEY
Paul Hardart, who created and ran Universal Focus, has set up
Adirondack Pictures, an Equity-backed production company based in New York with
100% of its funding provided by private investors.Hardart will run company with
brother Tom with the aim of producing or investing in three to five films a
year. Pics will range in budget from $1 million-$20 million with most expected
to be in the $5 million-$15 million range."We are looking froward to working
with responsible, experienced writers and directors and are willing to selectively
provide gap, bridge and P financing on projects we fell are the most promising,"
said Tom Hardart.As yet, no pics have been identified. "We're looking at
a number of films, some in strategic partnerships with distributors or producers
that I've worked with before" Paul Hardat said. "In terms of distribution
we'll decide on a picture-by-picture basis to achieve the optimum results for
pictures both domestically and overseas."From 1999-2002, Hardart ran Universal
Focus, where he oversaw the release of such pics as "Being John Malkovich,"
"Pitch Black," "Nurse Betty," "Billy Elliot" and
David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive."Hardart also created Universal Pictures'
library management initiative to optimize the exploitation and return on the
studio's 3,000-title library including reissues of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear
Window" and Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil."Tom Hardart was previously
VP of America Online. Before his move to AOL Intl., he also was general manager
of AOL's venture capital arm the Greenhouse, which invested in more than 30
startup Internet companies including Motley Fool and iVillage.
Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/story.asp?l=story=VR1117912554=1238
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