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In his first interview atop the storied film power, the former Fox chairman, Jim Gianopulos, talks to Hollywood Reporter about getting fired by the Murdochs, how Trump impacts his job and the strategy to restore stability.
Read below segments of his first interview:
Last August, Jim Gianopulos was on his annual summer sojourn to the Greek isle of Antiparos, his parents’ homeland, when news broke in Los Angeles that his new bosses, James and Lachlan Murdoch, were replacing him with Stacey Snider at 20th Century Fox a year ahead of schedule.
Gianopulos, 65, suddenly found himself without a job for the first time since he delivered newspapers in his youth. Rumors immediately swirled that he would replace Brad Grey at Paramount, where a disastrous run at the box office and leadership turmoil at parent company Viacom under CEO Philippe Dauman had left the storied studio in shambles, capped by an operating loss of $445 million in fiscal 2016. But after flirting with the top roles at Sony Pictures and Wanda’s Legendary Pictures, Gianopulos decided on the Paramount job once he was assured by Viacom vice chairman Shari Redstone — daughter of Viacom founder Sumner Redstone, who now guides her ailing father’s empire — and new Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and CFO Wade Davis that he would enjoy the autonomy traditionally afforded studio heads. It took some negotiation, but the Viacom board offered Gianopulos full greenlight authority for films with budgets up to about $100 million. In March, he closed a deal to run the studio where he once worked in business affairs (for five years starting in the late ’80s) before moving to Fox.
“Look, when you’re at a company for 26 years and you’re in a chairman’s role for 16, that’s a pretty good run. I hadn’t been out of work since I had a paper route, literally. I was able to explore a variety of entrepreneurial options in the film sector, the television sector, the general media sector and the technology sector” said Gianopulos.
What about losing the trappings of power — the phone ringing, the best table at restaurants.
I had great advice from a very dear friend who told me the two things you need to know about leaving a big job in Hollywood. First, you find out who your real friends are, and I felt very fortunate in that regard. And to your [second] point, if you can’t get the table that you used to get when you were a big shot, just give the maitre d’ a couple hundred bucks once in a while. You can get any table you want.
What’s the window to get another job before becoming irrelevant?
I honestly didn’t feel that, I guess because there were some interesting ideas that came up, big and small.
Why Paramount, with its obvious challenges?
Look around you. It’s an incredibly storied institution and one of the oldest studios. Some of the best movies ever made were made here. The chance to revive it is an exciting one.
What are three things you told Shari Redstone and Bob Bakish you needed in order to take the job?
I didn’t have to ask because they already made it clear what I would have, which is support financially in terms of capital, the right amount of autonomy and the willingness to understand the time frame it takes to turn something around. Plus the reach of Viacom. I’m a collaborative person with the people around me, beneath me and above me. I always look to socialize ideas and make sure that everybody’s on the same page.
Do you have full greenlight power?
Let’s put it this way: I have all the power I need to do the job. What I said to Bob is that two of the films I greenlit at Fox before I left were War for the Planet of the Apes, which is in the high-$100 million range, and Hidden Figures, which cost in the low-$20 million range. Hidden Figures was more of a risk than Planet of the Apes. I said to Bob, “I would have told you about both of them, but I would have made them both.” The press tries to put budget levels on greenlight authority. It doesn’t work that way. It’s really about the risk factor. There are some films that cost well over $100 million that are relatively safe. And then there are lower-budget movies that are maybe more ambitious and riskier. It’s a question of how much you’re going to make — or maybe lose.
You’re a big Democrat. What have you learned from Trump’s election, and has it influenced your job?
I try to keep my politics and my work separate. We’re not making movies that I want, we’re making movies that an audience wants. Having said that, I’m really proud of the fact that one of the films we’re about to release next month is the sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. I’ve had the opportunity recently to get to know Vice President Gore, and it has been very gratifying in light of recent developments politically. It’s no secret that I’ve had a long commitment to the Democratic Party. But we’re in the movie business, and we have to be cognizant of social changes and the way people are thinking out there.
Will that influence, then, the kind of movies you’ll make?
Yes. But having said that, they would not be reflecting my politics. They would be reflecting the audiences’ thinking.
How much of An Inconvenient Sequel was changed following Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord?
I don’t want to get into specifics, but there have been some editorial changes.
Why do this? Why not just retire to Greece, where you have a home?
I felt that there was another chapter. Plus, my wife would probably kill me for being around the house all the time and taking on projects like redecorating.
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