Viacom Extends Brad Grey’s Contract

COMMENTS (8)

• Good.

  Comment by underestimated — Wednesday January 7, 2009 @ 4:03pm PST  Reply to this post

• Now if he can just keep the rest of Paramount’s employee’s working then he’s doing his job.

  Comment by ReelBusy — Wednesday January 7, 2009 @ 7:02pm PST  Reply to this post

• Good for Brad Grey. He was thrust between a rock and a hard place when he stepped into that viper’s nest with Geffen & Dauman. What chance did he really have to do his job with the Dreamworks people looming over his shoulder. I’m probably one of the few people who thinks Par is better off without having to deal with the bipolar Geffen and the can’t-do-his-own-dirty-work Spielberg.

  Comment by Good — Wednesday January 7, 2009 @ 7:04pm PST  Reply to this post

• Wasn’t it just luck that’s keeping Grey as Paramount executive? Most of the biggest hits of 2007 and 2008 were either due to their then-marriage with DreamWorks and their current deal to distribute’s Marvel’s slate of superhero flicks. (They had to pay out large amounts to Spielberg and Lucas for “Indy 4.”)

  I’ve seen a lot of solid-performing flicks from Paramount since he was there, but no real solo break-out hits (aside from “Cloverfield”). I think Grey is just coasting on smooth sailing with Paramount’s deal with Marvel and their deal to distribute DreamWorks Animation titles (not to mention their still-standing co-production deals with DW on TF-2, Soloist, etc.).

  Comment by Matt C — Wednesday January 7, 2009 @ 7:21pm PST  Reply to this post

• Isn’t always just luck? come on!

  Comment by buckzollo — Thursday January 8, 2009 @ 11:40am PST  Reply to this post

• Are we censoring comments now? Is it somehow inappropriate to point out criminal behavior such lying to a grand jury or stealing money from a client?

  Brad Grey has done an unequivocally mediocre job at Paramount, and worse, he has turned it into a nest of dysfunction and dishonesty. But instead of getting a prison sentence, he gets an extension.

  And… that was after all the layoffs.

  Comment by writer — Thursday January 8, 2009 @ 1:33pm PST  Reply to this post

• Brad Grey has done a fantastic job. I mean, getting rid of that no-talent box office poison Spielberg was great for Paramount don’t you think? Now the studio can concentrate on continuing to churn out all those massive blockbusters they’ve been coming out with since Grey began his illustrious reign.

  Comment by Madam Sarcastic — Thursday January 8, 2009 @ 2:35pm PST  Reply to this post

• Grey’s reign at paramount has been mixed

  On the one hand he has been decisive and smart enough to buy and then sever ties with Dreamworks at the right times (underpaying in 06, then releasing Par of its $50m overhead DW commitment and retaining some of the better projects in 08)

  He has also managed to coax quality talent to the studio (Marvel, JJ Abrams, Pitt, Scorcese)

  However, the major area that Grey has consistently mismanaged has been the in-house production and creative development;

  1. Par has not had a single successful production come from its in house development yet Weston is still there (people often quote Coverfield but this was solely a JJ Abrams production; and Transformers could hardly be credited to anyone at Par – they merely co-financed it)

  2. Lesher ran Vantage into the ground and ran up a whopping pile of red ink yet got promoted

  3. the marketing execs with strong filmmaker relationships were allowed to leave bc Lesher brought in his own people

  Bottom line is this – not suprisingly, Grey has done enough canny dealmaking to save his skin these last few years. However, unlike the other studios with wholly owned franchises (Warners with Potter, Disney with Pirates and Pixar) or truly bankable stars (Sony with Will Smith) or just plainly run for pure profit (Fox), Paramount is limited in its financial upside (LucasFilm, Marvel, DWA all keep most of the profits).

  Sooner or later, Grey will have to clean his internal production house or expect Weston and Lesher to come up with some truly franchise-worthy projects that Paramount can truly call their own.

  Comment by crazyfox — Thursday January 8, 2009 @ 6:02pm PST  Reply to this post