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BREAKING: In a surprise move, Tory Metzger will leave her post as president of film production for Media Rights Capital when her contract expires at the end of the month. MRC co-CEOs Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu are starting an immediate search to replace her with one or two seasoned studio-level production executives to oversee a production slate that is going increase dramatically. That slate includes Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland followup 30 Minutes or Less, the Seth MacFarlane-directed comedy Ted, and the next scifi project from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Right behind that is a Baz Luhrmann-directed musical, as well as the David Fincher-produced drama House of Cards.
Metzger was a hot shot CAA agent who repped Ang Lee and Tom Cruise when she jumped to MRC in 2008. She has strong talent relations and gave MRC some credibility at a time when they needed it. But this was her first production job. The change has a lot to do with co-CEOs Wiczyk and Satchu’s recent deal with Universal Pictures to generate 20 pictures over five years that will be fed through the Universal pipeline. beginning in 2011. As a result, MRC’s picture output will grow from three films per year to as many as eight. It also sounds like Metzger missed the talent business and might crave a return, but I’m told she will take some time before making her next move. At MRC, she oversaw production on films like the Ricky Gervais comedy The Invention of Lying, the upcoming George Nolfi-directed Matt Damon-starrer The Adjusment Bureau and the M. Night Shyamalan-produced Night Chronicles. She also worked on getting 30 Minutes Or Less to the starting gate.
“My first love has always been talent and the philosophy at MRC was a very attractive next step for me outside of the agent world,” Metzger said in a statement. “The current growth plans for the company took me farther away from that world, so with the blessing of our co-CEOs, I have decided to explore opportunities that might lead me back to my roots.”
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yeah, she got a lot done there. she was a real mover and shaker. how will they survive.
only sane person there.
They should do one in NY and one in LA. And don’t just regurgitate the same old same old.
Flat-out the smartest person I’ve worked with in this business. Like her a lot and I don’t anyone. Not surprising it’s taking two people to replace her. They’ll probably find out they need three.
MRC would do well to hire David Beaubaire from Paramount
Big loss for MRC. Tory is very bright and has taste.
Mike, why don’t you do a story on where MRC’s money comes from? How do they continue to make payroll after bankrolling flop after flop after flop.
MRC is in the Black long before they even start shooting the movies. They sold SHorts, The box, and Invention of lying for way more then they cost to make. They sold Bruno for like 3x the budget of the movie, and they have no P&A costs.
Which is exactly what’s put them in the doghouse…
ug4life, you’re just the kind of moron who reads a Vanity Fair article where film finance clown du jour claims he’s invented some black box formula for mitigating all risk on movies and takes him on his word.
If it were so easy to pre-sell movies and make a killing, everyone would do it. But 99% of films never find distribution. MRC may have gotten lucky and come to market during the writers strike with dreck like Shorts, The Box, and The Invention of Lying that WB bought because they were concerned about their pipeline, but that was a one-off situation.
This also assumes they’ve got the savvy to keep their productions costs below their pre-sales (which is a highly dubious assumption). Even granting that, the spread between pre-sales and their negative costs (if it exists) probably doesn’t come close to covering their overhead. Have you seen their offices?
Plus, they lost 120 mil on that CW racket.
She brought legitimacy to them beyond just the deal. Felt like producers looked to her for that grounding in a finance company.
Translation: Tory could not cut it.
The road is littered with agents turned producers, and CAA agents in general are probably the LEAST equipped to handle the rigors of a real job on the other end of the phone. The exceptions may be people like Paula Wagner and Jack Rapke, who hooked their wagons to superstars and just hang on for the ride. Jack and Paula were wily enough to choose their post-CAA gig very shrewdly (and they had that luxury, not everyone who leaves CAA is doing it as “the choice” they claim it is….). Tory is Hollywood smart, okay, but spending your life in the luxury of CAA, where nobody tells you “no” and you really don’t have to work that hard is not good prep for life in the production/financing trenches, that is for sure.
To the dude who thinks Beaubaire should be hired, what are you smoking buddy? He’s one of the most ineffective executvies i’ve ever dealt with. used to see his sorry ass running around Warners looking like he didn’t know the time of day and looked like he was gonna cry. kid can’t handle the pressure.
He’s better suited as a creative type at a smaller company like MRC than as a high-level exec at a studio, you’re making my point.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. All they did was collect a small fee for loaning the money on Bruno and while they have hedged some of their losses through int’l presales, they have still lost a ton of money… And that’s just on the movie side.
UG4LIFE SAYS: “MRC is in the Black long before they even start shooting the movies. They sold SHorts, The box, and Invention of lying for way more then they cost to make. They sold Bruno for like 3x the budget of the movie, and they have no P&A costs.”
There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY this is true. You are either an assistant at MRC or the dumbest person in LA.
Hate to say it WS guy – but it is absolutely true. that’s what happens when smart guys come to hollywood and focus on the numbers. as for losing tory, I wonder who they could bring in that would have half the relationships she does. I hope she goes into management, she’s good with talent
tory is a class act. she is bright, thoughtful, honest, decent, honorable and without a doubt, a model of integrity, taste and grace in a tricky town and industry. a loss for mrc, but will be a gift for whoever is lucky enough to work with her in the future.
WS nailed it on the head. Definitely an MRC assistant, the kool aid literally comes out of the water cooler over there and can get any fresh out of college john to buy that bullshit.
Even Ari has disassociated himself from the rapidly ticking time bomb that MRC acutally is. Tory Metzger is one of the smart rats fleeing a sinking ship with more and more to come.
The real blood bath is gonna come when Asif’s money-guys come looking for their investment — and Modi’s on the next flight to Mogadishu.
The Invention of Lying is probably the worst movie ever. Back story is world class exercise in nepotism. Seems criminal that it made money almost as much as hanging it around Tory’s neck for having developed it. She is smart and as stated class act. I doubt her departure has to do with not being able to hack it but who knows. I’ll throw in with bailing the sinking ship theory.