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EXCLUSIVE: I’ve just learned that Universal Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley have restructured the studio’s production team. Veterans Peter Cramer and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum will be upped to co-Presidents of Production, replacing the current President of Production Debbie Liebling who is “leaving to pursue other opportunities”, I’m told, after 18 months at the studio. Liebling came to Universal from Twentieth Century Fox.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Interesting … wish I knew more about the facts here. (It seems a bit odd that after having just released it’s most successful move EVER, UNI is making a change in it’s head of production.)
kirschenbaum oversees the fast movies…has since tokyo drift…
Although the Fast franchise was in place long before Adam and his team took power at Universal…the big worldwide gross will briefly alleviate the huge pressure on a struggling film division whose best asset has been Illumination.
That being said, Adam and his team are most probably on a very short leash from Comcast, and so developing some big hits and future tent pole franchises rapidly is a must for survival.
Good luck, Adam.
Good for Kirsch and Peter
Both good guys.
They lost Debbie after a big weekend success. The publicity put up a smoke screen.
Debbie is nice but had a Fox mentality. How many others did they hire from Fox?
Maybe Universal wanted to copy the Fox formula.
So all of the Jeff Zucker hires at Universal Pictures are in trouble? Good. What about Ron Meyer?
Debbie did absolutely nothing as president. I don’t know if there’s on project that she had an influence on in 18 months.
Good for Kirsch. He’s the only one at that studio making money.
I wonder how Scott Bernstein feels? He was technically higher-up the food chain than Kirsch was, but has had trouble finding success.
Bernstein? In his own mind he’s already the fucking Chairman, never mind Pres — that’s why he has trouble finding success. He’s reached his peak.
What a joke. Studio is struggling because it’s greenlighting flop after flop so they fire the PRODUCTION president (i.e., the executive charged with overseeing things AFTER the bad decisions are made).
Do you work in Hollywood? Do you know what a President of Production does? They oversee development. They’re in charge of finding the projects and making them good, then shooting them.
ARTHUR the Warner Bros. movie?
Kirsch is a great exec. Smart. Creative. Everything you want in a studio partner. Horrible at calling people back, but that’s a minor knock. A well desreved promotion.
Peter Cramer…eh.
He is a good smart guy but he is the worst exec in town at returning calls.
The best exec ever at returning?
Jason Reed at Disney
Good riddance.
Peter Cramer is a rare exec – he does the work and is also very smart! Finally someone promoted who deserves it.
Liebling was a lovely person, and a horrible president. Her taste in movies leaned towards comedies. She passed on some great pickup ideas in the last several months…some obvious indie movies with huge commercial potential, including one with an Academy Award-nominated high-profile producer that could have earned the studio some great “District 9″ coin and prestige (and we’re not talking about Jim Cameron and “Mountains Of Madness”, which was probably the most sensible thing Universal could have passed on.)
Let’s hope that the new guys can go back through the projects she passed over before they go to other studios.
Congrats to Jeff. He’s one of the best. Nicest guy in the world.
Funny how Donna and Adam are trying to imply that their underling is to blame for what they have had their prints on since 2006. Comcast might be green, but they’re not dumb. You have to replace the decision makers not the pawns…
Kirsch is a good guy and while young, he’ll do well. Kramer, maybe. Not sure there.
ummm. what does donna langley do all day long?
Make decisions. Pick movies. Hire executives.
She hired Debbie 18 months ago.
Make decisions.
chicken focaccia with pesto spread or fuji apple chicken salad
we’re talking big decisions here
Cramer is the sh-t. Good guy, good exec. Well deserved.
nice post cramer
Someone please name one successful movies Peter Cramer has been involved with. 15 plus years and limited success at best.
Mr. & Mrs Smith. Problem-plagued production but huge hit.
Peter Cramer was responsible for Mr. & Mrs. Smith? yeah, right. I will give $1m if either Brad or Angie could pick him out of a lineup. The guy is a hollywood creature. Snarky, gossipy, and fails upward. He’ll either undermine Jeff over the next year, or be the next one Donna throws out onto Lankershim to buy herself another 12 months.
Thank you for reminding me about Jason Reed! Would someone please spring him from that excuse of a studio? He’s smart, creative, and super driven. You’d be lucky to have him.
Agreed. Jason’s a stand-up guy. Don’t know why he’s still there.
donna langley is the most teflon coated exec ever.
So what’s going to happen to Scott Bernstein, Executive Vice President of Production?
After “Mountains of Madness” fell down and, worse, Del Toro wandered off to do “Pacific Rim” after Uni let GdT off the hook to extend his “Hobbit” drain-circling, kind of think Bernstein should go be Del Toro’s producing partner or something with a first look at Universal. Develop low-budget shit to compete with Blum at Paramount, perhaps shepherd some of the Del Toro projects that will NEVER happen (looking at you, “Drood”) into material for other directors, etc. Could be that think that replaces Rogue and, better yet, they could accidentally have a hit every once in a while.
“So what’s going to happen to Scott Bernstein, Executive Vice President of Production?”
Something suitably medieval, one would hope.
Harsh. Is the guy that bad?
Universal is a joke studio. and they still are.
Peter Cramer is one of the smartest execs in town. Ask any writer or filmmaker who has worked with him.
Both well deserved promotions.
Totally agree with Cya. Donna and Adam fired Debbie to save themselves, but everyone knows that they’re the ones who have brought this studio to its current day disgrace. They actually think one movie will make Comcast look the other way, but that’s like thinking Relativity’s investors won’t pull the plug as soon as they figure out what’s really going on there as well.
Debbie is a talented exec and a great person. Hope she lands someplace that lets her do what she does best–comedy. As for Donna, why is she teflon?
Execs don’t always get to make the movies they prefer. Peter Cramer wanted to make “Limitless” — it was a huge priority for him — and very much against his wishes the project was requisitioned by Relativity and taken away from Universal. He was its original champion and fan — and he was right.
I JUST WANT MY [H]OUSE to get another season or two!!
HUGH LAURIE is AMAZING!
It seems to me Debbie was set up. Debbie appreciates and understands talent. She knows what makes people tick. Movies replicate the human condition, comedic or dramatic. If she had free reign to motivate the people around her,Debbie would have been a great success. If you have executives micro-managing her every move and underlings waiting for her to fail so they can have her job, it is a set up for failure. Universal should have cleaned house of everyone but Debbie. Debbie has the leadership skills to produce the best in people and in film. Universal’s loss will be someone else’s gain.
I LOVE PETER CRAMER. I’m soooo happy for him. I used to know him well but havent spoken to him in a year or so
He is so smart and definitely deserves this