Spyglass near to closing a deal with MGM

[Blowfeld]

MGM/Spyglass Update: Leonard Part 6 edition

Court OKs $500M MGM loan

Last Updated: 12:48 AM, November 13, 2010

Posted: 12:07 AM, November 13, 2010

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, distributor of the James Bond and Rocky movies, won court permission to take out a $500 million exit loan, paving the way for confirmation of its bankruptcy plan in 20 days.

US Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein also approved a $4 million breakup fee. The fee will be paid to Spyglass Entertainment if it suffers any loss or damage from a breach of its agreement with the studio. Spyglass executives Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will run MGM after its bankruptcy.

The fees on the $500 million exit loan will be kept confidential. The judge also granted MGM's requests to manage its cash in bankruptcy and make non-material changes to its reorganization plan.

"Approval of these motions are required to keep the case on schedule for a Dec. 2 confirmation," lawyer Jay Goffman told Bernstein.

MGM, based in Los Angeles, filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 3 with a prepackaged plan, after rejecting a takeover bid by Lionsgate Entertainment and billionaire Carl Icahn. The same day, Icahn announced he would support the plan, under an agreement that would let him designate one of nine directors on the reorganized company's board.

Separately, the activist investor, who is hoping to merge the beleaguered studio with Lionsgate, extended his $7.50-a-share tender offer for Lionsgate's outstanding common stock to Nov. 22.

Bernstein questioned the breakup-fee agreement, which would also give Spyglass as much as $500,000 in expenses. He asked whether it could be triggered if a better offer is made for the movie studio, or if it already had been triggered by the non-material changes to MGM's reorganization plan that were made under an agreement with Icahn.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/c ... S8sg7HiB6O

[Blowfeld]

This one is new to me. I have not heard news of this anywhere else yet.

Shanghai Film Group may acquire MGM

Shanghai Film Group Corp may purchase partial or entire equities of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc or MGM, an American media company that filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 3 due to US$4 billion of debts, sources reported.

Ren Zhonglun, president of the Chinese company, did not deny the report and said that Shanghai Film Group is in talks to acquire several cinemas in the eastern regions of the U.S.

It is a good choice for Chinese film producers to enter the global market through international acquisitions, Ren added.

Nov. 8, other media firms in China, such as China Film Group Corp, Beijing Polybona Film Distribution Co Ltd and Huayi Brothers Media Group, all denied that they have intention to buy into MGM.

Shanghai Film Group, a film, animation and documentary production company owned by Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group, has several studios in China, including Shanghai Film Studio, Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Shanghai Documentary Film Studio and Shanghai Dubbing Studio.


http://www.chinaknowledge.com/Newswires ... D=%2038712

[katied]

^Collecting stuff isn't a bad thing-it's when it gets to (IMO)obsessive levels-owning 5 different versions of, oh I don't know, the DAD DVD,all from different countries,that I start to wonder.


Out of curiosity, where do you get your memoribila from?

[Blowfeld]

December 02, 2010, 12:15 PM EST
More From Businessweek

By David McLaughlin and Tiffany Kary

(Adds lawyer’s statement in fourth paragraph, management plan in eighth paragraph.)

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., distributor of the James Bond and Rocky movies, won final approval of a plan to reorganize by turning debt into stock of a new company with governance by Spyglass Entertainment Group Inc. and billionaire Carl Icahn.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein in New York confirmed MGM’s Chapter 11 plan today, less than a month after the movie studio filed for bankruptcy. Equity will be canceled, and more than $5 billion in claims will convert to 99 percent of stock in a new company.

Jay M. Goffman, an attorney for MGM, said at a hearing that there were “no objections of any kind” to the plan.

“Nothing is controverted,” he said. “It is an example of the teamwork and consensus building that is the hallmark of this case.”

Talks between the company and its debt holders began well before MGM’s Nov. 3 filing of a so-called prepackaged plan to move it through the court in 30 days.

The Los Angeles-based company filed after rejecting a takeover bid by Icahn and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. The company listed $2.7 billion in assets and $5.8 billion in debt, including accrued interest on its loans.

Icahn agreed to the plan after changes were made, including one granting him authority to designate one of nine directors of the reorganized company’s board.

Management Plan

The studio, which foundered after piling on debt to go private in 2005, plans to install managers from Spyglass, the producer of “The Sixth Sense.” Gary Barber, founder of Spyglass, and his partner Roger Birnbaum are to serve as directors and co-chief executive officers.

Three directors from the creditors that helped restructure the company will also serve on its board, according to bankruptcy court papers that leaves two directors unnamed.

Patrick H. Daugherty, a partner at Highland Capital Management LP; Christopher Pucillo, founder of Solus Alternative Asset Management LP; and Kevin Ulrich, chief executive officer of Anchorage Capital Group LLC, will join the nine-member board.

Highland, Solus and Anchorage were part of the creditors’ committee that helped negotiate MGM’s restructuring, along with Davidson Kempner Capital Management LLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Invesco Inc.

Jason O. Hirschhorn, recently co-president of social networking company MySpace, and Frederic G. Reynolds, former chief financial officer of CBS Corp., also were named as directors.

‘Hobbit’ Movie

MGM, whose 4,000-title film and television library included “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind,” has a co- production deal with Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. to make a movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”

The case is In re Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studies Inc. 10- 15774, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-1 ... anize.html

[Blowfeld]

^Collecting stuff isn't a bad thing-it's when it gets to (IMO)obsessive levels-owning 5 different versions of, oh I don't know, the DAD DVD,all from different countries,that I start to wonder.


Out of curiosity, where do you get your memoribila from?

[Blowfeld]

Lionsgate denies interest in MGM

By JOSH KOSMAN and CLAIRE ATKINSON

Last Updated: 1:30 AM, December 15, 2010
Looks like Peggy Olson and James Bond aren't going to be living under the same roof.

Lionsgate shareholders yesterday turned aside Carl Icahn's slate of directors and voted in the studio's candidates.

After the vote, Michael Burns, the vice chairman of the studio, which produces "Mad Men," featuring the character Peggy Olson, said a merger with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, home of the James Bond thrillers, was no longer likely.

"We have said publicly that we were interested [in MGM] at one time, but for the moment that ship has sailed," Burns said.

Earlier this month Burns was more optimistic saying merging with MGM would be "terrific" at the right price.

Billionaire activist Icahn, who lost the proxy vote and is both the largest Lionsgate shareholder and an MGM debtholder, was brokering merger discussions in recent weeks, sources said. Perhaps his lack of confidence in Lionsgate's management or ability to replace it has cooled the talks.

Lionsgate shares fell more than 6 percent yesterday to $6.64.

If Lionsgate merged with MGM it would likely lay off much of the MGM staff and integrate its huge library, hoping to save costs, a Lionsgate source said.

Now that MGM has emerged from bankruptcy, some shareholders, outside of Icahn, are more interested in rebuilding its own film production than being subsumed by Lionsgate.

Icahn's quest for Lionsgate is not over.

He is still challenging a debt for equity swap in New York State Supreme Court that allowed rival Mark Rachesky to raise his interest to 29 percent of the company. Icahn failed to convince the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Rachesky from voting his shares at yesterday's general meeting.

Icahn, in a prepared statement, said, "We are pleased that the New York Supreme Court will hold a full trial on the dilutive transaction within the next several months."

This story can be found at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/s ... sN5AovTRFJ

[katied]

The post that was there before must have been deleted. My bad.

[Alessandra]

I'm not sure what to think about this Lionsgate thing. It always sounded more like the idea of one rather than the will of the board, so I don't even know how much effective will there was behind it. Bottomline, if they really want to do it, they will. MGM cannot go on by itself and it will most certainly have new investors, so... One thing is for sure: Don Draper (the leading character on Mad Men) is MUCH MORE Bondian than Craig's Bond will ever be. Jon Hamm is absolutely great... and looks and acts a LOT more like James Bond than Craig ever will. That's probably why they don't want to merge... they'd have their most famous series having the leading man who looks and acts more like the leading man of their most famous franchise than the guy who is cast in said franchise himself

[Alessandra]

News fresh from Variety on the MGM bankruptcy:

http://bit.ly/gyqv7i

* MGM begins company layoffs

With MGM on the verge of emergence from bankruptcy, Leo the Lion's cutting staff with about 45 slots disappearing, mostly in distribution and marketing.

MGM slashes staff ahead of bankruptcy exit
About 45 positions cut; mostly in distribution, marketing
By Dave McNary
MGM

With MGM on the verge of emergence from bankruptcy, Leo the Lion's cutting staff with about 45 slots disappearing.

Layoffs, which had been anticipated, began Friday at MGM headquarters in Los Angeles and were mostly in distribution and marketing.

MGM disclosed in recent bankruptcy filings that it had planned to cut the staff to about 320 from more than 400 but a spokeswoman indicated Friday that the number of cuts will be significantly smaller.

MGM, which has released only one film this year, received approval on Dec. 2 from a bankruptcy court judge of its "pre-packaged" plan of reorganization. Studio plans to emerge from Chapter 11 as early as next week with $500 million in cash available, once it secures a JP-Morgan Chase loan.

With Spyglass Entertainment toppers Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber in charge, MGM's expected to seek a separate loan of $265 million-$275 million for its share of the back-to-back "Hobbit" movies.

MGM's secured lenders will exchange about $5 billion, including accrued interest and fees, for most of the equity in MGM. Barber and Birnbaum will serve as co-chairmen and CEOs.

The plan wipes out the equity interest of MGM's current owners, the Sony-led consortium that bought it in 2005 in a $4.8 billion leveraged buyout.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

[/quote]

[katied]

I'm not sure what to think about this Lionsgate thing. It always sounded more like the idea of one rather than the will of the board, so I don't even know how much effective will there was behind it. Bottomline, if they really want to do it, they will. MGM cannot go on by itself and it will most certainly have new investors, so... One thing is for sure: Don Draper (the leading character on Mad Men) is MUCH MORE Bondian than Craig's Bond will ever be. Jon Hamm is absolutely great... and looks and acts a LOT more like James Bond than Craig ever will. That's probably why they don't want to merge... they'd have their most famous series having the leading man who looks and acts more like the leading man of their most famous franchise than the guy who is cast in said franchise himself

I can imagine the stink if they were to hire a *gasp* American Bond.Though back in Cubby's day they screen tested James Brolin, I believe. Babs would never allow it.

[Alessandra]

I'm not sure what to think about this Lionsgate thing. It always sounded more like the idea of one rather than the will of the board, so I don't even know how much effective will there was behind it. Bottomline, if they really want to do it, they will. MGM cannot go on by itself and it will most certainly have new investors, so... One thing is for sure: Don Draper (the leading character on Mad Men) is MUCH MORE Bondian than Craig's Bond will ever be. Jon Hamm is absolutely great... and looks and acts a LOT more like James Bond than Craig ever will. That's probably why they don't want to merge... they'd have their most famous series having the leading man who looks and acts more like the leading man of their most famous franchise than the guy who is cast in said franchise himself

I can imagine the stink if they were to hire a *gasp* American Bond.Though back in Cubby's day they screen tested James Brolin, I believe. Babs would never allow it.

LOL I don't think they would ever do it. But truth is, Jon Hamm DOES look and act a lot more like James Bond than Daniel Craig does. So Lionsgate would find themselves faced with the leading man on their most famous TV show looking like the leading man of the biggest franchise they own. With said franchise instead having a mix of Rambo, SuperMario and the Incredible Hulk appearing as the lead. Good reason enough not to start with a merger I kid, but still... this is true! I don't even want them to hire an American actor as Bond, but truth is there are some who could be great in the part. And I believe Jon Hamm is one of them. I'm not advocating anything, just making an observation. There's Cavill so I'm all set

[katied]

I have to admit small voice that I've never watched a episode of Mad Men.I've seen pictures of Hamm though..he is good looking!

[Alessandra]

I have to admit small voice that I've never watched a episode of Mad Men.I've seen pictures of Hamm though..he is good looking!

Hot d**n, he is. The 60s setting favors his "Bond look" but it's also the type of character he plays (albeit a totally different one from Bond) that makes me see him as Bond. I think it's a fantastic TV show, definitely one of my all-time favourite. I think since you like Sir Sean and classic Bonds, that you WOULD enjoy Mad Men because of the "feel" it has. Maybe try and watch an episode just to get an idea? The pilot will suffice I think.

[katied]

Yeah, I can Netflix it-watch it on Netflix instant, probably! BTW, BBC America is going to start showing The Tudors next year(albeit heavily edited, no doubt). So if I don't get the DVD I can watch it on BBC America, or on Netflix Instant(yay for Netflix!)

[Alessandra]

Yeah, I can Netflix it-watch it on Netflix instant, probably! BTW, BBC America is going to start showing The Tudors next year(albeit heavily edited, no doubt). So if I don't get the DVD I can watch it on BBC America, or on Netflix Instant(yay for Netflix!)

LOL! no no no. Tudors is a synonim for soft porn and heavy violence scenes I'm serious, I think Cavill has the raunchiest scene of the whole series in the pilot LOL AND it gets very James Bond like. Duke of Buckingham (to Cavill's character with sword at his throat) "you son of a whore!" Cavill: "yeah, that IS true Your Grace". I laugh like crazy every time I rewatch it. That type of comeback is pure James Bond. But, you should watch the scene yourself and form your own opinion haha. (which will include a certain Cavill physical feature, too, LOL. Ahem.).

[Blowfeld]

MGM eyes next James Bond film
With $500 million secured, studio looks to 007
By Dave McNary

Now that MGM's has completed its restructuring with $500 million in fresh funding, one of the top priorities is to renew James Bond's license to kill.

The infusion of funds from the $500 million line of credit, arranged by JPMorgan, represents a vote of confidence in MGM's prospects -- particularly given its struggles in recent years, when a crushing debt load brought production to a standstill. MGM is also expected to seek a separate loan of $265 million-$275 million for its share in the back-to-back "Hobbit" movies, which begin shooting in New Zealand in February.

The company, which made the announcement Monday, said its secured lenders are exchanging about $5 billion, including accrued interest and fees, for most of the equity in MGM. Spyglass Entertainment toppers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will serve as co-chairmen and CEOs.

"MGM is emerging from one of the most challenging periods of its storied history," the duo said. "We are honored and inspired at the opportunity of leading one of Hollywood's most iconic studios into its next generation of unforgettable filmmaking, global television production and distribution and aggressively pursuing, developing and exploiting new digital entertainment platforms."

The most likely candidate for immediate spending will be the 23rd James Bond movie, with Daniel Craig in his third outing as 007. Insiders believe MGM may turn to Sony for co-financing, as it did on "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace," or sell off some of major foreign territories.

MGM has been working up plans for a 2012 yearlong commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first Bond pic, 1962's "Doctor No," so the studio will probably move as quickly as possible to lock down Craig and to secure a director. Sam Mendes has long been rumored to be the leading candidate to helm.

MGM hasn't commented officially on the next Bond pic in more than a year. It announced in June 2009 that "Frost/Nixon" scribe Peter Morgan was joining with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade -- who worked on "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace" -- to pen the script, but development stalled after MGM brought in turnaround specialist Stephen Cooper later that summer.

Beyond Bond and "The Hobbit," the MGM slate is murky at best. Under production chief Mary Parent, who ankled in October, MGM had ramped up production in 2008 by acquiring projects such as Robert Ludlum's "The Matarese Circle" and jump-starting the slate with reboots of MGM titles such as "RoboCop," "The Pink Panther" and "Red Dawn."

The "Red Dawn" remake is now one of three completed MGM films and is now awaiting release, along with "Cabin in the Woods" and "Zookeeper," the last of which Sony took over and will open next summer.

Barber and Birnbaum will also be under pressure from Carl Icahn, who owns about 14% of MGM's debt and is expected to keep pushing to merge the studio with Lionsgate. The billionaire agreed to support the restructuring plan after it was revised to exclude titles from the Spyglass library -- a move that reduced Barber and Birnbaum's stake in the new MGM from 5% to less than 1%.

Icahn will also have a representative on the nine-member MGM board. Board members include a trio of reps who were part of the creditors committee -- Patrick H. Daugherty of Highland Capital Management, Christopher Pucillo of Solus Alternative Asset Management and Kevin Ulrich of Anchorage Capital Group. MGM has also tapped MySpace co-president Jason O. Hirschhorn and former CBS chief financial officer Fredric G. Reynolds as directors along with Barber and Birnbaum.

MGM isn't expected to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection officially for several more months.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

This story can be found at http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118029334

[Blowfeld]

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Leaves Bankruptcy, Raises $500 Million for Films, TV
By Michael White - Dec 20, 2010 5:40 PM CT

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., distributor of the James Bond and Rocky movies, emerged from a streamlined bankruptcy and raised $500 million to produce new films and television series.

The studios’ lenders converted about $5 billion in debt for equity, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. The new equity holders in the studio include billionaire Carl Icahn, who will designate one of the company’s nine directors.

Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, executives at Spyglass Entertainment Group Inc., will serve as MGM’s co-chairmen and chief executive officers. The restructuring clears the way for the studio to begin work on a slate that includes a new Bond film and two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” to be co-produced with Time Warner Inc.’s New Line Cinema.

At Spyglass, Birnbaum and Barber produced films including the supernatural thriller “The Sixth Sense.” MGM got approval Dec. 2 to reorganize under Spyglass Entertainment.

Financing was arranged by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the studio said in the statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

This story can be found at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-2 ... ate1-.html

Nothing we haven't already been talking about althou this is a real step forward. However for the next Bond to be made MGM needs an investor to come up with at least 50% of the money until this happens this Bond talk is only talk. Of course I also don't believe 2012 is a realistic goal for EON. If it does happen by 2012 it will be the fastest zero to film on screen in their history and the end result will probably show it.

[katied]

No, it's not realistic. I think another long wait for something to happen will shut fans up about Bond 23 coming out in 2012.And as you said, *if* by some miracle, they DO get it out by then-and rush it-the end result will be obvious.There will be fans who overlook its obvious flaws,of course.

[Alessandra]

They don't have the partner taking care of 50% of production costs for Bond yet, so in that sense nothing has started yet. And it's not like you find it in five minutes. Also and more importantly, they don't have the shadow of a script, and since these absurdly slow people say it takes them a YEAR to draft a script (which is unbelievable and ridiculous, but anyway), even if it took them six months they'd have to get started.. right now. They need to have the script to do casting, which means they'd have to start casting at the earliest 6 to 8 months from now... and then they would absolutely need to start filming AT THE LATEST by the first few months of 2012 to have it out in nov. 2012. Given as we said they don't even have the other half of the production money yet, I do think it's completely unrealistic to think they will ever manage to have the film out by 2012. And if they do, well I'd like to see who suddenly put efficiency into EON. I couldn't believe it when they explained to me how long the script writers take (to produce a horrid script like that of QoS, no less!). It's ridiculous.

A TV episode, 42 minutes, takes one to two weeks to be written. Let's consider two weeks since a week is really tight and it's how they work on cable to save money. Anyway... two weeks. That means, six weeks for a movie script, because it's in average three times as many minutes. Let's even consider EIGHT weeks. That's two months. So I'd say if they're given SIX months it is already an extremely generous amount of time to write a script for a franchise, which, much like a TV episode, already has all the main characters done and dealt with, and just needs the story changing based on the guest-star villain and girl. They already have the main details laid out, they just need a plot basically. It's like writing an episode of a procedural/spy show. And these people say they take a YEAR!? No wonder MGM goes bankrupt.

Anyway even all this said, they are at zero still with Bond, having no production partner. And no script. I'm curious to see really. Unless a first draft of a script magically appears out of nowhere there is no way they're EVER going to make it by 2012. I don't even know whether this is good or bad. It can be good in terms of no Craig but it could be very bad in terms of "no Bond for a long time, and it's already been two years". I hope they get their stuff together... I just want Craig to be gone once and for all, if he needs this freaking 2012 movie to be done, then so be it, and have this movie out by 2012.. although at this point I think the quality would be seriously bad. I don't care, just as long as this whole Craig affair ENDS.

[Mazer Rackham]

Well said!


For those keeping score at home the important part to pay attention to is "MGM isn't expected to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection officially for several more months"


Of the $500m MGM is getting nearly $300m is going for the Hobbites. They have to have a partner or wait for the money to start rolling in from the Hobbit because there isn't enough left over to make a Bond movie unless they cut Babs graft and Danny boys fees to the bone.

Bringing in a partner has its own set of difficulties MGM doesn't make a dime on the Bond movies until they hit home video in fact the movies often leave the theaters still in the red far as the studios are concerned. Any partner brought on will know this and naturally will try to redraw any agreement to favor themselves, breaking even on an investment is not going to be good enough. Nobody wants another LTK scenario.

Besides Danny finding time is going to be an issue since Sony has first dibs if they decide to shoot the rest of the Millennium Trilogy, ironically it will likely be Dannos only Trilogy that is in fact a trilogy. Best thing they can do is dump Mendes in the nearest creek and find a director better suited to Bond. But he is Danny's choice and where Danny want to take Bond, not where Bond needs to go or when Eon wants to take the franchise. Bond 23 the way it was shaping up was all about Craig's ego, his pride was damaged by Quark but then he nearly strangled a gay man for complementing him on CR at BAFTA lord only knows what screws are loose in this jokers head.

If there is talk of Mendes not directing, which EON let slip a few months back then it has becoming more likely that Craig will not be coming back. I suspect before things get too serious with production they will be a undeclared emergency that crops up just in time to delay it once more then Craig can graciously bow out, as Dalton did.

The math doesn't support the status quo Bond budgets -almost 400m spent on Quark. Bond needs to trim the fat which they honestly can't do with with Craig attached. The series needs to be restarted and a new actor is the sure fire way to do it. They lost 10m people in the last outing setting up Bond 23s attendance to fall below that. They said they fired Brozza because of budget concerns (a lie) now they need to let Craig go so the series has fighting chance in the next decade.