De Luca D'works Production Head
By Chris Gardner
Tuesday, June 5 2001
Tuesday, June 5 2001
Published on AllBusiness.com
Four months after exiting his post as New Line Cinema's production president and chief operating officer, Michael De Luca has officially been named head of production at DreamWorks Pictures. The announcement had been expected (HR 5/21).
De Luca assumes his post sometime in the next two weeks and will report to DreamWorks Pictures co-head Walter Parkes and principal Jeffrey Katzenberg, the latter of whom had been filling the role for nearly two years. As production head, De Luca will oversee the development and production of DreamWorks features, which will ease some of the workload of Parkes and his co-head, Laurie MacDonald. For the purpose of keeping things streamlined, Parkes said, De Luca will not report to MacDonald.
The move will help DreamWorks ramp up its production slate with high-end talent as De Luca is known for his ability to push projects forward as well as his favorable relations with talent, including filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson ("Magnolia") and comedian Adam Sandler ("Little Nicky").
"It hopefully allows DreamWorks to go from eight or nine movies a year to 10-12 movies a year," Parkes said. "With Mike's rather extraordinary talent relationships and energy, he will be able to create another three to four movies a year for us."
In joining DreamWorks, De Luca chooses to walk away from an option to segue into a lucrative New Line production deal following his exit from the minimajor. De Luca's previous New Line contract, which was set to expire at year's end, gave him the option to continue his post or take a three-year production deal.
After spending 16 years at New Line — his entire professional career — followed by a four-month hiatus, De Luca said a clean start was the right decision.
"In terms of my own life right now, this is what I wanted to do," De Luca said, adding that negotiations with DreamWorks began two weeks ago. "The job description is very similar to what I was doing at New Line, so I am looking forward to joining their team."
When rumors started swirling of De Luca's move to DreamWorks, speculation arose that adding him to the team would bring Parkes and MacDonald a step closer to being able to focus solely on producing personal projects. The duo oversee the studio's films but are also allowed to produce outside the company, as they are doing with Columbia Pictures' sequel to "Men in Black."
Parkes, however, denied that rumor, saying the opposite is true.
"With Mike coming to DreamWorks, it means that our relationship with DreamWorks will continue even longer," Parkes said. "When administrative pressures got in the way of our personal projects, we asked ourselves, 'Can we keep doing this?' Hopefully, now
De Luca assumes his post sometime in the next two weeks and will report to DreamWorks Pictures co-head Walter Parkes and principal Jeffrey Katzenberg, the latter of whom had been filling the role for nearly two years. As production head, De Luca will oversee the development and production of DreamWorks features, which will ease some of the workload of Parkes and his co-head, Laurie MacDonald. For the purpose of keeping things streamlined, Parkes said, De Luca will not report to MacDonald.
The move will help DreamWorks ramp up its production slate with high-end talent as De Luca is known for his ability to push projects forward as well as his favorable relations with talent, including filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson ("Magnolia") and comedian Adam Sandler ("Little Nicky").
"It hopefully allows DreamWorks to go from eight or nine movies a year to 10-12 movies a year," Parkes said. "With Mike's rather extraordinary talent relationships and energy, he will be able to create another three to four movies a year for us."
In joining DreamWorks, De Luca chooses to walk away from an option to segue into a lucrative New Line production deal following his exit from the minimajor. De Luca's previous New Line contract, which was set to expire at year's end, gave him the option to continue his post or take a three-year production deal.
After spending 16 years at New Line — his entire professional career — followed by a four-month hiatus, De Luca said a clean start was the right decision.
"In terms of my own life right now, this is what I wanted to do," De Luca said, adding that negotiations with DreamWorks began two weeks ago. "The job description is very similar to what I was doing at New Line, so I am looking forward to joining their team."
When rumors started swirling of De Luca's move to DreamWorks, speculation arose that adding him to the team would bring Parkes and MacDonald a step closer to being able to focus solely on producing personal projects. The duo oversee the studio's films but are also allowed to produce outside the company, as they are doing with Columbia Pictures' sequel to "Men in Black."
Parkes, however, denied that rumor, saying the opposite is true.
"With Mike coming to DreamWorks, it means that our relationship with DreamWorks will continue even longer," Parkes said. "When administrative pressures got in the way of our personal projects, we asked ourselves, 'Can we keep doing this?' Hopefully, now
