Saperstein Fills Key Artisan Slot

Artisan Pictures has named former New Line Cinema executive Richard Saperstein president of development and production. Saperstein is expected to assume the post next week.

Reporting to Artisan Pictures CEO Bob Cooper, Saperstein will oversee daily film development and production activities, assembling a slate of low- to medium-budgeted films geared across all genres.

Cooper said he has been looking to fill the president post since he joined Artisan Pictures in September to head up motion picture and TV development/production following the merger of Artisan Entertainment and Cooper's Landscape Entertainment (HR 10/1).

"I chose him for a number of reasons — starting with the reason that his experience at New Line all those years has great value to Artisan," Cooper said. "I thought I could benefit from that experience in the way that he helped turn that studio into what it became. Also, he has a lot of expertise and focus on the written word, and I've always thought of that as the best way to succeed."

Said Saperstein: "I'm excited by the opportunity to join a company that is in a phase of re-establishing itself and being very aggressive in the marketplace. And my New Line experience is very relevant to what I will be doing at Artisan. I'm looking forward to helping Bob achieve his vision for this company and working with the entire Artisan team; they're smart, aggressive and serious about making quality movies."

Saperstein joins Artisan after a one-year stint as a producer following nine years at New Line, where he worked under production topper Michael De Luca. Saperstein, who worked on such New Line films as "Seven," "Frequency," "Magnolia," "Boogie Nights" "Rush Hour," "Dumb and Dumber" and the recently released "John Q.," exited his post as senior executive vp worldwide production in January 2001, along with about 120 New Line employees who were handed pink slips (HR 1/24/01).

Following his exit, Saperstein segued to an open-ended first-look producing deal at New Line. With his move to Artisan, that deal expires. He is still on board to produce a project for DreamWorks that he set up during the past year as a producer — a remake of the 1956 MGM sci-fi feature "Forbidden Planet," which he is producing with Ember Entertainment's Lindsay Dunlap.

Before going to New Line, Saperstein was a literary agent at ICM for more than two years, and before that he ran a New York-based production company.