Though Alliance Communication’s stronghold is Toronto, the company has strategically bulked up its forces on the front lines – Hollywood – in the last year.
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In the last four months, the company has added three upper-level executives to its Beverly Hills office and its staff there is now at 15 and growing, with more middle management likely in the near future. Though the company’s L.A. operation began in 1985, it was only in 1991 that a top-level exec – executive VP of Alliance Entertainment USA, Michael Weisbarth – took control in Los Angeles, and now another major growth spurt is underway.
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“(Alliance chairman) Robert Lantos realized there was an opportunity that a Canadian company could offer U.S. broadcasters, opportunities for co-productions that only a Canadian company could bring to production and development for broadcasters to take advantage of,” says Weisbarth. “He decided to gear the office into primarily a TV operation and, rather than bring people down from the Toronto office, he felt it was important to establish ourselves as a supplier, as opposed to a Canadian supplier.”
Thus, a decision was made to bring in a crew experienced in supplying American broadcasters. Weisbarth, an American, brought in three other U.S. veterans – one on the business side, Kelly Smith as senior VP of business affairs – and two on the creative end, Steven Mendelson as senior VP of series and new media development and Laurie Pozmantier as senior VP of television movies and miniseries.
Mendelson joined up in November after a stint starting an interactive company, Starwave Corp., with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; and Pozmantier joined a month later after a term as VP of international co-productions for Turner Network Television.
“Both of them bring a number of things to the operation,” says Weisbarth. “Both are well experienced in the American marketplace and that improves our credibility in the marketplace as a major supplier. Just as important, both of them have already sold new projects in the short time they’ve been here.”
Last year, Alliance – for many years a producer of TV movie and cable fare – proved a non-Hollywood based company could supply a quality hit series to a major network with the hit CBS show “Due South.” With that hurdle jumped, the next goal is to demonstrate that the company can produce and supply multiple projects, including more series and miniseries, at the same time. Weisbarth, Mendelson and Pozmantier all feel the company is ready to take a permanent seat at the Hollywood suppliers’ table.
“We realized we had an opportunity that was bigger than a single program like ‘Due South,'” says Weisbarth. “All we needed to do to accomplish it was get more help down here, to expand, and we’re doing that. The whole idea was to concentrate on series, TV movies and miniseries, set them up with broadcasters, tie them in with co-production opportunities that we can provide as a Canadian company, then sell to the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world. The entire plan is to be more than a one-project-at-a-time company.”
In terms of regular TV series, Mendelson says Alliance is moving full-speed ahead with this plan. “We’ve got a full development slate under way right now to specifically increase the volume of series programming, and that includes network business as well as the first-run area and cable buyers,” he says. “We have a lot of projects in development at the networks and the new networks – especially UPN.”
Since all those shows are still in development, company officials won’t provide many details, but one pilot, called “Shock Treatment” and produced with CBS Productions, finished production at the end of March. Two series are being developed for the USA Network: a latenight strip for Fox, and another two-hour pilot for Fox helmed by director John Woo, called “Once A Thief.” Weisbarth says the company also has a commitment from ABC to develop a series for next season.
Likewise, Pozmantier, whose area of expertise is in the co-production arena, says Alliance’s L.A. office is central to a growing slate of TV movies and miniseries projects. Three films are in development for TNT: a four-hour miniseries for CBS, a two-hour ABC movie and a two-hour HBO movie.
“Without a strong presence in Los Angeles, we wouldn’t be accessible to American buyers,” she says. “It would be really difficult, if not impossible, to do the large amount of projects we are now working on.”
On the multimedia front, the current strategy is to exploit opportunities out of existing properties such as the upcoming “Johnny Mnemonic” CD-ROM, based on the company’s big-budget feature, and a similar “ReBoot” game.
Alliance’s Hollywood moves are already starting to increase the company’s overall profile, according to Robert Lee, senior VP at the William Morris Agency, who specializes in TV movies and miniseries.
“They were not afraid to do what is required overhead-wise to be in this market,” says Lee. “I think they’re going to be a permanent player in the fabric of the American marketplace.” The next major expansion arena is on the creative front. All three L.A.-based execs are currently forging writing, directing, producing and talent relationships with well-known names, including British writer John Mortimer (“Brideshead Revisited”), writer Peter Medak (“Romeo is Bleeding,” “The Krays”), actress Angela Lansbury and Charles Bronson.
No matter how successful Alliance becomes as a program supplier, some Hollywood skeptics may look at it as a Canadian supplier, but as Mendelson points out, quality and coin will determine how successful Alliance will be at the big table.
“I would hope any prejudice would be gone by now,” Mendelson says. “We’re not a work services business, like many Canadian companies. We’re a supplier now that happens to be based in Canada. ‘Due South’ on a quality level, is as successful as anything else that’s out there.
“Production values we put on screen are on par with the best work coming out of the top studios. That alone says it doesn’t make any difference if you are north or south of the border. It’s all about the material.”
Brendan Kelly in Montreal contributed to this report.
