Company | Phoenix Pictures Inc.

Company

Phoenix Pictures is one of the premiere entertainment labels in the film business, bringing quality films to audiences around the world. Led by Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messer, two of the industry’s most respected senior executives, Phoenix has established a reputation for consistently developing first-rate projects with some of Hollywood’s top creative talent.

With over 25 feature films to its credit, the company has collaborated with sought after director talents such as Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Oliver Stone, Milos Forman, Bryan Singer and Terrence Malick, as well as some of the industry’s biggest stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Sean Penn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Travolta, Ben Kingsley, Kate Winslet, John Cusack, Jude Law, Renee Zellwegger, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Edward Norton, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Williams, Shia LaBeouf, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ewan McGregor, Mark Ruffalo, Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Lopez, Anthony Hopkins, Jamie Foxx, Eva Mendes, Adrien Brody, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Ian McKellen, Barbra Streisand and Jeff Bridges.

The company was formed in 1995 by Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messer, with partners including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Onex, Fremantle Media and Showtime. Phoenix ’s first three films were The Mirror Has Two Faces, directed by Barbra Streisand, two-time Oscar® winner Milos Forman’s widely acclaimed The People vs. Larry Flynt and Oliver Stone’s U-Turn. In 1997 legendary filmmaker Terrence Malick returned to filmmaking after 19 years with The Thin Red Line for Phoenix Pictures, which went on to receive seven Oscar® nominations: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay based on material previously published, Cinematography, Editing, Score and Sound. That same year, Phoenix produced Urban Legend, which was the fifth top-grossing film released by Columbia/TriStar in 1998.

Phoenix has also produced Dick, Lake Placid, directed by Steve Miner, Whatever It Takes, directed by David Raynr, Mad About Mambo, the sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut, directed by John Ottman, Roger Spottiswoode’s The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Basic, Holes, directed by John McTiernan; based on the award-winning New York Times best selling children’s novel, directed by Andy Davis; In My Country, Stealth, directed by Rob Cohen, and All the King’s Men, directed by Steve Zaillian. In 2007 came the independently financed Miss Potter, directed by Chris Noonan, Pathfinder, directed by Marcus Nispel, Resurrecting the Champ, directed by Rod Lurie, License to Wed, directed by Ken Kwapis and the critically acclaimed Zodiac, by David Fincher.

Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams, will be in theaters in February 2010. Phoenix is currently completing Shanghai for The Weinstein Company, directed by Mikael Hafstrom, starring John Cusack and Gong Li, and will soon be starting on Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder and Mila Kunis. Other feature films in development include a remake of RoboCop for MGM, and an adaptation of John Grisham’s best-selling novel Playing for Pizza.

Mike Medavoy | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Mike Medavoy - Phoenix Pictures Sample some of the best American films over the past thirty-five years and there’s a good chance Mike Medavoy played a role in the success of many of them. From agent to studio chief to producer, he has been involved with over 300 feature films, of which 16 have been nominated and 7 have won Best Picture Oscars®, as well as numerous international film festival awards.

Medavoy began his career at Universal Studios in 1964. He rose from the mailroom to become a casting director. In 1965, he became an agent at General Artist Corporation and then vice president at Creative Management Agency. Joining International Famous Agency as vice president in charge of the motion picture department in 1971, he worked with such prestigious clients as Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Terrence Malick, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Gene Wilder, Jeanne Moreau, and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Messer is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He launched his career in the entertainment business as senior counsel at Columbia Pictures Television in 1979. After a stint as vice president of business affairs at Viacom International, Messer returned to Columbia Pictures where he served first as senior vice president and later as executive vice president of worldwide business affairs. In 1983, he was named senior executive vice president of TriStar Pictures and president of its telecommunications group, where he oversaw the business of theatrical production as well as all ancillary marketing and television activities for the company.

Brad Fischer | Co-President, Production

Brad Fischer began his career at Phoenix Pictures in August of 1998 as executive assistant to Mike Medavoy, chairman and CEO. He was promoted to director of development in 1999, to vice president of production in 2002, to senior vice president of production in 2004 and to co-president of production in 2007.

During his tenure at Phoenix Pictures, Fischer has been instrumental in discovering, developing and producing many high-profile projects including the critically acclaimed David Fincher film Zodiac, which he produced. The film, an “Official Selection” of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, was released by Paramount Pictures (US) and Warner Bros (International) to massive world-wide critical acclaim, and was one of the best reviewed films of the year.

Born and educated in England, Thwaites moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and after a two-week stint as an intern at Village Roadshow, joined Mike Medavoy as his assistant at Phoenix Pictures. Climbing the executive ladder, Thwaites was promoted from executive assistant to director of development in 2001. He was again promoted in 2004 to vice president of production and has served as co-president of production since 2007 with his colleague Brad Fischer.

Thwaites, together with Fischer, is responsible for choosing, developing and producing Phoenix Pictures’ large and varied slate. A sampling of the projects Thwaites is currently developing includes: the world’s bestselling pregnancy book, What to Expect When You’re Expecting with Lionsgate, which Heather Hach is writing; the international best-selling John Grisham novel, Playing for Pizza; a re-reboot of RoboCop at MGM which David Self is writing; and Once Upon A Time in Hell, a contemporary London set re-imagination of Alexandre Dumas’ classic revenge tale The Count of Monte Cristo.

Chris Trunkey joined Phoenix Pictures in August 2001. In September 2002 he became chief financial officer and is responsible for the company's finance, accounting, information technology and administrative functions.
Read more...