Bob Shaye: thin skin, thick hide, tough sell

ON the wall of Bob Shaye's office at New Line Cinema is a letter from the Directors Guild of America, which has been on a campaign to protect filmmakers from bullying studio chiefs during the post-production process. The letter reminds Shaye, director of "The Last Mimzy," in theaters March 23, that he shouldn't let the studio interfere with his 10-week window to complete his cut of the movie.

The DGA officer adds: "I understand you also have final cutting authority [on the film]. Congratulations!"

Of course, if there's ever been anyone who doesn't have to worry about final cut on a movie, it is Shaye. He's in the unusual position of having directed a movie that is being released by the studio he's been running for 40 years.

Famously prickly with everyone, including actors, agents and reporters, Shaye made the sci-fi themed family film his way, casting it without stars and sticking with a strange title almost nobody understands. Even though the film is produced by Michael Phillips, Shaye refused to use the catchy phrase "from the producer of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' " in the trailer, explaining that "I don't agree to everything the marketing department comes up with."

You can't say that Shaye took advantage of his role as company chief. Given 61 days to shoot the film, he came in seven days early and nearly $6 million under the original $41-million budget. The result, based on a classic science fiction story, is a warm, intimate tale about two children who discover a black box containing a jumble of odd rocks and an old stuffed rabbit. When the boy and girl begin to display magical powers, levitating in their room and knocking out all the electricity in Seattle, we discover they've been chosen to communicate a message from an imperiled future civilization -- if anyone will listen.

Even with Rainn Wilson from "The Office" in the film as a quirky science teacher, it will be an uphill battle to find an audience during the crowded Easter holidays. Though the film had well-attended sneak previews this past weekend, it will still have stiff competition -- New Line's sister company, Warner Bros., has moved an animated version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," a franchise originally created by New Line, onto the same release date. "It's mano a mano," Shaye said the other day in his office as he critiqued a series of "Mimzy" TV spots. "We enter the game as combatants, not as brothers."