IT'S no secret that "Juno" is a sensation, having both earned an Oscar best picture nomination and easily cracked the $100-million mark at the box office. For all the well-deserved hoopla for young actress Ellen Page and rookie screenwriter Diablo Cody, there's an untold story that centers on the little-known company that actually put the movie together.
Mandate Pictures may not have a high profile today, but it's on the way to emerging as one of the most ambitious and innovative companies in Hollywood. Now owned by Lionsgate, Mandate is the brainchild of Joe Drake, a savvy foreign sales executive who with the help of Mandate President Nathan Kahane has quietly turned his company into a successful producer of critically loved comedies and commercial genre films as well as a magnet for creative talent.
In addition to making "Juno," which was financed by Fox Searchlight, Mandate has backed a string of thrillers (led by the "Grudge" franchise) through Ghost House Pictures, its joint venture with "Spider-Man" maestro Sam Raimi. Mandate also made "Stranger Than Fiction," the well-reviewed 2006 Will Ferrell film, as well as the ongoing "Harold & Kumar" comedy series.
Everyone in today's Hollywood loves to chant the same mantra, boasting about their talent-friendly credentials. That turns out to be an awkward fit, especially for the big studios, which are currently locked in a bitter labor dispute with a big chunk of their key talent -- the writers who create the stories that attract the talent.
Mandate, on the other hand, has essentially based its business model on talent relations. Many of its biggest successes, starting with "Juno," have come from its aggressive pursuit of hot scripts, be it Cody's "Juno" or Zach Helm's "Stranger Than Fiction," both of which ended up at Mandate despite competitive bids from bigger studios.
"Our niche at Mandate isn't so much a movie niche as a talent niche," says Drake, 47, who is now focused on broadening Lionsgate's international horizons as president of the studio's motion picture group. "Movies are made by great writers, directors and actors, and our job is to support their vision, give them the best possible economic support and then get the hell out of the way."
