Morgan Creek Productions

Rick Nicita, a longtime Hollywood agent whose clients include Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is leaving the agency business after 42 years to become a movie executive. A managing partner at Creative Artists Agency, where he spent nearly three decades, Nicita has been named co-chairman and chief operating officer of Morgan Creek Productions, a movie company founded by James Robinson that in recent years has struggled to produce hits.

Morgan Creek Productions founder James Robinson, who had been in negotiations to become a major investor in the acquisition of Miramax Films along with construction magnate Ron Tutor and Los Angeles private equity firm Colony Capital, is no longer part of the mix. Robinson was prepared to put up $75 million to $100 million of the $660-million purchase price for Miramax, for which the Tutor and Colony-led investor group Filmyard Holding signed a...

He doesn't socialize with starlets at beachside Malibu soirees, shop the boutiques of Rodeo Drive or peruse scripts while cruising down Sunset Boulevard. For all of his un-Hollywood touches, James Robinson, a former automobile parts distributor from Baltimore, has definitely made his name known in Hollywood. He heads Morgan Creek Productions, one of the country's most prominent independent film producers.

Rick Nicita, a longtime Hollywood agent whose clients include Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is leaving the agency business after 42 years to become a movie executive. A managing partner at Creative Artists Agency, where he spent nearly three decades, Nicita has been named co-chairman and chief operating officer of Morgan Creek Productions, a movie company founded by James Robinson that in recent years has struggled to produce hits.

Morgan Creek Productions founder James Robinson, who had been in negotiations to become a major investor in the acquisition of Miramax Films along with construction magnate Ron Tutor and Los Angeles private equity firm Colony Capital, is no longer part of the mix. Robinson was prepared to put up $75 million to $100 million of the $660-million purchase price for Miramax, for which the Tutor and Colony-led investor group Filmyard Holding signed a...

Morgan Creek Productions has named Linda Goldenberg senior vice president of marketing.

Jack Brodsky has been named president of marketing and distribution at Morgan Creek Productions, Century City. Brodsky also will function in a production capacity. He most recently has been working as an independent producer.

The Direct Approach: Bruce Beresford, who directed the Oscar-winning "Driving Miss Daisy," has been hired by Morgan Creek Productions to direct "Indian Summer," a mystery about a psychiatrist who tries to unravel a murder through the only witness, an autistic boy.

The rewritten, recast and re-shot version of "Exorcist: The Beginning" managed to land in first place over the weekend. But the estimated $18.2 million that the film brought in was less than half the $40-million opening that James Robinson, whose company produced the movie, said he would need to "get out with my money."

Morgan Creek Productions said it had been awarded nearly $2 million by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury in a legal dispute with producer Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures. The award included nearly $1 million associated with a larger loan Morgan Creek made to Franchise that it argued should be repaid with film revenues. Franchise's chief financial officer, Hans Turner, said Franchise used reasonable accounting measures and is considering an appeal pending a final judgment. * -- James Bates

Universal Pictures and Morgan Creek Productions have entered into an exclusive, three-year distribution arrangement, the companies announced. Under the deal, Universal will distribute domestically all films produced and financed by Morgan Creek. Since 1990, Morgan Creek has distributed its films through Warner Bros. "We're very pleased to be in business with Morgan Creek," Universal Pictures Chairwoman Stacey Snider said.

Alex Ben Block, editor of the Hollywood Reporter for nearly seven years, is leaving to take the newly created position of president of marketing for Morgan Creek Productions. Morgan Creek is based on the Warner Bros. lot, and has produced such films as the "Ace Ventura" and "Major League" movies. Block has been the longest-standing day-to-day editor in the history of the 68-year-old entertainment trade publication. Block joined the Reporter in 1990 as editor of special issues.

Former studio chief Guy McElwaine and business partner Terry Hayes have entered into a producers agreement with Morgan Creek Productions. Morgan Creek will co-produce, finance and distribute the films for McElwaine/Hayes Co. Morgan Creek distributes films through Warner Bros. McElwaine is the former chief executive of Columbia Pictures and a former vice chairman of International Creative Management. Hayes is currently writing "Fahrenheit 451" for star Mel Gibson and Warner Bros.

Narrowing slightly the field of bidders for the venerable Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, producer James G. Robinson's Morgan Creek plans to team up with Peter Ackerman, a former Michael Milken associate who now heads his own investment firm, according to a source familiar with the arrangement. Such a union would strengthen their hand in an auction that has drawn bids estimated up to $1.3 billion. However, they would still face formidable competition from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Nomura Babcock and Brown, an investment trust owned 80% by Japan's biggest brokerage, Nomura Securities and its group companies, is raising a $25-million fund to invest in American films. Nomura Babcock and Morgan Creek Productions, a Los Angeles-based film maker, have already set up joint film production in the United States to produce four movies, a Nomura Babcock spokesman said today. Morgan Creek Film Partners is owned 25% by Nomura Babcock and 75% by Morgan.

Though he broke into the business as the maverick co-founder of independent Morgan Creek Productions, Joe Roth is no newcomer to Hollywood's rough-and-tumble corporate world. For more than three years, he sat in Darryl F. Zanuck's old office as the chairman of 20th Century Fox. A former director and producer, he was one of Hollywood's only filmmakers to assume the post of studio chief before starting Caravan Pictures at Disney nearly two years ago.

He doesn't socialize with starlets at beachside Malibu soirees, shop the boutiques of Rodeo Drive or peruse scripts while cruising down Sunset Boulevard. For all of his un-Hollywood touches, James Robinson, a former automobile parts distributor from Baltimore, has definitely made his name known in Hollywood. He heads Morgan Creek Productions, one of the country's most prominent independent film producers.