At a Friday morning town hall, some light (if very little) was shed on how MGM would be incorporated into Amazon Studios a day after the ecommerce giant closed its $8.5 billion purchase of the storied Hollywood label.
MGM is now part of Prime Video and Amazon Studios led by senior vp Mike Hopkins, with the exec welcoming staffers into the Amazon fold during the town hall. Hopkins noted that MGM’s COO Christopher Brearton, motion picture group chairman Michael De Luca and worldwide television group chairman Mark Burnett would be joining his team. But this interim leadership structure may be updated in the future.
De Luca, Brearton and Burnett joined Hopkins on the tech company’s Culver City lot, while staffers watched via video conference. Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke joined the town hall remotely. Salke also reports to Hopkins and will continue to do so.
It is currently unclear if MGM will be functioning as a separate label within Amazon or if it will be merged into Amazon’s existing structures. During the meeting, Hopkins talked about how the MGM team can be integrated with the tech giant’s operations. Along with Brearton, De Luca and Burnett, it was also mentioned that MGM chief communications officer Katie Martin Kelley would be joining the team under Amazon PR boss Cory Shields.
MGM’s expansive library includes the Rocky and Creed franchises and, most notably, the James Bond films. As of late, De Luca and motion picture group president Pamela Abdy have been credited with making the flagging studio a major player, going toe-to-toe with moneyed companies like Apple and Netflix for big projects.
Recent releases include Oscar nominee Licorice Pizza and Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, while major projects pickups have included Ryan Gosling-Andy Weir package Project Hail Mary and New York Times best-seller Crying in H Mart.
Source: Hollywood
