Vitale is gone
If the guy who hired you goes down, you too will go down. Jungle law says you can't just kill a lion -- you have to also kill all the lionesses and cubs and political allies. And so Ruth Vitale, the former Paramount Classics co-president who was hired 16 or 17 months ago by the recently- whacked Henry Winterstern to run the distribution of First Look Studios, is jobless once again.
Today's announcement follows Winterstern's departure by about 12 days. Vitale will stay on as a First Look consultant through the end of the year. I find this stuff upsetting. For me, Hollywood execs being suddenly dropped through trap doors is no less startling or traumatic than than that cell-phone video of Saddam Hussein's execution, or the whackings on The Sopranos.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 14, 2007 at 6:07 PM
comment #1
marychan
says ...
Vitale is a ideal worker for smaller arthoust distributors (like Tartan Films USA, IFC First Take)
But Vitale's taste is not a good fit for major studios' arthouse divisions; today, major studios'arthouse divisions only want to release small-budget mainstream movies.
Posted by marychan
at March 14, 2007 10:19 PM
comment #2
Terry McCarty
says ...
But I thought Vitale's tastes in boutique arthouse fare were fairly mainstream--e.g. the David Helfgott played by Geoffrey Rush film and even the underachieving slate she backed at Paramount Classics (films with recognizable Names).
Posted by Terry McCarty
at March 15, 2007 12:03 AM
comment #3
marychan
says ...
She also has acquired many arthouse movies without recognizable names, like "When I Close My Eyes"(in Asian, many people regard this movie as a classic), "Cabaret Balkan", "Mostly Martha", "Love me if you dare", "Bloody Suandy", three Patrice Leconte's movies, "Our Lady of the Assassins" , and others....
Posted by marychan
at March 15, 2007 4:00 AM
comment #4
spurofthemoment
says ...
Ruth Vitale is terrible. She ran Paramount Classics into the ground. Ask around and see if even one person has something nice to say about her.
Posted by spurofthemoment
at March 15, 2007 9:52 AM
comment #5
fnt
says ...
Whenever I read about First Look's collapse, I always wonder who thought releasing a movie titled "The Dead Girl" was a good idea. That is possibly the least attractive film title I've ever heard, irrespective of how good the film was.
Posted by fnt
at March 15, 2007 2:05 PM