Exec Hunt at Universal Pictures Has Narrowed

The hunt for the next Universal Pictures chairman appears to have narrowed to two inside candidates with deep backgrounds in marketing and distributing films but lacking in experience developing major studio movies.

Universal Studios President Ron Meyer is said to be favoring a partnership between Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger and David Linde, co-head of Universal’s specialty film label Focus Features, to replace outgoing movie chief Stacey Snider. She accepted a job last month as co-head of DreamWorks SKG, recently bought by Paramount Pictures.

Meyer, who declined to comment Sunday, is under pressure to make a quick decision and is expected to make an announcement this week. Until he does, he must reassure producers, agents and filmmakers that Universal is still functioning smoothly. Meyer also must calm anxiety in his executive ranks.

“If you are in a competitive situation, people would rather go to a studio where the administration is in place,” said one producer with a deal at Universal who declined to be named while the situation was fluid. “Universal is a major buyer and you want them to be in business full speed.”

Linde and Shmuger also declined to comment.

In naming Shmuger and Linde, Meyer would be sending a message of continuity.

Shmuger has made it clear to colleagues at Universal and industry insiders that he really wants the job -- preferably alone. But it is unclear whether Meyer would let him operate solo.

For his part, Linde has been telling friends and business associates that he is interested in sharing the job, even if it means moving his family from New York to Los Angeles. Sources close to Linde say his main concern is defining what his role would be in a shared executive suite.

Meyer’s first choice for the job was Universal’s former co-production head, Scott Stuber. But Stuber, who has a rich producer’s deal at the studio with partner Mary Parent, was not interested in returning to the executive ranks.

Stuber declined to comment.

Last week’s Oscar ceremony at the Kodak Theatre may have been a foreshadowing: Linde and Shmuger sat with Meyer and his boss, NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright, along with their spouses.

Becoming chairman would be the logical next step for Shmuger, who has been Universal’s vice chairman since 1998, overseeing the studio’s worldwide marketing and distribution staffs.

He is considered one of the industry’s top marketing executives, having helped shape such innovative campaigns as the studio’s comedy hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” The 47-year-old executive was brought to Universal to run marketing in 1996 by Snider, who had worked with him at Columbia TriStar.

In Shmuger, Meyer would have a key inside man who has a strong relationship with NBC Universal’s parent company, General Electric Co. He has often traveled to GE’s headquarters and to corporate retreats on behalf of the studio.

But he lacks production experience. Although he has worked closely with filmmakers and stars on movie marketing campaigns, his expertise is not in developing screenplays or dealing with filmmakers on improving a plot or enhancing characters -- a talent that made Snider one of the best-regarded executives in the industry.

Shmuger would have to rely heavily on the studio’s two heads of production, Donna Langley and John Gordon, to focus on the creative process.

Linde has had more creative experience than Shmuger, although not in a big studio system. In his five years of running Focus Features with James Schamus, Linde has worked closely with independent filmmakers such as director Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener”) and Mira Nair (“Vanity Fair”).

Picking Linde, however, would break up one of the specialty film world’s most successful teams.

Founded in 2001, Focus has consistently released acclaimed and profitable films such as “Lost in Translation,” and “The Motorcycle Diaries.” Under Schamus and Linde, the company has won nine Academy Awards, including three wins this year for “Brokeback Mountain” and one for “The Constant Gardener.”

Whoever succeeds Snider will have to build Universal’s international distribution business.

Universal and Paramount Pictures are the only remaining studios that do not directly distribute their movies overseas. They are in the process of taking over specific countries from their overseas partner, United International Pictures, a British-based distribution company. By striking out separately, Paramount and Universal are in a better position to squeeze more money out of the lucrative foreign marketplace, which on average can account for more than 60% of a film’s overall revenue.

Shmuger is overseeing the studio’s international transition. Linde, meanwhile, has spent most of his career dealing with overseas distributors and financiers, beginning at Miramax where he launched the studio’s international distribution operation and then at his former production company, Good Machine, where he oversaw the selling of foreign rights to movies.