Medavoy to Resign as Head of Orion Film Production

Mike Medavoy, Orion Pictures Corp.’s strongest link to the Hollywood creative community, said he plans to resign as executive vice president of the New York-based studio.

Medavoy, 49, will be succeeded as Orion’s head of movie production by Marc Platt, a 32-year-old senior vice president at the studio, Orion said.

The shake-up comes less than a week after Metromedia Inc., which is controlled by billionaire John Kluge, said it was talking with several prospective purchasers for its 70% stake in Orion.

In an interview, Medavoy said his planned resignation, which had been rumored for weeks, wasn’t related to any prospective change in control of the studio.

“I’ve been restless for the last year or so,” the executive said. “I didn’t think it was fair to the company for me to continue on in that frame of mind.”

Medavoy said he didn’t have any firm plan but was considering other studio jobs, the possibility of setting up an independent production company or even a return to the talent agency business. Orion and Medavoy said they are negotiating an end to the executive’s contract, which has two years to run.

Medavoy represented Jane Fonda, Steven Spielberg, Donald Sutherland and others at the Creative Management Agency and the International Famous Agency before joining United Artists Corp. as a movie executive in 1974. In 1982, he joined Arthur Krim, Eric Pleskow and other key UA executives in founding Orion.

Platt, who was previously an agent with International Creative Management in New York, worked with RKO General Corp. before joining Orion in 1987.

Several Hollywood insiders on Tuesday said Platt had risen quickly at Orion and was intimately involved in virtually all of the company’s dealings with writers, directors and actors over the past two years.

In an interview, Platt said he planned to step up Orion’s production to about 15 films a year from the current level of 12 to 14. But he said he didn’t plan any change in the company’s philosophy, which has stressed greater artistic freedom for writers, directors and producers than other studios have sometimes allowed.

Orion has been plagued by the weak performance of recent films such as “Valmont” and “She Devil,” but it may be helped in coming months by films such as “Robocop II,” the sequel to an earlier hit, and “Cadillac Man,” which stars Robin Williams. Asked whether Orion had sufficient financing for an expanded film slate, Platt said: “Absolutely.”

Published reports have listed Los Angeles investor Marvin Davis and Sony Corp. among the prospective purchasers of Kluge’s stake in Orion.

Sony recently arranged to distribute Orion’s films abroad through its Columbia Pictures unit but disclaimed any further involvement with Orion, according to one report.

On Tuesday, the Hollywood rumor mill said Davis had agreed to purchase Kluge’s stake. “If you believe that, I want to talk with you about buying the Brooklyn Bridge,” Medavoy said.

A Davis spokesman declined to comment, and neither Orion nor Metromedia officials could be reached in New York.