Film Firm Has Story Right Out of Hollywood

“Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and “Backdraft,” two of Hollywood’s most anticipated summer releases, have something else in common. Both originated at Trilogy Entertainment Group, a tiny production company that will reap big rewards if the pictures live up to expectations.

The combined budgets of the two films, which are stocked with such high-priced talent as Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro and Kurt Russell, is more than $80 million. That’s a quantum leap for a company whose only previous credits are the low-budget 1988 thriller “The Kiss” and a yet-to-be-released fantasy adventure film called “A Gnome Named Norm.”

Trilogy partners Pen Densham, John K. Watson and Richard B. Lewis have been on near round-the-clock duty since the two projects went before the cameras last year. Densham and Watson manned the “Robin Hood” set in England, while Lewis oversaw “Backdraft,” a dramatic thriller about two brothers from a family of firefighters in Chicago.

“There are no weekends for us now,” Lewis said. “The motors are always running.”

Getting film projects off the ground in Hollywood is never easy. But being involved with two major movies simultaneously is virtually unheard of for a firm as small as Trilogy, a private company with no debt, little overhead and only a handful of employees.

Trilogy recently signed with International Creative Management, the powerful talent agency headed by Jeff Berg. Trilogy should have an easier time lining up financing to expand its operations if the movies click, according to Berg. “They already write and produce, and (Densham) wants to direct, so you’re dealing with a potential triple play,” he said.

Trilogy operated under the wing of larger independent production companies in its most recent ventures. It sold the rights to “Robin Hood” to Morgan Creek Productions, the company behind such popular films as “Major League” and “Young Guns.” “Backdraft” was purchased by Imagine Entertainment, producers of “Parenthood” and “Kindergarten Cop.”

Some Hollywood executives have downplayed Trilogy’s importance to the production process, since Morgan Creek and Imagine ultimately lined up the financing for the two movies.

But Imagine’s Ron Howard, who directed “Backdraft,” gives the Trilogy partners high marks as producers. “They’ve been plugging away for a while, and they came up with a couple of strong properties at one time,” he said. “You can’t call it pure luck. They’re smart guys.”

Densham and Watson, who are both British, got their start in Canadian television. Director Norman Jewison sponsored Densham’s move to Hollywood after seeing his work, and he and Watson eventually served as consultants on such movies as “Rocky II” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”

Lewis worked on the PBS series “Over Easy” in the 1970s. Other television projects followed before he joined Densham and Watson in forming Trilogy in 1986.

Densham said the timing of “Backdraft” and “Robin Hood” is purely coincidental. Densham and Watson, who are both longtime fans of the bandit of Sherwood Forest, had toyed with the “Robin Hood” screenplay for several years before completing it in February, 1990. Morgan Creek purchased the script for a reported $1.2 million shortly afterward.

“Robin Hood” then turned into something of a footrace as three companies simultaneously moved forward with competing projects. Morgan Creek got the jump on the others when it signed Costner for the lead in July, just four months after buying Densham and Watson’s script. By September, the movie had gone into production, with Trilogy’s partners serving as producers.

Morgan Creek committed to the “Robin Hood” script in less than a day. The company’s chief operating officer, Gary Barber, said the screenplay had all the right elements. “It had action, adventure, romance, humor. It was an epic, swashbuckling story,” Barber said.

The movie, to be distributed by Warner Bros., has a tentative release date of June 14.

“Backdraft” took a slower path to the screen. Trilogy started developing the project with writer Gregory Widen, a former firefighter, in 1987. De Laurentiis Entertainment Group purchased the rights to the film that same year and ordered a second draft. But in 1988, as the company suffered financial problems, the project became available again and was scooped up by Imagine.

Shooting on “Backdraft” started in July, just two months before “Robin Hood” went into production. With both under way, Trilogy’s partners divided their time between two continents. “For more than a month, we were shooting 24 hours a day as a company,” Lewis said.

Howard said Trilogy proved itself up to the task. “Lewis (Trilogy’s representative on the set) really attacked our movie with a great deal of passion and commitment,” Howard said. “And that’s what it takes to make something happen. He’s a dogged, hard-working guy.”

Universal Pictures expects to release “Backdraft” on May 24.

Trilogy hopes that the two films will catapult it into the ranks of such successful independents as Imagine and Morgan Creek. That’s a road fraught with peril, as other independents have learned when their movies bombed or their financing ran dry.

But Densham is optimistic. He said prospective projects are already pouring into the company’s Century City offices, which, not so coincidentally, are located next to those of Morgan Creek and Imagine.

THE TRILOGY PARTNERS Pen Densham,44, started out directing commercials and documentaries in Canada. Founded Insight Productions with partner John K. Watson. Produced such films and television specials as “Houdini Never Died, He Just Vanished” and “If Wishes Were Horses.” Came to Hollywood in 1978, serving as a creative consultant on several films before directing his first feature, “The Kiss,” for Tri-Star Pictures in 1988.

John K. Watson,45, holds a master’s degree in classics from Cambridge University. Met up with Trilogy partner Densham in Canada, where Watson became known as one of that country’s top film editors. Came to Hollywood with Densham. He has co-written and produced several scripts with Densham, including “The Zoo Gang,” starring Ben Vereen, in 1986.

Richard B. Lewis,38, first worked with Densham and Watson on “The Zoo Gang.” Holds a biological anthropology degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s in movie and television production from UCLA. Most of his prior experience was in television, where he worked on such shows as “Over Easy,” “Joe Dancer” and “Of Mice and Men.”