Entertainment Lawyer Named MGM President

MGM-Pathe Communications Co. said Friday that it has named veteran entertainment lawyer Charles R. Meeker as president of the struggling film studio.

Meeker’s appointment is expected to beef up the company’s business and financial management, complementing the production skills of Chairman Alan Ladd Jr.

“As a longtime business associate and friend, I know from experience how fortunate MGM-Pathe is to have someone of Charlie Meeker’s caliber,” Ladd said in a statement. “He will be a strong asset as the company’s momentum is re-established.”

Ladd, who was promoted from MGM-Pathe production chief to company chairman in April after the forced resignation of Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti, had been expected to name a senior executive to oversee the financial and business affairs of the studio.

Meeker, who will report directly to Ladd, said he plans to concentrate on these areas and “take as much of that off (Ladd’s) back so he can make and distribute pictures.” Jay Kanter, recently named chief operating officer of the company, is also “principally going to concentrate in the production area,” Meeker said.

One key part of Meeker’s duties will be MGM-Pathe’s relations with its chief lender, the European banking giant Credit Lyonnais. The bank was responsible for ousting Parretti as chairman and is seeking to sell a 40% stake in the studio to raise equity capital.

Last month, Credit Lyonnais advanced an additional $145-million loan to MGM-Pathe--on top of hundreds of millions of dollars in previous loans to the company and various Parretti affiliates--to finance the release of several completed films and to pay overdue bills.

Meeker, 48, has been a partner with White & Case in Los Angeles for the past three years, specializing in entertainment law. Before that, he was president for four years of F/M Entertainment, an independent film company that he formed with producer Edward Feldman. A graduate of Princeton and the University of Texas Law School, Meeker also practiced law for 17 years with the Los Angeles firm O’Melveny & Myers.