Columbia Signs Exclusive Deal With Producers

Columbia Pictures, demonstrating a continuing willingness to dole out substantial sums for hot producers in recession-ravaged Hollywood, has made an exclusive production and distribution deal with film and TV producers Bernie Brillstein and Brad Grey.

Despite calls for moderating what some have labeled Hollywood’s spendthrift ways, this latest Columbia deal shows how difficult the studios find it to clamp down on payments to writers and producers perceived as having the skills or clout to create hit shows and films.

The deal between the Sony Pictures Entertainment unit and Brillstein/Grey Entertainment--whose principals have been behind such popular or critically acclaimed shows as “Alf,” “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” and “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show”--will allow the producers to retain ownership of their TV programs while giving Columbia control of film projects.

“We are going to be in TV in a major way,” said Brad Davis, co-chairman of Brillstein/Grey. “With the entertainment business being as untenable as it is today, this deal gives us enormous flexibility.” Brillstein and Grey also operate a high-profile Hollywood management agency, whose clients include TV comedians Bronson Pinchot, George Wendt and Bob Saget.

Any TV shows or movies developed will be distributed through Columbia Pictures’ movie and TV divisions. The deal could help move Columbia into such areas of TV production as cable and first-run syndication, in which it has lagged behind the other studios.

Davis would not comment on financial details of the deal. But knowledgeable sources said that Brillstein/Grey will be paid $5 million on signing, with its overhead and development costs to be picked up by Sony.

Furthermore, Columbia will contribute a total of $14 million to the production of two upcoming TV series by Brillstein/Grey: a 13-episode order for CBS of a new show, “Simple Folk,” starring Sherman Hemsley, and a 13-episode HBO series titled “The Larry Sanders Show,” starring Gary Shandling.

Sony will also be entitled to a 25% distribution fee on the sale of any reruns in syndication, the sources said. The producers also have a “put deal,” whereby Sony is obligated to finance the deficits on any future TV projects produced by Brillstein/Grey.

“You have to pick and choose,” said Columbia Pictures Chairman Mark Canton, who, during his tenure at Warner Bros., had a long association with Brillstein. “To be in business with these two guys at this time comes with a lot of thought.”

The deal falls short of such previous Columbia mega-deals as the studio’s $65-million pact with producer James Brooks (“The Simpsons,” “The War of The Roses”) and its $33-million agreement with the producing team of Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye (“Married With Children”). But it is bigger, for instance, than Walt Disney Studio’s $15-million deal with the husband-and-wife team of Neal Marlens and Carol Black (“The Wonder Years”).