Big Names Launch Film Distributor : Movies: With some studios hurting, former Columbia executives Victor A. Kaufman and Lewis J. Korman form Savoy Pictures Entertainment.

With MGM/Pathe Communications and Orion Pictures facing uncertain futures, a group of influential Hollywood executives on Monday announced the creation of a new film distribution company.

Savoy Pictures Entertainment Inc., formed with $100 million in start-up funds and the support of such financial powerhouses as New York investment banker Allen & Co., is the brainchild of former Columbia Pictures executives Victor A. Kaufman and Lewis J. Korman.

Savoy hopes to strike alliances with Hollywood’s top producers by offering greater creative freedom and financial incentives than its competitors. The company, which will be based in Los Angeles and employ more than 100 people, expects to distribute 15 films a year by 1995--a volume comparable to a slow year for a major studio.

“It seemed this was the opportune time to start a new movie distribution company,” said Kaufman, a former Columbia chief executive who will serve as Savoy’s chief executive. “Our goal is to become a major entertainment company.”

Like the major studios, Savoy will pay print and advertising costs for the films it distributes in return for a percentage of the gross theatrical revenues. Savoy also sees itself as a global player. Kaufman said the company will forge relationships with international television networks, cable channels and other companies interested in the entertainment business.

Savoy’s formation is welcome news for filmmakers, who have seen the number of distribution outlets dwindle in the past year as Hollywood has felt the worldwide economic downturn.

One major distributor, Orion Pictures, is in financial reorganization. Another, MGM, has been taken over by its bankers, France’s Credit Lyonnais, and is expected to be sold.

“We have a very limited amount of buyers left in the market,” said independent producer Dawn Steel, who previously served as head of Columbia Pictures under Kaufman and Korman. “The fact that there’s another one out there with the financial wherewithal is thrilling.”

Savoy will not underwrite movie production costs--an arena that has led to the downfall of other companies. Kaufman said it will help filmmakers obtain loans, investments and pre-sale agreements.

The idea came to Kaufman last year after he noted the success of such independently produced films as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and “City Slickers.”

Kaufman has experience in starting companies. In 1982, he was the founding chief executive of TriStar Pictures.

Within three months of formulating the concept, he and Korman--Savoy’s chief operating officer, who held the same job at Columbia--have attracted a number of powerful investors, including:

* Allen & Co., a veteran Hollywood player that assisted in the acquisition of Columbia by Sony Corp. and MCA Inc.’s purchase by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

* Mitsui, an international trading company based in Japan.

* GKH Investments, a partnership that includes members of Chicago’s Pritzker family and Dan Lufkin of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

* Producers Frank Price and Andy Vajna.