Blockbuster of a ContractFor Carolco Pictures Chairman...

Blockbuster of a Contract

For Carolco Pictures Chairman Mario Kassar, whose movie company made such big-budget films as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” it’s hasta la vista to tighter purse strings.

Kassar, whose spending had to be tightened last year when Carolco began experiencing financial difficulties, signed a lucrative new contract last Monday that keeps him at Carolco through 1997 as part of a company restructuring. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, here are some highlights:

* Kassar gets a $250,000 raise in his annual base pay to $2 million from the $1.75 million he was supposed to receive this year, with the amount rising by $250,000 annually after that.

* Kassar last month was paid a $500,000 bonus (plus $97,389 interest) stemming from the success of “Terminator 2.”

* He gets $7,500 a month for “non-accountable business expenses,” in addition to normal travel, entertainment and fringe benefit expenses.

* Kassar also shares in the profits when he has a hit through various formulas, and gets a $1-million non-refundable minimum advance on pictures against his producer fees.

* Sources familiar with the contract said Kassar also gets a number of perks, including gardening services.

Beefing Up the Faculty

The line between fast food and academia continues to blur.

The management school at UC Irvine in Orange County has its “Taco Bell Chair in Real Estate Management.”

Now comes word that the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami is searching for nominees for the “James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing.”

It’s named after the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Burger King.

Earth in the Balance

Environmentalist Al Gore’s election as vice president has given hope to some that the federal government will step up its efforts to clean up the environment. One place to start might be with the government itself.

Two of the most expensive air pollution penalties dished out recently by the South Coast Air Quality Management District were to March Air Force Base near Riverside ($2,000) for failing to vent methane gas to its sewage plant, and to the federally subsidized Amtrak rail service, which was fined $3,000 for excessive smoke emissions from a locomotive.

Briefly . . .

A Bill Clinton commemorative pipe marketed for $8 is built so users are unable to inhale. . . . We’re No. 1! (with an asterisk): The action film “Sidekicks” touts itself as the “1 Family Movie in America” at the same time the adult-themed “Indecent Proposal” advertises itself as “The 1 Movie in America for 4 Weeks”. . . . A Beverly Hills auction next weekend by Odyssey Auctions features Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs Police Officer’s Assn. ID card, at an estimated $500 to $600, and a signed cast photo from “Gilligan’s Island” for $350 to $400.