When Herb Allen Talks, Star Makers Listen

Next week, when most of the entertainment crowd is returning from Fourth of July vacations, a select group will detour to Sun Valley for an event as ritualized as the Academy Awards, though much more secretive: the 10th annual Allen & Co. investment seminar.

The Idaho conference is the premier event of its kind for people who pull the strings in Hollywood. That’s largely due to investment banker Herbert Allen Jr., an omnipresent figure in entertainment deals. But it’s also because entertainment is not the sole focus of attention.

One of the real draws for people such as Universal Pictures Chairman Tom Pollock, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, Creative Artists Agency Chairman Michael S. Ovitz, Viacom International Chairman Sumner Redstone and NBC President Robert C. Wright is the chance to mix with executives from other industries, such as billionaire investor Warren Buffet.

People who operate in the largely isolated world of pop culture will spend Wednesday through Saturday in seminars, meetings and outdoor events with people who sell everything from soft drinks to grain. They will also consort with the country’s leading money managers.

“It’s hard for some people in our business to come in contact with people in other businesses, so this is a great opportunity,” said one regular participant from Hollywood. “It also happens to be fun.”

Lording over all the business and fun is Allen himself, the enormously wealthy and well-connected investment banker who has an intelligence agent’s appreciation for secrecy.

The 53-year-old Allen has longstanding ties to Hollywood. He has counted among his clients News Corp., owner of 20th Century Fox; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., owner of Universal Pictures; Coca-Cola, former owner of Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, and Seagram Co., which recently bought a big stake in Time Warner Inc.

He was also involved in launching Savoy Pictures, one of the most ambitious entertainment company start-ups in recent times, with the help of investors such as the Pritzker family.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, one analyst called Allen, who took over the business from his father and uncle in 1966, “the preeminent investment banking name in the entertainment business.” Forbes has estimated the family’s net worth at about $1 billion.

“What’s special about this seminar is that Herbert Allen and his people are extremely knowledgeable about the movie business on a much more detailed level than the others who claim to be,” said one executive who asked to remain anonymous. “They are the real thing.”

Sources say it is Allen’s own insistence on privacy that sets the tone for the event, which draws about 150 executives. His New York-based company refuses even to acknowledge that the seminar takes place, and those invited tend to clam up when asked to talk about what they do there. Privately, one executive said he goes as much for the chance to spend time outdoors with his children as the conference itself. Others say they come out of deference to Allen.

Gordon Crawford, who manages a sizable entertainment portfolio for Los Angeles-based Capital Group Inc., said that from his perspective, the seminar is like one-stop shopping.

“It’s a wonderful conference,” he said. “All sorts of movers and shakers from Hollywood attend. Herb has a lot of strong relationships with those people.”

Events revolve around Allen’s personal retreat and a nearby lodge, participants say. According to several sources, this year’s program includes business presentations by Blockbuster Entertainment, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Tele-Communications Inc. and Time Warner.

Last year, Coke gave a presentation in which it broke down the drinking habits of consumers worldwide, down to the most minute detail. In Hollywood, where the fine details are often obscured, that left one executive awe-struck. “They had statistics on everything,” he recalled.

The seminar is expected to be more focused on new technology this year, since that’s the hot issue of the moment in entertainment. For executives seeking alliances with people in other industries, the four-day event offers the potential for an all-star networking session.

In the end, however, little or no information from the conference will surface publicly, which seems to be the whole idea. “This is where smart people go to talk to each other, not the rest of the world,” one veteran said.

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Woody on Trial? Now that Woody Allen’s court battle with Mia Farrow is over, he faces an even bigger test: popular acceptance.

Sources say his future with TriStar Pictures hinges on the reception for his latest film, “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” which opens next month.

Executives at TriStar are unlikely to fund future Allen productions if the film fails, sources say. TriStar denies that such a decision has been reached. Allen came to TriStar two years ago after Orion Pictures, where he made 11 pictures, ran into financial problems. His latest films have not done well, but “Manhattan Murder Mystery” is billed as a return to his comic form.