Bright Star on Columbia Horizon : Movies: Hopes are high that production head Lisa Henson can turn things around at beleaguered studio.

Lisa Henson may still be less well-known than her beloved late father, Muppeteer Jim Henson, but if early reports of her tenure at Columbia Pictures are any indication, that may be about to change.

After cutting her teeth and rising through the ranks as a production executive at Warner Bros. over the past decade, the 33-year-old Henson replaced Michael Nathanson in August as the new head of production at Columbia. And those who know her say the bright, young, ambitious executive--lured to the studio by her former Warner boss, Columbia chairman Mark Canton--has no intentions of stopping there. “Years ago she told me she wanted to be (Warner president) Terry Semel,” recalled one of Henson’s former colleagues.

In taking the Columbia job, Henson has not only assumed a key creative post rare for women in Hollywood, but she has stepped into a ring of fire at a studio marred by a major image problem and discontent over the box-office embarrassment of “Last Action Hero” and controversy surrounding possible ties to alleged Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.

While Fleiss has since faded from view, and Columbia’s market share has improved slightly, staffers are still demoralized. Columbia has had a tough time shaking the perception expressed recently by two agents: “It’s a bad-vibe place,” said one. “They’re very distracted; everything’s going to have to be put back on track,” cautioned another.

From all accounts, hopes are high that Henson can help put things back on track. Many Columbia associates and agents who are aggressively shopping their talent and projects to her say the Harvard-educated Henson--universally considered savvy, decisive and very material-driven--is already making a perceptible difference in the dynamics of the studio’s motion picture group.

Henson, sources say, is galvanizing the creative troops and bringing a much-needed focus to the team--something lacking for months in the wake of the fallout of “Hero” and rumors about alleged misappropriated company funds flowing to Fleiss. (Nathanson, now an executive VP, has issued emphatic denials of links to Fleiss.)

“In all fairness, it has been an embattled place. Michael was standing on shifting sands and things literally changed from day to day,” said a former Columbia executive. “There’s a positive feeling about Lisa at this point. She’s made an effort to be accessible and available to people up and down the ranks, even assistants. It’s kind of a return to the days of (former Columbia movie chairman) David Puttnam.”

Henson--who, with her counterpart at sister studio TriStar Pictures, Stacey Lassally, is the only woman currently heading production at a major studio (and one of the few who ever has)--has also helped balance the female-male executive ratio on her own team. A close friend, Amy Pascal, is executive vice president, production, and Stephanie Allain is production vice president.

“It feels like the women may become the core of the creative decision making here,” remarked one male Columbia insider, noting, “They check signals (with each other) and have a tendency to kind of hang together.” Henson--who also had the distinction of being the first female president of the Harvard Lampoon--may enhance the number of female-driven projects at the studio, sources said.

One of her former Warner colleagues suggested that Henson, who supervised such male-oriented action pictures as “Demolition Man,” and the “Batman” and “Lethal Weapon” series, will strike a good balance with Pascal, who “has a strong feminine bent and likes projects with women hero roles.” Henson, said the Warner source, “is really into violent male movies.” But another ex-associate describes her tastes as “very eclectic,” pointing out that she also championed “Free Willy,” “The Secret Garden,” “New Jack City” and “Fearless.” And she’s seen her share of failures, including duds like “Nothing but Trouble” and “Funny Farm.”

Agents said in seeking new spec material, Henson is specifically pinpointing comedies and action scripts to balance out Columbia’s predominantly serious, adult-oriented slate. “The studio’s in desperate need of comedies,” said one Columbia executive. In a recent meeting with Henson, APA agent Justen Dardis said the production president was emphatic about wanting “comedies, comedies, comedies.”

Henson declined to be interviewed for this article, claiming it was premature to discuss her plans or evaluate her performance. But her forthright manner and style of doing business already have people in Hollywood talking.

“People love working for her,” says one of Henson’s production executives. “She’s honest and direct and you know where you stand.”

Geffen Films president Bonnie Lee, with whom Henson worked at Warners, said of her former colleague: “She’s extremely intelligent and straightforward to the point of being blunt, which some people may find off-putting, but which I much prefer over someone who is wishy-washy or lying to you.”

Producer Laura Ziskin (“Pretty Woman”) said even though she’s had only limited contact with Henson, “It’s a great relief to have someone who is responsive and gives us answers. It was kind of a vacuum here for a while.”

Columbia-based producer Denise Di Novi, with whom Henson worked at Warners on “Batman Returns,” said she respects that Henson “doesn’t waffle or string you along . . . she has opinions based on her values that are very well thought out.” (Henson also had a hand in turning Di Novi’s projects “Outlaws” and “Trackdown” back to the rewrite boards.)

That frankness, however, has ruffled the feathers of at least a couple of filmmakers, including Damon Wayans, the co-writer, producer and star of Columbia’s action movie “Blankman,” which is currently shooting, and director Paul Verhoeven, who clashed with her over “Mistress of the Seas,” a female pirate project.

As one of her first creative decisions, a studio insider says, Henson “absolutely insisted on rewrites” at the 11th hour before “Blankman” was to go before the cameras, a move that no doubt upset some people “but now everyone agrees it was the right thing to do.” Wayans declined to comment.

The other matter involved Jon Peters’ project “Mistress,” originally to have been directed by Verhoeven. While the project predated Henson (Verhoeven first bowed out in July over creative differences, before jumping back aboard), she was involved in Columbia’s ultimate decision to pass on the project until the budget could be pared down from the proposed $50 million below-the-line cost, which does not include salaries for talent and filmmakers.

Last month, Verhoeven once again begged off the project when Columbia executives, among them Henson, insisted that Michael Cristofer’s “Mistress” script needed a drastic rewrite to accommodate the lower budget, something the director felt would compromise the work: “We didn’t want to change the script in any radical way,” said Verhoeven, director of “Basic Instinct” and “Total Recall.” He added, “I didn’t mind changing it a little bit, but Lisa didn’t feel it was enough. . . . Ultimately, they (Columbia) decided the version I delivered was not enough to satisfy what they wanted.”

Admitting that he is “not a pleasant guy with confrontations--I’m very mean fighting for what is true,” Verhoeven said nonetheless that “(Henson) has a very clear point of view and was very courageous not backing down--I highly respect that.”

Director Dick Donner, whose three “Lethal Weapon” movies were overseen by Henson at Warners, said that “from day one she was a major creative contributor” on the “Lethal” films, advising on everything from story to casting. Donner credits Henson with recognizing the importance of humor between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the first film and insisting on its presence in the sequels.

The eldest daughter and one of five children of Jim Henson, who died suddenly in 1990 at age 53 of pneumonia, Lisa Henson has never been shy about expressing her opinion. In a recent New Yorker article about her family, she recalled how her father “always included us in whatever he did, and we didn’t think twice about speaking up.” She said: “As a result, when I went to Hollywood after college, I went with the idea that my opinion would automatically count.”

Henson also recounted how when she was still in college her father took her to a pitch meeting with former 20th Century Fox production president Sherry Lansing. “I think he felt Sherry would be a good role model for me.”

Lansing, of course, now serves as chairman of Paramount Pictures. Many in Hollywood are betting that Henson can’t be far behind.