Paramount’s Moneyman Makes His Presence Felt : Movies: Jonathan Dolgen, the newly hired chairman of Viacom Entertainment Group, has moved into his office and, despite his reputation as a fiscal hawk, says ‘there is no bloodletting.’

Surrounded by translucent turquoise waters and virtually cut off from the world of Hollywood, Paramount Pictures Chairman Sherry Lansing and her director husband, William Friedkin, were vacationing on the Caribbean island of Mustique when the urgent phone call came.

For three days, Lansing’s corporate boss, Jonathan Dolgen, had been holed up in London trying to hammer out a deal to bring actor Michael Douglas’ production company to the studio’s Melrose Avenue lot. Disney and Warner Bros. were also aggressively vying for Douglas and his new producing partner, Steven Reuther, to set up shop under their banners.

After marathon negotiations, Dolgen had the financial aspects of the deal nailed down but told Lansing over the phone that she had to immediately fly to New York to work out the creative aspects of the arrangement with Douglas.

“But all I have are a pair of shorts and a bathing suit!” said Lansing, as waves lapped in the distance. Scrounging up a pair of jeans, she rushed for a plane.

As Lansing walked into the elegant dining room of the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan on May 1, Douglas took one look at her and quipped, “What is this? The head of Paramount Pictures is coming into the Carlyle’s dining room wearing blue jeans?” Sharing a laugh, the longtime friends who had collaborated on such films as “Fatal Attraction” and “Black Rain” then got down to business.

The Douglas deal couldn’t have come at a better time for Paramount. For months, it had struggled to get movies made while an air of uncertainty hung over the studio because of a corporate merger battle being waged on Wall Street. All Hollywood wondered who would take control of the parent corporation--Sumner Redstone’s Viacom Inc. or Barry Diller’s QVC Network? Redstone finally won.

Now, there is a new corporate ownership in New York, and Dolgen has been brought in to oversee movies and television as chairman of Viacom Entertainment Group. Dolgen’s role involves signing off on Paramount budgets and helping line up financing for co-productions, while Lansing retains authority to pick the movies the studio will make.

A former Sony Pictures Entertainment executive, Dolgen was installed only five weeks ago as head of newly created Viacom Entertainment Group. He came to Paramount with a reputation as a fiscal hawk--although while at Sony he pulled off some big-number production deals with director James Brooks and actor Damon Wayans.

Still, his hiring by Paramount prompted speculation that he would aggressively slash costs and make sweeping changes in the studio hierarchy.

While the costs to Paramount of the Douglas/Reuther deal have not been disclosed, the deal itself has been well-received by the film community. Douglas and Reuther are reportedly in the midst of lining up independent production coin from foreign sources for the venture, while Paramount will presumably be responsible for marketing/distribution and other costs. “We don’t know how much of the kingdom they had to give away to get that deal,” said entertainment attorney David Colden, “but, nonetheless, in terms of visibility to the film community and in terms of reducing their downside risks, my suspicions are it’s a fairly favorable deal.”

“I think when you hire Jonathan Dolgen, you send a signal,” said one agent. “He knows what his mandate was and he’s going to take some dramatic steps to put his imprimatur on the state of being of Paramount.

“When’s the midnight massacre?” the agent then quipped.

Asked whether Paramount was in for massive cuts, Dolgen declined to get specific but said every company must look for ways to “run our business as sensibly as we can.” However, he strongly denied rumors that any high-level staff shake-up was in the works.

“There is no bloodletting,” Dolgen said. “We’re just going to try and marshal our assets to run our business as sensibly as we can and move forward.”

Rumors of a bloodletting began almost from the day Dolgen arrived. Seeking an office as large as Lansing’s, he demanded that distribution chief Barry London and production head John Goldwyn relocate.

Dolgen then turned Goldwyn’s office into a conference room and London was sent to Dressing Room Building 100 so that Dolgen could have an office and conference room.

But London, who has held his post or variations of it since 1984, is said to have plunged into a funk after the move. Sources said London has been going through “a kind of midlife crisis, where he was seeing too much turmoil in the company” and for a long time has considered relinquishing his studio executive stripes to become a producer.

“Barry, who always needs human contact, spun out over all this, and it created sort of a dark malaise over all the company because he wasn’t being wooed or comforted,” said one source.

Goldwyn, at least, remained in the Administration Building, just down the hall from Dolgen. But in what some consider a face-saving move, the production president wants to tear down the wall to an adjacent business affairs office. Goldwyn claims it is simply a move to create additional file space.

Some also saw signs of pending changes when Lansing tossed a party for London on March 29, his 23rd anniversary with the studio. London had been called into a conference room ostensibly for a meeting and was surprised to find a cake and champagne.

The party would have gone largely unnoticed had it been London’s 20th or 25th anniversary, industry insiders said. But 23rd?

“It was strange,” said one source, wondering if this was a send-off of some sort.

If all this speculation sounds a bit petty, it clearly underscores the ego-driven nature of what goes on in executive suites.

The combination of being ousted from their offices and London’s odd 23rd anniversary party was enough to send tongues wagging, much to the displeasure of London and Goldwyn.

“I’m certainly not in a funk or a midlife crisis,” protested London. But he added, “You reach points in your life where you have to reach certain decisions.”

Adding to the already uncertain air and jittery nerves among Paramount insiders about potentially more executive changes in the production ranks, Goldwyn--who has been in his current post for 2 1/2 years--says, “I’ve got some time on my contract.” He added, “Sherry and Jonathan have gone out of their way to embrace me.” A Paramount source said in fact Goldwyn has recently been offered a contract extension. He acknowledged that, in his position, there are always people gunning for his job. But how something as mundane as office space can trigger gossip is beyond him.

This summer could be a critical period for Paramount, which has a lot of money riding on several big $40-million-plus movies: “Beverly Hills Cop III,” starring Eddie Murphy, “Clear and Present Danger,” starring Harrison Ford, and “Forrest Gump,” starring Oscar-winner Tom Hanks.

There are especially high hopes for the $45-million “Forrest Gump,” directed by Robert Zemeckis, which, according to sources, has received the highest test scores in Paramount history. The movie, which has a lot of special effects and stars Robin Wright, opens July 6.

Another possible sleeper for Paramount could be the TV-to-movie version of “Lassie,” a family movie whose trailer was very well-received by exhibitors at the recent ShoWest convention in Las Vegas.

Hollywood observers have been critical of some of Paramount’s marketing decisions, particularly where smaller films such as “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” starring Johnny Depp, and “Flesh and Bone,” teaming Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, were concerned.

Paramount’s defenders say every studio has its share of movies that stumble out of the starting gate. A recent example is the comedy “Jimmy Hollywood,” starring Joe Pesci and Christian Slater, which has made an anemic $3.7 million after 33 days in release.

But Arthur Cohen, head of worldwide marketing--whose contract doesn’t expire until January of 1996--is quick to stress the accomplishments that Paramount’s marketing staff has achieved: “The Firm” brought in $45 million at the box office in its first six days; “Boomerang” took in $19 million in five days; “Naked Gun 33 1/3” grossed $13 million, the biggest opening to date this year.

“I’m very pleased with the marketing and distribution of all of our films,” Lansing said. “Not every picture can be a hit, but I think each picture was maximized to its potential. Sometimes, the movie god just doesn’t shine on you.”