Film Producer Has Un-Hollywood Style but Trains Sharp Eye on Movie-Making : Media: James Robinson, head of Morgan Creek Productions, says he wants to be in charge of his own studio by 1995.

He doesn’t socialize with starlets at beachside Malibu soirees, shop the boutiques of Rodeo Drive or peruse scripts while cruising down Sunset Boulevard.

For all of his un-Hollywood touches, James Robinson, a former automobile parts distributor from Baltimore, has definitely made his name known in Hollywood. He heads Morgan Creek Productions, one of the country’s most prominent independent film producers.

He runs it from a nondescript office overlooking his hometown of Baltimore, known more for commercial shipping and crab cakes than for celebrity glitter and world movie premieres.

Robinson waited until he was in his late 40s to try movie-making. While others try and fail, he doesn’t seem to consider his success any big deal.

“Nobody’s successful and stays successful unless you’re smart,” Robinson said. “It’s an unforgiving business. But you can do well if you make the big plays. Kind of like professional sports.”

Since it formed in 1988, Morgan Creek Productions has accumulated several successes that include “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Major League.” Morgan Creek has also produced a few bombs: “The Crush,” “Stay Tuned” and “White Sands.”

Movie-making is the third career for Robinson, 57. After graduating with a business degree from the University of Maryland, he put in a brief stint as an Army photographer.

He moved into distributing Subaru cars and parts in the Midwest, then branched into imported car and truck part processing centers in Los Angeles and Baltimore.

After spending 24 years in the automotive parts industry, Robinson took his first steps in the film business in the early 1980s by providing bridge financing, the term for interim financing of film projects while producers try to line up a studio to distribute the movie.

By 1984, he had co-produced a movie with Joe Roth, who went on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest film executives. The duo made two other movies before forming Morgan Creek Productions, named after “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek,” a comedy released in 1944 about a woman (Betty Hutton) who gets pregnant but can’t remember who the father is.

Roth left Morgan Creek in 1989 to head 20th Century Fox’s film studio and later formed his own production company.

“I didn’t just waltz into this business,” said Robinson. “I studied it and learned it. I was ready for it.”

Though Morgan Creek is based in Baltimore, Robinson must still spend considerable time in Hollywood, home to almost all the industry’s key personalities and decision-makers. So he commutes, flying to the West Coast for a few days every Tuesday night and working out of Morgan Creek’s office in Century City.

During the 5 1/2-hour flight, he changes from a Baltimore family man, father of five, into a hard-driving production executive with a crammed agenda.

“Being on that plane and flying back gives you a different perspective,” Robinson said. “When I hit Los Angeles, I’m working nonstop. And I don’t mean working Hollywood parties.”

Robinson likens himself to the movie moguls of yesteryear, building an empire that extends beyond film and into the recording, theater and film distribution business.

In addition to Morgan Creek Productions, Robinson owns Morgan Creek International, which distributes films in the international market; Morgan Creek Music Group; Morgan Creek International Theatres, which in a joint venture with Warner Bros. will bring 36 screens to the Netherlands; and a substantial interest in the First International Theatre chain, which operates screens in Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.

“This is the way I’ve always operated in all my businesses,” said Robinson, dressed in khakis in his downtown Baltimore office. “As long as it’s linked to the core business. What I’m doing is how they did it in the olden days.”

Since Morgan Creek is privately owned, it’s not obliged to publicly disclose its finances. But Variety, the Hollywood trade magazine, says Morgan Creek spends about $200 million on production, prints and advertising annually. The company is expected to spend about $1 billion to produce and market about 25 films over the next three to four years, Variety said.

Robinson’s willingness to put up his own money for film projects sets him apart, said Rob Friedman, president of worldwide publicity for Warner Bros.

“Jim is unique in how he operates,” Friedman said. “He is a guy who will step to the plate if he feels he needs to fix his movie. He will reach into his own pockets.”

Morgan Creek Productions works closely with Warner Bros., which signed a contract in 1991 to release Morgan Creek’s movies in the United States. The company’s films previously were distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Morgan Creek International distributes the movies overseas. Warner pays for advertising and gets a chunk of the proceeds from sales abroad.

Robinson says that, by 1995, he wants to head his own studio, which in Hollywood parlance is a single organization that produces, markets and exhibits its own films.

“You can either buy one or build one,” he said. “It would be nice to have that when I check out. I should be in the studio business in the next two or three years.”

Robinson wouldn’t elaborate on which Hollywood studio interested him. But he said that if he does buy a studio, he will still maintain his home in Baltimore and the management style that has evolved since Morgan Creek Productions was founded.

“It’s a little less centralized and I delegate more,” he said. “I like to have people who act in an entrepreneurial way. People in key roles having a vested interest in the company is important.”