Company Town : Disney Rolls Out Carpet for Hughes

Walt Disney Studios, which had rolled up the welcome mat when it came to major filmmakers, is edging back into the big leagues. After recently working with Tim Burton and Robert Redford, the studio on Thursday announced a deal with John Hughes.

Hughes will write, direct and produce a comedy called “The Bee” for the studio’s Walt Disney Pictures division. But here’s the real buzz. The man-versus-insect tale, which is expected to cost about $25 million to produce, has only 10 pages of dialogue.

“The premise is how can an insect prevent a human being from doing something?” Hughes said of the movie, which is set for release next summer. “He’s not a superpower bee, but he can definitely think. Bees also have a way of pestering people more than other insects.”

“The Bee” came to Disney after others passed on the project, which Hughes admits is tough to get a handle on at first. It takes place over an eight-hour period and will combine special effects with real bee footage. Hughes said one of the main challenges is figuring out the mechanics of the movie--such as how a bee can succeed in locking someone out of a house.

Compared to that, he said, making the deal with Disney was easy. “It’s a really good fit there,” Hughes said. “Walt would probably like this one.”

David Vogel, production president at Walt Disney Pictures, said the partnership was overdue. “Everybody always admired his stuff,” Vogel said. “A great deal of his work is quintessentially Disney-like.”

Hughes and Disney still seem like strange bedfellows at first glance. The director-producer gained a reputation of being tough to work with after 1980s hits such as “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but he came back strong in 1990 with “Home Alone.” His latest movie, “Baby’s Day Out,” is being released by Fox on July 1. Hughes is currently wrapping production for Fox on a remake of “Miracle on 34th Street,” which will be out this Christmas.

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Disney has spent the last few years distancing itself from big-name talent for the most part, to concentrate on low-budget movies. That strategy hasn’t paid off as well as the studio hoped, which has led Disney to again loosen its purse strings.

While no one looks for Disney to make “Terminator 3,” recognizable names are resurfacing in its credits. Burton made “The Nightmare Before Christmas” last year, and Redford directed “Quiz Show” for release later this year. More big-name deals are expected to follow.

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From the lowest reaches of the glamour chain, Hollywood tax lawyers are finally getting their day in the sun thanks to the Internal Revenue Service.

An IRS task force impaneled last year has already sent hundreds of audit notices to companies and individuals in Hollywood. Now it’s feared that the agency will move ahead with new employment guidelines that will add millions of dollars to the cost of doing business.

Tax lawyers such as Mitchell R. Miller and Alan Kirios have emerged as buffers between the government and an industry rattled by concerns about Draconian tax measures. While no official moves are expected before next year, Miller says the task force’s intent is serious.

“I’ve never seen the IRS take up an issue with this much dedication,” he said. “I can imagine how people felt seeing the hordes of Mohammed storm out of the desert.”

The task force is exploring everything from plastic surgery write-offs to offshore tax havens. But much of the industry is fearful of how it will revise employment.

Government tax collectors are expected to make the case that people working as “independent contractors” are actually employees of each company they are in business with.

Workers oppose the classification because it cuts the number of deductions they can claim. Employers don’t have use for it either, because it forces them to make payments into Social Security and other government programs. Any change would also complicate life for the talent guilds and loan-out service companies.

Kirios, a tax lawyer with Weissmann, Wolff, Bergman, Coleman & Silverman in Beverly Hills, said independent producers would be especially hard hit.

“They have taken the position that if a producer makes a guild contribution on behalf of any person, that person is conclusively presumed to be the employee of the producer,” Kirios explained. “If you’re talking about a commercial with a crowd scene in which you’re paying 300 people something like $50 each, the burden on the producer would be quite substantial.”

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Kirios assumes Hollywood’s fears will be realized, because the IRS has already established such guidelines for the commercial and video industries.

Santa Monica’s Galanty & Co., which produces workout videos for Jane Fonda and political ads, saw its labor costs rise 20% when it followed the IRS suggestion.

“We began to pay everyone through payroll rather than as independent contractors,” Mark Galanty said. “It became more difficult to get some people to work. One problem is their paycheck comes three to four weeks later. As independents, they’re paid on the spot.”