Starz Announces New Specials for Starz Inside

World
Screen Weekly, February 28, 2008

Executive VP,
Worldwide Distribution

Starz Media

Starz Media
has been working hard to build its profile internationally since its creation
in 2006, when Liberty Media acquired the former IDT Entertainment and made it a
corporate sibling of the premium movie service Starz Entertainment. To further
its worldwide ambitions, the company recently lured Gene George, the longtime
president of Regent Worldwide Sales, to oversee its sales and distribution
functions, including forging partnerships with U.S. and international
broadcasters and expanding the company’s presence in markets globally. “For me
it was a great, exciting opportunity to be involved with a company that has
become a full-fledged studio,” says George on his decision to leave Regent
after seven years, during which he placed the company’s slate of TV movies in a
host of international markets. “Starz has a theatrical company—Overture
Films—a home-entertainment company in Anchor Bay Entertainment and the
Starz and Encore platform of channels; the opportunity is a natural progression
in my growth personally and professionally.”

George’s
primary mandate is to “build the Starz name internationally,” positioning the
company as a “leading supplier of programming” to the global market. “Much of
it will be programming that is created for our platforms in the U.S., and much
will be acquired. It’s going to be a broad spectrum, from live-action series to
features, TV movies, animation, documentaries; it’s quite a range of product.”

Among the
offerings currently on the slate are two “semi-scripted” comedy series, George
says, commissioned for the Starz premium network in the U.S. Head Case looks at a dysfunctional therapist and
her celebrity clients, featuring guest stars such as Jeff Goldblum and Carmen
Electra. Hollywood Residential, meanwhile, follows a struggling actor who serves as the host of
a celebrity home-makeover show. “Starz is looking to create original
programming that still has that connection to the entertainment industry,” George
says. “These, along with the new drama series that Starz Entertainment just
announced, Crash,
all fit perfectly.”

While Starz
continues to ramp up its original content offerings in the U.S., George will be
looking to take on third-party fare for international distribution in order to
expand the company’s catalogue. “We want to let the buyers and the distributors
know that Starz is a viable source of quality programming, and we can provide a
lot of what they need for different platforms. I was handling a lot of TV
movies previously [at Regent] and they’re a great way to build [the Starz] name
up” internationally, George notes.

For George,
whose TV career included stints at Arista Films and NewStar Worldwide before he
joined Regent, one of the things he most loves about his new employer is that
although it is “built like a studio because of all the different areas it [is
involved in], it behaves like an independent. It’s creative in the way it’s
doing business, it’s flexible and it can react quickly. This will be our
competitive advantage.”

—By
Mansha Daswani