Film Journal July 2018

GATE-KEEPER
CineEurope Celebrates Patrick Wachsberger’s
Achievements at Lionsgate and Summit
by Doris Toumarkine
Highly regarded man-about-theindustry
Patrick Wachsberger reaches
a new summit and passes through a new
gate as the 2018 recipient of CineEurope’s
prestigious “International Distributor
of the Year” Award.
The Paris-born, L.A.-based executive,
who arrived in the States in 1977, just
wrapped six triumphant years as co-chairman
of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group,
with oversight in acquisition, production
and distribution worldwide. His reputation
and accomplishments, especially in the areas
of international sales and distribution, are
unmatched. Under his watch and working
alongside co-chair Erik Feig, he helped lead
Lionsgate to generate nearly $10 billion in
global box-office grosses.
Wachsberger moved from Paris to
Los Angeles in 1977 and was immediately
brought onboard J&M, the film-sales company,
where he worked for many years.
In the 1980s he was a mainstay at Odyssey
Entertainment, where he helped set
up such art-house hits as Bille August’s
Oscar-winning Pelle the Conqueror. He also
jumped into producing, working with such
greats as Sidney Lumet and Irwin Winkler.
He then joined the new Summit Entertainment,
a company started by industry
legends Arnon Milchan, Bernd Eichinger
and Andy Vanja. In 1993, when they left,
Wachsberger took over the company as
chief and majority shareholder.
At Summit, which Lionsgate bought
in 2012 and is now a Lionsgate subsidiary,
he led the company to become one of the
premier independent filmed entertainment
studios worldwide, a feat powered
by Summit’s blockbuster Twilight saga
franchise and the indie smash The Hurt
Locker, a dual Oscar winner for both Best
Picture and Best Director.
In 2012, when Lionsgate bought the
company for $412 million, he reached
another summit. Under Wachsberger, Lionsgate
had a stunning five-year run due
largely to the crowd-pleasing family drama
sensation Wonder; the global box-office
phenomenon La La Land, winner of six Oscars;
double Oscar winner Hacksaw Ridge;
the blockbuster Hunger Games, John Wick
and Now You See Me franchises; and participation
in the indie surprise The Big Sick (in
partnership with Amazon Studios).
Wachsberger also led Lionsgate’s
global build-out of a distribution infrastructure
encompassing nearly 20 output deals
in major territories, including the successful
50/50 IDC joint venture in Latin America
and Lionsgate’s flourishing self-distribution
operations in the U.K., China and India.
Selling to overseas territories and
doing output deals began at J&M. He went
on to help Peter Guber with such deals
at both Mandalay and Paramount, then at
Summit when it was just starting up. Output
deals continue, “but changes like the
collapse of the home-video business and
foreign TV deals always have impact.”
He notes, “I’ve always wanted movies
that work both domestically and
internationally, but you may see something
whose strong potential may just be
domestic or just international.” He cites
Lionsgate’s upcoming Uncle Drew, which
“will do well domestically.” Another example
is Lionsgate’s surprising smash Wonder,
which “worked well domestically and
moved in most other places. It was huge
in Italy, good in Germany, but was soft in
the U.K. and died in France. Part of the
trick also is finding the right dates.”
Wachsberger has also notched
countless production credits on films
like Tom Cruise’s Vanilla Sky and the Brad
Pitt/Angelina Jolie hit Mr. & Mrs. Smith
and smaller gems like the Harvey Keitel
starrer Bad Lieutenant.
Now, after just having been lionized
at a big Lionsgate farewell party at Cannes
(he’ll be working with Lionsgate on some future
TV projects), Wachsberger embarks on
a summer holiday, a much-deserved break.
Come fall, a new gate opens with
Wachsberger’s return to Los Angeles, where
he will build a new, still-unnamed company.
“We’ll continue in production, distribution
and sales and be based in L.A. but have also
have a London office, because at Summit we
had one from the very beginning and that
worked out very well.”
But he’s ready for what he calls “the
quickly moving sea change we’re in.” TV and
licensing will play a role in his new business,
but his main focus will be movies for
theatres—“three a year instead of feeding
the beast with 12 movies a year!”
He observes, “I believe there is still so
much opportunity for the big screen, but
there are also the Netflixes and Apples to
consider. But so many audiences still want to
go into those big, dark rooms with people
they know or don’t and share that experience,
so different from at home.”
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5/23/18 3:54 PM