Pollack’s Company Struggles Without Him

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The New York Sun

Monday’s death of filmmaker Sydney Pollack has thrown into limbo the many projects being developed by his production company, Mirage Enterprises, according to a report by Reuters.

Mirage finds itself in an unusual situation: Pollack ran the company with the Oscar-winning “English Patient” director Anthony Minghella, who died on March 18 following cancer surgery. Few companies have faced the death of two partners in such a short period of time. Pollack, the Oscar-winning director of “Out of Africa,” succumbed to cancer at 73.

Insiders said Mirage projects — those that are not partnered with other producers — might find themselves under the wings of Pollack’s family and his agents at Creative Artists Agency, who might try to keep them going. Another scenario is that the filmmaker’s daughter, Rebecca, who was an executive at United Artists, might take over.

“We’re all flying a little blind right now,” one person close to Pollack’s camp and involved in several projects said, according to Reuters.

Mirage, which has offices in Los Angeles and London, has a first-look deal at the Weinstein Co., and the company has said that it is intent on moving forward on those projects, including “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,” which is going ahead at HBO. Mirage’s docket at the Weinstein Co. also includes the high-profile remake of the Oscar-winning German drama “The Lives of Others,” as well as the adaptation of Allison Pearson’s novel “I Don’t Know How She Does It.”


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