Guy McElwaine

Guy McElwaine (June 29, 1936- April 2, 2008) was a former professional baseball player turned Hollywood agent, producer and studio head.

He joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's publicity department in 1955 but left in 1959 to join marketing and public relations agency Rogers & Cowan.[1] In 1964, he set up his own PR firm.[1] He became an agent at Creative Management Associates in 1969 and was a founding partner of International Creative Management when CMA merged with International Famous Agency in 1975. He was the first agent of Steven Spielberg.[2]

While at CMA, he became vice-president of worldwide production at Warner Bros. but left after 18 months and rejoined the agency when ICM was created.[2][1]

He left ICM to join Columbia Pictures in 1981[2] and became head of production in October 1983 replacing Frank Price and lasted until April 1986.[3]

The first film that started production under his reign at Columbia Studios was The New Kids.[3] Columbia's production increased during his reign with 14 films started in 1984 compared to 9 in 1983 but none of the 14 were hits when they were released.[4] The biggest hit produced under his tenure was The Karate Kid Part II with a gross of $115 million[5] on a negative cost of $14 million.[3] He greenlit Ishtar, produced by Warren Beatty for whom McElwaine had acted as publicist for in the past. The budget doubled from an initial $27.5 million[6] to $55 million[3] and he was fired after production wrapped.[7] He was succeeded by David Puttnam.[3]

He rejoined ICM in 1988 and in 2002 became president of Morgan Creek Entertainment until his death from pancreatic cancer.[2]

References
  1. "McElwaine Says Col Pix 'Totally' Funding His Indie". Daily Variety. July 24, 1986. p. 1.
  2. Saperstein, Pat (April 2, 2008). "Agent Guy McElwaine dies at 71". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  3. "Columbia In-House Productions - 1978-89". Variety. November 22, 1989. p. 16.
  4. Cohn, Lawrence (November 22, 1989). "Exec Shifts Make Columbia the Gem of Commotion". Variety. p. 1.
  5. "The Karate Kid Part II". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. Blum, David (16 March 1987). "The Road to 'Ishtar': How Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and Elaine May Made a Farce in the Desert for Just $40 Million". New York: 34–43.
  7. Biskind, Peter (February 2010). "Madness in Morocco: The Road to Ishtar". Vanity Fair: 116–25, 142–44.


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