Hollywood Billionaire Connection – James Packer, Gigi Pritzker, Jeff Skoll, and Megan and David Ellison.

By: Robert W. Welkos

By ROBERT W. WELKOS

One is the son of an Australian casino mogul. Another is a mother of three from Chicago who studied anthropology in college and is the granddaughter of the late tycoon who co-founded the Hyatt hotel chain. Another was raised in a middle-class Canadian family, studied electrical engineering in college, and went on to earn a fortune heading up an Internet auction website.

And then there’s the sister and brother whose father built a software empire while also becoming a world-class yachtsman.

These are among the new billionaires who are shaking up Hollywood moviemaking in the early part of the 21st Century.

Their names are James Packer, Gigi Pritzker, Jeff Skoll, and Megan and David Ellison.

All are rolling the dice in the always risky crapshoot of moviemaking with some of high-rollers already reaping huge rewards both financially and creatively.

“I wouldn’t want to overemphasize the idea that we’ve strategized this or have it all road-mapped out, but I do believe at a higher level there is a synergy between the movie entertainment business and the casino business,” James Packer told London’s Daily Telegraph.

The Australian gaming executive is the largest shareholder of Crown Ltd. and his fortune is estimated at $5.9 billion by Bloomberg and $6.5 billion by Forbes.

In late 2012, Packer joined director Brett Ratner (“Rush) to form RatPac Productions. The production company has forged a financing deal with Warner Bros. reportedly worth $450 million and covers up to 75 films.

Packer and Ratner recently told Forbes that they intend to expand from movies into television, book publishing and documentaries, ultimately aiming their brand at “Asia’s growing middle class thirst for entertainment.”

RatPac has already put its money behind a winner with the gripping space thriller “Gravity” starring Sandra Bullock. The film won seven Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, including best director, and has grossed $274 million at the North American box office.

Packer’s late father was no stranger to Hollywood, either. Kerry Packer, in fact, was a long-time investor in New Regency with veteran Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.

Another billionaire flexing her cinematic muscle is Gigi Pritzker, CEO of OddLot Entertainment, which recently closed a $50 million revolving credit facility with J.P. Morgan and Comerica as co-lead arrangers which may be increased up to $150 million. The funds are earmarked, the company notes, for several purposes including financing the development and production of upcoming film projects.

“We’re so pleased to be in business with J.P. Morgan and our long-time banking partner, Comerica Bank,” Pritzker said in a press release. “This arrangement positions the company for growth and we look forward to much activity going forward.”

OddLot co-produced Ivan Reitman’s current film “Draft Day” starring Kevin Costner. Released by Summit Entertainment, the film has grossed nearly $20 million.

In March, the billionaire Chicagoan announced that she was forming a new studio that will tap into China’s thirst for movies by aligning herself with veteran producer Robert Simonds along with the private equity firm TPG Capital and China’s Hony Capital.

Pritzker, whose wealth is pegged at $2.3 billion by Forbes, is a member of one of Chicago’s wealthiest families.

Skoll, who is worth anywhere from $2.7 billion (TheRichest.com) to $3.8 billion (Forbes), built his fortune as the first president of auction website eBay. He sold a portion of his company holdings for $2 billion and, in 2004, created the movie production company Participant Media.

Participant is known for making films that seek to impact social change. Skoll has been an executive producer on more than 45 films, including “Lincoln,” “The Help” and “Charlie Wilson’s War.” He has also funded such documentaries as “The Cove” and former Vice President Al Gore’s global warming film “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The company, however, has also backed some box office bombs, the most conspicuous being the Mel Gibson/Jodie Foster comedy-drama “The Beaver” which was budgeted at $21 million but grossed only $970,816 at the North American box office in the spring of 2011.

“Ten years from now, I’d like Participant to have 2,000 employees and be producing content in every country of the world,” Skoll said during an appearance at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, according to Variety.
Then there’s the Ellison siblings.

Megan Ellison is already one of Hollywood’s hottest producers. The press-shy daughter of software giant Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison, whose net worth is estimated between $41.8 billion (Bloomberg) and $48 billion (Forbes), Megan Ellison runs a production label called Annapurna Pictures.

Two of her films—“American Hustle” and “Her”—were nominated for best picture at this year’s Academy Awards. Among her other films were the 2012 Oscar nominated best picture “Zero Dark Thirty” as well as ”Lawless” and “True Grit.”

“Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Master” and “American Hustle” have collectively grossed over $262 million in North America, according to Box Office Mojo.

In media profiles, Megan Ellison comes across as a colorful, offbeat figure. Vanity Fair describes her thusly: “…A bit overweight, with hunched shoulders, she has a slacker vibe….” And the Financial Times writes: “In meetings with button-down studio chiefs she typically turns up in black jeans, black Vans sneakers and black rock band T-shirts.”

Her brother, David, is an accomplished acrobatic pilot who began his Hollywood career as an actor, appearing in and co-financing the 2006 MGM flop “Flyboys.” He named his production label Skydance Productions because of his love of flying.
Skydance raised $350 million to co-finance movies with studio partner Paramount Pictures, which re-upped the co-financing pact through 2018.

While his sister chooses more eclectic and controversial material for her film projects, David Ellison often goes after big summer popcorn movies like “Mission: Impossible 5” and “Top Gun 2,” both starring box office superstar Tom Cruise.

Ellison has financed such films as “True Grit,” “Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” “Jack Reacher,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “World War Z.” Deadline.com notes that the combined box office of those films alone totals $2.4 billion.

These are just a few of Hollywood’s latest wave of billionaires. Among the others are comic book exec Issac Perlmutter ($3.1 billion) of Marvel Enterprises; former talk show host Oprah Winfrey ($2.9 billion) of Harpo; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban ($2.2 billion) of 2929 Entertainment; and, film financier Ryan Kavanaugh ($1 billion) of Relativity Media. (All wealth estimates are from Forbes)

Of course, there are other billionaires who also make films. People like Philip Anschutz ($11.3 billion) of Walden Media; Sumner Redstone ($6.2 billion) of Viacom; David Geffen ($6.1 billion) of DreamWorks; George Lucas ($4.9 billion) of LucasFilms; Arnon Milchan ($4.7 billion) of New Regency; Steven Spielberg ($3.4 billion) of DreamWorks; and, Jerry Perenchio ($2.6 billion) of Univision. (Again, all wealth estimates are from Forbes)

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