BORSICZKY TO OVERSEE
TV AT SHINGLE
Copyright 2002 www.variety.com
[ August 5th 2002 ]
jessika
Borsiczky has been named VP for the Gavin Polone-led
film and TV shingle Pariah. Borsiczky, most recently
head of production for Jan De Bont's Blue Tulip
Prods., will develop and oversee both TV and film
projects at Pariah. Studio is expected to be particularly
active on the small-screen side in the wake of
its rich new overall deal with NBC.
Polone
will remain in charge of his company on a day-to-day
basis, with Borsiczky and Pariah vet Vivian Cannon
serving as co-equal veeps in charge of two development
teams. Rather than divide the teams between TV
and film, Polone said Borsiczky and Cannon will
each develop projects for both mediums. Michelle
Kane, a former assistant at Endeavor, has joined
Pariah as a creative exec working under Cannon.
Jonathan Frank remains a creative exec at the
company; he'll now work under Borsiczky.
As Pariah
prepares to ramp up its development slate in TV,
Polone said he was looking for an exec who had
experience in television but also had a strong
background in film. Most of the other candidates
he considered were strong in TV but knew little
about the film world. "Jessica was someone who
had experience in both," Polone said.
Borsiczky
and Polone first worked together when Polone produced
the telepic "When Trumpets Fade" for HBO; Borsiczky
then was director of development for HBO NYC Prods.
"She was the first person who liked that project
at HBO, and that showed some taste," Polone said.
Borsiczky said she "had a great time working with
Jan," but couldn't pass up a chance to work at
a growing company like Pariah. "I've been able
to see the rise of what Gavin is doing and it's
really exciting," she said. "He's a very unique
individual, which is in and of itself appealing
to me. He's very motivated by all the things that
make this business fun and exciting and lucrative."
Borsiczky
said "the strength of Gavin's deal" with NBC was
also "a real lure" for her to join Pariah. Peacock
is committed to producing several skeins each
year as part of the pact. What's more, Borsiczky
said she hopes to give Pariah even more credibility
in the film world. Indeed, Polone said Borsiczky's
"skills are really in bringing projects in. She
has a lot of great relationships with writers
and directors that we'd like to work with," he
said.
Since
October 2000, Borsiczky had been head of production
for Blue Tulip, where she worked on pics such
as Minority Report and the upcoming Equilibrium
and Tomb Raider 2. In television, Borsiczky helped
developed the upcoming FX mini Eater and the USA
original pic Thoughtcrimes. Before Blue Tulip,
Borsiczky was VP of production at Disney-based
Paul Schiff Prods. At HBO NYC, she helped develop
Polone's Trumpets, along with If These Walls Could
Talk, Cheaters and Miss Evers' Boys. Borsiczky
said she'll remain involved with several Blue
Tulip projects in development.
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