Executive producer Pam Tarr, president of commercial production house Ace Entertainment and its sister music video shop Squeak Pictures, has teamed with motion picture/TV exec. Rick Bieber, head of Rick Bieber Productions, to launch Silo, a multimedia company that encompasses spots, clips, long-form and talent management.
Residing under the Silo umbrella are Ace, Squeak, Bieber Productions and Outpost Management, a four-year-old personal management company headed by entertainment lawyer and talent manager Sandy Passman. Tarr and Bieber are equal partners in Silo. However, Outpost remains owned by Passman. Ace, Squeak and Bieber Productions are on the same Los Angeles premises. Outpost has a nearby L.A. office.
Silo has also fashioned three other long-form arrangements that could translate into feature and TV opportunities for directors on the Ace and Squeak rosters. According to Bieber, Silo has a first-look long-form deal with Tami Lynn Productions, Agoura, Calif., and independent producer Jennifer Ryan Shearman whose office is in the Silo building.
Additionally, Silo and West Hollywood-based Hispanic market commercial production house Moving Image have entered into a joint venture, forming Moving Image Pictures which will focus on bilingual as well as Spanish-language television program and theatrical feature production. Moving Image’s commercial operation continues to operate autonomously. The three-year-old Moving Image has a spot directorial lineup that includes two of the company’s co-founders-Orlando Leal and Luis Aira-as well as Francisco Pugliese and Pavel Cantu. Tarr noted that Ace will handle Pugliese for select mainstream Anglo spot assignments. Moving Image’s exec. producer is Jay Sisson who finds himself reunited with Bieber. Back when Bieber was president/CEO of now defunct commercial production house Harmony Pictures, he brought on Sisson to head Harmony Pictures’ Latin America unit which also included Pugliese (SHOOT, 10/31/97, p. 8). Bieber was at the Harmony helm for about a year before leaving in March ’98. At that point, he funneled his energy into the ongoing Bieber Productions which brings an inventory of 20-plus film and TV projects into Silo, one of which is a film that’s slated to star Christina Applegate and will be produced by Tami Lynn. Bieber said that an Ace spot director or a music video helmer from Squeak could end up attached to the Applegate project.
Tarr founded Squeak back in ’88 as a music video house that later diversified into commercials. Squeak continued in this hybrid mold until the formation of spot production shop Ace last year. Ace’s ensemble of directors includes: Paula Walker who joined last month (SHOOT, 4/9, p. 1), Pugliese, Leta Warner, Michael Geoghegan, Gil Bauwens, Anne-Marie Vandeputte, Todd Allan, Peggy Rajski, and Joe Murray. Ace also reps Grenade, a creative collective featuring director Bobby Sheehan, through much of the U.S. (except the Southwest and Southeast which are handled by Concrete Productions, Dallas). Additionally, among Squeak’s directors are several who are breaking into the spot arena such as Chris Robinson, Roger Pistole and Lawrence Carroll.
Explaining her rationale behind partnering with Bieber in Silo, Tarr related: "The climate in commercials and music videos for production companies is far different from when I first opened a small boutique. Today, I needed to grow my companies to afford my directors access to more opportunities in film while still retaining the positive boutique qualities that Squeak’s been known for over the years. The structure of Silo and my partnership with Rick enables us to do this … On site, a director at Ace or Squeak can find support and management in all different areas of filmmaking. A director can walk into Rick’s office and talk about projects, exchange ideas, address ways to best get into film and TV. Usually commercial companies that set up some sort of feature/TV affiliation end up getting into relationships that operate at arm’s length with other companies. This is structured in a much more easy access, family, repertory way."
Tarr said that Bieber has already linked several Ace and Squeak directors who have ideas for feature projects with writers represented by Outpost Management. "Rick has access to writing talent and maintains real connections with decision makers on the feature and TV side," related Tarr.
Prior to Rick Bieber Productions, Bieber compiled a resume that included eight years at HBO, principally as senior VP, HBO Pictures and programming operations. Then he served as president/CEO of Stonebridge Entertainment, which he and producer/actor Michael Douglas formed in ’88, making Columbia Pictures its production home. During Bieber’s tenure there, Stonebridge produced several features, including Flatliners, Made in America, Radio Flyer and Double Impact. Bieber later served as president of Fox West Pictures, charged with assisting Fox Broadcasting Company in launching a weekly original movie night on the network.
At Outpost Management, Passman and manager David Kopaloff represent a roster of talent that includes actors (i.e.-Joanna Cassidy, Bruce Abbott, John Ales), directors (Bill Scarlet whose commercial home is bicoastal OneSuch Films, and Sheehan who recently wrapped the indie feature Seed) and writers (Andrew Miller who just sold a script to Miramax).
Meanwhile, Lynn of the aforementioned Tami Lynn Productions first established herself as a personal manager of talent and segued into producing. Her producing credits include the ’93 feature Vibrations, and she served as co-producer on the current NBC series Jesse, and as exec. producer on a recently wrapped independent feature, Claudine’s Return.
And Shearman exec. produced last year’s Never Met Picasso, the recipient of two Grand Jury prizes at Outfest ’97. The film starred Alexis Arquette, Margot Kidder, Keith David and Don McKellar. Shearman also was an associate producer on Miramax’s Lie Down With Dogs.
Bieber said the Silo model is simply "to have a creative community managed under one roof, spanning feature, TV, commercials and videos, enabling our talent to travel back and forth between different disciplines."
At press time, Tarr noted that Ace had finalized its spot representation, securing Stacey & Annie on the West Coast and Help!-recently launched by Mary Knox and Alyson Daniels-to cover the East Coast. Ace continues to be handled by Sherry Owens in the Midwest (except for director Walker who’s repped in that territory by Cathi Connor).
-Robert Goldrich
