Warner Bros will make the official announcement that Toby Emmerich is New Line Cinema's president/COO by the end of this week. But in Hollywood, people are scratching their heads. Because wasn't Toby one of the main reasons New Line went bad? I hear Alan Horn wanted him to stay for continuity. Lots of rumors are flying, including this: that it would have been expensive to buy Emmerich out of his contract. Warner Bros insiders say his contract would have been up at the end of 2008 so how expensive could it be? Someone I respect just emailed me that Toby has been a "very positive force at what otherwise might be described as a dysfunctional company. He has great relationships, has the 'corporate memory', is the perfect guy to shepherd sequels to the crown jewels (Austin Powers, Rush Hour, Wedding Crashers, Hobbit, etc.), and is an all around great guy. You can't blame him for projects initiated and/or decisions made by his bosses." Why, of course I can.
I still say: get rid of him.
New Line Severance Not All It Could Be
Don't Believe Those New Line Layoff Rumors -- Yet
TOLDJA! New Line Folds Into Warner Bros; Bob Shaye & Michael Lynne Exit; Read All The Interoffice Memos Here
Because, He along with Carolyn Blackwood set Bob Shaye up for the fall when everyone in Hollywood knows who’s to blame for the downword spiral
Comment by Bud — March 18, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
Who’s the bimbo that said Toby’s a great guy? I’ve got a casting couch with her name on it!
Comment by BrettFatner — March 18, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
No Nikki, please tell me how you really feel!
But for reals, I say Warner Bros should wipe their hands clean of him Pontius Pilate style. New Line has never been the same since Michael De Luca was stopped from slapping his name as producer on anything of note coming out of it and pushed out into the real world where he quickly became an adult republican and a total snoor.
Comment by Audio Verite — March 18, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Toby is the Michael Brown of the entertainment world. Who else could get away with pushing awful product year after year after year (did anyone at Warner Bros. bother to read that FADE IN article?), put his own brother in a lot of high-profile projects, including the stuck-in-limbo PRIDE AND GLORY, and still totally not get what works in Hollywood? After all, this is the guy who has publicly crapped on horror projects when companies like Lionsgate — which has turned into what New Line used to be — made money hand over fist with the genre, which is now supposed to be New Line’s bread-and-butter.
If someone like second-in-command Richard Brener — a guy who worked his way up from the bottom at the company — were put in charge, talent would gravitate to the studio and it would be a bolt of badly-needed energy. This is another staggeringly boneheaded move by your “ballsy” Jeff Bewkes and the other number-crunchers at Warners, who clearly want a “yes man” instead of someone who will even remotely challenge their bureaucratic authority and perhaps make good movies in the process. TOLDJA indeed.
Comment by Jack Burton — March 18, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
This actually makes sense for a number of possible reasons.
1. HE GETS RID OF THOSE PESKY FRANCHISES. Let’s face it-studios hate franchises. The pressure is enormous and who needs the headache? Toby has murdered BLADE and RUSH HOUR, while also putting a stake through the hearts of DUMB AND DUMBER and THE MASK.
2. INABILITY TO START A FRANCHISE. Again, no way does Warner Bros want to have to come up with sequels for WEDDING CRASHERS or ELF. And do franchises make money? No way in hell. I still don’t know anyone who has seen those “spideryguy” movies or whatever the hell they’re called..
3. WARNERS WANTS THEIR FINEST DIRECTOR BACK. Back in 2001, WB released a now-classic western called AMERICAN OUTLAWS. This little movie that was made for a paltry $35mil went on to gross over $13mil! The director? A cinematic genius by the name of Les Mayfield. WB knows that Toby and Les have a great relationship. This pair have made 2 films in the last couple of years that will be studied in film schools for eternity. THE MAN and CODENAME:THE CLEANER are not only critical favorites, but audiences flocked to see them on the big screen. For WB, having Mr. Mayfield back is like printing money.
4. SOMEONE REALLY LIKES ROTTEN APPLES. A quick check on http://www.rottenapples.com will show that under Toby, NL movies averaged a fresh rating of about 35%. Yummy!
5. TOBY KNOWS HOW TO SPOT TALENT. Toby knows that the best development guys know absolutely no one. Why hire a guy who can get you Jack or Denzel when you can hire a guy who’s fresh and not just stuck on the same faces? Toby doesn’t want guys with experience on their resume. No, just guys who went to the same fraternity he did. Even better if they are named after a lame dance craze from the seventies.
6. TOBY HAS POLAROIDS OF A BIGSHOT AT WB. Allegedly there are 4 words to describe them-“goat”, “hummer”, “candles”, and “lingerie”.
Comment by Les Mayfield Jr. — March 18, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
having worked for the guy i can say that yes he’s smart, he can be charming, and disarmingly down to earth and honest - that said he’s missing a few key attributes to lead a studio successfully: a passion for films, good taste, leadership qualities - he tends to hire people who agree with him and he doesn’t inspire the best in the people who do work for him - his hiring policies border on favoritism and sexism - he doesn’t have good relationships with talent - he doesn’t like to take risks and he contributed to the fear based decision making bob shaye was notorious for - how he can manage to keep his job while hundreds lose theirs is morally indefensible
Comment by after after the sunset — March 18, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
Unbelievable. How does this happen? I don’t know Toby so I won’t bash him personally … I’ll take the word that he’s a “great guy”. But his record speaks for itself. Awful, awful films … and mostly box office disasters to boot. What a combo! Toby’s choices have been head-shakers for years. Absolutely ridiculous. I’m speechless. I have to go vomit now.
Comment by failing upwards — March 18, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
I can’t wait to pitch Bear (Toby’s dog) again. He almost bought from me last time. He loves my pitches.
Does anyone at WB have any idea what’s going on? Do they know that he has writers pitch his fucking lab? Does Bewkes even live in los angeles?
Why isn’t Brenner taking over? What the hell is going on?
It just goes to show, that WB still won’t know how to make a comedy.
Comment by Johny writer — March 19, 2008 @ 6:56 am
I actually have a project in contention there, but who knows with WB in the mix. That Toby managed to fail upwards is shocking. The terrible movies of the last two years were his doing, he is arrogant and rude, sexist beyond belief. He has been enabled by Bob and now Warner Bros. The people making this decision are either stupid or blind. He has alienated people all over town… writers, producers, A-list talent, not to mention people who work and have worked at New Line. And I heard he really did throw Bob under the bus.
How does something like this happen? Is it really a done deal? Didn’t anybody ask anybody before making a decision like this?
Comment by Producer at New Line — March 19, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Les Mayfield Jr. describes Time Warner’s typical thinking when hiring and promoting. They’re more concerned about what school and candidate attended and how attractive they are (in every sense), with the notion that “our kind of people” can learn any and every skill because, well, they’re superior.
Les left one classic Time Warner element out, tho; Emmerich, like the two guys over at HBO, are raptors. They are interims, hired to clean house (older women, unattractive men, support staff making too much money) and take the heat for the corporate parent. That will take about a year. When they’re done they’ll be retired out with “production deals” and someone with a bit more sense will replace them.
Comment by louvenia — March 19, 2008 @ 9:12 am
Who is anyone to judge a person or leader like Toby Emmerich? Have any of you ever been in his position? Have you ever had to make the kinds of decisions that he has? Have you ever had to stick your neck out for something that you believed in? If you have, then great. But ask yourself at what level have you had to make them? What was at stake? What did you have to lose? Stop judging the work of a person as intelligent, creative and innovative as Toby is. Judging from his choices, leadership abilities and his ability to follow through with choices leaves me absolutely mistified, that anyone would have the audacity to write such balony. He had bosses to answer to as well…why are you placing blame on him?
You are all entitled to your opinions.. I challenge you to really THINK before you write about someone else’s work ethic or ability. That’s all I am saying.
Comment by Kristin Thomas — March 19, 2008 @ 9:47 am
This is my favorite Toby story and it happened to me so I know it’s true. I had this meeting with Toby and some producers at New Line a few year ago about two very large video game franchises and a comic book the producers wanted New Line to buy.
After watching the video tapes and hearing the pitched presentations, Toby yawns and says to all of us “Do you have any dog movies? I want to make a dog movie.”
New Line did not get any of those franchises (other studios did) and I think Toby is still looking for that dog movie. Personally I have not done business with New Line since and rarely ever send them anything for consideration.
Comment by reelbusy — March 19, 2008 @ 10:09 am
Hey Kristin, either you’ve got a project over at New Line or you’re one of his idiot development execs trying to keep her job!
Comment by JaySperm — March 19, 2008 @ 10:35 am
One thing that can be said is he has great taste in interns.
Comment by NLER — March 19, 2008 @ 10:43 am
Hey, leave Kristin — and most of the New Line execs, who are largely sharp, smart people left hamstrung by their leadership — alone. I’m “mistified” that people are full of “balony” too. Perhaps Kristin is a pseudonym for the subject of this blog entry?
Comment by Fielding Mellish — March 19, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
Bewkes is a fool. During New Line’s “town hall” video conference with the guy, a low-level employee (who’s never gonna work in this town again, sadly) basically called Toby out for the moron he is and suggested Bewkes replace him with someone better. (I’ve never seen Brener’s head whip around so quickly in my life.) Amazing that after a public humiliation like that, WB had the nerve to offer Toby this job, and Toby had the nerve to accept it.
Comment by Marley — March 19, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
Let me get this straight. I’m about to lose my job after over a decade working at New Line. And the guy that every one of us working here knows cost us our jobs gets to stay? And gets promoted? What the hell is that? I’ve loved working here but this is beyond insulting. All of us at 116 Robertson know the real deal. Pathetic job, Mr. Bewkes. I’m embarrassed to work here now. Guess I won’t have to worry about that much longer.
Comment by SoontobeExNLer — March 19, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
At least we can all rest easily now knowing that Noah Emmerich will have work for the next three years
Comment by exnewliner — March 19, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
Kristin … who am I to judge Toby? I am not. The record is judging him. New Line is like a baseball team that has lost 100 games for 3 years in a row, but then gives the manager a raise and a new contract because 3 years ago the team had a 4 game winning streak. Oh right … that doesn’t happen in baseball, and it sure shouldn’t happen in Hollywood. I won’t take up the space here to list all of the critical and box office disasters under Toby’s watch. You know what they are and the record speaks for itself. He is President of the company. If he’s not responsible, then who is?
I agree with you, soontobeexnewliner. It is embarrassing to work at New Line now more than ever. Bewkes is clueless. If he wanted to mess with the small fish in his big pond, he should have worked harder to know what he was doing in the first place.
Comment by failing upwards — March 19, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
I’ve worked with Toby - except for “mistified” Kristin (learn how to spell and then you can have a comment) - I agree with everyone. I’ve also had the completely degrading opportunity to work with that other sexist asshole Herr Rolf Mittweg who has to take responsibility for running NoLine into the ground with his lackluster marketing campaigns created in the past with russell schwartz, who couldn’t market his way out of a paperbag. Between Rolf and Toby, NewLine managed to alienate every director and top level talent in town. Rolf’s abusive letter to David Cronenberg and Viggo after History of Violence ensured his role in running NewLine into the ground. And for that Rolf and Toby got paid paid millions every year (I wonder if Rolf knows that Toby made more than he did). The only person at NewLine who created revenue was Galano in International….Tuckerman in distribution (who’s actually one of the few nice nice guy’s in top level) managed to mess up every release date because Rolf and Toby had their own little personal war going. The problem with NewLine is that everyone at the top was out for themselves and couldn’t keep their ego’s in check, that and their amazing lack of talent at what they were supposed to be doing. Toby only had a job because of Bob (Bob and Toby’s daddy are buddies) and now Toby’s ditched that for his own glory —- oh, and of course Noah’s talentless part in every film Toby has a stinky finger in. It’s their own fault. A lot of people saw this coming a long time ago when TW made sure that all their contracts had to be renewed at the same time. They’re all selfish, talentless, greedy scum. I feel sorry for the people that did all the work and are now out of a job.
Comment by glad to be out — March 19, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
Let’s not forget that Toby is also the acclaimed writer of the Last Mimzy…Toby won’t last long in his new position —once the protective veil of Bob Shaye is removed, people will catch on pretty damn fast as to how overrated and lame he really is.
Comment by writerman — March 19, 2008 @ 11:37 pm
hey mr. bewkes:
Let it be known that this will be highlighted at every shareholder function from now until the situation is rectified.
NOTICE BEWKES - we are legion. we are anonymous, and we will have toby fired. or you will be asked to resign. you make the call. the ’street’ is watching.
emmerich over brener? just when i thought the stock couldn’t sink ANY LOWER. THANKS BEWKES - THIS IS ON YOU, NOT HORN, NOT ROBINOV, YOU. you’ve retained a documented racist.
THIS WILL NOT GO AWAY BEWKES. YOUR RESEARCH AND LEADERSHIP ARE SO FAR SORELY LACKING.
I MISS ICAHN:)
Comment by TheProphet — March 19, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
BREAKING:
Petition going around asking bewkes to remove toby. will be heavily publicized and is to be delivered to bewkes by an a-list star or two that toby has alienated.
Let the games begin.
Comment by StreetBeat — March 19, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
I don’t understand. Wasn’t Toby Emmerich the guy that tried to get New Line to stop making horror movies in the first place? Now suddenly he loves them? Maybe I’m just a neophyte to showbiz politics but I find this all very confusing.
Comment by veryconfusedhorrorwriter — March 20, 2008 @ 12:06 am
The bottom line: this is is a classic case of corporate America using someone (poor Toby’s so delusional he doesn’t even know he’s being used) to make the transition as easy as possible. Soon, Toby will be a pariah in this business and vanish into nonexistence just like before he joined New Line. The only reason he ever worked at NL or even in this biz was because his parents were art dealers and Bob bought from them. Not that nepotism doesn’t exist all the time in the biz, but Toby should’ve been happy with just having a job in general, but the guy had to then give his own actor brother a production deal and his wife’s best-friend a senior development exec job without being able to legitimize it (amongst many other examples). Then again, Toby’s not such a legit guy in general….
Anyone recall the time Toby used the “N” word in front of a black producer and director or when Toby paraded a female intern at Chaya for his “legit” pal Joe Francis.
Sure, Toby will take credit for all the successful films at NL, but everyone knows that he has zero to do with any of them. He hates horror movies, but claims credit for FvsJ which we all know was a former NL exec’s film, he claims credit for LOTR which we all was another current NL exec’s film. Interesting that he’ll never claim credit for any of the countless movies that tanked under his watch. I can just imagine that guy sitting in a room with Warners brass…I’m sure he just threw Bob and Michael under the bus to the Warner guys. Just too bad this all had to happen and so many people will lose their jobs because of one guy sinking an entire ship. Shame on Toby. Hope he can sleep at night.
Comment by Anonymous — March 20, 2008 @ 12:19 am
The seat-holders at New Line and HBO are there because not one of them has ever had an original or pro-active thought in his life, and TW likes it that way. The parent co.’s runners will spend a brief time watching them, reading files and learning (yet again) how television and feature motion picture producton and distribution work, then replace these three with Harvard/Stanford MBA’s and pretend they’ve discovered a new business.
Comment by louvenia — March 20, 2008 @ 7:23 am
I was at that meeting too. If everybody who agreed with that “won’t work in this town again” assistant actually spoke up as well, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I know I was afraid. Heaven knows there were a lot of people who were upset that he was being promoted. Maybe nobody at WB or Time Warner knew the real story and we blew it by not saying anything except now, here. Too late. Game over.
Comment by Town hall witness — March 20, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Oh, Bewkes noticed — that Emmerich has no control over his staff and their negative comments …thus making the parent co. look bad. That’s his takeaway from the town hall meeting.
Comment by tw lifer — March 20, 2008 @ 10:36 am
Nikki Finke hit the nail on the head by saying that New Line was brought down by “hubris and karma.” As a former longtime New Liner, I’m disheartened by what’s happened but even more disgusted by what’s about to happen. Haven’t the poor employees of NL suffered enough? Putting Toby in charge of that dysfunctional mess is akin to allowing lunatics to run the asylum. Bewkes and TW are either in complete denial, completely ignorant or the worst case scenario - completely indifferent to what has happened and what will continue to happen at NL.
If that’s the case then TW should just stop all pretense of keeping the New Line brand name alive and fold up shop now. Leave NL employees with a shred of dignity and give the company some semblance of respect for their notable contribution to film history and the industry. Please leave New Liners with a legacy they can be proud of instead of forcing them to helplessly stand by and watch as their beloved company is slowly run into the ground…yet again…by the SAME regime of ineptitude that put them in these dire circumstances in the first place. Stop adding insult to injury!
There’s plenty of blame to go around for this ginormous failure, but those in “leadership” roles at New Line really should be ashamed of themselves. Shame on them for their years of excess and greed. (Did any employees besides executive committee members actually benefit from the Lord of the Rings bounty?). Shame on them for their petty in-house fighting and machinations which created an environment that produced mostly nothing but failure these past few years. And last but not least, shame on them for their myopic view on how to run an organization and their general indifference to the plight of the masses.
It’s appalling but not surprising to hear that New Line’s elite recently had yet another private and exclusive gathering at Chaya to celebrate (I’m not exactly sure why or what?!)…while the vast majority of New Liners are focused on dealing with such tedious matters as finding new jobs or surviving on their lower-than-promised severance packages until they do find new jobs.
Oh, by the way…where’s the gathering to “celebrate” their accomplishments?
Hubris and Karma, indeed.
Comment by Hubris and Karma — March 20, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
Listen, as long as NL continues to hire fools like Mike Disco and Charlie Emde to make and market films, they will continue to be the joke of the industry. Word has it that these 2 actually believe JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is based on a true story. And they are just the tip of the no-talent iceberg. Here’s a question I’ve always had…just what does Rolf do anyway besides make racist and sexist comments to everyone? At least it looks like his sorry ass is finally out the door. It sucks that so many fine people are losing their jobs just because of the few truly inept souls that are doing their finest to fail.
Comment by glad to be gone — March 20, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
Toby’s dog Bear does more work than Toby. Good job boy…good boy!
Comment by Bear the Dog's Owner Sucks Balls! — March 21, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Gotta wonder if TW even took the time to look at the box office or lack thereof of all the movies under Toby’s time at NL…subtract the obvious films that weren’t his at all (i.e. LOTR, RUSH HOUR) and see how much money the studio actually lost thanks to him (oh wait does’t he claim he had no choice in answering to Bob? Well, that’s as likely as Toby’s prediction that HAIRSPRAY was going to do $200mm domestic! Quite ironic that now he’s in charge of low budget comedies and horror movies considering he managed to tank the only Will Ferrell movie in modern history by letting “auteur” Kent Alterman “direct” and the guy thinks the horror genre is a trend! Hence, the exact reason why NL lost that entire market to Lionsgate and Rogue over his leadership.
Gotta wonder if Toby promised his new bosses access to some Girls Gone Wild events with him and Joe Francis or maybe an intern or two…
That’s all worthy of a promotion!
Let’s hope Carl Icahn is building a case to take down TW on his second try.
Comment by Anonymous — March 21, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
As an insider that’s considered low on NL totem pole, it’s the right thing to do and speak out. One must wonder why Toby’s being rewarded by WB for countless acts of corruption. Yes, we all recall the “n” word incident, but he did it twice! Unreal. How about the infamous NL culture toward women which is driven by Toby? Is that how WB and TW wants to represent itself? I mean, everyone knows the guy did give his brother a producing deal, but does everyone know that it was the first producing deal Toby handed out?
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if it’s technically okay to pay yourself to write scripts when you’re the president of production? Isn’t that an obvious conflict of interest? At this point, there should be some sort of revolt when a guy at the top of the ladder is so corrupt and able to get away with it when all other NLers are going to suffer for this corruption and lose their jobs as a result!
Comment by nlinsider — March 21, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
Report in L.A. Times this morning that Jeff Bewkes “earned” $19.6 million last year (that’s a 5% increase in a year the stock fell 24%). Good payday for a guy willing to destroy an entire division of his company to save $50 million. That makes sense. There is no accountability at the corporate level. I’m one of those leaving New Line soon with ZERO value in TW stock options, thank you. It was Bob who said last Christmas about NL: “this is not an institution”. On a bigger level, neither is Time Warner, a company blundering at just about every level. I hope the Bewkes / Emmerich butt-buddy fest brings down the whole company. Of course you’ll say I’m just bitter, but is anybody not embarrassed to work here anyway?
Comment by failing upwards — March 22, 2008 @ 3:35 pm
This whole thing is pathetic. A truly sorry end to a formerly awesome movie co. Toby is just being put in charge as a puppet to steer the ship into port to be decommissioned. He obviously sold his soul to Beelzebub or Bewkes (or are they one and the same? have they ever been photographed together???) to get the gig, and if it’s true he manipulated things to help push Bob Shaye out he deserves to rot in development hell.
As for the Chaya “gathering of the elite” somebody mentioned here…it was nothing of the sort. Bob hosted cocktails for some folks and he picked up the tab, not New Line. I think he was still in shock and not up for a bigol’ blowout New Line-style bash, otherwise he would have had one. Bob’s never been one to deny anyone a cocktail.
There were all kinds of New Liners present - from little “nobodies” to presidents. There were people inadvertantly not invited who thought they should’ve been - like me, just another New Liner. So I did what anyone could’ve - I crashed it. I was welcomed and had a good time. Thanks, Bob.
Comment by dram eldogar — March 24, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
Many executives had just re signed their contracts some with three years, they KNEW this was coming because everyone knew that Shayes and Lynn’s contracts were up in 2008 with TW. These executives did a bag job with each other to get contracts and were just protecting themselves. When HR and Bewkes and his goons were presented with all these contracts they probably had a shit fit and had to figure out a strategy, so they put the free wheelin stoner in charge, what an embarrassment that would be to those high fulutin execs reporting to Shayes sidekick. It’s the fastest way to marginalize and embarrass these executives into leaving, anyone who wanted to hold Bewkes feet to the fire with their bogus but probably airtight contracts, would have to report to TOBY, who in their right mind would want to do that?
Now they’ll get the money, but they’ll be gone and not be a constant additional expense to monitor. Toby they can kick around, and when he wakes up he might actually figure out that as a puppet he’s not going to do his CAREER any good there.
Comment by Was a Nl'er — March 25, 2008 @ 8:54 am
As a former New Liner I agree that Toby should NOT have received this position. When I saw it in Variety I screamed at the magazine- I can’t believe this jackass was given this kind of responsibility…
I have way too much to say about his incompetence, Brenner should have been offered the position- in short…WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE!
Comment by gotoutjustintime — March 25, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
Seriously, how can this really go on - Bewkes makes almost $20M a year and as he closes a company can’t figure out who’s to blame! And it was brought up to him at the town hall that he should take a poll of who the employees really wanted to be their leader? He obviously doesn’t listen. And just for your info - that ‘low level employee on the totem pole’ who spoke up at the town hall will not only work in this town but, will hopefully kick Toby to the ground one of these days, because we all know - once WB figures out what a shame Toby is, he’ll be knocking on every door he can find and the only one who will be opening them is Noah.
Comment by got out of nlc just in time - sorry friends! — March 25, 2008 @ 3:13 pm