Atlas Entertainment and Gold/Miller Form Joint Venture; Immediate Focus to Be on Delivering More Options to Its Film, Television and Music Management Clients.

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--July 28, 1999--

Two of the most powerful management groups in Hollywood -- Gold/Miller, with its film and television clients including Jim Carrey, the prolific Wayans family, Judd Apatow and Jay Roach; and Atlas/Third Rail, who manage such music artists as Alanis Morissette, the Goo Goo Dolls, Savage Garden and Green Day -- will come together as their parent companies, Atlas Entertainment and The Gold/Miller Company, form a joint venture.

Charles Roven, Eric L. Gold, Jimmy Miller, Scott Welch and Pat Magnarella will partner in the new venture.

Allen Shapiro, who shaped the deal, which protects the unique cultures of the two management arms, Gold/Miller and Third Rail, will join as a partner and serve as president.

Todd Smith, who joined Atlas from CAA in 1997 to start its film and television management unit, and Richard Suckle, will now manage their clients, which include writers and directors Bruce Feirstein, Randa Haines, Danny Leiner, James Huth, Nat Maudlin, Patrick Massett & John Zinman, and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck, with Gold/Miller. Smith will continue to supervise television production deals, including one with Marshall Brickman, which is based at Sony, and help to expand this area for the venture.

Gold/Miller managers Lisa Blum, Andrew Deane, Jonathan Kadin, Paul Nelson and Julie Wixson will continue to guide the careers of their clients, including looking at new opportunities for them within the new venture.

Eric L. Gold, Jimmy Miller and the managers will look after clients including actors Jim Carrey, Mary McCormack, Kevin Sorbo, Jon Stewart, Natascha McElhone, Jason Scott Lee and Matthew Lillard; writers and directors Judd Apatow, Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick, Gregory Nava, Jay Roach, Dan Rosen and Drake Sather; "Saturday Night Live" team members Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Steve Higgins, Adam McKay and Colin Quinn; as well as Keenen Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Damon Wayans.

Scott Welch and Pat Magnarella, along with Rebecca Mostow, will collaboratively run the music arm, Third Rail Management and Third Rail Records. Third Rail Management clients include Alanis Morissette, the Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, Savage Garden, Luscious Jackson, Weezer and Jude. Third Rail Records is a joint venture record label with Buena Vista Music Group.

Charles Roven, along with producers Douglas Segal, Kelley Smith-Wait and Richard Suckle, who also continues as a manager, will head up Atlas's successful motion picture unit. The unit has produced such successes as "12 Monkeys," "City of Angels" and the eagerly awaited "Three Kings" (David O. Russell directs George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube), which Warner will release domestically Oct. 8.

"The way in which Chuck, Scott and Pat were able to offer Third Rail Management clients the opportunity to be involved with the Atlas production of `City Of Angels,' to the obvious benefit of all concerned, creatively and financially, is a template for the future," said Jimmy Miller.

"This has been a long courtship as we have sought a formula that protects each of our very successful relationships and businesses while enabling us to grow. Each of the partners and managers have rightly been protective of their clients, and we all have a healthy respect for the different cultures that will co-exist in this venture," added Eric Gold.

"Eric and Jimmy have an enviable reputation, as managers and as active participants in the production of television programming such as `In Living Color.' They enjoy a cutting-edge reputation alongside a real understanding of material and content. Gold/Miller has been directly involved with the development, financing and production of numerous motion pictures and television programs, but they have never taken their eyes off the management of their clients' careers. `Synergy' is a much abused word in our industry, but I truly believe that this partnership will give a new credibility to it," responded Charles Roven.

Allen Shapiro, whose responsibilities at the joint venture will focus on developing the business, organically and through acquisition, has been a special counsel to many of Hollywood's most prominent producers in structuring complex financial arrangements for the production of motion pictures, as well as being executive producer on his own films. These include the upcoming "Blue Streak," starring Martin Lawrence, and "Universal Soldier, The Return," starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Prior to this, Shapiro spent 10 years as president and chief executive officer of The IndieProd Company.

As well as its management and production units, the venture is working with MP3.COM in the promotion of online music.

Note to Editors

-- Atlas Entertainment: Charles Roven co-founded Roven-Cavallo Entertainment in 1990, which became Atlas Entertainment in 1994, when Roven's wife, the now deceased Dawn Steel, became the third partner.

-- The Gold/Miller Company: Eric Gold and James Miller co-founded Gold Miller in 1994.