SONY LOSING PRESTIGE AS TALENT EXITS.

Byline: John Horn Associated Press 

Will the last Sony producer to leave the lot please turn off the lights?

Already stung by management turmoil, financial fiascoes and crippled morale, Sony's movie unit is now losing its most talented filmmakers. Some of Sony's most successful producers, directors and actors are clearing out of Sony's Columbia and TriStar offices.

Among the deserters: writer-director John Singleton, whose low-budget "Boyz N the Hood" was Sony's most profitable release in 1991; actor-producer Danny DeVito's Jersey Films (whose credits include "Get Shorty," "Reality Bites" and "Pulp Fiction"); director Jerry Zucker ("First Knight") and his brother David; and producer Ned Tanen, who made "Cops and Robbersons" and "Guarding Tess."

At the end of 1997, Castle Rock Entertainment's Columbia deal will expire, and the maker of "The American President," "When Harry Met Sally ...," "In the Line of Fire" and "A Few Good Men" is expected to align itself with either New Line or Warner Bros. Penny Marshall ("Awakenings") is reportedly considering a move to either Disney or Universal.

The filmmakers' exodus means Sony will lose established sources for movies in the future and, with their exit, critical prestige.

Two of Hollywood's best-known actresses, Michelle Pfeiffer and Demi Moore, are abandoning Sony as well. Pfeiffer is leaving for Disney, and Moore is reportedly in negotiations with Universal. Although the deals with the actresses are less important than those with the producers and directors, their departures add to the perception that Sony is in crisis.

"What you see is a major, major reorientation," said one former Columbia producer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Like other disaffected producers, the executive said Sony's top management was paralyzed and failed to make decisions. DeVito's Jersey Films, for instance, made three of its most recent films for other studios since Sony passed on some of the projects.

Filmmakers "feel they aren't getting enough action - there is more infrastructure than there is activity," the former producer said.

Trying to cut its bloated overhead by trimming some of its production deals, Sony is also considering steps to refinance its movie operations, including an initial public offering. A Sony spokesman did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Most of Sony's current troubles stem from two ill-fated hiring decisions.

Michael Schulhof was named president and chief executive of Sony Corp. of America in 1993, and when he was fired earlier this month Sony's filmed entertainment division was in tatters. When Sony bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1989 for $3.4 billion, Schulhof hired producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber to run the studio, paying Warner Bros. nearly $600 million to get Guber and Peters out of their contract.

After a string of expensive flops and profligate spending, Sony was forced to take a $2.7 billion writeoff last year. Peters left in 1991 and Guber, whose poor commercial sense and extravagant tastes caused most of the losses, was relieved of his duties last year.

Some directors and writers are rankled over Guber's termination package. The failed studio chief was given a lucrative buyout and Schulhof reportedly invested $275 million of Sony money in Guber's Sony-based production company. Guber infuriated some Sony executives by promptly appropriating several high-profile movie projects - including "The Fan" with Robert De Niro - from other Sony producers.

"We would not have ended up getting the deal we deserved to get," said one frustrated producer in the process of leaving Sony. "Peter Guber has the best deal here. Obviously, we didn't lose enough money."

It's not as if Sony is casting off dead weight, though - the town is clamoring over the Sony filmmakers, and some are attracting escalating bids. What is Sony's loss will undoubtedly be some other studio's gain.

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Photo (1) Danny DeVito Taking projects elsewhere (2) John Singleton "Hood" director out the door