• by Wayne Friedman , March 9, 2006

Veteran theatrical film media buyer Palisades Media Group, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has signed up the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios as a client that will spend at least $120 million or more in media in its first year in existence.

Rick Sands, chief operating officer of the MGM, says this is based on about a dozen movies being made, but the media budget could go as high as "$200 million," he says--depending on whether MGM adds more films to its slate.

An MGM press conference yesterday touted that it will eventually want to push its yearly slate to around 20 movies a year, each with a production budget of $15 million to $60 million. Its first release will be "Lucky Number Slevin," starring Josh Harnett, which is from Harvey and Bob Weinstein's The Weinstein Co. It will open April 7. Palisades will be doing the buying for that movie.

The Weinstein Co. is expected to contribute up to seven titles to be distributed by MGM. MGM's upcoming films include a crime thriller, "Harsh Times," starring Christian Bale, and "I Could Never Be Your Woman," a romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

MGM calls itself a "hybrid" studio where small, independent producers will make films with a big Hollywood studio's marketing and distribution muscle.

But MGM won't be using a big media agency. Palisades Media Group is the last-of-a-breed media agency for film studios--a mid-size agency, that handles numerous media and entertainment companies' media buying and planning services.

"Roger [Schaffner, chairman/CEO of Palisades] gets it," explains MGM's Sands. In describing some bad experiences at a big NYC media agency while working at Miramax Films, Sands says: "We got lost with them and they were rather ineffective. I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond."

At other media agencies, having more than one client in the same business is usually considered a conflict. Palisades clients include The Weinstein Co., video game producer Electronic Arts, Lions Gate Films and Lions Home Video, Paramount Classics, and New Line Cinema interactive.

To avoid conflict, all of Palisades' film clients have separate teams devoted only to their movies.

"They do a great job," says Sands, who had worked with Palisades when he was at Miramax Films. "I trust the Chinese Wall system. We are not all going after the same audience at the same time."

Although MGM is a major client addition, Schaffner says, "we are trying to re-brand ourselves" as an agency that doesn't work only with movie studios. Soon, he says, Palisades will announce other new non-movie clients.

Concerning the MGM addition, Schaffner said, "it'll increase the level of the entire shop."

MGM, in its newest company configuration, was formed by a Sony Corp.-led investor group about a year ago. Six partners have a stake--including Sony Corp. of America and Comcast Corp., who each have minority ownership stakes.