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12 Loy. L.A. Ent. L.J. 1 (1992)
One Producer's Inside View of Foreign and Domestic Pre-Sales in the Independent Financing of Motion Pictures

handle is hein.journals/laent12 and id is 19 raw text is: ARTICLES ONE PRODUCER'S INSIDE VIEW OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC PRE-SALES IN THE INDEPENDENT FINANCING OF MOTION PICTURES Arnold Kopelson t t Arnold Kopelson won an Academy Award in 1986 for his production of Platoon. He began his professional career in 1959 with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore while attending New York Law School, from which he received a Juris Doctor degree in 1959. He practiced entertainment and banking law, and later specialized in motion picture financing. Through 1970, he acted as special counsel to Chemical Bank and other banks and lending institutions in entertainment lending transactions. In 1972, with Anne Feinberg, whom he married in 1976, Kopelson formed Inter-Ocean Film Sales, Ltd. (Inter-Ocean) to represent independent motion picture producers in the licensing of their films throughout the world. Afterward, Kopelson pioneered the concept of theatrically distributing, in foreign markets, films that were expressly made for television, and began a long-term representation of ABC, the television network. He continued to practice law until 1982. In 1979, Kopelson formed a joint venture with Boston-based General Cinema Corpora- tion for motion picture production. Together they produced several films, including Lost and Found, starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson, with Inter-Ocean distributing the films to all territories outside of the United States and Canada. Since the formation of his production company, Kopelson has either executive-produced, produced, or packaged more than a dozen motion pictures, including Porky's, one of the most financially successful films in the history of the motion picture business. Kopelson's production of Platoon received four Golden Globe Awards, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature, and won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, and Best Editing. Platoon joined the ranks of the most financially successful films of all time. In 1987, Kopelson executive-produced a supernatural thriller entitled Warlock, starring Julian Sands, Richard E. Grant, and Lori Singer. Its recent success has inspired the domestic distributor to develop a sequel slated for production in 1992. In 1989, Kopelson produced Triumph of the Spirit on location at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Poland. Critically acclaimed, Triumph of the Spirit was directed by Robert M. Young, and stars Academy Award nominees Willem Dafoe, Edward James Olmos, and Robert Loggia. In November, 1989, Kopelson executive-produced the Touchstone Pictures release Fire Birds, a $20-million production featuring the Apache AH-64 helicopter. Fire Birds was co- financed and licensed by Inter-Ocean in the foreign markets, and stars Nicholas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sean Young. In November, 1990, Kopelson produced the Warner Brothers release Out for Justice star- ring Steven Seagal, which had a domestic theatrical gross of nearly $40 million. At the writing of this article, the film was about to begin its foreign release.