Stuart Ford might have been named Variety’s Billion Dollar Producer, however the AGC Studios founder is already waiting for his subsequent huge milestone.
“We’ve raised more than $1.5 billion in production financing and, the way our cinema business is evolving, who knows, in three or four years from now, I might be standing in front of you having achieved $1.05 billion at the box office,” mentioned Ford.
The govt was feted by Variety at a May 19 cocktail reception in Cannes. Many of the super-producer’s enterprise associates and companions, in addition to business associates, dropped by the Croisette villa to toast Ford, who was given the glory by Variety’s co-editor in chief Ramin Setoodeh.
“Variety invented words such as boffo, legit, sitcom, sex appeal and striptease. It’s my recollection that your colleagues have used [most] of these words to describe me and my companies over the years, but I will tell you I’ve never produced a sitcom or a legit sitcom,” joked Ford as he accepted the glory.
“This is an award in my name but it’s really about the tremendous achievements of my colleagues at AGC Studios and, before that, at IM Global. We all know that film and television production is an immense collective team effort, and I wouldn’t have been privileged enough to have my name on 70-plus films without the tremendous enthusiasm, intelligence, good humor, patience and hard work of my colleagues.”
Ford gave a particular shout-out to his colleague of 17 years and enterprise accomplice, Miguel Palos, who serves as COO of AGC Studios.
“Typically, he’s not here this evening. He’s back in Los Angeles, closing another $175 million of production financing while I swan around in the south of France,” mentioned Ford. “He is the man who makes the trains run on time, and the clocks tick. Without Miguel Palos, there is no billion dollar producer in front of you.”
Stuart Ford accepts his Billion Dollar Producer honor in Cannes.
Ford additionally thanked his backers, together with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Latin American non-public asset administration agency MediaInternet Partners and main Silicon Valley entrepreneur Greg Clark. “Thank you for your faith in me and your belief in every AGC Studios project. We’ve had a tremendous five years together. I know I’ve given you a few sleepless nights along the way, but please know it’s your support of me and your friendship that is all the reward I could ask for.”
Among the company on the Croisette villa had been CAA Media Finance co-head Ben Kramer and Participant Media CEO David Linde. Also in attendance was Bonnie Voland, AGC’s former head of worldwide advertising and marketing and publicity, who began with Ford at IM Global and retired in 2022. (Ford threw Voland a retirement bash finally yr’s pageant.)
“When you work with someone and you build two companies with them and you see them getting the accolades they deserve, how would I not be here?” Voland informed Variety. “Because I’ve been here since day one, it’s nice to be appreciated and for Stuart to want me to be here. But it’s him — to work with someone like that and to celebrate him is very special.”
AGC’s divisions have accomplished 36 movie and TV productions in 5 years, with companions together with Paramount Global, Peacock, Lionsgate, Netflix and Amazon, in addition to abroad gamers Studiocanal and the BBC. At Cannes, AGC Intl. has launched gross sales on “They Found Us,” from writer-director Neill Blomkamp with Joel Kinnaman hooked up to star, in addition to Ron Howard’s thriller “The Origin of Species,” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander.
AGC’s finance unit claims $1 billion accessible capital raised at the side of third-party companions. Meanwhile, its gross sales division has notched $500 million transactions. Ford has credit on movies with upwards of $1 billion in field workplace.