In financial pinch, public TV lets hit movie "My Family" slip through its fingers

Originally published in Current, March 25, 1996

A popular film that found its early backing from public TV will make its broadcast debut on ABC, not PBS.

"My Family,'' a multigenerational saga of a Mexican-American family starring Jimmy Smits, was a cult box office success last year, ringing up $10.2 million in the first 12 weeks of its theatrical release, according to Variety.

The film had potential to make a big splash with public TV's viewers, but American Playhouse, which controlled rights to its television broadcast premiere, sold them last summer as its bid for independence began to falter.

Now, though American dramas are increasingly rare on PBS, the film won't reach public TV until the year 2000. ABC bought the premiere rights for broadcasts between Feb. 3, 1998, and Feb. 2, 2000, according to the network.

Ward Chamberlin, chairman of the nonprofit company that produces the PBS drama series, said selling the first broadcast rights was necessary to assure that Playhouse could fulfill its obligations to PBS.

National Latino Communications Center, which invested about $100,000 in the $5.5 million film, is questioning the deal. Executive Director Jose Luis Ruiz has written to PBS requesting an explanation. "It didn't sound then and it doesn't sound right to me now,'' said Ruiz, who wonders why PBS would sell this film when it lacks good drama, especially good drama about minorities.

Golden egg

Playhouse's own $250,000 contribution to the film also was comparatively small, but it turned into a good investment after "My Family'' had such a successful theatrical run. New Line Cinema, which distributed the film and contributed heftily to its production cost, approached former Playhouse President Lindsay Law about acquiring the broadcast rights sometime last year.

Law, who now heads Fox Searchlight Films, was traveling last week, and did not respond to Current's request for an interview.

In June, Playhouse's board turned down an "attractive'' offer from New Line, opting to keep the premiere for PBS, according to Chamberlin. Shortly afterwards, however, news of the Samuel Goldwyn Company's financial troubles made headlines, throwing Playhouse's own future into doubt. Goldwyn provided major backing for Playhouse's venture into the world of commercial filmmaking, and its collapse forced Playhouse to close its doors last fall.

As Playhouse executives discussed how they could fulfill their contract with PBS in the wake of Goldwyn's troubles, New Line came back with a "very substantial'' offer that included free PBS runs of other films, explained Chamberlin.

The offer was "not only attractive but important to the continuity of Playhouse,'' said Chamberlin, reading from a letter the Law wrote to Ruiz.

As part of the deal, Playhouse received $750,000--one-third of which Playhouse shared with PBS as a return on its "big investment'' in the series, according to PBS spokesman Harry Forbes. Two New Line pics, "Mrs. Parker in the Vicious Circle'' and "Death of a Maiden,'' "are coming to us for nothing as added bonuses,'' he added.

"Some even thought the network exposure would enhance ["My Family''] by the time it got to PBS,'' said Forbes.

That won't be until sometime between April 2000 and Feb. 2001, the window for PBS's first release of "My Family,'' according to Barbara Ludlum, controller of Playhouse. The network has three additional releases commencing after July 2002. PBS's releases on "Mrs. Parker'' and "Death of a Maiden'' commence in 1997.

The cable debut of the movie, meanwhile, belongs to HBO, a major investor in the film along with New Line, according to NLCC.

"My Family'' depicts the experiences of the Sanchez during three eras of American life--the 1920s, '50s and '80s. It begins with the journey by the family patriarch, Jose Sanchez, from a remote highland village in Mexico to Los Angeles, where he settles, marries and starts a family. Director Gregory Nava wrote the screenplay with producer Anna Thomas. It stars Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue, L.A. Law), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver), Eai Morales (La Bamba) and Eduardo Lopez Rojas (Romero).

NLCC's Jose Luis Ruiz said he was disappointed when he first learned of the sale. He had expected the film would become the highest rated drama in public broadcasting history. Several Latino-themed films have drawn some of Playhouse's biggest audiences--"El Norte,'' "Ballad of Gregorio Cortez'' and "Stand and Deliver.'' NLCC had left Playhouse to negotiate rights on its behalf, he said.

 

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	.	Earlier news: Plans for drama production unit collapse along with Goldwyn partnership, 1995.

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