Former Paramount Pictures President Adam Goodman‘s Dichotomy Creative Group has been acquired by China’s Le Eco and Goodman will become president of Le Eco subsidiary Le Vision Entertainment, the company announced Wednesday, confirming an earlier report by TheWrap.
Goodman will oversee the production of a slate of English-language movies that will be distributed internationally. In an interview with TheWrap he and Le Eco Vice Chairman Zhang Zhao underlined Le Vision’s capability to fully finance — or co-produce, when appropriate — any film, allowing him to pursue a wide array of opportunities. As president of Le Vision and head of its L.A. office, Goodman will also be responsible for English-language content produced across platforms. Dichotomy’s tentpole and micro-budget business will also become part of Le Vision.
“This isn’t a story about a Chinese company making an investment in Hollywood,” Goodman told TheWrap. “This is a story about a Chinese company for the first time opening a studio in Hollywood. There’s nothing about where we’re going that’s ever been done before.”
Goodman said he was drawn to Zhang by his sheer personality and ability to break down and project the future of the movie business in ways that “twist your brain” — and the fact that in five years, he built Le Vision up to the point that it was the third-largest production company in China. And of course, Zhang being a filmmaker by background helped too.
Zhang repeatedly underlined the importance of finding new voices in overlooked international markets — not only China, but Europe, Russia, India and Africa — and uncovering stories that Hollywood, with its established lanes, can overlook. Goodman agreed, saying he is not worried about discovering new intellectual property.
“I think the opportunity for us is to create what you haven’t seen,” Goodman told TheWrap. “Not what you have seen. Companies are doing what we have seen very well.”
Goodman said Zhang has challenged some of the other conventional wisdom, like Hollywood’s reliance on comps.
“We are in a business that is making decisions based on historical comps. As long as many of us were in the business, that historical data has been very relevant. The problem is, the business is shifting so fast now and our production technique still takes 24 to 36 months to make a decision. What Zhang was saying is you’re making movies based on yesterday’s information. But by the time that movie’s ready to be exposed to the audience, it’s no longer a relevant property necessarily.”
In addition to his film duties, Goodman will also be in charge of Le Vision’s TV, virtual reality and digital businesses. He is bringing his entire Dichotomy staff with him to Le Vision.
Ken Deutsch at Latham & Watkins put together the deal.