And then there was Arnon

Clearly the zeitgeist of the summer of 2005 is the the demise of the independent film studio as box office receipts drop off the cliff. Regardless of the coming doom, Arnon Milchan seems to have earned himself a mash note in Variety. With DreamWorks in play at NBC-Universal, Milchan is soon becoming one of the last high volume independents in town over at Regency.

The article zeroes in on the key for long term existence in the world of film and television production:

"Part of the rationale to take more risks is that at 25 years old, Regency is starting to see substantial returns from its 100-title library and its TV division. Regency TV has six shows on the air, two of which -- "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Bernie Mac Show" -- are in syndication. Those two alone generate $180 million annually."

Regency fully financed the $110 million Mr. and Mrs. Smith this summer and that risk is paying off -- though there are more than enough big budget "blockbuster" films that haven't. And it has also been helped by diversifying into such enterprises as Puma and worldwide television rights for the Women's Tennis Association.

Variety was focusing in on a new venture being formed with Fox (an equity investor as well as a distribution partner) and Daimler-Chrysler to focus on new consumer products that follows another deal with Yahoo! and Fox Interactive focused on the Internet.