MGM and Academy Award(R) Nominated Actress/Producer/Director Salma Hayek Create New Ventanazul Label

Jointly-Owned Entity to Produce Projects With Latin Influences for

Universal Audiences

    LOS ANGELES, April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
 Studios Inc. (MGM) has entered into a partnership with producer/director
 and Academy Award(R) nominated actress Salma Hayek and her partner Jose
 Tamez to develop, produce and acquire filmed entertainment that either
 draws on Latin themes or features Latin talent, both in front and behind
 the camera, while having worldwide, mass market appeal.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011119/MGMLOGO)
     Ventanazul and this fully equal partnership between Ms. Hayek and MGM
 follows the studio's model of empowering proven talent with creative
 control over their content, while focusing on the studio's distribution and
 marketing expertise. Ventanazul will be housed at MGM, and plans call for
 the financing of the company's productions to come from MGM as well as from
 outside structured financing. The announcement was made jointly by MGM
 Chief Operating Officer Rick Sands and Ms. Hayek.
     Ms. Hayek will serve as President and CEO of Ventanazul, and Mr. Tamez
 will hold the position of President of Production. The company plans to
 bring two to four film projects to the marketplace per year, with MGM
 handling worldwide marketing and distribution. Ventanazul will tap a large
 talent pool, including Latin and non-Latin performers, filmmakers and
 writers, for a broadly defined slate of recognizable genres: dramas,
 comedies, thrillers, horror films, youth market movies, family movies and
 prestige films. In many instances, projects will be sourced from the rich
 and diverse Latino heritage, but realized in a modern and accessible way,
 for a mainstream domestic and international audience.
     "My conversations with Rick Sands and the MGM team have been
 tremendously exciting," says Ms. Hayek. "We have been developing for months
 a plan to create an identity for the company that specializes in the Latino
 market without isolating the rest of the audience. I'm confident to say
 that with the help and support of MGM, Ventanazul has a specific vision
 that sets it apart from some of the stereotypical efforts made in the past.
     What's important to us is integrating, not separating. This deal
 represents an amazing opportunity to draw upon the entire range of ways the
 Latin world can contribute to the film industry. Each project has a
 different element: from supporting our incredible talent behind the camera,
 to telling uniquely Latin stories like that of Frida Kahlo, to creating
 unforgettable characters -- who just happen to be Latin -- like Ugly Betty.
 We want these movies to appeal to everyone, but we also hope to make Latino
 audiences proud."
     "After working with Salma on several pictures over the years, it
 quickly became apparent to me that she is the right person to form this
 groundbreaking venture which will identify, develop and produce films that
 fall under Ventanazul's mission," said Sands. "Not only is Salma a great
 actress, but as a producer and director she brings a deep and accessible
 understanding of the multi-cultural world we live in today. We are pleased
 have this historic partnership with her and her team."
     MGM's partnership with Ms. Hayek continues MGM Chairman and CEO Harry
 Sloan's strategy to forge opportunities with proven producing and creative
 talent, as evidenced by the recent partnership with Tom Cruise and Paula
 Wagner in the re-birth of United Artists.
     The agreement between Ms. Hayek and MGM was negotiated by Jonathan
 Bader, MGM's EVP of Business Affairs and Bill Sobel, CAA and Management
 360.
     About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
     Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries is
 actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion
 pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and
 licensed merchandise. The company owns the world's largest library of
 modern films, comprising around 4,000 titles. Operating units include
 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United
 Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc.,
 MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc.,
 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM
 Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In
 addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching
 nearly 110 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity
 Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast
 (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For
 more information, visit www.mgm.com.
     CONTACT:
 
     For MGM
 
     Jeff Pryor
     Executive Vice President/Corporate Communications
     Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
     p. 310-449-3446; e. jpryor@mgm.com;
 
     Melissa Zukerman
     Principal Communications Group
     p. 323-658-1555; e. melissa@pcommgroup.com
 
     For Salma Hayek
 
     Cari Ross
     ID Public Relations
     p. 212-334-0333; e. cross@id-pr.com
 
 

SOURCE Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.