MGM’s Michael De Luca & Pam Abdy On Studio’s First In-House Best Picture Oscar Nomination In 33 Years, Being “Mildly Psychotically Obsessive” About Movies & What’s Ahead – Q&A
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Veteran producer and executive Michael De Luca was named Chairman of the Film Group at MGM in early 2020, and hired veteran producer and executive Pam Abdy as MGM Motion Picture Group President just a few months later.
The iconic studio, which includes Annapurna joint venture United Artists Releasing and a rebooted Orion, on Tuesday scored eight Oscar nominations across such films as No Time To Die, House Of Gucci, Cyrano and Licorice Pizza.
The latter nabbed three mentions and also brought the studio its first Best Picture nod for a fully produced, marketed and distributed MGM title since 1988’s Rain Man.Under De Luca and Abdy’s stewardship, MGM quickly became a hungry buyer on the film front, often competing with deep-pocketed streamers.
In May last year, Amazon confirmed it was buying MGM for $8.45B, and while the deal is still pending regulatory approval, in our discussion with the duo below, they touched on what the future of a 21st century studio might look like.Coming up, De Luca and Abdy are very bullish about providing a home for filmmakers, both established and new, while taking original swings and focusing on theatrical.DEADLINE: Your first slate at the studio picked up eight Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nod — and coming out of a pandemic.
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