While NBC has come under heavy fire, especially from Republican critics, for agreeing to broadcast the series, the project may wind up being produced by another company: Fox Television Studios, the sister company of the conservative favorite, Fox News.
Leslie Oren, a spokesman for FTVS, as the studio is known, confirmed that NBC is in “the early stages” of discussions to bring the Fox unit in as the production company on the as yet unnamed mini-series, which will star Diane Lane as Mrs. Clinton.
“There is no deal yet,” Ms. Oren said. But should a deal be completed, FTVS would become the distributor of the film internationally. FTVS is the production arm of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment group.
It would also become something of an odd partner in what has become a contentious project, especially after Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, threatened to keep presidential debates involving Republican candidates off both NBC and its news channel MSNBC, if it went ahead with what he called a “promotional movie about the life of Hillary Clinton.”
But criticism of NBC’s decision to buy the film has also come from inside its news division, as two correspondents, Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell, have spoken out publicly suggesting the film would damage the reputation of NBC News.
Mr. Todd, the chief White House correspondent for the network, said, “this mini-series is a total nightmare for NBC News.” Ms. Mitchell, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC, called the movie “a really bad idea given the timing.”
NBC has been in the cross hairs of conservative critics for some time, mainly because its news division also runs MSNBC, which also makes no secret of its political bent — liberal rather than conservative. Both Mr. Todd and Ms. Mitchell host programs on MSNBC.
The position of NBC’s Entertainment division has been that the project is being produced entirely separately from the news division, and that there is a firewall between the divisions, with the news organization in no way responsible for the content.
Whether an association with a Fox company reduces the heat on the Clinton project seems unlikely, however, especially because in this case the criticism has also come from NBC News itself. One longtime senior news executive, who asked not to be identified criticizing the network, called the movie “wildly inappropriate for NBC to be doing.”
That reaction is largely based on the presumption that Mrs. Clinton will be a candidate in 2016. It is not based on the script for the film, which has not been written.
The back story of the project underscores the automatic interest that surrounds Mrs. Clinton, as well as the complicated corporate arrangements that often accompany Hollywood projects.
In this case, the project began as an idea hatched by Sherryl Clark, an independent producer. She took the idea of a Clinton movie to a company named Endgame, which finances and produces television programs and movies. The chairman of Endgame, James D. Stern, agreed to pick up the project with both he and Ms. Clark attached as executive producers.
They sought out a writer/director for the project as well as a star. In both cases they attracted Oscar nominees. Courtney Hunt, who wrote and directed the well-regarded independent film “Frozen River,” signed on to the project. Also, Diane Lane, who was nominated for an Academy Award for “Unfaithful,” agreed to play Mrs. Clinton.
A spokeswoman for Endgame, Gina Lang, said the project was then pitched around Hollywood to several broadcast and cable networks. Another executive involved in the project said several networks expressed interest. But NBC offered the best deal.
The chairman of NBC Entertainment, Robert Greenblatt, announced the acquisition of the project on July 27, one day after the deal with Endgame was concluded. Mr. Greenblatt said at the time that NBC would ensure the movie was on the air before Mrs. Clinton formally declared for the presidency to avoid any demands from other candidates for equal time.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/10/business/media/fox-may-produce-clinton-biopic-reviled-by-gop.html?partner=rss&emc=rss