MOVIE MAN

D Magazine, Sep 01, 2001 by Whitley, Glenna

A Channel of His Own

JARCHOW IS NONA FOCUSED ON DIVERSIFYING Regent. For one thing, he wants to take advantage of the current chaos in the exhibition business by acquiring additional theaters. Jarchow wants "jewel box" properties like the Showcase in LA and the Regent Highland Park, located in neighborhoods where sophisticated filmgoers will support small films such as Sexy Beast.

"We're perfectly set up here for exclusive and specialty product," he says. "Plus you don't have to hold them as long." (To get Pearl Harbor, for example. Regent would have had to commit to 12 weeks, which would have been a financial disaster considering the number of competing multiplexes where it was also booked.) And if there's a business Jarchow knows as well as anyone, it's commercial real estate.

His other goal is to secure a pipeline for non-theatrical distribution. Jarchow won't mention the name of the broadband provider with whom he is now in negotiation. "What we can say is the next development will be a couple of strategic alliances," he says. If the deals are inked this fall, Jarchow expects the company to go from producing 12 to 15 movies a year to producing as many as 50. Regent would create several channels along the lines of the Independent Film Channel. "Owning the pipeline is where the big money is," he says. "We will create or acquire films or use the film library. The channel gives us a natural outlet. You can control your own destiny. And it's within our competency to do."

But why stay in Dallas? For one thing, he likes being away from operations. "This week, I can sit here and focus on getting the financial and budget presentations together," he says. And another reason is the city itself. A really enjoy living in Dallas, and it's one of the best cities in the world to travel from." He goes to LA every other week, London and Germany a few, times a year, and the Cannes Film Market once a year.

And with Jarchow watching the bottom line from Dallas, Regent has survived while other independents, such as Shooting Gallery (producer of the critically acclaimed You Can Count on Me) and Flashpoint, have collapsed. Even Artisan, producer of the phenomenally successful Blair Witch Project, is floundering.

Could Regent become the next Miramax, the independent turned major studio known for quality hits like Shakespeare in Love?

"You're looking at the Bob and Harvey Weinstein of the 21st century," Mark Altman, screenwriter of Free Enterprise, a movie acquired by Regent in 1999, has said.

Maybe it's a good thing not to be in Hollywood.