HOLLYWOOD or bust

How a legendary film studio was brought to the edge of bankruptcy

- NATASHA HOLT, IAN MACEWAN

When flamboyant Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti bought the legendary MGM/UA studios in November 1990, it made headlines around the world.

The Hollywood studio, which was once behind classic films such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and the James Bond franchise, had hit hard times and it was hoped the self-made billionaire could reverse its fortunes.

‘MGM Studios was like a city. It had all the major directors making lavish, extraordinary, fantastical and beloved movies,’ says writer John Lahr, one of the many Hollywood insiders interviewed in this feature-length film. ‘Their boast was they had all the stars in the universe.’

To announce his arrival in Tinseltown, Parretti brought in an actual lion – the symbol of MGM – to enliven his first press conference, but it soon became clear the takeover was on a flimsy financial footing.