SID GANIS.......Class of ....1957

Founder of "Out of the Blue Entertainment"
and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Let me take you back when it all started so you all can enjoy the beginning, the inbetween, and the now. It is truly a remarkable story of a talented man who climbed the ranks of success due to his determination and creativness.

Sid began his career in the mailroom at Lee Solters New York publicity agency. Eventually he graduated to a part-time publicist (and remained the office-boy). His training included writing column items for Winchell, Earl Wilson, Dorothy Kilgallen etc., etc… and of course getting the coffee.

His first studio job was with 20th Century Fox in New York, initially as the staff publicity writer, and ultimately as the East Coast Newspaper and Wire Service contact. In those days, New York had seven newspapers. During this stint Sid was the studio’s publicity liaison for the production of Cleopatra as Elizabeth Taylor’s and Richard Burton’s affair adorned the front page of every newspaper in the world.

After two years at Fox, Sid moved to Columbia Pictures in New York where he served as the studio’s Radio-TV contact (in those days Barbara Walters was a booker / segment producer for The Today Show). Films he helped publicize included ‘Dr. Strangelove’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Lord Jim’, ‘Behold a Pale Horse’ with Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn, and others.

He next segued to 7 Arts, as the head of the publicity department. The department consisted of…Sid Ganis. It was at 7 Arts that Sid met and first worked with new director Francis Ford Coppola on his first major movie, ‘You’re a Big Boy Now.’

After 7 Arts bought Warner Bros, Sid moved to the Burbank lot of Warner Bros/7 Arts where he made his first move into production, as the assistant to the famed filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz on ‘There Was a Crooked Man’. He later served as the studio contact person to Coppola (‘Rain People’), Steve McQueen (‘Bullitt’), Robert Redford (‘All the President’s Men’), and Barbra Streisand (‘A Star is Born’) working with all as liaison between the studio’s various departments, including production and ad/pub -- as it was called in those days. It was Francis Ford Copolla who introduced Sid to young USC grad-filmmaker George Lucas.

He got his first VP stripes at Cinema Center Films (CBS’ film company) where he helped publicize ‘Little Big Man’, ‘A Man Called Horse’ (Richard Harris), ‘The Reivers’ (Steve McQueen), Le Mans (McQueen), and others.

In 1979, Sid moved to Lucasfilm, where he served as Senior Vice President, working closely with George on the marketing of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’, ‘Kagemusha’ (Akira Kurosawa), ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, ‘Mishima’, ‘Return of the Jedi’ and other films. He won an Emmy for producing the PBS documentary ‘The Making Of Raiders….’

Sid next joined Paramount Pictures and stayed for five years, first as President of Worldwide Marketing and then as President of the Motion Picture Group, where he green-lit the box-office and critical hit Ghost and purchased the rights to Winston Groom’s novel Forrest Gump, which would go on to win six Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Also at Paramount he was a key man in Paramounts purchasing for distribution, and then the marketing and publicizing of Paul Hogan’s ‘Crocodile Dundee’, and U2’s ‘Rattle and Hum’. In addition he was head of the production/marketing teams on ‘Hunt for Red October’, ‘Top Gun’, ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’… and others. He brought Scott Rudin and Lorne Michaels to the lot where they went on to produce a (long) string of hit-films.

Sid next held various positions at Sony Pictures, including Vice Chairman of Columbia Pictures and President of Worldwide Marketing for Columbia/Tristar Motion Picture Companies.

He founded Out of the Blue… Entertainment in 1996. Based at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, Out of the Blue… most recently produced the Lionsgate/2929 feature film Akeelah and the Bee with his wife Nancy Ganis and in association with Reactor Films. Laurence Fishburn also produced.

Out of the Blue Entertainment found box office success with its first two productions: Columbia Pictures’ Big Daddy, starring Adam Sandler, and Touchstone Pictures’ Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Out of the Blue enjoyed continued success with Columbia’s Mr. Deeds, starring Sandler and Winona Ryder, and The Master of Disguise, starring Dana Carvey.

In 2005, Sid was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He serves on the boards of FIND (Film Independent), the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, and the San Francisco Film Society. In addition he serves on the board of trustees of the American Film Institute (AFI) as well as the board of directors of Marvel Entertainment.

And just think everyone, it all began in the mail room with press agent Lee Solters, getting the coffee while writing, running to take the #10 bus crosstown to deliver copy to Dorothy Kilgallen…

I would like to thank Sid personally for allowing me to get his story out. Growing up in Brooklyn and Madison is as close to his heart as it is to all of us. Thank you for helping to fill our lives with great entertainment created by so many great people.

Sherry