Paula Wagner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born: | 1948 Youngstown, Ohio, United States |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | film producer |
| Spouse: | Rick Nicita |
| Website: | Paula Wagner at the Internet Movie Database |
Paula Wagner (born 1948 in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American film producer and film executive. In 1993, she founded Cruise/Wagner Productions along with Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, which produced numerous films, including the Mission: Impossible film series, The Others, Vanilla Sky, The Last Samurai, Elizabethtown, and several other films.
In November 2006, Cruise and Wagner became minority owners of famed Hollywood studio United Artists where she oversees operations as CEO as well as continuing to co-produce films with Cruise.
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[edit] Education and Early Career
Wagner earned her BA at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She began her career as an actress, appearing in several Broadway and off-Broadway stage productions. Wagner also performed at the Yale Repertory Theatre. In addition to being an actress, she is also a published playwright, co-writing the play Out of Our Father's House.
Wagner became a talent agent at the Creative Artists Agency. At CAA, she served as an agent for some of the industry's rising stars, including Kevin Bacon, Val Kilmer, Demi Moore, Liam Neeson, Oliver Stone, and Tom Cruise. Wagner worked closely with Stone on numerous projects, pairing him with Cruise for Born on the Fourth of July (which earned Cruise an Oscar nomination), with Kilmer on The Doors, and helping him cast JFK.[1]
[edit] Cruise/Wagner Productions
Tom Cruise, who had become one of the most famous actors of the 90s, asked Wagner to become a producing partner with him. Together, they formed Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993. She has collaborated with Cruise on several movies including the Mission: Impossible series, Vanilla Sky, The Last Samurai, and War of the Worlds. Cruise/Wagner also produced several projects without Cruise in front of the camera such as Without Limits, The Others, Narc, and Elizabethtown.
On November 2, 2006, MGM announced that actor Wagner and Cruise were resurrecting United Artists.[2] The duo acquired a small stake in the studio, with the approval by MGM's consortium of owners, which includes Sony and Comcast. Wagner was named CEO of United Artists, which will have an annual slate of four films with different budget ranges, while Cruise serves as a producer for the revamped studio as well as serving as the occasional star.
This announcement came after Cruise and Wagner ended a fourteen-year production relationship at Viacom-based Paramount Pictures earlier in 2006. Sumner Redstone, the studio's chairman and controlling shareholder, felt that Cruise's personal life, religious beliefs, and controversial comments he had recently made to the press were a liability to the box-office earnings of Mission: Impossible III and the studio as a whole.
[edit] Personal Life
She had been married twice. She is currently married to agent Rick Nicita, who is Tom Cruise's agent at Creative Artists Agency.
She was also the head of one of the juries at the 2006 Venice Film Festival.
[edit] External links
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