Merger Could Change Role of Columbia Chief

Victor A. Kaufman, the Tri-Star Pictures chairman who has been chosen to run all of Coca-Cola’s entertainment holdings when a merger takes place later this year, won’t arrive in town until Sept. 14 to survey his new kingdom, but Hollywood is already placing wagers on who will survive the corporate shuffle.

The most visible--and some say vulnerable--executive at Coca-Cola’s wholly owned Columbia Pictures is David Puttnam, the studio’s outspoken chairman and chief executive. Puttnam has alienated some big-name Hollywood producers, agents and actors by resisting high-priced “package” deals during his first year on the job.

In interviews over the Labor Day weekend, British film maker Puttnam said that he has met Kaufman just twice. “He seems a very smart guy,” said Puttnam, who, at 46, is two years older than the Tri-Star executive.

‘Considerable Independence’

The Columbia chairman noted that his contract allows considerable independence in film making for its remaining two years.

“If Victor finds he can work within the assurances that were made to me when I joined the company, we can work together with no trouble at all,” Puttnam said. “Obviously he must make his plans in the way he wants to make the business. . . . To the extent there is . . . any conflict, (I must decide) whether I can make the necessary adjustments.”

Puttnam said he had breakfast last Thursday with Coca-Cola’s top two officers, Chairman Roberto C. Goizueta and President Donald R. Keough, to discuss the proposed merger of Columbia and Tri-Star, the latter of which is 36%-owned by Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola executives assured him that the new company does “intend to operate two (movie-making) divisions,” and said they “didn’t want any interruption in the flow of product,” Puttnam said.

The Columbia chairman acknowledges the furor he created by not renewing long-term production arrangements with such Hollywood powers as Ray Stark, Martin Ransohoff and Dan Melnick. Stark, for example, produced such Columbia hits as “Annie,” “Funny Lady” and “California Suite,” and has long been a close friend of investment banker Herbert A. Allen, a Coca-Cola director.

“I’ve tried to design a studio for the 1990s, which exactly was my mandate,” Puttnam said, which was to “broaden the talent base.”

As for a published report that he alienated Bill Cosby during the filming of “Leonard: Part VI,” Puttnam said the question should be, “How pleased (Cosby) is with the movie. Nothing else matters. I’m told he’s very pleased.” The movie is scheduled for release at Christmas.

Cosby, a comedian and actor who has also served as a Coca-Cola product spokesman, is ranked the top moneymaker in show business in the current issue of Forbes magazine, which estimated his earnings at $84 million over the past two years.