Billionaires behind the camera

Siegel-Magness produces movies 'for the love of it'

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Photo by Photo Courtesy Smokewood Entertainment Group

Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness check progress on the set of Push, which their company Smokewood is producing.

Sarah Siegel-Magness doesn't like to pick easy industries to break into.

In her mid-20s, the daughter of Celestial Seasonings tea founder Mo Siegel launched the lingerie company SoLow from her Cherry Hills home. Now she's tackling an even more notoriously risky venture than fashion: Hollywood filmmaking.

Siegel-Magness and her husband, cable-TV heir Gary Magness, last year formed Smokewood Entertainment Group. The production company teamed with Lee Daniels, who produced Monster's Ball - which earned Halle Berry an Oscar - and directed the 2005 Helen Mirren film Shadowboxer.

Smokewood has one film in post-production, and shooting is under way on the second, Push, an adaptation of the best-selling 1996 novel of the same name about the survivor of a brutal childhood in Harlem.

"It's a very risky business, but I'm doing it for the love of it rather than to make lots of money," said Siegel-Magness, 33.

"Our goal is to tell stories that help to change people's lives."

The Magnesses are the latest Coloradan billionaires to venture into the film business. Qwest founder Phil Anschutz started bankrolling movies in 2002, hitting it big with Ray and Chronicles of Narnia, and John Malone's Starz releases its first feature film today, Mad Money.

Siegel-Magness first contemplated going into film production six years ago, when the movie rights to Clive Cussler's novel Sahara - one of Gary Magness' favorite authors - went on the market.

It might have been for the best that the deal didn't work out. Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment ended up producing the 2005 box-office disappointment, which led to an ugly legal dispute between Cussler and the production company.

Like Anschutz, Siegel-Magness wants to make uplifting films. But she doesn't shy away from projects that involve adult themes such as sex with profanity: Push, after all, is the story of an HIV-positive, illiterate single mother of her father's child.

Tennessee, the other Smokewood production in editing, revolves around two troubled brothers who embark on a road trip to overcome their abusive past.

It stars singer Mariah Carey, who plays an aspiring singer.

Siegel-Magness has tried her hand in Hollywood before, shopping around a reality TV show about her life as a fashion entrepreneur, busy mom and wife of a man who routinely ranks in the Forbes list of 500 wealthiest Americans.

Looking back, Siegel-Magness realizes she prefers playing a role behind the camera.

"To be honest, it's such a blessing it didn't work out," she said. "I'm in a completely different place now."

For the past several months, the blond Boulder native has been logging 18-hour days on the Harlem set of Push. It's not unusual for her to get home from work at 5 a.m., only to awake an hour later to spend time with her 3-year-old son, Cable. Her 8-year-old, Camryn, has a small cameo in the movie.

The movie, which stars Lenny Kravitz, Mo'Nique and newcomer Gabourey "Gabbie" Sidibe, was written up in The New York Times CityRoom blog in December even though production hadn't yet wrapped.

Siegel-Magness is still CEO at SoLow, which has since expanded its wares into hoodies, jeans and other apparel, but isn't involved in the day-to-day operations at the Los Angeles-based company.

"Fortunately, it's going very smoothly," she said. The clothes are sold at Anthropologie and Bloomingdale's, as well as at several Nordstroms.

It wasn't smooth from the start, however, and Siegel-Magness plans to turn her hard-earned lessons into a how-to book for aspiring fashion designers.

She's hoping for a flatter learning curve in the film business and credits Daniels, whom she calls "one of my best friends," with helping her learn the ropes. Push, which Smokewood is single-handedly financing, has a budget of about $8 million to $12 million. Smokewood was the leading financier for Tennessee, which had a budget under $8 million.

Siegel-Magness says she's motivated by compelling stories more than anything, but then she quickly adds with a grin, "I don't do things to lose money. Gary wouldn't appreciate it if I did."

davisj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2514

Smokewood Entertainment Group

* Owners/producers: Gary Magness and Sarah Siegel-Magness

* Movies: Tennessee - Mariah Carey, Adam Rothenberg, Ethan Peck (2008 release)

Push - Gabourey "Gabbie" Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, Sherri Shepherd (2009 release)

* Company focus: developing and financing quality, compelling and often socially relevant independent films in a variety of genres

Featured

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Chiefs.

• Broncos Video

  

  Get the latest from Dove Valley as the Broncos prepare for Sunday's matchup.

• Calendar wallpaper

  

  Download this month's desktop wallpaper calendar

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Stirrin' the Soup with Matt Iseman

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.