Money Man Ryan Kavanaugh's Next Funding Project: A Drunk Driving Defense
Here's a Doomsday holdover for anyone who thinks today is going a little too conveniently well: Ryan Kavanaugh, the film financier whose Relativity Media interests intersect heavily with Universal, Sony and pretty much anyone else making films in Hollywood right now, will be arraigned next week on speeding and drunk driving charges dating back to October. His arrest was his second since 2006, when he previously sideswiped a Malibu police cruiser. And that would be a probation violation; do they allow development meetings in jail?
Kavanaugh currently has long-term deals to co-finance productions at Sony and Universal, the latter of which funds 75 percent of its offerings (most recently Frost/Nixon and Changeling) with money from Relativity Media. The NYT notes that Relativity has projects in development with DreamWorks, Paramount Vantage and MGM as well, and that Universal is a few signatures away from selling its genre arm Rogue Pictures to Relativity for $150 million. Plus he's in litigation with his lenders at Citigroup.
Busy guy! Alas, that all might have to wait:
Mr. Kavanaugh was stopped by an officer with the California Highway Patrol at 12:41 a.m. in the Westwood district of Los Angeles on Oct. 23 [...] Mr. Kavanaugh was driving a black Audi at about 60 miles per hour in a zone with a posted speed limit of 35. Along with a speeding charge, he was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08%.
An additional charge said Mr. Kavanaugh was driving while his license was suspended as a result of a previous drunk driving conviction. He was not booked or detained, though he was arrested on the misdemeanor charges by way of a citation, and is scheduled for arraignment and a hearing on probation in Beverly Hills at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 12.
Perfect! Close enough to walk.