George Heller is a founding member of FourSight Entertainment, a management company for writers and directors with a concentration on young professionals and new voices.

There are four founding partners of FourSight – hence the name. Jeremy Bell, Jonathan Abrams, Michael Lasker, and myself – George Heller. Michael and I were once super interns – working on movie sets even in high school. Jonathan is an accomplished writer and Jeremy is a computer wizard, who was designing websites before anyone knew about the internet.

Every year there is that one guy who graduates from film school with a splash – his thesis film or screenplay finds him representation and suddenly he’s directing a $40 million studio picture at 23 or 24 years old. For example, John Singleton, Scott Rosenberg, James Gray – to name a few – all found work right after school ended. But it’s not until the end of the senior year that Hollywood begins to take notice. We felt there were talented people in film school now, who were ready now, and if not now, they will be soon. But the important thing is that we knew who these people were. We could identify them now. Our classmates, friends, roommates – they are the future John Singletons. Among our client roster of nine writers and directors, all of them were our friends before we represented them. 

I remember my freshman year I was in a lecture of 300 students – this was the entry-level film class. At the end of the semester, everyone knew who the best students were. Sure they were only freshman, but soon these guys who mature into something a lot bigger. This goes back to the mission statement of the company and the reason why we named our company FourSight. Opposed to recognizing the immediate - which is easy and everyone else in Hollywood is doing and turns into a wild goose chase to sign the next phenomenon - we want to predict the imminent. I want to find John Singleton his freshman year – after he directed his first Super 8 film. While a bigger agency buys the talent, we want to find the talent. Also, lastly, since these guys are our contemporaries, we can relate to them, help them find their voice, pinpoint what they want out of their careers, much more effectively than a 50-year old William Morris agent promising them false hope and gold at the end of the rainbow.

When I was only in high school, I was represented by two agents at William Morris. After writing my first spec which never sold, they sent me out on a bunch of general meetings to meet the town – what the industry calls "meet and greets". One of those meet and greets was with Warren Zide, a manager-producer. Although I never pursued a relationship with him, I liked his assistant – who was Chris Bender, one of the future founding partners of Bender-Spink. We hung out a few times, went out for some lunches. After the fact, we realized that we both graduated from the same high school – all the way in New Jersey – and his brother had acted in plays with my sister. 

Anyway, a few friends were aware that I knew Chris and one day someone asked me to pass along a video. I obliged and Chris really liked the video. The video was followed by a few scripts, a directing reel, until I was referring clients to Chris and Zide-Perry (Warren has since merged his company with Craig Perry) on a regular basis. Chris and I came to the conclusion that I should do this on a larger scale – for myself – my own company – and whenever I was ready – he would like to be a part of it. So now, as it stands, FourSight Entertainment Group has a first-look deal with Bender-Spink. We are not a division of B-S, nor are we a satellite company. We are completely autonomous. They serve as godfathers or big brothers to the company, so to speak.

Relationships. Entering my fourth year at the most prestigious film school in the country, I know the best student film makers. They are my friends, my classmates, they lived in my freshman dormitory. But we have reached beyond USC and UCLA to find young filmmakers of all backgrounds and disciplines. We have gone on a country-wide college tour, visiting universities across the nation, giving presentations on how to break into the film industry, internships, screening short films. Last semester we visited Stanford and UT-Austin and this fall we have plans to speak at NYU, Northwestern, and FSU among others. This is an opportunity to help these students, give them some resources, and meet all the best and brightest at this level. Having USC behind us legitimizes these trips. People recognize the legacy of former USC students who have since embarked on great careers. They know that we’re on to something here.

Keeping up on my classes and school work can be difficult – but the added pressures and time commitment have actually been helpful. I have found when you have more on your plate – it forces you to be more productive and efficient with your time. I thrive off the pressure. In fact, this past semester all four partners made the honor roll.

There is not one type of genre we are looking for. We are not a buyer. We are not looking to produce a particular slate of movies. It is about the client and the type of stories which they want to tell. For us – it’s all about story and character. If your script is different and inspired and your character are real and complex – then whether it’s a teen comedy or a western doesn’t matter to us. That’s not our job to dictate to our clients what stories they should or should not tell. My only hope is that their stories come from a personal place.

It’s a huge, huge advantage. This is an industry which thrives on youth. People are always looking to find the hot new thing, the next fad, a generation. Our age and our client base assures people that we have our finger on the pulse. There is a changing of the guard happening in Hollywood right now as we speak. It’s true in any industry – out with the old and in with the new – but you see it happening now in film more than ever. We think we can deliver that new voice.

When we first started the company, I literally looked around my classes at film school and asked myself – who are the five most talented people in this room and how can I help them? My clients were my friends first. I feel like the manager on the Duke basketball team. I have befriended the top 5 players in the nation from the best school, and once they’re ready for the draft – I already represent them. While in sports the transition between college and pro is seamless, in the film industry, however, we feel we are the only people in town creating a conduit between these young filmmakers and the different buyers and producers in Hollywood. We have also utilized our relationships at film schools across the country, not just USC and UCLA, but around the nation via our trips. We have contacts at each of these schools, who monitor the progress of each class, keeping tabs on who's directing what and who's ready to bite.

We want to settle on a group of 20-25 writers and directors, create a community of artists, and eventually find a system to produce their movies. In general, we want to serve as the gateway between collegiate talent and the film industry.

Short and sweet. All I need is a logline.

The really good scripts finds a commonality between these two. Truman Show is a high concept film, but it is also a very thoughtful character study of Truman Burbank.

We have been featured in The Los Angeles Times, CNN, Shoot Magazine, LA Weekly, USC Chronicle, among others. While I would like to say it was our sweat and tears which got us those articles – it was really our clients and the material. It all comes down to the material. That is the one thing people will respond to.

We’re not looking for stories geared toward a young market. Furthermore, our clients extend beyond all age groups and demographics. We are looking for storytellers who share our incipient and independent spirit. We want ideas which are new and challenge older conventions. Catering toward just one genre or one type of writer is exclusive and inhibiting. We’re looking at the big picture and the long term, hence the name – FourSight.

With the WGA strike imminent, we are preparing several specs to go out before the market freezes over. One of our clients is considering a re-write while another is looking at an assignment. On our production end, we produced a short film this summer and preparing to oversee a few projects of that sort in the fall.

Visit FourSight's website at www.foursight.com. 

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