By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 31, 2006; D01
Ted Leonsis was cruising the Caribbean on his yacht a couple of years ago, poring over old newspapers, when he noticed an obituary for Iris Chang, author of "The Rape of Nanking," the best-seller about the killing in 1937 of 300,000 Chinese by the Japanese army.
The story stuck with him, and after he read Chang's book his preoccupation with the tale grew. Then he pulled out his checkbook.
Two million dollars later, having pulled together a film crew and navigated the bureaucracy in China, Leonsis's documentary about the incident is nearing completion.
Though he calls the project a "labor of love," he is also hoping it can find enough of an audience to turn a profit -- and give him broader access to a Chinese market where memories of Nanking remain raw. Chinese television rights to the show have been sold, and Leonsis said he hopes to use local DVD sales as an advertising platform for businesses that want to break into the Chinese market.
The film, still untitled, chronicles the story of a dozen Westerners, including a Nazi businessman, who risked their lives and used their influence in Nanking in December 1937 to create a safe zone to protect 250,000 Chinese. (The city is now known as Nanjing.)
"It's got Germany. It's got Japan. It's got an invasion that had terrible consequences to the Chinese people, and it's a story that hasn't been told," said the 50-year-old AOL vice chairman, who said he was drawn to the tale because mostly it's about simple people who rose to the occasion and did a great thing.
The film's success depends on whether a story of horrific violence ultimately makes audiences feel good, Leonsis said. He compares it to Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," which dealt with one hero who saved many from the Holocaust.
"The risk is that we don't execute it well enough that the goodness doesn't seep out," Leonsis said. To help position the film, Leonsis has already selected its marketing slogan: "What would you have done?"
Leonsis has had mixed success when venturing beyond AOL, where the value of his stock flirted with $1 billion before the company merged with Time Warner Inc. He has lost about $100 million on the NHL Capitals since he and fellow investors bought them from Abe Pollin in 1999. His wooing of NBA great Michael Jordan helped make the Wizards a hot ticket for four seasons, but the relationship ended badly when Pollin fired Jordan.
This time he's optimistic.
Though the day of the blockbuster is hardly over, smaller, independent films are proving successful in what Leonsis calls the "new Hollywood," and some of his fellow sports-team owners have preceded him in the industry.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has helped produce several films, including "Akeelah and the Bee," and owns part of the Landmark Theater chain, which shows independent films. Philip F. Anschutz, who owns the Staples Center in Los Angeles and much of Major League Soccer, has produced "My Dog Skip" and other movies.
Such recent documentary hits as "March of the Penguins," "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Super Size Me" and the current "An Inconvenient Truth," meanwhile, were able to tap audiences attuned to the subjects.
Leonsis calls such films "nichebusters" because they generate intense interest among disparate segments of society, adding up to a big audience. He and his team believe their film has crossover appeal among several "niches," including Chinese, Germans, Christians and even Japanese.
Case in point: There are 500 million television households in China, and the Chinese national television network, CCTV, paid what Leonsis said was a "significant" advance for broadcast rights for the film. In addition, an estimated 65 million Chinese live outside the country, and they may pay to see the movie in a theater or buy a DVD or watch on the Internet.
Because one of the chief heroes in the story is a German businessman named John Rabe, who headed the Nazi Party in Nanking, there could be interest in Germany. Chang refers to Rabe in her book as the "Oskar Schindler of China."
"The viewing public . . . want something when they leave the theater that they can talk about and feel good about," Leonsis said. "For all the horror in Nanking, this is ultimately a story about 12 heroes who saved 250,000 people from death. "
Because several of the heroes are American missionaries, Leonsis's team think Christians around the world will also embrace the film.
"This is ripped-from-the-headline stuff," Leonsis said.
The Chinese initially discussed owning an interest in the film, but Leonsis said its credibility would be enhanced if a third party told the story.
"They felt comfortable with our crew and they liked our motives," Leonsis said. "They want this story to be told by a Westerner."
Leonsis has not yet signed a distribution deal but will look for one when he premieres the film. He hopes to show it at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Cannes festival in May.
Most documentaries are made with relatively little money and bring in less than $1 million, according to Box Office Mojo, a Web site that follows movie revenue.
"To break even would be extraordinary," said Michael Jacobs, the executive producer for the film and a former screenwriter.
Leonsis said any profit from the film will go toward creating a foundation for the victims and their offspring.
Photos, letters and other historical evidence he assembled for the film will be donated to Georgetown University, where Leonsis studied.
The film's crew included Bill Guttentag, the director who earned an Academy Award in 2003 for "Twin Towers." Guttentag brought along several associates that he worked with on his other movies, including director of photography Buddy Squires, known for his work on Ken Burns's documentaries on public television.
Grammy Award winner Lou Reed has been signed to write music for the film.
Creative Artists Associates, one of the preeminent film dealmakers in Los Angeles, helped guide Leonsis through the moviemaking process. CAA set a budget, helped him find actors to narrate (including Ashley Judd) and advised him that his best shot at financial success was making a great movie.
Leonsis has formed his own production company, called Agape (Greek for "higher love"). If the project is successful, he plans more films. One plan is for Agape to become a media platform for telling other big human rights stories.
"This story is so rich, so life-altering with human rights, political, religion, ordinary people as heroes, I know there are other big stories out there that have these same qualities," he said.
