Film Industry Veteran Pamela Abdy Named MGM Motion Picture Group President

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Film industry veteran executive and producer Pamela Abdy has been named president of MGM Motion Picture Group, three months after Jonathan Glickman departed the post.

MGM Film Group chairman Michael De Luca made the announcement Tuesday. Abdy will oversee development, production and post-production for all MGM and Orion films, reporting to De Luca.

De Luca, the Oscar-nominated producer of “The Social Network” and a former executive at Sony and New Line, joined MGM in early January in the newly created role.

“I have long admired Pam for her exceptional abilities as both a studio executive and producer – both critical jobs in our industry and ones that she has handled with the utmost skill, taste and talent,” he said. “She is among the very best and we are all beyond thrilled that she will be joining the MGM team as we steer the studio into the future.”

Abdy said, “I am honored to join Mike and the team at MGM/Orion. As a colleague and friend for over 20 years, I have long admired his bold choices and passionate support of filmmakers. I look forward to helping him build on the legacy of MGM as a home for great artists.”

Abdy was most recently a partner and head of film at Brad Weston’s Makeready. During her time at Makeready, the company financed and produced “Queen & Slim” and “A Million Little Pieces.” From 2013 until 2016, Abdy served as president of production at New Regency, which released “Birdman,” “Gone Girl,” “The Big Short,” “Assassin’s Creed” and “The Revenant” during her tenure.

Prior to New Regency, Abdy was the president of Scott Stuber’s Bluegrass Films, where she procured, developed and produced “47 Ronin,” “Identity Thief,” “Kill the Messenger” and “Endless Love.” She served as an executive vice president at Paramount Pictures, where she oversaw the development and production of Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island,” “Babel,” “Mean Girls,” “Stop-Loss” and Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center.” Abdy started her career as an intern at Jersey Films, where she was involved with “Man on the Moon” and produced the film “Garden State.”

Upcoming MGM releases include “Candyman”; the 25th film in the James Bond series “No Time to Die,” starring Daniel Craig; “Samaritan,” starring Sylvester Stallone; “Respect,” starring Jennifer Hudson; and “Dog,” co-directed by Channing Tatum (who will also star) and Reid Carolin.