Ex-New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell – who stormed off his post in last year’s shakeup at the paper – has a new Hollywood job as talent scout.
Mitchell and producer Deborah Schindler – who made “Maid In Manhattan” and “Mona Lisa Smile” – will run a new office in New York City for Columbia Pictures.
Acting as “executive production consultants,” they’ll oversee the studio’s production and development office, and share quarters with the suits at Columbia’s corporate offices in midtown.
Mitchell will “canvass the film festival circuit and evaluate the Columbia library for potential remakes,” a company statement said.
He’ll also work as an executive supervising various projects and serve as a consultant to the studio’s acquisitions team.
It wasn’t clear if Mitchell will give up his duties as film critic for such organizations as National Public Radio, Interview Magazine and numerous TV shows.
Mitchell, who lectured on African-American studies at Harvard, worked four years as a Times movie critic, but quit in a “furious” reaction when the Times promoted a colleague to lead critic in a shakeup over the scandal of Jason Blair, a reporter who fabricated stories.