No Hollywood Ending for Gadhafi

Is the end in sight for the Gadhafi family’s Hollywood spending spree? Natural Selection Llc., the company headed by producer Matty Beckerman and Al-Saadi Gadhafi, son of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, is weathering a storm in the wake of unrest in the North African country, just a year and a half after announcing plans to fund about 20 movies with budgets less than $15 million. “That’s over because they froze every f---ing dollar,” says a film-finance agent, referring to international government sanctions. Since announcing a $100 million production fund in July 2009, Natural Selection has produced movies like The Experiment and put money in several others, according to sources. But it was unable to secure a deal to invest in major studio pictures despite help from William Morris Endeavor’s global finance group, led by Graham Taylor. “Why would any studio take his money?” the rival agent scoffs about the elder Gadhafi. “He’s a Jew-hater.” Insiders say WME only represented Natural Selection on a film-by-film basis and has not had any connection with the company for at least a year. Beckerman and the firm’s attorney, Schuyler Moore, declined comment, as did WME.