Grey: Debut role

Hollywood, Jan. 8: Methodically, like a chess master thinking 10 moves ahead, Brad Grey has spent years plotting his entry into Hollywood's upper echelons.

On Thursday, he officially arrived. As expected, the 47-year-old manager-producer was named chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures ? the latest in a series of carefully calculated steps to the top.

In his 20s and new to Los Angeles, Grey couldn't even afford to rent office space. Then, the one-time comedy promoter befriended the legendary talent manager Bernie Brillstein. Soon, he was playing tennis on the courts at Brillstein's home with power hitters such as the then-president of NBC Entertainment, Brandon Tartikoff.

?We'd tell stories, and Brad soaked it up,' Brillstein recalled in his 1999 memoir. 'He instinctively knew it was a good thing to hang around and be accepted by show-business people who had more experience.? In 1997, Grey managed to snare an invitation to New York investment banker Herbert Allen Jr.'s exclusive annual conference of media, technology and entertainment titans.

Grey, who was by then the head of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, was the only talent manager invited that year ? the only one in fact ever to join the likes of cable magnate John Malone, News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone.

'He's less a Hollywood schmoozer than a schmoozer of power brokers,' said Lion's Gate Entertainment chief Jon Feltheimer, who has done business with Grey for years. 'That's where he likes to play.'

Grey's ascension comes despite his lack of experience as a studio executive. Though known as a tough negotiator and TV industry maverick, who has used Brillstein-Grey's TV production arm to back such cutting-edge shows as ?The Sopranos,' he is a novice when it comes to navigating the corporate culture of a major entertainment conglomerate.

Grey replaces outgoing Paramount chief Sherry Lansing and will report to his friend, Viacom co-president Tom Freston, who hand-picked him for the job.

Grey has made a career as a seller, mostly in television. Now, he'll be a high-profile buyer ? one of the few people in town who can say greenlight a movie simply by saying 'yes.' That he was named despite the gaping holes in his resume is a testament, many say, to Grey's unflagging drive.