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Many hedge funds have taken a beating this year, but Stark Investments got whacked due to its bomb at the box office:

When news broke that Benjamin Waisbren had been fired as Hollywood frontman for Stark Investments, moviedom shuddered.

Hedge fund managers such as St. Francis, Wisconsin-based Stark have become piggy banks for the U.S. film industry. Since 2005, these funds and private equity investors have committed $4.5 billion to movies, betting the box office can beat the markets.

Movie industry bible Variety called Waisbren's abrupt exit in May a "bellwether" for the future of fast money in Hollywood. A former bankruptcy lawyer who led equity creditor committees for America West Airlines Inc. and WorldCom Inc., Waisbren, 49, had convinced his bosses at Stark that Hollywood could be structured like any other investment, albeit with more glitz.

Stark, which manages $9.4 billion, ended up getting soaked by "Poseidon," the 2006 remake of "The Poseidon Adventure,'' which sank at the box office. Stark executives declined to comment for this story.

Posted by edelfenbein at January 10, 2007 10:31 AM