Some interesting news has come down the pike about the Starz Pay Cable Network. Variety is reporting that John Malone has started the push to turn his Starz pay TV operation into a full-fledged media company, with Chris McGurk in line to run the film side.

The newly named Starz Media plans to produce up to 12 original movies per year and distribute them on all platforms: theatrical, DVD, PPV, broadband, premium and basic cable, broadcast and syndication.

Now here is the real juicy part: Starz Media also plans to create, produce and distribute original television shows. All this comes about as a result of Starz closing its deal to acquire indie production company IDT Entertainment, owner of several animation studios and producer of the popular “Masters of Horror” series.

John Dempsey of Variety has stated that “the filmmaking aspect of Starz’s plans has stirred considerable comment among Hollywood’s existing suppliers. Starz hopes to make as many as 12 movies a year, with a lid of about $30 million per pic…..Plans call for a mix of comedy and prestige films, as well as a few genre pieces, with filmmakers accorded a high degree of creative autonomy as well as generous participations. A core staff of some 15 execs will rely heavily on independent production units to supply the product.”

Distribution would be handled by a newly organized entity that Starz hopes will be in operation by the first quarter of next year. Financing details are being hammered out.

“We’re creating a company that will do everything from soup to nuts,” said Bob Clasen, whose title grows with the new expansion from prexy-CEO of the Starz Entertainment Group to chairman-CEO of Starz, the umbrella company overseeing two operating units: Starz Entertainment and Starz Media.

Here is why this news is of interest to Stargate SG1 fans. Dempsey goes on to say, “Clasen is in negotiations with McGurk, the veteran studio head whose previous jobs have included vice chairman and chief operating officer of MGM (emphazise mine), president and chief operating officer of Universal Pictures and prexy of Walt Disney’s Motion Picture Group. McGurk would run the separate operation within Starz Media.

Clasen said he’s counting on greater agility in order to make inroads against the majors. “When it comes to greenlighting a project,” he said, “we’ll have three people in the room, not 30.”

So, we have a media wannabe, growing to become a big player in the biz, they have hired know-how people with the credentials to get the job done, one being someone with the inside track at MGM, they are looking for popular genre related material with a ready audience and won’t be tied down by oppressive boardroom decision making. Sounds like Stargate SG1 and the new Starz Media could be a match made in heaven. We gotta get these two hooked up.