CHRISTINE PETERS

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Christine Forsyth-Peters defies stereotypes. Since she arrived in Los Angeles from London as Vice President of Foreign Sales and Distribution for Intercontinental Releasing Corporation, Peters has worked her way up the ladder to her current post as head of CFP Productions, based on the Paramount lot, where she continues to develop a broad slate of feature films.

"I arrived in Los Angeles with nothing," she says. "But I had a knack for selling films. I would go to Cannes full of confidence and people noticed me. But I thought that most of those films were awful. I thought, 'I can do better.'"

Peters' most recent success is the international hit How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which starred Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey and grossed more than $177 million worldwide, $105 million in the U.S. alone. Peters shepherded the romantic comedy from its beginnings as a book, whose rights she purchased for $10,000.

"At the time, I was in a relationship that was going nowhere," she recalls. "I took one look at the book and fell in love with it. I knew a lot of women could relate to it. It doesn't matter how successful you are or how brilliant you are, everyone knows what it is like to meet Mr. Wrong."

During her 10 years partnered with Academy Award-winning producer Robert Evans, Peters helped develop a diverse production slate that has collectively grossed more than $200 million worldwide. That includes such global hits as The Saint, which grossed a total of $118 million, and the remake of Out-of-Towners, starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn, on which she served as Executive Producer, earning more than $50 million internationally.

Now out on her own, Peters has a full slate of active projects, including Fashionistas, based on the book by Lynn Messina, featuring a screenplay by A Very Brady Sequel's Stan Zimmerman and Jim Berg. Also on tap, a sequel to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, How to Tell He's Not the One in 10 Days, a collaboration with fellow producer Lynda Obst.

Peters is constantly crossing up expectations, proving she's just as adept at cornering the male audience as she is the female demo. After inking a groundbreaking deal with videogame company Midway, the producer is currently in development on screenplays based on games such as Area 51.

Area 51, which just came out for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, sends players into a secret military base to wipe out a deadly virus that turns men into monsters, featuring the voices of David Duchovny, Powers Boothe and Marilyn Manson. Fear and Respect stars Snoop Dogg as retired South Central L.A. gang members reluctantly brought back into the life.

"Taking game characters out of the game world and into the movie world is a natural transition," says Peters. "With Area 51, we're creating a fun, sci-fi action summer romp that takes you inside the world of the game. There are a lot of great stories being told in the game world today."

Her latest moves prove that Peters is establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with in the high-stakes world of major studio filmmaking.

"Being successful in Hollywood actually piles more pressure on," she told a reporter recently. "I'm proud of what I have accomplished, but I don't feel as if I can sit back. I want more. I have always wanted more."

The daughter of a General Motors executive who lived in a variety of different countries, Peters calls her background "unusual, but great," learning to speak seven languages. Her grandmother, a concentration camp survivor, is her biggest inspiration.

"She taught me that if people can survive something so terrible, anything is possible in life," says Peters. "I was raised to believe I could do anything if I worked hard enough."

In the '80s, Peters became a story analyst for Guber-Peters Company, playing a critical role in the development of such films as The Witches of Eastwick, Gorillas in the Mist and Batman. After that, she had a four-year production deal at Sony Pictures, where she worked alongside such women producers as future colleague Obst (Sleepless in Seattle) and Wendy Fineman (Forrest Gump), working on such projects as Africa (written by Eric Roth), Tango & Cash (Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher) and Money Train (Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lopez).

In 1991, she formed a partnership with an old friend, legendary producer Robert Evans, whose films include Chinatown and The Godfather, and they set up their production company at Paramount. Since then, she has proven remarkably multi-talented, serving as West Coast Contributing Editor for Tina Brown and Miramax's Talk Magazine, while brokering several deals with Warner Books and Talk Miramax Books. She also founded and served as CEO of Entertainment Express, a credit card company she started with MBNA. A member of the Writer's Guild of America, Peters also recently sold her first TV pilot, Fitting In, to Spelling Entertainment In what little spare time she has, Peters is also playing mom to her two daughters, Skye, 13, and Caleigh, 16. Peters is helping steer the career of Caleigh, a pop-rock singer with a single "Reach," which was featured in the recent Disney film, Ice Princess, a cover of the Beach Boys' "Fun Fun Fun" for the upcoming Lindsay Lohan vehicle Herbie Fully Loaded and an album slated for release on Hollywood Records next year.

Christine Peters is presently preparing to take her CFP Productions banner to the next level. Among the current projects in pre-production are Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief, based on the book by Bill Mason and Lee Gruenfeld and How to Tell He's Not the One in 10 Days, the follow-up by authors Michele Alexander and Jeanie Long. Princess, the Royal Corgi a film penned by writer-director Ed Stone (Happy Texas), and The Other Billy Drake, a romantic comedy from Van Wilder scribes Walt Becker and Peter Nelson, are also in the development stage.

"I have worked hard to get to where I am," says Peters. "I'm ready to move on to the next step as a producer and filmmaker. Ultimately, the only thing you should ask yourself is, 'Do you love what you do?' I do, and I count myself very lucky for that."