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Ari, Rahm & Ezekiel Bros On Charlie Rose

By Nikki Finke | Category: Agents, DH update | Monday June 16, 2008 @ 5:47pm

 

Tonight, the Brothers Emanuel sit down with Charlie Rose. And already Ari is telling pals, "It was just like I was a kid. I got the shit beat out me by my older brothers..." The occasion is the publication of Ezekiel's book on health care (Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America), but the show focuses on what it was like growing up in the Emanuel household. Ari, of course, is co-founding partner of Endeavor talent agency and the model for Ari Gold on Entourage; Rahm Emanuel is a U.S. Congressman from Illinois who helped win back the House of Representatives for the Democrats and is now its 4th-ranking member, and Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is Director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. (See my previous, Does Ari's Mom Have A Secret Recipe?)   

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R.I.P. Stan Winston

By Nikki Finke | Category: R.I.P. | Monday June 16, 2008 @ 11:50am

Just logged on. Clearly, Stan was incredibly respected and admired.

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'Hulk' And 'Happening' Fall Off Saturday

By Nikki Finke | Category: Advertising, Agents, Box Office | Sunday June 15, 2008 @ 12:09am

SUNDAY AM: While No. 1 The Incredible Hulk and No. 3 The Happening had better-than-expected debuts overall, they experienced fall-offs from Friday to Saturday: -15% and -21% respectively. The Green Guy, self-financed by Marvel and distributed by Universal, made $21.7 million Friday and $18.4M Saturday for a $54.5 million weekend (vs $62M for the first Hulk). Though The Incredible Hulk is Marvel's 2nd best-known character, the reboot is only the 5th biggest pic for a top Marvel character in a non-sequel opening. Exit polling gave The Incredible Hulk a Cinemascore of A- with male making up 60% of the audince and females 40%; 48% under age 25%; 25 yrs and older 52%; an ethnically diverse audience of slightly less than half Caucasian (46%), followed by Hispanic (28%), African American (13%), Asian (7%), and other(6%). But most interesting of all tThe vast majority of the audience (82%) had seen the 2003 movie. M Night Shyamalan's The Happening from 20th Century Fox started out No. 2 Friday but fell to No. 3 behind DreamWorks Animation / Paramount's Kung Fu Panda. Yet Shyamalan's first R-rated horror thriller still managed a substantial $30.5M weekend from 2,986 venues with $13M Friday and $10.2M Saturday. It earned only a Cinemascore of "D".

For my complete numbers and analysis, see here.

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UPDATE: Now Breach Of Contract Letters

By Nikki Finke | Category: Agents, Blogs, Finance | Saturday June 14, 2008 @ 7:20pm

Those WGA writers and writer/producers who walked out on Sony's IATSE primetime toon for Fox, Sit Down, Shut Up!, received breach of contract letters last night. Funny thing is, they never signed their contracts. But I truly can't believe the inacurate reporting by the trades on this. Oh wait -- yes I can. Because Variety and The Hollywood Reporter keep genuflecting to Big Media spin. Anyway, the central fact of my original story is that Sony lied to the WGA writers for months on end. Because if everybody were always on board about this being an IATSE show, why did this dispute only blow up now vs months ago when the WGA writers were hired? See my previous, Sit Down, Shut Up, Now Walk Out!   

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Reason #257 Why L.A. Times Sucks...

By Nikki Finke | Category: Journalism, LA Times, Media | Saturday June 14, 2008 @ 6:15pm

Chalk up yet another instance of the Los Angeles Times losing its journalistic integrity and credibility. The latest example comes today when the newspaper changed a Letter To The Editor in order to edit out direct criticism of Calendar staff writer Rachel Abramowitz. Long considered yet another weak link in the LAT's already lightweight movie coverage, Abramowitz on June 4th inserted an inappropriately flippant remark about ex-Hollywood P.I. Anthony Pellicano in an article on an unrelated subject. And it pissed off four targets of the now convicted criminal -- Anita Busch, Bernie Weinraub, Jude Green and Pamela Miller -- and they decided to complain.

The original letter they sent to the newspaper ended with: Yet, Ms. Abramowitz lightly tosses off  "Where is Anthony Pellicano when you need him?" Maybe Ms. Abramowitz would change her tune if she was on the receiving end of a late night death threat phone call. By publishing this, the L.A. Times has sent a message to its readers that what Pellicano did was not only okay, but preferable to fighting legally through the court system.

But what the newspaper printed for the finish was: By publishing the line "Where is Anthony Pelicano when you need him?" the L.A. Times has sent a message that what Pellicano did was not only OK but preferable to fighting through the court system.

The point is that the editors could have decided not to run the letter at all. So, tragically, here's yet another section of the Los Angeles Times that can't be believed anymore.   

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Variety Delivers B.O. News 5 Weeks Late

By Nikki Finke | Category: Agents, Box Office, Broadway | Saturday June 14, 2008 @ 5:14pm

Why in the world did Variety's Anne Thompson wait until now to weigh in on what went wrong with Warner Bros' Speed Racer when the movie tanked way back on May 9th -- and then only repeat all the reasons I wrote something like 5 weeks ago? This was not a case of better late than never... 

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Summer Box Office Just Keeps Surprising! Bad Buzzed Pair Of Movies Out-Perform: 'Hulk' $54M Weekend, 'Happening' $30M

By Nikki Finke | Category: Actors, Advertising, Agents | Friday June 13, 2008 @ 9:52pm

theincrediblehulk_galleryposter.jpg  thehappening_galleryposter.jpg 

SUNDAY AM: North American numbers are fulfilling what promises to be one of the most interesting box office weekends of the summer movie season. That's because the two films opening -- a comic book reboot, and an M Night Shyamalan horror thriller -- have received really bad buzz for months ahead of time because of their troubled pedigrees. While No. 1 The Incredible Hulk and No. 3 The Happening had better-than-expected debuts overall, they experienced fall-offs from Friday to Saturday (-15% and -21% respectively).  

Let's face it, most film analysts thought Marvel and Universal were nuts to go back to the drawing board for Friday's No. 1 The Incredible Hulk after the 2003 Ang Lee/Eric Bana version was beaten up so badly both by critics and the box office. "When Marvel and Universal announced they were making a Hulk film again, there were big whoops this would be the first flop of the summer," a studio insider recalled to me. "But now something good is going to happen." But this was another huge risk for Marvel Studios which self-financed its PG-13 comic book caper for around $160 million. Then the studio manhandled both director Louis Leterrier and star Edward Norton, who rewrote the script, then fought Marvel's deep cuts to the final pic which nevertheless was well reviewed (67% positive). So it's miraculous that The Incredible Hulk, which opened in 3,505 theaters, made $21.7 million Friday and $18.4M Saturday to score a $54.5 million weekend. Because of the bad buzz, its two studios were only expecting a $45M FSS. But that's still significantly less than the $62.1M debut of the first Hulk which was considered a disappointing film because it experienced a huge drop-off. But the new The Incredible Hulk benefitted from slicker marketing and plotting as well as a lot of goodwill from Marvel's blockbuster Iron Man. Not to mention that Robert Downey Jr cameo.

Even though The Incredible Hulk is Marvel's 2nd best-known character (with Spider-Man No. 1), the reboot is only the 5th biggest pic for a top Marvel character in a non-sequel opening. (To recap: Spider-Man broke the bank with $115M and so did Iron Man with $98.6M. Hulk opened to $62M. Fantastic Four to $56M. X-Men to $54.4M, GhostRider to $52M (4-day wkd) and Daredevil to $45M (4-day wkd).) In this desperate-for-another-franchise business, that's probably good enough for Marvel Studios to try to make a sequel. But with Norton? Well, this ... Read More »

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All Three SAG Divisions Reach Consensus

By Nikki Finke | Category: Actors, Agents, Finance | Friday June 13, 2008 @ 5:58pm

On June 13, 2008, the Screen Actors Guild National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee, representing all three divisions of the Guild’s membership, unanimously adopted the following statement:
 
We are united and committed to working together in achieving the best possible contract for the benefit of all actors.  We pledge to stand together, united, not allowing ourselves to be distracted from our crucial and singular mission by anyone. No matter what the distraction or from where it may come, this committee will continue to stand firm to achieve the best contract possible.  We are standing up for you and ask you to stand strong with us.
 
The Committee has unanimously committed to these priorities in bargaining: 

-- Significant increases in middle class actor compensation (including background and stunt performers)

-- Significant increases in Pension and Health contributions

-- Increase in DVD residuals

-- Protections from product integration abuses

-- Preservation of the force majeure protections

New Media: 

-- Consent for clips

-- Jurisdiction over all new media productions

-- Residuals for all original made for new media productions

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Say What? Hollywood Reporter Emails

By Nikki Finke | Category: Advertising, Agents | Friday June 13, 2008 @ 5:27pm

I'm told a 23-year sales vet at The Hollywood Reporter walked today. That leaves 6 sales people out of the trade's normal 17-person contingent on the job. How did the management react? With an end-of-day email asking the holdovers to work this weekend to find another $7,000 so the publisher can hit some target. Speaking of the publisher, an Emmy and Oscar honored Hollywood name had this recent email exchange with Eric Mika, publisher and VP of The Hollywood Reporter and the Nielsen Entertainment Group. It's very illuminating -- although I suspect Variety will squeal like a stuck pig when it reads the statistics Mika uses:

Dear Publisher,

I have subscribed to The Hollywood Reporter for over thirty (30) years, as it was always my favorite publication of the two trade papers here in LA.

But the end is at hand. I have several new subscription notices that have been sent to me by your company, but have decided not to renew.

Why? Well, only one word describes the reason. The new format is AWFUL. It is cold and boring. And, it looks like some Business Weekly magazine, reading just as dryly. The charm and individuality that once was its calling card, is GONE.

Over the last month, I have heard this remark (at major studios, industry gatherings, etc.) from 137 (I've kept a list) actors, producers, directors, below the line staff, even just ordinary people who don't have much to do with the business, who think the changes that have been made STINK. Not ONE person has remarked in favor of the changes.

I've also noticed that the issues are slimmer and slimmer, due to lack of advertising. Can't somebody see the writing on the wall.

Best of luck in the future, but you won't have me supporting you. Daily Variety is SO MUCH BETTER A READ!!!
---
Dear XXX,

I'm very sorry to hear of your dislike of the new Hollywood Reporter. THR and other publications are faced with a ever changing  business globally that is more complex then ever before.

Over the last year THR has invested in editorial growth throughout the world with offices now in Beijing and Hong Kong, as well as London launched a digital edition page turner and created events around the world. THR advertising revenue is spread through the pages to digital products.

What I view as a very important sign of success is our audience marketing information derived from ABC: Since the re-launch THR has experienced an increase

... Read More »

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Thank You, Vanity Fair...

By Nikki Finke | Category: Awards, Blogs, Buzz | Friday June 13, 2008 @ 12:07pm

blogopticonblog.jpg 

Vanity Fair magazine has created a Blogopticon which charts the tone and content of what it considers "the most influential or amusing blogs" vying for the attention of the world’s billion-plus Web surfers. The sites are categorized along four attributes: "news" vs "opinion", "earnest" vs "scurrilous", and everything inbetween. I am very proud to say that VF included my Deadline Hollywood Daily and gave it high marks indeed: at the very top of "news" and in the "earnest" category.

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SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, NOW WALK OUT! WGA Writers Stalk Off IATSE TV Toon; Sony Kept Lying It Would Be WGA Show

By Nikki Finke | Category: Best Of, Big Media, Guilds | Thursday June 12, 2008 @ 7:19pm

EXCLUSIVE...
UPDATED WRITETHRU: I've just been told that the 14 WGA writers and writer/producers on Sony's newly ordered TV animated series Sit Down, Shut Up! have walked off the show scheduled to air in primetime on Fox. It's a dispute over who has jurisdiction over the writing staff: the WGA or IATSE. The problem is that all the Fox TV animated shows now being broadcast on that network are covered under the WGA contract, so the writers assumed their new show would be as well. (Plus, Fox co-owns the show, one of the writers just told me.) But also Sony kept assuring the writers that the series would be WGA-covered -- even though the show's maker is Sony Adelaide which is steadfastly IATSE. ("This was always an IA show," a Sony exec just told me.) Then, only recently, Sony finally revealed to the writers that the TV toon was to be covered by IATSE. So the studio was lying to everyone - even Sit Down, Shut Up!'s showrunner Mitch Hurwitz (of Arrested Development fame), as well as The Simpsons writers-producers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein -- all of whom, I'm told, are "upset and sick about this". Now Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Michael Lynton has involved himself since he oversees the TV division.

On Friday AM, SPE gave this statement to me: "The producer, Adelaide Productions, has been a signatory to the IATSE bargaining agreement for at least ten years, and has been producing animated programming under that agreement. All of the deals made with the writers were specifically negotiated with their agents specifying that this program would be covered by the IATSE bargaining agreement."

But insiders inform me that all the scribes on Sit Down, Shut Up!, a reworking of an Australian series, are pissed that they struck for four months and now Sony is taking away their right to be repped by the WGA's new contract. This is exactly what WGA leadership was afraid would happen to toon writers as more Big Media companies turn animation over to IATSE's jurisdiction because of the weaker terms of that union's contract. I can't wait to see what Sony's next move will be. But its mendacity is shameful in this matter.

By all accounts, the studio played fast and loose with the facts from the start. "Bill, Josh and Hurwitz all took Sony's statements in good faith that the show would be guild-covered," one of the writers told me tonight. "Because Sony was saying up and ... Read More »

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SAG Claims AMPTP Trying To Sow Dissent

By Nikki Finke | Category: AFTRA, Actors, Agents | Thursday June 12, 2008 @ 6:56pm

Here's the SAG response to the AMPTP diss today.

“The Screen Actors Guild negotiating committee, representing all Screen Actors Guild members across the United States,  is working hard to secure a fair deal for actors. We continue to believe that it is possible to complete negotiations and secure a fair deal before the expiration of the current agreement.

“SAG’s negotiating committee has made significant moves in the AMPTP’s direction on a number of proposals.  The limited progress the AMPTP referred to in its recent statement is largely because management has not made an equally dedicated effort to achieving progress.  Negotiations are about give and take and thus far it has primarily been SAG’s negotiating committee “giving.”

“Nevertheless, Screen Actors Guild is dedicated to the process and is committed to continuing the hard work it has already given the effort to negotiate a contract that best serves the interests of actors given the rapidly evolving entertainment media industry. Despite management’s recent release to the press, the committee is motivated to finding a path to agreement. To do otherwise would do a great disservice to the 127,000 members of Screen Actors Guild whose livelihoods are dependent upon the achievements made in this contract. Management’s time would be better spent by committing to real progress and substantive negotiation of our various proposals.

“It is well known and understood by SAG members that a consistent employer tactic in negotiation is to distract from core issues and attempt to sow dissension. This tactic will not work.

“The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee, comprised of representatives from the Hollywood Division, the New York Division and the Regional Branch Division is united in its unanimous commitment to successfully concluding these negotiations.  We hope we can count on an equal effort from management.”

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