HBO announced today that, beginning September 1, the Cinemax main channel becomes the first and only 24/7 premium channel that’s “True HD”. Unfortunately, it’s 1080i — not 1080p — according to the news release. Maybe the HBO bosses don’t know the difference? This includes Cinemax’s library of movies and documentaries and short-form programming.
MGM Now Claims It’s Not On The Block
MGM issued the following statement today after I and BusinessWeek received tips that Goldman Sachs had been retained to shop MGM. (See Goldman Sachs Shopping MGM — Again.)
Back when MGM was last … Read More »
Primetime Pilot Panic: ABC Picks Up 5
EXCLUSIVE: Because of the writers strike cutting short this past spring’s pilot season, ABC delayed its development so that most of the network’s new primetime scripted series would go midseason. Pilots were shot in July, and today ABC finally started making decisions. None of this has been officially announced:
Better Off Ted — The … Read More »
SAG Election: Eric Bogosian, Independent
Eric Bogosian, an independent candidate for SAG’s New York Division, sent out this statement:
Dear New York SAG members,
It saddens me to see our union divided while we are trying to negotiate a new contract. I honestly don’t understand it. I see names of good friends listed on the anti-leadership slate and I don’t get
SAG Election: Brenneman, Jolliffe
More SAG election candidate statements: Unite For Strength’s Amy Brenneman responds to Martin Sheen (supporting MF), and Membership First’s David Jolliffe replies to Mike Farrell (supporting U4S):
From AMY BRENNEMAN
Before you vote, consider this:
Membership First is lying; Unite for Strength has the SAME position on members’ voting rights
SAG Election: Membership First’s Jo Beth Williams Replies To Unite For Strength
MF’s Jo Beth Williams has asked me to post this reply to U4S leader Ned Vaughn per my, SAG Election: ‘Unite For Strength’ Slate Releases ‘Membership First’ Emails:
“When the issue of Qualified/Affected Voting was brought
Cheers & Jeers For NBC’s Beijing Olympics
NBC is crowing its Beijing Olympics has been the most watched American TV event of all time. That’s for 16 days on NBC and its cable channels that showed the games. Final figures won’t come in until Monday after tonight’s carnival-themed closing ceremonies, … Read More »
Ben Stiller’s ‘Tropic Thunder’ Hops Past ‘The House Bunny’ For No. 1; Overall Box Office Equal To 2007 Summer’s Record
SUNDAY: Sony’s low-budget comedy The House Bunny, starring Scary Movie‘s Anna Faris and featuring Hugh Hefner’s trio of Playboy blondes in this blatant rip-off of their TV show Girls Next Door,
almost … Read More »
Joe Biden: Supportive Of Hollywood Policy But Hardly Supported By Hollywood $$$
Barack Obama’s new VP choice Joe Biden has never received much financial support from Hollywood, unlike so many Democratic senators. According to the Center For Responsive Politics, which follows political money, Biden throughout his U.S. Senate career has raised only $390,298 from the TV/Movies/Music sector, including a … Read More »
Goldman Sachs Shopping MGM — Again
Yesterday I received a tip from a reliable source in film financing circles telling me that Goldman Sachs had been retained to shop MGM. “It’s doubtful that something will come out of the process. But one never knows,” my insider told … Read More »
SAG’s Doug Allen Answers DGA’s Apted
SAG national executive director Doug Allen responds to DGA president Michael Apted’s membership letter about New Media published in the September issue of Directors Guild’s monthly magazine. The issue really is whether the Hollywood guilds can survive if they keep acquiescing to employer demands encouraging union signatories to produce non-union. … Read More »
SAG Election: ‘Unite For Strength’ Slate Releases ‘Membership First’ Emails
More bitter SAG infighting in the runup to the September election. After “Unite For Strength” leader Ned Vaughn issued a statement that his slate has abandoned its Affected Member Voting initiative, he sent this to me yesterday for posting about AMV and two rival “Membership First” candidates, JoBeth Williams … Read More »
HUH? Grazergate Now Turns Into Litigate
Well, this is bizarre. Fired Los Angeles Times editorial pages editor Andrés Martinez today sued his ex-girlfriend Kelly Mullens of the entertainment PR firm 42West over Grazergate from March 2007. (My thanks to LAObserved‘s Kevin Roderick for alerting me…)
Tonight, … Read More »
SAG Election: Martin Sheen, Mike Farrell
Different well-known actors in the past 48 hours have written in support for United For Strength or Membership First. Here’s Mike Farrell (supporting U4S) and Martin Sheen (supporting MF). I flipped a coin to determine which opinion I posted first:
From MARTIN SHEEN
To my fellow actors:If you’re one of the tens of
Now Bond Plays Xmas Release Date Game

UPDATE: Universal late today moved the Paul Rudd-Seam William Scott comedy Role Models from November 14th to November 7th because Bond moved from November 7th to November 14.
I usually leave announcements of movies changing dates to the trades. But it’s interesting how the pushback … Read More »
Yet Another Deal For Ryan Seacrest Inc.
I fear this is the kind of news that will push way more talented people off the ledge: Ryan Seacrest Productions has signed a new multiyear deal with Comcast Entertainment Group that expands his TV and New Media production biz across the cable … Read More »
Jennifer Lopez Lands At United Talent
The actress/singer/businesswoman has spent time at every major Hollywood talent agency, sometimes more than once. But I’m told that UTA board member Tracey Jacobs has just signed J-Lo in film and television with the focus on restarting her dormant acting career (after she had twins). … Read More »
BIG LETDOWN: Kerkorian Says Nothing Really New At Pellicano/Christensen Trial


My LA Weekly colleague Steven Mikulan emailed me this about Kirk Kerkorian’s 30-minute testimony today before a packed federal courtroom. Summary: Kerkorian … Read More »
You can’t pay me to watch Fox’s American Idol where the singing sounds like strangled cats. But it’s been no secret that the network and the show’s producers are planning changes to reverse its declining ratings. This morning, Fox officially announced that Grammy-nominated …



