UNFINISHED BUSINESS: The Projects James Gandolfini Left … 
R.I.P. James Gandolfini 
Photos: James Gandolfini, 1961-2013 
Warner Bros Sets Morten Tyldum To Helm … 
Zac Efron Thriller ‘The Falling’ Gets Jeremy … 
Why Was Ex-Soft Porn Filmmaker Recently Hired As Movie … 
ReelzChannel Cancels ‘The Big Picture’ After … 
Cillian Murphy Boards ‘In The Heart Of The Sea’ 
John Legend To Produce Comedy Project About Music Managers … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Crystal Fairy’ 
Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades Of … 
Inside AMPAS Board Of Governors’ Meeting: Conflict Of … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Spectacular Now’ 
Glenn Geller To Run Current Programming For CBS & CBS … 
Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Role Cut From ‘The … 
New ‘Star Wars’ Film Cast Breakdown Unveiled 
CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning … 
UPDATE: Dan Abrams Named New ‘Nightline’ Anchor … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par … 
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At … 
ITV Pays $30M For Controlling Stake In ‘Hatfields … 
It wasn’t enough that the Guvernator Ah-nuld mucked up California. On New Year’s Eve, Schwarzenegger made a slew of last-day political appointments and re-appointments in a smoke-filled room, and put his 3-year press secretary Aaron McLear on the California Film Commission. Others in the unsalaried positions include TV veteran Lindy DeKoven, former NBC Entertainment EVP, and Moulin Rouge producer Fred Baron, EVP of feature production for Twentieth Century Fox.
McLear, a Republican, previously served as a regional press secretary for the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007 and was communications director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney Campaign in Ohio. Prior to that, he served Ohio Governor Bob Taft as a legislative liaison, assistant press secretary and communications assistant. Baron, a Democrat, since 1990 has overseen the productions of feature films that include: Knight and Day, Date Night, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Live Free or Die Hard, Borat, Kingdom of Heaven, I Robot, The Day After Tomorrow, Last of the Mohicans, Grand Canyon, Edward Scissorhands, Hot Chicks, Broken Arrow, Romeo and Juliet, Alien Resurrection, Bulworth and Moulin Rouge. Interestingly, few of those productions were filmed in California. DeKoven, a democrat, has headed DeKoven Entertainment after she left NBC in 2000. She is chair of the Commission on the Status of Women. Also appointed was Hilary Rice Armstrong, another Democrat, who since 2006 has been president of Fire of Life Films and executive producer for California State of Mind: the Legacy of Pat Brown. Additionally, she has been development director for My California Now since 2007.
Reappointed were Steve Dayan, a business agent for the Teamsters Local 399 representing Drivers, Location Managers and Casting Directors; Christine Essel, CEO for the Community Redevelopment Agency for the city of Los Angeles and a former Paramount Pictures SVP of government affairs; Janet Knutsen, a freelance TV and film producer and production manager who previously worked for Nickelodeon and Warner Bros; Michael Miller, division director of IATSE’s Motion Picture and Television Production Department since 2008 and served as eighth international vice president of the IATSE General Executive Board; Gary Tobey, chairman/CEO for Haworth Marketing and Media since 1995.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
Hats off to Governor #ArnoldSchwarzenegger who proved to the naysayers that there really was something he was worse at than acting. Not easy…
Only in America.
Aaron McClear? Jesus, spare us please. That guy seems like a real tool, every time he speaks on behalf of Ah-nuld.
“Tool” always has been the definition of a press secretary. That is their major function.
Nikki,
California was a DISASTER before Arnold took over (HELLO, RECALL ELECTION!)……
It was a disaster while arnold served……
and it will be a disaster after he leaves.
A lone republican governor can do nothing to change a socialist state goverment.(And lets be honest, Arnold was a republican in name only)
Untill you morons in Cali wake up and stop voting for airheads who serve the lowest form of special interest groups(eco terrorists) you people will continue begging us successful states to bail your sorry asses out.
Shouldn’t you be soaking up the redneck utopia of your own perfect state instead of commenting on a site linked from Drudge?
Chris,
You do realize that Cali pays more into the fed than is reimbursed back don’t you?
You also say “A lone republican governor can do nothing to change a socialist state government.(And lets be honest, Arnold was a republican in name only)” So even if he was Ronald Ray-Gun reincarnated it wouldn’t have mattered ( according to your “logic”).
So maybe it’s you retards in the flyover wastelands that should stop voting for airheads who serve the lowest form of special interest groups(Christian right wingers).
lol that’s mostly a function of the state having enormous income disparities
I would gladly see the US give California back to Mexico or failing that Spain, but I doubt they would take it
Ah yes, the whole he wasn’t really a republican argument… you all weren’t singing that tune back when you could barely contain yourselves over getting the state back for the GOP. Sorry, you can’t disown him just because he worked out poorly. And spare us all of the socialist bullshit talk too. I don’t think you even know what that means. Obviously you don’t live in California (“Cali” is not something we use here but rather some ass backwards attempt at people from other states trying to sound hip or something), and seeing as it’s not your state, you can mind your own business.
Nice revisionism.
Arnold ran for governor saying he would eliminate the vehicle tax, something that brought California $6 billion a year. He did. But he didn’t cut spending first. Now, where I’m from, if you cut your income and not your overhead, you end up in a nightmarish situation.
And guess what? 5 years later, we are in the hole $29 billion. Do the math. It’s not hard.
Arnold is a tool and he took a bad situation and made it horrible.
Listen, Genius, we had a recall for one reason only. Darrell Issa, a Republican Congressman with more money and ambition than common sense wanted to be Governor. Even the people of California saw through that one and refused to elect him to a state-wide office, saddling us with the Governator.
With regard to your other point, California sends way more money to Washingron than it gets back. Unless you live in South Dakota, there ARE no successful states and all the red states are sucking up way more of MY tax dollars.
Eco terrorists, you say? Climate change threatens us all. Listen to something other than Fox News and pull your head out of your ass.
Oh and GFY.
I dunno, Chris, seems to me that the more you rant on about being an idiot like that the more we’re glad we’re not you.
Agreed. CA is essentially broke because of obligations made by Sacramento politicians long ago that remain on the backs of CA taxpayors. The private sector bubble has popped, time for the public sector to pop. Everyone should have copays and 401K (instead of pensions), but also a strong safety net (social security, medicare, etc.). It’s the new normal. CA is a financial basket case and too easy to blame Arnold. Need to dig a little deeper and look at the numbers.
First off, get your history right. Darrell Issa financed a huge signature drive for recall in order to become Governor, boy was he pissed when it worked but he didn’t get the prize after spending millions. It was drummed up because of an objection to a small car fee that in an auto society like California raised enough funds to cover the state’s obligations to the cities and counties. Arnold, with help from Oprah, took advantage of the situation and got elected governor when he wouldn’t have been able to get a nomination any other way. Surprisingly enough, Arnold got rid of the nasty fee, didn’t find all the easy fixes you types deem are there, and borrowed huge amounts of money to cover those obligations which didn’t go away because of his awesome Republicanness. The fee that was the problem would have covered almost all of the debt the hack Schwarzenegger incurred.
Next newsflash, if California’s tax money wasn’t being spent in the so-called successful states they would be swimming in funds.
See, California is a donor state in that for every dollar they send to the federal government only a portion of it gets spent in California. No it goes to Mississippi and Alaska and well approximately 3/4 of the states in the Union. And that portion is significant in California’s case. That difference would more then make up for their budget shortfall.
Oh, and right now it is a rare state that isn’t facing large budget shortfalls – it is known as a recession. It doesn’t matter. Hell, Texas is swimming in red ink. Watch that austerity kick America’s butt over and over.
“You morons”… “you people”… “your sorry asses”… How charming.
He had 7 years. The other governor was re-called after his first year in his 2nd term. California is still a mess. Its a bigger mess then ever!
Hats off to Gov. Schwarzenegger — who proved to be a GREAT GOVERNOR in these most trying economic times.
You can’t blame Arnold for the bad world economy and its effect in California.
Instead, if you really care, you can definitely blame the do-nothing California legislature which requires super-majority votes on almost everything — assuring the legislative gridlock and inaction that some will unjustly try to blame on Arnold.
Congratulations, Governor Schwarzenegger!
ARNOLD is the BEST. He proved he can take office and did for 7 years !!!!!!! When the USA/UK/WORLD went into recession , HE KEPT CALIFORNIA “AFLOAT” – and THAT is genius!
Amen Chris !!! I Totally Agree !!!
I am not sure the Cali-voters will ever wake up and get smart. It seems the elections are totally controlled by the San Fran and LA metro area socialists. If you win those locales, you will likely win election.
The rest of the state may have a better clue but who knows…. CA has been doing the same thing over and over for years, expecting different results. It is a classic symptom of being “crazy”.
Arnold, as most previous governors in CA, were ineffective mainly due to the socialist leftist state legislatures.
ok_start with Fred Baron-Fox sends more Production out of State then anyone else. At the Drop of a Hat they send the 3rd Chipmunck movie to Vancouver..How much money has that franchise made for News Corp., that they couldnt suck it up and stay in California.
A majority of their executives who run the studio are from NY. No loyalty to California. For when they retire they are all going back to NY. Baron has been there since the beginning of time-he walks Fox line..good for Fox anything else screw you. The television side will take the $600,000.00 incentive to make their
new police show in Chicago. Not for any reson but the money.
I would appoint a watchdog and make sure Fox doesent get any more money than is fair from the tax incentive.
Christine Essel ran for the California State Assembly recently. Claim to fame Paramount executive who over saw the reconstruction of the back lot. Going to her debates against Krekorian she came off like a complete giddy girl. No clue. On the positive side Steve Dyan..smart, reasonable, knows film production and is political enough not to be politcal–true winning formula. I don’t see where Amy Lemisch was reappointed. There is a good person fighting for California on all levels. She came from produciton having worked with Penny Marhsall and others. Was instrumental in getting California Tax Incentive on the Books. The irony really is it is common knowledge/good rumor The Governor is investing his money along with Danny Devito in stages in New Mexico. Same old same old-BTD
Arnold Terminated Fabian Nunez son’s 16 year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. I’m sure the parents of the slain college student are overjoyed.
You disappointed us all Arnold. Shame on you scum bag….
“Guvernator Ah-nuld mucked up California.” – Really, like Brown, he inherited a mess. Blame the legislature for failing to make the tough decisions. CA is basically broke. Blame Arnold for that? That’s easy, but I’d recommend taking a closer look.
I don’t know, Maaaaaaaaaan. I think most of the blame for the big government, exorbitant taxes, and crazy unions falls to the democrats. Least Arnold is looking out for his friends. You finally gave me something to like about the guy.
Here…Here…Chris … we’ll all drink to that … Cheers
When everyone else is Governor they can do as they please, in the mean time lets make room for Moon Beam.
Why was there a recall election again? Oh right, because of the ‘energy crisis’ artificially created by Enron so they could speculate on energy futures.
I don’t recall Californians ‘begging’ for that, or for Mormon money from Utah to flood into the state vote on proposition 8, or for money from the Koch brothers to dismantle clean air/energy legislation.
As an actual resident of the state, instead of some douche writing from North Dakota or wherever you want to pretend you’re from, sure, I am annoyed at the ongoing disaster in Sacramento. However, this state also has BY FAR the largest and most dynamic economy of any state in the country, aka still the world’s 8th largest economy, aka it makes up about 15% of the US GDP. If the CA government needs a ‘bailout’ from the federal government, frankly the state deserves it, as you could argue it’s been running at a loss in order to provide a disproportionately large source of tax revenue for the fed govt for years and years. It’s a pretty reasonable argument.
Right, ‘eco terrorists’ and ‘socialism.’ I’m glad to see someone’s avoiding hyperbole and really looking at the facts. Last time I checked, ‘activists’ (or is this a swear word now as well), even if they’re parading around with ‘don’t tread on me’ flags, don’t qualify as embedded interest groups (though in this second case they’re generally acting on behalf of embedded interests). in this case you’re right to say they’re the ‘lowest for of special interest groups,’ because they’re typically the least powerful. caving to what a majority of people want could also be called democracy.
Hey Chris, why would they stop voting airheads into office? Hasn’t it dawned on you modern politics has become the domain of airheads nationwide? Everywhere I turn I see politicians and pundits who come across as bad actors. I think Reagan started the trend. What do you expect when people like Kim Kardashian pass for celebrities… and make top dollar at that? Sarah Palin LEFT the governor’s house to be a reality star. In this era of mediocrity it’s just par for the course my man.
Crikey you Yanks are lucky that you are unable to become President if you are not born in America. You could have had Ah-nuld if not.
It seems to be a prerequisite that some of your Republican presidential candidates are astronauts. You know? Roll their eye’s backwards and gaze into space. George W Bush, a classical example. Ah-nuld at least also had this quality.
Hilary Rice Armstrong is the daughter of former Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown Rice and the Niece of Governor Jerry Brown and the Granddaughter of the late former Governor Pat Brown and she married my friend Bruce. Which is why I know all that.
Arnold screwed up California????? You’ve got to be smokin’ some good “medical marijuana” out there Nikki. Arnold never stood a chance of getting a decent reform through the Democrat-controlled legislature—or don’t you read anything other than entertainment news? I don’t even live in that cesspool and I know that Gray Davis was an absolute disaster. Arnold’s biggest mistake was thinking he could make a difference as a Republican Governor having to deal with the legislature’s left-wing cabal. These days Arnold sounds more like a left wing liberal anyway… so which one are you blaming?
So now the few good folks left in California have to weather through a few years with the return of Governor Moonbeam. He’s likely to raise taxes and you’ll see the continued migration of high paying jobs to states like Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona. The great brain drain will live on and those that are left will pay a higher cost to support more and more of the non-productive. Bravo!
I’m personally thrilled that there’s not a chance the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will bailout California. You folks will have to find a way to clean up your own mess. Either the state will go bankrupt and install strict measures of austerity or the Governor will be forced to raise taxes ensuring continued corporate flight. Lets see how the left-wing cabal mitigates this mess.
Thank you America for deposing that San Francisco Socialist,(rhymes with witch, Nancy Pelosi. Election night 2010 was the best day of an otherwise dreadful year!
True grit is the best picture of the year.everybody likes it very much like me.it so excellent
thanks for the perfectly-timed sorbet!
Arnold didn’t mess up California. Special interests and career politicians messed up California. You can’t change anything if everything you want to do is held up by those opposing him just because…
Spoken like someone who obviously doesn’t live in California, and simply repeats the same tired generalizations over and over.
There’s plenty of blame to go around.
If only Arnold hadn’t won the election, California would be in great shape today!
His republican agenda really screwed up the democratic legislature’s attempt to sort out the states economic problems!
Arnold didn’t “muck up” California the Democratic controlled state legislature did and still does. When these idiots finally decide to do the right thing instead of pandering to special interests, California may again rise to the top. Let’s see if Jerry Brown, you know the guy handed the election by the unions, can do anything to stop the fall.
Wow the demohaters come out even hotter than usual. This State is a mess because of one arogant man Gerry Brown who allowed state employees to become unionized. That has crippled the states ability to do anything like it need to like say fire 40% of the lazy bums. We should de-unionize every position including teachers and hire them back as independent contractors responsible for their own health and pensions. That would save billions in one fell swoop.