Search Results for: “Guggenheim”

Michael Mahan Named President Of Dick Clark Parent DC Media

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 9, 2013 @ 7:30am PDTTags: Dick Clark Productions, Michael Mahan
Nellie Andreeva

Former TV Guide president Michael Mahan has been named President of DC Media, the parent company of dick clark prods. Based at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters, he will report to dick clark CEO Allen Shapiro. The move was expected following Mahan’s announcement in January that he was exiting his post at TV Guide. Mahan is reuniting with longtime business partner Shapiro, who became CEO of dick clark prods following the company’s acquisition last fall by Guggenheim Partners, Mandalay Entertainment and Shapiro’s Mosaic Media Investment Partners. The appointment also marks Mahan’s return to dcp, where he served as SVP Corporate Development, also under Shapiro, and played a key role in the company’s successful 2007 sale to Red Zone Capitol. “It’s such a pleasure to welcome Michael back into the dcp family,” Shapiro said. “His track record of creating value will be invaluable as we take dick clark productions to the next level.”

Mahan will oversee dcp’s revenue, business affairs, finance and foreign distribution operations. He also will pursue acquisition opportunities. DCP president Orly Adelson will continue to shepherd development, production and domestic distribution. Read More »

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Full Frame Documentary Fest Announces 2013 Winners

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 7, 2013 @ 10:28am PDTTags: Full Frame Documentary Festival

The nonfiction film festival, held in Durham, North Carolina, this year became a qualifying event for Oscar consideration in the Best Documentary Short Subject category and the Producers Guild Of America awards. The fest is hosted by the Center For Documentary Studios. Here are the winners of the 16th annual edition:

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‘Silence Of The Lambs’ Scribe Ted Tally Follows Agent Robert Bookman To Paradigm

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday April 4, 2013 @ 1:06pm PDTTags: CAA, Paradigm, Robert Bookman, Ted Tally, The Silence Of The Lambs
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Tally, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Silence Of The Lambs, has followed his longtime agent Robert Bookman to Paradigm. Bookman left CAA to go to work for Sam Gores’s agency a month ago, and Tally becomes the first big Bookie client to make the move.

Bookman has been among a number of well established CAA agents who’ve recently moved on to other agencies, and the question is always whether their star clients will follow suit. Bookman had close relationships at CAA with the likes of Cameron Crowe, Paul Greengrass, Jim Sheridan, Martin McDonagh, John Hillcoat and Martin Campbell. No word yet on other talent, but landing Tally is a coup for Paradigm. Read More »

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#1 ‘The Croods’ Toons Up $108M Globally, #2 ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Rises To $30.5M, Tina Fey & Paul Rudd Soft In ‘Admission’

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday March 24, 2013 @ 9:30am PDTTags: Admission, Box Office, Olympus Has Fallen, Spring Breakers, The Croods

SUNDAY 9:30 AM, 7TH UPDATE: Distributor Twentieth Century Fox is reporting that DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods made $63.3 million internationally — including $16 million from overseas previews the weekend before – for a worldwide cume of $108 million. Toon was playing on 11,870 screens in 47 markets and 86 countries representing 60% of the International marketplace. It was a confirmed #1 opening in 44 markets. Top market weekend Highlights included:

Russia: US$12.9M, including previews, from 2,166 screens. #1 in the market. 74% from 3D. Industry biggest non-franchise animated opening in Russia. Mexico: US$9.5M, including previews, from 1,911 screens. #1 in the market. 40% from 3D. Industry biggest non-franchise animated opening in Mexico. United Kingdom: US$8.3M, including previews, from 1,100 screens. #1 in the market. 45% from 3D. Germany: US$4.3M, including previews, from 986 screens. #1 in the market. 78% from 3D. Brazil: US$4.2M, including previews, from 674 screens. #1 in the market. 72% from 3D. Industry 2nd highest non-franchise animated opening in Brazil behind Rio. Spain: US$3.4M from 695 screens. #1 in the market. 20% from 3D. Italy: US$3.3M rom 788 screens. #1 in the market. 47% from 3D. Argentina: US$1.4M from 231 screens. #1 in the market. 60% from 3D. 3rd highest opening weekend ever for Fox in Argentina.

The Croods opens in 19 markets next weekend, including Australia, Belgium and Holland, followed by 3 markets (including Taiwan) the weekend of April 4, and then 3 more markets (including France) the weekend of April 12. School holidays start this week and next in many international markets.

SUNDAY 9:15 AM, 6TH UPDATE: (Top Ten list below) It shaped up as a hot weekend with an extra-strength Saturday and 3 films scoring $20M-plus this weekend. An estimated 13% of K-12 were on school break for the start of the Passover/Easter holidays so family fare ruled. Specifically, DreamWorks Animation‘s PG pre-historic newcomer The Croods (4,046 theaters, including over 3,000 in 3D) led the domestic box office with the widest release. It grossed $11.6M Friday and went up +67% because of the Saturday kiddue bump to $18.9M and an estimated $14.1M for a $44.7M weekend opening. Exit polling showed domestic demos were 57% female and 55% aged 25 and up. Its ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences obviously helped word of mouth despite only 64% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes endangering its multiple. Pic cost $135M. Rival studios point out this is one of the softest of March openers from DreamWorks Animation and believe it could max out around $155M domestic. (2010′s How To Train Your Dragon also debuted to $43M and went on to make $217M all in - but its reviews were 98% positive.) Fact is that in recent years DWA’s films are badly trailing Pixar’s in terms of domestic openings and multiples – and Wall Street is taking note and depressing the share price of this publicly held company. (Katzenberg should blame himself: he personally lobbied theaters to drive up the price of 3D tickets beyond what parents are willing to pay now after the technology’s novelty wore off.) Distributor Twentieth Century Fox claims this is a “strong opening” for a non-sequel animated film and believe The Croods will really toon up for the next two weeks when kids are on vacation everywhere. Then again, this is the first DWA release by Fox after Jeffrey Katzenberg switched distribution from Paramount so all the execs are relentlessly upbeat. “Terrific opening for DreamWorks Animation/Fox and the beginning of a great partnership,” one suit gushed. Film isn’t exactly The Flintstones in terms of comedic campiness for animation, but TV ads succeeded in making this pic look pleasantly palatable to parents and kids. Directed by Chris Sanders & Kirk DeMicco, and produced by Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell, voice cast includes Nic Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds none of whom are considered marquee names these days. About 25 overseas markets opened for previews last weekend but only 5 of the top markets (UK, Russia, Germany, Brazil, Mexico). Rival studios claim it’s telling that Fox kept the grosses quiet. But the studio says The Croods will add a big number this weekend to the $16M already in the international till.

Peter Schlessel’s FilmDistrict enjoyed its biggest distribution opening yet with #2 Antoine Fuqua’s R-rated action thriller Olympus Has Fallen (3,098 theaters). It grossed $10M Friday and $12.8M Saturday for $30.5M its first weekend. Pic scored an ‘A-’ with audiences which helped word of mouth. That’s a relief because the movie’s cost of $70M is one of the bigger budgets this small indiefilm company has ever released. Exit polling showed 53% male vs. 47% female, 73% aged 25 years and older. Plot of the White House takeover by terrorists is newly plausible considering sequester spending cuts meant the U.S. government couldn’t even afford White House tours anymore because of Secret Service staff shortages. No surprise that the film did publicity at the recent CPAC convention for conservative politicos. FilmDistrict acquired distrib rights from Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films which produced and financed. The film was tracking strongest with males ages 18-plus and overperformed its expected high teens. Director and producer Fuqua with Mark Gill assembled a solid cast of Gerard Butler (who also produced and desperately needed a box office hit), Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, Ashley Judd, Robert Forster and Rick Yune for the script by credited writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.

Disney’s holdover Oz The Great And Powerful (3,805 theaters) is still going strong at #3 with $5.7M Friday and a +80% Saturday kiddie bump of $10.2M for another $23M weekend and $178.5M cume. And #4 is Sony/TriStar’s holdover pickup The Call (2,507 theaters) with $8.7M weekend (-48% from a week ago) and $30.9M cume.

Right now for #5 is Focus Features’ Tina Fey/Paul Rudd new low-budget comedy Admission (2,160 theaters) which grossed $2M Friday and $2.7M Saturday for as soft as $6.4M this weekend. Audiences gave it a mediocre ‘B-’ CinemaScore which didn’t help. Exit polling showed the audience skewed older (47% over age 50, 63% over age 35) and 68% female and 81% Causasian and 63% college graduates. Oh, Tina, Tina, Tina. You’re the funniest woman on the small screen in my opinion. But Red States may be holding a grudge over your SNL Sarah Palin impressions. And surely you can do better on the big screen than pairing with Paul since he’s box office poison. Pic underperformed studio expectations and barely met the low end of tracking. Even Focus admits grosses are soft despite its middling release and modest $13M cost. Because it’s a $30M-plus P&A pricetag just to open any pic these days. Focus saw a weekend that not only starts the waiting period for college acceptance letters but also had few moviegoing options for adult females aged 25+. ”There is also an opportunity to play well through the next few weekends as the older end of our female target 35+ also tends to patronize films in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of release,” a Focus exec told me. Hard to believe this convoluted script based on the Jean Hanff Korelitz novel adapted by credited screenwriter Karen Croner was so clumsily directed by one of my favorites, Oscar nominee Paul Weitz (About A Boy, In Good Company) who also produced. Low-brow TV ads didn’t help the pic any by failing to hint at moments of poignancy no matter how misplaced. Meanwhile Fey, Weitz, and everything else about the film were tagged with poor reviews.

And #6 is A24′s Spring Breakers (1,104 theaters) in expanded but still small release. Quirky yet iconoclastic writer and director Harmony Korine’s R-rated hallucinatory dramedy stars James Franco with Disney/ABC Family princesses trying to shed their virginal images - Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens – all with Korine’s wife Rachel hellbent on a Florida vacation to the dark side. It scored the top limited opening of 2013 last weekend based on per screen averages from 3 theaters in NYC and LA. But it’s no arthouse film nor Beach Blanket Bingo. Instead this cheaply made ($4M cost) seamy sexploitation encouraging drinking and drugs and violence is from the distribution outfit backed by Guggenheim Partners which owns The Hollywood Reporter and made sure the celebrity sheet cravenly hyped every angle of the lurid film and its cast and their SXSW appearance and theatrical opening. A24 acquired domestic rights from Annapurna Pictures whose Megan Ellison tellingly didn’t take a producer credit. (Was she too embarrassed?)

The weekend is way down (-33%) from last year because the Top Ten total won’t even equal the $152.5M opening of The Hunger Games. Based on weekend estimates:

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CBS Poised To Buy Half Of TV Guide, Partner With Lionsgate

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday March 22, 2013 @ 12:09pm PDTTags: CBS Corp, Lionsgate, TV Guide Network
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: CBS Corp, which already owns/co-owns broadcast networks CBS and the CW, pay cable network Showtime, and international TV channels, is adding a domestic basic cable network to its portfolio. I’ve learned that it is nearing a deal to acquire JP Morgan’s One Equity Partners’ interest in TV Guide, the company that encompasses the TV Guide Network, recently rebranded as TVGN, and TVGuide.com. With the deal, which could close as early as next week, CBS will become a 50-50 partner with TV Guide co-owner Lionsgate Entertainment, which originally acquired TV Guide in February 2009 for $241.6 million. I hear CBS will play slightly less than the $122.4 million One Equity Partners shelled out for 49% of TV Guide in June 2009 with an option to increase its stake by 1%.

TV Guide had been on the block for years. CBS surfaced as a potential suitor more than a year ago, along with other companies. CBS kicks the tires of potential acquisition targets all the time but rarely makes a move. After a thorough evaluation, I hear CBS concluded that TVGN is a fully distributed cable network (it is currently in 80 million homes) with a lot of upside. Also attractive was the prospect of partnering with another top Hollywood content producer, Lionsgate. … Read More »

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NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ To Screen At WonderCon, Plus Previews Of ‘Hemlock Grove’, ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘Mortal Instruments’, ‘Hobbit 2′ & More

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday March 16, 2013 @ 4:00pm PDTTags: Arrow, Hannibal, James Wan, The Conjuring, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, WonderCon

Ross Lincoln is a Deadline contributor.

Fans will get their first look at how Mads Mikkelsen measures up to Anthony Hopkins and Brian Cox when NBC screens the first two episodes of Hannibal later this month at WonderCon 2013. And Netflix will have its upcoming murder mystery series Hemlock Grove in advance of the show’s April premiere. Those and a host of other geeky confections were unveiled when the annual convention, landing March 29-31 in Anaheim, revealed the full programming schedule that boasts a heavy TV and film presence hinting of things to come later this year in San Diego (as well as some that have been there before).

Netflix will screen footage from Hemlock Grove on Friday with executive producer Eli Roth and cast including Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgard, Penelope Mitchell and others in attendance. The same day Warner Bros plans to premiere the direct-to-DVD animated film Superman: Unbound, followed the next day with a panel shared with Legendary pictures featuring Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro and New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring director James Wan. The same day, Sony hosts a huge panel of its own to showcase three upcoming films: Novelist Cassandra Clare, director Harald Zwart and stars Lily Collins, Kevin Zegers, and Jamie Campbell Bower will preview The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones; Bruce Campbell will join director Fede Alvarez and stars Jane Levy and Jessica Lucas to talk about the upcoming Evil Dead remake that screened at SXSW; and Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson will present a new trailer for This Is The End. On Sunday, there’s a panel discussion of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing that also screened at SXSW, while J.R.R. Tolkien fan site Theonering.net will host a sneak peak of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Read More »

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Philip Anschutz Decides To Hang On To AEG; Tim Leiweke Leaving As CEO

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 1:25pm EDTTags: Anschutz Entertainment Group, Big Deals Film, Philip Anschutz

So much for Anschutz’s dream to make a $10B or so deal that could revamp the live entertainment business. The Anschutz Company just pulled the plug on the auction process that began in September to sell its sprawling sports and entertainment unit Anschutz Entertainment Group that has its hands in more than 100 global arenas and stadiums, numerous sports teams worldwide and is No. 2 in the world behind Live Nation in live concert promotions. Philip Anschutz “will resume a more active role” especially with its “world-wide strategy and operations,” the company says. And Tim Leiweke is leaving as CEO, the job he has held since 1996, to be replaced by Dan Beckerman, who was COO and CFO. The new chief says that “Priority projects going forward include the development of Farmers Field adjacent to our L.A. Live campus and the pursuit of our plan to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles, our recently announced initiative to collaborate with MGM to build a new arena in Las Vegas, the acquisition of ownership stakes and the associated refurbishment of several major global arenas in Europe and our ongoing investment in AXS.com, our ticketing and e-commerce platform, as we expand its capabilities for the benefit of our venues, partners, performers and consumer end-users.”

Anschutz says that “from the very beginning of the sales process” he had made it clear that “unless the right buyer came forward with a transaction on acceptable terms we would not sell the Company.” Signs that the sale was in jeopardy arose recently with reports indicating that the top bid from Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital in partnership with Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund was below Anschutz’ $8B asking price. Guggenheim Partners had dropped out, and Bloomberg reported that Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong was unlikely to come near the amount Anschutz wanted. Negotiations were said to be on hold while Anschutz recovers from back surgery. In January, Leiweke told Billboard that the auction process had dragged out because “more people were interested than we ever imagined.” He added, though, that “We’re getting down to the final straws here.” All that was left was to “get Mr. Anschutz and [potential buyers] together on the right deal.”

Here’s the release: Read More »

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‘Arrow’ At PaleyFest: Emily Bett Rickards Confirmed As Regular, Plus Trips To WonderCon, Comic-Con Too

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday March 9, 2013 @ 10:16pm PSTTags: Arrow, Emily Bett Rickards, PaleyFest, PaleyFest 2013, Stephen Amell

Diane Haithman contributes to Deadline’s TV coverage.

Stephen Amell, star of the CW’s DC Comics-inspired Arrow, was deliberately coy about pending developments for his character Oliver Queen at this evening’s PaleyFest panel. The actor said things are “happening fast and furious now” for Oliver. “We’ve been shooting for just over 7 months. In coming episode 17, things are actually pretty good for Oliver, which means they are about to go really bad.” Producers also confirmed that one minor character will become a regular in Season 2: Emily Bett Rickards as IT expert Felicity Smoak. The character’s bright future was ensured by two things: One, the positive Twitter feedback during her first appearance as well the reaction of Warner Bros. TV President Peter Roth who, Andrew Kreisberg reported, called to say: “I love the blond computer girl.”

Related: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Teases Peter Pan Season Finale

Amell also said Arrow is going to WonderCon this year and that he “can’t wait” to return to Comic-Con as well. He admitted he will miss the anonymity that the cast enjoyed on Arrow’s first visit to New York Comic-Con in mid-October, days after the series premiered. The series, which debuted on October 10, 2012, was picked up for a full season on October 22 and was renewed for a second season in February. Given the show’s success, Amell joked that like his dual-identity character, this year he might have to attend the fan conventions in disguise.
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Curveball Over LA Dodgers TV Deal For Guggenheim And Major League Baseball

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday March 8, 2013 @ 4:01am PSTTags: Guggenheim Partners, LA Dodgers, Major League Baseball, Time Warner Cable

Few consumers are welcoming the new Los Angeles Dodgers/Time Warner Cable TV deal because they’re going to get screwed out of more hard-earned money per month. They can thank Guggenheim Partners which bought the Dodgers with an ownership group including Magic Johnson and Peter Guber for $2.15 billion last year. Guggenheim plans to carry the games on a new regional sports network it’ll own called SportsNetLA. It’s got Time Warner Cable doing the heavy lifting as its charter distributor, exclusive advertising and affiliate sales agent, and channel operations manager. But now there’s a problem: the January deal has yet even to be submitted to Major League Baseball for approval. The reason is that MLB wants to know exactly what its cut of the $7 billion, 25-year television deal will be. And Guggenheim looks like it’s trying to pitch curveballs to the league. Trust me, if you think Hollywood studios are greedy, you’ve never seen sports team owners or their leagues. So this is greed vs greedier vs greediest.

To summarize what’s in dispute, the current collective bargaining agreement’s base portion of the revenue-sharing plan calls on MLB teams to contribute 34% of net local revenue. But the way that figure gets calculated is becoming increasingly blurred by stuff like these regional sports networks and who owns them. Guggenheim’s deal is even blurrier. So now everything from rights fees, naming rights, guaranteed carriage money, and other revenue expected to go into Guggenheim’s wallet can be picked by MLB’s revenue-sharing plan. That’s the crux … Read More »

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Vanity Fair Pulled Jessica Chastain Criticism While She Chased Best Actress Oscar

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday March 3, 2013 @ 10:21pm PSTTags: Jessica Chastain, Vanity Fair

EXCLUSIVE: We all know that tensions rise during those final weeks leading up to the Academy Awards as media outlets decide who’s worthy and who’s not. So this begs the question: with so much money and prestige at stake, is it possible for even major and reputable media outlets to voice any negativel opinions while Oscar campaigning is underway? Especially if they want Academy Award contenders to take out ads and sit for interviews and come to parties? Increasingly, no.

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark ThirtyIt’s well known that The Hollywood Reporter and Variety cravenly promise Oscar hopefuls flattering coverage. But Vanity Fair? Granted, its year-round showbiz coverage has all the heft of a marshmallow. But its Deputy Editor Bruce Handy this Oscar season wrote for the magazine’s website one brief but hardly brutal column  dissecting Jessica Chastain‘s body of work. This wasn’t some freelancer: this was the magazine’s #2 who dared to express mild criticism about the Best Actress Oscar nominee for Zero Dark Thirty. ”I’m surprised it’s being hailed as one of the year’s great performances, and that it has earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress,” Handy opined. “It’s not the sort of flashy thing, like playing a transgendered murder victim or quadriplegic boxer, that the Academy normally rewards.” He included much praise but also said Chastain was an “empty vessel”‘ and “recessive presence” who doesn’t “quite hold your eye”.

The piece posted on the VF website January 25th at a pivotal point in Oscar campaigning: just before final paper ballots went out and online voting began. Within a day, the analysis was gone. Not just gone from the VF website but really really really erased from the Internet at large. (Replaced by this sassy VF error message flaunting top editor Graydon Carter.) Publicists for Sony Pictures and Chastain’s BNC flackery told me it was “not true” that VF deleted the article. But, to its credit, Vanity Fair owned up to it. Explained VF spokeswoman Beth Kseniak: “We took it down because it ran counter to what a number of people at the magazine believed.”

Ran counter to what? Its 19th annual Vanity Fair Hollywood issue whose centerpiece was a 44-page Bruce Weber portfolio completed over 8 days photographing 125 people including 75+ actors? Or this year’s crop of invitations to the VF Hollywood party? (Actual attendees, who haven’t been diissed by the magazine in decades, included Ben Affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Ang Lee, Chris Terrio, Quentin Tarantino, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Bateman, Kate Beckinsale, Len Wiseman, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Kate Bosworth, Russell Brand, Adrien Brody, Sandra Bullock, Gerard Butler, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chris Evans, Jane Fonda, Jamie Foxx, Richard Gere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jon Hamm, Armie Hammer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hugh Jackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Taylor Lautner, Michael Pena, Chris Pine, Natalie Portman, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Amanda Seyfried, Hilary Swank, Channing Tatum, Marisa Tomei, Chris Tucker, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Reese Witherspoon, Judd Apatow, Steve Martin, Melissa McCarthy, JJ Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Cameron Crowe, Tom Hooper, Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Brett Ratner, David O. Russell, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Aaron Sorkin, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Barbara Broccoli, Brian Grazer, Kathleen Kennedy, Graham King, Jane Rosenthal, Megan Ellison, Jim Berkus, Ari Emanuel, Kevin Huvane, Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett, Patrick Whitesell, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Rob Friedman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Donna Langley, John Lasseter, Jeff Robinov, Sir Howard Stringer, Harvey Weinstein?)

Here’s the article which Vanity Fair worked so hard to erase. Judge for yourself:

The Jessica Chastain Conundrum: Greatest Actress of Her Generation or Found Art?

By Bruce Handy

Movie acting is a strange, alchemic art. This weekend, for instance, you can go to your local multiplex and see Jessica Chastain play a credibly fierce C.I.A. officer in Zero Dark Thirty. Then you can go next door and see Mama, in which Chastain plays the least fierce, least credible punk rocker in the history of film. Maggie Smith could have done it with more edge and nerve.

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Colony Capital Said In The Lead In AEG Auction, But Negotiations On Hold: Report

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday, 1 March 2013 10:50 UKTags: AEG

Bidders for Philip Anschutz’s collection of live entertainment businesses may be narrowing. Bloomberg reports that Colony Capital is out in front for AEG now that Guggenheim Partners has dropped out. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg says Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong remains in the auction, but is unlikely to make an offer near the $8B asking price. Guggenheim could reenter the bidding if the price drops. However, negotiations for AEG are currently on hold as Anschutz recovers from back surgery, Bloomberg sources said. Tom Barrack’s Colony is partnered with Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and is also understood to be bidding below the ask. It’s believed Anschutz could also decide not to sell the sprawling sports and entertainment operation that includes more than 100 global arenas and stadiums, numerous sports teams and is No. 2 in the world behind Live Nation in live concert promotions. Notably, AEG owns L.A.’s Staples Center as well as the Kings, the LA Galaxy, a stake in the Lakers and London’s O2 Arena, among other properties. It also is the driving force behind Farmers Field, the proposed downtown football venue that would draw at least one NFL franchise to L.A.

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No ‘Death Wish’ For Joe Carnahan

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday February 22, 2013 @ 2:44pm PSTTags: Bruce Willis, Death Wish, Joe Carnahan
Mike Fleming

Joe Carnahan Death WishEXCLUSIVE: Joe Carnahan has abruptly withdrawn from Death Wish, the Paramount-MGM remake of the 1974 film. I’m told this happened over creative differences having to do with casting. Word is they didn’t agree on the guy playing the role Bruce Willis Death Wishoriginated by Charles Bronson. I understand that the studios want Bruce Willis and Carnahan wanted to go another way.

Carnahan, coming off the Liam Neeson starrer The Grey, has other irons in the fire. I’m told one prime candidate is Narco Sub, the thriller written by David Guggenheim that the late Tony Scott planned to direct at Fox.

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AllThingsD May Leave News Corp: Report

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday February 15, 2013 @ 5:56pm ESTTags: AllThingsD, News Corp

Possible buyers are hovering around the popular tech news site, and founders Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg are talking with News Corp about the future of the partnership, Reuters reports, citing “sources familiar with the situation.” Things are in flux because AllThingsD‘s contract with News Corp expires this year — and Rupert Murdoch’s company is in the process of spinning off its publishing operations. Swisher and Mossberg must provide a new business plan to the company next week, the news service says. It describes the relationship between the two sides as “amicable but stressed.” A separation could become complicated unless both agree; News Corp owns the name “AllThingsD,” but it needs Swisher and Mossberg’s approval to sell the operation. Conde Nast and Hearst apparently have expressed an interest in buying the site. But there’s also speculation that Guggenheim Digital Media CEO Ross Levinsohn — who oversees The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, and Adweek — might want in. When he took the job last month, financial services firm Guggenheim Partners said it “anticipates allocating significant capital to acquire and invest in new media companies and properties that will meaningfully expand its current portfolio.”

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Charter To Pay $1.63B For Cablevision’s Systems In Western States

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday February 7, 2013 @ 4:47pm ESTTags: Big Deals TV, Cablevision, Charter Communications

On Tuesday I told you that something big was afoot at Charter Communications. Now we know: CEO Tom Rutledge has agreed to buy a collection of Cablevision’s cable systems in the Rocky Mountain states that he used to manage when he was COO of the Long Island-based company. He left at the end of 2011. Cablevision paid $1.4B for the systems, formerly known as Bresnan Communications, in 2010. But it said in November that it was considering selling the operation. The systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah have 304,000 video subscribers. Rutledge calls them “some of the fastest growing cable assets in the United States.” Cablevision shares were up 5.6% today as word of a possible deal began to spread. Charter was down just 0.5%.

Here’s the release:

Stamford, Connecticut – February 7, 2013 – Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) (“Charter”) and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Charter Communications Operating, LLC will acquire Cablevision’s Bresnan Broadband Holdings, LLC (“Optimum West”) for $1.625 billion in cash. Optimum West manages cable operating systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah that pass more than 660,000 homes and serve 304,000 video subscribers and 366,000 customer relationships.

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AEG Bidding Heads Into Home Stretch Amid Rumors About Who’s Involved

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday February 7, 2013 @ 3:21pm ESTTags: AEG

This is the second round of bidding for Philip Anschutz’s collection of live entertainment businesses. But nobody outside of the AEG process seems certain about who’s participating. It’s widely believed that Blackstone Advisory Group, which is handling the auction, is weighing offers from billionaire Ron Burkle in a partnership with Patrick Soon-Shiong and Goldman Sachs, from Guggenheim Partners, and from Colony Capital with the Qatar Sovereign Fund. The Financial Times says that Westfield shopping center group and OneWest Bank’s Steven Mnuchin also are in. But Billboard’s veteran reporter Ray Waddell, who specializes in the live entertainment business, reports that he also hears that “bidders have not partnered up and yet another round of bids is still to come, and no short-list exists yet.”  Last month Waddell interviewed AEG chief Tim Leiweke who said that the process had dragged out because “more people were interested than we ever imagined.” He added, though, that “We’re getting down to the final straws here.” All that was left was to “get Mr. Anschutz and [potential buyers] together on the right deal.” Outsiders expect the winner to pay at least $8B for AEG.

Related: AEG Sale Could Clear Way For Philip Anschutz To Become An NFL Mogul Read More »

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PaleyFest Finalizes Panel Attendees

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday February 5, 2013 @ 2:57pm PSTTags: PaleyFest, The Walking Dead

The Paley Center for Media has firmed up guest panelists for its 30th annual PaleyFest, set for March 1-15 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. Click over for the complete lineup, which kicks off with AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Related: PaleyFest 2013 Unveils Full Schedule Read More »

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Is Charter Communications Preparing A Big Deal?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday February 5, 2013 @ 2:37pm ESTTags: Charter Communications

A lot of Wall Streeters believe that something important is in the works. The cable company’s shares are up 5% in afternoon trading amid talk that it’s gearing up for a deal with a larger company — possibly either Time Warner Cable or Cox. Word has it that Charter just froze all budgets including hiring at its new headquarters in Stamford, CT. The company won’t confirm or deny. Yesterday Charter said it hired a Wall Street vet to handle M&A: Charles Fisher is the new SVP for corporate finance. He was a Senior Managing Director with Guggenheim Securities, and led the media investment banking practice at Nomura Securities. Charter also hired former Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Anninger to be VP of investor relations. The timing seems a little odd: Former Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge became CEO just a year ago, and is in the middle of moving top management to Stamford from the company’s long-time headquarters in St. Louis. Still, some savvy investors evidently believe that Charter is ready to take off. Financial news web site Inside Monkey reports that billionaire investors Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital, Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital, and George Soros recently bought or increased their stakes in Charter. The company plans to disclose its Q4 results on February 22.

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Rob Kim Leaves Untitled Entertainment, Joins APA As VP

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday January 29, 2013 @ 3:32pm PSTTags: APA, UTA
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Former UTA agent Rob Kim is joining APA as a VP after a five-month stint at Untitled Entertainment. At Untitled, Kim served as a literary and talent manager, and was to help set up and run the firm’s new dedicated television production arm. I hear he didn’t feel management was a good fit for him and wanted to return to agenting. Kim is expected to start at APA on Monday. “We’re thrilled to have Rob join our ranks,” said APA EVP and partner Lee Dinstman. “His experience working with some of the top showrunners, producers and talent in the industry will be an enormous resource as APA continues to grow.”

I hear Untitled, which has four series on the air that it had set up before Kim’s arrival, including HBO’s Enlightened and Showtime’s upcoming Ray Donovan, plans to hire a replacement. Kim was a 17-year veteran UTA TV lit and packaging agent when he left the agency in 2009 to run client Ed Bernero’s ABC Studios-based production company. While at UTA, Kim represented writers and actors, including Drew Goddard (Lost), Marc Guggenheim (Arrow), Chris Henchy (The Other Guys), Mike Kelley (Revenge), Steve Molaro (The Big Bang Theory), Chris Mundy (Low Winter Sun), Nelly (The Longest Yard), Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle), Vanessa Taylor (Game Of Thrones), Garland Testa (King Of The Hill) and Alex Woo (True Blood). It is … Read More »

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LA Dodgers Plans Sports Channel With Time Warner Cable As Charter Distributor

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday January 28, 2013 @ 6:09am PSTTags: Los Angeles Dodgers, Time Warner Cable

LOS ANGELES, (January 28, 2013) – The Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group created American Media Productions, LLC (AMP) in December 2012 to launch a new Los Angeles Dodgers regional sports network. Today, AMP announced its plans for SportsNet LA, the new regional television home for the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning with the 2014 Major League Baseball season. In addition to being the exclusive local home for all of the Dodger games, SportsNet LA will provide comprehensive behind-the-scenes Dodger programming, featuring more insights, analysis and commentary about the team than ever available before.

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