Search Results for: “TEd”

CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning Helmer Of ‘The Lives Of Others’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 9:12am PDTTags: CAA, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives Of Others, The Tourist
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has returned to CAA. Henckel von Donnersmarck blazed on the scene after the German filmmaker wrote and directed 2006′s The Lives Of Others, which won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and generated $77 million at the worldwide box office on a $3 million budget. A bright man who speaks five languages, he was expected to soar in Hollywood, but that ascent has been a slow one. He has bounced in and out of numerous project since then, and directed the Angelina Jolie-Johnny Depp film The Tourist, which disappointed in the U.S. comparative to that star power but grossed a solid $278 million worldwide. He had most recently been at UTA.

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FX Greenlights Comedy Pilot From Simon Rich & Broadway Video

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 9:05am PDTTags: FX Networks, Man Seeking Woman, Simon Rich
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: FX Networks has given a pilot order to Man Seeking Woman, a half-hour comedy pilot from former Saturday Night Live writer/humorist/novelist Simon Rich and Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. The project,  based on Rich’s book The Last Girlfriend On Earth, is described as a sweet, surreal, and bitingly funny look at the life and death stakes of dating in New York City. Jonathan Krisel (Portlandia, SNL) is set to direct the pilot from a script by Rich. The two are executive producing with Broadway Video for FX Prods. If Man Seeking Woman goes to series, it will make 28-year-old Rich one of the youngest series creators ever. He already became the youngest writer in the history of SNL, where he spent four seasons from 2007-2011 before segueing to a writing job at Pixar Studios. Rich, son of former New York columnist Frank Rich, was still an undergraduate at Harvard, where he edited The Harvard Lampoon, when he landed a two-book deal at Random House, His first book, Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations, was nominated for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. His first novel, Elliot Allagash, was optioned by Jason Reitman. The Last Girlfriend On Earth, Rich’s fifth book, was published in January. Man Seeking Woman joins two other comedy pilots at FX Networks, which is ramping up comedy development ahead of the fall launch of comedy-centric FXX: the Tracy Morgan-starrer Death Pact and the Andrew Gurland project. Read More »

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Hot Short Film: ‘Tonight I Strike’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 8:27am PDTTags: Dan Gaud, Tonight I Strike
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: After getting his start doing VFX work on projects including District 9 and The Watchmen, Canadian filmmaker Dan Gaud has his eye on directing. Here is a look at his calling card, Tonight I Strike, is a $15,000 futuristic short with about 60 VFX shots that he executed on a laptop computer in a short he shot in seven days. The money was raised by his manager, Jewerl Ross, who signed Gaud off another short that he had made for $500. Gaud’s hope from this short is to sign with an agency and either make a feature that is set in the world this short presents, or maybe the plethora of no-budget features that producers like Jason Blum are minting money with as counter-programming to the big budgeters. What do you think?

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par With Last Spring Against Big NBA Game

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 8:13am PDT
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: It was great news all around for ABC last night. First, the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs staged an overtime thriller that scored a 14.7 overnight rating, up 29% from Game 5, the second highest-rated NBA Finals Game 6 ever on ABC behind the 2011 Heat-Mavericks decider and the fourth highest rated game ever on the network. Secondly, Miami Heat prevailed, forcing a Game 7.

The Heat-Spurs heroics likely affected the finale of NBC’s The Voice, which faced the big game in some parts of the country, the first time the singing competition has gone against a major sporting event for its finale. Still, The Voice from 9-11 PM managed a 4.3/12 in adults 18-49, even with the fast national for its previous spring cycle which concluded in early May last year. (It currently runs .1 behind last May’s national but will likely be adjusted up later today too.) Vs. the most recent fall cycle, The Voice finale was down 12%. In total viewers, with 15.3 million tuning in, this was the most watched Voice finale ever. At 8 PM, America’s Got Talent (2.9/9) was down by a tenth from last week.

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Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At Resolution

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 8:12am PDTTags: Joy Bryant, Parenthood, Resolution, Steve Alexander
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Joy Bryant has signed with Resolution Agency, reuniting her with a team led by her longtime CAA agent, Steve Alexander. Bryant, whose breakout came in Antwone Fisher, can currently be seen in her role as Jasmine Trussell on NBC’s Parenthood and will next be seen in the feature film About Last Night, starring opposite Kevin Hart and Paula Patton. She continues to produce and appear on the Reserve Channel’s web series Across the Board. She continues to be represented by Brian Young at Killer Moxie Management.

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Apple TV Adds HBO GO & Watch ESPN

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 7:38am PDTTags: Apple TV, HBO GO, WatchESPN

CUPERTINO, California—June 19, 2013—Apple today announced that HBO GO and WatchESPN are now available directly on Apple TV joining the great lineup of programming offered to customers. iTunes users have downloaded more than one billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing over 800,000 TV episodes and over 350,000 movies per day.

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Tribune Brings In New CFO

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 7:33am PDTTags: Peter Liguori, Steven Berns, Tribune
Nellie Andreeva

Tribune Co’s new CEO Peter Liguori continues to put his stamp on the company’s top management team. Tribune has appointed Steven Berns as EVP/Chief Financial Officer. Berns, who starts next month reporting to Liguori, comes from Revlon, Inc., where he has served in a similar capacity since 2009. Berns replaces Chandler Bigelow, who, after a five-year stint as CFO, is segueing to a new role as EVP/Chief Business Strategies and Operations Officer. He will oversee the company’s equity investments and its real estate portfolio, and will help lead the ongoing transformation of Tribune’s traditional media businesses, continuing to report to Liguori. “Steven’s broad experience, financial acumen, and open management style will enable us to make a seamless transition in the leadership of our finance team,” said Liguori. “At the same time, I am excited to partner with Chandler in his new role as we continue to evolve our businesses; his institutional knowledge, financial rigor and strategic instincts make Chandler ideal for this role.”

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Ex-Agent Jourdan Martin Launches Turkish VOD Service; Has Plans For Mexico, Russia

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday, 19 June 2013 14:28 UKTags: Turkey

EXCLUSIVE: Former Endeavor agent and LA-based entrepreneur, Jourdan Martin, has partnered with a group of Turkish media execs to form Turkweb.tv. The ad-supported VOD service has been in soft-launch in Turkey with 11,000 hours of local content averaging 15 million video views per month. With the official launch, plans are also underway to establish similar services in Russia and Mexico, likewise with local content, although some Hollywood fare is expected to enter the frame. Turkey is a hot territory right now where the ad market is particulary strong and where homegrown TV series have increased steadily in popularity both at home and abroad in recent years. Partnered in the venture with Martin are former D-Smart exec Murat Saygi; former board member and president of Dogan TV Holding Group, Sevin Ergun Sefada; and Adnan Akdemir, founder of Turkish cinema operator AFM. Read More »

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Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films Picks Up Romantic Drama ‘Things Never Said’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday June 19, 2013 @ 5:00am PDTTags: Codeblack Films, Lionsgate, Things Never Said

Two weeks before its stand-up pic Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain opens in theaters, the distributor founded by Jeff Clanahan has acquired U.S. rights to the romantic drama Things Never Said. The pic is written and directed by Charles Murray, who is making his feature debut after a decade in television. Shanola Hampton stars as an aspiring poet in a dangerous marriage who dreams of taking her work to New York. A surprise new love (Omari Hardwick) helps her find her artistic voice. Brian “Skinny B” Lewis produced the film, which is executive produced by Nicole Elliot, Steven LaBroi and Geofrey Hildrew. Codeblack Films, the Lionsgate unit that recently acquired Sundance drama The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete, will release Things Never Said this year.

Related: Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films Picks Up Angela Davis Documentary

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Netflix Plans Netherlands Launch

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday, 19 June 2013 08:15 UKTags: Netflix

Continuing its international expansion, Netflix will move into the Netherlands later this year. This follows on from launches in the UK, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway in 2012 and Latin America in 2011. The streaming service currently has 36 million members in 40 countries. Netflix did not provide details of the Netherlands launch, but said information on pricing, content and supported devices will be available at a later date. It did confirm that users will have immediate access to Hollywood films, local and global movie and TV content and original series like House Of Cards and Arrested Development.

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Global Showbiz Briefs: UK Scramble For FA Cup Rights; Shanghai’s Box Office Surges; Karlovy Vary Honors John Travolta; More

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday, 19 June 2013 05:00 UKTags: Food Network, John Travolta, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Vince Gilligan, \

At Least Four UK Nets Lining Up To Bid For FA Cup Rights
A bidding war reportedly is gearing up in the UK for TV rights to soccer tournament the FA Cup for the three seasons to 2017-18. Financial Times reports that BT, ITV, BSkyB and the BBC are entering bids. BT and ITV currently share rights to the FA Cup until the end of the 2013-14 season. FT says analysts predict that having all four in the ring could significantly push up the cost of the rights. In January 2012, ITV acquired free-to-air broadcast rights for 16 FA Cup games per season, along with some of England’s home qualifying games, for an annual cost of £43M. But the BBC is understood to be concerned about its lack of live soccer during the regular season. BT and BSkyB are still expected to be the most aggressive bidders.

Shanghai Now Second-Biggest Box Office Among Chinese Cities
Shanghai box office has become the second biggest of all mainland Chinese cities and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the next few years, spurred on by investment from U.S. studios Disney and DreamWorks, according to a study by Artisan Gateway. In 2012, Shanghai’s box office was $214.2 million, a 22.2% year-on-year growth. The city, regarded as the birthplace of Chinese cinema, has 122 movie theaters, just two more than the No. 1 Beijing market. The U.S. Consulate, which sponsored the study, said it plans to contribute more to protecting IP rights, Shanghai Daily reported. Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Kick-Ass 2′

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 8:55pm PDTTags: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey, Kick-Ass 2

The costumed Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl continue to protect the city while knocking the crap out of the bad guys in this follow-up to the 2010 pseudo-superhero flick. This year’s model sees our heroes inspiring a number of copycat do-gooders, including the masked Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). But the newbies are hunted down by a young man with an unprintable name who wants to be the world’s first real supervillain and puts together an army to help him. Kick-Ass 2 returns Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse but not director Matthew Vaughn. Jeff Wadlow takes over the chair for the Universal sequel. Here’s the trailer:

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EMMYS Q&A: Mitch Hurwitz

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 8:06pm PDTTags: Arrested Development, Emmys, Mitch Hurwitz

Paul Brownfield is an AwardsLine contributor.

On May 26 at 12:01 a.m., 15 new episodes of Arrested Development went live on Netflix; by 5 a.m., the series’ legions of fans probably had exhausted the new supply. The comedy’s cancellation of Arrested by Fox in 2006, after two seasons, prompted an afterlife of rumors and almost-announcements, as series creator Mitch Hurwitz worked on a feature script of his cult series. Like the fans, Hurwitz didn’t want to let go of his extended band of crazies, the Bluths, either. And then Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, suggested resurrecting the show to Imagine Entertainment’s Ron Howard. “And Ron said, ‘That’s a very nice thought, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen,’” Hurwitz says. Except it did happen.

Related: EMMYS: Comedy Series Overview

AwardsLine: How different was the process in working with Netflix?
Mitch Hurwitz: I wasn’t turning scripts in, because of the nature of the thing. We weren’t shooting one a week. We’d shoot pieces of eight different episodes in any given week. We were shooting 12, 14 pages a day, shooting like crazy. We screened it at the premiere — it was the first time an audience had seen it, but it was also the first time I’d seen two (episodes) in a row. I’d just been making them and putting them in the pipeline. And I guess that’s the case usually with television. The difference with this one, though, is that it’s all coming out on the same day. And it will be viewed by some as an eight-hour movie. Read More »

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Talent Managers Association Elects Annet McCroskey President

By JEN YAMATO | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 7:30pm PDTTags: Annet McCroskey, Talent Managers Association

Annet McCroskey Talent Managers AssociationEXCLUSIVE: Annet McCroskey of Artistic Endeavors has been elected President of the Talent Managers Association, the non-profit organization created in 1954 to promote the talent management biz. Three months ago Phil Brock of Studio Talent Group stepped down from the post after serving for two years. Then-Board of Directors VP McCroskey filled in back in March when Brock suddenly vacated the position. She’ll now become the organization’s first female president in 20 years. Longtime Harrison Ford manager Pat McQueeney was elected to the post in 1980 and Christina Applegate’s manager Tami Lynn served in 1993. “Many of us were moved by Laura Linney’s acceptance speech this week at the WIF Crystal + Lucy Awards about women in entertainment and how much more progress we have to make as an industry,” said McCroskey. “As an organization we strive to be equally inclusive of all of our members and mentor other managers to adhere to our strict code of ethics.” McCroskey’s priorities include the annual industry Heller Awards planned for September 19, 2013.

Related: Laura Linney On Gender Inequality In Film Business: ‘It’s Unhealthy”

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2ND UPDATE: Charlie Sheen Fired Selma Blair From ‘Anger Management’ Via Text, Show To Continue Production As Scheduled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 6:10pm PDTTags: Anger Management, Charlie Sheen, FX, Selma Blair
Nellie Andreeva

2ND UPDATE 6:10 PM: I’ve learned more details about Selma Blair‘s shocking dismissal from Anger Management. I hear Charlie Sheen “fired” her via text, in which he called the actress a “c–t”. And it was not the only abusive, expletives-filled text she had received from Sheen, who also serves as an executive producer on Anger Management. I also hear that Blair was not the only memCharlie Sheen Selma Blair Anger Management Feudber of the show’s cast and crew that was frustrated by Sheen’s work habits as I hear they would often sit and wait for hours for him to show up for work. Although it was Blair voicing her concerns that got Sheen to flip out and get her sacked. I hear Blair’s role as Charlie’s therapist will not be recast. Probably not coincidentally, I hear the series just sent out a notice about a new female regular who is expected to fill the void left by Blair. The producers likely will use Blair’s exit for another creative makeover following the recent tweaking following Anger Management‘s sagging ratings. But, while the show took an unplanned hiatus for the recent creative retool, it is now expected to stay in production as scheduled, with the writers making changes prompted by Blair’s departure on the fly. Anger Management is roughly halfway through its 100-episode order from FX. As for Blair, word is that she is being paid per her contract and no legal action is in the cards, at least not for now.

Related: FX Networks Brass Talk FX, FXX & FXM Synergy, FXNow, ‘Anger Management’

UPDATE TUESDAY 5:15 PM: What Charlie Sheen wants, he gets. After mounting a campaign to get his co-star on the FX comedy series Selma Blair fired over alleged comments questioning his work ethic, it’s mission accomplished for Sheen, who reportedly threatened to quit the show if Blair stayed. Anger Management producer Lionsgate just issued a statement, making Blair’s dismissal from the show official. “We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to Anger Management, and we wish her the very best.”

Related: Charlie Sheen Hits Pause On Representation Relationship With Manager Mark Burg

PREVIOUS MONDAY PM:  The producers of FX‘s Anger Management and reps for Selma Blair are hunkered down today trying to patch things up following a scathing TMZ report posted in the middle of the night that series star and executive producer Charlie Sheen was dead set on firing his co-star over alleged complaints about Sheen she had made to other Anger Management producers. There is no official word on Blair’s status on the show with everyone involved keeping mum, but in a recent tweet posted on the show’s first day back from a monthlong hiatus for creative tweaking in light of the recent ratings slump, Blair was more than complimentary of Sheen: “Thanks for a great day back . You looked pretty darn handsome.” Read More »

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Time Warner Cable Sued For Passing Lakers-Dodgers Costs On To Customers

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 5:51pm PDTTags: Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable raised a lot of eyebrows when it paid $3B for TV rights to the LA Lakers for the next 20 years and then a record $8B for LA Dodgers rights for the next 25 years. When the Dodgers deal launches in 2014, the cable company will have four new networks for all that content. But the plan to partially pay for those new channels via boosting TWC customers’ fees — even from Southern California users who don’t want the channels and have no way to opt out of the bundles — apparently is not sitting well. Some of those customers filed a class action suit in LA Superior Court today targeting TWC, the Lakers and the Dodgers for restitution and injunctive relief for violating California Business & Professions Code 172000. The complaint (read it here) says unless restrained by the court, TWC will “pass these costs along to its total Southern California subscriber base, resulting, directly or indirectly, in additional fees passed onto subscribers beginning with the 2014 season of approximately $4-$5 per month per subscriber … which together add (or will if unrestrained) $100 per year to the subscriber’s TWC bill”. Read More »

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Fox Business Fires Tobin Smith Over Off-Air Stock Tout That Netted His Company $50K

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 5:50pm PDTTags: Fox News, Fox News Channel, News Corp, Tobin Smith

Fox News Fires Tobin SmithFox Business Network had some business advice for Tobin Smith today: Find work elsewhere. The investment manager and author who has been a familiar face on Fox News confirmed his sacking to the Wall Street Journal, which reported earlier in the day that Smith was in hot water over “sponsored investment research.” His NBT Equities Research collects checks to tout the stocks of small companies via such paid research, which the businesses count on to boost their share price and volume. And last week, Smith – a regular panelist on Fox News’ Bulls & Bears – sent out an email and ad flier via his new Next Big Thing newsletter touting Petrosonic Energy. The campaign came with a disclaimer saying it was paid advertising, for which NBT banked $50,000, and he did not mention Petrosonic on the air at Fox News. But some investors who bought into the company based on Smith’s recommendation contacted WSJ‘s Market Watch blog, apparently not having read the disclaimer. Read More »

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Jonah Hill Signs For Management With LBI

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 5:43pm PDTTags: Jonah Hill, LBI Entertainment, The Wolf of Wall Street, This Is The End
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Jonah Hill has taken on management. He has signed with LBI Entertainment, where he will be repped by a team headed by Ian Montone and Rick Yorn. They will rep him in all areas, along with WME and attorney Karl Austen. Hill continues to surprise as he evolves from the fro-headed kid in Superbad to a lead in ribald stoner comedies like This Is The End, to serious roles like his Oscar nominated turn in Moneyball, and the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf Of Wall Street. In the Rupert Gould-directed Plan B-produced True Story, Hill next plays disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel, who was sacked just as a suspected killer on the FBI’s Most Wanted List who was using his name got caught, and would only talk to the journo at a time his life was crashing down around him. James Franco plays the killer.

Hill also has a 21 Jump Street sequel after getting story credit on the original hit he starred in with Channing Tatum. And let’s not forget his other pivotal recent screen credit, Bag Head #2, in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

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BCDF Nabs ‘Cops And Robots’ Spec Script

By JEN YAMATO | Tuesday June 18, 2013 @ 5:40pm PDTTags: BCDF Pictures, Cops And Robots, Matteson Perry

EXCLUSIVE: NY-based BCDF Pictures has acquired spec script Cops And Robots from writer Matteson Perry, about an odd couple police duo – one a veteran cop, the other the world’s first android officer – who must learn to work together to avoid being replaced by newer models. the action comedy project could mark a slight departure for BCDF Pictures, which I hear is starting to eye bigger and more studio-friendly films. Run out of a 35-acre converted horse farm in upstate NY, BCDF previously produced Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground, Josh Radnor’s Liberal Arts, and last year’s VOD hit Bachelorette. (Caliber Media reps both Perry and Bachelorette writer-director Leslye Headland.) Perry, a stand up comedian who also hosts LA’s Moth StorySlam, has had a great start to the summer: Last month Myriad Pictures and Depth of Field signed Seann William Scott to star in Guidance, Perry’s first sold script, about a high school counselor who starts lying to help a wayward teen.

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