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EXCLUSIVE: I've learned that the upstart private equity firm Star Avenue Capital is buying a majority stake in J Brand, a denim apparel brand whose signature lines of skintight jeans are a favorite of celebrities with impossibly small waists and thin thighs. But what's interesting here is that Star Avenue Capital is a partnership between CAA and Irving Place Capital, making the talent agency an equity owner in the blue jeans company. I hear SAC, led by Mark Genender, is looking for other consumer brands with growth potential.
When I first heard about this jeans deal which hasn't been announced yet, my sources said that CAA would put money in the venture but have no operational role. *UPDATE: One of Nikki Finke's sources looked at this deal back in November and says the stake being discussed at that time was in the $80M range -- a "big bet on niche premium denim". On the other hand, she hears Irving Place Capital bought Seven Jeans years ago and sold it for "a boatload of a profit".*
What the agency brings to the table, supposedly, are the services of its lifestyle, marketing, trend forecasting, market research, and licensing divisions to grow the brand. It is the first time I can remember that any talent agency has held a stake in a consumer apparel brand. (Though management company The Firm once held a majority stake in the Pony shoe brand.)
The presumption is that CAA clients will ... Read More »
"In the effort to fully leverage the distinctive look and product of the Rogue banner, Kavanaugh revealed that the company will include a clothing line, social networking ventures, and continued production of motion pictures which appeal to 15-25 year old audiences. 'As we delved into this, we learned the name Rogue resonates with young people not just as a movie brand, but also as an overall lifestyle brand, in a manner that we have never seen before,' said Kavanaugh. 'It encourages fans to embrace films and fashion across all avenues of their lives, especially within the digital space. Through www.RogueLife.com, we are able to effectively engage in a conversation with our 15-25 year old audience.'”
The Rogue lifestyle brand launches today claiming to embrace "the convergence of pop culture, music, and fashion. Like these culturally, artistically, and digitally enlightened trendsetters, Rogue embraces culture, history, and style with a smirk. With the ability to harness the pop culture-making power of the big screen and directly connect it with the mass grassroots (mass-roots) communication power of social networking, the Rogue brand provides the ultimate in digital connectivity."
It was announced today that everyone's favorite fashionista Tim Gunn from Project Runway will host interviews and commentary about Red Carpet fashions during guest arrivals for the 5 PM Oscar pre-show. So I thank the Academy for finally giving us someone who knows what he's talking about and not just another addled twit who wouldn't know a Keith Lissner from a Marc Jacobs. (New drinking game: If Tim tells anyone to "Make it work".) But I also have to bash the people who put on the Oscars for a really lousy decision, and then lying to me about it. I'd heard two weeks ago that the Academy wanted presenters to forgo the Red Carpet and premiere their fashions during the awards show itself to beef up ratings. But when I asked about it, they told me, "Oh, no. We wouldn't do that." 
But they're doing just that, according to celebrity publicists who are pissed that their clients are being asked to sneak in some side entrance and miss their Red Carpet moment (which is why the designers give them those dresses free in the first place). I say don't fuck with the fashion. It's the only thing in the broadcast that works. 
I give TV and movie fans a lot of credit: when they get mad, they scare the crap out of the moguls. That's happening at Lionsgate where the studio's phones and email accounts are jammed with angry fans for the past week. They're making a stink because new Lionsgate topper Joe Drake appears to be dumping all of ex-prez Peter Block's movies. That includes Midnight Meat Train, the adaptation of the Barker short story that's a fan fave. Supposedly the trailer tested higher than any film in Lionsgate history. But when Drake took over, he promptly bumped Midnight Meat Train from its May 16th release date. The result was that Rogue Pictures' The Strangers (which was skedded two weekends later) had zero competition in the hard-R category. And guess who was exec producer of The Strangers? Joe Drake.
The result is a lot of anti-Lionsgate blogging in Horrorville by fans, by self-appointed horror flick experts, and also by Barker himself. "I would passionately encourage everybody who cares about my work ... 
The French fashion giant had a long love affair with film, including his biggest fan Catherine Deneuve whom he called his "muse". YSL dressed her for the films Belle De Jour (1967), La Chamade (1968), La Sirène du Mississipi (1969), Un Flic (1972), Liza (1972), and The Hunger (1983). He also was the costume designer for films featuring Jean Seberg, Claudia Cardinale, Capucine and Leslie Caron. He had two documentaries done on him and his business by David Teboul: Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times and Yves Saint Laurent 5 avenue Marceau 75116 Paris. 
That's also the same gossip website and blogger that recently reported erroneously that Tracey Jacobs was leaving United Talent when she wasn't. Yes, reporting on Hollywood agents would be so much easier if only pesky facts didn't get in the way. But here's what really annoys me: supposedly reputable news outlets and reporters are now picking up erroneous information from gossip websites like Defamer. This is wrong on so many levels that I'm dismayed. Which is why I've decided to go behind-the-scenes of one such egregious and recent example of a showbiz reporting inaccuracy:
The message below went out from AFTRA's leadership to its membership just now. In my opinion, it sure looks as if the union is preparing members for a major cave-in on the clips issue. But I must say that hiding behind a Los Angeles Times opinion piece is ridiculous to the extreme. When it comes to clips and their use and compensation for actors, the issue is not so much the Internet but the fact that the studios and networks want to make free and unfettered use of clips for any purpose, including commercial entertainment compilations for which only their Big Media companies would benefit financially. SAG recognizes that any breach in the wall around clips is a disaster. There is no way actors should cave on this just so retiring AMPTP prez Nick Counter can have a last hurrah at their expense.
On yet another day when the stock market is tanking comes this Wall Street play: Time Warner announced that it's agreed on a plan to separate from Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 U.S. cable TV service provider. The move, which had been expected, is being billed in news reports as a chance for the companies to have more flexibility to compete in their respective fields and give investors a better choice how to allocate their assets. But, c'mon: a fat dividend for TWX and additional debt for TWC? Which side would you like to be on? And to think, it was Gerry Levin's cable play that got him the top spot at the company in the first place oh those many years ago. Of course, his successor Dick Parsons should have divorced cable but didn't have the balls. 
So again it falls to Parsons' successor TW boss Jeff Bewkes to do all the unpopular heavy lifting: he said today that, among other details of the transaction, Time Warner Cable will declare a dividend of $10.9 billion, of which Time Warner Inc. will receive $9.25 billion. Time Warner will distribute its stake in Time Warner Cable to TWX holders. and Time Warner Cable will have a single class of stock when the deal is done. I think TWC deserved a better divorce lawyer. 
The last time I saw a studio resort to prayer for a movie opening was Universal for Evan Almighty. And the Box Office Gods didn't make it a hit pic. But now Warner Bros is figuratively on its knees praying for at least a mid-$30 million weekend opening for its kiddie anime Speed Racer -- already down from a hoped-for $40 million just a few days earlier. There are some positive, and some negative, factors to consider. For instance, a plus is that the "Parents and Kids" premium tracking has bettered by a lot. But before I delve into those issues, I have to say that I rarely see Hollywood so gleeful to dump all over a movie's release. But my box office gurus can't wait to puncture the tires of what they say will be Speed Racer's slow crawl of a domestic opening Friday. Still their predictions are a bit higher today than a few weeks ago; they now range from high $20sM to mid-30sM from 3,606 theaters. That's well behind Marvel's blockbuster holdover Iron Man which Paramount has placed in 4,111 venues and projected a $50M second weekend.
But ultimately it's what's inside the trade paper that counts. "It all has a fresh-coat-of-paint-on-the-Titanic vibe to me," one THR source tells me. "I think the money could have been far better spent keeping bodies in the building that are now sorely, desperately needed."
the 2006 site redesign that was perceived as "botched" mostly by the newsroom and the new executives. (Feedback from actual readers and metrics then were generally good.) Most of the inside-the-trade complaints concerned navigation issues. The newsroom thought breaking news was buried or hard to find. The business development side wanted a permanent home for its advertorial issues to grow consumer traffic. And advertising wanted more prominent video to sell pre-rolls. So does the new site solve any of these?
WGA West prez Patric Verrone and SAG board member Justine Bateman traveled to Washington DC and testified at a hearing by the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday, describing the Internet as the only remaining open market for truly independent creators and stressing the need for "Net Neutrality". Both spoke on behalf of independent content creators concerned that Internet and broadband service providers will discriminate against their sites. The duo support free speech efforts to ensure consumers are guaranteed equal and unfettered access to all legal websites and online content. 
I gotta hand it to Sandy: he's reinvented himself more times than Madonna. (Remember when he took that job with Ovitz's ill-fated TeleTV?) So now the former Fox TV Entertainment Group chairman is running a global digital entertainment studio for aspiring filmmakers launching today with film producer Deepak Nayar (Bend it Like Beckham, Buena Vista Social Club). It's called Filmaka, and the hype is hilarious: it's "a new model for developing entertainment properties, and identifying and rewarding talent. 
Filmaka is committed to inspiring, celebrating, and rewarding creativity and talent by providing professional opportunities for undiscovered filmmakers and writers from all corners of the world through a variety of competitions that are juried by industry leaders." Sounds like yet another opportunity to raise and then dash the hopes and dreams of Hollywood wannabes. Cruel fun. 
News reports say the Delaware court has ruled against Liberty Media's John Malone in his effort to block Barry Diller from splitting InterActiveCorp into multiple companies. Well, at least Malone managed to land some down 'n' dirty jabs at Barry during this month's court proceeding. The only problem now is for shareholders who will continue to watch Barry run IAC just like he did Hollywood studios years before: any damn way he wants to. (See my previous, 
news coverage, how discomforting to know that some are increasing their celebrity reporting instead. I've learned that the venerable Associated Press is finally making good on its promise to pour major dollars into beefing up its already huge entertainment coverage by hiring 21 new employees in 2008 spread across Los Angeles, New York and London. (See internal memo below.) It's also cold comfort that AP insists its new separate entertainment vehicle is "not about gossip, unnamed sources and innuendo or about 'peephole' journalism with AP photographers becoming paparazzi." Instead, the wire service claims it's just giving its members what they want "in an area of growing interest" because it "makes good business sense".
economic times for newspapers: Dow Jones newswires just announced it'll stop using AP stories after failing to agree on a price after more than a year of negotiations. Clearly, the AP now thinks that Hollywood coverage can become its new cash cow. It's already led to AP signing a deal to provide celebrity video for People.com.
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