Carl Icahn Now Wants ALL Of Lionsgate 
Action Comedy TV: Showrunner Matt Nix 
SAG National Board Approves Joint Bargaining … From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: Harbotte & Lewis, the specialist media law firm, has poached two of London’s top film and TV lawyers from rival Reed Smith. Jonathan Berger and Peter Armstrong have left Reed Smith to join Harbottle, which is beefing up its film and ... Read More »
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David Linde Resurfaces With New Company
From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: David Linde is sequeing into his new gig after exiting as co-chairman of Universal Pictures. (The international expert was collateral damage when Marc Shmuger got axed.) Linde is starting his own global indie film company called Lava Bear that will adopt ... Read More »
Oscar Spoilers: Best Original Song Artists Not Performing; But Contestants Invited From 'So You Think You Can Dance?'
EXCLUSIVE: Oscarcast executive producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic have dropped a bombshell, telling artists nominated for Best Original Song that they won’t be invited to perform the usual big production number. The decision has hit a sour note for the nominated performers. Instead ... Read More »
UPDATE: Taylor Lautner & Steven Soderbergh Films Still Haven't Sold But Bidding Continues
UPDATES Studios Battle Over Another Taylor Lautner Project
UPDATES Will Studios Catch Soderbergh Virus Thriller?
UPDATED: Last week, I told you about two big films being shopped: the Taylor Lautner-attached spec ... Read More »
Incoming CEO Needs To Rethink ITV Strategy
UPDATES ITV Appoints Adam Crozier As New CEO
From Deadline|London editor Tim Adler: Analysts tell me that the biggest challenge facing incoming CEO Adam Crozier is sorting out ITV’s digital channels. The UK’s largest non-BBC channel has started a ... Read More »
BOX OFFICE LOVEFEST: 'Valentine's Day' Smashes All Prez Weekend Records With $65M Four-Day Total; #2 'Percy Jackson' Strengthens; #3 'Wolfman' Weakens
SUNDAY PM: Once again, moviegoers showed that they wanted whatever Hollywood was giving them, no matter what critics were telling them about the 3 very different genre films that opened Friday through Monday. This turned into the highest grossing U.S. Presidents Weekend ever with a 4-day total estimated at $230 million, besting the previous record of $220M set last year. But this year's overall number was aided by the inclusion of Valentine's Day. And New Line/Warner Bros exploited all the love in the air by delivering the critically savaged but filmgoer pleasing movie Valentine's Day for the weekend's widest release of 3,665 theaters. Look, success like this doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. Toby Emmerich et al came up with a formula of cramming more than a dozen stars into a film and keeping the budget below $50 million.
So these days, when most films can barely afford even 2 major stars, how did Valentine’s Day keep costs down for the cast including Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, Taylor Lautner, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah and Emma Roberts? Most worked for discounted quotes and some back-end because they were able to film their parts quickly and then leave for other projects. All those names made for an impressive trailer (the one-sheet is so crowded that only thumbnails of the stars in the shape of a heart was possible). So women were easily wooed to want to see this ... Read More »
'Hurt Locker' & 'Hangover' Win Ace Awards
Here are the winners for the American Cinema Editors' 60th Annual ACE Eddie Awards announced Monday evening. They were announced tonight in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This is funny -- these folks are so good at editing that the night ended much earlier than scheduled!
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Hurt Locker
Bob Murawski & Chris Innis
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
The Hangover
Debra Neil-Fisher, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
UP
Kevin Nolting
BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:
30 Rock: "Apollo Apollo"
Ken Eluto, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Breaking Bad: "ABQ"
Lynne Willingham, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Dexter: "Remains to be Seen"
Louis Cioffi
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Grey Gardens
Alan Heim, A.C.E. & Lee Percy, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:
The Cove
Geoffrey Richman
BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:
The Deadliest Catch: "Stay Focused Ordie"
Kelly Coskran & Josh Earl
97 Mil Watch NBCU Vancouver Olympics
Does it seem to you like there are less commercial breaks and attention deficit disorder-style editing during this Olympics coverage, especially during primetime? Thank god. Maybe that's why the ratings are so good. But why can't I find 24/7 Olympics coverage on all NBCU stations, broadcast and cable? Because execs like Jeff Zucker, Dick Ebersol, are pinheads. And that's why NBCU will still be in the ratings crapper for 50 primetime weeks out of the year once the Olympics are over. Of course, GE chairman/CEO Jeff Immelt has already warned that NBCU is likely to lose “a couple hundred million bucks" on these Winter Games, thanks to overbidding by Ebersol, NBCU Sports and Olympics czar. (This is the same asshole who criticized Conan O'Brien as an "astounding failure".)
It turns out 97 million watched NBCU's Vancouver Winter Games during the first 2 days of coverage, or 9M more than watched the Torino Games and the most since the tabloid-fueled 1994 Lillehammer Games (because of the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal). So says today's Nielsen Media Research. This comes after NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremony was the most watched ever for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics in 16 years with 67.5 million total viewers. The 32.6 million average viewers is the most for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in 16 years - just below the 33.8 million for the tabloid-fueled Lillehammer Games in 1994. The 17.3/30 national household rating is also ... Read More »
What Production Designers Really Think...
At the start of the Art Directors Guild awards last night, this short film by Cindy Peters titled The Case of the Bad Production Designer debuted:
'Hurt Locker', 'Avatar', 'Sherlock Holmes' Win 14th Annual Art Director Awards
BEVERLY HILLS, February 13 —The Art Directors Guild (ADG) tonight announced winners of its 14th Annual Excellence in 2009 Production Design Awards in nine categories of film, television, commercials and music videos during black-tie ceremonies at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. ADG Chairman Thomas A. Walsh presided over the awards ceremony with Paula Poundstone serving as host. Honorary awards were presented to Production Designer Terence Marsh for Lifetime Achievement and to iconic filmmaker Warren Beatty for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery. Production Designer Michael Baugh also received a Creative Leadership Award.
During its ceremony tonight ADG inducted three additional legendary Production Designers into its Hall of Fame, bringing the roster to 30. The new inductees were Malcolm F. Brown, Bob Keene and Ferdinando Scarfiotti.
ADG awards recognition always goes to the Production Designer, Art Director and Assistant Art Director of each nominated and winning project.
WINNERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM IN 2009:
Period Film
“Sherlock Holmes” Production Designer: Sarah Greenwood
Fantasy Film
“Avatar” Production Designer: Rick Carter
Robert Stromberg
Contemporary Film
“The Hurt Locker” Production Designer: Karl Juliusson
WINNERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN IN TELEVISION FOR 2009:
Single-Camera Television Series
“Mad Men”
Episode: Souvenir Production Designer: Dan Bishop
Television Movie or Mini-Series
“Grey Gardens” Production Designer: Kalina Ivanov
Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series
“Weeds”
Episode: Ducks and Tigers Production Designer: Joseph P. Lucky
Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety or Unscripted Series
“Hell’s Kitchen”
Episode: 604 Production Designer: John Janavs
Awards, Music or Game Shows
51st Annual Grammy Awards Production Designer: Brian Stonestreet
Steve Bass
WINNER FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR COMMERCIALS AND MUSIC VIDEOS ... Read More »
Roger Corman Doing 'Sharktopus!' For Syfy
Back on January 3rd, I posted this Mogul Tip: Make More Movies With Sharks after the straight-to-video pic Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus finished No. 8 on Yahoo's Top 10 most viewed trailers of 2009. Now the Internet is all atwitter because Karen O'Hara, the director of original movies at Syfy, has announced via Twitter a greenlight for the long gestating Sharktopus!. Legendary director Roger Corman is a natural for the project because he's already given us Supergator, Dinocroc, and Dinoshark. If only Peter Benchley were still alive. Above is graphic artist Matt Leach's rendition of what the creature feature might look like. Below are O'Hara's Tweets:
-- Spent half am hour discussing what a sharktopus should look like, how many mouths it should have and how it should kill. That's my job! 11:42 AM Feb 10th from web
-- Just got off the phone with the legendary Roger Corman who's doing a new movie for us this year. Yes, it's the long-rumored SHARKTOPUS! 11:41 AM Feb 10th from web
-- So - if you were making a movie called SHARKTOPUS - half shark, half octopus - what cool stunts would you like to see the creature do? 1:01 PM Jan 11th from web
R.I.P. Gareth Wigan
Sony announced today that Gareth Wigan, whose legendary half century career in the motion picture industry was integral to some of the most successful films ever made including Star Wars, passed away this morning after a brief illness. He was 78.
"Wigan’s distinguished journey as an agent, producer, studio executive and production chief is rich with notable and visionary achievements – from his work as a young production executive on Star Wars to his role as a pioneer in the growth of global cinema by championing such acclaimed filmmakers such as Ang Lee, Stephen Chow, Zhang Yimou, Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn, and Feng Xiao Gong. London-born Wigan was, first and foremost, a passionate cinephile, singled out by his colleagues for his immense taste, endless intelligence, elegance, preparedness, and grace. A graduate of Oxford who began his career as an agent in the UK office of MCA in the late 1950s, Wigan represented such artists as director John Schlesinger (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Marathon Man), Richard Lester (A Hard Days Night), and British rock pioneer Ronnie Harwood, among many others. In the mid 1960s, he formed his own talent agency Gregson & Wigan Ltd., with his business partner Richard Gregson. Representing some of the most renowned British writers, directors, musicians and producers of the era, Wigan became a trailblazer with the first UK agency to open offices in Los Angeles and New York.
After selling the agency to EMI in 1970, Wigan produced his
... Read More »
Icahn Buys Still More Lionsgate Shares
UPDATE: Corporate raider/shareholder activist Carl Icahn gobbled up another 945,139 shares of Lionsgate from February 9th-11th, raising his stake to roughly 18.7% of the mini-major, or 22,107,571 shares. Financial sources tell me Icahn may be buying these shares because Lionsgate shares are so low-priced now (in the low $5s) that he's simply averaging down his cost basis. Remember, Icahn originally bought millions of shares when the stock was trading between $10-$11. And it's still the case that if he owns more than 20% of Lionsgate stock, it triggers a bank default. (Lionsgate's lenders, led by JPMorgan Chase, insisted on amending the company's $340 million credit facility and adding the default covenant.) So he will inch his way up to 19.99% so long as he can buy the shares on the cheap to minimize his losses when he sells.
Kevin Costner Moves From CAA To WME
Oscar-winner Kevin Costner has moved to WME, where he signed with co-CEO and board member Patrick Whitesell. The Dances With Wolves director/star had been represented by CAA, and continues to be managed by One Talent Management’s J.J. Harris. Costner isn’t ... Read More »
3RD UPDATE: Signings, Hirings, Firings
2ND UPDATE: My colleague Mike Fleming just posted Kevin Costner Moves From CAA To WME
UPDATE: Oscar-winner Halle Berry has left ICM. She was represented by Toni Howard. No word about where she's headed -- but she has been at CAA, and then WME, and then ICM. I hear it was an emotional departure. She still is managed by Vince Cirrincione who has handled her since the start of her career.
CAA has signed actor Penn Badgley of The Stepfather and Gossip Girl from WME.
WME is now repping director Vadim Perelman whose first film House Of Sand And Fog was nominated for three Oscars. He is attached to Poltergeist and Song Of Names. The helmer comes to WME from CAA.
Fox Fringe star Josh Jackson has left UTA. 3RD UPDATE: Jackson also fired his longtime manager Mike Bircumshaw.
Geordie E. Frey of GEF Entertainment management has signed, along with Bob Gersh, Alex Yarosh, and David DeCamillo at The Gersh Agency, Ugly Betty co-star Ana Ortiz to represent in all areas.
Mark Gordon Partners With 360 On Films
EXCLUSIVE: I can't readily recall a direct link between a seasoned producer and a top-tier management firm like this, but Management 360 and The Mark Gordon Company have formed MG/360. It also cuts down on the likelihood of ... Read More »
Knocking Down DC Comics Rumors...
I'm assured there is no truth to the Internet rumors circulating that Barbara Marcus will be the next publisher of DC Comics. A bigtime kid books publisher, Marcus is pals with DC Entertainment president after they launched the licensing partnership between Scholastic and Warner Bros for the Harry Potter films.
Veteran Time Warner Mouthpiece Leaving
UPDATE: Ed Adler only informed boss Jeff Bewkes yesterday of his desire to leave. In a sea of corporate communications assholes, especially when it comes to Big Media, Ed Adler has always been that rare professional who was able to advocate for Time Warner and yet at the same time maintain honest and open relations with the media. This through often trying circumstances, especially when the company was flailing, the executives failing, the stock falling, and basically everything had turned to shit. He also understood the business media's role to probe and generally pour salt into a company's open wounds. Yet he did this without insults, or intimidation, or arrogance. He was a mensch. So it is with incredible sadness that I report his departure from the company. Believe me when I say the Time Warner press release below is accurate: no one wanted to see him go:
NEW YORK, February 12, 2010 – Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) today announced that Edward Adler, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, will leave the company after a transition period.
“Ed has made an enormous contribution to the evolution of Time Warner over the course of his career, expertly guiding our communications efforts through some of the company’s most momentous changes,” said Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner. “Ed’s strategic initiatives supported last year’s reconfiguration of the company and built our momentum as we move forward focused on Time Warner’s great strengths. It was
... Read More »
MGM's Price May Be Right For Jeff Bewkes
Insiders keep telling me that MGM "is Time Warner's to lose" given current bids...
What Christian Grass' Move Really Means
UPDATES Uni Repositions Foreign Prod Under UPI
Here in London, Christian Grass’s move from being co-CEO of Focus Features International, and instead having to report to Universal’s international head David Kosse, is being regarded as a step down. The official line is that it’s ... Read More »
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