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UPDATES On Some Past DHD Stories

By Nikki Finke | Category: DH update | Thursday July 23, 2009 @ 2:58pm

-- Forbes magazine is reporting that Javier Bardem has turned down the role of hedge fund villain in Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2 for Fox. This updates my previous, Hedge Fund Is Villain In Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street 2'

-- Since I reported on SEC insider trading accusations against HD TV pioneer and film producer Mark Cuban, here's the follow-up:  a federal court dismissed the SEC's case against him. The SEC has 30 days to appeal.

-- Media outlets have been correcting their stories about DF Indie Studios after I reported that they reprinted inaccuracies contained in a press release from prominent flackeries. For example:

"(AP)-In a June 15 story about DF Indie Studios, The Associated Press reported erroneous claims by the company and founders Mary Dickinson and Charlene Fisher. In a news release and in interviews, DF Indie Studios and the founders said their movies will be produced by such Hollywood figures as Ridley and Tony Scott. Dickinson and Fisher also said they had $300 million in loans and distribution deals and were halfway to raising $100 million in equity. However, DF Indie Studios now acknowledges that it has not finalized its line of credit, its equity investments or all of its distribution deals. And a representative for the Scotts' production company says it has no business or contractual relationship with DF Indie Studios."

Updates my previous, OOPS! Media Get Punk'd By BWR & Ogilvy.

More may be added...

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WHAT A RAW DEAL! Investors And Media Get Punk'd By WWE & USA Network

By Nikki Finke | Category: Networks | Thursday June 18, 2009 @ 2:23pm

I don’t know what’s more shameful here: The fact that USA Network issued a bogus press release announcing that Donald Trump had bought World Wrestling Entertainment’s popular “Monday Night RAW” franchise? Or that publicly traded World Wrestling Entertainment participated in a scam that sent its share price down nearly 7% at one point on Tuesday? The USA Network (which is part of NBC Universal and in turn publicly traded GE) issued its apology today, acknowledging that “there is no actual ‘sale’.” The phony release was supposed to promote “an ongoing story arc” on the wrestling show. But the release sure looked real, including both companies’ logos as well as real contacts and phone numbers at WWE and USA Networks for reporters and investors to call. The release also included a quote from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon saying that Trump made an undisclosed offer that “I couldn’t refuse”. And Trump was quoted as promising to reward the RAW's fans by airing the next show this Monday “live and commercial free”. News organizations took it at face value; TV Guide posted a story based on the press release shortly after it was issued. And FoxBusiness.com posted the release itself. Doesn’t the SEC consider it a crime for public companies to mislead investors?

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OOPS! Media Get Punk'd By BWR & Ogilvy

By Nikki Finke | Category: Media | Tuesday June 16, 2009 @ 6:18pm

I've discovered that some top entertainment journalists were fooled by a press release they ran almost verbatim from the usually reliable showbiz PR firms of B/W/R and Ogilvy. Not just Variety (twice) and The Hollywood Reporter but also The New York Times and Los Angeles Times and Business Week and Forbes and Reuters and Bloomberg and as far afield as the Malaysian Insider. (Not me.) Shame on B/W/R and Ogilvy for not checking out their facts. Here's what happened:

The press release was timed to arrive in reporters' emails (including mine) on Sunday, usually a slow day news-wise. The headline, "DF Indie Studios launches a producer-centric venture with guaranteed U.S. theatrical distribution for films budgeted up to $10 million" begged for journalists to ask themselves, What the heck does that mean? The resulting news articles reported how two women were launching a new indie company and repeated the release's claims that "DFIS films will be produced by a team of established producers with successful box office track records including: This is that Productions - Ted Hope and Anne Carey (Adventureland, In the Bedroom, 21 Grams, The Ice Storm, The Savages); Scott Free - Ridley and Tony Scott’s shingle (Gladiator, The Taking of Pelham 123, Thelma & Louise, American Gangster); Jennifer Fox (Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck, Duplicity, Syriana); and RedBone Films whose co-founder, Samara Koffler, ran Harrison Ford’s production company for eight years." Oh really?

I've learned that the two women called up and scheduled a meeting with Ridley and Tony Scott and then came in and talked about financing deals. That was the extent of it. "These people take meetings all the time," a source close to the Scotts tells me. "But there's no deal. Absolutely no deal." Same thing happened with Jennifer Fox, who was president of Steven Soderbergh's and George Clooney's production company Section Eight from 2001 to 2007. "Jennifer met with [them] a couple of times. But there is no deal in place," an insider informed me. I haven't been able to reach Koffler. On the other hand, producer Ted Hope made himself available to journalists and talked up the two women, whom he said he met 2 years ago and for whom he has "earmarked a handful of projects on a non-exclusive basis but has not yet received any funding for", wrote blogger Anne Thompson.

Film financing circles expressed incredulity this story came out of nowhere to everywhere. I received from one bankroller an email that said in part: "What am I missing? Here's a company that hasn't raised its money, ... Read More »

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Massive Lay-Offs At TV Guide Network

By Nikki Finke | Category: Networks | Friday June 12, 2009 @ 9:19am

I'm told about 40 mostly producers and writers among the 200 in-house producing staff at TV Guide Network got pink slipped by Lionsgate yesterday. And another 35 or so freelancers in the studio/post/crew/operations group were also let go or had their hours cut back drastically. Yet zero employees on the executive floor were axed. "The managers say it wasn't because of the economy or because the channel is losing money. It's actually making money. It's apparently a plan designed to make way for (or make money available for) acquisitions in the new 'Lionsgate Era'," an insider points out to me. "And what is the first big 'genius' acquisition approved by Lionsgate to 'relaunch' the network? The syndicated version of Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd. Which has already run in syndication. Several times. And we hear they bought 4 theatrical movies to run -- 3 from Lionsgate's library, of course -- and they are all big box office stinkers. And the movies are gonna run above the TV Guide listings 'scroll' because that's how you want to watch a movie, on half the screen. That's worth 70-80 people's jobs?"

  • One Equity Partners Joins TV Guide Net
  • Lionsgate Using TV Guide Network To Build War Chest & Fend Off Carl Icahn
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    AMPAS Gets Punk'd By Iran Government

    By Nikki Finke | Category: Foreign, Politics | Saturday February 28, 2009 @ 2:07pm

    According to a report from the French news service Agence France Press (AFP), advisors to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged a visiting Hollywood delegation to apologize for "insults and slanders" about Iranians in films. "(Iranian) cinema officials will only have the right to have official sessions with... Hollywood movie makers when they apologize to the Iranians for their 30 years of insults and slanders," Javad Shamaghdari, the art advisor to Iran's president, said Saturday. "The Iranian people and our revolution has been repeatedly unjustly attacked by Hollywood." He cited among the offending films 300, for showing Iranian ancestors as bloodthirsty, and The Wrestler , for a scene tearing up the Iranian flag. "We will believe Obama's policy of change when we see change in Hollywood too, and if Hollywood wants to correct its behavior towards Iranian people and Islamic culture then they have to officially apologise," Shamaghdari added. The visiting filmmakers are from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and include president Sid Ganis, former president Frank Pierson, actress Annette Bening, and producer Walter Horberg who were invited by the Iranian Alliance Of Motion Pictures to hold a series of workshop meetings in Tehran. An AMPAS rep told AFP it's supposed to be a private initiative for educational and creative exchange without a political agenda. Guess it didn't turn out that way.

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    The DABA Girls Get A Hollywood Agent...

    By Nikki Finke | Category: Agents | Friday February 13, 2009 @ 10:48am

    Every so often there's a Hollywood feeding frenzy for a New York Times "trend" story that captures the momentary zeitgest. Such is the case with the newspaper-of-record's recent report on the charter members of "Dating A Banker Anonymous" -- a support group and blog founded in November to help women dating or married to men in the banking industry cope with the inevitable relationship fallout from all the lousy financial news and related layoffs. Immediately, an NPR commentater opined on air that the NY Times got punk'd. So you won't be surprised to learn that the "DABA Girls" -- Laney Crowell and Megan Petrus -- now have signed with United Talent in all areas and will be co-repped in books by Janklow Nesbit out of NYC. (I can sense you're grinding your teeth already.) It seems UTA partner and board of director Jay Sures was up at 5 AM reading the article and jumped on the DABA website and emailed that he'd like to rep them. (The fact that these were all good-looking gals didn't hurt, obviously.) They saw the message and vetted Jay through a mutual friend at Lionsgate. Next thing they knew, every agency was chasing them: not just UTA but also CAA, Endeavor, ICM (who reps the NY Times and was really fighting hard), and WMA. But the Daba Girls chose Sures. Now there's going to be a book, and maybe a movie, and maybe a TV series. (I'm now starting to see the spittle forming around your mouth.)

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    Final Season For Ashton's 'Punk'd' Pranks

    By Nikki Finke | Category: Actors, Agents, Art | Thursday March 29, 2007 @ 12:50pm

    ashton-kutcher-biography-3.jpgThis time, it's no practical joke. Ashton Kutcher finally appears finished fooling famous people. Of course, MTV said Punk'd would end three years ago, but now it's looking like this 8th season beginning April 10th will be the last. Among the targets this time out are Hilary Swank, Magic Johnson, Lost star Evangeline Lilly and Hayden Panettiere of Heroes. Gee, is it the brightest idea for Kutcher to quit all his day jobs? After all, he's not much of a movie star anymore after walking away from That '70s Show. His try at becoming an action hero in The Guardian opposite Kevin Costner kinda flopped. But Kutcher still has Beauty and the Geek to fall back on. He'll host a "Punk'd Awards" tribute to the best in celebrity meltdowns in June.

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