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Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock Departing Tipsters brought this Second City video to our attention. With Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace In 3D opening Friday, how could we not share?
Golden Globes Trial Analysis: Time To Bring In A High-Powered Mediator?
Freelance journalist Domenic Patten is covering the trial for Deadline.
After two weeks of testimony and more than a dozen witnesses including current and past presidents of both Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions, their court battle over TV rights to the Golden Globes is now in a holding pattern. At the core of the dispute is a 1993 amendment to DCP’s longtime contract with the HFPA. The production company says the amendment grants them rights in perpetuity to the Golden Globes as long as the show is broadcast on NBC, which it has been since 1996. The HFPA says it does no such thing. When DCP signed a $150 million deal with NBC in 2010 extending the network pact until 2018, HFPA took the production company to court.
On Tuesday, Judge A. Howard Matz implored both parties to take the time before their lawyers begin closing arguments on Friday, February 10th to try to come to a settlement. As Deadline reported previously, neither side is talking to the other and some close to the case believe a settlement is unlikely.
Having watched almost every minute of the trial, here are a few observations both sides might want to consider:
CLEAN HOUSE: DCP certainly has issues of its own, like bald-faced lying to NBC during negotiations — more politely known as bluffing. But the cloistered 85-odd members of the HFPA need to clean house and create a professional organization. The parade of former HFPA presidents such as Phil Berk and Mirjana Van Blaricom and staff members have revealed a viper’s pit of in-fighting. It has also revealed a lack of business savvy — which is pretty bad when you are handling a multi-million-dollar asset like the Globes. Read More »
Jon Favreau To Direct J.J. Abrams/Eric Kripke NBC Pilot ‘Revolution’
EXCLUSIVE: Jon Favreau has been tapped to direct Eric Kripke/JJ Abrams’ high-concept NBC drama pilot Revolution. The project, written by Supernatural creator Kripke, is being described as a high-octane action drama following a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist. Abrams, Kripke and Bryan Burk are executive producing. This marks the first drama pilot directing gig for Favreau, who has helmed a few comedy pilots in the past, including that for the ABC series In Case Of Emergency starring David Arquette. In addition to Revolution, Favreau has Tweaked, a comedy pilot at CBS. The project, which Favreau wrote on spec and is attached to direct, was greenlighted in October but has not been cast yet and may shoot outside of the regular pilot season. CAA-repped Favreau’s recent feature directing credits include the two Iron Man movies and Cowboys & Aliens.
Andrea Anders To Star In NBC’s Kari Lizer Pilot, Aimee Garcia Joins NBC’s ‘County’
EXCLUSIVE: Andrea Anders has landed one of the two leads in NBC’s untitled Kari Lizer comedy pilot. It centers on two life-long female friends who are living very different lives but can’t live without each other. Nicole (Anders) has everything going for her — loving parents and in-laws, adoring husband, successful siblings and a trouble-free pregnancy. Her best friend, Jen, has parents who have no faith in her, terrible instincts that led her to a 17-day marriage to a guy who dumped her, and she gained 15 pounds on the cabbage soup diet. And yet, somehow, she is Nicole’s rock. The project reunites Anders with Warner Bros. TV which cast her in her first starring role on the NBC comedy Joey. Anders co-starred on another WBTV series, The Class, before she played the female lead on 2 ABC comedies, Better Off Ted and Mr. Sunshine.
Aimee Garcia (Dexter) has been cast in NBC’s drama pilot County, a medical drama from writer-exec producer Jason Katims starring Jason Ritter. The Universal TV-produced project chronicles the lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators in a frenetic underfunded and morally compromising LA County Hospital. Garcia will play one of them, a sharp-witted, no-nonsense new intern at the hospital. County marks the second NBC/Universal TV medical drama gig for Garcia who also co-starred on the 2009 series Trauma.
‘Bridesmaids’ Wendi McLendon-Covey Cast In Goldie Hawn’s HBO Pilot ‘Viagra Diaries’
EXCLUSIVE: Bridesmaids’ Wendi McLendon-Covey is set to co-star opposite Goldie Hawn in HBO’s comedy pilot The Viagra Diaries, created by Sex and the City creator/executive producer Darren Star. The gig reunites her with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, who is directing the pilot. Based on the book by Barbara Rose Brooker, Viagra Diaries centers on Claire (Hawn) who, after her husband has a “mid-life crisis” at 65 and leaves her, struggles with being single for the first time in 35 years. McLendon will play Claire’s daughter Hope, a female therapist. Executive producing the pilot are Star, Hawn, Feig, Aaron Kaplan, Alan, Wendy & Peter Riche, Brian Medavoy, Alan Nevins and David Knoller. Groundlings alumna McLendon-Covey, repped by UTA and manager Gladys Gonzalez, co-starred on Comedy Central’s Reno 911!. She will next be seen in the features Magic Mike and What To Expect When You’re Expecting and will reunite with her Bridesmaids cast mates at the Oscars where they will serve as presenters.
Samuel Goldwyn’s Toronto Pickup ‘The Island President’ Takes On Urgency After Upheaval In Maldives
EXCLUSIVE: The Island President, the film about Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and his quest to lobby for reforms that will ease global warming, has taken on a new context for Samuel Goldwyn Films after Nasheed was forced yesterday to resign at gunpoint. The distributor acquired the film at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, where it won the audience award. The message of the movie is all about the environment, because because the Maldives is one of the most low-lying countries in the world, and a rise of just three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands surrounded by the Indian Ocean, making them uninhabitable. There is new urgency for Nasheed, who, after bringing democracy to the Maldives following 30 years of despotic rule and using his presidency as a platform for environmental reforms, is in danger. Since being forced to resign, word is that the president and his party engaged in a peaceful march and were beaten. Samuel Goldwyn Films president Meyer Gottlieb said that the film is still set for a March 28 release, but the distributor will become more aggressive about screening the film for press in hopes of focusing more attention on the little known Maldives and its ousted leader.
The film was directed by Jon Shenk (Lost Boys of Sudan), and produced by Bonni Cohen and Richard Berge. They followed President Nasheed as he waged his campaign, culminating in his impassioned plea made at … Read More »
‘Daily Show’s Jason Jones Joins Heist Comedy ‘The Black Marks’
EXCLUSIVE: Jason Jones will play an Interpol agent in the heist comedy The Black Marks. The film stars Kurt Russell as Crunch Calhoun, a third rate motorcycle daredevil and semi-reformed art thief who decides to take on one more job in the Jonathan Sobol directed feature. The Daily Show correspondent joins an extensive cast including Russell, Matt Dillon, Jay Baruchel (Goon), Terence Stamp (The Adjustment Bureau), Chris Diamantopoulos (‘Moe’ in the upcoming Three Stooges), Katheryn Winnick (Love and Other Drugs) and Kenneth Welsh (Grey Gardens). Darius Films principal Nicholas Tabarrok is producing the film. Jeff Sackman and Alliance Films Executive Vice President Noah Segal are executive producers. The Black Marks will be released by Dimension Films in the U.S. and in Canada by Alliance Films. Principal photography for The Black Marks runs from January 16 to February 25 in Toronto. Founded in 1998, Darius Films is a film and television production company with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. Their most recent completed film, A Beginner’s Guide To Endings starring Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan and JK Simmons, will be released in the spring of 2012.
‘Hung’ Co-Creators Sign Deal With Fox 21
Hung co-creators, the husband-and-wife writing team of Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson, have signed a two-year overall deal with Fox 21, 20th Century Fox TV’s cable and reality division which produces FX’s Sons Of Anarchy, Showtime’s Homeland and A&E’s Breakout Kings. This is only the second overall deal Fox21 president Bert Salke has done since he took over the company a year-and-a-half ago, along with a cable pact with Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol co-writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec. He plans to add to the roster but continue to be selective. “We really believe that what keeps (cable-focused) companies like Fox21 relevant is our relationship with the creators, and Dmitry and Colette are the type of creators we want to be in business with.” He plans to sit down with the duo next week to discuss show ideas.
The deal includes Lipkin and Burson’s exclusive services in cable for them to both write and executive produce their own projects as well as supervise other writers. Lipkin and Burson have strong cable pedigree and have worked for both basic and premium networks. Lipkin created FX’s The Riches, on which Burson served as a writer. The two then went on to create Hung, which ran on HBO for 3 seasons. In his TV career to date, playwright CAA-repped Lipkin worked closely with Michael Rosenberg, first at Maverick Films, which produced The Riches, and … Read More »
Billy Connolly Joining Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’
BREAKING: Peter Jackson has set the final piece for his two-picture adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Billy Connolly has joined the cast in the role of Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield. “We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!”
The casting comes after Jackson and partner Fran Walsh have completed a good deal of the film. They took a hiatus and went to Sundance to introduce West of Memphis, the documentary about the West Memphis 3, which created waves at the festival because some of the revelations in the film that came from DNA testing and investigative work and forensic testing that was financed by Jackson and Walsh made national headlines. That film is still being shopped for distribution, but Jackson and Walsh returned from the festival to New Zealand to get cracking on the final 100 or so days of production that should be completed by July.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will be released by Warner Bros for New Line and MGM on December 14, 2012 and the second installment, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, bows December 13, 2013.
Indomina Buying 2012 Sundance Film ‘Luv’
EXCLUSIVE: I’m told that Indomina Entertainment is making a distribution deal on Luv, the Sheldon Candis-directed film that premiered January 23 at the Eccles Theatre. The deal will be in the low seven-figures and includes a TV component. The film is about an 11-year old boy who awaits the return of his missing mother, and who lives with his grandmother and Uncle Vincent. He idolizes the latter, a man who is fresh off an 8-year prison stretch and who takes it upon himself to help the youth become a man. When Vincent’s attempts to open a business doesn’t work out, and pressure is brought to bear by his old Baltimore crime boss Mr. Fish, the youth’s growth into manhood accelerates. The film stars Common, Dennis Haysbert, Michael Rainey Jr., Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton and Michael Kenneth Williams. ICM and Cinetic Media repped the title at Sundance, and Eric Christenson at Hollywood Studios International is repping the film overseas. This is the second Indomina deal at Sundance, after the distributor bought the Ice-T directed The Art of Rap.
Sullivan Stapleton Gets Lead Role In ’300′ Prequel At Warner Bros
BREAKING: Warner Bros has set Sullivan Stapleton to star in 300: The Battle of Artemisia, which will be directed by Noam Murro for Warner Bros. He’ll play Themistokles. I’d heard he would play Xerxes, but am told that the actor who originated that role in 300, Rodrigo Santoro is in talks to return to the role in this film. Stapleton was one of the terrific ensemble of Animal Kingdom, and he just completed a supporting role for the studio in Gangster Squad, the Ruben Fleischer-directed period crime film that stars Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin. Stapleton, who stars on the Cinemax series Strike Back, is repped by WME. ICM reps Santoro.
R.I.P. Former WMA Agent Phil Kellogg
Phil Kellogg passed away Sunday, just a month shy of his 100th birthday. Kellogg worked at WMA from 1950 to 1978, joining when Berg, Allenberg was acquired by WMA. Kellogg became head of the Picture Department in 1958 after Bert Allenberg passed away, and my, what a client list Kellogg had. He repped David Lean, Fred Zinneman, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Robert Taylor, Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Robert Ryan, Richard Brooks and a host of others.
‘House’ To End Run On Fox After 8 Seasons
David Shore, Katie Jacobs And Hugh Laurie On The End Of ‘House’
It’s the end of the road for veteran medical drama House, which will bow out after the end of its current eighth season on Fox in May. The network has granted creator David Shore’s wish for an early decision to allow him to give the series and its characters a proper ending. The move opens the door for renewal of another Fox drama in need of an early verdict, freshman Terra Nova.
Shore originally was hoping for a resolution by end of last year but he and the network “agreed mutually to put it off until after the first of the year,” Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said at TCA in January. At the time he admitted that he’s been “avoiding” making the decision because “it’s hard to imagine the network without House… It’s going to be a close call.” I hear the network made that call over the past 24 hours, siding with Shore who felt that creatively the series was in a place where he wanted to bring it home. Shore had the support of fellow House executive producer Katie Jacobs and star/executive producer Hugh Laurie. “While it’s with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David and Katie have made,” Reilly said in a statement today. “A … Read More »
David Shore, Katie Jacobs And Hugh Laurie On The End Of ‘House’
‘House’ To End Run On Fox After 8 Seasons
Here is an open letter written by House creator/executive producer David Shore, executive producer Katie Jacobs and star/executive producer Hugh Laurie discussing the decision to end the medical drama after the end of this season, the show’s eighth.
After much deliberation, the producers of House M.D. have decided that this season of the show, the 8th, should be the last. By April this year they will have completed 177 episodes, which is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004.
The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years – but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved.
Since it began, House has aspired to offer a coherent and satisfying world in which everlasting human questions of ethics and emotion, logic and truth, could be examined, played out, and occasionally answered. This sounds like fancy talk, but it really isn’t. House has, in its time, intrigued audiences around the world in vast numbers, and has shown that there is a strong appetite for television drama that relies on more than prettiness or gun play.
But now that time is drawing to a close. The
Cohen Media Group Acquires Berlin Fest Opener ‘Farewell, My Queen’ For U.S.
EXCLUSIVE: Independent distribution outfit Cohen Media Group has acquired Berlin Film Festival opener Farewell, My Queen, for U.S. distribution. The Benoît Jacquot period drama stars Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux and Virginie Ledoyen and premieres tonight (Thursday) in competition. Story is adapted from the Chantal Thomas novel and set during the first 3 days of the French Revolution as seen from the perspective of Marie Antoinette’s private reader at Versailles. The deal was negotiated by Cohen exec VP Gary Rubin and Adeline Fontan Tessaur of Elle Driver which is handling international sales. This is a particularly poignant Berlinale for the Elle Driver crew which first came to the festival in 2008 and is celebrating its 5th time out with the opening night film. Read More »
James Purefoy To Star Opposite Kevin Bacon In Fox’s Kevin Williamson Pilot
EXCLUSIVE: Fox’s Kevin Williamson pilot has assembled a formidable leading duo, with Rome alum James Purefoy signing on for the second starring role opposite Kevin Bacon. The untitled project, from Warner Bros TV and Williamson’s studio-based Outerbanks Entertainment, is described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller about Joe Carroll (Purefoy) a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and a retired FBI profiler (Bacon) who finds himself in the middle of it. Marcos Siega is set to direct the pilot, written and executive produced by Williamson, creator of Dawson’s Creek, the hit Scream horror movie franchise and co-creator/executive producer of the CW’s Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle. Like Bacon, Purefoy was among the most sought-after actors this pilot season. He was holding 4 offers when he picked the Kevin Williamson drama. The project may have had extra appeal because of the fact that, if it goes to series, it will produce 15 episodes a season instead of the standard 22. That was part of Bacon’s deal to star in it. British actor Purefoy, best known for his role as Mark Anthony on the HBO/BBC series Rome, will next be seen in the feature John Carter.
Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media Sued Today For $44M: “One Of the Greatest Heist Stories Ever Told In The Movie Business”
EXCLUSIVE:I have just received the copy of a 48-page complaint filed today in the Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of plaintiffs Aramid Entertainment Fund Limited and Aramid Grantor Trust against Relativity Media LLC, Fortress Investment Group, and others. The lawsuit allegations include fraud and breach of contract. It was filed by the Century City firm of filed by Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. For the complete lawsuit, click here. But in the provocative summary of the complaint, it reads:
Nick Jr.’s NickMom Primetime Block Picks Ups Series, Unveils Development Slate
Nickelodeon has announced a new series pick-up and its development slate for NickMom, the upcoming nightly primetime, advertiser-supported programming block on Nick Jr. and a companion Web site. The block, which will launch in 4Q, will feature a mix of original long- and short-form programming, including talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, hidden camera and more. The network has picked up 26 episodes of the stand-up comedy series NickMom Night Out. and also announced that it has more than 50 projects in development spanning TV and digital, including shows from stand-up comedian and actress Caroline Rhea; actor/author Annabelle Gurwitch; and Madeleine Smithberg of Mad Cow Productions (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). Here are the details: Read More »
Golden Globes Trial: Neither Side Is Budging
Freelance journalist Dominic Patten is covering the trial for Deadline.
They’ve talked about talking but that’s as far as it has gotten. A day after Judge A. Howard Matz strongly urged lawyers for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions to persuade their clients to come to a settlement by Friday in their court battle for control of TV rights to the Golden Globes, there have been no formal communications among the combatants. Deadline learned there were some very informal discussions among some of the participants yesterday after court, but as of this afternoon a source close to the situation said “nobody’s talking.” Another source told Deadline, “At this point I doubt very much any settlement will be reached by Friday morning.” Closing arguments in the trial that began January 24 are scheduled to begin in front of Judge Matz on Friday at 9AM.
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