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CORE Media Group Seeking Buyers For Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali Rights: FT

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 5:29am PDTTags: American Idol, CORE Media Group, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali

CORE Media Group is said to be testing the market to sell off Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion and rights to images of Presley and Muhammad Ali. The Financial Times reports the assets could fetch more than $200M. Citing people familiar with the matter, the FT says CORE, which co-produces American Idol, is eyeing bidders in Asia, Europe and the U.S. for Elvis Presley Enterprises and Muhammad Ali Enterprises. The Raine Group has been hired to advise. However, if it is not satisfied with offers, CORE could retain the properties. Combined, the assets generate about $60M a year in revenues.

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Virtual Elvis Presley To Be Created For Film, TV And Show Appearances

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 6, 2012 @ 7:12am PDTTags: Digital Domain Media Group, Elvis Presley
Nellie Andreeva

From the makers of the virtual Tupac Shakur, who “appeared” at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, comes virtual Elvis Presley. CORE Media Group (formerly CKx), which owns the Presley brand, has signed a deal with digital production company Digital … Read More »

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WGA Holds Memorial Tribute To Comedy Writing Legend Hal Kanter

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday May 7, 2012 @ 12:14am PDTTags: Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, WGA
Pete Hammond

It was a very funny, sometimes touching, but mostly uproarious tribute Sunday afternoon at the Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills. The WGA West and the Writers Guild Foundation along with the Kanter family held a well produced and attended memorial for one of their most illustrious members, Hal Kanter, who passed away in November at age 92. The three-time Emmy winner (and seven time nominee) was also believed to be the only person ever to win all three of the Guild’s prestigious special honors – the Morgan Cox award for service to the WGA, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award, the Valentine Davies Award.

And why not? As was very evident from this memorial, Kanter was one of the most versatile and productive comedy writers ever. He belonged to a golden era when that was possible. It’s hard to imagine a young writer today forging the same kind of long-lasting career Kanter, and others in his generation, were able to have over the course of seven decades in the business. Writing is tough and unforgiving – and most of its practitioners, particularly in television,  are used up and tossed out after several years. It was clear from all the clips and personal anecdotes that the show business Kanter loved and lived in doesn’t exist anymore. Writers who want that kind of longevity in a career probably will have to try another profession. But keeping relevant was never a problem for Hal Kanter who it was noted was still preparing to write another screenplay, even in his 90s. He was also a producer, director, raconteur, master of ceremonies, playwright, author and all around wit. As Kanter said in a clip from one of his many appearances at a WGA awards show banquet, “I was born with a compulsion to amuse. And if my work has inspired anyone to become a comedy writer, I apologize.” Read More »

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Oscars: 50′s Hollywood Star-Turned-Nun Mother Dolores Returning To Red Carpet With Nominated Film

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday February 15, 2012 @ 5:51pm PSTTags: Elvis Presley, HBO
Pete Hammond

Until this year Dolores Hart had not made a movie since the fluffy 1963 romance Come Fly With Me when she was just a 23-year-old actress on the rise in Hollywood. She left a NYC press event for that MGM … Read More »

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R.I.P. Hal Kanter

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday November 7, 2011 @ 8:34pm PSTTags: Bob Hope, DGA, Elvis Presley, Emmys, Oscars, WGA, Writers Guild Of America

Veteran screenwriter, producer and director Hal Kanter died Sunday of complications of pneumonia in Encino, his daughter Donna Kanter told the Los Angeles Times. He was 92. “He was considered one of the wits of the industry,” said Carl Reiner, upon learning of Kanter’s death. ”He was a funny elder statesman, and there’s nothing better.” In a career that spanned several decades, Kanter worked in radio, TV and movies. He wrote for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and for Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Kanter directed Elvis Presley in Loving You which he co-wrote and he wrote the screenplaly for Blue Hawaii. He even collaborated with Tennessee Williams on the 1955 movie version of The Rose Tatoo. Among other movie credits were George Cukor’s Let’s Make Love, with Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand and Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles.

His numerous TV credits included creation of the landmark sitcom Julia, for which Diahann Carroll became the first black actress to star in her own sitcom whose character was a professional woman rather than a maid. He also worked briefly on All in the Family and was a writer and produceer on Chico and the Man. His association with the Oscars as a writer on the ceremony began in 1952 when it still on radio and continued for more than 30 years. In 1991 and ’92 he shared Emmys for writing duties on the Oscar show telecast. His other Emmy was for The George Gobel Show. Read More »

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Eric Bana Plays Elvis Presley, Danny Huston Is Richard Nixon In Indie Feature

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday October 23, 2011 @ 4:36pm PDTTags: Cary Elwes, Danny Huston, Elvis Presley, Eric Bana
Mike Fleming

Eric Bana and Danny Huston will star in Elvis & Nixon, an indie that marks the directing debut of actor Cary Elwes, who wrote the script with Joey Sagal and Hanala Sagal. The film’s funded by Benaroya Pictures. The film … Read More »

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‘American Idol’ Owner CKX Now Belongs To Investment Firm Apollo Global

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday June 22, 2011 @ 6:21am PDTTags: American Idol, American Idol Finance, CKX, Elvis Presley, Fox American Idol, Robert Sillerman, So You Think You Can Dance

It’s official: Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management owns CKX, the company that billionaire Robert F. X. Sillerman created to capitalize on TV hits including American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, and the licensing rights to Elvis Presley and Muhammad … Read More »

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John Fusco Takes His Shot At Early Elvis

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday February 16, 2011 @ 10:52am PSTTags: Elvis Presley, Fox 2000, John Lee Hancock, Movie Deals, Movies, Steve Bing
Mike Fleming

Screenwriter John Fusco has taken on the job of adapting Peter Guralnick’s Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, the book that Fox has been trying to pull together for more than a decade. Steve Bing is producing … Read More »

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