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Obama Thanks Hollywood With Coveted Invites To First White House State Dinner

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday November 23, 2009 @ 8:28am PSTTags: Geffen, Hollywood, Moguls, Politics

TUESDAY 5:45 PM: Hollywood VIP David Geffen was seated at President Obama’s table.

TUESDAY UPDATE: The White House announced today that also invited from showbiz were GE chairman Jeff Immelt whose corporation runs NBC Universal, Oprah Winfrey galpal Gayle King, director M. Night Shyamalan, and actors Alfre Woodard and Blair E Underwood.

Entertainers: Jennifer Hudson, AR Rahman, Bay Area Empire Bhangra, Kurt Elling, Marvin Hamlisch

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EXCLUSIVE: If tradition stands, the details of the guest list will be revealed only a few hours before the Obama administration’s first state dinner tomorrow. The welcome for India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the biggest social event of the Obama White House. Already the Washington DC press corp is buzzing about the “got-to-be-there” fever. But this first dinner is primarily a thank you to the Obamas’ most important political supporters. So I’ve learned that, among the Hollywood contingent asked to attend, are onetime DreamWorks partners David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg; Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton; and WME Entertainment Agency co-CEO Ari Emanuel.

spielberg turbanSpielberg’s inclusion is interesting since he was a much ballyhooed Hillary Clinton supporter during the first months of her primary campaign when she looked like a sure thing, then quietly threw his clout behind Obama after he became the clear winner. But, given that the guest of honor is India’s highest ranking statesman, Spielberg’s new financial relationship with India’s giant corporation Reliance more than explains his presence. Geffen was an early Obama backer who publicly took on the Clintons with pointed criticism at the start of the primary season. Katzenberg was one of Obama’s earliest supporters, and became a faithful fundraiser. Both he and Geffen were considered Obama’s biggest Hollywood bundlers during the campaign.

lynton jamieLynton was a longtime supporter primarily because of the influence of his wife Jamie whose Chicago family has longtime political connections to the Obamas. Her mother Joanne Alter, the first female Democrat elected in Cook County, talent-spotted Obama in 2003 and convinced her daughter to support him. As a result, Lynton co-hosted an early fundraiser for Obama’s Senate bid in 2004 in addition to hosting one of the earliest Hollywood campaign events for him when most showbiz types were still supporting Hillary. (Will.i.am, who composed the viral video for the Obama campaign anthem “Yes, We Can,” met the candidate during a fundraiser at the Lyntons’ home.)

ari tuxedoAnd Chicago native Emanuel not only was one of Obama’s first Hollywood political and financial backers, but, like duh, his brother Rahm is the White House chief of staff. They’ll join the President and First Lady and 400 guests in an elaborate tent erected on the South Lawn. As for who has been chosen to provide the evening’s entertainment, this White House has shown eclectic taste: Stevie Wonder already has played a concert in the East Room, Marc Anthony already took to the South Lawn for an evening of Latin music, and the Foo Fighters played the Fourth of July party.

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Yes, It’s True: Geffen “Over” LA Times

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday July 24, 2008 @ 3:25pm PDTTags: Geffen, LA Times

Now that others are hinting at this, I can confirm what I’ve known for two months: that David Geffen isn’t interested anymore in buying the Los Angeles Times.

David Geffen Goes After LA Times Again?

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Furious Horror Film Fans Target Lionsgate

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday June 18, 2008 @ 11:01pm PDTTags: Agents, Blogs, Broadway, Celebrity, Digital, Distribution, DVDs, Fashions, Geffen, Hollywood, Horror, Internet, Magazines, Moguls, Movies, Music, Producers, Regulation, Scandal, Sopranos, Studios, Summer Movies, Trailers, Writers

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 … Read More »

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DreamWorks Finds Indian Big Bucks To Form New Film Biz; But Battle Brewing Over Paramount Exit

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday June 17, 2008 @ 7:34pm PDTTags: Actors, Agents, Big Media, Comic Books, Critics, Directors, Finance, Foreign, Geffen, Hollyweird, Hollywood, Horror, Internet, Moguls, Movies, Pellicano, Scandal, Writers

So now we know with whom David Geffen has been negotiating all these many months. And the newest Hollywood mogul names to put on speed dial are Rajesh Sawhney and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (one of the world’s Top 10 richest men). I can confirm … Read More »

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COMEDIES KICK BUTT! ‘Kung Fu Panda’ $60M Wkd; Adam Sandler’s ‘Zohan’ $40M; #4 ‘Sex And The City’ Nears $100M Cume

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday June 6, 2008 @ 8:36pm PDTTags: Actors, Agents, Blogs, Box Office, Broadway, Comedy, Directors, Geffen, Hollywood, Internet, Marketing, Movies, Scandal, Sopranos, Studios, Summer Movies, Toons, Trailers

 

SUNDAY AM: North American box office gross expanded bigger than expected this weekend – a gargantuan 25% more dollars taken in than the same weekend last year. DreamWorks Animation’s feisty pot-bellied Kung Fu Panda distributed by Paramount led the way, fighting to a $60 million finish after opening to $20.3 million Friday … Read More »

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‘The Women’ Trailer…

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday June 3, 2008 @ 11:08am PDTTags: Actors, Agents, Big Media, Geffen, Hollywood, Internet, Movies, Pellicano, Scandal, Sopranos, Studios, Trailers

So here’s The Women trailer that was playing with Sex And The City over the weekend. I find it funny, but I’d redo it to appeal more to the psychographic of SATC‘s two-quadrant audience. (Did you notice that the main lyrics to the Duffy song “Mercy” on the soundtrack of the trailer for … Read More »

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David Geffen Goes After LA Times Again? Is He In “Serious Discussions” With Zell? Or Have They Not Spoken In Months?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday April 11, 2008 @ 9:39am PDTTags: Big Media, David Geffen, Geffen, Hollywood, Journalism, LA Times, Media, Moguls, NY Times, Sam Zell, Studios

I’ve written here again and again how much David Geffen wants to own the Los Angeles Times and put it back under local control as well as make it a real must-read. logo_latimes.gifBut the … Read More »

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Zucker Hints At Uni-DreamWorks Reunion

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday December 3, 2007 @ 1:09pm PSTTags: Geffen, Moguls, Studios

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It appears David Geffen’s recent rapprochement dinner with GE chairman/CEO Jeffrey Immelt went well. Today, Jeff Zucker told an investor conference that NBC Universal would consider buying DreamWorks from Viacom. ”If the opportunity were to arise, it’s something obviously we would look at. We know them well, … Read More »

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Geffen Hits Back Redstone In Vanity Fair

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday November 5, 2007 @ 7:02pm PSTTags: Geffen, Journalism, Magazines, Moguls, Studios

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I’ve just been slipped an early copy of ”Showdown At Fort Sumner” by Bryan Burrough in the latest issue of Vanity Fair about the DreamWorks-Paramount-Viacom warring. David Geffen goes on the record and rips Sumner Redstone a new one. “Nobody is going to treat me … Read More »

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More Hollywood Heat From The Fires…

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday October 25, 2007 @ 2:52am PDTTags: Actors, Agents, Celebrity, Disasters, Geffen, Hollywood, Moguls

In addition to my own postings about DreamWorks moguls David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg in Malibu during the fires here and here and here, I’ve just combed other news stories and culled this showbiz-related coverage:

kiefersutherland.jpgPerhaps the hardest-hit entertainment … Read More »

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EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks & NBC Universal Break Bread In Very Public Forum (Wow!)

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday October 23, 2007 @ 1:36pm PDTTags: Directors, Geffen, Moguls, Studios

My spies tell me that Jeff Zucker and Ron Meyer had lunch in the Universal Studios commissary dreamworks_logo.giftoday with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider — and everybody was all smiles. Talk about a virtual public announcement that … Read More »

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David Geffen Shows Class In Malibu Fire

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday October 22, 2007 @ 2:58pm PDTTags: Disasters, Geffen, Hollywood, Moguls

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More news from Deal Beach, aka Billionaires Beach. David Geffen, whose Malibu Beach Inn recently underwent a major renovation, has opened the landmark hotel to evacuees for free as well as to firefighters who sleep there in shifts during the inferno. “Why be empty? I’d rather it go … Read More »

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Reason No. 789 Why I So Love Hollywood

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday September 25, 2007 @ 10:05am PDTTags: Big Media, Geffen, Moguls, Studios

dreamworksanimationsmall.jpgDreamWorks Animation SKG named Tom Freston to its board of directors today. The former Viacom Inc. president and CEO, who OK’ed the deal to bring DreamWorks into Paramount, was axed by old coot Sumner Redstone a year ago. … Read More »

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David Geffen NOT Selling Warner Estate

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday August 24, 2007 @ 11:19am PDTTags: Finance, Geffen, Hollywood, Moguls, Politics

geffenestate.jpgI can tell you that David Geffen is denying a throwaway line inside a Wall Street Journal article today about big ticket homes for sale claiming that he “has quietly shopped his historic 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 … Read More »

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Spielberg Tells Grey He’s “Very Happy”

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday July 23, 2007 @ 3:55am PDTTags: Directors, Geffen, Magazines, Media, Moguls, Movies, Studios

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A few weeks ago, when Brad Grey visited Steven Spielberg in Connecticut where Indiana Jones 4 was shooting on location, the DreamWorks partner put the Paramount boss’s mind at ease. “Steven said to Brad that he intended to be in business with him a long time,” a source … Read More »

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Brad Grey No Longer Bosses DreamWorks

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday July 2, 2007 @ 5:14pm PDTTags: Directors, Geffen, Moguls, Movies, Studios, Summer Movies

grey-transformer.jpgI hear Paramount Pictures chief Brad Grey was on the phone today talking up his studio’s release of the mega-blockbuster Transformers when, all of a sudden, helicopters swooped out of nowhere and drowned him out. “It’s Jeffrey and David,” he quipped … Read More »

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Steven Spielberg Endorses Hillary Clinton; New Polling Shows Her Even With Guiliani

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday June 13, 2007 @ 9:00am PDTTags: Directors, Geffen, Hollywood, Moguls, Politics

hill5.jpgHuge Hollywood news fronting the home page of Hillary Clinton’s campaign website this morning, “Steven Spielberg Endorses Hillary”. There’s also new national polling today showing all three top Democratic contenders have caught up with Rudy nationally. Hillary is still … Read More »

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Geffen-Zell-LA Times: Very Hush-Hush

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday April 7, 2007 @ 3:44pm PDTTags: Big Media, Geffen, LA Times, Other Media

I’m assured there’s nothing new to report on the David Geffen-Sam Zell-Los Angeles Times story. But I predict that, if  ever there are any developments on that front, they will proceed very, very quietly from here on out.

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Remember, You Heard It Here First…

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday April 5, 2007 @ 1:57pm PDTTags: Big Media, Geffen, LA Times, Media, Moguls, NY Times, Wall Street Journal

geffen.jpgI’m pleased to see that the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post has caught up days later with my reporting about the possibility of David Geffen paying $1 bil for control … Read More »

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