2008 March « Film News Briefs

Monday March 31, 2008

BOX OFFICE

FILM …………………………GROSS

1 21……………………………………………$23,700,000
2 Horton Hears A Who……………… $17,425,000
3 Superhero Movie……………………. $9,510,000
4 Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns …$7,760,000
5 Drillbit Taylor………………………… $5,800,000
6 Shutter ……………………………………$5,325,000
7 10,000 B.C. ……………………………..$4,880,000
8 Stop-Loss ……………………………….$4,525,000
9 College Road Trip …………………..$3,505,000
10 Bank Job, The ……………………….$2,800,000

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

In a preemptive buy in the high six-figures, Paramount Pictures has acquired “One Big Happy,” a comic pitch from “Party of Five” creators Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman to which Steve Martin and Diane Keaton are attached to star. John Goldwyn and Lorne Michaels will produce. Concept is being kept under wraps, but sources describe “One Big Happy” as a family comedy about a couple and a family reconnecting amid various obstacles. The material is a strong match for Martin and Keaton, who played a married couple in the Charles Shyer-directed “Father of the Bride” and its sequel.

Rights to producer-scribe Irving Belateche’s noir-thriller pitch “Combustion” have gone to 72 Prods. Details are under wraps, but pic follows a loner G.I. back from WWII who investigates the murder of a fellow soldier, leading him to a conspiracy and cover-up. An insider to the deal put the sale at just above six figures. Jennifer Chaiken and Sebastian Dungan are producing for 72 Prods., with Andy Cohen exec producing. Belateche’s projects include “Expecting” at Spyglass, “The Demolished Man” for Paramount and “The Crimson Veil” at Odd Lot, with Lawrence Bender producing. Shingle is producing the feature film adaptation of former U.S. Marine Capt. Brian Steidle’s memoir about serving in Darfur, “The Devil Came on Horseback.”

PROJECT UPDATES

Harvey Weinstein’s efforts to placate fans of “Fanboys” failed to prevent a protest in Los Angeles during the opening night of Dimension’s spoof “Superhero Movie.” TWC announced last week that it would release “Fanboys,” centered on “Star Wars” fans who break into Skywalker Ranch, on DVD in two versions — including one with a cancer subplot sought by fans who had threatened a boycott of TWC films via the StopDarthWeinstein.com website. That announcement triggered an angry reaction over release of the altered version, without the subplot. “If you release your mutilated anti-fan version of ‘Fanboys’ in any form, you can look forward to a lifetime boycott of your studio by every ‘Star Wars’ fan on the planet,” the site said. The Los Angeles protest drew very few supporters. Those who did show were decked out in “Star Wars” regalia. The website noted gleefully that “Superhero,” which debuted with $9.5 million, had underperformed expectations, but the Weinstein Co. said the protest had very little, if any, impact on the film’s box office. The “Fanboys” cast includes Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen and Dan Fogler.

Mos Def and Gabrielle Union are joining the cast of writer-director Darnell Martin’s “Cadillac Records,” lensing in New Jersey. Def plays Chuck Berry and Union portrays Geneva Wade, girlfriend (then wife) of Muddy Waters. Previously announced cast includes Adrien Brody, Beyonce Knowles and Jeffrey Wright. Rock ‘n’ roll pic charts sex, violence and the civil rights movement along with the music biz in 1950s Chicago. Sony BMG Films anticipates a 2009 release. Def’s upcoming projects include “Keep Coming Back” and “Next Day Air”; Union, who recurs on “Ugly Betty,” stars with Eddie Murphy in “Meet Dave,” set for release in July via Fox. Dave Annable (“Brothers & Sisters”) is set to star in Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia,” alongside Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. His credits include “Reunion” and “Little Black Book.”

Curtiss Cook has been cast in Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams. He appears on Fox’s “New Amsterdam” and he’ll next be seen in “Order of Redemption,” starring Tom Berenger and Armand Assante.

Robinne Lee has signed on to two films, “Seven Pounds,” starring Will Smith, and “Hotel for Dogs,” in which she’ll play Don Cheadle’s wife. Lee’s film credits include “Hitch” and “13 Going on 30.”

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

Arts Alliance America has picked up jazz docu “Chops,” which follows a group of talented high school musicians as they make their way up the competish circuit from Jacksonville, Fla., to Gotham’s Lincoln Center. Feel-good docu about the highs and lows of competish and puberty is expected to open in five to eight markets in early fall, and the distrib also aims to reach high school students via localized screenings. Deal for domestic rights includes DVD and TV and is said to be valued at about $225,000. TV offers are under consideration. “Chops” debuted last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, and it was purchased a month after the fest ended.

BUSINESS NEWS

He’s a superhero to rights holders — but Kryptonite to studios. Last week, attorney Marc Toberoff won a potentially costly “Superman” victory against Warner Bros. for co-creator Jerome Siegel’s heirs. The federal ruling, which gives the heirs a stake in rights sold 71 years ago, could put a serious crimp on future plans for one of the studio’s most enduring — and lucrative — franchises, especially if co-creator Joe Shuster’s heirs follow suit in five years, when they are eligible to do so. As it is, the studio has at least two Superman projects in development — a follow-up to Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” and “Justice League” — and it may end up paying tens of millions from the domestic haul of “Superman Returns” to Siegel’s heirs under the ruling, which applies to domestic monies for Superman projects since 1999. The case is Toberoff’s latest — and potentially most damaging — claim against the studio. The dedicated copyright crusader has pursued claims involving “Wild Wild West,” “Dukes of Hazzard,” “Smallville” and the upcoming “Get Smart.” He has gone after other studios, including Sony, but his most high-profile cases — and victories — have involved Warners. The studio paid “Moonrunners” producer Robert B. Clark a $17.5 million settlement in a case about similarities between that 1974 movie and the bigscreen “The Dukes of Hazzard.” And a federal judge ruled earlier in the Siegels’ favor over “Smallville,” although that was challenged and the case still being resolved. The studio declined to comment on the latest ruling in favor of their legal nemesis, issuing only a statement noting that, “substantial issues relating to the accounting of profits were ruled in our favor.”

Barry Diller openly mused a month ago about possibly losing control of his Web-based empire in a proxy battle with John Malone. But a Delaware court handed Diller a surprising victory Friday, allowing Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp to proceed with plans to break up into five autonomous, publicly traded units. Judge Stephen Lamb, vice chancellor of Delaware Chancery Court, decided that a breakup does not violate the majority shareholder rights of Malone’s Liberty Media. Lamb declined to address Malone’s contention that the breakup constitutes a breach of fiduciary duty to shareholders, saying he could rule on that question at a later date. But the ruling does leave open the possibility that Malone could agitate against the breakup as a board member of IAC.

Newsweek will lose 111 staffers to buyouts, including veteran film critic David Ansen. The news weekly offered 146 staffers a handsome buyout package, which had to be accepted by March 25. The offer was too good — including a sweetened pension, health coverage until age 65 and two years’ salary — for 30-year Newsweek critic and senior editor Ansen to refuse. “It was a good deal,” he said. “They didn’t want me to leave, which put me in a nice bargaining position. They may have been shocked at how many people took the offer.” While many of the 111 Newsweek employees who did accept the buyout will leave May 30, the 62-year-old Ansen negotiated to continue reviewing for the magazine until year’s end, at which point he will start a yearlong contract as contributing editor delivering reviews and longer features.

The 29 rebel agents who fled PFD, the U.K.’s oldest and largest tenpercentery, to launch breakaway outfit United Agents have endured a year of turmoil and conflict. But now, at last, peace appears to be in sight. After a few months of staff working from home and out of temporary offices under a cloud of litigation, United Agents is finally getting ready to open the doors of its new permanent HQ on Soho’s Lexington Street. Comedy mogul Peter Bennett-Jones, manager of Rowan Atkinson, has emerged as a key ally in brokering a settlement with CSS Stellar, PFD’s publicly-quoted parent. He will take a small stake in United Agents, and serve as co-chairman alongside Lindy King, whose clients include Keira Knightley. Bennett-Jones, who sold his production outfit Tiger Aspect in 2006 for more than $50 million but still runs his own boutique PBJ Management, has helped to secure a bank loan against earnings over the next five years. All 29 agents have also invested in the company. Now they can get back to devoting all their attention to their clients, who include many of the U.K.’s leading actors, directors and writers, such as Kate Winslet, Ricky Gervais, Mike Leigh, Alan Bennett and Richard Curtis.

Nippon Television pic production chief Seiji Okuda detailed the net’s future collaboration with toon house Production I.G. at a Thursday PR event at the Tokyo Anime Fair. Okuda was at the fair to celebrate the upcoming release of NTV-I.G. toon co-productions “The Sky Crawlers,” a feature-length air battle thriller by toon auteur Mamoru Oshii; and “Real Drive,” a sci-fi suspense series based on a comic by Shirow Masamune of “Ghost in the Shell” fame. According to Okuda, NTV intends to develop its partnership with Production I.G. beyond the net’s terrestrial strand to “nearly all media platforms,” including pay webcasts on the Gyao site, broadcasts on the Animax toon specialty channel, mobile vid clips, novelizations and Kodansha toon mag Shukan Magazine Z, which is skedded for an April launch.

NBC Universal Global Networks will launch its first pay TV channel in Japan on Tuesday. The Sci Fi Channel will bow on cable and satellite platform SkyPerfecTV, cabler J:Com and broadband cable TV service Yahoo! BB TV. The strand will source its programming from NBC Universal, CBS Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Broadmedia Studios, among others. Titles will include Japanese preems of “Eureka” and “Jericho” as well as local favorites “The X-Files” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUES

Muddying the town’s labor outlook, AFTRA has divorced SAG and carried through on its threat to negotiate a separate deal with the majors on its primetime TV shows. AFTRA’s surprise decision, announced Saturday afternoon amid a welter of venomous accusations, means its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will launch as early as this week. Given what AFTRA prexy Roberta Reardon described as a long line of attempts to smear the union, she said the last straw came from SAG’s alleged efforts to take over jurisdiction of soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Rescinding its decision, Reardon added, is out of the question. “We can’t trust SAG,” she added. “Their leaders have engaged in a concerted effort to tarnish AFTRA’s reputation and diminish our standing.” SAG president Alan Rosenberg described AFTRA’s move as a long-planned power grab to sell out actors by offering low-ball contracts. “I think what AFTRA’s done is unconscionable, and I’m sick of getting lectures about trust from them,” he declared. “I’m furious about what they’ve done.”

A group of U.K. directors has launched a formal organization with the goal of securing a standard collective bargaining agreement with British employers. “There’s an increasingly large group of directors who need representation of their creative and economic rights,” said Charles Sturridge, chairman of Directors U.K. “We see this as a big, all-encompassing organization.” He also noted that directors in the U.K. have no standard contract addressing pay or working conditions. And they are paid considerably less than in the U.S. The London-based group — which already has a dozen employees and is aiming to rep 3,000 directors — has quietly evolved over the past two years as the successor org to the Directors and Producers Rights Society, which previously focused only on collections and rights exploitation. It has also replaced the Directors Guild of Great Britain, which agreed to fold its tent with the emergence of Directors U.K. Directors U.K. is planning to hold an official unveiling in May. Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Ultimatum”) is president; board members include feature directors David Yates, Gurinder Chadha, Roger Michell and Simon Curtis, docu helmers Brian Hill, Simon Berthon and Peter Nicholson and TV director Peter Kosminsky.

INDUSTRY MOVES

International execs are rising under Warner Bros. marketing czar Sue Kroll. Kroll, installed as worldwide marketing prexy in January, awarded worldwide oversight to two of her top lieutenants from the international side in a reshuffling of the studio’s marketing ops Friday. Blair Rich, Kroll’s former assistant, got the biggest boost to exec VP of worldwide marketing, while Gene Garlock was upped to senior VP of worldwide promotions. International PR guru Lance Volland, meanwhile, will jointly head worldwide publicity with domestic PR maven Juli Goodwin. Exec VP of domestic marketing Debi Miller is exiting the studio to take a worldwide marketing post at CBS Films (Daily Variety, March 27). She is the second top domestic marketing exec to leave the studio since Warner Bros. Pictures Group prexy Jeff Robinov took control over marketing and distribution operations this year: Domestic marketing prexy Dawn Taubin ankled in January, with Kroll, formerly topper of international marketing, given worldwide oversight shortly thereafter.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

In an effort to promote “The Tudors,” Showtime is giving away the first episode of the second season on YouTube, Amazon Unbox and iTunes. Meanwhile, “Tudors”-based ad campaigns have ramped up on blogs like Best Week Ever, Gawker and PopBytes. Showtime has increased its profile on social networking sites like Gather.com and Facebook as well, launching mini-games and embeddable applets challenging users to, among other things, rate their friends with the Facebook game “Bed, Wed, Behead.” Robert Hayes, senior VP of Showtime’s digital group, said the initiative is aimed at increasing “consumers’ exposure to premium television programs, but also to help drive subscription to the network.” The Showtime series’ second season premiered Sunday night.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://labs.cbs.com/HD_video/

CBS is testing a HD video player on the CBS Labs section of its site, streaming clips from a selection of primetime shows in the H.264/AVC format in 480p resolution.

http://www.buzznet.com/

Music-themed social network Buzznet acquired Qloud according to reports, maker of the popular “My Music” application used on Facebook, Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster founded by Steve Case. Buzznet just closed on a third round of funding in the neighborhood of $25 million from investors such as Universal Music’s Interscope Records, according to paidcontent.org.

http://www.foryourimagination.com/

New York-based online video studio For Your Imagination received $1 million in seed capital from CensensusOne Ventures to tide the company over as it seeks Series A financing. FYI produces series such as DadLabs and The Shirtless Apprentice for distributors including Next New Networks and Revision3.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com

March 31, 2008 Posted by jesskantor | news | 72 Prods, AFTRA, Andy Cohen, Arts Alliance, Barry Diller, Blair Rich, buzznet, Cadillac Records, CBS, censesusone, Chops, Combustion, Curtiss Cook, dadlabs, David Ansen, Diane Keaton, Fanboys, for your imagination, Gene Garlock, Harvery Weinstein, HD Video, IAC, Japan, Jennifer Chaiken, John Goldwyn, John Malone, Liberty Media, Lorne Michaels, Marc Toberoff, Mos Def, NBC Global, Newsweek, Nippon Television, One Big Happy, Paramount Pictures, PFD, Qloud, Robinne Lee, SAG, Sebastian Dungan, Seven Pouds, Showtime, Shutter Island, Sky Crawlers, Steve Martin, StopDarthWeinstein.com, Sue Kroll, Superman, The Tudors, Tokyo Anima Fair, TWC, U.K. Directors Organization, United Agents, Warner Bros. Marketing | No Comments Yet

Friday March 28, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

In a seven-figure deal, DreamWorks has acquired “Hereafter,” a spec thriller by “Frost/Nixon” and “The Queen” scribe Peter Morgan. Kathleen Kennedy will produce through Kennedy/Marshall. The deal was a low-seven-figure advance against multiple million dollars if the film gets made. Thriller, which Morgan wrote before he got an Oscar nomination for “The Queen,” is in the vein of “The Sixth Sense.” Morgan’s spec deal was brokered by UTA and U.K.-based Independent.

Bunim-Murray Prods.’ documentary film unit is teaming with producer James Scurlock (“Maxed Out”) and director Alexis Spraic for a film expose of the late Larry Hillblom, the globalization pioneer who founded shipping giant DHL. Hillblom disappeared after a 1995 plane crash. With no body ever recovered, a massive battle erupted over his estate. Project follows “Autism: The Musical,” the acquisition that launched BMP Films last year. “Autism” premiered at Tribeca and was bought by HBO Documentary Films. With the untitled Scurlock-Spraic project, BMP is getting involved in the filmmaking process at the start.

Disney Channel’s preschool “Playhouse Disney” block has put the animated skein “Jungle Junction” in production. Cabler has also given third-season greenlights to Playhouse Disney staples “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “My Friends Tigger & Pooh.” “Jungle Junction,” which will be produced in the U.K., revolves around animals who explore a road-filled jungle — on wheels. According to the channel, the show teaches individuality and care for the environment. Skein will bow on Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney outlets across the world in 2009.

Miramax Films and producer Scott Rudin have acquired the Rudolph Delson novel “Maynard and Jennica.” Playwright-turned-scribe Liz Meriwether will write the screenplay. Published last year by Houghton Mifflin, the novel tracks the courtship of a young couple in New York. Their relationship evolves through the life-changing events of Sept. 11, 2001. The novel has been described as an Annie Hall-like tale of unlikely lovers in Gotham.

Romy Schneider, the Austrian star famous for the hugely popular “Sissi” trilogy of the 1950s playing the 19th-century Bavarian princess who became empress of Austria, has become the subject of two rival biopics. They are a big-screen feature and a high-profile TV production. Jessica Schwarz will play Schneider in Torsten Fischer’s “Romy” for SWR, an affiliate of pubcaster ARD. Produced by Berlin-based Phoenix-Film and penned by Benedikt Roeskau, who wrote last year’s ARD hit “Side Effects” about the thalidomide scandal of the early 1960s, the $7 million “Romy” is set to start shooting in the fall for a 2009 TV premiere. In parallel singer-actress Yvonne Catterfeld is playing Schneider in Warner Bros.’ “Eine Frau wie Romy” (“A Woman Like Romy”) helmed by Josef Rusnak. Raymond Danon, who produced Schnedier’s last film, 1982’s “Le Passante du Sans-Souci” (‘The Passerby’), is producing the $36 million French-German co-pro with Douglas Welbat (“Seven Dwarves”). Pic starts shooting in July and is scheduled to hit screens next year.

Lionsgate has stepped up to make screen scribe Stuart Gibbs’ debut novel, “The Last Equation.” An action thriller, contempo story pivots on government agents, a criminal and a math whiz on a quest to find a buried Albert Einstein formula that could harness energy with deadly consequences. Production will be overseen for Lionsgate by veep Jim Miller. Miller moved over last month from Mandate Pictures, a Lionsgate subsi

PROJECT UPDATES

Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Adrianne Palicki, Kevin Durand and Willa Holland will join Paul Bettany in “Legion,” the Screen Gems thriller that marks the feature directing debut of Scott Stewart. Shooting is about to get under way in New Mexico. David Lancaster and Michel Litvak produce through their Bold Films banner, and Gary Michel Walters is exec producer. Scripted by Stewart and Peter Schink, the thriller casts Bettany as the archangel Michael, the only one standing between mankind and an apocalypse, after God loses faith in humanity. Man’s lone hope rests with a group of strangers who must deliver a baby they realize is Christ in his second coming. Deals for Quaid, Gibson and Tenney are being finalized and the rest of the cast is set.

Summit Entertainment has given life to “The Tomb,” buying Miles Chapman’s script and signing Jeff Wadlow to direct. Story centers on the world’s foremost authority on structural security, who’s forced to escape from the master prison of his own design and use every trick up his sleeve to find the person who put him there. Jason Keller is rewriting. Project marks Wadlow’s second collaboration with Summit following “Never Back Down.” That film, which he helmed, opened earlier this month as Summit’s first inhouse production to go into theaters. Summit prexy of production Erik Feig said he’s hopeful that “The Tomb” can serve as a franchise starter, with the protag as an action hero who uses brains, not brawn, to get out of trouble. Wadlow also co-wrote and directed “Cry Wolf,” and Keller rewrote the screenplay for “The Tourist.”

Francis Ford Coppola has teamed with Spanish shingle Tornasol Films and Italy’s BIM Distribuzione to co-produce his previously announced Argentinean immigration tale “Tetro.” Speaking at a press conference in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, Coppola described the $15 million project as “small, indie and personal.” Coppola will direct from his own screenplay, which was stolen with his computer from his Buenos Aires home in September but for which he had backup copies. He produces via his Buenos Aires-based Zoetrope Argentine. Lensing starts March 31 in La Boca, a poor district of Buenos Aires, and will continue in the capital before moving to the Andean foothills of Patagonia. Shooting will move to Spain’s Ciudad de la Luz studios in Alicante in mid-May.

Yvan Attal and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi will star in “Regrets,” by Gallic helmer Cedric Kahn (“Red Lights, “Roberto Succo”). Attal (“The Serpent”, “Rush Hour 3″) will topline as Mathieu, an introvert in his 40s who, following the death of his mother, starts a new relationship with Maya, his high school girlfriend played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Actresses”, “A Good Year”). The $6.5 million production brings the two French thesps together for the first time since Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” in 2005.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

Philadelphia-based distrib TLA Releasing has nabbed all North American rights to critically acclaimed Korean horror hit “Epitaph,” the directorial debut of the Jung brothers. TLA veep of acquisitions Jennifer Arndt-Jones picked up the rights from South Korea’s Studio 2.0, which was repped by international business topper Eun-Young Choi in the deal, at the recently wrapped Hong Kong Filmart. A reinvention of the horror genre, “Epitaph” unfolds in a hospital in World War II Korea and stars Kim Bo Kyung (“Blue Sky”), Kim Tae Woo (“Woman on the Beach”) and Jin Goo (“Dirty Carnival”). The Jung brothers were honored with the new director nod at the 2007 Pusan Film Critics Awards. Pic will unspool in Gotham’s New Directors/New Films fest and April’s Philadelphia Film Festival. It’s scheduled to hit theaters later in the year under the Danger After Dark label.

BUSINESS NEWS

Get ready for Paramount the videogame publisher. The studio has expanded its interactive department team and is putting together a slate of games that it will partially or completely finance and for which it will more directly oversee development. Games will be based either on new Par films or catalog titles. Details on Par’s inaugural self-published or co-published games weren’t available, but the first few are expected to come out later this year. Studio is looking to invest in all types of videogames but is particularly interested in casual, handheld and mobile games, as they can be made for only a few million dollars, compared with the $20 million or more it costs to produce a title for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

“CSI: Miami” scribe Sunil Nayar has sealed a two-year, seven-figure deal with CBS Paramount Network TV to continue on the crime drama while also developing skeins. As part of the pact, Nayar is developing a project for the studio’s sister CBS net. The Eye has given Nayar a blind, mid-six-figure penalty against that next piece of development. Nayar will also be bumped up to exec producer of “CSI: Miami” next season. The writer was previously co-exec producer on the show.

Culver City-based vfx shop Rhythm & Hues, which won the 2008 Oscar as the lead effects shop on “The Golden Compass,” has opened a facility in Hyderabad, India. Some 100 of the 210 employees at R&H’s Mumbai facility moved to the new location. The two facilities now sport a total of about 250 employees, and more expansion is planned. R&H’s India facilities are teaming with its California HQ on “The Incredible Hulk” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.”

As stock trading breaks out across the Arab world, so too has Arab business television. During the past five years, once-nascent regional markets have been ignited by high oil prices, and more than half a dozen satellite channels have been launched to feed audiences’ thirst for business news. While a crop of newer channels, such as the Arabian Business Channel, Stock TV and Decision Makers, have all failed to produce a significant amount of programming despite ambitious plans announced in the press, the following channels are booming: CNBC Arabiya – Launched in 2003, CNBC’s affiliate was the region’s first all-business channel and remains the largest. The Dubai-based broadcaster maintains bureaus in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, London and Singapore. It employs 200, “most of which are editorial,” says sales director Omer Ghani. Al-Arabiya – Following the rapid increase in stock market activity in 2005, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya made a drastic shift toward business news, offering continuous ticker-framed market coverage throughout the trading day. With a set of daytime business anchors, the channel’s 50-strong business editorial staff produces six hours of consecutive finance-related programming each business day. El Eqtisadia – With studios in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, El Eqtisadia offers live coverage of the regional markets with a focus on Saudi Arabia. The channel was launched in 2006 and now employs 22 journalists, according to Dubai operations manager Khaled El Rahahleh. Unlike the anchors on CNBC and Al-Arabiya, many of the station’s male and female anchors wear traditional Arabian headscarves Al Aqariya – Launched in 2004 with broad plans to cover the Arab and international real estate industry, Al Aqariya has significantly scaled down its operations, shutting down a recently launched second channel as well as ending carriage on the popular Arabsat satellite network. CEO Rabeea Atatreh describes the moves as cost-cutting measures and says the broadcaster, which had espoused plans to expand into Asian and European markets with an English channel, was now restructuring.

Verse, variety and reality — that’s the magic mix in the elixir Abu Dhabi TV has concocted to relaunch itself as a major pan-Arab broadcaster. First taste of success was “Prince of Poets,” a kind of “American Idol” for Gulf region poets that in its first season last year drew millions of eyeballs, scored ratings that overtook those of soccer and was hailed as one of the most successful Arab television shows ever. Nashwa Al-Ruwaini, chief exec of Pyramedia, the production company behind “Poets,” promises an even brighter second season with participation stretching beyond the Gulf into the entire Arab world.

Online game developer Gonzo Rosso, a member of the GDH media group, has inked a license deal for its first original title, “Pandora Saga,” GDH announced on Thursday.
IP E-Game Ventures has taken Filipino rights for massive multiplayer, online role-playing game, developed by Tokyo-based Headlock and published by Gonzo Rosso. The game, online in Japan since February, pits three nations against each other in a battle for military supremacy. IP E-Games is the online game operations subsid of IPVG, a Filipino IT company. Among its titles is “Ran Online,” which was developed in South Korea and is the most popular online game in the Philippines. Gonzo Rosso and IP E-Games plan to use the deal to open more Asian territories to the title. “Pandora Saga” will launch in the Philippines this summer.

Animation house Tatsunoko Prod., creator of iconic 1970s toon series “Speed Racer,” unveiled its Mach 5 Line Project for designing merchandise to coincide with the release of the Wachowskis’ “Speed Racer” pic in Japan. It will be promoted at the Tokyo Anime Fair, which opened Thursday. Five teams of designers will come up with their own takes on the “Speed Racer” world for the goods — including clothes, stationery, toys, collectibles and books — instead of simply copying characters from the old toon show or the new live-action pic. Among the participants are freelance illustrators Gogh Imaizumi, Masahiro Takase and Toru Fukuda; Tatsunoko character designer Suzuka Yoshida; and Devil Robots, a five-person creative team whose work includes figures, toons and picture books. “Speed Racer” is skedded for a July 5 release in Japan, while Mach 5 Line Project goods will hit the stores in June.

Almost one in ten Russian households – 4.7 million out of 49 million — will have access to digital TV by the end of the year as the medium is rolled out by state and private operators, according to a report published Thursdayby the European Audiovisual Observatory. The government plans to spend up to $15 billion over seven years upgrading terrestrial analog signals to digital although only some 100,000 people are able to tune into digital channels at the moment. They are part of an official DVB-T standard pilot project launched last year, the report “Towards Digital Television in the Russian Federation” said.

Argentina’s the Latin Flower Co. has signed an agreement to handle international sales of fiction series for Colombian producer Invento — the latest move by the new distributor to expand its catalog. Skeins covered under the deal, signed in Buenos Aires by Latin Flower prexy Silvana D’Angelo and Invento international sales director Tina Hernandez, include “Baby Sister” and “El autentico Rodrigo leal” (The Real Rodrigo Leal). Series such as “El inutil,” “Juegos prohibidos” and “Marido a sueldo” may come under the deal along with future projects, according to Latin Flower.

The Czech Republic’s top terrestrial web, Nova TV, has added three film shows to its new cable channel, Nova Cinema. Station, owned by Central European Media Enterprises, is rolling out magazine show “The Red Carpet Reporter,” featuring star gossip and lifestyles; “The Hollywood Reporter” covering film industry news; and “Night of Film Chances” giving exposure to the work of film students. Nova Cinema launched in December, part of what station topper Petr Dvorak describes as a strong commitment to film fan offerings. Terrestrial TV Nova also airs a regular diet of American pics and programs, from “American Beauty” to “Home Improvement.” A new 10-episode crime hour on CME’s Slovak terrestrial, Markiza, will also launch, with dramatizations of case files, the first such offering since the 1970s.

INDUSTRY MOVES

The Gersh Agency has hired Allison Band as a VP in its talent department. Band moves from UTA, where she worked for 11 years. Band said she will bring with her clients including Jena Malone, Mary Tyler Moore, Teri Polo, Katherine Waterston, Christopher McDonald and Jason Behr.

Continuing to energize its executive suite, MGM has named Becky Sloviter VP of production. Hire is the second announced in two days by Mary Parent, who became chair of the Lion’s worldwide motion picture group two weeks ago. Parent, who hired New Line exec Cale Boyter as exec VP on Thursday, has been given the go-ahead by MGM topper Harry Sloan to build a staff to generate films inhouse.

TECHNOLOGY

Bloggers and Internet professionals in Israel plan to launch both organized and ad-hoc protests in upcoming weeks over a new bill calling for the mandatory filtering of content deemed by Israeli parliament as “inappropriate.” The ban purports to concern mostly pornography and gambling sites. The bill, written by Orthodox members of Israel’s parliament the Knesset, has already passed a first reading and, if not thwarted by its third reading, will be made into law. The bill, nicknamed “The Internet Porn Law,” proposes that a committee headed by the minister of communication will form a blacklist of sites that pose a threat to Israeli children. Those sites will then be blocked by ISPs. Filtering will be disabled only if an adult specifically asks for the removal of the service. Opponents of the bill, most of them bloggers who deluged Hebrew-language sites with uproarious comments, say that in the guise of “protection of children” the law will impose censorship on the Internet in Israel, just as in countries such as Iran, China, Burma, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Distrib Gaga Communications has launched its Gaga Movie Channel on YouTube, the company announced Thursday. Gaga Movie Channel broadcasts TV ads and trailers on YouTube, beginning with promos for “The Golden Compass,” Gaga’s biggest B.O. hit this year. Gaga intends to beam content on the site from, not only its own lineup, but also other distribs, including promos for new pics and DVD releases, while respecting the copyrights of its partner companies.

Right-wing Dutch politico Geert Wilders has finally found a home for his controversial anti-Islam short “Fitna” after video-sharing site LiveLeak allowed the 15-minute film to be posted online. “Fitna,” whose title is an Arabic word that can be translated as “strife” or “discord” and is usually used in a religious context, has been the subject of heated debate and protests ever since Wilders announced his plans to release it earlier this year. Dutch TV broadcasters refused to air the film following vocal criticism from the Dutch government, forcing Wilders to take the online route. The Net, initially at least, proved as restrictive — U.S.-based website host Network Solutions shut down Wilders’ site pending a probe into whether it contravened its acceptable use policy. LiveLeak’s decision to post the film, which features graphic images of terror attacks in New York, London and Madrid and also reproduces the notorious Danish cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb on his head, means viewers around the world will now be able to see what the fuss was all about.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

www.mlb.com

MLB Advanced Media is ready to hit one out of the park this year with a major redesign of MLB.com. The site is improving its video player once again to support a streaming rate of 1.2 Mbps, presented in 16×9 aspect ratio for the first time. Built on Microsoft’s new Silverlight platform, the player will also enable metadata-based video search and other goodies. Look here for more details on Monday when the site officially relaunches.

http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegreen/#/bigIdeasContest:overview

Sundance Channel will pay $10,000 for the next “Big Idea” to save the planet. The network is seeking shorts for its Big Ideas for a Small Planet series, returning April 1st. Contestants are asked to submit a one-minute short or photo essay to sundancechannel.com/bigideascontest between April 1 and May 20. Sundance will select the top 25 entries then users will vote from May 27-June 24, based on creativity, theme, feasibility and presentation.

http://www.lotame.com/

Social media ad solutions provider Lotame closed on a $10 million round of series A financing last month, led by Battery Ventures with participation from existing angel investors Hillcrest Management and Betaworks. Lotame is focused on monetizing midsize social networks by creating delivering customizable communities to advertisers built around actions users perform online, according to founder/CEO Andrew Monfried, a veteran of Advertising.com. The company currently monitors anonymous actions taken on 16 (1 million+ user) video, gaming and social media sites. Advertisers are able to target audiences based on not only interests but also how they interact with the platforms.

http://www.loladex.com/

Here’s another L-word start up. Former AOL executives Laurence Hooper and Dan Goodman launched Loladex this week, a local search engine built to help friends share recommendations on Facebook. Users can ask friends to recommend local businesses then add their own ratings to the results.

http://www.viropop.com/zaproot

ZapRoot is the flagship online show of ViroPop, an environmentally-themed Next New Networks property that has everything you should look for in a web show. It educates viewers about green trends in a vibrant, easy-to-digest manner, sprinkling in sardonic humor, pop cultural references and fun visuals. Host “Eco-Chick” moves faster than a T1 connection on steroids, but the site provides handy links to sites she references so that you don’t have to try to write them down on the fly. The show is produced by environmentalist Damien Somerset and indie filmmaker Sarah Szalavitz, whose day job is Director of Content Development at Veoh Networks.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com

March 28, 2008 Posted by jesskantor | news | A Woman Like Romy, Abu Dhabi TV, Alexis Spraic, Allison Band, Arab TV, Argentina, Ban, Becky Slovitar, Betaworks, Big Idea, BIM Distribuzione, Bold Films, Cedric Kahn, CSI: Miami, Czech Republic, Dan Goodman, Dennis Quaid, Digital TV, Epitaph, facebook, Fitna, Francis Ford Coppola, Gaga Movie Channel, GDH, Geert Wilders, Gersh, Hearafter, Hillcrest, Imax, Israel, James Scurlock, Jason Keller, Jeff Wadlow, Jessica Schwartz, Jim Miller, Jungle Junction, Kate Walsh, Larry Hillblom, Latin Flower Co, Laurence Hooper, Legion, Lionsgate, LiveLeak, Liz Meriwether, loladex, Lotame, Lucas Black, Maynard and Jennica, MGM, Michel Litvak, Miramax, MLB, Mumbai, Next New Networks, Northstar Media, Nova Cinemas, Pandora Saga, Paramount, Paul Bettany, Peter Morgan, Planet, Playhouse Disney, Regrets, Rhythm & Hues, Romy, Romy Schneider, Rudolph Delson, Russia, Scott Rudin, Sissi, Speed Racer, Summit, Sundance Channel, Sunil Nayar, Tatsunoko Prod, Tetro, The Last Equation, The tomb, TLA, Tyrese Gibson, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Video Games, Wachowskis, youtube, Yvan Attal, Yvonne Catterfeld, ZapRoot | No Comments Yet

Thursday March 27, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

In a preemptive spec deal, Dimension Films has acquired “Janky Promoters,” the first script that Ice Cube has written since the final installment of his “Friday” series. Cube will star in the film and produce with Cube Vision partner Matt Alvarez. Cube took less money upfront but will partner with Dimension on the proceeds after recoupment on a budget likely to be about $10 million. “Janky Promoters” sets Cube and another actor as music promoters who get the chance to book a top-tier hip-hop artist into a midsized California venue. The pair are ill equipped for such a task and everything goes wrong. A director is expected to be named soon, with casting to begin immediately. Dimension topper Bob Weinstein said he is determined to land a big-name rapper to star as himself. “This feels a lot like ‘Uptown Saturday Night’ to me, a caper film where you have these music promoters who are slightly shady but are good enough guys that you root for them,” Weinstein told Daily Variety. “This is going to be R-rated, and it appeals right to the core of Cube’s audience.” On the deal specifics, Weinstein said: “He’s producing the movie, sharing in the funding, so it’s more complicated than previous deals we’ve made with Cube. He’s a brand, like Tyler Perry, and that’s the direction he’s headed in. We’re happy to assist him in that because we believe in him.” Weinstein is already working out the details for an early summer start date that will factor in Cube’s promotion schedule for “The Long Shots,” the Fred Durst-directed Dimension film that Cube just wrapped as star and producer. The Weinstein Co. can set a June start date because it is non-signatory and eligible for the guaranteed completion contracts that SAG has pledged for indies if an actors strike takes place. Cube has a first-look Dimension deal and is also developing “Welcome Back, Kotter” as a starring vehicle. Ice Cube is repped by WMA, The Firm and attorney Matt Johnson.

Tobey Maguire is attached to produce “Afterburn,” a comicbook adaptation that Neal Moritz’s Original Films is producing. Relativity is in talks to board to the post-Apocalyptic project, based on Red 5 comic. Story begins one year after a solar flare burns half of the planet, when treasure hunters go back the scorched portion to retrieve valuable artifacts. Paul Ens and Scott Chitwood wrote the comic.

Montecito Pictures has fallen for “Underage,” buying the romantic comedy spec by the writing team of Scott Neustadter and Mike Weber (“Pink Panther 2″) for mid- against high-six figures. DreamWorks-based Montecito, which is fast-tracking the project, purchased the script late Tuesday out of its discretionary fund. The shingle plans to use its Cold Spring Picture financing vehicle, under which Montecito and the studio share production costs and ownership of films. Story is centered on a man in his mid- to late 20s who goes home with a young woman he’s met in a bar. Later, he discovers she’s only 17 — a fact that allows her to blackmail him into being her boyfriend for the next six months.

Michael Dougherty has teamed with Walt Disney Pictures and Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers on “Calling All Robots,” an animated sci-fi adventure the scribe plans to direct using the same type of performance capture technology recently deployed to produce “Beowulf.” Dougherty will pen the project with Breehn Burns and Simeon Wilkins, who will serve as artists and visual designers on the project. The trio conceived the idea together. Details of the project are being kept under wraps, but it uses performance capture to “tell a story that’s a throwback to old Godzilla movies,” Dougherty said. “I grew up watching Godzilla movies. This film is very much rooted in those movies.” ImageMovers’ Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey will produce.

U.K. production companies Aria Films and Full Circle Films are combining with post-production facility Axis3D to make “The Mortician,” a thriller in 3-D. The redemption tale in which kindness triumphs over cruelty falls within the urban noir, contemporary fairy tale and psychological thriller genres. Full Circle Films’ principal Gareth Maxwell Roberts penned the script and is set to direct, with Aria topper Carlo Dusi producing. Dusi produced Roberts’ 2006 debut feature “Kill Kill Faster Faster.” Casting is under way on the pic, which is skedded to shoot in early 2009 and will be delivered in regular format as well as 3-D. Axis3D will provide all equipment required to shoot the film in 3-D. All post-production for the feature will be completed using the Axis3D suite at Concrete in London’s Soho.

The life of a Thai female convict who became a boxing champion is to be turned into a movie by L.A.-based Thai director Naruemol Sriyanont. The president of Women in Focus Prods. is in Bangkok with American producer Tim Zajaros to announce her plan to make a feature based on the life of Samson Sor Siriporn, who won the World Boxing Council’s women’s light-flyweight championship while behind bars in 2007. Samson was sentenced to 10 years for drug dealing. She was released in June, three years ahead of her term. “Her life is an example of a woman who’s made mistakes and is ready to turn around and make amends,” said Sriyanont, whose past works included documentaries on HIV-infected women. Sriyanont is researching and writing the script. Sor Siriporn will defend her title in Pnom Penh on April 26. Her challenger is Japan’s Koyoko Ebata.

PROJECT UPDATES

Director Oliver Stone has set James Cromwell to play George Herbert Walker Bush and Ellen Burstyn to play former first lady Barbara Bush in “W,” a drama about the formative years of their son, President George W. Bush. Josh Brolin is playing the title character, and Elizabeth Banks will play first lady Laura Bush. Stone will direct from a script by his “Wall Street” co-writer Stanley Weiser. Moritz Borman is producing with Bill Block and Jon Kilik. Block’s QED International is financing the film, which will begin shooting Shreveport, La., at the end of April.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

IFC has acquired domestic rights to Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis’ drama “Lemon Tree.” IFC prexy Jonathan Sehring praised Riklis’ ability to convey “more about the state of the Middle East than most newspaper headlines.” Pic, inspired by true events, follows the story of a Palestinian widow who defends her trees against the Israeli defense minister, who wants to raze them in the name of security, and ends up finding a bond with the defense minister’s wife. Riklis is best known for directing 2004’s “The Syrian Bride.” Both pics were co-written with Suha Arraf. “Lemon” stars Hiam Abbass and Ali Suliman. Film was co-produced by Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt and Riklis.

Shanghai auds will be treated to a showcase of the past year’s French films from April 15-19. Pics include “Asterix at the Olympic Games,” “Towards Zero,” “Hunting and Gathering,” “Dragon Hunters” and “Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure.” The fifth French Film Panorama will screen at four Shanghai cinemas. Event is co-hosted by Unifrance, the French Consulate in Shanghai and the Shanghai Film Festival. All pics will be presented in their original language with Chinese subtitles. A delegation headed by Pathe CEO Jerome Seydoux and including veteran French filmmakers and producers will talk to audiences about the pics.

BUSINESS NEWS

In what NBC Universal calls “a groundbreaking deal,” cabler FX will pony up more than $100 million to buy 15 Universal theatrical movies, the bulk of which are prebuys of titles to be released throughout the year, including “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Frances Manfredi, executive VP and general sales manager of NBC U Domestic TV Distribution, said FX made “a preemptive bid” as part of its “aggressive film acquisitions strategy.” Chuck Saftler, exec veep of FX, said he has embarked on a forceful movie strategy because fresh primetime theatricals are big draws in the coveted 18-49 demo. Although FX finished 11th in total viewers last year among ad-supported cable networks, it wound up fifth overall in adults 18-49. It’s impossible to put a precise license fee on the Universal/FX deal because the final number is directly tied to each picture’s domestic box office performance. FX will pay an average of 11% of the gross U.S. revenue of the movies for a four-year license term, which takes effect about 18 months after the pictures make their debut on HBO in the exclusive pay TV window. FX will allow Universal to sell a run or two of the titles to a broadcast network within FX’s four-year window. Universal has given FX free video-on-demand rights to the movies for a portion of its license term.

Canuck distrib Entertainment One will handle ThinkFilm pics in Canada via its Seville Pictures through 2010. The formerly Canadian-owned ThinkFilm had to find a local distributor after it was purchased by Los Angeles entrepreneur David Bergstein’s CapCo Group in October 2006. Under Canadian law, a foreign-owned company can’t distribute pics in the country. The only exceptions are the Hollywood majors, who operate under a grandfather clause. “This (deal) has taken longer than we thought it would,” said ThinkFilm CEO Jeff Sackman. “Timing in life is everything, and had we done this a year ago, there wouldn’t have been an Entertainment One to make a deal with.” Entertainment One morphed from a DVD distributor into a theatrical distrib last summer. Sackman said the deal will change little for his company because 90% of its business is in the U.S.

Reliance Entertainment, the largest player in Indian film, is making an ambitious play in the U.S. exhib sector. Company, part of billionaire Anil Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance ADAG conglom, has quietly bought up cinemas across the U.S. and is poised to launch next month as a coast-to-coast mini-chain. Reliance, in which billionaire George Soros recently paid $100 million for a 5% stake, has 250 screens at 28 North American locations. These include sites in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington State and one at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Group is rebranding most of its Indian entertainment businesses with the moniker Big and will rename the U.S. sites Big Cinemas as their renovations are completed. Both refurbishments and acquisitions will continue in coming months. Reliance Entertainment, which runs cinemas in India through its stock market-listed Adlabs subsidiary, also bought into Knoxville, Tennessee-based management company Phoenix Theaters, which will operate the U.S. chain and has set up a distribution company to license rights where that is useful. Phoenix Theaters is headed by former Regal exec Phil Zacheretti. Arjun says most of the sites are close to centers of ex-pat Indian and Asian populations. Company’s objective is not to force the pace of crossover by Bollywood movies but to play popular movies from a wider range of sources.

Munich-based licensing company Telepool has sold 400 episodes of the RTL Television hit soap “What Really Matters” to French broadcasting group M6 in the run-up to this year’s Mip TV programming mart in Cannes. M6, which, like RTL Television, is owned by pan-European broadcasting conglom RTL Group, will air the series as “Le reve de Diana” beginning Monday in back-to-back double episodes Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. The hugely successful soap revolves around aspiring figure skater Diana Sommer and the wealthy Steinkamp family, whose ownership of a fitness empire has led to their entanglement in intrigue and countless scandals. Produced by Germany’s Grundy UFA TV Prods. for RTL, “What Really Matters” garners an average 17.3% market share among viewers age 14-49 in its 7 p.m. slot. The series kicks off its third season in May.

Take-Two Interactive said no to Electronic Arts again on Wednesday but is throwing the door open to interested parties in a month. Vidgame publisher officially recommended that shareholders reject EA’s $2 billion bid but said it will begin discussions on April 30, the day after “Grand Theft Auto IV” is released, with several potential suitors who have been in touch since the EA bid went public. “We will commence formal discussions on April 30 and, if appropriate, negotiations because we think we will be in the best positions from a timing perspective and value creation perspective,” executive chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a presentation to analysts. Though he didn’t name names, Zelnick confirmed that Take-Two has had “expressions of interest from numerous parties” and later indicated that they include both other vidgame publishers and traditional media companies. Zelnick reiterated that he thinks EA’s bid undervalues his company compared to similar acquisitions and that Take-Two needs to focus its energies on the “GTA IV” release. However, he also claimed that Take-Two is not yet fully valued for the turnaround his management team has implemented since taking over a year ago or for the pending success of “GTA IV.”

Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has struck a multimillion dollar equity financing deal with Gallic bank BNP Paribas for the upcoming second part of its “Arthur” saga, “Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard,” to be directed by Besson himself. With the accord, BNP Paribas becomes the exclusive bank-insurance sector partner on “Revenge,” one of the biggest-budgeted productions in Europe this year. BNP Paribas put up Euros 4.5 million ($6.9 million) for the first part of the franchise, “Arthur and the Invisibles.” Given that the budget for “Revenge” is 15% higher — $96 million to $84.6 million for “Minimoys” — and “Minimoys” turned a profit for investors, BNP Paribas’ finance for “Revenge” will most probably come in somewhat above its shell-out for the first installment.

Swedish production company Yellow Bird has secured finance to produce a further 13 films featuring Swedish author Henning Mankell’s fictional detective Kurt Wallander. Mankell has written the storylines for the new films, with other writers completing the scripts. Yellow Bird, which is owned by Zodiak Television, will produce the films with Swedish pubcaster TV4, Film i Skane and Germany’s ARD/Degeto. The budget for the 13 films is $33 million. The first of the features is to get a theatrical release, while the other 12 will go straight to DVD, distributed by giant distrib Svensk, and with TV4 and pay TV channel Canal Plus waiting further up the road. Yellow Bird has already produced 13 Wallander features for theatrical and DVD release, all starring actor Krister Henriksson. He will reprise the role in the new pics. No other cast have been named, nor the helmers.

INDUSTRY MOVES

In her first creative hire since becoming head of MGM’s worldwide motion picture group, Mary Parent has brought in New Line Cinema executive Cale Boyter as exec veep of production — a move which casts a shadow over the future of chief operating officer Rick Sands. Boyter’s hire begins the makeover of MGM under Parent, who has a mandate from chairman-CEO Harry Sloan to build a creative staff that will generate a homegrown slate of feature films. Sloan and Parent are expected to do so without Sands, whose role was usurped by Parent’s appointment earlier this month (Daily Variety, March 14).

CBS Films, continuing to ramp up operations, has tapped Warner Bros. marketing vet Debbie Miller as exec VP of worldwide marketing. Miller will oversee advertising, promotions, publicity, media, research and digital marketing initiatives. She will report to Amy Baer, prexy-CEO of the Eye’s film wing.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI- PLATFORM CONTENT

Fuji TV will bow Fuji On-Demand, a new Internet service, on April 1. The new service will start beaming to mobile devices on April 7. Fuji TV has offered webcasts in co-operation with Internet providers since 2005 but started its own service to better respond to changing viewer needs. In addition to the 30 programs it is providing to PC viewers, including pro-baseball and horse racing, Fuji will beam six new shows on Fuji On-Demand, including episodes of “24,” original yakker “Shopan” and “Skullman,” a toon based on a classic comic by Shotaro Ishinomori. Some shows will be free, while others will be PPV or require a monthly fee.

Pubcaster NHK has announced details of its plans to offer its programs on the Internet starting in December. In co-operation with Jupiter Telecom, which operates Japan’s largest cable network, and leading Internet sites, NHK will beam 20 new shows, including popular dramas, on the Web for ten days after their initial broadcast on a pay TV basis, as well as offer 1,000 older shows. A revision in Japan’s broadcasting law, effective this April, allows NHK to enter the webcasting biz. The pubcaster will be the first among major Japanese broadcasters to beam its programming to viewers’ PCs.

50 Cent may not be getting a movie sequel, but he’s living on in the vidgame world. Vivendi Games’ Sierra label will release “50 Cent: Blood on the Sand,” this fall. It’s a follow-up to 2005 release “50 Cent: Bulletproof,” which was tied to the hip hop artists starring role in the film “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” Pic only grossed $31 m illion domestically, but the vidgame sold a solid 2 million units worldwide, despite a critical drubbing. Sierra’s deal with 50 Cent for the first game gave it an option to greenlight a sequel. Artist has been consulting on the follow-up, which unlike the first title won’t exclusively take place in an inner-city environment. Players will control 50 Cent and, in a co-op option for those who want to play together, other members of his crew. Rapper and G Unit members Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and DJ Whoo Kid are all doing voiceover work and providing likeness rights. “Blood in the Sand” will have some new music from 50 Cent and G Unit, as well as existing tracks. Kim noted that it likely won’t have as big a library as “Bulletproof” since 50 Cent has only recorded one new album in the past two years. Game will likely be released by Activision, which is in the process of merging with Vivendi and will handle all Sierra games once the deal is complete. However Vivendi is not allowed to talk to Activision until the merger is finalized, which is expected to happen by June. Meanwhile, Sierra is proceeding with planning for the rest of its 2008 releases, which also include an adaptation of “Ghostbusters,” “The Bourne Conspiracy” based on the Robert Ludlum spy books, and new action game “Saboteur.”

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=163856011

Amazon’s DRM-free music sales outlet Amazon MP3 overtook eMusic as the #2 online music outlet and is now second only to iTunes just 6 months after launching, reports USA Today. Amazon has deals in place with Warner Music, Sony/BMG and Universal, offering a catalog of about 4.5 million DRM free songs. Apple, which still controls 80% of the digital download market, offers about 2 million DRM free tracks, including EMI and indie labels, according to the article. eMusic CEO David Pakman disputes the findings in his company’s blog, 17dots.

http://www.characterarcade.com/

USA is expanding its Character Arcade casual gaming site launched with Glow Interactive in November, adding 20+ new games with improved ad options and additional community features. A new affinity program will allow users to earn points for playing that can be redeemed to purchase coupons, advertisers’ products or USA merchandise.

http://current.com/topics/88797981_current_rocks_silverdocs;jsessionid=CBB6BC3004BB5668DB30BBDB456DF02D

Current TV is accepting 3-10 minute non-fiction shorts to screen at the SILVERDOCS Film Festival, taking place June 16-23, 2008 in Washington D.C. A total of 5 films will be chosen for a theatrical screening. Deadline for entries is May 5. Contact Sarah Evershed at severshed @currentmedia .com or go to www.current.com/silverdocs for more info.

http://www.answerology.com/

Relationship advice Q&A site Answerology.com was acquired by Heart Magazines. Site founder Matthew Milner will joint Heart’s digital media group as VP/Community and Social Media.

http://trendrr.com/

Trendrr.com is a new web service from digital marketing agency Wiredset designed to track and compare online data trends. The sites APIs can be set to track anything from the number of Twitter friends a user has to the number of people who used a specific Facebook widget.

http://www.mercedes-benz.tv/

Mercedes launched another new web show on its Mercedes-Benz.tv entertainment portal. The half-hour Mixed Tape Music magazine features videos, album reviews and profiles of “modern vintage” newcomers and established artists. Mercedes also partnered with private select social network A Small World this month to query potential well-heeled customers on what they’d like to see in its line of cars.

http://www.diamondlounge.com/

Not all social networks are out to recruit millions of users. The UK-based Diamond Lounge is an exclusive online gated community of the well-to-do which only selects members who can bring “something special” to the club. (If you have to ask what that is, then perhaps you’re not suitable). A perusal of the members turned up investment bankers, socialites, models and high-level execs who use the service to network, flirt and hobnob with the right kind of people. Diamond Lounge founder Arya Marafie may be onto something – the latest Wealth Survey from The Luxury Institute found that the wealthy’s participation in social networks increased to 60% in 2008 from 27% last year. Anyone is free to apply. But remember what Groucho Marx said; “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as member.”

SOURCES:

www.Variety.com

www.Cynopsis.com

March 27, 2008 Posted by jesskantor | news | 50 Cent, A Small World, Afterburn, Amazon, Answerology.com, Aria Films, ASW, Axis3D, Bill Block, Cale Boyter, Calling All Robots, CBS Films, Characterarcade.com, Cube Vision, Current.com, Debbie Miller, Diamond lounge, diamondlounge.com, Dimension, Electronic Arts, Ellen Burstyn, Eran Riklis, EuropaCorp, Fuji TV, Full Circle Films, FX, Ice Cube, IFC, Indian Film, James Cromwell, Jeff Sackman, Josh Brolin, Lemon Tree, Luc Besson, Mary Parent, Mat Alvarez, Mercedes-Benz, MGM, Michael Dougherty, Montecito, Naruemol Sriyanont, NBC, Neal Moritz, Neustadter and Weber, NHK, Oliver Stone, Relativity, Reliance Entertainment, RTL Television, Shanghai, Sierra, Stanley Weiser, Take Two, Telepool, Thai Boxer, The Mortician, ThinkFilm, Toby Maguire, trend tracking, trendrr.com, Underage, USA, Vivendi Games, W, What Really Matters, Yellow Bird | No Comments Yet

Wednesday March 26, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

The spec script market continues to show signs of life. DreamWorks has made a preemptive six-figure acquisition of “Imaginary Friends,” a fantasy adventure script by Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz. Studio was keeping logline under wraps. Scribes are first timers who met in film school. They graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography last year.

Hollywood is demonstrating its continued fascination with the Iraq war through three deals in the works on the subject. Mike Medavoy’s Phoenix Pictures will develop a movie based on ABC News chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz’s book “The Long Road Home.” Tome is about insurgents’ 2004 ambush of an Army platoon on routine patrol in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City during which eight soldiers died and more than 70 were wounded. Separately, Paul Pompian Prods. and Silver Hills Pictures have acquired the life story of Janet Leigh Jones. Shortly after arriving in the Green Zone to work for defense contractor KBR (then a Halliburton subsidiary), Jones claimed, she was drugged and gang-raped by six KBR employees, then locked in a shipping container without water or food after she reported the crime. Jones has a lawsuit in the works and described her ordeal on Capitol Hill. Patricia K. Meyer will pen the script.

New Regency has bought Tom Wheeler’s fantasy-adventure pitch “Cutlass Islands” and set up the project with Alex Gartner at Mosaic Media and Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps. Levy’s in talks to direct. His next project is the “Night at the Museum” sequel, which he’s producing and directing. Wheeler pitch centers on a pair of shipwrecked brothers uncovering the mystery of the Cutlass Islands, a lost world of mythological and magical species. Gold Circle recently picked up Wheeler’s script for fantasy-adventure “The Arcanum” in turnaround from Miramax. He’s repped by WMA and Benderspink.

Survey says: “Family Feud” is heading to primetime. NBC and “American Idol” producer FremantleMedia North America are prepping a celebrity edition of the classic quizzer and are fast-tracking it for broadcast as soon as this summer. While the “Feud” format is more than 30 years old, the series has never aired as a regular primetime network show. Peacock and Fremantle are keeping a tight lid on details surrounding the primetime “Feud,” with casting just getting under way.

Call it “My Fair Lady”-meets Oprah, done MTV-style. MTV has given an eight-episode order to an hourlong series from Donald Trump’s Trump Prods. and RDF USA based on RDF’s hit U.K. format “Ladette to Lady.” Series, still untitled for the U.S., will send 15 contempo young women to a boarding school environment where they’ll be coached in self-improvement and femme empowerment techniques, and then presented with a series of challenges. Contestants who have trouble following the rules or exerting the effort to transform themselves will be “expelled.” In the U.K., “Ladette to Lady” was a sizable hit in 2005 and 2006 for ITV. Trump and RDF USA originally set the project up at Fox Broadcasting Co. last year (Daily Variety, June 12).

Russian independent production company Central Partnership is moving into animation with a $1 million stake in a 3-D cartoon take on “Romeo and Juliet.” “Peregrine” — the working title for a $2.5 million co-production with Moscow animation firm House of Aquarius — tells the story of Mitya, a falcon adopted at birth by a family of pigeons. The full-length feature, due for release late 2008 or early 2009, is Central Partnership’s first venture into animation and is designed to take advantage of the growing popularity of cartoon films in Russia. Animated films accounted for some 10% of the Russian box office over the past three years, he added. Box office figures collated by Russian Film Business Today mag put that figure at around $130 million for the period. “Peregrine” is a modern take on the classic tale of “Romeo and Juliet” told through the stories of Moscow pigeons, sparrows and falcons. It employs the voice talents of local TV and film personalities including Konstantin Khabensky (“Day Watch”) as Mitya the peregrine falcon and Renata Litvinova as the pigeon Galya.

PROJECT UPDATES

Julie Benz will topline “Saw V,” the latest installment in the Lionsgate/Twisted Pictures franchise, set for release Oct. 24. “Saw V” is directed by David Hackl, who served as the production designer on the second, third and fourth versions, and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Production began March 17. Producers are Mark Burg and Oren Koules; exec producers are Peter Block, Jason Constantine, Daniel Heffner, Stacey Testro, Leigh Whannell and James Wan.

David Mamet’s “Redbelt” will preem at the Tribeca Film Festival in tandem with the ESPN Sports Film section of the fest on April 25. In familiar Mamet territory, pic tells the tale of a jujitsu teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who runs his Los Angeles training studio by the honorable samurai code until greed and corruption threaten his survival. Ejiofor is joined by thesps Emily Mortimer, Alice Braga and Tim Allen. “I am a fan of both the fight film and the samurai film,” Mamet said. “‘Redbelt’ is my homage to both.” Film, produced by Chrisann Verges, will be released in Gotham and Los Angeles on May 2 and expand the following week. Fest runs April 23-May 4.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

South Korea’s Studio 2.0 struck multiple sales deals at Hong Kong’s Filmart, which ended on Thursday, with TLA Releasing taking North American rights to horror film “Epitaph.” The critically praised “Epitaph,” set at a hospital during WWII, was also sold to HGC for China and Celestial Movie Channel for Hong Kong. Celestial picked up romantic comedy “Highway Star” and two library titles as well. Meanwhile, “Aachi and Ssipak,” an animated film about a futuristic society powered by human feces, was sold to Notro for Spain. Other Asian deals include “Highway Star” to Japan’s CCRE and Vietnam’s Diamond Cinema, which also picked up relationship drama “Lovers of 6 Years.”

BUSINESS NEWS

A recession may be looming, but a group of investors thinks Americans are ready to pony up $35 for a movie ticket. Village Roadshow Ltd., Act III, Lambert Entertainment and the Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund have partnered to bring the luxury cinema circuit Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas to the U.S. The partners will spend $200 million to build 50 theaters nationwide over the next five years, with the first two venues set to open in South Barrington, a suburb of Chicago, and the Seattle suburb of Redmond in October. Others are planned for Fairview, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth, and Scottsdale, Ariz. Each complex will sport theaters featuring 40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, as well as a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking. But the circuit will especially push its culinary offerings — made-to-order meals like sushi and other theater-friendly foods from on-site chefs (a service button at each seat calls a waiter). Moviegoers will have to pay extra for any food they order, however. The Burbank-based company’s hoping to attract 10 million “upscale and affluent” consumers per year to its theaters that will be housed in high-end shopping centers and malls. Each complex will typically house eight screens. Village Roadshow founded the Gold Class Cinemas chain in Australia in 1997. It has since expanded to other countries, including Singapore and Greece. Company execs said bringing the chain to the U.S. is a “natural extension” of the brand. In addition to its initial complexes in Illinois, Washington, Texas and Arizona, company also plans to build in California, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York. Gold Class Cinemas won’t be the first luxury theater circuit in the U.S. Regal Entertainment, Cinemark, National Amusements and Sundance Cinemas offer similar services, including high-end food and concierges, at much cheaper prices of around $12-$18 per ticket. Idea is that plushing up the current moviegoing experience will encourage auds that typically stay home to watch movies via their pricey home theaters to venture out again. But it’s also a way for exhibs to make more money: Concession sales are kept by theater chains, while a little more than half of each ticket sold is split with the studios. Selling sushi and a glass of wine will command higher prices than popcorn and soda.

MGM has inked a massive deal with Abu Dhabi-based real estate developer Sorouh and Jordanian animation shingle Rubicon to create an entertainment destination using MGM and Rubicon franchises. Deal is the latest in a string of pacts between Hollywood studios and business interests in the United Arab Emirates. The multifaceted strategic alliance, which could be worth up to $1 billion once all the projects are completed, will include retail, leisure and entertainment facilities. Execs are also looking into creating a dedicated film and TV production fund, as well as exploring the possibility of building an animation studio in oil-rich Abu Dhabi. Deal will likely take three to five years to complete, although the first CG concepts for the project are likely to be unveiled before the end of the year. Deal follows a strategic partnership inked last June between MGM and Rubicon, the first part of which was a co-financing and co-production joint venture on 26-episode animated skein “Pink Panther & Pals.” Latest pact will see execs from MGM, Sorouh and Rubicon develop a range of dedicated creative content and entertainment platforms based on existing and new franchises.

Radio and billboard giant Clear Channel’s $19 billion-plus takeover by private equity firms has reportedly hit the rocks because dealmakers still can’t agree on terms. The impasse, first reported late Tuesday afternoon on the Wall Street Journal’s website, had helped send the company’s stock down more than 5% on the day to a close of $32.56. Volume was triple the average level. The price, which plummeted below $26 in after-hours trading, is well short of the $39.20 promised to shareholders when the deal was first proposed way back in November 2006. Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital are leading the buyout. They are expected to fulfill their obligations to fund and close the deal, but the problem has been the stock’s dipping below the price it traded at during better times. That means sponsors could wind up lending more than the value of the company. Clear Channel risks becoming a poster child for how the entertainment biz, as it is currently structured financially, is hardly the recession-proof crowd-pleaser of generations ago. Clear Channel’s privatization move was first planned a year and a half ago, at the high-water mark in terms of easy credit and liquidity. It was a time when studio slate deals and private finance arrangements were closing left and right. The landscape in recent months has looked a lot different, thanks to the subprime lending crisis, skyrocketing oil prices and the massive writedowns and even dissolutions of financial institutions.

Ono, Spain’s main cabler, posted 2007 operating profits of 642 million euros ($1 billion), up 14.9% on 2006, the company announced Tuesday. Revenues dropped 1.1% to $2.52 billion. Net losses of $308.9 million were driven by extraordinary charges of $365 million in writedowns linked to its 2005 merger with triple-play rival Auna. “It’s been a year of impasse for Ono,” said an analyst, “with a poor earnings evolution but an appreciable 4.7% drop in operating net costs to $830 million,” he added. “Ono has assimilated well the costs of the Auna integration, but revenues haven’t reached the estimated levels. Competition has prevented a larger increase in client takeup.” Ono’s TV service customers increased 4.4% to 960,000 by December, mainly due to the launch of new TV packages such as Essential, with 40 TV channels; Extra, with 70; and Total, with 95. Spain’s leading triple-play provider, Ono reached 582,000 subscribers for its combined telephony-Internet-TV service, 31.2% of its total client base. In March, company announced it had reached 1 million TV customers.

U.S.-based distributor Northstar Media has picked up non-theatrical rights to 21 pics produced by giant-screen company Imax Corp. Northstar will snare worldwide TV, video-on-demand, mobile and broadband rights to the films in the Imax XXI film package. The films include “Tom Hanks Presents Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D,” “Space Station,” “Into the Deep,” “T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous” and “Blue Planet.” “This partnership represents Imax expanding its footprint as we begin to deliver the Imax experience in high-definition television,” said Greg Foster, Imax prexy of filmed entertainment.

Movie finance from Gaul’s regional, county or local authorities rose 7% to e52.5 million ($80.8 million) last year, according to a recent report. The study, “A 2008 Guide to Film and Audiovisual Support Systems,” is published by France’s Centre Images, the regional authority of the country’s CNC film institute. Regional funders have become an important part of the film biz, with far more resources than they had at the beginning of the decade. In 2002, funding came in at just $26.2 million, estimated Patrick Lamassoure, managing director of Film France, the country’s national film commission. By a large head, the Ile de France film commission remains the biggest regional film fund in France, investing $22 million in 2007. Second largest was Rhones-Alpes Cinema with $4.8 million, then Nord-Pas de Calais with $4.2 million and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur (PACA) with $3.7 million.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Sony Pictures Entertainment has reupped Screen Gems prexy Clint Culpepper, keeping him at the helm of the studio’s genre shingle through 2012. Culpepper has run Screen Gems since 1998. The studio-funded genre division turns a profit, particularly in the horror and urban categories.

Veteran film exec Michael Bostick has been named co-CEO of Philip Anschutz’s Walden Media, where he’ll share responsibilities with Walden’s Cary Granat. Move comes two months after Walden — which has been aiming to establish itself as a key supplier of family films — reshuffled staff during the writers strike, with exec VP Alex Schwartz ankling. Anschutz Film Group CEO David Weil, who made the announcement Tuesday, told Daily Variety that bringing Bostick onboard is aimed at bolstering Walden’s ability to execute its core strategy — taking wholesome stories to the bigscreen.

Amy Schiffman has left the Gersh Agency to become a partner at Intellectual Property Group. Schiffman, who was VP of books and literary properties at Gersh, joins IPG partners Joel Gotler, Jerry Kalajian and Larry Becsey. She expects to bring such author clients as Dennis Lehane, Don DeLillo, Jane Heller and David Zucchino and screenwriters Matthew Aldrich, Angus MacLachlan and Michael Golding.

Summit Entertainment has tapped veteran exec Patricia Laucella as senior VP of legal affairs. She’ll be primarily responsible for overseeing the legal aspects of development, production and acquisitions. Laucella will report to general counsel David Friedman. Laucella will work closely with the business affairs, physical production and production finance departments, negotiating and documenting rights, talent and production deals and supervising outside production counsel.

Public relations company mPRm has promoted seven staffers in its digital media and general entertainment departments. Elana Sullivan was tapped director of mPRm’s digital media practice. Michelle Kim and Stephanie Tannenberger will join her in that department as account supervisors. Bret Ingraham and Jessica Wolf round out the digital media promotions as senior account execs. In the company’s general entertainment division, Sienna Sanders will serve as senior account executive. Theresa Black was tapped account supervisor.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI- PLATFORM CONTENT

After years of encouraging their fans to share “South Park,” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have set up a viable alternative to the mass YouTube-based distribution of popular clips from the hit show: They’re just going to give the whole thing away on SouthParkStudios.com. “We got really sick of having to download our own show illegally all the time, so we gave ourselves a legal alternative,” the duo quipped in a statement. The site offers every “South Park” episode including the current one, which stays live for a week after its airdate and then goes dark for the rest of the month, at which point it is added to the site’s back catalog. The streaming episodes run without ad breaks, but a spokeswoman for Comedy Central said the full episodes would eventually include advertising. SouthParkStudios.com also hosts embeddable clips. Launch sponsors for the venture are Toyota and Virgin. It’s a good time for Parker and Stone to distance themselves from the YouTube community given Comedy Central parent Viacom’s protracted lawsuit against the Web-based video distrib, which features clips from the show. Comedy Central said the site has already generated more than 3 million page visitors and more than 1 million streams of full episodes since it debuted with no fanfare last week.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://sites.google.com/a/opensocial.org/opensocial/Home

The open source movement continues. Yahoo joined Google’s OpenSocial alliance after sitting on the fence for the first few months of its existence. The two companies also announced plans to form the nonprofit OpenSocial Foundation to advance specification developments and insure programming standards remain in the hands of a neutral party. It is believed Yahoo held back on joining the alliance because it worried Google held too much control over intellectual property created by the group.

http://www.cuetunes.com/

DIC Entertainment subsidiary DIC Music launched a new online music production business cuetunes.com as a one-stop, royalty-free music shop. Producers can purchase affordable music for all media productions including animation, commercials, live-action, home video, video games and local station themes.

http://www.imeem.com/developers/

Playlist sharing facilitator Imeem became the latest social media site to release a software development kit for programmers, joining fellow OpenSocial members Bebo and MySpace. The idea is to entice developers to tap into imeem’s licensed library of songs from major labels to create original music apps.

http://blip.tv/

Web 2.0 entertainment site Blip.tv signed distribution deals with Revision3 and 60 Frames, providing an online outlet for all original series produced by the two outfits in exchange for a share of ad revenue. Revision3 is best known for shows like beer-enhanced webcast Diggnation or popSiren. G.I.L.F. is the latest 60 Frames comedy, currently in its 4th episode.

http://www.hoopgurlz.com/

ESPN acquired Girls High School Basketball site Hoopgurlz.com. Basketball columnist and founder Glenn Nelson will continue to manage the site’s content and editorial voice and Chris Hansen, the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com, will continue to write for the site.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/cron/

Putting video up on the web is one thing. Creating a compelling user interface around a specific topic is quite another. Too often the UI is overlooked or inadequate. The web team of PBS’ Frontline has done a great job of combining years of clips, slideshows, timelines, maps, reporters’ blog entries and other resources to form an online companion to its Bush’s War special, which aired on Monday and Tuesday on PBS. Click on the video timeline for a chronological video compilation of coverage on how the U.S. got into the war, dating back to the 80’s when Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and crew first cut their teeth on the War Against Terror. The full 4-hour special is also available for viewing.

SOURCES

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com

March 26, 2008 Posted by jesskantor | news | Abu Dhabi, Alex Gartner, Amy Schiffman, blip.tv, Clear Channel, Clint Culpepper, CUEtunes, Cutlass Island, David Mamet, DIC music, Donald Trump, dreamworks, Epitaph, ESPN, Family Feud, FreamantleMedia, Gold Class Cinema, imaginary friends, Imax, imeem.com, Julie Benz, MGM, Michael Bostick, Mitya, Mosaic Media, mPRm, MTV, My Fair Lady, New Regency, Northstar Media, OpenSocial, Patricia K. Meyer, Patricia Laucella, Peregrine, pheonix pictures, Redbelt, Russia, Saw V, South Korea, south park, spec, TFF, The Areanum, the long road home, Tom Wheeler, Villaeg Roadshow | No Comments Yet

Tuesday March 25, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Touchstone Pictures has acquired “Home Free,” a comedy written by sibling scribes Alexi and Noah Hawley, in a mid-six-figure deal. Storyline is being kept under wraps, but it’s a male-driven comedy described as a middle-aged “Risky Business.” It’s the first big studio spec sale for the brothers. Alexi Hawley scripted the “Exorcist” prequel “Dominion” for Warner Bros. and “Garfield 3″ for Fox, while Noah Hawley most recently has been writing for the Fox series “Bones.”

Moxie Pictures is teaming with Killer Pictures to develop a feature from “The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba and Herbert Matthews of the New York Times.” Written by NYT correspondent Anthony DePalma, the book examines how Matthews’ mythmaking profiles of Castro set the stage for his rise to power. Matthews, one of the top foreign correspondents of his era, was smuggled into the jungles of the Sierra Maestra Mountains to get the first detailed interview with Castro. That and other glowing articles impacted American perception before the fall of the Batista regime and Castro’s takeover of the Cuban government.

The Hallmark Channel has given the go-ahead to “Dear Prudence,” a two-hour backdoor pilot starring Jane Seymour as the host of a TV show who has a sideline: helping people solve mysteries. Les Alexander, co-author of the original script and co-executive producer, said if the movie scores with viewers when Hallmark schedules it in late summer, “Prudence” could go back into production for one or more two-hour movies. Alexander and his partner Jonathan Mitchell, a financier, plan to spend $2.8 million on an 18-day shoot, an unusually expensive TV movie for Hallmark, whose license fee will come to about $1.8 million.

PROJECT UPDATES

Hugh Jackman and “Eli Stone” co-creator Marc Guggenheim are teaming with Virgin Comics to create “Nowhere Man,” an original comicbook series that is designed to be transferred to the bigscreen as a Jackman vehicle. Story was being kept under wraps, but Jackson’s Seed Productions partner John Palermo said it features a protagonist reminiscent of the one Will Smith played in “I Am Legend.” The concept is a futuristic world where mankind has traded privacy for safety, a premise that sprouted with Seed, Virgin CEO Sharad Devarajan and chief creative officer Gotham Chopra. “This is our first comic, and we feel the concept is transferable to other arenas, perhaps first as a videogame, and then a movie,” Palermo said. Guggenheim has also written installments of “Amazing Spider-man” and “Wolverine” for Marvel Comics. Jackman is in Australia, starring for 20th Century Fox in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the spinoff movie that will hit theaters May 2009. Said Jackman: “I’ve had so much fun in the graphic novel world with the ‘X-Men’ franchise that I wanted to get even more involved. I’m excited to work with Virgin and Marc and create a compelling character and story that hopefully will also make it to the bigscreen.”

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

Helmer Toki Inoue’s 21-minute short “Daichi o tataku onna” (The Woman Who Struck the Earth) won the Yubari Fantastic Film Festival’s Off-Theater Competition as the fest closed on Sunday. The jury, headed by vet helmer Isshin Inudo, picked the winner from 14 competish pics. The fest also unspooled 12 pics in its Special Invitation section, including Korean opener “Cyborg She” and closer “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” as well as “Juno,” “Let There Be Blood,” “The Bucket List” and “Shoot ’Em Up.” Some 8,868 attendees saw 60 pics in the fest’s five days. Last year’s Yubari festival was cancelled after its main sponsor, the city government, went bankrupt. The event is now run by a nonprofit org that recruited supporters around the country to keep the fest going.

BUSINESS NEWS

The Justice Dept. said Monday it has found no reason to block or oppose the proposed merger between the XM and Sirius satellite radio companies. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to rule on the deal, but DOJ’s announcement is a huge victory for Sirius topper Mel Karmazin, who has repeatedly appeared before congressional committees throughout the past year and met with regulators to answer questions and parry critics’ claims that the merger would constitute a monopoly. “After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the (DOJ antitrust) division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers,” said assistant attorney general Thomas O. Barnett. “We found we should not challenge the transaction.” Barnett said Justice Dept. lawyers rejected arguments made mostly by consumer groups and the National Assn. of Broadcasters that satellite radio was a unique market and that a merger would allow creation of a monopoly that would jack up subscription rates. “There was no evidence to support that proposition,” Barnett said. Indeed, certain factors argued against it, such as “competitive alternative services available to consumers, technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers,” Barnett said. Another key point that Barnett said antitrust lawyers examined was the likely effect the merger would have on current competition between XM and Sirius. He said they concluded there would be no effect, since the two satcasters don’t really compete against each other.

Fox Television is refusing to pay a $91,000 broadcast indecency fine that the Federal Communications Commission slapped on the network for a 2003 episode of its “Married by America” reality show. In a statement released Monday — the deadline by which Fox had to respond to the FCC’s official notice of forfeiture — the net said it will instead file a request for the FCC to reconsider the fine. In 2004, the FCC initially fined 169 Fox stations $7,000 each — a total of $1.2 million — for the episode, which included images of contestants licking whipped cream off strippers. Recently, however, the agency reduced the number of stations to 13 and thus the fine to $91,000, saying it would fine stations only in markets from which it had received complaints. Fox has argued that the material was not statutorily indecent but rather was integral to the storyline. Vap, the packaged media subsid of the Nippon Television net, will join with Internet biz Forecast Communications to launch a webcasting video-on-demand limited liability partnership, the partners announced on Monday. V.F. Partners will launch on April 1, with Vap and Forecast each kicking in Y150 million ($1.52 million) in start-up capital.

V.F. will license NTV-financed toons and Vap-owned contents to webcasters. Its first offering will be “Real Drive” (“RD Senno Chosashitsu”), a futuristic suspense toon produced by Production I.G. in collaboration with Shirow Masamune, the author of “Ghost in the Shell” and other hit comics. The toon will preem on NTV on April 8. The following day it will be available on the GyaO and Showtime streaming vid sites and on the GyaO mobile site. In addition, the toon will be offered on the GyaO Next VOD service for TV. Both GyaO and Showtime belong to the Usen media and telco group. “Real Drive” received its production coin from D.N. Partners, a contents fund backed by NTV and NTT DoCoMo.

Barney and Bob the Builder have a new home Stateside. Lionsgate, which once eyed Hit Entertainment as an acquisition target, will begin distributing the U.K.-based company’s properties on homevid in May. Hit, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners, has a library of 1,500 kidvid titles, including Thomas the Tank Engine, Aardman Animation’s “Wallace & Gromit” series and the Jim Henson Co.’s “Fraggle Rock.” Fox Home Entertainment had most recently distributed Hit Entertainment fare Stateside under a pact brokered in 2006. Lionsgate pact follows the resignation of Hit CEO Bruce Steinberg earlier this month (Daily Variety, March 6). Jeffrey D. Dunn, a former Nickelodeon Networks prexy, took over from Steinberg, a former topper at Fox Kids Europe and general manager at paybox BSkyB. Hit hired Dunn for his U.S. experience; company runs preschool channel Sprout with PBS. Deal further fortifies Lionsgate’s kidvid lineup. The company already distributes Bratz, the Care Bears and Clifford properties. It also distributed Barbie discs for a time, selling more than 27 million discs before Universal took over that property two years ago.

Former Gersh Agency chief operating officer Hugh Dodson has launched Paragon, a sports and entertainment management outfit. Concurrent with its launch, Paragon has acquired sports management firm Steve Feldman & Associates, topped by NFL agent Steve Feldman. Paragon will provide career management for athletes and develop and finance original content. The firm currently represents about 31 NFL players, including New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson. Gross annual client contracts exceed $50 million.

In a rare Chinese-Indian entertainment pact, India’s Pyramid Saimira Theater Ltd. and the China Society of Music Research Board have set up a joint venture — Jiangsu Pyramid Longzhe Group — to promote the arts in China. “We will create a huge theater chain network, food courts, gaming parlors and other entertainment services,” said Pyramid managing director P.S. Saminathan. “We will also bring international content to China and will showcase and market Chinese content across the world.” As regulation of foreign media remains very strict in China, and the two countries are still tussling over certain border areas, move represents a doubly rare thawing of relations in a sector that China regards as politically sensitive. A memorandum was signed in Beijing, marked by a series of live performances there and in Nanjing.

Georgia’s troubled News Corp.-run Imedi TV inched closer to reopening on Monday, when it emerged that a distant relative of founder Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died last month at age 52, was claiming majority ownership. Joseph Kay, a U.S. citizen whom Russian media reports identified as previously known as Yusif Kakalashvili, may meet staffers at the commercial TV and radio station in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi as early as today to discuss his plans. Imedi has been off the air since Dec. 26, when political pressure in the run-up to a snap presidential election ended broadcasts. Ina Gudavadze, Patarkatsishvili’s widow, has also claimed ownership of the station. Kay’s ownership documents are dated Nov. 14. Gudavadze claims her late husband — who stood as a presidential candidate against incumbent Mikhail Saakashvili in Georgia’s early January elections — could not have signed legal papers that day as he was in their home near London and entertaining friends until late at night. A Monday report in Russian newspaper Kommersant quoting an unidentified source close to exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky — a friend and business partner of Patarkatsishvili — supported Gudavadze’s version. The station has been run by News Corp. under power of attorney since October, when Patarkatsishvili increased his political activities in a failed attempt to oust Saakashvili as president. Tbilisi-based News Corp. exec Lewis Robertson declined to speculate Monday on Kay’s ownership claim or a timetable for the station’s return to the air.

Russia’s top TV broadcaster, state-owned First Channel, will move its news and information programs to a skyscraper in Moscow. The 30-story building on the Russian capital’s Olympisky Prospect, in which the channel is an investor, will house news studios and broadcast suites, morning shows and daily programs, channel general director Konstantin Ernst said. “The approaching digital revolution on Russian TV may lead to massive growth in the number of channels and demand for more content, which our current Moscow production facilities cannot meet,” Ernst told Daily Variety. The channel also plans to build film studios near Moscow’s second airport at Domodedova, southeast of the capital. The new facilities would meet the First Channel’s TV and film production needs for the next 10 years, Ernst said.

The Indian entertainment sector could be worth 1.157 trillion rupees ($28.6 billion) by 2011 if it grows at the expected annual rate of 18%. Forecast is one of many that will be released today by accounting and consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in what has become a regular feature of the entertainment industry’s annual three- day Ficci-Frames convention in Mumbai. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ India report will also show that growth of 17% in 2007 exceeded company forecasts of 15% as players diversified across media and language groups. Authors of the report also point to record foreign investment of $211 million in the Indian entertainment sector and the march of digitalization. “Digitization is the future for most segments, and companies have to adopt this revolution with appropriate infrastructure, relevant business models and technology upgrades along with associated costs,” said Timmy Kandhari, executive director and leader of the Technology, Infocomm and Entertainment & Media practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers in India. “The pace of adoption will determine industry dynamics.” Ad-supported entertainment is the fastest growing sector — 22% in 2007 — and is forecast to experience “a paradigm shift, with digitally interactive media gaining popularity among the consumers. Internet and mobile are the two keys enablers for the digitally interactive media,” according to the report. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that Internet advertising will hit $104 million in 2008 and $272 million in 2012. The Indian film biz is expected to expand from $2.37 billion in 2007 to $4.35 billion by 2012 as movie players discover revenue streams beyond the box office such as TV, mobile, Internet, homevideo, merchandise, music, remake rights and branded entertainment opportunities.

A teen comedy from studio GTH looks set to become the first major hit in Thailand this year after raking in nearly 40 million baht ($1.2 million) in its first weekend. “Pidtermyai huajai wawoon”(Hormones) is directed by Songyos Sukmaganan (“Dorm”) covers four stories about young love in high school and college. Cast includes Charlie Trairat and Focus Jirakul from “Fan Chan,” Sirachat “Michael” Jearthavorn from “Dorm” and Chutima Teepanart from “Seasons Change.” “It’s our strongest-opening film,” says GTH executive Yongyuth Thongkongtoon. “We made $270,000 on the opening Thursday, and the revenue has been stable over the next three days.” It’s considered a strong opening if a Thai pic opens with more than $180,000 on the first day. “Hormones” capitalized on the school summer holidays and fact that there were no big Hollywood films opening that weekend. New releases in Bangkok over the weekend include the U.S. remake of GTH’s Thai horror hit “Shutter” and “In the Valley of Elah.”

STRIKE AFTERMATH

The wave of euphoria that swept over Hollywood following the end of the WGA strike has been replaced by a whole new set of emotions: anxiety, depression, fear, nervousness — and anger. One month after scribes put down their pickets, a March malaise has set in, with folks in town wondering when — or if — things will get back to “normal.” There are significantly fewer TV pilots, budgets for series are being cut back, feature films are being put on hold in fear of a SAG walkout, and the shifts in the TV and film skeds have meant either accelerated workloads or prolonged unemployment. And all this is occurring as everyone is feeling the pinch of an overall economy that’s in or heading into recession. On the TV side, dramatically fewer pilots are in production compared to most years, resulting in reduced employment for helmers and thesps already hit hard by the WGA strike. Many of those pilots that have been picked up are being hastily assembled to be ready for the May upfronts, creating extra stress and pressure for scribes and development execs. Meanwhile, to make up for revenues lost during the strike, networks and studios are holding onto each penny as if it were their last, cutting back on development deals and being stingy with raises. “There’s a real sense that faucets are not fully open,” one scribe on a top network drama said. On the film front, the mood is a bit less glum, with reports of brisk business in the spec and book markets, as well as numerous projects just waiting to be cleared for takeoff. What’s more, the expected flurry of post-strike films are in a holding pattern — in part because fear of a SAG walkout this summer is causing execs to think twice about greenlights. Thunder Road producer Basil Iwanyk said that the overall level of anxiety and stress around town is “very high,” and that anyone who claims otherwise “is lying.” “Everybody is shocked there wasn’t a barrage of scripts,” he said. Iwanyk, who also works in TV, said the small-screen biz is “a complete catastrophe.” As if there weren’t enough bad news, many observers worry that the meltdown of the larger U.S. economy will soon hit Hollywood hard, resulting in even tougher times. Observers cite everything from Time Warner’s downsizing of New Line to CBS supremo Leslie Moonves’ decision to ax the Eye’s annual Tavern on the Green upfront bash as evidence of the sort feeding Hollywood’s current anxiety.

LABOR NEWS

With the town still unnerved as a result of the 100-day writers strike, leaders of SAG and AFTRA are taking the final steps today to hammer out a bargaining proposal for a new feature-primetime contract. Official negotiations with the majors could start as early as Monday — a date the companies requested two weeks ago, only to be told by SAG that it needs to complete its prep work for the talks before it can agree to a start date. The current SAG-AFTRA contract expires June 30, and the approach of that date has triggered a scramble to stockpile features as a hedge against another strike. Starting negotiations swiftly will depend largely on whether the two performers unions can set aside the animosity that’s dominated their relationship in recent months. The unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers had no comment Monday. SAG and AFTRA are holding two days of closed-door meetings of their respective wages and working conditions committees today and Wednesday to formulate the package. The unions will hold a joint board meeting Saturday to sign off on the proposal. In the wake of the WGA strike and SAG’s strong support for the writers, many in Hollywood have concluded that SAG may not automatically settle for the terms of the recent deals for the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America. And SAG leaders have indicated they’ll push for better terms than what the DGA and WGA received in their recent deals — particularly in new media, DVD residuals and language guaranteeing that actors will be consulted on use of their image for any endorsements.

INDUSTRY MOVES

World Wrestling Entertainment has tapped Steve Barnett senior veep of production at WWE Films as the division ramps up a slate of pics to produce. Barnett was most recently a senior VP at indie production shingle Titan Film Group, and senior VP of production and development at Dimension Films, where he oversaw such films as Frank Darabont’s “The Mist,” as well as the upcoming remake of horror pic “Piranha.” Before Dimension, Barnett was exec VP of production at Mark Canton’s Atmosphere Entertainment, helping shepherd such projects as “300,” “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and George A. Romero’s “Land of the Dead.” He also exec produced Romero’s latest, “Diary of the Dead.” Barnett also served as senior VP of production at Michael Ovitz’s Artists Production Group.

CBS Corp. has shuffled leaders in its mobile content division. Jeff Sellinger has replaced Cyriac Roeding as exec veep-general manager of CBS Mobile. Division housed within the larger CBS Interactive wing is tasked with slicing and dicing CBS entertainment, sports and news for consumption on cell phones and other wireless platforms. Roeding launched the division in May 2005. Sellinger signed on to the unit as a director in November 2005 and quickly advanced to veep and then senior veep late last year.

Image Entertainment, one of the largest homevid indies, has formed a worldwide television sales division and named Steve Saltman to lead it. As senior VP of worldwide television, Saltman will oversee sales of Image-licensed and Image-distributed content across all TV platforms, including broadcast, cable and satellite, pay-per-view and video-on-demand. Previously, he was senior VP of domestic television.

Steve MacDonald, who has headed FilmL.A. for the past four years, will ankle next month to accept a position with Strategic Development Solutions. FilmL.A. made the announcement Monday and said its board will discuss its exec committee’s recommendations at its meeting Tuesday. MacDonald took over the agency — a nonprofit org that aims to promote local production by simplifying the permitting process — when it was still known as Entertainment Industry Development Corp. His predecessor Cody Cluff was convicted of embezzling the org’s money for personal use and was sentenced to three years of probation in 2004.

Days after Lori Sale exited ICM, Paradigm has named her head of artist marketing, a fledgling division within the agency focused on helping clients branch out into other platforms. Sale, who spent two years at ICM, informed the agency weeks ago that she would seek new opportunities. ICM disputed that version of events. She was hired by Paradigm chairman Sam Gores.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

The Beijing government has released “most wanted” photographs of suspects captured on film during the recent Tibet riots and carried on Chinese versions of Yahoo! and MSN, prompting further criticism of the role international webcos play in tracking down dissidents. The “most wanted” also ran on Chinese portals such as Sina.com and news.qq.com along with a hotline for informants to call. Of the 24 named in the manhunt list, two have already been caught. These sites have not come under the widening restrictions on Internet use in China, which has played havoc with email access, as well as shutting down sites related to last week’s Tibetan riots. Nasdaq-listed Yahoo! owns 40% of Alibaba, which operates Yahoo! China. “It beggars belief that Yahoo! is acting as China’s right-hand man in its brutal crackdown on Tibetan protesters,” said Free Tibet campaign director Matt Whitticase. “Yahoo! knows very well that these protesters will have no access to legal representation and that either execution or long prison sentences and torture awaits any protester arrested in Lhasa. Free Tibet Campaign calls on all Yahoo! subscribers to cancel immediately their accounts.” The company has been criticized before for helping the Chinese government control dissent after it was revealed that it helped the police in its inquiry over the journalist Shi Tao. Material from his Yahoo! email account was used in his trial and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005 for “divulging state secrets.”

Toon maker GDH announced on Friday that subsid Gonzo will stream two of its new toon series online to foreign fans the same day they are broadcast in Japan. “The Tower of Druaga — The Aegis of Uruku” and “Blassreiter” will open on April 4 and 5 respectively on the YouTube, Crunchyroll and BOST sites with English subtitles. The sites will use various methods to provide the toons, from free streaming to fee-based downloads. Gonzo is going with simultaneous domestic TV and international Web release to counter illegal downloading and file-sharing, which has become rampant in the foreign anime community. Another aim is to explore new Web-based business models that maximize profits from VOD and other contents exploitation, while cutting distrib costs.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1583768

MTV.com debuted a new Flash-based full-episode video player in time for new episodes of The Hills this week, featuring improved streaming quality, color fidelity and resolution. It also offers a full-screen viewing option and automatically adjusts for 16 x 9 ratio video. Better yet, MTV.com also streamlined its design to feature more white space and less clutter.

http://www.justin.tv/

Live webcam “lifecasting” portal Justin.tv celebrated its one-year anniversary over the weekend and looked back on some impressive stats. The free UGC webcaster logged 87 million page views, 24.9 million unique visitors, 28,106 total channels and 356,197 registered users.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/

Warning–be prepared to spend the next few hours goofing off and laughing hysterically. The web joint venture between Comedy Central and Matt Stone & Trey Parker is up and running. South Park Studios offers up thousands of searchable, embeddable clips and contains every episode ever made of South Park, for free. The venture, which will also serve as an incubator for new digital projects, is groundbreaking as far as major media goes, splitting ad revenue 50/50 between the Viacom channel and the show’s creators. That kind of rev share should help motivate Matt and Trey to offend people in all kinds of new ways.

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Cookin_with_Coolio/Cookin_with_Coolio/1CoolioCapreseSalad_530.aspx
And don’t forget to check out my new favorite cooking show. My Damn Channel has launched cooking with Coolio. Need I say more?

SOURCES

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com

March 25, 2008 Posted by jesskantor | news | AFTRA, Alexi Hawley, Anthony DePalma, Ardman, Barney, Bob, Bruce Steinberg, CBS, China, cooking, coolio, Dear Prudence, FCC, FilmL.A., Fox Television, Hallmark, Home Free, Hormones, Hugh Dodson, Hugh Jackman, Imedi- TV, India, Indian entertainment, Jane Seymour, Jeff Sellinger, justin.tv, Killer Pictures, Les Alexander, Lionsgate, Lori Sale, Marc Guggenheim, Moxie Pictures, MTV.com, News Corp, NFL, Noah Hawley, Nowhere Man, Paradigm, Paragon, Pyramid Saimira Theater, Real Drive, SAG, Serius, south park, Steve Barnett, Steve MacDonald, Studio GTH, The Hills, Toki Inoue, Touchstone, V.F., Virgin Comics, WGA, WWE, XM, Yubari Fantastic Film Festival | No Comments Yet

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