Wednesday April 2, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

DreamWorks has snapped up the graphic novel “The Return of King Doug” for Ben Stiller to produce as a potential starring vehicle. Greg Orb and Jason Oremland wrote “King Doug,” which will be published next year by Oni Press. The pair have been tapped to pen the screenplay. Stiller is producing through his DreamWorks-based Red Hour Films alongside the shingle’s Stuart Cornfeld and Jeremy Kramer. Closed on Mondays’ Eric Gitter is also producing. Joe Nozemack and Peter Schwerin are exec producing.

Universal has acquired nonfiction tome “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong” and will turn it into a film about the first person to set foot on the moon. NASA historian James R. Hansen got rare direct access to Armstrong, a test pilot-turned-astronaut who was so driven to reach the moon and play the role of American hero that he became known as “the Ice Commander.” Nicole Perlman will write the script. Temple Hill Entertainment partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey produce.

Twentieth Century Fox has scooped up Alan McElroy’s action-thriller spec “Man and Wife” for mid-six figures. Story of international espionage centers on a professional killer, who has to pretend to be an ordinary husband, and the wife who learns to love him in a totally unexpected way. Ralph Winter, who produced the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” franchises for Fox, is producing through his studio-based shingle. Noah Rosen is exec producing.

Benderspink is adapting “Last Blood,” based on Bobby Crosby’s comicbook centered on a band of vampires protecting the Earth’s last human survivors of a zombie apocalypse. “Last Blood” was co-created by siblings Bobby Crosby and Chris Crosby but Bobby penned the comicbook alone. The deal with Benderspink reps the first feature sale for the brothers, who founded Blatant Comics in 1997 and began serializing “Last Blood” online in late 2006. The story was then published in four issues last year.

Twentieth Century Fox has acquired rights to “Anything, Anywhere, Anytime,” an article in the March edition of Men’s Vogue about daredevil cargo pilots. Michael Walker, who wrote the article, will pen the script. Jason Blum of Blumhouse Prods. will produce. Studio’s intention is to use these cargo pilots — called “freight dogs” — as the centerpiece for an action thriller. Real freight dogs, whose job is sometimes dangerous, haul everything from exotic animals and cars to videogames all over the world.

Fox Atomic is acquiring the novel “Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List” and will develop it as a star vehicle for “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere. Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer will write the script. Alexandra Milchan, Lesley Vogel and Emily Gerson-Saines produce. Novel is the latest by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, whose past title, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” has been turned into a Mandate Pictures and Sony comedy starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings.

PROJECT UPDATES

NBC is adding some fuel to its new “Knight Rider” series, signing “Fast and the Furious” scribe Gary Scott Thompson to serve as exec producer and showrunner. Producer Universal Media Studios has also made a two-year overall deal with the scribe, who most recently shepherded the Peacock’s “Las Vegas.” Thompson will work alongside exec producers Doug Liman and Dave Bartis, as well as scribe-producer Dave Andron, who wrote the pilot and is remaining with the series. Another “Las Vegas” vet, Matt Pyken, is also joining “Knight” as an exec producer. NBC confirmed a series order for “Knight” earlier this week (Daily Variety, March 31). UMS prexy Katherine Pope said that as soon as it became clear “Knight” was headed to series, landing Thompson became a priority.

Sony Pictures TV is turning to U.K. scribe Tony Jordan to rethink its drama pilot “Kingdom. CBS made a hefty put pilot commitment (with $2.2 million penalty) last summer to the fantasy drama penned by Chad Hodge and set to be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Daily Variety, July 18). But the Eye ultimately passed on the project post-strike. “As a result of the strike, we thought there might be a smarter way to produce this,” said Sony Pictures TV programming/production co-prexy Jamie Erlicht. That got the wheels turning at Sony, which wasn’t about to abandon the project. Instead, the studio decided to go international.

Japan’s Fuji TV network will make a third installment in its hit “Bayside Shakedown” cop thriller film franchise. Fuji chief producer Chihiro Kameyama made the announcement Monday at the opening ceremony for a new police station in the Tokyo Bay area where the series is set. “I’d like the first scene of the new film to be the move from the old (Tokyo Bay) station to the new one,” Kameyama said. Helmer Katsuyuki Motohiro and scribe Ryoichi Kimizuka will reunite for the third pic. Yuji Oda, who played the rebellious detective in the previous films, is in discussions to reprise the role. Fuji has yet to fix the start of production or the release date. Based on a cult hit Fuji TV show, the first “Bayside” pic earned $101 million in 1998, while the 2003 follow-up grossed $173.5 million — an all-time B.O. record for a Japanese live-action pic.

Blighty auds are being given a chance to sample some of the finer Chinese movies available as China Now, a festival of Chinese culture, launches a nationwide tour of pics. The tour, which runs until the end of September, goes beyond the usual Chinese fare seen in the West, such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “House of Flying Daggers,” to show the kind of pics that mainstream Chinese auds enjoy and that give a better feel for the country and the changes it has undergone in the last generation. Tour will visit 17 theaters and show 10 films, including local bows for “Luxury Car,” “Crazy Stone” and “Delamu” (Angel of Peace). Tour also includes “Sunflower,” “A Battle of Wits,” “The Birthday,” “Isabella,” “Still Life,” “Farewell My Concubine” and “Horse Thief.”

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

The Jeonju International Film Festival will open on May 1 with “The Kiss,” by Japanese helmer Manda Kunitoshi and wrap nine days later with world preem of anthology “If You Were Me 4.” Between those dates the renamed int’l competition will include Hana Makhmalbaf’s “Buddha Collapsed out of Shame” and Lance Hammer’s “Ballast” and Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop,” both from the U.S. At a press conference held simultaneously in the Jeonju resort and in Seoul, Korea’s number two fest unveiled a program that stretches to 195 movies (120 feature films and 75 shorts) from 40 counties.

Los Angeles-based sales and finance company LongTale Intl. has picked up worldwide sales rights to Chinese-American helmer Sherwood Hu’s “Prince of the Himalayas.” Starring Purba Rgyal, winner of China’s 2006 “My Hero” TV song contest, the “Hamlet”-adaptation is a young prince’s search for identity and revenge. It was produced by Hus Ent. and Shanghai Film Studios. Pic, which screened at last year’s AFI Fest, will next show as the opener of the Monaco Charity Film Festival on May 14 and will be screened for buyers in the Cannes Market the same month.

Miami-based Venevision Intl. has picked up U.S. DVD, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, pay and free-to-air TV rights to Colombian box office hit “Esto huele mal” (Lies), a sex comedy helmed by Jorge Ali Triana. Pic was sold by Spanish sales consortium Latido Films. Written by Fernando Quiroz and inspired by a true story, “Lies” is about a businessman trying to cover up a date with his lover after a bomb destroys the Bogota club where he was supposedly having a business dinner.

Entertainment One’s subsid Seville Pictures has taken Canadian rights to both pics. Jeremy Thomas-produced “Franklyn” is set in contemporary London and a future metropolis and weaves the tale of four lost souls divided by two parallel worlds whose fate will be decided by a single bullet. It stars Ryan Philippe, Eva Green and newcomer Sam Riley (“Control”). U.K.-Canada co-production “Eddie the Eagle” is about cult hero Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards who captured the public’s imagination when he entered the 1988 Winter Olympics as the U.K.’s first ski jumper and finished last in two events. Steve Coogan plays Edwards. Both deals were negotiated between Contender CEO Richard Bridgwood and HanWay CEO Tim Haslam.

BUSINESS NEWS

In a deal valued at upward of $200 million, Endemol USA has acquired Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin’s 51 Minds Entertainment, the reality factory that perfected the celebreality genre with nonscripted comedies such as “Flavor of Love,” “I Love New York” and “The Surreal Life.” Blockbuster pact, which had been rumored for months, comes in the wake of Elisabeth Murdoch’s multimillion acquisition of Reveille. Both moves represent attempts by international congloms to expand their Stateside presence by gobbling up successful American producers. What made 51 Minds particularly attractive to Endemol is the fact that Abrego and Cronin had ownership of both their formats and produced episodes of past series. That’s highly unusual in the nonscripted genre, where networks and studios typically control the rights to programs, paying producers fees for their services.

A consortium headed by Australian bank Macquarie and Korean private equity group MBK have completed their $2 billion purchase of South Korea’s number two cable TV network C&M. C&M has more than two million cable TV subscribers in and around Seoul with a potential subscriber base covering 40% of the South Korean population, according to a joint statement. Deal is the first that sees a foreign outfit take control of a Korean TV player. Korea has restrictions on foreign investment in domestic broadcast companies. The purchase received regulatory approval in February. The cable TV sector in Korea is still fragmented with over 100 companies including Qrix Communication and On Media, functioning as multi-service operators. But easing of restrictions as to companies’ areas of operation and adoption of digital and broadband television are expected by financial analysts to trigger market growth and further corporate consolidation. The consortium, Kookmin Cable Investment Inc., had initially bought 27.5% of C&M from Goldman Sachs for Won563 billion ($560 million) last year and later agreed to buy a further 65% agreed from C&M Chairman Lee Min-joo and other major stakeholders. Consortium is headed by Macquarie Korea Opportunities Fund and MBK Partners and also includes South Korean fund manager Mirae Asset Management and Taihan Electric Wire.

Next week’s Mip international TV sales confab in Cannes will be a coming-out party for ShineReveille Intl., the distribution wing of the powerhouse indies that merged in February. Chris Grant, formerly head of Reveille Intl. and a partner in the company, leads the expanded distribution operation as prexy of ShineReveille Intl. Company is also aggressively pursuing distrib pacts with indie producers, as Reveille has already done with Mark Burnett Prods., among others. In preparation for Mip, ShineReveille has cut a deal to handle certain international rights on upcoming NBC/CTV drama “The Listener” and inked with Merv Griffin Entertainment to handle overseas sales of the company’s new programming. To manage the growing slate, ShineReveille has beefed up its sales and administration staff with promotions and new hires, including the boosting of Reveille Intl. veteran John Pollak to senior veep and appointment of former TVF Intl. exec Kate Ward as head of Eastern Europe sales, based out of Shine’s London office. Elisabeth Murdoch, chair-CEO of Shine Group, said Shine and Reveille were among the first to recognize the explosive growth in the international format and production business, which would continue to be a huge area of focus for the banner.

Big Beach partners Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf have made a first-look deal with producer Glenn Williamson and his Back Lot Pictures label. Deal came out of “Sunshine Cleaning,” a project Williamson brought to producer and financing company Big Beach. Pic, which stars Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin and Clifton Collins Jr., premiered at Sundance and will be distributed by Overture Films. Williamson has brought aboard Brian Schornak as VP of productions. He had been development director at Laurence Mark Prods.
Walt Disney Pictures and Stan Lee have set up a trio of projects that will be exec produced by Lee and Gill Champion via their POW! Entertainment banner. The projects are all based on stories by Lee. “Nick Ratchet” will be directed by Richard LaGravenese (“P.S. I Love You”) from a screenplay he is writing. Larry Jacobson and Sonny Grosso are in talks to produce. “Blaze” is being penned by Gary Goldman (“Next”). “Tigress” is being written by newcomer Zoe Green. State Street Pictures’ Robert Teitel and George Tillman will produce. Film is not the same as a previously announced project titled “Tigress” that Lee is developing with Michelle Rodriguez attached to star. That project is based on a “Conan the Barbarian” villainess. The studio is keeping plot details for all three projects under wraps.

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUES

With Hollywood still recovering from the writers strike, the Screen Actors Guild has announced it will begin negotiations with the majors on April 15. Tuesday night’s announcement signals that SAG will start contract talks ahead of AFTRA. Talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will take place at AMPTP headquarters in Encino. With SAG’s current feature-primetime contract expiring June 30, the town has remained on yellow alert over fears that SAG could emulate the WGA and stage another strike. The guild was the WGA’s strongest supporter during its 100-day work stoppage; its leaders have insisted that the new contract needs to include significantly better terms than the WGA and DGA deals. Tuesday’s news comes three days after the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists said it had split off from SAG for negotiations. SAG’s announcement did not address the issue of when AFTRA talks will take place, although that information expected to be revealed as early as today. The AMPTP and AFTRA had no comment, but with the SAG talks starting in less than two weeks, it’s unlikely there would be enough time for AFTRA to negotiate its own deal before then — particularly since the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is set for three days of contract talks next week with the AMPTP. SAG’s announcement also made no mention of whether News Corp. prexy Peter Chernin and Disney topper Robert Iger would conduct informal talks with SAG prior to the official launch of bargaining on April 15. The two execs played major roles in crafting the outlines of the DGA and WGA deals and are expected to reprise those roles over the next several weeks.

The WGA East has accused ABC and Corday Prods. of violating the strike termination agreement by refusing to rehire nine of the 20 writers who struck ABC’s “All My Children” and Corday’s “Days of Our Lives.” ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover denied the allegations, adding, “We are in full compliance with our contract.” She did not elaborate. The guild announced Tuesday it had filed separate arbitration cases, adding the companies have 10 days to respond and pick a mutually agreed-upon arbitrator. Corday said it had no comment. The soap slots have been filled by replacement workers hired during the strike, according to the guild.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Fox has elevated its current programming team, as department topper Marcy Ross handed out promotions this week to key staffers. As part of the restructuring, Beth Miyares has been named vice president of current programming, reporting to Ross, who continues as exec VP of current programming. Also, James Oh has been given director stripes, while Monique Nash and Xenia Lok are now managers. Lee Hollin has been named the department’s coordinator. Ross said the promotion reflected Miyares’ performance after three years at Fox.

Screen Gems has promoted John Graham to creative executive. Graham, who was an assistant in the development/production department, will report to Screen Gems prexy Clint Culpepper. Move marks the first time Screen Gems has created a creative exec position since Culpepper took the reins of the Sony Pictures genre label in 1998. The label is aiming to beef up its slate to eight films per year.

Constantin Film, Germany’s leading independent production company, has extended an exclusive contract with uber-producer Bernd Eichinger, the group’s onetime topper, through 2014. One of Constantin’s most lucrative assets, Eichinger will produce exclusively for the company and consult on productions that he is not personally producing. Eichinger took over Constantin in 1979 and transformed it into Germany’s most successful independent production and distribution company – which it remains. Swiss media group Highlight Entertainment took a majority stake in Constantin in 2003 and increased it to 90% in 2006 after acquiring Eichinger’s share. Eichinger’s films include “Nowhere in Africa,” “Downfall,” “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” and his latest project, terrorist drama “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex,” which chronicles the rise and fall of West Germany’s Red Army Faction in the 1960s and ’70s. Directed by Uli Edel, pic hits theaters Sept. 18.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI- PLATFORM CONTENT

In addition to being a world renown singer, Bjork is oft considered a true pioneer in the visual arts. Her latest video for ‘Wanderlust,’ a 3-D gem of a production directed by Encyclopedia Pictura, readily proves this. The song, which premiered on the 2007 release, Volta, is getting a special limited edition Single release courtesy of One Little Indian on April 13. The consumer-friendly packaging comes equipped with a CD, vinyl, and DVD insert of the ‘Wanderlust’ video. Sean Hellfritsch and Isaiah Saxon, the duo behind Encyclopedia Pictura, tell Studio Daily, “Björk had seen our last music video (Grizzly Bear) and gave us a call. The concept of the video is our attempt at creating mytho-poetic cosmology of a primitive world complete with water deities and the struggle towards the future.” In the video, the Icelandic singer can be seen floating and interacting with prehistoric creatures on a lush blue river. The filmmakers used live action, puppets, and miniatures to create a dreamlike escapade, something very thematic in Bjork’s impressive catalogue of music vids.

Once you’ve told the world you’re slapping skin with Ben Affleck, where do you go from there? Jimmy Kimmel’s response to girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s spoof about having her way with Matt Damon — “On the floor, on a towel by the door … up against the minibar” — have turned the couple into an Internet sensation. “Sarah’s was a complete surprise and I didn’t even think of responding,” Kimmel says. “Then, the opportunity to (spoof about having sex with) Ben Affleck was too good to pass up.” While Kimmel didn’t plan on the videos becoming promotional tools for the show, that’s exactly what happened. There were more than 100 versions of the Affleck skit posted right away, and it garnered over 100 million views, giving “Live” huge amounts of publicity. And not only did Kimmel’s visibility rise with young viewers, so did his Nielsen ratings. In comparing the weekly averages of the show post-Affleck to the weekly averages pre-Affleck, there was a 15% increase in total viewers (1.66 million vs. 1.45 million) and 20% in the 18-49 demo, with the rating and share increasing to 0.6/3 vs. 0.5/2. There was even an immediate afterglow effect, with the telecast Feb. 25 — the next airing after the Affleck skit — drawing the largest audience for any latenight telecast since Nov. 27, 2007, according to ABC.
Digital cinema outfit Arts Alliance Media is partnering with rights holder DigiScreen Corporation, consultancy the Pillar Group and Opus Arte, the Royal Opera House’s TV and DVD production company, to bring ballet, operas and dance to Euro cinemas. Deal reps the first time cinemagoers have been offered ballet at their local hardtop. Opera has already proved an alternative content hit in Euro theaters, partly as it allows folk to watch opera that are usually priced out of seeing the real thing live. Under the deal, pre-recorded and live productions from London’s Royal Opera House and other international performing arts companies will be brought to theaters recorded in high-definition and projected in digital. Digital cinemas in the U.K., Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux and the Nordic countries are set to receive this alternative content fix under the deal. In the U.K., the leading Odeon circuit and the upmarket Cityscreen Picturehouse chain have initially signed up to exhibit, with others set to join them shortly. Series kicks off with opera “Le nozze di figaro” on April 21 in 13 Odeon cinemas. First ballet to hit theaters is “Sylvia” on May 3 via Odeon.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://crackle.com/c/cspot

Sony Pictures Television joined the crowded comedic video space with C-Spot, an ad supported web comedy channel that will distribute short form sketches on Sony’s Crackle, YouTube, Hulu, AOL Video and Verizon Wireless’ VCast, (not to mention directly to Sony Bravia TVs via the Bravia Video Internet link.) C-Spot will try to tickle the funny bone with an initial 6 series, each of which will run for 13-weeks and debut a new episode a different day of the week.

http://www.realitydigital.com/

White label video outfit Reality Digital closed on a $6.3 million round of Series B funding, led by OpenView Venture Partners. The company makes a plug-and-play video sharing network that can be launched as a stand alone site or integrated into an existing environment. Reality Digital’s clients include MTV Networks and Lonely Planet.

http://globalgrind.com/discovered/

Social media site Global Grind, funded by Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Accel Partners, adds lots of cool features today including entertainment programming features, video sharing, an embeddable widget and even a Facebook Trivia Game application.

http://shootingpeople.org/account/auth.php

Shooting People is a stimulating, nurturing community site built to bring indie filmmakers together. New York and London-based lensers upload their work, solicit advice and share secrets on how to save on production costs or circumnavigate permit restrictions. Because the site is run by filmmakers and charges a modest $40 annual fee to join, it seems to be mostly populated by working professionals – nearly 35,000 of them. Founders Cath Le Couter and Jess Search will celebrate Shooters’ 10 year anniversary in November.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com