Tuesday April 22, 2008

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

• The Mouse House kicked off Earth Day by unveiling Disneynature, a shingle focused on producing documentaries about the environment. First pic to be released in the U.S. through the banner is “Earth,” from British producer-director Alastair Fothergill, who produced the “Planet Earth” series for the BBC and the Discovery Channel. James Earl Jones narrates the docu that bows one year from today, April 22, 2009. The film will also be released under the Disneynature banner in Latin America. Internationally, the first title to go out will be December’s “The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos,” by Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward. Jean-Francois Camilleri, who has long served as senior VP-general manager for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France, heads up the new unit (Variety, May 26, 2007).

• Columbia Pictures has scooped up Paul Fruchbom’s comedy spec “Winter’s Discontent” for low six figures. Chuck Roven and Alex Gartner are producing for Atlas Entertainment, the film division of Mosaic Media Group. Story centers on Herb Winter, whose wife dies after 50 years of marriage, prompting the long-faithful but sexually frustrated widower to move into a retirement community with his best buddy so the two can start living the swinging single life. Deal marks the first sale for Fruchbom, a onetime banker and journalist. Sony also made a blind commitment for a future Fruchbom film.

• Charles Segars’ Sparkler Entertainment has acquired feature rights to a series of political action thriller novels by TV producer Gary Grossman with the goal of developing a franchise. Segars was an exec producer on the Mouse House’s two “National Treasure” pics, which have grossed $800 million worldwide. He came up with the first pic’s original story together with Oren Aviv, now prexy of Disney’s motion picture group. The books in the deal include “Executive Actions,” “Executive Treason” and an upcoming third novel in the series. Segars has several major projects set up around town based on stories he’s created, including “Fort Knox” at Warner Bros., “No Man’s Land” at DreamWorks and “Stealing Time” at Sony Pictures. He also has a first-look production deal with Disney and is CEO of indie cable net Ovation TV.

• Just as adaptations of his creations Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk are set to unspool this summer on the bigscreen, Stan Lee is going back to his roots, namely comicbooks, inking a deal with Virgin Comics to create 10 superheroes he’ll unveil early next year. As part of the publishing pact between Lee’s Pow! Entertainment and Virgin, Lee will initially write and edit 10 graphic novels that introduce the original cast of characters. Characters and books will also be tied to a series of animated shorts to be launched on the Internet. Lee is famous for co-creating the Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk and Iron Man characters while working for comicbook giant Marvel.

• Oz industry vet Robert Ward is exec producing film versions of three stage musicals for distribution in Australia and abroad, beginning with “Shout! The Legend of the Wild One.” Tuner just wrapped a three-month run at Melbourne’s Entertainment Center and at Sydney’s Lyric Theater. Colleen Hewett and Glenn Shorrock starred, directed by Opera Australia’s Stuart Maunder. Ward’s shingle, Filmways Digital, will preem a high-def version of “Shout!,” edited from recordings made over two perfs, on May 15, initially in 40 mostly regional and outer suburban cinemas.

PROJECT UPDATES

• Virginia Madsen has signed on to co-star in the Amelia Earhart biopic “Amelia” for Avalon Pictures and Fox Searchlight. Hilary Swank and Richard Gere have already been cast in the Mira Nair-helmed project, which chronicles the rocky relationship between the famed aviator (Swank) and publisher-promoter George Putnam (Gere), whom Earhart eventually married. Madsen will play Dorothy Binney, Putnam’s first wife. Ron Bass penned the screenplay.

• Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson are exiting NBC drama series “The Philanthropist,” which is being prepped for a winter premiere. NBC brass informed the producers of the decision to make a change late Monday afternoon. Two people familiar with the situation cited creative differences as the reason for the exit. Specifically, it became increasingly clear over the last few weeks that while scribe Fontana was looking to inject “Philanthropist” with a more authentic feel — creating a show that was comfortable exploring social issues, for example — Peacock execs kept pushing for more escapism and a feeling of wish fulfillment. Skein, which has echoes of “The Equalizer,” revolves around a rebel billionaire who uses his money and connections to help people in need.

• What’s the next best thing to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton settling their differences once and for all on a wrestling mat? Appearing in specially taped messages during World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Monday Night Raw” cablecast, it would seem. Having declined WWE’s invitation for a smackdown, the two Democratic contenders agreed to tape special messages for the “Raw” aud. WWE then also reached out to presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain. All three candidates were set to appear in their own respective tapings that were to run during the special three-hour cablecast of “Raw” on the USA Network on Monday night, the eve of today’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

• A mildly acquisitive Sundance coupled with economic woes and a tough theatrical marketplace have buyers casting a particularly cautious eye on this year’s Tribeca lineup. Still, a few titles are piquing interest among execs. Here are 10:
  • Ball Don’t Lie: Urban coming-of-ager about a streetballer (real-life basketball star Grayson Boucher) who overcomes his troubled past. Pic is feature debut of Brin Hill (short “Morning Breath”) and based on Matt de la Pena’s popular novel. Co-stars Ludacris, Nick Cannon and Rosanna Arquette. (Sales: Film Sales Co.)
  • Bart Got a Room: Quirky teen comedy that follows a young man’s quest to find a prom date, as the marriage of his parents (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines) falls apart. Written and directed by first-time feature helmer Brian Hecker. (Sales: Cinetic)
  • From Within: D.p. Phedon Papamichael (“Walk the Line”) takes the helm with this psychological thriller about a string of apparent suicides in a small town; scripted by Brad Keene, with a young cast including Thomas Dekker, Elizabeth Rice, Rumer Willis. (Sales: Cinetic)
  • Gotta Dance: Helmed by Dori Berinstein (“ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway”), docu chronicles the first senior citizen hip-hop dance team, the New Jersey NETSationals. (Sales: WMi)
  • Kassim the Dream: Docu follows the journey of Kassim “The Dream” Ouma, who went from being a child soldier in Uganda to a world champion boxer. Directed by Kief Davidson (“The Devil’s Miner”). (Sales: attorney Andrew Hurwitz)
  • Lake City: Southern drama toplining Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity as a mother and son who try to reconcile their past; helmed by first-timers Hunter Hill and Perry Moore. Cast includes Dave Matthews, Drea de Matteo and Rebecca Romijn. (Sales: Film Sales Co.)
  • Tennessee: Road movie, helmed by Aaron Woodley (“Rhinoceros Eyes”), about two brothers who travel back to their hometown and encounter a spirited woman (Mariah Carey) along the way. Produced by Lee Daniels (“Monster’s Ball”). (Sales: CAA/Submarine) -
  • Theater of War: Docu maverick John Walter (“How to Draw a Bunny”) dissects German playwright Bertolt Brecht, weaving in behind-the-scenes footage of the Public Theater’s recent staging of his antiwar play “Mother Courage” and the creative process of stars including Meryl Streep. (Sales: Required Viewing)
  • This Is Not a Robbery: Docu portrait of J.L. Hunter “Red” Rountree, who became one of the country’s most notorious and senior serial bank robbers at 86 years of age. (Sales: Cinetic)
  • Trucker: Michelle Monaghan (“Gone Baby Gone”) stars in James Mottern’s debut, a drama about a female truck driver who must take over the care of her estranged 11-year-old son. Plum Pictures produced; cast also includes Benjamin Bratt and Joey Lauren Adams. (Sales: Cinetic)

BUSINESS NEWS

• Hollywood studios are taking their fight against piracy in China into the belly of the beast by erecting a huge billboard with an antipiracy message from Jackie Chan in Beijing’s Silk Market. Billboard features a simple warning from the Hong Kong star: “Protect the movies, say NO to piracy.” Billboard was launched in partnership with the Beijing Silk Street Co. and Chaoyang Model Anti-Copyright Infringement and Piracy-Free Zone. It will be displayed for two weeks in one of the busiest spots in Chaoyang district, spreading its message to more than 20 million people.

• CJ Entertainment prexy Kim Joo-sung has been named as the most influential figure in the Korean film industry for the first time. Kim topped the 13th annual “Power 50″ list published in the recent edition of film weekly magazine Cine21, which is voted for by 85 leading film industry personalities and observers. Previously in second place, he swaps places with Tcha Seung-jai of Sidus. CJ Entertainment headed by Kim is taking the most critical role as the key investor and distributor in industry that is struggling this year. CJ Entertainment currently manages numerous biggest budget titles which will be released 2008, including “The Good, the Bad and the Weird”, “Modern Boy” “The Divine Weapon” “Kang Chul-joong” and “Thirst”.

• Alloy Entertainment, the company behind the “Gossip Girl” franchise, is expanding its Hollywood presence under film and TV topper Bob Levy. Levy has been upped to exec VP of film and TV development and production, overseeing Alloy’s rapidly expanding entertainment biz. Company also has added two new development execs to the mix, Huffington Post alum Donyea Rochlin and Storyline Entertainment exec Andrew Wang. Under Levy, Alloy titles have increasingly been sought out for adaptation on the big and small screens. Exec has been with Alloy since 2001, serving as VP and head of the company’s West Coast offices. He reports to Alloy Entertainment prexy Leslie Morgenstein, who announced the shuffle. Besides that show, one of the CW’s most buzzed-about, the company is behind “Samurai Girl,” another book franchise that has been adapted into a series — this time for ABC Family (via ABC Studios). Also at the CW, Alloy has teamed with WBTV to shoot the pilot “How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls.” In addition, the company has several projects in various stages of development at Nickelodeon, ABC Family and the CW. In film, Alloy produced “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and is behind the upcoming sequel. Levy is a producer on fall release “The Sex Drive” (based on the book “All the Way”), starring James Marsden, as well as DVD movie “The Clique.”

• Netflix’s first-quarter profit climbed 36% amid the largest subscriber gains in the online DVD rental service’s 10-year history, but a projected slowdown overshadowed the performance. Netflix earned $13.4 million during the first three months of the year compared with net income of $9.9 million during the same period in 2007. Revenue rose 7% to $326.2 million from $305.3 million. Netflix ended March with 8.24 million subscribers, a gain of 764,000 from the end of 2007. That’s the biggest influx of new customers in any quarter since the Los Gatos-based company set up its DVD rental service. But management anticipates only 60,000-260,000 more customers will sign up during the current quarter, ending in June. Netflix shares plunged $5.52 in extended trading after the forecast to finish Monday’s regular session at $39.32, down 14%. Netflix projects more robust growth toward the end of the year. It anticipates entering 2009 with as many as 9.7 million subscribers, up from its previous forecast of 9.5 million.

• “La Vie en rose” producer Alain Goldman has expanded operations into the U.S. by launching Legende Films in Los Angeles as a subsidiary of his Paris-based production house Legende. Goldman has tapped former journalist Nancy Griffin as prexy of development and production. Goldman recently entered into a financial partnership with French investment company Serendipity, which now holds 35% of Legende. It’s also extended its worldwide distribution deal, excluding the U.S., with StudioCanal. Legende launched in 1992 with “1492,” co-produced “Casino” with Universal and TF1, and produced Roland Joffe’s “Vatel,” “The Crimson Rivers” and its sequel, “L’Enquete corse” and “99 Francs.” It’s completed production on “Babylon AD” for Fox and StudioCanal.

• London-based sales and finance company the Salt Co., formerly known as Lumina Films, has inked a reciprocal first-look agreement with production and finance firm Alcove Entertainment. Salt will get a first look at Alcove productions for worldwide sales, and in return bring projects to Alcove for production financing. London-L.A.-Dubai based Alcove is finalizing the terms of its new film fund, which will provide up to half of the financing for at least five films, each with budgets up to $10 million, over three years.

INDUSTRY MOVES

• Cabler AMC has tapped Joel Stillerman as senior veep of original programming, production and digital content. Stillerman succeeds Rob Sorcher, who resigned in November to become chief content officer of Cartoon Network. Charlie Collier, AMC’s exec VP and general manager, praised Stillerman’s “creativity, energy and broad management skills.”

• Allied Advertising, Public Relations has restructured its top management ranks, upping Gerry Feldman to chairman and naming Clint Kendall and David McDonald as co-presidents. Change comes as the company continues to up its profile in film and TV marketing and recently expanded into the live theater biz.

• Gale Anne Hurd’s production entity, Valhalla Motion Pictures, has hired David O’Leary as director of development. O’Leary was previously at Kopelson Entertainment, where he served as a creative executive. Valhalla also has named Ben Roberts as creative executive and Kris Henigman story editor.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULT-PLATFORM CONTENT

• Championship Gaming Series has inked a broadcast deal with Eurosport and BSkyB, expanding the number of European countries in which the company’s videogame tournaments are broadcast. As part of the deal, Eurosport gains the exclusive continental European broadcast rights for CGS, airing the DirecTV-backed venture in 41 countries in Europe, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, on Eurosport2 beginning this month. Channel reaches 30 million households. Eurosport also receives rights for CGS mobile and broadband broadcast. Full coverage of the 2008 season will begin airing later this year. CGS tournaments have already been airing on Sky in the U.K. and Ireland. Eurosport has secondary broadcasting rights for the U.K. and Ireland following the original broadcasts on Sky. European expansion bolsters CGS’ international exposure. Beyond carriage on DirecTV in the U.S. and Latin America, tournaments also air on ESPN Star Sports in Asia and Australia. Combined, the broadcasts are expected to make CGS available in more than 400 million homes.

• Warner Bros. TV Group and Time Inc. magazine Essence are teaming on a cross-platform initiative to create programming for the smallscreen and Internet. Mag’s website, which will serve as platform for the content, is slated for relaunch late this summer in collaboration with WB TV’s Telepictures Prods. Among the first projects: “Extra on Essence,” a series of entertainment reports geared to the African-American femme aud, and style skein “Fab in a Flash.” Bruce Rosenblum, prexy of the Warner Bros. TV Group, said the collaboration could also spawn made-for-DVD releases down the road. He said the goal of the venture, which follows recent cross-platform expansions by TMZ, is to draw on each group’s “complimentary expertise” to create content with a distinctive voice. For now, at least, the focus will be on nonscripted fare.

• Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace is streaming news from a major cable net, and it’s not Fox News Channel. The site has opted for the MSNBC over its corporate sibling. “We are privileged today to be partnering with such revered news organizations as NBC News and msnbc.com,” said MySpace exec Lee Brenner in a statement Monday. MSNBC is creating content for the site, keeping in mind MySpace’s predominantly teenage demo. NBC News marquee names Brian Williams, Tim Russert and Chris Matthews have created profiles where the reporters can post anything from videos of segments they hosted to lists of favorite songs.

• In a staff shuffle at the Berlin Film Festival, Maryanne Redpath has been named director of the children and youth section Generation, while Thomas Hailer, the sidebar’s former head, will move to a new post assisting fest topper Dieter Kosslick as the Berlinale’s program manager. Redpath, Generation’s co-director, replaces Hailer May 1. Redpath has worked for the festival since 1993 and served as the Berlinale’s delegate for Australia and New Zealand since 2005. Florian Weghorn, who has assisted Generation’s management since 2002, will succeed Redpath as co-director.

• The Groundlings are going digital with their sketch comedy. The West Hollywood improv troupe, a breeding ground for comics such as Will Ferrell, Lisa Kudrow and Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens, has inked a deal to create 50 digital shorts over a one-year period. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the shorts for the Web and mobile platforms. Deal broadens the Groundlings’ reach into the digital realm, a fertile area for short-form comedy. Comedians such as Ferrell have made a splash on sites such as FunnyorDie.com, although sustained hits have been harder to come by online. The three- to five-minute vids will draw on characters developed by the troupe as well as new characters, some of which will be incorporated into web serials.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

www.fox.com

Fox.com will launch a newly-redesigned website tomorrow, featuring full episode streaming of prime time shows such as House, Bones and Prison Break more prominently, reports TV Week. The move is part of an effort to emphasize online video ad inventory heading into the Upfront as the network jockeys for a slice of the $2.3 billion of ad revenue pie expected from broadcast and cable network web sites, according to Convergence Consulting estimates.

www.wsj.com

A couple of prominent financial sites have also updated things. News Corp.-owned WSJ.com (which is still charging for most of its content) is sporting a new look to go along with changes to the print edition, the most noticeable of which is a more interactive Opinion page section. Forbes.com has undergone a complete redesign as well, featuring a cleaner look, a new video player and new community recommendation features.

http://revision3.com/

Revision3, the home of original web shows like Diggnation, signed distribution deals with Hulu, Joost, Tivo, Break.com and Revver

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com