Daily Variety articles from June 2012

Daily Variety archives from June 2012

Woodley Wings to Indie 'Bird'
June 29, 2012... In one her first commitments since "The Descendants" ignited her feature career, Shailene Woodley is set to topline Gregg Araki's "White Bird." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Drama is told from the point of view of Woodley's character, a troubled...

Does Split Give Rupe a Clean Slate?
June 29, 2012... News Corp. will "wow the world as two. as opposed to merely one." Rupert Murdoch proclaimed Thursday as the conglom announced plans to pursue the split of its entertainment and publishing divisions. Murdoch said he's been mulling the move for...

Media Pulse Quickens: TV News Outlets Raced to Report Health-Care Ruling ... and Then to Cover Gaffes
June 29, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Within about an hour after a Supreme Court majority announced that it was upholding the bulk of the health-care reform law on Thursday, a montage created by Gary He circulated on Twitter that super-imposed the famous...

It's Bear vs. Bare among B.O. Bows
June 29, 2012... The weekend's domestic box office may look like a menage a trois--but "Magic Mike" won't have the stamina to keep up with Universal's R-rated comedy "Ted" and Disney-Pixar's second-frame holdover "Brave," both of which are projected to land in...

'Royal' Gains for Scribes: Court Says Christensens Can Pursue Idea-Theft Case against USA Net
June 29, 2012... In a decision that bolsters the ability of writers to pursue claims of idea theft, a federal appellate court has ruled that Hayden Christensen and his brother Tove can revive their suit against USA Network over the idea for "Royal Pains." ...

Ice Age: Continental Drift
June 29, 2012... (Animated) Ice Age: Continental Drift A 20th Century Fox release of a 20th Century Fox Animation presentation of a Blue Sky Studios production. Produced by Lori Forte, John C. Donkin. Executive producers, Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha. ...

Savages
June 29, 2012... A Universal release presented in association with Relativity Media of a Moritz Borman production. Produced by Borman, Eric Kopeloff. Executive producers, Fernando Sulichin, Shane Salerno, Todd Arnow. Directed by Oliver Stone. Screenplay,...

Roadshow Rounds Up $275 Mil
June 29, 2012... Village Roadshow Entertainment Group has raised $275 million in new coin and restructured its existing $106 million facility, giving the Warner Bros.-based banner more flexibility to expand its slate both in the U.S. and Asia. Debt and equity...

Academy Tweaks Oscar Regs
June 29, 2012... The film academy's board of governors has instituted rules changes that affect the music, foreign language, makeup and visual effects categories for the Oscars. The makeup category has been renamed to include hairstyling, and within that...

Grammy Benefit for Boss
June 29, 2012... Bruce Springsteen will be honored as MusiCares' 2013 Person of the Year at the Recording Academy's annual benefit dinner and concert during Grammy week next year. The Feb. 8 event, to be held at a venue to be announced, will raise money for...

'Bones' Honcho Inks Deal with 20th
June 29, 2012... Twentieth Century Fox Television has inked a three-year overall deal with "Bones" exec producer Stephen Nathan. Deal calls for Nathan to develop new projects for the studio. Fer now, however, the scribe's focus will remain on "Bones" as the...

Dark Matter: Dish, AT&T Disputes Threaten AMC
June 29, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Shares of AMC Networks fell sharply Thursday as distributors piled on threats to drop the company's channels. The stock dropped nearly 5% during the trading day after AT&T's U-Verse threatened to yank flagship...

Tearful Farewell: Guthrie Preps as Curry Exits 'Today'
June 29, 2012... As a tearful Ann Curry bowed out of the co-anchor's spot on "Today," NBC News on Thursday was preparing to anoint Savannah Guthrie as her successor to work alongside Matt Lauer on the ayem-cast. An announcement is expected as early as next week....

More Laffs for Comedy
June 29, 2012... Comedy Central has ordered three new series for 2013, featuring comics Anthony Jeselnik, Amy Schumer and Ben Hoffman. The untitled Jeselnik series features the comedian who has been seen on Comedy Central's roasts of Charlie Sheen and Donald...

Endemol to Adapt French Skein for U.S
June 29, 2012... Endemol Studios has acquired the rights to adapt critically acclaimed French serialized drama "Les Hommes de l'Ombre" for the U.S. marking the 10-month-old company's first third-party scripted buy. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] White House vet...

Net Keens 'Hotel,' 'Baggage'
June 29, 2012... Travel Channel has greenlit second seasons of "Hotel Impossible" and "Baggage Battles." Net has ordered 14 half-hour episodes of "Baggage Battles" and 13 one-hour episodes of "Hotel Impossible." Production on both skeins is set to begin in...

Jiaflix Sets China VOD
June 29, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jiaflix Enterprises has pacted with China Movie Channel's Web subsidiary M 1905 to stream Chinese and international feature films via both SVOD and transactional VOD services throughout China, inking their first deal...

Back in the Black: EuropaCorp Hits Profit after Two Years
June 29, 2012... After two years of losses, Luc Besson's EuropaCorp hit breakeven for the financial year ended March 31, posting a 100,000 [euro] ($124,600) net profit. Already announced, 2011-12 revenues dropped 5.7% year on year to $209.7 million. ...

BBC Grows Global and despite Cuts
June 29, 2012... LONDON The BBC's global weekly audience rose by 14 million to 239 million in the past 12 months, up 6% from last year, according to the pubcaster's estimate. The uptick has been driven primarily by the performance of the BBC's Arabic and...

Rainmaker Draws Xing
June 29, 2012... VANCOUVER Canada's Rainmaker Entertainment has sold its animation studio to Beijing-based animation company Xing Xing Digital, which will take over Rainmaker's $7 million debt and real estate leases. The news come on the heels of the...

China's Big Move
June 29, 2012... BEIJING China is pressing ahead with Dmax, its rival version of Imax, unveiling plans to equip 100 cinemas with the giant-screen format within three years. The state-backed China Film Group, one of the system's developers, announced the...

Filmauro Pacts with UPI
June 29, 2012... ROME Universal Pictures Intl. has signed a three-year deal to distrib content either produced or purchased by Aurelio De Laurentiis' Filmauro banner in Italy. Outsourcing distribution allows Filmauro to step up productions and...

Karlovy Vary Feels 'Vibrations'
June 29, 2012... PRAGUE The 47th Karlovy Vary Film Festival kicks off today with Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn's biopic "Good Vibrations" about record-store owner Terri Hooley, who fostered punk rock in Belfast. Fest will also welcome guests including...

Brand X with Russell Brand
June 29, 2012... (Series; FX, Thurs. June 28, 11 p.m.) Filmed in Los Angeles by FX Prods. Executive producers, Troy Miller, Russell Brand, Nik Linnun, John Noel; supervising producer Tally Ban, Mason Steinberg; producer, Matt Magielnicki, AJ. Diantonio;...

Jitney
June 29, 2012... (Pasadena Playhouse; 652 seats; $59 top) A Pasadena Playhouse presentation of a South Coast Repertory production of a play in two acts by August Wilson. Directed by Run OJ Parson. Sets, Shaun Morley; costumes, Dana Rebecca Woods; lighting,...

Beasts of the Southern Wild
June 29, 2012... Directed by Benh Zeitlin. Screenplay, Lucy Alibar, Zeitlin, based on the stage play "Juicy and Delicious" by Alibar. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Jan. 20, 2012. With: Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell...

Busong
June 29, 2012... (Philippines) Directed by Auraeus Solito. Screenplay, Kanakan Balintagos, Henry Burgos. Reviewed at Hawaii Film Festival (Spotlight on the Philippines), Oct. 17, 2011. With: Alessandra de Rossi, Clifford Banagale, Dax Alejandro, Rodrigo...

Gypsy
June 29, 2012... (Cigan) (Slovakia-Czech Republic) Directed by Martin Sulik. Screenplay, Marek Lescak, from a story by Lescak, Sulik. Reviewed at Karlovy Vary Film Festival (competing), July 5, 2011. With: Jan Mizigar, Attila Mokos, Miroslav Gulyas,...

Neil Young Journeys
June 29, 2012... (Docu--Canada-U.S.) Directed by Jonathan Demme. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Mavericks), Sept. 12, 2011. With: Neil Young, Bob Young, Ben Young. In "Neil Young Journeys," there's more to the picture than meets the eye--namely the...

People like Us
June 29, 2012... Directed by Alex Kurtzmun. Screenplay, Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Jody Lambert. Reviewed at RealD screening room, Beverly Hills, June 6, 2012. With: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Hall...

Take This Waltz
June 29, 2012... (Canada) Directed, written by Sarah Policy. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Gala Presentations), Sept. 11, 2011. With: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman. Given how quickly movie characters tend to fall into...

Unforgivable/Impardonnables
June 29, 2012... (France) Directed by Andre Techine. Screenplay, Andre Techine, Mehdi Ben Atria, based on the novel by Philippe Djian. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (Directors' Fortnight), May 16, 2011. With: Andre Dussolier, Carole Bouquet, Melanie...

Don Grady
June 29, 2012... Don Grady, who played Robbie Douglas on "My Three Sons" after serving as one of "The Mickey Mouse Club's" original Mouseketeers and went on to a career as a musical performer and composer for television, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a...

Herb Reed
June 29, 2012... Singer Herb Reed, the last surviving member of early R&B and rock 'n' roll stalwarts the Platters, died in Boston on June 4 after a period of failing health. He was 83. The only band member to feature on all of the Platters' official...

Bob Banfield
June 29, 2012... Bob Banfield, who covered Robert Kennedy's assassination and the Manson murders during his 43 years as a reporter for Los Angeles TV station KABC, died Thursday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 82. Banfield got his first...

John Koko
June 29, 2012... John Koko, the vocalist and bass player of the Makaha Sons, a group that helped make Hawaiian music popular, died Monday. He was 51. Koko had battled heart problems since childhood and was moving forward with plans for a heart transplant,...

CTV Greenlights Laffers
June 29, 2012... TORONTO Bell Media-owned CTV network has greenlit two comedy pilots, "Satisfaction" and "Spun Out," from top comedy scribes. "Satisfaction," a twentysomething household ensemble comedy, is scripted by showrunner Tim McAuliffe ("Up All...

U.S. Fare for Hulu Japan
June 29, 2012... Hulu has struck a pair of deals to license library content for Hulu Japan from HBO and AMC including "Sex and the City" and "Mad Men," the streaming service announced Thursday. The announcement was made on Hulu's corporate blog, which...

Vivendi's Levy Ankles
June 29, 2012... LONDON Vivendi chief exec Jean-Bernard Levy is set to step down after a disagreement with the board of the French media and telco conglom over strategy. Jean-Francois Dubos, Vivendi's general counsel, will replace Levy as CEO, the French...

Philip Glass & Joanna Newsom with Tim Fain
June 29, 2012... (Warfield Theater, San Francisco/ 2,250 capacity; $140 top) Presented by Days and Nights Festivals and folk YEAH! Performers: Philip Glass, Tim Fain, Joanna Newsom. Reviewed June 25, 2012. Serving as a one-off fundraiser for Big Sur's...

Zenne Dancer
June 29, 2012... (Zenne) (Turkey) A CAM Films presentation in association with Ilkson and Mpool. Produced by Mehmet Binay, M. Canter Alper. Co-producers, Ilker Duyan, Soner Duyan, Unsal Mestci, Hulya Duyar, Aykut Kayacik. Directed by M. Caner Alper,...

Tiffs Turn Hearing into Earful
June 28, 2012... A House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday was intended to be a crystal ball into the future of video, but the presence of so many major players from broadcasting, cable, satellite and the Internet inevitably led to disputes over the technology...

Biz Asserts Grip as Fans Mash Clips: Spidey Compilation Makes Case against Proliferation of Pre-Release Film Footage
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As studios release more clips and trailers online in pursuit of pre-release buzz, the question becomes, How much is too much? One frustrated movie fan may have found the answer. Using only TV spots, clips that...

Comcast Fined over ISP Plan
June 28, 2012... Comcast has settled an FCC investigation into its compliance with conditions of its 2011 merger with NBCUniversal, voluntarily agreeing to pay $800,000 and to extend a "reasonably priced option" for consumers who only want Internet service. ...

A Big Cheese on YouTube: Mouse Vids Hit Billion Mark as Channel Array Blossoms
June 28, 2012... One billion views is quickly becoming the milestone YouTube channel operators like to tout, with Disney recently reaching that figure with its slate of original family-friendly fare. The Mouse House paired up with YouTube in November to...

A Few Bright Spots in Pokey Kudos Race
June 28, 2012... The year hits its midpoint on June 30, so we should be halfway through the 2012 awards race, right? Wrong. Majors and indies traditionally backload kudos hopefuls in the final quarter. However, there have been recent exceptions. Summit's...

RZA Knows the Score and More on 'Fists'
June 28, 2012... When Wu-Tang Clan co-founder RZA talks about his score for the film "The Man With the Iron Fists"--which he also co-wrote and directed--he lights up. The Grammy-winning producer born Robert Fitzgerald Diggs says he hasn't been as energized about...

Spice Girls Tuner to Bow
June 28, 2012... LONDON "Mamma Mia!" creator Judy Craymer has confirmed that "Viva Forever," a tuner based on the back catalog of 1990s Britpop sensation the Spice Girls, will open in the West End at the Piccadilly Theater on Dec. 11. Written by Jennifer...

13 Vying for WGAE Seats
June 28, 2012... The Writers Guild of America East has announced 13 candidates for its 10 open council seats, including seven incumbents. The 10 candidates for the seven open freelance seats are John Auerbach, Walter Bernstein, Gina Gianfriddo, Terry George,...

BAFTA Sets New Chair
June 28, 2012... LONDON BAFTA has appointed its deputy chairman, TV exec John Willis, as its new chairman, succeeding Tim Corrie, whose two-year tenure is up. The move comes a day after BAFTA announced a major revamp of its voting system for next year's...

Fans Eager Biebers: Teen Fave's Latest Is Year's Biggest Bow
June 28, 2012... Handily shoving aside new releases by Kenny Chesney and Fiona Apple, Justin Bieber's "Believe" claimed No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with the biggest debut week of the year so far. The Canadian teen-pop vocalist, who celebrates his fourth...

DGA Sets Kudo Chief
June 28, 2012... The DGA has chosen Michael Stevens to chair the 65th annual DGA Awards, which are set for Feb. 2. A longtime director, producer and writer, Stevens has more than 30 primetime events and concert specials to his credit. He has produced and...

MTC Draws Development Grant
June 28, 2012... The Manhattan Theater Club has received a grant from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust to inaugurate a series at Studio II theater at New York City Center that will produce new work, as well as a joint venture with Ars Nova to...

Fear
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Bush Theater, London; 144 seats; 24 [pounds sterling] ($37) top) A Bush Theater presentation of a play in one act written and directed by Dominic Savage. Sets and costumes, Takis; lighting, James Whiteside, sound...

Content, Small Team
June 28, 2012... Content Media has inked an ongoing format development deal with Small World IFT. Agreement allows the pair to create a joint formats portfolio and affords Content the option to take an equity stake in Small World in the future. Deal follows...

Moonshark Taps App: J-Lo Partners for Tablet Dance Game
June 28, 2012... Jennifer Lopez is dancing her way into the mobile app biz with "DancePad," the first product released by Moonshark, the entertainment startup co-founded last year by Creative Artists Agency and Qualcomm. The downloadable app, similar to...

B'way Calls for Baldwin
June 28, 2012... Alec Baldwin will return to Broadway next spring in Lyle Kessler's "Orphans," directed by Daniel Sullivan and produced by Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole. it's the first Broadway staging of the play. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I have dreamed...

'Lightning' Strikes Deal
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all U.S. rights to the Bandito Brothers' docu "Waiting for Lightning," the SXSW entry that chronicles the extraordinary life of skateboarding pioneer Danny Way and his record-breaking...

Thesps Join the 'Club'
June 28, 2012... Cameron Deane Stewart, Justin Deeley, Andrew Caldwell, Allie Gonino, Meaghan Martin, Ally Maki and Nikki Blonsky are starring in indie teen comedy "Geography Club," based on Brent Hartinger's young-adult novel. Production began this week in...

Leachman in Ring with 'Raging Bull 2'
June 28, 2012... Cloris Leachman rounds out the cast of indie "Raging Bull 2." Pic stars William Forsythe, Penelope Ann Miller and Joe Mantegna and will be directed by Martin Guigui. Film is a combo prequel-sequel to the Martin Scorsese pic chronicling the...

Twentieth TV Ups Twosome
June 28, 2012... Twentieth Century Fox Television has promoted key execs in its development department. Dana Honor has been upped to senior VP of comedy development and Lisa Katz to senior veep of drama development. Honor will report to Jonathan Davis, exec...

Gallic Documakers Reteam on 'Forest'
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LA ROCHELLE, France Following their collaboration on "March of the Penguins" and "The Fox and the Child," French documentary shingle Bonne Pioche has boarded Luc Jacquet's large-scale doc "Il etait une foret" (Once...

Avary Joins Locarno Jury
June 28, 2012... ROME U.S. multihyphenate Roger Avary, whose producer credits include "Pulp Fiction," has joined the Locarno Film Festival Competition jury. The jury will also comprise South Korean helmer Im Sang-Soo ("The Housemaid"); Gallic...

Russians Eye H'wood: Glavkino Studio in Talks with Fox, U
June 28, 2012... MOSCOW Glavkino, the new studio located outside Moscow, is mulling a strategic partnership with a Hollywood studio. Studio boss Ilya Bachurin told Variety, "We have been talking with Fox and Universal about a possible cooperation. Even...

Thesp Set for 'El Nino'
June 28, 2012... MADRID Luis Tosar ("Miami Vice") will star in "El Nino," a Gibraltar Straits-set action thriller that is one of the biggest Spanish films prepping production for 2013. Produced by Spain's Telecinco Cinema, Ikiru Films, El Toro and Vaca...

Viacom 18 Media Taps CEO
June 28, 2012... LONDON India's Viacom 18 Media, which is a joint venture between Indian media conglom Network 18 and Viacom, has tapped Sudhanshu Vats as group CEO to replace Haresh Chawla, who left in late 2011. Vats will join in August and oversee the...

Biz Thrives on Social Vibe: Exec Parse New-Media Playbook
June 28, 2012... "Social media is what we used to call friendly reporters," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said with a laugh at Variety's Venture Capital and New Media Summit, held Wednesday in association with International Esq. The mayor's joke...

George Randolph Hearst Jr
June 28, 2012... Hearst Corp. board chairman George Randolph Hearst Jr., the oldest grandson of the media titan William Randolph Hearst, died Monday in Palo Alto, Calif., due to complications from a stroke. Hearst was 84. Hearst was the chairman of a...

Bud Friedgen
June 28, 2012... Bud Friedgen, producer and director of "That's Entertainment III," died Sunday at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. He was 75. Friedgen began in the entertainment industry as an apprentice...

Nancy Mysel
June 28, 2012... Nancy Mysel, a film preservationist with the UCLA Film & Television Archive who was a leading specialist in restoring black-and-white movies in the film noir genre, died June 17 after an eight-year battle with meta-static breast cancer. She...

Doris Singleton
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Actress and comedienne Doris Singleton Isaacs, who recurred on "I Love Lucy" as Lucy's nearsighted neighbor and sometimes nemesis Carolyn Appleby, died Tuesday. She was 92. Singleton guested in a large number of both...

Donna Hilley
June 28, 2012... Donna Hilley, the former Sony/ATV Nashville president and CEO and a prominent female executive in country music, died June 21 from an extended illness. She was 65. Hilley, from Birmingham, Ala., began her career at Nashville's WKDA radio...

Toni Arden
June 28, 2012... Toni Arden, a chanteuse whom Frank Sinatra called a "singer's singer," died at her home in Lake Worth, Fla., on May 29. She was 88. Arden began as a singer with big bands in the 1940s before going solo in 1946 and signing her first...

D'Works Sets Prod'n Exec
June 28, 2012... DreamWorks Studios has named Jane Evans exec VP of physical production. Evans previously held the same post at Focus Features. At DreamWorks she'll work on projects such as the Vince Vaughn comedy "Starbuck" and racing pic "Need for Speed."...

'Savages' Love-Fest
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At Monday's premiere of Universal's "Savages" at the Village Theater in Westwood, Oliver Stone explained the differences between his new film, with its themes of drugs and violence, and...

'Red Lights,' Spooky Night
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Things got a little spooky during a rainy Monday night screening of Millennium Entertainment's "Red Lights" at the Landmark Sunshine in New York. "Don't expect anything," helmer Rodrigo Cortes advised the audience in...

Merry Perry Pic Party
June 28, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The crowds sweltered on Hollywood Boulevard, but Katy Perry, in a red velvet dress and stilettos, looked pop-star perfect as she worked the pink carpet and waved to fans at the premiere of Para mount's Insurge release...

Femme Focus: Sony Promos Take Aim at Women to Broaden the Base for Its Spider-Man Franchise
June 27, 2012... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sony is weaving a web to attract more women to "The Amazing Spider-Man," aiming to broaden the franchise's appeal beyond its traditionally male core audience. Studio has secured deals with around 400 promo partners...

Split Personality: Street Lauds News Corp. Restructure Plan
June 27, 2012... Wall Streeters are hailing the silver lining to the phone-hacking scandal that has rocked News Corp. during the past year. The fallout has forced Rupert Murdoch to bow to investor pressure to cleave publishing from entertainment, creating two...

'Smash' Course for Season Two
June 27, 2012... Bob Greenblatt wants to make one thing perfectly clear: "Smash" is a good business for NBC. The network has big plans to elevate the level of drama and add dimension to the music featured in the show in its second season. Greenblatt, chairman...

'Lego' Lands Heroes
June 27, 2012... Auds won't have to wait for "Justice League" to see Warner Bros.' biggest superheroes share the bigscreen, as both Batman and Superman will be characters in the studio's "Lego" movie. The "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" team of Phil Lord...

Nora Ephron: 1941-2012: A Woman of Words & Wit
June 27, 2012... Nora Ephron, director, producer and writer of movies who was Oscar nominated for her original scripts to the films "Silkwood," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle," died in a New York hospital on Tuesday. She was 71. ...

Bafta Retools Votes: Kudos Streamline Shortlist Process
June 27, 2012... BAFTA is revamping its voting system for next year's British Academy Film Awards. There will only be two rounds of polling, instead of three, and the balance of voting power between the specialist chapters and the full membership is being...

Paladin Will Raise Dead
June 27, 2012... Gotham-based distributor Paladin will handle theatrical release of D. Kerry Prior's horror comedy zombie pic, "The Revenant." Paladin plans to release the film theatrically in August in an initial 10 markets. That same day, pic will be...