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AFI Awards Lunch Brings Out A-List Of Contenders

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:50:02 +0000

Judging by the turnout and the cool vibe in the room today’s annual luncheon for the AFI Awards has risen to the top of favorite , must-attend award season events. The crush to get into the Four Seasons Hotel ballroom was well worth it since the people “crushing” were the likes of Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg , Brad Pitt, Viola Davis, George Clooney, Leonardo Di Caprio, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and many others including executive honchos like Jim Gianopulos, Brad Grey, Stacey Snider and of course AFI Chairman Sir Howard Stringer who had some choice remarks in his closing speech.
This event , devoid of thank you speeches or dividing up “winners and losers” is just an old fashioned get-together in which filmmakers, execs and actors can connect, have some fish and watch some killer clip reels of what AFI deems the ten best in both movies and TV. This year’s honorees in film were: Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Hugo, J. Edgar, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball, The Tree Of Life and War Horse. The top 10 television programs were Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Homeland, Justified, Louie, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation.
After lunch AFI’s President and … Read More

No Slump Yet: ‘Contraband’ And ‘Beauty & Beast 3D’ Overperform For Big MLK Holiday

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:01:46 +0000

FRIDAY 11:30 PM, 2ND UPDATE: Bigger numbers are starting to come in for this Martin Luther King 4-day holiday weekend which is looking like the 2nd best ever with $165M overall moviegoing, or +9% over last year. The most important news is that there’s no sign of a 2012 box office slump — yet. Hollywood is very encouraged by these North American grosses so far. Both Universal’s Contraband and Warner Bros’ Joyful Noise earned ‘A-’ CinemaScores from audiences which is one reason both films are far exceeding Hollywood predictions for their openings. One note for you snarksters: Paramount’s The Devil Inside, which took big top honors last weekend, fell -84% from last Friday to this Friday and maybe -78% week to week because of word-of-mouth related to that ’F’ CinemaScore. As one rival studio exec told me tonight: “The drop could better depending on the late night moron crowd.”
1. Contraband (Universal) NEW [2,863 Theaters]
Friday $9M, 3-Day Weekend $25M, 4-Day Holiday $30M
2. Beauty And The Beast 3D (Disney) NEW [2,625 Theaters]
Friday $5.5M, 3-Day Weekend $18.5M, 4-Day Holiday $25.6M
3. Joyful Noise (Warner Bros) NEW [2,863 Theaters]
Friday $3.8M, 3-Day Weekend $12.3M, 4-Day Holiday $14.8M
4. Mission: Impossible 4 (Paramount) Week 5 [3,346 Theaters]
Friday $3.5M, 3-Day Weekend $12.1M, 4-Day Holiday $14.6M, Est Cume $189.9M
5. The Devil Inside (Paramount) Week 2 [2,551 Theaters]
Friday $2.6M (-84%), 3-Day Weekend $7.5M, 4-Day Holiday $8.7M, Est Cume $47.1M
6. Sherlock Holmes 2 (Warner Bros) Week 5 [3,155 Theater]
Friday $2.5M, 3-Day Weekend $8.8M, 4-Day Holiday $10.6M, Est Cume $172.2M
7. … Read More

Copyright Infringement: British Man Faces Extradition To U.S.

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:39:33 +0000

A 23-year-old British student faces possible extradition to the United States for trial on charges of copyright infringement for hosting a website that pointed visitors to illegal download sites. Richard O’

How A&E’s New Western Drama ‘Longmire’ Is Different From FX’s ‘Justified’: TCA

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:44:35 +0000

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.
At a late Friday afternoon panel session promoting A&E’s forthcoming summertime western saga Longmire, the question was asked as to whether the success of FX’s Justified perhaps smoothed the path wheels for Longmire to see the light of primetime. Exec producer John Covony answered succinctly: “The short answer is no.” Why not? “Well, in Hollywood, some ideas are gestating as others are coming to life.” He added that while he’s happy that Justified “helped to make people think about westerns,” he made the point that Justified star Timothy Olyphant and Longmire lead Robert Taylor were quite different in both style and substantive approach to their roles. Exec producer Greer Shephard went further, suggesting that Olyphant’s character “is a man tortured and driven by demons” while Taylor’s is defined by “love and loyalty.” She also doesn’t believe that Justified is even a true western, she thinks it’s more of “a Southern Gothic show.” But Longmire ‘

Starz Stands Behind ‘Boss’, ‘Spartacus’, Touts ‘Magic City’: TCA

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:18:35 +0000

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s coverage of TCA
Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht said today at TCA the cable channel will support its struggling series Boss during its second season, but acknowledged the show needs to begin to ‘

Paradigm Loses Senior TV Talent Agent

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:49:37 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Senior TV talent agent Steve Small told Paradigm today that he is leaving the agency to “pursue a more creative aspect of the business”. Small told the tenpercentery he’ll announce his plans next week. He came from Writers And Artists agency when it merged with Paradigm and was head of talent for a couple of years, then began reporting to Norm Aladjem. Small’s departure follows the exit of Alternative TV agent Cameron Kadison last night to start that unit for Principato Young management.

NBC Picks Up Kari Lizer Female Buddy Comedy Pilot

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:32:50 +0000

Can women comedy writers be any hotter? Two comedy pilots picked up today — both from female creators! NBC has given the green light to an untitled multi-camera comedy from The New Adventures Of Old Christine creator Kari Lizer. The untitled comedy (form. Lady Friends) hails from Warner Bros TV and Lizer’

Current TV “Going Forward” With Keith Olbermann, And “We’re Not For Sale”: TCA

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:21:11 +0000

Keith Olbermann Put In Charge Of Election Coverage On Current TV
Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.
The mercurial Keith Olbermann — who reportedly clashed with his bosses at Current TV last week over whether he would be leading the fledgling network’s election coverage — tellingly wasn’t on hand this afternoon for a Current panel at TCA. Regarding Olbermann’s absence, Current president David Bohrman would say only, “Keith is on vacation.” As for Olbermann’s purported unwillingness to be a part of Current’s campaign coverage, “Keith will do our special election coverage going forward,” Bohrman said. “That’s what we want him to do. That was one of the key reasons he was brought to Current. So I expect that you will see Keith going forward leading our election coverage, and that’s what we want him to do.” When pressed, he added, “I can’t really be much more clear. We had approached Keith to do election coverage a couple of months ago. He declined. We have now been told by Keith that he will lead our coverage going forward and that is what we want to do.”
On another front, Bohrman and Current co-founder Joel Hyatt confirmed to Deadline following the panel that Current UK in England has been dropped from satcaster BSkyB’s subscription tier two months before the contract was up. The withdrawal of funding will force the channel to be shuttered in a move that mirrors the … Read More

ABC Greenlights Sisters Comedy From Stephnie Weir & Claudia Lonow

The Wire — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:15:32 +0000

On the heels of ABC picking up drama pilot Gilded Lillys earlier today, the network just greenlighted a half-hour pilot, multi-camera comedy Counter Culture. Written and executive produced by writer-actress Stephnie Weir and executive produced by Claudia Lonow, Counter Culture revolves around three aging sisters running their family diner together in West Texas who find that sibling dynamics are always getting in the way of getting the job done. Weir won’t act in Counter Culture, which will be co-produced by Sony TV, where Weir has had a deal (she penned the 2010 ABC/Sony TV comedy pilot Wright Vs. Wrong starring Debra Messing), and ABC Studios. Lonow is expected to have a great pilot season. The Accidentally On Purpose creator has another comedy project at ABC through 20th TV and Imagine TV, which is very hot and already has a put pilot commitment, making a pilot order very likely. The pickup for Counter Culture extends female comedy writers’ hot streak this season.

BSkyB Move Could Shut Down Current UK

The Wire — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:03:52 +0000

Al Gore’s Current UK has been dropped from the satellite broadcaster BSkyB’s pay-TV lineup barely two months before the fledgling network’s contract was up. Without funding from the BSkyB contract Current UK isn’t likely to survive. The channel’s 23 staff were warned at a meeting on Wednesday morning that its future is bleak, according to the Guardian. BSkyB, part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp made a business decision to withdraw funding effectively forcing the channel to shut down in a move similar to the action BSkyB took with Current Italia in 2011. Gore and Joel Hyatt launched Current UK in 2007 with the goal of opening British TV to new voices and untold stories but has struggled for ratings. Liberal like its U.S. counterpart, Current TV is still available on Virgin Media and online. It also could remain on the Sky platform as a free channel but low ratings mean it won’t likely generate much advertising revenue. Current TV features news and documentary programming, the bulk of it from independent producers who are new to television. One of its original series is Morgan Spurlock’s 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die. Co-founder Hyatt said “Sky is shutting down an intelligent alternative to mass market programming.” Whatever the case, managing director Jane Mote said “It is looking likely we will have to close on 11 March.”