Former World News executive producer Jon Banner has been named executive producer of This Week effective Jan. 8 when George Stephanopoulos returns as host of the weekly political talk show while continuing his duties as anchor of Good Morning America. Banner stepped down as EP of World News in September when he was named Senior Executive Producer for ABC News, overseeing special projects.
Rick Kaplan, who served as executive producer of This Week with Christiane Amanpour, will focus on election coverage, including shepherding ABC News’ New Hampshire debate on Jan. 7. Kaplan worked on This Week for the past 8 months, returning to ABC News after a four-year run as executive producer of CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. The announcement comes 3 days after Amanpour signed off as anchor of This Week on Sunday. Here is ABC News President Ben Sherwood’s staff email about the change:
I’ve asked Jon Banner to expand his duties as Senior Executive Producer for division wide initiatives and become Executive Producer of This Week, effective 1/8.
I’m very grateful to Jon for stepping into this important role in a pivotal election year.
Jon and George have a long history working together. They share an editorial vision for the broadcast and when they teamed up last they steadily expanded the program’s audience.
As partners again, I am confident they will produce excellent results.
At this … Read More
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Jon Banner Named Executive Producer For ‘This Week With George Stephanopoulos’
Legendary East’s Hong Kong Partner PYE Shelves Deal, Cites Insufficient Share Sale
UPDATE: Legendary East released the following statement: ‘
SAG Awards Ballot Instructions Mailed Out Today
Postcards with ballot instructions for voting on the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be mailed today to nearly 100,000 SAG members. Eligible members who paid their November dues by Friday, December 16 can vote for outstanding performances in five movie and eight television categories. Online voting is encouraged. Paper ballots may be obtained by request only by calling toll free (877) 610-8637 before 5 p.m. (PT) on Monday, Jan.16th. A list of this year’s nominees is at sagawards.org. All votes whether cast online or via paper ballot must be received by noon (PT) on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 at Integrity Voting Systems, the Guild’
2011 Basic Cable Ratings: USA Still On Top, History & FX Up, Nick At Nite & TBS Down
There was little change at the top of the primetime basic cable rankings for 2011, with USA finishing the year as No.1 in total viewers and adults 18-49 for a sixth consecutive time on the strength of its original series. The cable network added another hit to its original slate this year with rookie Suits. There was one change each in the Top 5 among total viewers and 18-49 from 2010. History broke into the Top 5 among total viewers after doing the same among adults 18-49 last year, while siblings TNT and TBS swapped places in the top 18-49 echelon. (Network ranker after the jump.)
History’s ratings ascent continued in 2011. With red-hot unscripted fare such as Pawn Stars and American Pickers, the cable channel once again posted its best year ever with double-digit gains in total viewers and adults 18-49 and a Top 5 finish in both categories after cracking the Top 10 in both total measures for the first time last year.
Also posting double-digit growth for a second consecutive year was MTV, which was fueled by juggernaut Jersey Shore, hit unscripted franchise Teen Mom, staple Video Music Awards and hot scripted newcomer Awkward. MTV moved up 5 spots in total viewers and 3 in 18-49 to finish … Read More
Demian Bichir’s Surprise SAG Nomination Boosts Best Actor Oscar Chances
Summit Entertainment jumped the gun on awards season and made a statement by sending out DVD
screeners the day after Labor Day, September 6, of their boxoffice-challenged Oscar hopeful A Better Life. Because this is a small human drama that opened June 24 (the same ”good luck” weekend they opened their Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker two years ago) but didn’t ring many bells at the ticket window the company knew they would have to try and define it for voters in different ways. It also became the first movie of the season in June to do Q&As, with star Demian Bichir, for SAG’s then-newly formed nominating committee. Bichir and director Chris Weitz have since been on the circuit doing receptions for press and awards voters, lots of interviews and generally beating the drum for their “little movie that could.” Both appeared for a Q&A at Deadline’s Contenders event at the Landmark on December 10 where Weitz was blunt about the importance of getting some recognition for the film even though it has now been out on commercial DVD since October. “I’m glad some of the gloves came off during the moguls panel about wanting to get nominated. We lost the first round at the boxoffice but we’re going to keep fighting,” he said. He knows the film won’t get a Best Picture nomination but was hoping there would be recognition for … Read More
Production Locations: Top 10 US, And Beyond — According To P3 Update
Bits of information about “Top 10: United States of Production” and “The Top 10 Locations In The Universe” materialized in our inbox today. P3 Update describes itself as “Unifying Preproduction, Production and Postproduction.” The US Top 10 summarizes steps taken by various states to lure or retain production. The Top 10 In The Universe looks at the situation globally. Note the overlaps between the two or the lack thereof. Descriptions in P3‘s separate lists summarize what makes each location attractive to filmmakers. Wonder why California rates tops in the Universe and only fifth in the US.
Top 10: United States Of Production
1. Louisiana
2. Illinois
3. Florida
4. Georgia
5. California
6. Connecticut
7. New York
8. Utah
9. New Mexico
10. Michigan
Top 10 Locations In The Universe
1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Georgia
4. Louisiana
5. Massachusetts
6. New York
7. North Carolina
8. Canada
9. New Zealand
10. United Kingdom
Jessica Chastain, Howard Shore To Be Feted By Palm Springs Film Festival
Jessica Chastain will be honored with the Spotlight Award and composer Howard Shore will receive the Frederick Loewe Music Award at the 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Chastain will be recognized for her roles in The Help, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Debt and Coriolanus. Shore, a previous recipient of the Loewe Award in 2005 for scoring Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, will be honored for his work on Scorsese’
HBO Leads Cinematographers’ TV Noms
LOS ANGELES, December 28, 2011 – The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced nominees in three television categories for the 26th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards competition. The awards ceremony will be held here on February 12 at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom.
Nominees in the one-hour Episodic Television Series/Pilot Category are:
David Franco for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire (“To the Lost”)
Jonathan Freeman, ASC for Boardwalk Empire (“21″)
David Katznelson, DFF, BSC for PBS’ Downton Abbey (Pilot)
John Lindley, ASC for ABC’s Pan Am (Pilot)
David Stockton, ASC for NBC’s Chase (“Narco Part 2″)
The finalists in the Television Movie/Miniseries category are:
Ed Lachman, ASC for HBO’s Mildred Pierce
Kevin Moss for Showtime’s Chicago Overcoat
David Moxness, CSC for ReelzChannel’s The Kennedys (“Moral Issues and Inner Turmoil”)
Martin Ruhe for PBS’ Page Eight
Wojciech Szepel for PBS’ Any Human Heart (“Episode 2″)
The third category, for a half-hour Episodic Series or Pilot, was just added this year. The inaugural nominees are:
James Bagdonas, ASC for ABC’s Modern Family (“Bixby’s Back”)
Michael Balfry, CSC for The Hub’s R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour (“Brush with Madness”)
Vanja Cernjul, HFC for HBO’s Bored to Death (“Forget the Herring”)
Levie Isaacks, ASC for ABC’s Man Up (“Acceptance”)
Michael Weaver, ASC for Showtime’s Californication (“Suicide Solution”)
R.I.P. Cheetah
Cheetah, the impish chimpanzee who starred in the Tarzan films of the 1930s alongside Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, died on Christmas Eve of kidney failure at the Florida primate sanctuary where he had been living since his retirement from showbiz. He was 80. ”It is with great sadness that the community has lost a dear friend and family member,” the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor announced on its website. Cheetah had performed in such classic films as Tarzan The Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan And His Mate (1934) and was one of several chimpanzees who appeared in the franchise. Sometime around 1960, Cheetah came to the sanctuary from Weissmuller’s estate in Ocala, the sanctuary said. Cheetah stood out because of his ability to stand up ‘
Univision Ratings Shine Over Rival Reruns
For the second time this week Univision on Tuesday moved to the top of primetime ratings, tying with CBS for No. 1 in adults 18-49 for the night and outranking all other networks in adults 18-34. Univision’s Una Familia Con Suerte (A Lucky Family) continued as a particularly solid performer in the younger demo and matched or outperformed repeats as with NCIS on CBS, and other weaker programming on competing networks. On Monday night, Univision was the highest rated network in adults 18-49 on the strength of the two-hour finale of the telenovela La Fuerza del Destino (The Strength of Destiny) which averaged 5.4 million viewers overall and and trailed only a rerun of Two and a Half Men on CBS in the 18-to-49 category for that time period.
Peter Pan Visits ‘Jake And The Never Land Pirates’ On Disney Channel
Peter Pan himself will make his first appearance in Disney Channel’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates in a primetime special Monday, February 13. In the episode Peter Pan Returns the character comes back to Pirate Island in search of his lost shadow. Adam Wylie (Picket Fences) voices Peter. The episode features six new songs. Sharon Osbourne, Josh Duhamel, Jane Kaczmarek and Tiffani Thiessen voice recurring roles. Other voice cast members include David Arquette, Tori Spelling, Lisa Loeb, Adam West and Ariel Winter. Season two of Jake and the Never Land Pirates debuts Monday February 20 with new episodes daily at 8:30 a.m. ET/PT as part of Disney Channel’s Disney Junior programming block for kids age 2-7.
Academy Unveils 2012 Oscar One-Sheet
Here’s the official poster of the Academy Awards, unveiled this morning. The theme is “Celebrate the Movies.” Designed by Anthony Goldschmidt, and Mark and Karen Crawford of Blood&Chocolate, one-sheet features eight images of Oscar-winning movies spanning eight decades. The movies represented are Gone with the Wind(1939), Casablanca (1943), Giant (1956), The Sound of Music (1965), The Godfather (1972), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Forrest Gump (1994) and Gladiator (2000). All were best picture winners except for Giant for which George Stevens was named best director.
Sony Sells Stake In LCD Joint Venture To Samsung For $939M
Sony Corp. is pulling out of its LCD manufacturing partnership with Samsung, the company announced today. Samsung will pay $939 million for Sony’
Abel Ferrara Preps DSK Scandal Project; Gerard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani To Star?
EXCLUSIVE: Wild Bunch’
Hot Video: Latest ‘The Hobbit’ Production Diary Looks At Cast, Crew Logistics
Peter Jackson and others describe the massive undertaking of transporting equipment, sets, cast and crew as well as providing shelter, food and water to remote locations in New Zealand.
NBA Season Starts Mostly Higher In Ratings
After a long labor dispute-triggered delay, the NBA season got under way on Christmas Day with 4 televised games on ABC and ESPN and another one on TNT.
The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks on TNT delivered the highest-ever rated Christmas Day NBA game, scoring a 4.1 rating with 5.9 million viewers. Reigning champions the Dallas Mavericks opened the ABC-ESPN quadrupleheader at 2:30 PM ET against the Miami Heat. The game drew a 5.6 overnight rating, up 6% from the comparable 2010 Boston/Orlando game. Despite failed recruitment efforts, the loss of Lamar Odom to Dallas, a new coach and a worrisome Kobe Bryant injury, the LA Lakers proved they are still a marquee viewer draw. The Lakers-Chicago game at 5:30 PM ET posted a 6.5 overnight rating. That was down 11% from last year’s Lakers-Miami face-off but still ranked as the third highest-rated NBA regular season game behind 2 other showdowns featuring the Lakers and the Heat, in 2004 and last year.
The two primetime ESPN games were sharply up from last year. Orlando-Oklahoma City (1.9) at 8 PM was up 36% from last year’s Denver-Oklahoma game. The much improved LA Clippers faced Golden State at 10:30 PM for a 2.3 rating, up a whopping 77% over last year’s Portland-Golden State game.
Christmas Cheer Here! Better Numbers For New Movies; ‘Mission: Impossible’ Still #1; Spielberg’s ‘War Horse’ Exceeds Predictions
B.O. Brawl: Warner Bros Demands Recount From Paramount & Sony
MONDAY AM ADVISORY: Due to a shopping emergency, box office will be updated after noon.
SUNDAY 8 PM, 7TH UPDATE: Sources tell me that Christmas Day box office numbers for North America are up +60% compared to New Years Eve for the new holiday releases and as much as +86% for the weekend frontrunner Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and +104% for Warner Bros’ Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows in second place. As for the No. 1 movie, director Brad Bird’s Tom Cruise-Jeremy Renner starrer is definitely going to outgross the M:I franchise’s last actioner which did $135M domestic and $270M overseas. My sources say M:I4 is heading to $175M domestic and $400M overseas — with a budget estimated at $145M. Also, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-buzzed War Horse for DreamWorks/Disney opened in 2,376 theaters today and is overperforming with nearly $7.5M jumping into 3rd place. And that’s despite its 2-hour, 26-minute running time which means fewer screenings. Also opening today is New Regency/Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour which debuted today in 2,324 theaters with $2.5M. Fox’s Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked falls to 6th place, while the studio’s We Bought A Zoo moves up a notch to 5th, and Paramount’s The Adventures Of Tintin drops to 7th. More later.
SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM, 5TH UPDATE: Refined numbers … Read More
Deadline Hires New Los Angeles Film Editor Brian Brooks, Formerly Top IndieWire Editor
Deadline Hollywood continues expanding staff to further position us as the primary 24/7 breaking news entertainment business website. Today we are announcing another important addition: new Los Angeles Film Editor Brian Brooks (brian@deadline.com). He will work closely with New York Editor & Film Editor Mike Fleming to cover both the major studio and indie film business and festival scene. A veteran of indiieWIRE since 1996 and Managing Editor since 2007, Brooks was integral in the execution of daily editorial news and feature content about the movie biz. He was a regular at the Sundance, Toronto, LAFF, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes, Berlin, Hamptons, Sarajevo, AFI, IDFA, Pusan, Reykjavik festivals and more. He has moderated and produced events and panels in New York, Toronto, and Austin and served on numerous festival juries. A California native and UCLA grad, Brian is relocating from NYC to Los Angeles to join Deadline in mid-January – just in time to cover Sundance with Fleming. “I want to thank all the amazing and brilliant people on indieWIRE’s editorial team with whom I’ve worked over the past 12 years,” Brooks said. ”Now I join a truly fantastic team at Deadline. I’m honored that Nikki Finke and Mike Fleming wanted me to work with them. And I look forward to covering the film business and its talented people from my new base in Los Angeles.”
Japanese Trailer: Disney’s ‘John Carter’
Today we stumbled upon this Japanese-subtitled/voiceover trailer for Andrew Stanton’s John Carter. It reveals a little more of Disney’s upcoming movie based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of Barsoom (Mars) stories. The first was published almost 100 years ago. Many sequels followed. To today’s readers the author’s voice may seem quaint, archaic. Cultural and stylistic shortcomings aside, Burroughs’ storytelling is surprisingly compelling. Some commenters have dismissed what they’ve seen in previous trailers as derivative or outright ripoffs of dozens of other movies. Burroughs’ writing suggests the reverse. Mars has been a problematic movie subect for Disney and others but Pixar veteran Stanton is no slouch and his name alone will lure some fans to theaters to see his labor of love for themselves. John Carter opens domestically March 9.
Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire, The Decemberists Record Songs For ‘The Hunger Games’
Taylor Swift, the Civil Wars, Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire collaborated with T-Bone Burnett as the first of several contributors to the companion album for The Hunger Games, Lionsgate and Universal Republic Records confirmed today. Produced by Burnett, the companion album will feature all newly written songs based on themes that figure in The Hunger Games. Swift collaborated with Burnett to write and perform the album’s first single Safe and Sound which launched yesterday on iTunes and became one of the site’s top 10 songs within 12 hours. Butler and Chassagne have written a song with Burnett for the album entitled Horn Of Plenty, and The Decemberists contributed the original song One Engine. Burnett is executive music producer for the movie, and James Newton Howard is composing the score. The companion album will be released before the movie’s opening March 23. The Hunger Games soundtrack will be released separately.