Film Independent has identified nine projects and their filmmakers for the organization’s 11th annual Producers Lab. Those selected include Brent Hoff and Malcom Pullinger, who are readying for production their El Diablo Rojo and will receive a $25,000 development grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which nurtures scripts and films about science and technology in hopes of guiding them into commercial production with distribution. The budding producers come from a variety of backgrounds, educated in the Midwest as well as New York, Los Angeles, and gaining know-how by working at studios, movie and TV production shingles, agencies and the like in a variety of capacities and getting feature and shorts work under their belts.
The 2011 Producers Lab projects (and their filmmakers) are:
A Day With Dandekar (Megha Kadakia) ‘
Fox’s drama Terra Nova is really going to premiere in September, the producers of the megabucks Fox prehistoric drama Terra Nova — which seemingly has been in some form of production since the Jurassic Period — assured critics and at a TCA panel this afternoon. Exec producers Rene Echevarria, Brannon Braga and Jon Cassar insisted that not only would the show be premiering on schedule with a two-hour rollout on Sept. 26; the other installments of the 13-episode production are finally coming along despite the challenging visual effects and production complexities stemming from the Queensland, Australia shoot. The two-hour pilot originally was earmarked to air in May, but issues stemming from the drama’s cutting-edge technology pushed it back to fall.
EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-winning directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have signed a two-year exclusive development deal with Universal Media Studios. The two will relocate to UMS from Sony Pictures TV, where they were under overall deals for the past four years. It will be a pretty seamless transition as the Sony TV-produced comedy Community, on which the Russo brothers directed the pilot and serve as directors/executive producers, airs on NBC. Under their pact with UMS, the two will remain executive producers on the underrated single-camera comedy, which is starting to get recognition, recently landing best comedy series nominations from the Television Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. “Our new deal with the Russo brothers shows that NBC is looking for creative producers who are both successful and not afraid to take chances,” NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said. “Their unique vision and ingenuity should result in some very edgy content that will capture everyone’
Some quick glimpses into Oscar preparations for February 27th besides the fact that the nominated songs are going to be performed on the telecast this year after being bumped (more like dumped) by last year’
Malin Akerman (Couples Retreat, Watchmen, 27 Dresses) is now confirmed to replace Lindsay Lohan in Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story. from director/writer Matthew Wilder’s script which made the 2008 Black List. “My understanding is that Lindsay was dropped as she’s impossible to insure and the producers loved Malin,” an insider emails. Malin’s upcoming credits include Wanderlust (Paul Rudd, Jen Aniston), Happythankyoumoreplease (Josh Radnor) and The Bang Bang Club (Taylor Kitsch, Ryan Philippe). She is also attached to star opposite Ethan Hawke in The Numbers Station. The Lovelace project (we really need another after Brian Grazer did one?) is based on the novel Ordeal: An Autobiography by Linda Lovelace with Mike McGrady. The producers include Chris Hanley of Muse Productions and Jordan Gertner.
EXCLUSIVE… 3RD UPDATE FRIDAY 11PM: It’s war! I hear that The Biggest Loser producers, Shine Group’s Reveille and JD Roth and Todd Nelson’s Eyeworks-owned 3 Ball Prods., are planning to resume production on the weight-loss reality series on Monday morning after a week-long shutdown because of the IATSE-backed strike by crew members. But the restart of filming is not the result of an agreement with IATSE. I hear the producers are bringing in replacements and the show will continue to be non-union. (In a letter sent to the crew members on Tuesday, the full text of which is displayed in the 2nd Updatedbelow, the producers threaten striking crew members that their jobs may be lost if they hire permanent replacements.) I hear that no Biggest Loser crew members are expected to cross the picket line on Monday. “Should be ugly,” one insider says. Meanwhile, I hear that the Biggest Loser employees who are striking to go union have received support from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, a voluntary federation of 57 national and international unions, which has issued a “Do Not Patronize” sanction against the Biggest Loser producers. The companies’ put on AFL-CIO “Do Not Patronize” list “have been identified as unfair employers and adversaries of the labor movement, and all trade unionists and friends of organized labor are urged … Read More 
James Lee, former chairman of Scottish film agency Scottish Screen, has written to UK culture secretary Jeremy Hunt proposing all £15 million of lottery funding be injected into a single distribution label. BBC Films and Film4 would be obliged to release all their films through this ‘
This will put an even greater emphasis on overseas income through selling formats and programmes internationally, says trade body Pact.