News for 7/25/2006


Lifetime Achievement for 'Grey's Anatomy'

Emmy-nominated drama heads to cable next year


ABC is separating "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" on its schedule this fall, but Lifetime will bring the two shows back together starting next year.

The cable network has picked up rerun rights to the Emmy-nominated "Grey's" and will begin airing episodes once a week starting in January. The show will start running as a daily strip in fall 2009.

"This is an extraordinary show that tells powerful stories of love, hope and sometimes despair, as seen through the lives of an amazingly gifted ensemble cast," Lifetime's Leslie Glenn-Chesloff says. "Women all over the country -- including all of us here at Lifetime -- absolutely adore this wonderful series, and we're thrilled that it's joining our schedule."

Lifetime previously picked up rerun rights to "Desperate Housewives," which last season paired with "Grey's" to form a powerhouse ratings bloc for ABC. The cable channel will begin airing weekly "Housewives" reruns on Sunday, Aug. 5 at 11 p.m. ET.

"Grey's Anatomy" drew just under 20 million viewers a week last season, and it was among the top scripted shows on TV in the adults 18-49 demographic that advertisers all love. A post-Super Bowl episode of the show drew 38 million people, and for much of the rest of the season it topped "Housewives" in the ratings.

Earlier this month it was nominated for 11 Emmys, including outstanding drama series. It also won the Television Critics Association Award for program of the year.



Racy, late-night `BET Uncut' gets cut


"BET Uncut," the compilation of racy videos that drew protests while it kept some rap fans awake late at night, has been cut. The show's last episode after five years aired July 7, BET said.

"BET Uncut" aired at 3 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, showing videos considered too risque to show at other times. But it upset some viewers who said many of them were degrading to wom n. The clips regularly showed obscured nudity and women gyrating wildly with sexual overtones. One video by Nelly featured the rapper swiping a credit card up a woman's backside.

Protests about the content had nothing to do with its cancellation, said BET spokesman Michael Lewellen. It had angered some people since its inception, but also had a loyal fan base and some are petitioning to see the series restored, he said.

BET will instead fill the time slot with reruns of programs on the air earlier or syndicated sitcoms. Those tend to be a lot cheaper instead of original programming for networks.

"I don't necessarily think the cost factored in so much as it was a desire by the network to do something different in that time period," Lewellen said.



A whole new 'Game'

Former "Sister, Sister" star Tia Mowry shows a dark side in CW's new comedy "The Game."

By Greg Braxton
Times Staff Writer


Almost every day, viewers can see Tia Mowry on Disney Channel in reruns of "Sister Sister," the sitcom she starred in for six years with her twin sister Tamera where they played goody-two-shoes twins.

And on some days, viewers can also catch the Mowry twins on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, talking about their love of God and their Christian values.

But this fall, viewers will see another side of Tia Mowry, playing a young woman who is living in sin with her football-player boyfriend. In the CW's new comedy, "The Game," Mowry has premarital sex and expresses herself at times with un-Christian-like words.

"I call my character 'The Real Tia," the 27-year-old Mowry says with a giggle Monday in an interview following a panel discussion of her show with fellow cast members and the show's creator Mara Brock Akil, who developed the comedy as a spinoff of "Girlfriends." The series revolves around three women who bond due to the fact that their men are all members of a football team.

Mowry, who has blossomed from the somewhat gawky actress featured in "Sister Sister," says that though she does not identify with her character's lifestyle, there is plenty she has in common with her. "She's independent, very smart and very supportive of her man," she said.

She adds that she is not bothered by some of the more sexual aspects of the role. "I'm still a role model and this is not going too far off the deep end," she says. "I've turned down roles where they wanted me to take off my clothes. No way. I won't smoke weed. But in the Bible, there are many people who have fallen short in the glory of God. I don't see what this character does as a negative. Tamera and I were young Christian kids, and now we're young Christian women. There are temptations out there. We're not saints."

Largely due to "Sister Sister, Mowry says it was a struggle initially to win the role. "Some people were hesitant. I'm not the little girl I used to be. "

Still, there are limits to what she will do. "My name is more important than riches," she says. "You won't see me in just a bra. Now if I have to wear a bra, and then I'm wearing a black nightgown over it, that's ok."

She and her sister are continuing to counsel young people about abstinence and education. "It's very important for us to be doers," she says.

Mowry ended her interview with a smile, a stong handshake and a "God bless you."



Williams, Seda head for "Home"

By Nellie Andreeva
The Hollywood Reporter


Jon Seda and Cress Williams have joined the cast of the CBS crime drama "Close to Home," is returning for a second season in the fall.

In addition to Seda and Williams, who will play detectives David James Elliott also is also joining the cast.

Seda's series credits include NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and "Third Watch," while Williams most recently did stints on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and UPN's "Veronica Mars."

Separately, after lengthy on-and-off negotiations, Camryn Manheim ("The Practice") recently signed on to co-star on another Friday CBS drama, "Ghost Whisperer," next season. She will play a friend of the series star Jennifer Love Hewitt.



Three Zombies Join 'Dead' Remake

Zombies in a bunker are scarier than snakes on a plane


Ving Rhames, Mena Suvari and Nick Cannon are set to take the leads in the upcoming remake of "Day of the Dead."

According to media reports, Steve Miner ("Dawson's Creek") will direct the remake/sequel, working from a script by Jeffrey Reddick.

In George Romero's delightfully simple 1985 zombie pic, a surviving group of scientists and military personnel have taken refuge in an elaborate bunker. As tensions within the bunker rise, the zombie menace outside begins to encroach, as carnage ensues.

This is familiar territory for Rhames, who also starred in 2004's "Dawn of the Dead" remake. Last seen in "Mission: Impossible III," Rhames already has "Idlewild" in the can.

Suvari, still best known for "American Beauty" and "American Pie" has been a busy woman, appearing in "Domino," "Standing Still" and "Rumor Has It" in recent months.

Cannon will next appear in animated form in "Monster House." The "Underclassman" star has also completed turns in "Bobby" and in the next two parts of the "Goal!" trilogy.



Sci Fi's 'Eureka' Strikes Ratings Gold

Premiere logs more than 4 million viewers


The Sci Fi Channel's newest series is earthbound, but the ratings for its premiere still hit some pretty impressive heights.

The two-hour premiere of "Eureka" on Tuesday drew more than 4 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of an original series in the channel's history. About 1.7 million of those viewers were in the key adults 18-49 demographic, and 1.9 million fell in the 25-54 age range.

By all those measures, "Eureka" was the top show on cable for the night. It also beat a few of its broadcast competitors, including the premiere of ABC's reality series "The One: Making a Music Star."

"Eureka" stars Colin Ferguson ("Coupling") as a U.S. marshal who stumbles on a small Pacific Northwest town that's actually a secret government research facility populated by the best minds in the nation. Their research, however, makes the town a place where a lot of odd things tend to occur.

The series, created by Andrew Cosby ("Haunted") and Jaime Paglia, also stars Joe Morton ("Terminator 2," "Stealth"), Salli Richardson-Whitfield ("CSI: Miami," "Antwone Fisher) and Debrah Farentino ("EZ Streets").

"Eureka" also adds to a cable hot streak this summer that has seen strong ratings for original series like USA's "Psych," TNT's "The Closer" and "Saved" and FX's "Rescue Me."



'Next Top Model' Writers Threaten Strike

Writers say producers have ignored their request to join a union

By By Richard Verrier


"America's Next Top Model" is getting ugly.

Writers of the hit reality show walked off the job for an hour Thursday (July 20) and threatened to strike today, alleging that the show's producers had snubbed their request to join the Writers Guild of America, West.

The dispute comes at a delicate time for the new CW network, which is relying on the hit reality show created by supermodel Tyra Banks to dress up its inaugural lineup.

The series debuts Sept. 20 on The CW, forged by CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Television from the remnants of the WB and UPN networks. Only the first few episodes have been completed for the series' seventh cycle.

In a low-key protest outside their West Los Angeles offices, the writers wore red "United We Stand" T-shirts with the writers guild's logo and handed out fliers titled "Free to Be Union? Not at The CW's America's Next Top Model," a play on the network's motto, "Free to Be."

The writers contend that they are key to the show's success and should get benefits and protections similar to those enjoyed by their peers in movies and scripted television.

"They want a guild contract, but their employer won't give it to them," said writers guild President Patric M. Verrone, "This is how they are showing their solidarity."

A spokesman for The CW declined to comment. Ken Mok, president of Anisa Productions Inc., the show's producer, said in a statement that the writers guild was seeking to circumvent federal rules that allow secret ballot elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

"There is absolutely no ill will or rancor from anyone in 'America's Next Top Model' toward the employees in their activities with their WGA," Mok said. "All of us respect their legal rights to pursue a path that they feel best serves them."

Even though reality shows purport to capture events as they happen, many employ writers to feed lines to participants, plot out story lines and edit interviews. With the "America's Next Top Model" walkout, the writers guild signaled that it was stepping up its campaign to organize workers in the burgeoning genre.

"This will be the first of many actions like it," Verrone said.

Last year, the writers guild backed two lawsuits that accused producers of exploiting workers in reality TV.

Reality producers dispute allegations that writers are mistreated. They say writing for a reality show isn't the same as working on a scripted program.

The "America's Next Top Model" dispute began this month when 12 writers on the show signed cards seeking to be represented by the writers guild. The writers affirmed their support in a letter to Mok.

But attorneys for the production company disputed the guild's claim and suggested that the guild hold a secret ballot election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

"If the NLRB decides that the WGA has the exclusive representation of the employees, we would be happy to sit down and negotiate with them," Mok said.

Guild officials allege, however, that the production company's goal is to buy time and intimidate employees.



NBC Is Spike Lee's New Joint

Filmmaker signs deal to develop drama series


LOS ANGELES -- Two-time Oscar nominee Spike Lee is taking a rare foray into series television, signing a deal with NBC to develop a drama series.

The director of "Inside Man," "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X" will develop the show for the network and its sister studio, NBC Universal TV. He'll serve as an executive producer on the project and may direct a pilot episode, but the studio will search for another writer to pair with Lee.

"Spike Lee was one of the first people that I wanted to make a priority for the network," says Katie O'Connell, who heads drama development at NBC. "I wanted to be aggressive about bringing in a high-profile filmmaker who fits in so well with NBC's traditional brand of challenging, quality dramas."

Lee has done a number of long-form projects for television, most recently "When the Levees Broke," a documentary about Hurricane Katrina that premieres on HBO in August. He also directed the Showtime movie "Sucker Free City" and "A Huey P. Newton Story," among others.

His involvement in ongoing series, though, has been scant. Lee directed the pilot for the new CBS show "Shark" and two episodes of The N's miniseries "Miracle's Boys," but that's it. "Sucker Free City" was at one point slated to become a series, but Showtime never went forward with it.

Lee's Oscar nominations came in 1990 for writing "Do the Right Thing" and 1998 for best documentary feature for "4 Little Girls." The latter also earned an Emmy nomination in 1998, after it aired on HBO.



Weekend Boxoffice

'Pirates' out-earns predecessor in 17 days

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer


Johnny Depp and his pirate friends are keeping all the box-office treasure for themselves. Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" remained the top movie for the third straight weekend, hauling in $35 million and lifting its total to $321.7 million after just 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney sequel passed the $305 million domestic total that its predecessor, 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," rang up during its entire six-month run.

"Dead Man's Chest" easily beat back a rush of new movies, which were led by Sony's family film "Monster House," a spooky animated tale that debuted at No. 2 with $23 million. The movie follows the adventures of a group of children at a mysterious neighbor's scary home.

Opening in third was M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water," an adult fairy tale from Warner Bros. that took in $18.2 million. Starring Paul Giamatti as an apartment manager who discovers a water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) living beneath his complex's swimming pool, the movie was the weakest debut for writer-director Shyamalan in a string of wide releases since 1999 that included the blockbusters "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs."

Kevin Smith's "Clerks II," a Weinstein Co. and MGM follow-up to his 1994 independent-film hit about two slackers on the job, premiered at No. 6 with $9.6 million.

Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," a 20th Century Fox comedy about a superhero taking revenge against the boyfriend who jilted her, debuted at No. 7 with $8.7 million.

Overall movie business rose, with the top 12 movies taking in $143.2 million, up 11 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was the No. 1 movie with $28.3 million.

Hollywood continued its modest rebound after a 2005 slump in which movie attendance fell 8 percent from the previous year's. So far this year, attendance is up 3.8 percent compared to 2005, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Summer attendance had been running slightly behind 2005's but now is 4 percent ahead because of a surge the past three weekends.

"That's really attributable to the strength of `Pirates of the Caribbean,' because that's when the tide turned," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

On its 16th day of release Saturday, "Dead Man's Chest" became the fastest movie to cross the $300 million mark, beating the previous best pace of 17 days set last year by "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith."

Within a week, "Dead Man's Chest" is expected to top the $339.7 million domestic take of "Finding Nemo" to become Disney's top-grossing movie.

"There are lots of plateaus for us to continue to strive for," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," $35 million.
2. "Monster House," $23 million.
3. "Lady in the Water," $18.2 million.
4. "You, Me and Dupree," $12.8 million.
5. "Little Man," $11 million.
6. "Clerks II," $9.6 million.
7. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," $8.7 million.
8. "Superman Returns," $7.46 million.
9. "The Devil Wears Prada," $7.43 million.
10. "Cars," $4.9 million.



News for 7/17/2006


Color-Blind Casting

Lisa de Moraes
Washington Post


"Friends" exec producer David Crane came to Summer TV Press Tour 2006 over the weekend to promote his next all-white ensemble sitcom about a bunch of people living in an urban East Coast setting - this time Philly.

It's called "The Class," it's for CBS, and it's about a group of 20-somethings who have known each other since third grade and who get together for a reunion of sorts.

"Why aren't there any people of color in this show set in 2006?" one critic wanted to know.

"It is something that is unfortunate," Crane said, putting on his Sad Face.

"It happened because when we wrote the script, we wrote it color-blind... and then we auditioned. For six months we saw just a huge range and diversity of actors and at the end of the day these were absolutely the eight actors who were absolutely right for the parts."

Wouldn't you think that, in this day and age, the TV industry talk on the West Side of Los Angeles would have labored long and hard to come up with something fresher than that old line? Crane and gang were using this one back when "Friends" debuted in the mid 90's.

We weren't the only member of the press who found it lame:

"When the word 'color-blind' casting is almost always used, is it possible that color-blind casting isn't working and you need to think about some other way? Because color-blind doesn't seem to do it," one critic cracked

"Having gotten to the end of the process, I would say 'yeah.' If we had it to do over again, I think we wouldn't. I think we would have approached the piece differently," he said, which also sounded suspiciously familiar.

"Is it possible that it has to start in the writing?" the critic continued.

"I'm absolutely agreeing with you. I think whatever we do next -- hopefully we won't have too much opportunity to, because we'll be busy doing this -- but whatever we do next, yeah, I think that is absolutely the case."

And, he promised, we'll see some actual non-white characters in future episodes of the series. Turns out, twins Kat and Lina were adopted by Korean parents, while Nicole's stepdaughter has an African-American mother.



No 'Power' Outage for Foxx

Pic would continue Foxx's lengthy Universal relationship


Jamie Foxx has come on board Universal's "The Power of Duff" as a producer and possible star.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Foxx and manager Jamie Rucker King will join Marc Platt in producing the complicated sounding drama. Foxx may or may not play the lead role in the project, which Universal acquired in a major script acquisition.

The script, by Stephen Belber, focuses on a news anchor in Rochester, NY. After the death of his father, the anchor begins praying for things on air and, as so often seems to happen under these circumstances, those prayers begin to come true. Naturally, a firestorm follows.

Foxx has become something of a good luck charm for Universal. The studio distributed his Oscar-winning turn in "Ray," as well as his recent turn in "Jarhead." Foxx's upcoming "Miami Vice" is a Universal production, as is "Kingdom," currently in production.



Keys Opens Disney Deal

Pita pact begins with 'Bell Book and Candle' remake


Although her first acting roles have yet to make it to the big screen, Disney is convinced that Alicia Keys is a movie star.

The studio has signed the Grammy-winning musical and her manager Jeff Robinson to a first-look film production deal, according to Variety.

Keys and Robinson have named their shingle Big Pita, Little Pita, with the repeated word standing for "Pain in the Ass," rather than referring to the popular flatbread. Up first for Big Pita, Little Pita at Disney is a remake of the 1958 film "Bell Book and Candle."

The original film featured Kim Novak as a contemporary witch, whose love spell goes awry. James Stewart and Jack Lemmon co-starred. Naturally, Keys would play the Novak role.

Keys tells the industry trade paper that she and Robinson established the Disney shingle to help her from "falling into predictable roles."

The 26-year-old Keys has completed a supporting turn as an assassin in Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces," as well as an appearance in "The Nanny Diaries."



Screening of "Idlewild" — with Choreography by Hinton Battle — to Benefit Battle's Theatre Lab

By Andrew Gans
Playbill.com


The New York premiere of Universal Pictures' "Idlewild," which features the music of Outkast and the choreography of three-time Tony Award winner Hinton Battle, will benefit the Hinton Battle Theatre Laboratory.

The Aug. 21 benefit screening of the film will be held at the famed Ziegfeld Theatre and will be followed by dinner at The Supper Club.

"Idlewild" was directed by Bryan Barber and co-stars André Benjamin and Antwan A. Patton. For the film, which employed over 100 dancers, Battle created a new hybrid of dance styles, which he has dubbed "swop" — a combination of swing and hip-hop.

"Idlewild," according to press notes, "explores the lives of Percival (Benjamin), the club’s shy piano player, and Rooster (Patton), the club’s showy lead performer and manager. [The film] synthesizes drama, music, cinema and style to bring the tale of struggling singers to life." The cast also includes Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Paula Patton, Faizon Love, Malinda Williams, recording artist Patti LaBelle, singer Macy Gray, Tony Award winner Ben Vereen and Emmy winner Cicely Tyson.

The Hinton Battle Theatre Laboratory is a non-profit theatre company that helps "discover, develop and present compelling, original theatrical works that reflect America's rich multi-cultural heritage." HBTL brings the arts to schools throughout the country.

In a statement, Battle said, "I am so pleased that Universal is taking advantage of this opportunity to utilize 'Idlewild' to spotlight the important work being done at HBTL. It is my hope that this benefit will allow even more deserving children the opportunity to showcase their talent and experience the theater and arts."

Hinton Battle won his three Tony Awards for his performances in Miss Saigon, Sophisticated Ladies and The Tap Dance Kid. His other Broadway credits include The Wiz, Dreamgirls Bob Fosse's Dancin' and Chicago. He has served as choreographer for television's "Fired Up," "Sister, Sister," "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story" and as associate choreographer to Debbie Allen on the 65th and 66th Academy Awards. Battle will also be seen in the forthcoming "Dreamgirls" film.

Tickets for the screening only are priced $150, while tickets for the party only are priced $250. Ticket packages range from $350-$10,000. To purchase tickets call (800) 517-0199.



Weekend Boxoffice

"Pirates" Keeps on Keelhaulin' Competiton

By Bridget Byrne


Those sea dogs have strong legs.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest crew again absconded with the bulk of the weekend box-office booty, with nearly triple the haul of either of its closet competitors, the new comedies Little Man and You, Me and Dupree.

Dead Man's Chest packed in another $62.3 million--a whopping 42 percent of all weekend ticket sales for the top 12 films, according to Exhibitor Relations. Although its receipts were down 54 percent from its record-destroying opening weekend, the Johnny Depp-powered scalawag sequel still averaged $15,085 per site at 4,133 sites, best among all films in wide release.

By Thursday it had set another milestone, topping Spider-Man 2's seven-day opening gross, and by Friday it had also ousted the comic book hero sequel from the top eight-day score. Dead Man's Chest has now grossed $258.4 million.

Meanwhile, in a photo finish, the Wayans brothers' Little Man was slightly bigger than the Owen Wilson-fronted You, Me and Dupree, according to final studio figures Monday.

The former, a PG-13 Sony release starring Marlon as the titular pint-sized con and Shawn as his foil, and directed by Keenen Ivory, tallied $21.6 million, or 14.4 percent of the weekend ticket sales. The latter, a PG-13 Universal release starring Wilson as the imposing houseguest of newlyweds Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon, pulled in $21.5 million, accounting for 14.3 percent of the Friday-Sunday box-office take.

But in the per-screen race, it wasn't close. Little Man, playing at 2,533 sites, averaged $8,533; You, Me and Dupree unspooled in 3,131 theaters, where it averaged only $6,875. In any case, both studios claimed the results were better than expected.

The animated sci-fi drug story A Scanner Darkly expanded from its very limited opening to 216 screens, averaging $5,863 for $1.3 million. That brings its 10-day gross to $1.9 million.

Although the buccaneers continued to run amok and the two newbies had solid debuts, there didn't seem to be too much else out there audiences wanted to see. After eight straight up weekends compared to last year, the top 12 movies grossed $150.1 million, an understandable drop of 28 percent from last weekend's record Pirates opening, but also 4 percent down from this time last year when Depp's family film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wilson's comedy Wedding Crashers opened with a strong one-two combo.

Here's a rundown of the Top 10 films from Friday to Sunday, based on studio tallies compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $62.3 million
2. Little Man, $21.6 million
3. You, Me and Dupree, $21.5 million
4. Superman Returns, $12.3 million
5. The Devil Wears Prada, $10.4 million
6. Cars, $7.8 million
7. Click, $7.3 million
8. The Lake House, $1.7 million
9. Nacho Libre, $1.6 million
10. A Scanner Darkly, $1.3 million



For Lions Gate, Cable Has Become a Reliable Profit-Making Machine

With financing methods used by its low-budget film unit, the studio's TV shows are often in the black from day one.

By Lorenza Muñoz
Times Staff Writer


Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. knew it was taking a risk when it put "Weeds," the first prime-time television show centered around a pot-dealing soccer mom, into production.

Not only was the subject matter edgy, but it came at a high price. With a cast of relatively expensive, big-name actors led by Mary-Louise Parker, the Showtime cable comedy costs $1.6 million per episode — a hefty sum for a half-hour cable offering.

But by employing financing formulas it has used to make and distribute such profitable, low-budget movies as "Madea's Family Reunion" and the "Saw" horror franchise, Lions Gate not only covered its costs on "Weeds" but also cleared what industry analysts estimate was about $100,000 per episode of pure profit.

As one of the last remaining independent movie studios in Hollywood, Lions Gate has for years found success seeking out movies to distribute for specific audiences, such as this year's Academy Award winner for best picture, "Crash."

As it moves more aggressively into television production, Lions Gate has decided to focus on a ripe and affordable target: prime-time cable.

By cobbling together money from license fees, income from international sales, state and local tax rebates and subsidies, Lions Gate has at least broken even from day one on all nine of its shows — a rarity in a business where most network shows begin in the red.

The studio also used this model to finance its first foray into broadcast TV: "Hidden Palms," a one-hour teen drama for the soon-to-be launched CW network. The studio is also planning to announce the launch of a horror cable channel by the fall.

On "Weeds" the studio recovered its costs upfront by receiving a large license fee from Showtime and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Canadian and international sales. That means that when the show's first-season DVD is released this month — and if reruns are ever sold into syndication, which typically is what pushes a successful television show into the black — Lions Gate stands to profit even more.

"We saw an opportunity in cable to play against the grain of most studios," said Jon Feltheimer, chief executive of Lions Gate. "They were going broadcast and broadcast is very difficult. We set ourselves up to compete in places where we could win."

Lions Gate is not the only studio dipping into these waters. But because it lacks the deep pockets of major media conglomerates such as Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Television and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox Television, it has been in the forefront of finding creative ways to finance its shows.

The studio's revenue from television production jumped 60% in fiscal 2006, to $133 million, according to the company. Although film is still the studio's main driver, its TV shows bring in about 10% to 15% of the company's cash flow. Lions Gate's total revenue for fiscal 2006 rose 13%, to $951.2 million. Its free cash flow increased to $102 million from $93 million the previous year.

As its television operation has bulked up its earnings and its overall assets, the studio — which has long been rumored to be seeking a buyer — even has become an attractive acquisition target. Investor Carl Icahn recently accumulated a small stake in the company in part, analysts said, because of the possibility it could be sold to another studio or to an Internet, phone or cable giant looking to dabble in Hollywood.

Since Feltheimer took the helm in 2000, the publicly traded company, now based in Santa Monica, has brought in investors to expand its motion picture and television library. Lions Gate acquired Trimark Holdings Inc. in 2000 and Artisan Entertainment in 2003.

Lately, Lions Gate's television endeavor is starting to get some attention on Wall Street.

"They don't have the benefit of Disney or News Corp.'s balance sheet," said Eric Handler, an analyst with Lehman Bros. "They cannot afford to be deficit financing. They have to be a lot more nimble and creative…. It's a nice little business that has been growing."

Cable is often a better home than network TV for racy content that pushes limits. Because the business model of premium cable channels is dependent on subscribers, not advertising dollars, these channels need shows that generate buzz to lure customers.

However, shopping a show to cable has never been as attractive to the studios because it's more difficult to have a breakthrough hit when it's reaching only a fraction of the TV-watching audience. In addition, the possibilities for syndication are more limited.

Most suppliers of traditional network TV create shows and make them at a loss, gambling that a series will last long enough to accumulate the number of episodes (usually four seasons' worth) required to be resold into syndication.

But lately, some studios are also turning to cable to try to keep soaring costs down.

Warner Bros. Television, producer of the successful cable show "Nip/Tuck" for the FX channel, in April launched Warner Horizon Television as a production label for shows costing less than $2 million an episode.

In 2004, Fox Television, started Fox 21 to make lower-budget shows. So far, the label — modeled after Fox Searchlight, the studio's well-regarded specialty film division — has produced the hit reality show "Beauty and the Geek" for the WB (now the CW) and the drama "Saved" for TNT.

Although there is less profit to be made on cable than on the networks, studios are able to take more creative risks and keep costs down. For example, at less than $2 million an episode, "Saved" costs about 25% less than the average network television program, estimated Gary Newman, president of 20th Century Fox Television.

"People who equate high costs with high quality are making a big mistake," Newman said. "There isn't a connection between spending lots of money and having better shows."

But these divisions are primarily side businesses for Fox and Warner. Cable is Lions Gate TV's lifeblood.

"This is our core business," said Kevin Beggs, president of television production for Lions Gate. "It is not just part of a portfolio or just dipping our toes into cable. It's easier for a small fish to play in these waters than for a big fish to downsize and get small."

When Feltheimer became CEO of Lions Gate, one of his priorities was to build up a moribund television division that generated one show a year. As the former president of Sony Corp.'s Columbia TriStar Television Group, Feltheimer oversaw the company's $2-billion annual business and pushed shows such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Party of Five" into production.

In 2002 Lions Gate launched the supernatural drama "The Dead Zone," now in its fifth season, for the USA Network. By the end of the summer all five seasons are to be made available for download to an iPod from Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes. In the fall the show will be sold into syndication.

Other Lions Gate TV shows include the drama "Wildfire" for ABC Family and this year's reality program for TV Land, "I Pity the Fool," starring 1980s tough guy Mr. T as a motivational speaker.

At first, "Weeds" didn't seem like a natural fit for Lions Gate. Three years ago, Beggs was pitched the idea by former "Friends" writer Jenji Kohan and her agent.

Beggs liked the concept, but it took several months to convince Feltheimer that making a half-hour comedy about a widowed, pot-dealing PTA mom would work. The studio had focused mainly on making dramas such as "The Dead Zone" and made-for-television movies such as Lifetime's "Baby for Sale." Most of its productions were filmed in Canada, New Mexico or Louisiana, where the studio could take advantage of generous tax incentives and subsidies that lowered its financial risk. "Weeds," by contrast, would be filmed in pricier Los Angeles.

"We had to find a way of making it a profitable business for us on the front end," Beggs said.

The gamble paid off. "Weeds" has lifted Showtime's profile and has given Lions Gate a critical hit, with the show garnering five Emmy nominations last week and winning awards such as a Golden Globe for Parker and a Writers Guild of America win for Kohan. Last fall, episodes of "Weeds" were made available for downloading alongside installments of "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." Lions Gate will keep a large percentage of the $600,000 in revenue that deal generated.

Feltheimer is not inclined to change his cable-focused formula. But depending on how "Hidden Palms" does on the CW, he says, Lions Gate may make more shows for network TV.

"We are not trying to build a better mousetrap for anybody else," he said. "We are just building a better mousetrap for us."



News for 7/13/2006


BET Founder Forming a Film Studio

By Terence O'Hara
Washington Post Staff Writer


Robert L. Johnson, the cable pioneer who founded Black Entertainment Television 25 years ago and sold it for $3 billion in 2000, yesterday said he is forming a film studio with independent film producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

Johnson's Our Stories Films will produce family-friendly films about African Americans, to be distributed in theatres by the Dimension Films unit of Weinstein Co., which will be part-owner of the venture. New York bank JP Morgan Chase has agreed to raise up to $175 million to fund the company.

"For a long time I've wondered why there was no major movie studio where African Americans had the green light authority to make broadly distributed films," Johnson said. "The two answers I came up with was black filmmakers have historically had no access to the capital to do it, and there was no one with the business and management capability to make it a going concern. I think we have the answer to both in Our Stories."

Our Stories Films marks a return to the entertainment industry Johnson left when he resigned as chairman of BET, now a unit of Viacom, 18 months ago. In recent years, Johnson has used his own funds and money from several well-heeled partners to get into a variety of business ventures, including a Charlotte NBA franchise, hotel ownership, consumer banking, investment management and a nascent corporate buyout fund.

The deal with the Weinsteins was finalized this week in Sun Valley, Idaho, where Johnson is attending the annual media and technology mogul retreat put on by Wall Street investment bank Allen & Co. Johnson said he had been discussing the deal with the Weinsteins for several months.

With Weinstein's Dimension Films as a distribution partner, Johnson nabbed one of the most successful marketer of films to young and black audiences in recent years. Dimension is known for producing highly profitable horror, comedy, thriller and action films such as the "Scream" franchise, as well as "Spy Kids" and "Bad Santa." It's also made a fortune spoofing it's own releases, especially in the form of the "Scary Movie" movies and the upcoming "Superhero Movie."

Dimension was begun in 1994 as an adjunct to Miramax, the Weinstein production company that put out a string of critical and commercial hits for the Walt Disney Co. in the 1990s before the Weinsteins left Disney last year to form their own company.

The Bethesda-based Johnson will be chairman and chief executive of Our Stories, which will be headquartered in Los Angeles. He said yesterday he will first hire a chief operating officer who knows Hollywood better than him.

"I'm a business man, and the creative side is best left to people who do that for a living," he said. "I'm sure I can find a talented chief operating officer with the Rolodex and the business acumen to help me run the company."

Under Johnson, BET became the dominant African American broadcast network, but was the frequent target of critics, especially in the late 1990s before it was sold to Viacom, of the network's relative lack of original programming and its reliance on sometimes raunchy music videos.

"What they (critics of BET) don't seem to understand is that I'm first and foremost a businessman," Johnson said. "And the business model that worked at BET was music videos. That's what the market called for. And I'm still a business man, and I know well enough the market to know that there is a desire for family-friendly films. It's that simple, and I don't see a contradiction in it."

Johnson said he picked the family-friendly, comedy genre because "comedies make more money than other films. They're less costly to produce, they have a broader audience, and they get a better after-distribution market. You get a better Wal-Mart bump from a PG film."



Deal Is Seen for Creating Urban Films

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and LAURA M. HOLSON

SUN VALLEY, Idaho, July 12 — The Weinstein Company, the film studio started by the founders of Miramax, is near a deal to form a joint venture with Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, to create an urban entertainment company, according to people involved in the negotiations.

The joint venture could be announced as early as Thursday, these people said, though they cautioned that the deal could be delayed.

The joint venture is a first step toward creating a major force in minority entertainment, from producing films and television programming to new Internet programming, these people said. Initially, the venture will create low-cost films for the urban market, an audience that has often been ignored by the major studios but can be lucrative. Terms of the deal could not be learned.

The potential deal was the talk of Allen & Company’s annual conference, where the nation’s media moguls converge to socialize and often sow the seeds for major mergers like Walt Disney’s acquisition of ABC/Capital Cities in 1996. Among those attending this year’s conference are Mr. Johnson, who now runs a private equity firm called the RLJ Companies, and Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of the Weinstein Company. Both Mr. Weinstein and Mr. Johnson declined to comment.

Other Hollywood players in attendance are Robert A. Iger, chief executive of Disney; Peter Chernin, president of the News Corporation; Brad A. Grey, chairman of Paramount Pictures. Agents attending include Jeffrey Berg, chairman and chief executive of International Creative Management; James Berkus, chairman of United Talent Agency; and Jim Wiatt, chairman of William Morris. That is in addition to the likes of Warren E. Buffett and Rupert Murdoch.

Mr. Weinstein’s attendance here has created a stir. Last year, he was not invited after he used Goldman Sachs, not Allen & Company, to help advise and raise money for his new studio, the Weinstein Company. He was originally not on the guest list this year as well, but after some last-minute pleading behind the scenes, he was offered a spot, people involved in the conference said.

A deal between Weinstein and Mr. Johnson would be consistent with what Mr. Johnson has done throughout his career. With $15,000 in 1980, Mr. Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television, which in its early days thrived on programming music videos. The channel became a hip-hop force attracting both white and black audiences who liked the urban nature of its programming. The company was sold to Viacom two decades later for $3 billion.

Mr. Johnson’s other investments have included the Charlotte Bobcats basketball team and a music label. In 2005 he announced the formation of RLJ Companies, which he said he hoped would become a dominant black-owned financial services firm. One of his first acts was to secure the backing of the Carlyle Group to create a private equity fund. That fund is being started with Deutsche Asset Management and Urban Trust Bank, which Mr. Johnson owns.

Since Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob split from Disney last year, they have been trying to find a place in Hollywood in a post-Miramax era. Last year, the Weinsteins raised about $1 billion in financing and debt, or about the yearly budget of a movie studio like Warner Brothers Pictures.

The Weinsteins ambitions are big no matter how small the company — movies, books, television and the Internet — and they are mostly hoping to grow through joint ventures and partnerships with other companies.

Since the Weinsteins raised their financing, they have been busy. In March, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced several agreements to distribute movies made by outside producers and distributors, including the Weinstein Company. One of the first releases, “Lucky Number Slevin,” starring Josh Hartnett and Bruce Willis, got lackluster reviews and earned only $22.5 million at the domestic box office.

Two months later the Weinsteins invested in aSmallWorld, an online exclusive community which participants have to be asked to join.

Harvey Weinstein said in May that the Weinstein Company was attracted to aSmallWorld because of the community’s social networking and advertising opportunities.



Is it the end of the line for 'The Wire'?

By Robert Bianco
USA TODAY


PASADENA, Calif. — They're down to the wire at The Wire.

David Simon, the creator of the acclaimed but ratings-challenged HBO urban drama, faces the Sept. 10 launch of his show's fourth season knowing it's likely the last. The Wire's shot at a fifth season, says HBO CEO Chris Albrecht, depends on the reaction to the one coming up.

If history repeats, critics will adore the show — and viewers will avoid it. One reason they might, Simon told the critics at their semiannual gathering, is that the cast is largely African-American. "There is a certain portion of the audience that will change the channel. Not in any grandly venal, racist way, but there are a lot of people that are going to look and see that many black faces looking back at them, and they're going to say 'This is not my story.' "

But it is everyone's story, he says, because it is the story of the failure of our cities and institutions, which is why the show reinvents itself each year to tackle a different theme. The first season was police and the drug wars; the second, the death of the working class; the third, politics. This year's theme is the schools, and if the show gets another year, it will move on to the media.

"In our own heads, we have a five-season arc. ... They all connect in a way that explains why we are what we are and why we can't get out of our own boxes." The goal is to pose a question he's unable to answer: "Why is it the richest, most powerful country in the world can't solve its fundamental problems when it comes to places like Baltimore? And there are a lot of places like Baltimore."

Come September, The Wire will occupy the only Sunday slot available for HBO original series. For the first time, this fall the pay channel is moving the debut night of its big theatrical films from Saturday to Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. HBO, which has been running series from 9 p.m. to 11 Sundays, will now only have the 10 p.m. slot to program.

The move, says HBO CEO Chris Albrecht, "seemed like a fun idea," but it isn't a permanent one. When Rome returns for its second — and last — season in January, it will air at 9.

And that January run of Rome means the return/conclusion of The Sopranos has been pushed back to March, at the earliest.

To make matters more complicated, HBO is trying a new time experiment with HBO On Demand. The Wire and Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam will debut there on Sept. 4 — six days before their arrival on the main HBO channel.

Future projects for the network include Life Support, a movie starring Queen Latifah as an AIDS activist, a vampire series from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, and miniseries about John Adams and the Pacific front in World War II.

As for The Sopranos, Albrecht says the network was happy with this season's ratings and quality, but not with the show's lack of Emmy love (and nominations) this year. "Regarding the Emmys, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say."



Disney calls on Raven-Symone to baby-si

By Borys Kit
The Hollywood Reporter


Raven-Symone, star of "That's So Raven," is attached to star in the Walt Disney Pictures remake of "Adventures in Babysitting."

Symone also has signed an acting and producing deal with Disney that includes a guaranteed pay or play on one movie, with an option for a second. It is uncertain whether "Babysitting" will be part of that deal.

The 1987 "Babysitting," which starred Elisabeth Shue, followed a high school senior who gets stuck baby-sitting a bunch of kids. The dull night is interrupted when she gets a call for help from a friend stuck downtown, leading her and the kids into a night of misadventures. The movie marked the directorial debut of Chris Columbus.

Lynda Obst, who produced the 1987 original with Debra Hill, is on board to produce the remake. David Stem and David Weiss wrote the script for the new "Babysitting." No director has been named yet.

"That's So Raven" is one of the Disney Channel's highest-rated shows. Symone also stars in the upcoming Disney telefilm "Cheetah Girls 2." In addition, she produces content for broadband and mobile phones.



Wayans big on 'Little Man'


LOS ANGELES — Star sightings are common at The Ivy. But on a recent afternoon, some patrons of the chic eatery must have thought they were seeing double. Marlon Wayans drove up in his spotless white Range Rover, followed minutes later by brother Shawn at the wheel of an identical white Rover.

The brothers' shared taste in vehicles isn't surprising, considering the close partnership they have fostered since their childhood in New York, when they would spend Saturday mornings in front of the television watching Abbott & Costello movies.

They've fulfilled a promise they made as boys to name their sons after each other: Marlon's son, Shawn, is now 4; Shawn's son, Marlon, is 18 months.

"Whatever I do, he's going to do next," says Shawn, 35. "It's a good thing I didn't end up a crackhead."

Entertainment Weekly says the three make up the "most powerful family in Hollywood." They have had success as writers and stars of 2000's Scary Movie and 2001's Scary Movie 2 (combined domestic gross: $228 million) and 2004's White Chicks ($70 million), in which they transformed into Paris Hilton wannabes.

On Friday, they're back in theaters with a pitch only this proven twosome and older brother Keenen Ivory Wayans, the film's director and co-writer, could get a studio to green-light. In Little Man, 6-foot-2 Marlon plays, with the help of special effects, 2-foot-8 ex-con Calvin "Babyface" Sims, who disguises himself as a baby to recover a diamond from the home of an unsuspecting couple played by Shawn and Kerry Washington (Ray). The studios "trust us to do our thing, and they give us the money," Shawn says.

Tom Sherak of Revolution Studios, which made White Chicks and Little Man, says the brothers' ideas "are always cutting-edge and innovative. When you work on a project with them, you just know it's going to be very funny."

Says Marlon: "We have a certain brand of humor."

That brand is popular with teens and often includes bathroom humor, which is relatable because "everybody poops," Shawn says. Many Little Man jokes come from incidents with their young sons, or as both are called by their fathers, their "little men."

"I studied them a lot," Marlon says. "I've been like (Steven) Spielberg with my kids, taping everything: their first word, poop, circumcision, boo-boo. ... I still got their first teeth."

Marlon, 33, also has a daughter, Amai, 6, with girlfriend Angie Zackary. Shawn has two daughters, Laila, 7, and Ilia, 3, with girlfriend Ursula. (He declines to give her last name.) Both say they learned from their divorced older brothers, Keenen, 48, and Damon, 45 (TV's My Wife and Kids), opting to stay committed to their children's mothers without a marriage license.

"Sometimes those institutions can limit how much you can love somebody," Marlon says. "Keenen was living with his girl for 17 years. They were married for three, and that was a wrap." Adds Shawn: "We want to leave well enough alone."



Academy Invites 120 to Membership


Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended membership invitations to 120 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves in the field of theatrical motion pictures. The group will be the only new voting members invited to join the organization in 2006.

“Two years ago the Academy decided to slow membership growth, and to become even more selective in choosing members,” said Academy President Sid Ganis. “Instead of inviting every proposed person who has achieved the minimum qualifications for his or her branch, the membership committees are selecting the most exceptionally qualified names from those lists.”

Procedures instituted two years ago allow the organization to fill vacancies resulting from death and transitions to retired (non-voting) status and grow by a maximum of 30 new members annually.

Candidates for Academy membership are considered by committees made up of prominent representatives of each of the organization’s 14 branches — art directors, executives, film editors, etc. Candidates can either be proposed by the committees or by two current members of their branch. In addition, individuals nominated for Academy Awards®, if not already members of the organization, are considered by the appropriate committees, though not necessarily invited to membership. This year, 39 of the invitees were 2005 nominees and eight won Oscars®.

Though the great majority of AMPAS members are based in the U.S., membership is open to qualified filmmakers around the world. The Academy roster currently includes theatrical motion picture makers from 36 countries.

New members will be welcomed into the organization at an invitation-only reception on Wednesday, September 20, at the Academy’s Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills.

ACTORS

Amy Adams
Eric Bana
Maria Bello
Dakota Fanning
Jake Gyllenhaal
Terrence Howard
Felicity Huffman
Keira Knightley
Heath Ledger
Hayley Mills
Barry Pepper
Joaquin Phoenix
Jon Polito
Ving Rhames
Liev Schreiber
David Strathairn
Rachel Weisz

Additional invitees can be found here.