I’ve previously discussed the current dire state of studio-based cinema, but have neglected to discuss the state of independent cinema. For much of 2009, it was widely considered that indie cinema was laid to rest, with many studio-based or affiliated distributors such as Warner Independent, FOx Atomic and Miramax either shutting their doors or being usurped by their studio parents in a reduced form. A decreasing number of companies such as Focus Pictures and Fox Searchlight were left carrying the distribution baton for most of the year.

Despite this, there has been considerable activity in the independent world. Jeremy Juuso, a Los Angeles based consultant, tracks independent film releases and writes business and marketing plans. His astuteness and business acumen stems from his Harvard economics background. He publishes monthly reports on independent cinema on his website in the film data section.

Each month, he publishes the AKA report which outlines the independent releases in North America (USA and Canada). There is a lag in data, so the following relates to releases from January to September 2009. It makes for refreshing reading. Of the 308 films released, 279 (90%) were independent and the remaining 10% were studio financed. Of those independent films, around 50% were privately financed (60-70% of budget) and 16% were distributor financed via pre-sales. This is encouraging to see since pre-sales had previously suffered a dramatic downturn.

84% of independently  made films debuted at film festivals, so they still remain significant avenues for sales and marketing.  The key festivals at which these films were screened are Sundance, Toronto and Cannes. Tribeca, Berlin and Venice remain major second tier festivals for independent films to be represented. Magnolia Pictures, IFC Films and Sony Pictures were the main distributed who purchased these films. It is of note that 22% of independent films were self distributed.

Just under half (48%) of these films were dramas. This in direct contrast to studio films which were almost exclusively comprised of action, comedy and thrillers. Documentaries were also well represented (22%) in the independent sector but barely seen in studio system. It is also refreshing to see that 33% of films, were in non English languages. According to reports from the AFM in Santa Monica last month, this figure is set to rise as film goers mature and embrace globalization. Diversity can only benefit independent cinema since it is not strangled by the high financial stakes plaguing studio films. Hopefully, we’ll see more “Slumdog Millionaire” type films, which was made on a modest ($15 million) budget, yet made a welcome impact at the box office. It would be ideal to see the profits filtering through to more independent films, so the industry can become self sustaining. Unfortunately, the majority of these films fail to recoup their budgets, let alone return a profit to investors.

It appears that the independent film market is competing for different audiences with different types and more varied films. It is rightly referred to as the specialty film business. However, such diverse films must be nurtured and delicately marketed to the boutique arthouse crowds in the face of blanket advertising of studio fare.

Given that the majority of independent films rely on a mix private equity and government funding, it is difficult to obtain reliable data on the proportion of films making a profit. Since much equity funding is regrettably purposed to generate a tax loss for high net worth individuals, and government funding simply supports local film makers with scant regard for factors such as market penetration, demand and profit, independent cinema remains a dubious business proposition. Hopefully, as distribution channels such as video on demand (VOD), cable tv and ancillary markets such as hotels mature, we will see more accessible independent films spread across a greater variety of platforms, and therefore stand a better chance of financial viability in the marketplace.

A lazy Sunday afternoon, and there's nothing to do.

(Warner Independent) Enrique Arreola, Daniel Miranda, Diego Cantano, Danny Perea, Carolina Politi. Directed by Fernando Eimbcke

When you are 14 years old, a single day can stretch out into an eternity of boredom, particularly on a Sunday afternoon with nothing in particular to do. Sometimes, a day can define you in ways you cannot conceive of.

Flama (Miranda) and his best friend Moko (Cantano) are stuck in the high-rise apartment in Mexico City where Flama lives with his mother (Politi). She is going out for the day and has left the two of them with a gallon of soda and enough money for a pizza. They proceed to divvy up the soda into two huge glasses and set about playing a soccer game on the X-Box.

The door knocks and it is Rita (Perea), the 16-year-old neighbor girl who needs to use their oven to bake a cake. The two boys are at first a bit reluctant but Rita pushes past their objections with the acerbic sharpness that only a 16-year-old girl can muster. The boys order their pizza, but when Ulises (Arreola) shows up at the door with their food, there is a dispute over whether he arrived in the allotted window of time before the pizza is free. He refuses to leave until he gets paid. The boys offer to play him at the X-Box game they’ve been playing with the winner getting the pizza money but the ending to even that wind up in dispute.

Rita’s cake is a disaster and she sensibly decides to bake brownies instead because they’re much easier. She adds a little extra something and away the quartet goes, flying high.

Flama’s mother is in the process of divorcing Flama’s father and Flama is unsure if he will remain with his mother in the apartment. In fact, the one thing that Flama is quite sure of is that his parents are far concerned with the distribution of their possessions than with Flama himself.

Reading the synopsis of the movie’s plot sounds like an exercise in boredom and to a certain extent, that’s what the movie is all about. Director Eimbcke, filming his first feature-length film, chooses to shoot in drab black and white which perfectly augments the mood and creates a tone of desperate boredom in the way that 14-year-olds get bored. This is very low key, which actually is part of what captures your attention.

The actors, mostly juveniles, do a marvelous job. All of them feel authentic for their age and social circumstance. These are upper middle class kids who have most of the comforts that middle class kids here in the States have, although conspicuous by its absence is the Internet. Still, despite the location and the language differences, this could easily have taken place in any big city in the United States as well. Sure, there are no action sequences and there really is no resolution to the movie. It’s just a day in the life and not a particularly interesting one, but all the same it is an important day, one that gives us a good deal of insight into not only Flama, Moko, Rita and Ulises but also into ourselves as well.

If I were reading this review, I’d probably choose to give this movie a pass which is more a function of my limited skills rather than of the merits of the movie. I’m not sure I adequately captured how enjoyable this movie is and how appealing the performances are. It has the right lilt of a Sunday afternoon at a time of life when you’re on the cusp of the best time of your life. It’s bittersweet, charming and ultimately gives you a glimpse back at your own adolescence. That’s a pretty good special effect right there.

WHY RENT THIS: Those who like slice of life movies will be thrilled with this one. The relationships and the characters feel very authentic. The black and white photography enhances the mood and the subject very nicely.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: There isn’t a great deal of action and the movie lacks inertia which I believe is the point – however, the attention span-challenged might find this difficult to watch.

FAMILY VALUES: A little bit of foul language, an unnerving but not graphic scene at a dog pound and some drug usage. I’m not sure why this got an “R” rating but quite frankly it didn’t deserve it. This is perfectly suitable for the young teens that are the subject of this movie.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The movie won 11 Ariel Awards, the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars. No other movie had won that many prior to Duck Season.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: The International

This summer Harrison Ford returns in slightly more wrinkled form as Indiana Jones (& the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). What does the film have in common with upcoming releases Hellboy II, The Dark Knight, and the long-delayed second X-Files film?

They’re all sequels.

2007 was even more of a bumper year, with, oh let’s see, Spiderman 3, Die Hard 4, Harry Potter 5, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Fantastic Four 2, The Bourne Ultimatum, Oceans Thirteen, and Shrek the Third. Of course, just because they’ve got a number in the title, doesn’t make them rubbish, but what makes sequels so sweet for investors and audiences?

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is being directed by Spielberg; that’s to be expected as it’s his baby. But it’s also generally true that sequels go to directors who proved their commercial viability on the original. Sam Raimi made both previous Spiderman films; Gore Verbinski directed the complete Pirates trilogy; Soderbergh’s stylish remake of Ocean’s Eleven won him the two follow-ups, and even Tim Story’s dubious success on The Fantastic Four apparently convinced studios he should make another.

That Warner Brothers entrusted Harry Potter 5 (and 6) to David Yates, a British director with only one other feature to his name, was a rare gamble in the big-budget film industry, whose fondness for sequels confirms a general reluctance to invest in the new.

Outside of the constantly evolving technology of film, firsts in mainstream movie-making are all too infrequent, both in terms of behind-the-camera talent, and narrative content. Proven formulas like the comic heist movie or the superhero angst-and-action film are the safest kind of investment in a notoriously unpredictable marketplace, and they’re made all the more appealing if helmed by a seasoned director who can be relied upon to bring in the film on time and on budget.

That means that Hollywood is a woefully neglectful parent of new filmmakers. At a press conference I went to for maverick director Ray Lawrence’s 2006 film Jindabyne, Gabriel Byrne lamented that “Hollywood doesn’t care about art, it’s only ever been about business”. This is not an overstatement. Of all the art-forms, film perhaps suffers most from the corrupting force of the slippery greenback, and with production costs for Spiderman 3 at over $258 million, it’s hardly surprising that few producers want to take risks.

Yet genuine originality begets cult status, which in turn promises sustained returns on the home entertainment front. Withnail & I bombed in cinemas but became a home video phenomenon. And the independent sector can be the first showcase for the visionaries on whose shoulders tomorrow’s sequels rest. The highly commercial Ocean’s franchise came from a man whose low-budget debut opened up the world of independent film-making in the U.S: Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989) was made on only $1.2 million (Batman, released the same year, cost $35m).

Soderbergh’s first film exemplifies the reckless charm that comes from being new and having nothing to lose. Sharon Waxman’s excellent ‘Rebels On The Backlot’ explores the revolutionary impact of Soderbergh and other “new rebel auteurs” of the 1990s, including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Spike Jonze. Beginning their careers as Hollywood outsiders, their unexpected success forced even the most commercial of producers to keep a predatory eye on the independent scene. In response, studios set up canny sidelines throwing extra cash into quirky, low-budget scripts.

Twentieth Century Fox spawned Fox Searchlight, now with a slate of oddball hits to its name, including Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite, the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. Its competitor Warner Independent, established in 2003, claims in its mission statement – with a grandiose swagger typical of its parent company – to provide an outlet “where new talent can grow… where the conventional wisdom of tomorrow can first take shape”.

Of course such lofty idealism masks the studios’ simple drive for monopoly; a determination to squeeze every last profit, not only from the multiplexes, but also from the arthouse crowd. The intrusion of Fox and Warner into a domain cherished by enthusiasts as the only place where film can remain free of commercialism is certainly worthy of debate; Shane Danielsen, erstwhile curator of the Edinburgh Film Festival, argues we must now redefine what is meant by the term ‘independent film’ altogether.

But as long as the trend means groundbreaking films like We Don’t Live Here Anymore (Warner Independent, 2004) or Thirteen (Fox Searchlight, 2003) get made – both of which broke new ground in content and tone – then the studios’ new interest in film firsts could reap creative – not just commercial – rewards. And despite the ongoing slough of sequels, there are reasons to be hopeful. Compared to music or literature, film is still in its infancy but has proved precocious, developing in leaps and bounds since the Lumiere’s films of 1895. Hollywood may not be the best parent, but perhaps the best films are born in the wild.

UPDATE: News just in… Warner Independent to close! Oh dear. Good luck to the 30 or so projects currently in development there… Less depressingly, it makes Warner “the only major studio without a specialty division”.

THREE FIRST FILMS THAT BLAZED A TRAIL…

‘RESERVOIR DOGS’, the debut feature from a guy who’d previously worked at a Manhattan Beach video store; credited with changing the landscape of Hollywood.
A critic from the New York Daily News exclaimed, “I don’t think people were ready. They didn’t know what to make of it. It’s like the first silent movie when audiences saw the train coming toward the camera and scattered”.

‘MEMENTO’ – set a precedent in proving that unconventional narrative techniques didn’t necessarily equate with box office doom: with his irresistibly compelling first feature, UCL literature graduate Chris Nolan became the hottest property in L.A. He has since made ‘Batman Begins’ and its (!) sequel, starring the late Heath Ledger, ‘The Dark Knight’.

‘LES QUATRE CENT COUPS’ (The 400 Blows) – Francois Truffaut was banned from Cannes the year before this, his first film, won the Palme d’Or; as a belligerent film critic, he’d repeatedly slammed the studio-run conventions of post-war French cinema. A proponent of the ‘auteur’ theory of cinema, he became the leading light of the French New Wave.

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

• Steven Soderbergh will direct “The Girlfriend Experience,” a feature that focuses on the world of prostitution from the vantage point of a $10,000-a-night call girl. Brian Koppelman and David Levien will write; the pair hatched the project when they and Soderbergh were working on “Ocean’s Thirteen.” Pic will be financed by 2929 Entertainment partners Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner through their HDNet label. It will become the second film — after “Bubble” — in the six-picture pact they made for Soderbergh to direct low-budget films that get distributed simultaneously in theatrical, on cable TV and on DVD. Greg Jacobs (“The Good German”) will produce.

• Columbia Pictures has picked up Scott Rothman’s spec “Dumped” for low six figures. Michael DeLuca is producing through his Sony-based shingle. Story revolves around two lifelong friends who experience a difficult “breakup” after one suddenly embraces adulthood while the other refuses to let go of his careless bachelor lifestyle. Rothman previously sold the spec “Fratboy” to Warner Independent with David Dobkin and Mike Karz producing. He is repped by CAA and Benderspink

• Essential Entertainment is financing a bigscreen version of Tom Wolfe’s “I Am Charlotte Simmons,” with Liz Friedlander (“Take the Lead”) attached to direct from John Watson’s script. It’s the first time Wolfe has allowed one of his novels to be optioned for a feature since “The Bonfire of the Vanities” in 1987. The author also optioned “A Man in Full” to NBC. Trilogy Entertainment Group will produce in association with Syntax; Essential exec produces. Watson, Pen Densham and Neil Kaplan will produce, with Chris Law and Essential’s Jere Hausfater exec producing. “I Am Charlotte Simmons” centers on an Ivy League student who must undergo her first substantial disillusionment and betrayal after she lands in an unforgiving world. CAA repped the book rights

PROJECT UPDATES

• Mel Gibson has committed to star in “Edge of Darkness,” marking his first starring role in a feature film since he headlined “Signs” and “We Were Soldiers” in 2002. Martin Campbell will direct the feature adaptation of the six-hour 1985 BBC miniseries, which Campbell also helmed. William Monahan wrote the script, and Graham King is producing through his GK Films banner. Michael Wearing, who produced the original, will also produce, and the BBC will be involved in a producing capacity

• South Korean dance group the Gambler will star in Paramount’s dance movie “Hype Nation,” having teamed up with U.S. music producer and rapper Teddy Riley. In the $25 million picture being produced by Young Film, Riley plays a music director. Helmed by Alex Calzatti (“I Am Cuba”), pic follows dance battles between the American R&B group B2K and Korean group the Gambler. Production begins in the U.S. July 15 with some 40% lensing Stateside and 60% to be shot in South Korea

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

• Magnolia Pictures has scooped up North American rights to Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee’s thriller “Red.” Screenplay by Stephen Susco is based on Jack Ketchum’s novel of the same name. A Sundance 2008 preem, revenge drama stars Brian Cox and Tom Sizemore and features Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer. Project was initiated by McKee (“The Woods”) and finished by Diesen.Tale of retribution begins with the search of an elderly man (Cox) for justice when his dog is murdered, ultimately leading to a series of unsavory and violent events. Magnolia plans exclusive HDNet Ultra VOD airings, with a late summer theatrical rollout to follow. Drama will screen in the Cannes market, with international rights still up for grabs

• “Shaolin Girl,” the actioner helmed by Katsuyuki Motohiro (“Bayside Shakedown” series), has sold to major Asian territories prior to its market bow at Cannes, producer Fuji TV said Monday. Gaga Communications, which is repping the pic worldwide, has closed deals with Edko Films for Hong Kong; San-Byte Hong Kong for Taiwan; Festive Films for Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei; and Sahamongkol Film Intl. for Thailand. Exec produced by Chihiro Kameyama of Fuji TV and Stephen Chow, pic is a follow-up to Chow’s 2001 smash “Shaolin Soccer.” It stars Kou Shibasaki as a woman trained in Shaolin kung fu who returns to Japan to revive her beloved grandfather’s defunct martial arts school

BUSINESS NEWS

• Warner Bros. has set “Saas bahu aur Sensex” as its first Indian movie for local distribution. The urban comedy about housewife day traders (Sensex is a share index relating to the Bombay Stock Exchange) and other unlikely stock market investors is set for release Sept. 12. Warner last year announced production of big-budget pic “Chandni Chowk to China” (“Made in China” ) in a deal with Ramesh Sippy Prods. and Orion Pictures. That film will be released during the Diwali holiday period in October. “Saas bahu aur Sensex” is produced by PLA Entertainment and was helmed by Shona Urvashi (“Chupke se”). It stars vets Kirron Kher, Lillette Dubey and Farooq Shaikh alongside relative newcomers Ankur Khanna, Tanushree Dutta and Masumeh Makhija. Warner is expanding its range of approaches to India’s movie market. Earlier this month the U.S. studio announced that it had pacted with Chennai-based Ocher Studios to make films in regional languages (Ocher is a visual-effects company run by Tamil superstar Rajnikanth’s daughter that’s now expanding into production). Titles and schedules were not disclosed, but the companies said they will produce in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam

INDUSTRY MOVES

• Lionsgate named former CinemaNow CEO Curt Marvis as President of Digital Media, reports THR, a newly created position. He will oversee digital distribution for all Lionsgate divisions including home entertainment, TV, film and music as well as the company’s stakes in Break.com, FearNet and the new premium movie service announced last week with Viacom and MGM

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUE

• With Hollywood still unnerved about an actors strike, progress has remained elusive as negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the majors move into their third week. Neither side has yet made a major move that would signal the start of the give-and-take bargaining that would break the logjam and result in a new feature-primetime deal this week. But some cautious optimism persists that SAG and the AMPTP can still reach an agreement over the next few sessions. The key problem that’s emerged is that negotiators have been devoting nearly all their time to slowly hammering out terms in new media — covering such areas as residual rates for ad-supported streaming, the length of promotional windows under which shows can be streamed without paying residuals and the rate paid for downloads. But that’s meant there’s been virtually no discussion about SAG’s proposals for a boost in DVD residuals – a non-starter for the AMPTP – along with the guild’s demand for increased pay rates for middle-income actors. Resolving those demands to SAG’s satisfaction may take more than just this week. Following a weekend recess, talks resumed at mid-day Monday at the headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers in Encino with no official word as to specifics

TECHNOLOGY/ MULT-PLATFORM CONTEN

• Online video start-ups raised a healthy $461 million in financing in 2007, according DowJones VentureSource data sources by NewTeeVee. That’s up from $266.9 million invested in the category in 2006. Look for that benchmark to be surpassed this year as $217.3 million was raised by video start-ups during the first quarter of 2008 alone

• AOL acquired Fantasy Football site FleaFlicker.com for an undisclosed amount, one of the more popular independently owned fantasy sites which powers The Washington Post’s fantasy football leagues. Redesigned news, sports and health categories helped AOL grow its unique user base by 15% to 26.5 million visitors in March, according to comScore numbers sources by WSJ

WEBSITES TO WATCH

www.PluggedIn.com

In an era where music television networks’ airtime seems to be filled with more reality shows than music programming, it may seem that the music video is losing relevance. Fortunately, such is not the case, with the online world offering an all access network to an art form that’s actually more current than ever. This new site, backed by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, is positioning itself as the definitive portal for high-definition music videos. While videos are the main focus of the site, each artist’s page also pulls media from across the web, including Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, and blogs; and naturally, there is also a social network functionality making the site the ultimate fan forum.

www.Futurenatural.com

Earth Day may have been yesterday, but we’re trying to incorporate green practices into every day. Next time you pick up a bar of soap, bottle of lotion, or tube of lipstick, consider a more natural version instead. This new website offers natural and organic beauty and healthcare products from around the world. In addition to providing a vast and exotic selection of earth-friendly personal care items for men, women and children, the site also offers detailed information on each brand, including brand history, product ingredients and the reason (or reasons) why it’s legitimately deemed earth-friendly. Those with trouble deciphering eco-speak will appreciate the site’s extensive ingredient glossary.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.hollywoodreporter.com
www.cynopsis.com

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

• Warner Independent and Tobey Maguire’s Maguire Entertainment have acquired book and pic rights to the Atlantic Monthly article “Marry Him! The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough” by NPR commentator Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb will turn her article, which appeared in the March edition of the magazine, into a book for Dutton, “Marry Him! Finding Mr. Real.” Maguire will produce the pic, and Mark Ross will oversee the project for his shingle. Gottlieb is a 40-year-old single mother who conceived her baby through donor sperm. Hardened by the responsibilities of raising a child alone, she posits that there is no such thing as a dream guy.

• Chloe Sevigny and Zooey Deschanel will star in indie comedy “Divorce Ranch,” produced, directed and written by veteran helmer Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Anne Clements (“Quinceanera”) will produce along with Lindsay-Hogg. Shooting starts in September. “Divorce Ranch” is set in Nevada just after WWII, when a quickie divorce could be granted after residency was established.

• Miramax Films is moving forward with “Man Under,” a spec script by Ann Cherkis. Pic will be produced by Scott Rudin, Alexandra Milchan and Aimee Peyronnet. Miramax optioned the project right before the writers strike ensued in November and has just begun the development process.

• Berlin-based Razor Film and Film4 will produce Hungarian helmer Benedek Fliegauf’s first English-language film, the futuristic drama “Womb.” Fliegauf, whose experimental pic “Milky Way” won a Golden Leopard in Locarno last year, will shoot the new film — a story about the efforts to overcome death by genetic manipulation — in Berlin and on the North Sea coast. Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner of Razor and Film4’s Peter Carlton are producing along with Budapest-based Inforg Studio, which produced “Milky Way,” as well as Paris-based A.S.A.P. Films. Pic is one of an array being funded by Germany’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the EU’s Media Program, the Hungarian Film Fund, Script East and Film4.

PROJECT UPDATES

• ‘Korean Wave’ icon Won Bin and veteran actress Kim Hye-Ja have been set as the stars of “The Host” helmer Bong Joon-ho’s new pic “Mother.” Project was presented, without cast, last month at the HAF project mart in Hong Kong by producer and artist management group Barunson. Scripted by Bong and Park Eun-kyo, story sees an asocial loser framed as the perpetrator of an horrific murder and his hard-headed mother has to figure out who really did it to keep her son from prison. Pic will be produced on a $5 million budget by Barunson’s Choi Jae-won and Seo Woo-sik, with lensing in the fall. CJ Entertainment will handle local Korean distribution and international sales.

• Scribe Justin Marks has been tapped to tackle “Hack/Slash,” Rogue Pictures’ adaptation of the Devil’s Due Publishing comicbook Todd Lincoln will helm. Comicbook, created by Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli, revolves around Cassie Hack, a young woman who travels the country and takes on homicidal maniacs and serial killers along the way. The actioner will be heavy on comedy and horror. Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter, who most recently oversaw “Hitman” at Fox, will produce the project.

• Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is negotiating, and Danny Huston, John Ortiz and Kelli Garner are set to star, in “Spectacular Regret.” The independently financed drama was scripted by Joshua Leonard, who will make his dramatic feature debut as director. Financed through private equity, the film will shoot in July in L.A. Peter Sterling and Mary Pat Bentel are producing and Dolly Hall is exec producer.

• France’s Calt Distribution is teaming with Spanish production company TV ON to co-produce a Spanish version of short-format comedy “Kaamelott,” a comedy centering on the Arthurian legend. Canada’s French-language channel Historia and Poland’s TV4 have inked with Calt for broadcasting rights to “Kaamelott.” Set in 5th century Britanny in France, “Kaamelott” combines the epic imagery of King Arthur’s era with inappropriate daily reality.

• Bai Ling (“Love Ranch”, “Southland Tales”) and Talia Shire have been added to the cast of “Dim Sum Funeral,” a Canuck pic now lensing in Vancouver. Ling plays a free-spirited lesbian and Shire plays a trusted family adviser. Pic is directed by Chinese-American helmer Anna Chi, based on a script by Donald Martin. Cast includes Russell Wong, Kelly Hu, Steph Song, Lisa Lu, Julia Nickson, Francoise Yip and Chang Tseng.

• Daniel Alfredson will helm “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” the second film in the Millennium trilogy, based on the bestselling crime novels by Stieg Larsson. The first, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” is being helmed by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, with its premiere set for early 2009. Production on No. 2 will start in late 2008. It is still not official who will helm the third one, “The Air Castle That Crumbled.” The first film is for theatrical, while the other two will go straight to DVD and ancillary. The three novels, about an investigating reporter and a female hacker, have sold in more 2.3 million copies in Sweden alone. The books are major hits in countries like France and Germany.

BUSINESS NEWS

• After years of relative reticence, the Mouse House is strutting over its animation slate once again. With Disney chief exec Robert Iger and the investment community looking on in Gotham Tuesday, John Lasseter presented an uncharacteristically detailed road map of the next four years of Pixar and Disney animation. Two years after the pair’s $7.4 billion merger, the Mouse House is eager to tout the lineup and keep Pixar’s momentum going after “Ratatouille” and “Cars.” Studio is also looking to pump up the fortunes of Disney’s own animation unit, now under the control of Lasseter and former Pixar prexy Ed Catmull after suffering a string of disappointments, including last year’s “Meet the Robinsons.” Lineup includes a Pixar film every summer and a Disney Animation Studios toon every holiday season, save for 2011, when Pixar is releasing two films and Disney Animation Studios will take a breather. All of the films starting with this November’s “Bolt” will be released in digital 3-D, except for 2009 Disney toon “The Princess and the Frog,” the only pic being made in traditional 2-D. Disney studio chief Dick Cook said it was the first pure animation presentation for the Mouse House in more than a decade.

• “An Evening with Survivors”? “Apprentice: The Musical”? It could happen under a new pact between reality guru Mark Burnett and AEG to develop live events and TV shows based on each other’s properties. Under the pact, AEG will get first crack at producing stage events developed from Burnett’s catalog of shows. Conversely, Mark Burnett Prods. has a first-look option to create nonscripted programming derived from AEG’s various properties, which range from soccer and hockey teams to the Coachella music festival. In addition, Burnett and AEG will jointly develop projects from scratch that integrate TV and live event components. First project from the partnership is expected to be announced within the next few weeks.

• Lionsgate has sold a 22-title package of movies to the Sundance Channel, including network premieres such as “Starting Out in the Evening” and classic pictures directed by Akira Kurosawa, Luis Bunuel and Federico Fellini. “We’ve become much more aggressive in buying movies in the last year,” said Christina Vesper, senior VP of acquisitions for Sundance Channel, citing last month’s deal with New Line/Picturehouse that included such titles as “La Vie en rose,” “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Little Children.” Rand Stoll, exec VP of television for Lionsgate, said the new deal is “a continuation of our ongoing relationship with Sundance.” Net is running two titles from a previous Lionsgate deal, “A Good Woman,” with Scarlett Johansson, and the documentary “Deliver Us From Evil.” In addition to “Starting Out in the Evening,” Sundance will get the TV premiere of “Wristcutters: A Love Story,” starring Tom Waits; “Fierce People,” with Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland; and “Fido,” starring Billy Connolly. Sundance can start scheduling the movies later this year and then throughout 2009.

• Discovery Communications will launch a wide variety of new series this year across its channel platforms, including original projects for flagship nets Discovery Channel and TLC. Company also gave more programming details for its new Planet Green cabler, set to launch this year. Discovery made the announcements Tuesday at their upfront presentation at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. For TLC prexy Angela Shapiro-Mathes, it was the exec’s first upfront slate since taking over the channel. Roster included new skeins such as “Ashley Paige,” which follows the world of the bikini designer; “The Singing Office,” hosted by Melanie Brown and Joey Fatone; and “Single Moms,” a 10-episode series that follows three women looking for love. Also new: “Napoleon Complex,” which features students of Napoleon Perdis’ makeup academy as they compete to work with him; and “This Is Why You’re Single,” dubbed a “surprising intervention for perpetually single people.” TLC, which recently moved to the West Coast under Shapiro-Mathes, also promoted its new brand to advertisers and revealed a new scheduling strategy: Themed nights. Net will air “real family sitcoms” on Mondays; Fridays will focus on makeovers; Saturdays will continue to center on home and decorating. Nights will also be devoted to relationships, careers and entertaining, Shapiro-Mathes said.

• Image Entertainment has sued Relativity Media for reneging on a 2006 homevid output deal. The 10-year-deal called for Relativity to funnel a steady stream of theatrical fare to the homevid distrib in exchange for stock, but Relativity has yet to supply any pics. Image filed suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, charging Relativity with fraud and breach of contract. Image contends Relativity topper Ryan Kavanaugh entered into the deal expecting Image to be taken over by Lionsgate. At the time of the August 2006 pact, Image was fighting over a hostile takeover bid by Lionsgate.

• Canadian non-fiction filmmakers got a financial boost Tuesday with the launch of the C$4 million ($3.94 million) Canwest-Hot Docs Funds to assist in the development and completion of one-off docs. Canwest, Canada’s largest media company, is providing the funds, which consist of a $2.9 million completion fund granting producers with a license from a Canadian broadcaster up to $98,706 and a $987,069 development fund providing no-interest loans to projects in early development. Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, will administer both funds over the next seven years. Guidelines to apply for the funds will be available June 1 with application deadlines July 15 and Oct. 15

• Universal Pictures Intl. Entertainment has inked an exclusive strategic deal with Alchemy Entertainment to release Alchemy’s slate of skeins and big-budget miniseries on DVD and via video-on-demand platforms around the world. Production budget for Alchemy’s slate tops $100 million, with titles including “The Bounty,” a co-production with Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free for the BBC and ProSieben in Germany; $15 million pic “Diamonds,” starring Judy Davis and Derek Jacobi; “Burn Up,” a $15 million co-production with Kudos starring Neve Campbell and Bradley Whitford for the BBC and Global in Canada; and “Everest,” starring Jason Priestley and William Shatner.

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUES

• A bill aimed at regulating self-dealing transactions among the majors cleared its first hurdle in the California state Senate with its passage Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) and supported by the Writers Guild of America, would mandate that the majors pass the “fair market value” sniff test on all transactions between related entities of a conglom (Daily Variety, Feb. 26). Effort stems from the long line of lawsuits filed by third-party profit participants alleging studios breached fiduciary duties by selling pic and TV program rights to sibling divisions for less than the properties would fetch on the open market. Profit participants could be short-changed in such transactions; in addition, some residual and health and pension fund contributions to unionized showbiz workers are determined by the total revenue generated by a project.

INDUSTRY MOVES

• Former Weinstein Co. exec Spencer Klein has joined Bow Tie Cinemas as chief film officer, where his primary responsibilities are booking films and alternative content for the exhibitor. Klein, previously TWC’s senior veep and general sales manager of domestic distribution, will also scout for potential acquisitions, new cinema locales and marketing opportunities and 3D and digital projects. Prior to TWC, which he joined in 2005, Klein was a film buyer for Loews Cineplex Entertainment for six years. His first foray into the industry was in distribution at New Line Cinema and New Yorker Films.

• UTA partner Sue Naegle could be named HBO entertainment president as soon as Wednesday. Insiders on Tuesday confirmed that Naegle had emerged as the top candidate for the highly sought-after gig. HBO had narrowed its search in recent days, with Naegle — who co-heads the tenpercentary’s TV department — now expected to succeed Carolyn Strauss as HBO’s top series exec. No deal had been signed as of late Tuesday, but HBO execs were hinting that an announcement was imminent

• UTA TV lit agents Dan Erlij and Larry Salz have been named partners at the agency. Tenpercenters, who rep a bevy of showrunners and scribes, are the sixth and seventh TV agents with partner status. With their promotions, UTA now has a total of 18 partners.

• The Argentinean government has appointed helmer-producer Liliana Mazure as prexy of the National Film Institute (Incaa), a key source of financing for the industry. She took office April 7, replacing Jorge Alvarez, who resigned after two years for personal reasons. It is necessary “to support Argentine cinema so that it returns to the country’s screens and is not only seen at festivals,” Mazure said at a press event. She also said she would seek greater distribution outside Argentina, a territory of only 1,000 screens.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT NEWS

• Lakeshore Entertainment has scooped up Ernie Cline’s vidgame-themed spec “Thundercade.” Story centers on a videogame junkie who faces a midlife crisis when he discovers a young punk has beaten the world record he has held since his teens. Determined to reclaim his place in gaming history, he and two friends escape their 9-to-5 lives for a shot to win Thundercade, the world’s ultimate gaming championship. Cline is a self-described vidgame addict who owns six different game consoles.

• Less than two months since his last appearance on Capitol Hill, Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday once again assured hand-wringing lawmakers that the nation’s transition to all-digital television is on track. While commending Martin and National Technical Information Administration acting chief Meredith Baker for their efforts so far, numerous members of the Senate Commerce Committee expressed concerns about whether enough is being done to inform viewers most at risk of losing TV reception and whether a government subsidy program will be sufficient. Martin agreed to provide monthly updates on the status of the transition, and Baker announced that at least one rule of the subsidy program would be relaxed to help some viewers.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://abc.go.com/community/index?pn=plantatree

ABC.com is expanding its widget offerings adding new embeddable widgets around primetime shows such as The Bachelor: London Calling, Brother’s & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty. The applications, which have been averaging 170,000 views/day for previously launched Lost and Dancing with the Stars versions according to ABC, allow viewers to embed and share video clips, photos, news alerts and mobile-optimized content. ABC also has a widget as part of the Start Fresh campaign, promising to plant one tree sapling for every ten videos viewed on the apps.

http://www.weather.com/services/downloads/

Moving beyond meteorology into lifestyle services, The Weather Channel Interactive relaunched its Desktop weather client with a bunch of new bells and whistles. Users can now change the look of the app with swappable skins (including MLB-themed ones) and take advantage of additional features including driving conditions, business travel forecasts, golf course conditions and allergy/pollen levels.

http://www.flow.tv/

The hip-hop parade continues in the online video world. New York DJ Funkmaster Flex stars in Funk Flex TV, a new channel on Ripe Digital’s Flow TV service available on demand on Time Warner, Comcast and Cablevision and online via flow.tv.

http://www.uvlayer.com/

Unknown Vector unveiled a new interface for sharing video collections across social networks called uvLayer. The browser-based application, based on a downloadable version released earlier, allows users to drag and drop videos, create playlists and push thumbnail stacks of content to friends’ profile pages in 13 different languages.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

CBS Films has optioned the romantic comedy spec “Plan B,” by TV scribe Kate Angelo. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the story is believed to center on a woman who sets out to be artificially inseminated and falls in love. Todd Black, Jake Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing through their Escape Artists shingle. Spec sparked a bidding war that involved multiple parties. CBS Films has jumped into the post-WGA strike lit market with resolve. Last month, the nascent company paid $1 million for Dan Fogelman’s untitled boomers-in-Vegas comedy pitch. Angelo has an overall deal at ABC Television Studios and has a pilot in contention at ABC with Julie Bowen attached to star. Angelo’s credits include “Will & Grace” and J.J. Abrams’ “What About Brian.”

Paramount Pictures has preemptively bought “Lost City of Z,” a David Grann manuscript about the search for a lost city in the Amazon, with Brad Pitt to produce the feature adaptation through his Plan B shingle as a potential starring vehicle. Grann’s forthcoming nonfiction book concerns British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett, who was attempting to find the so-called City of Z when he and his party disappeared in 1925. Over the next 70 years, scores of explorers tried and failed to retrace Fawcett’s path, including a 1996 expedition of Brazilian adventurers. Pitt would play Fawcett. Doubleday is scheduled to publish “Lost City of Z,” an expansion of Grann’s September 2005 article in the New Yorker, in February. When Pitt expressed interest in toplining as well as producing “Lost City of Z,” Paramount moved quickly to buy it. Par previously optioned Grann’s New Yorker article “City of Water.”

Ray Romano is plotting a return to the smallscreen via TNT. Comic thesp has teamed with “Everybody Loves Raymond” scribe-producer Mike Royce to create “Men of a Certain Age,” a comedic one-hour drama in which Romano will also star. In a rare move, TNT is going straight to pilot on the script, which was written outside the normal development process. “Men” will revolve around three men in their 40s, friends since college, who now find themselves going through midlife crises of various sorts. Project is described as akin to “Sideways” in tone.

Chuck Russell is writing to direct “Northern Lights,” an action film set in the field of aerobatics — death-defying stunt flying. Russell is working on a rewrite of a script by David Ellison and Duane Adler; Electric Entertainment’s Dean Devlin is producing with Ellison and his Skydance Prods. banner. Plan is to begin production in Pic will shoot in Shreveport, La., by fall.

Columbia Pictures has preemptively snapped up Matt Bondurant’s upcoming novel “The Wettest County in the World” for Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher to produce through their Red Wagon shingle. John Hillcoat, who’s shooting the bigscreen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy “The Road,” is attached to direct. Based on a true story, “Wettest County in the World” revolves around a moonshine gang operating in the bootlegging capital of America — Franklin County, Va. — during Prohibition.

Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren are toplining Michael Hoffman’s Leo Tolstoy biopic “The Last Station,” which starts shooting April 7 in Germany. They replace previously announced thesps Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep in the roles of Tolstoy and his wife, Sofia. Other key cast include James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti. Warner Bros. has picked up German domestic rights to the e13 million ($20 million) project.

PROJECT UPDATES

Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert documentary “Shine a Light” will be livin’ large. When Paramount Classics opens the film Friday in roughly 270 theaters domestically, 93 of those will be large-format Imax theaters, which bring larger-sized ticket prices. In many markets, the film will be playing exclusively on Imax screens, meaning it won’t be shown in regular theaters. That’s the biggest opening in Imax’s history after “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which opened simultaneously in 91 Imax screens and in more than 3,000 regular theaters. Film will subsequently open in international Imax locations. An Imax ticket costs more — as does each print of the film — meaning added revenues for the exhib and the studio. In the case of “Shine a Light,” an adult ticket will cost $13, while a kid’s ticket will cost $10.50. The appeal of Imax is its quality of image and sound, according to Scorsese.

Scott Bakula has scored the second lead role opposite Matt Damon in “The Informant,” Steven Soderbergh’s espionage thriller for Warner Independent. Bakula will play Brian Shepherd, an FBI agent who exposes an international price-fixing scheme with the help of biochemist Mark Whitacre (Damon). Project is based on a true story; Scott Burns adapted the book by Kurt Eichenwald. Participant Media and Groundswell are co-producing with WIP. Jennifer Fox and Gregory Jacobs are producing.

Lifetime’s hit drama “Army Wives” has been hit with yet another change of command, as exec producer-showrunner Dee Johnson has left the show. As part of the changeover, Nick Thiel (“Burn Notice”) has joined the show and been handed executive producer stripes. “Army Wives” creator Katherine Fugate, considered the voice of “Army Wives,” remains as an exec producer, along with Mark Gordon. Production has just begun on season two of “Army Wives,” which scored an 18-episode salute after posting Lifetime’s best-ever series ratings in the key adults 18-49 demo last summer. Lifetime and producer ABC Studios wouldn’t comment on reasons behind Johnson’s departure, which was first reported by TV Guide, but the old “creative differences” explanation made the rounds.

ll four theaters skedded to bow Argo Pictures’ controversial documentary “Yasukuni,” about the Japanese shrine that honors war dead including Class A war criminals, on April 12 have cancelled, the distrib announced. One is in Osaka and three are in Tokyo. Another Tokyo theater had already pulled the docu from its schedule. Shot over 10 years by Chinese helmer Li Ying, the docu has become a lightening rod for controversy both in Japan and Asia. Scenes include protests by families of Asian war victims against former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visits to the shrine. Members of parliament, including those belonging to Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have questioned the use of government coin to help finance the pic.

ACQUISITIONS/ FESTIVAL NEWS

Chevolution” the Netflix-backed docu about Alberto Korda’s famously enigmatic photo of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, has been picked up by int’l sales agent Fortissimo Films. Pic, which preems at next month’s Tribeca Film Festival, was financed by Netflix’s original content unit Red Envelope Entertainment. Deal between Red Envelope and Fortissimo sees Hong Kong and Amsterdam-based Fortissimo handle sales in all territories outside North America. Helmed by Trisha Ziff and Luis Lopez, pic will have its market premiere in Cannes in May.

Senator Entertainment has acquired distribution rights in North America, Germany and Spain to the sci-fi thriller “Splice” from writer-director Vincenzo Natali. Film, which stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, revolves around two scientists who undertake illegal genetic experiments and create a new species fusing human and animal DNA. As the pair become global celebrities, the consequences of their accomplishment begin to become apparent.

Cinema Libre has acquired worldwide rights to Glenn Gers’ “disFigured,” which is making its premiere at the AFI Dallas Film Festival this week. The film is about an overweight woman who befriends, through a Fat Acceptance Group, a real estate agent recovering from anorexia. “With Cinema Libre, we hope to work with groups that support awareness of size diversity issues and would like to set up special screenings of the film across the country this summer,” said Gers. Helmer penned the Diane Keaton starrer “Mad Money” and the thriller “Fracture,” starring Anthony Hopkins.

The Tokyo Intl. Anime Fair ended its four-day run on Sunday with a total attendance of 126,622, up 17.55% over last year and a new event record. According to TIAF officials, 24,479 visitors came to the two business days on Thursday and Friday, down slightly from previous years. Meanwhile, 102,143 came to the public days on Saturday and Sunday, up 22.42% year on year. The number of foreign biz visitors rose 12% to 1,055, while media attendance over the four days gained 23% to 1,626. A total of 289 companies and orgs took booths at the Tokyo Big Site event hall, nearly one-fourth of which were non-Japanese. TIAF will hold its next edition from March 18 to 21, 2009.

BUSINESS NEWS

Jennifer Aniston and producing partner Kristin Hahn have formed Echo Films, a company that will start with a first-look deal at Universal Pictures. Aniston and Hahn have already made several project acquisitions, most of which will be developed as star vehicles for Aniston. The studio has just acquired screen rights to Jane Fallon’s British bestseller “Getting Rid of Matthew,” and Aniston and Hahn will produce with Lynda Obst and Marc Rosen. Fallon, a veteran U.K. TV producer who is married to Ricky Gervais, will adapt her novel about a hard-charging publicist whose lusty affair with a married man is ruined by his decision to leave his wife and two children for her. She invents a new persona, befriends the spurned wife and attempts to patch up the marriage up so she can be rid of him. In the process, she develops a thing for his oldest son.

Image Entertainment CEO-prexy Marty Greenwald is handing the reins of the quirky video and production company he founded to longtime lieutenant David Borshell today. Borshell, who had been chief operating officer since 2000, steps up to president with Greenwald’s exit from the exec suite. The company will not fill the CEO post; Greenwald, a colorful character who formed Image after 20 years in the adult video biz, will remain chairman of the board. The shift comes with the start of the publicly traded company’s new fiscal year. It follows several turbulent years for the company, which entered into a merger with BTP, since dissolved, and earlier fended off a hostile takeover bid by Lionsgate.

Benelux film and TV distributor Dutch FilmWorks has launched House of Knowledge Intl., an international sales, licensing and production division. Building on House of Knowledge, the domestic distribution DVD operation for nonfiction that launched in 2002, HKI will focus on mind, wellness and historical factual properties, Dutch FilmWorks CEO Willem Pruijssers announced Monday. HKI’s first slate will be presented at the Mip TV mart, which kicks off in Cannes next Monday. The first slate, split between docu specs and series, strongly emphasizes self-help and new age themes. It is led by “Staya Erusa: Find the Book of Knowledge,” a follow-up to “Staya Erusa: The Begining,” a film on how people can better live up to their expectations. “Book of Kowledge” co-producer Uri Geller will present the docu at Mip TV. The Mip TV slate also features living guide special “The Secret Goes Europe”; 14-part series “The Secret Workshops”; “The Brain Fitness Program”; docu collection “World War II in Word and Motion”; history of armed conflict skein “War Through Times”; dance guide “Jumpstyle”; “Play Poker Like the Pros”; and “Sexual Intelligence.”

Eros Intl. signed TV syndication deals for packages of films with two of the leading Indian global TV networks, Sony Entertainment Television and Sahara Television Network, on Monday. Sahara gets 35 library films including “Hum dil de chuke sanam,” “Devdas” and “Hey Ram.” SET gets 16 new pics from 2007-08 including “Om shanti om” and “Heyy Babyy.” Eros Intl., listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, is one of India’s leading film and entertainment companies. It has a film library of more than 1,300 titles and releases 25-30 new movies per year. The $6 billion Indian TV sector is growing by 21% annually.

Distrib Kadokawa Pictures plans to expand its theater chain to some 200 screens from its current 106 screens plus three Tokyo Arthouses. Speaking at Friday’s press conference to unveil its 2008-2009 slate Kadokawa prexy Taiichi Inoue said the distrib was shooting for a box office of 5 billion yen ($50 million) this year.

Woody Allen asked a federal court on Monday to strip a clothing company known for its racy ads featuring scantily clad models of at least $10 million for using his image on billboards and on the Internet. In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the actor and director said he does not endorse commercial products or services in the United States, which makes the May 2007 American Apparel billboards in Hollywood and New York and Web site displays “especially egregious and damaging.” The lawsuit said Allen was not contacted by the company and did not consent to the use of his image, which was taken from one of his movies. American Apparel Inc., which is based in Los Angeles and operates worldwide, did not immediately reply to a telephone message seeking comment Monday. The lawsuit complained of a billboard featuring a frame from “Annie Hall,” a film that won Allen a best director Oscar. The image showed Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew with a long beard and black hat and Yiddish text meaning “the holy rebbe.” The words “American Apparel” also were on the billboard.

STRIKE NEWS/ LABOR ISSUES

In the wake of Saturday’s decision by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to ditch its longstanding bargaining partnership with SAG on the feature-primetime contract, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers held off Monday on deciding which union it will sit down with first. SAG, which earlier spurned offers to start negotiations in March, now contends it should be first up because it covers all film work and the lion’s share of TV work done by thesps. SAG prexy Alan Rosenberg noted in a message to members that studios want to end the uncertainty over a possible strike, further motivating the AMPTP to start talks as soon as possible as the June 30 contract expiration looms. “We believe the AMPTP will be eager to do so, especially since motion picture start dates are critical,” he said. However, it’s widely expected that the congloms will start talks as early as this week with AFTRA, the smaller of the two unions, on the three primetime shows it covers. And that move should bolster the companies’ leverage once they start negotiations with SAG by making the notion of going on strike less attractive. SAG’s new request for negotiations to begin as soon as possible marks an about-face from the position it took after the majors announced they were ready to go with talks in mid-February. It was previously unwilling to start negotiations until after it had completed its official preparations — despite pressure from high-profile members George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to start ASAP. SAG had insisted it could not start talks until a joint board meeting approved the joint proposal — an event that had been set for Saturday but was then called off once AFTRA’s board voted to end its negotiating partnership with SAG.

INDUSTRY MOVES

New Line’s Richard Brener is staying on as Toby Emmerich’s right-hand man and has been promoted to prexy of production. Move comes two weeks after Emmerich was appointed president and chief operating officer of the scaled-down mini-major. The 35-year-old Brener joined the company in 1995 as a temp and rose through the ranks to story editor and senior VP. He’s been serving as New Line’s No. 2 production exec after a promotion to senior exec VP-COO in early 2007.

In an effort to sell more shows and formats to U.S. outlets, BBC Worldwide America has streamlined its sales and production operations under the direction of Paul Telegdy, the Beeb exec most responsible for exporting “Dancing With the Stars” to ABC. As BBC Worldwide America exec veep of TV sales and content & production, Telegdy will now oversee TV sales and co-production dealmaking for the Beeb’s U.S. division, as well as production. Previously, the Beeb’s head sales rep for the U.S. had been Candace Carlisle, exec veep of co-productions and sales and a 22-year veteran of the pubcaster.

Casey Patterson has been tapped senior VP for event production and talent development at TV Land and Spike TV — a gig that will put her in regular contact with Hollywood’s movie marketing machine. Newly created gig puts Patterson in charge of the cablers’ efforts to expand programming and marketing opportunities tied to film releases and other high-profile projects. She’ll also oversee event production and talent development for both nets.

James E. Curry has joined the Century City office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton as partner in the firm’s entertainment and media group. He most recently practiced as a founding partner with White O’Connor Curry, also in Century City. Curry, a trial attorney, specializes in business lawsuits on behalf of entertainment clients, primarily studios and networks. His clients have included Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount/Viacom.

Struggling vidgame publisher Atari has tapped a respected industry vet as its CEO, signaling that the long-troubled company is attempting to revive its fortunes. Jim Wilson, who most recently headed Sony BMG’s home entertainment unit and was previously exec veep of worldwide studios for Vivendi Universal Games, was named to the position Monday. He’ll work closely with former EA exec David Gardner and Sony exec Phil Harrison, who were recently named CEO and prexy, respectively, of Atari parent company Infogrames.

TECHNOLOGY/ MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

The TV biz was looking highly mobile on Monday in advance of the annual CTIA Wireless confab in Las Vegas, with Sony Pictures Television, Fox, NBC Universal and MTV Networks announcing mobile entertainment deals. The mobile entertainment biz is still very much in the experimental phase in the U.S., though some of the majors are starting to harvest coin from mobile content deals in Europe and Asia, where the market is more mature and advanced mobile vid technologies more widespread. Sony Pictures Television made the most ambitious move in unveiling a slate of mobile games and six new and returning Web serials designed as short-form bits ideal for tiny cell phone screens. News Corp.’s Fox Mobile Entertainment wing unveiled the FoxMobile.com portal featuring a slew of content designed to be viewed on mobile devices. Site includes content from Fox Broadcasting Co., FX, Fox Reality Channel, Speed and National Geographic Channel cablers as well as such show-specific franchises as “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and “Nip/Tuck.” NBC U tubthumped pacts with AT&T, Verizon and Blackberry maker Research in Motion to distrib the Peacock’s portfolio of more than 60 wireless-friendly websites dedicated to NBC, NBC Sports, USA Network, Bravo, MSNBC and Universal Pictures, among other properties. MTV Networks has teamed with mobile vid provider mywaves to offer its first free mobile ad-supported vid package of clips and customized content from its various cablers.

Geert Wilders’ anti-Islamic film “Fitna” was back on Liveleak.com on Monday three days after the British-based Internet site pulled it following threats to staffers. A statement on the Liveleak site said it had upgraded security for staffers and their families. Liveleak bowed the 15-minute film on Thursday. On Monday, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen met ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to assure them the film did not reflect the opinion of the Dutch government. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to take action against right-wing pol Wilders for violating hate speech laws in the pic, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called “offensively anti-Islamic.” Over the weekend there were protests in Indonesia and Pakistan and calls for a boycott of Dutch products in Jordan and Malaysia.

Walt Disney Japan and Yahoo Monday revealed plans to strengthen their co-operation in the Internet biz. Yahoo will start running the Disney games site banner on its Yahoo Games and Yahoo Kids sites beginning Tuesday. Also, Disney will link to the Yahoo sites on its games site, Disney Games. The object is to join the contents of Disney and Yahoo Japan, enabling users to play the games more easily. The two companies will also co-operate in ad placements on each other’s sites. Disney and Yahoo are already collaborating on mobile service, Disney Mobile, that Disney launched on March 1 with the support of SoftBank Mobile Corp. The new deal expands the target of that partnership to PC users.

Pubcaster Television New Zealand launched digital factual channel TVNZ7 Sunday to boost uptake for the Freeview digital free-to-air platform. The Freeview consortium of broadcasters has added 13 channels since the service launched on May 2. From Wednesday, the Freeview satellite platform will be complemented by a digital terrestrial platform. TVNZ7 joins digital entertainment channel TVNZ6 plus the digital re-broadcast of TVNZ analog channels TV One and TV2; Media Works-owned TV3, high-def TV 3 and C4; Maori TV as well as regional focused Stratos. TVNZ7 features 30% news content, as well as documentaries, current affairs programs and commentary shows.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Yahoo aims to shine some light on the underserved adult (25-54) woman demographic with Yahoo Shine. The new destination aggregates original content as well as relevant fare from other sections of Yahoo and offers syndicated material from partners including Conde Nast, Hearst and Rondale. It also provides a glimpse where the new Yahoo is headed, adopting a white-space laden blog format organized around the demo rather than the topic.

http://daisywhitney.com/newmediaminute/

Warner Bros. Television is enlisting the help of video search and targeting firm Digitalsmiths to help manage the video inventory of a new WB video site slated to launch in the coming weeks, reports Daisy Whitney in TVWeek. Digitasmiths provides tools to help visitors find what they’re looking for online and serve ads to the content contextually. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Daisy’s excellent video podcast, New Media Minute. This week she tries to get to the bottom of who’s watching Hulu.

http://video.titantv.com/

Local station website online programming service TitanTV launched a trio of new series recapping the latest episodes of three of the TV’s most popular reality shows – Survivor, America’s Next Top Model and Dancing With the Stars.

SOURCES:

www.variety.com
www.cynopsis.com