nonstopfilmbusiness

There are two offers on Lay the Favorite, the Stephen Frears film that stars Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall and Catherine Zeta-Jones. I’m guessing that the Weinstein Company will win this over the weekend, and release the film on VOD for in the vicinity of just north of $2 million. Stay tuned.

The Warner Bros 3D family adventure sequel opened first internationally to great numbers from an early rollout to less than double-digit territories. It’s been tracking 95% ahead of the 2008 first installment, Journey To The Center Of the Earth for the same markets. Journey 2 opens February 10th in North America:

CBS has given pilot orders to 2 projects written and executive produced by power showrunner duos, which had put pilot commitments — Partners, from Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, and an untitled half-hour from Greg Malins and Greg Berlanti. Both projects hails from Warner Bros. TV where the writer-producers are based. Additionally, the network has given the green light to Friend Me, also written by a team, Alan Kirschenbaum and Ajay Sahgal, produced by CBS TV Studios.

Partner, is a personal story of two lifelong friends and business partners. Architects Charlie and Louis’ friendship has lasted longer than either of their romantic relationships and almost seems like a weird marriage. When Charlie decides to propose to his girlfriend, Louis’ neurotic attempts to be supportive nearly result in the breakup of his own relationship. Described as a show about “4 people in 3 relationships”, the comedy reflects the real-life longtime friendship between Kohan, who is straight, and Mutchnick, who is gay. Because of that connection, the idea has been near and dear to their hearts. This the third time they are tackling it and the third time the project has gone to pilot. Its first incarnation was at CBS with a 2007 pilot starring Jay Mohr and Brian Austin Green and the second was at ABC with Alan Tudyk, Josh Cooke and Ty Burrell toplining a pilot in 2008. However, Kohan and Mutchnick, repped by Scott Schwartz, felt there were script, casting and other issues in both cases. The two had moved on when last year CBS approached them about revisiting the idea about a show based on their relationship but getting it right this time.

The untitled Malins/Berlanti project centers on Nick who has a health scare and realizes Wendy, his best friend and business partner of 15 years, is ‘the one’. Now he has to figure out how to break it to her. WME-repped Malins and Berlanti are the writers/executive producers. This marks the fourth pilot order for Berlanti this year. He also has dramas Guilty at Fox, Arrow at the CW and Golden Boy at CBS, which he is executive producing but not writing.

Friend Me, from CBS Studios and studio-based Tannenbaum Co., centers on twenty-something best friends, Evan and Rob, who move from their hometown of Bloomington, Indiana to Los Angeles to begin their exciting new lives working at Groupon. Evan is having trouble breaking his old slothful habits and rather than go out after work to explore LA and meet new people, prefers to play online poker with his buddies back home. Rob has different plans and is determined to drag Evan, kicking and screaming, along with him. Yes, Dear co-creator Kirschenbaum and Ajay Sahgal are executive producing with Kim and Eric Tannenbaum.

ABC has given out 3 more pilot orders to comedy projects, How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, from Accidentally on Purpose creator Claudia Lonow; untitled buddy comedy from feature writer Adam Sztykiel (Due Date, Made of Honor); and And Only Fools And Horses, from Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley.

How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, a multi-camera/hybrid comedy produced by 20th Century Fox TV and studio-based Imagine Television, is in the mold of another 20th TV comedy, How I Met Your Mother – a multi-camera comedy that is shot without live audience and features more scenes than a regular sitcom — had a put pilot commitment. Based on Lonow’s own life, How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, which can certainly vie for the longest series title crown, is described as an outrageous comedy with lots of heart. It centers on Polly, a recently divorced, single mom, who moves in with her eccentric parents, Elaine and Max, a couple who’s full of life but knows no boundaries. This is the second pilot order for Lonow, who also has multi-camera comedy Counter Culture at ABC, written and executive produced by writer-actress Stephnie Weir and executive produced by Lonow.

The untitled Adam Sztykiel project, also from 20th TV, has received a showrunner-contingent order. Based on Sztykiel’s own experiences in a long-distance relationship, the show follows a group of 24-year-old guys who move to a new city, one of them choosing to stay in relationship even though his girlfriend is now 2,000 miles away. It is described as a raw, hilarious peek behind the curtain of modern 20-something relationships. In addition to writing, Sztykiel is executive producing with Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone of Kaplan-Perrone.

Cragg and Bradley’s multi-camera And Only Fools And Horses, from ABC Studios, is based on the British format. It follows the misadventures of two streetwise brothers who scrape by selling unreliable goods believing that at any moment they could become millionaires.

Jens Assur, director of the upcoming film Close Far Away, is the winner of this year’s Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award. The annual award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker’s work on on his or her next project. Sundance Institute staff provide creative and strategic support through development, financing and production of the films. Close Far Away is a dramatic thriller weaving together stories of five seemingly random individuals in Africa and Europe whose actions have global consequences. Assur’s short film Killing the Chickens to Save the Monkeys is in the festival this year. Two previous winners of the Sundance/NHK award also had films at this year’s Sundance: Beasts of the Southern Wild, by Benh Zeitlin and Elena, by Russian filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev.

Beverly Hills, CA – Producer credits for 84th Academy Awards® Best Picture nominee “The Tree of Life” have been determined by the Producers Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The official nominees for the film are Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill.

Academy rules allow for no more than three producers to be nominated and to potentially receive Oscar® statuettes. The executive committee called a meeting to determine if “The Tree of Life” represented a “rare and extraordinary circumstance,” as described by the rules, and if any additional producer would be eligible. The committee determined that Green, Pohlad, Gardner and Hill functioned as genuine producers of the film and would be cited in the nomination.

Producers for the eight other motion pictures nominated in the Best Picture category – “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Hugo,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Moneyball” and “War Horse” – were announced on January 24 and remain unchanged.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre.

Park City, UT – January 27, 2012 – Participant Media and AFFRM (African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement) have jointly acquired U.S. theatrical rights to MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, an elegant and emotional drama chronicling a woman’s separation from her incarcerated husband and her journey to maintain her marriage and her identity. Written and directed by AFFRM founder Ava DuVernay, the film was produced by DuVernay and Howard Barish with producer Paul Garnes.

Staring into the hollow end of her husband Derek’s eight-year prison sentence, Ruby Sexton fights to support him on the inside and survive her own identity crisis on the outside. Through a chance encounter and a stunning betrayal that shakes her to the core, Ruby is propelled in new and, often frightening, directions of self-discovery.

AFFRM will distribute the film theatrically later this year, activating marketing and promotional support through its broad grassroots collective powered by the nation’s top black film organizations. AFFRM’s inaugural feature through this innovative model was the critically-acclaimed drama, “I Will Follow,” released in March 2011. In December 2011, AFFRM distributed last year’s Sundance World Cinema Drama Audience Award winner, “Kinyarwanda.”

“As a filmmaker and film distributor, I embarked on the Sundance journey with a best case distribution scenario in mind, and this partnership with Participant is exactly that,” stated DuVernay. “For AFFRM and Participant to combine forces on this film is a bold, ground-breaking move for two companies dedicated to connecting and empowering audiences of every hue through cinema.”

Said Jonathan King, Participant Media’s Executive Vice President of Production, “Middle of Nowhere is only Ava DuVernay’s second feature, but it reflects the finesse and sensitivity of a far more experienced storyteller and the kind of quality filmmaking that’s been a hallmark of Participant. We’re very excited to be joining forces with her and her team at AFFRM, and look forward to developing a marketing and Social Action campaign that illuminates the film’s themes and engages communities around the country.”

The deal was negotiated by Ben Weiss of the Paradigm Motion Picture Group with Nina Shaw and Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano, on behalf of AFFRM, with Jeff Ivers of Participant.

About Participant Media

Participant Media (www.participantmedia.com) is an independent media company focused on theatrical, television, and digital entertainment that illuminates important issues in today’s world. Chairman Jeff Skoll created Participant in 2004 to fuel his pursuit of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. Led by CEO Jim Berk since 2006, Participant inspires and accelerates positive social change by delivering well-told stories across multiple platforms and producing robust social action campaigns that galvanize communities around related causes. TakePart (www.takepart.com) is the online Social Action Network™ of Participant and serves as a hub for public engagement. Participant films include The Help, Contagion, An Inconvenient Truth, Charlie Wilson’s War, Waiting for “Superman,” Good Night, and Good Luck, The Cove, The Kite Runner, Syriana, and Food, Inc.

EXCLUSIVE: The Blind Side director John Lee Hancock has been set to write and direct The Partner, based on the John Grisham bestseller. The project is set up at New Regency, whose principal, Arnon Milchan, previously adapted the Grisham novels A Time To Kill, The Client and Runaway Jury, back in the day when Grisham was getting up to $8 million for movie rights to his legal thrillers.

Hancock has also been circling Highwaymen, the John Fusco-scripted drama about the vet cops dragged out of retirement to hunt down bank robbers Bonny and Clyde. If Hancock commits to that film, he’ll do The Partner next.

Published in 2005, The Partner is about Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a white shoe Biloxi law firm with a wife and newborn daughter. Trapped in a burning car one night, he died, leaving behind only ashes. But Lanigan is disillusioned enough by his life to fake his death and steal $90 million from his firm. He just has to hope the wrong people don’t catch up with him as he goes on the run. CAA-repped Hancock wrote and made his directing debut on The Rookie, after scripting such films as A Perfect World and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

It’s been more than a week since Fox greenlighted its last drama pilot, and the long pause has been nerve-wracking for all writers and producers with hourlong scripts at the network. Back at TCA, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly indicated that his plan was to pick up five drama pilots, so speculation has been rampant about which project would join the four already picked up: 2 shows about female spies, one from Karyn Usher and one from Josh Friedman; the Marc Guggenheim/Greg Berlanti legal drama Guilty; and a serial killer drama by Kevin Williamson. Over the past week, four projects have emerged as strong contenders — three developed internally and one spec, Travis Beacham’s adventure soap Hieroglyph. The other three are Silvio Horta’s Latino family dramedy about 3 sisters, which was based on an idea by Reilly and has Jennifer Lopez attached as an executive producer; a medical drama from Josh Berman & Rob Wright; and a Wyatt Earp Western written by John Hlavin. (Fox currently is the only major network without a period drama pilot this season.) But as the field narrowed, a question emerged: “Will there be another Fox drama pilot slot?” I hear that there is a lot of debate at the network at the moment, with all sorts of scenarios floated — from picking up one more hourlong pilot as originally planned to going with two to stopping at the current four and transferring the budget to comedies. If Fox ultimately decides to pull the trigger on another drama pickup, Hieroglyph looks like the frontrunner at the moment, though things are still in flux.

Here is some of the rational behind Fox’s conundrum. When the network brass made the plan for five drama pilots, none of Fox’s midseason dramas had premiered. Since then, Alcatraz had a solid debut and held well in Week 2. New drama Touch had a strong preview behind American Idol this week. And even newbie The Finder, which looked DOA in its underwhelming premiere, has come back strong with two weeks of double-digit ratings growth. To add to that, bubble drama House returned from a long hiatus with a big ratings bump, also making a case for renewal. And the network also has Terra Nova awaiting word on a second-season pickup. With so many viable drama players for next season, plus The X Factor and American Idol, Fox may not need more than 1-2 new drama series for next season and thus the argument for fewer pilots. Whether Fox decides to pick up another pilot or not, it will likely end up behind the CW in drama pilot volume for the first time. The CW has already greenlighted five hourlong pilots and is not done yet.

It’s been more than a week since Fox greenlighted its last drama pilot, and the long pause has been nerve-wracking for all writers and producers with hourlong scripts at the network. Back at TCA, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly indicated that his plan was to pick up five drama pilots, so speculation has been rampant about which project would join the four already picked up: 2 shows about female spies, one from Karyn Usher and one from Josh Friedman; the Marc Guggenheim/Greg Berlanti legal drama Guilty; and a serial killer drama by Kevin Williamson. Over the past week, four projects have emerged as strong contenders — three developed internally and one spec, Travis Beacham’s adventure soapHieroglyph. The other three are Silvio Horta’s Latino family dramedy about 3 sisters, which was based on an idea by Reilly and has Jennifer Lopez attached as an executive producer; a medical drama from Josh Berman & Rob Wright; and a Wyatt Earp Western written by John Hlavin. (Fox currently is the only major network without a period drama pilot this season.) But as the field narrowed, a question emerged: “Will there be another Fox drama pilot slot?” I hear that there is a lot of debate at the network at the moment, with all sorts of scenarios floated — from picking up one more hourlong pilot as originally planned to going with two to stopping at the current four and transferring the budget to comedies. (Fox is considering both regular and off-cycle orders for the remaining contenders.) If Fox ultimately decides to pull the trigger on another drama pickup, Hieroglyph looks like the frontrunner at the moment, though things are still in flux.

Sarah Jessica Parker has signed on to the role of Gloria Steinem in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Lovelace, the Millennium Films biopic about the iconic adult-film star that toplines Amanda Seyfried along with Peter Skarsgaard. Demi Moore was set to play Steinem before pulling out this week to seek treatment for exhaustion. The film has already begun production.

Theater Chain Won’t Play Lionsgate Film ‘One For The Money’ Lionsgate-Summit Offers Discounted Tickets For Films This Weekend

FRIDAY 2 PM: It’s still very early but nothing really popping. Sources are telling me that Summit Entertainment’s new actioner Man On A Ledge is looking like $3+M for today and $9.8M for the weekend from 2,998 theaters. In other words, weak. Lionsgate’s opener One For The Money starring Katherine Heigl and based on the Janet Evanovich’s bestselling novel is  coming on $5M ”maybe a little better than people thought” for the weekend from 2,737 runs. No word yet on whether those Groupon/Living Social discounted movie ticket deals are helping but it did prevent the Marcus Theatre chain from playing One For The Money in the midwest. The No. 1 movie at the North American box office is projected as Open Road Films acquisition The Grey with $4.5M for today and $12M for the weekend from 3,185 locations. Numbers will be refined later with full analysis.

Last year’s $84.5M package made Dauman one of the highest paid CEOs in the U.S. — and a target for a lot of scorn. But much of his bonanza came from one-time stock awards. Without them he’s still a candidate to be one of the most richly compensated execs in media. The package, spelled out in Viacom’s just-filed proxy statement,  includes: salary of $3.5M (+33% vs last year), annual stock award of $10.2M (flat), $3.1M in one-time stock (-90.1%), $6.0M in annual option award (flat), and $20M in non-equity inventive compensation (+77.8%). The board said that Dauman and COO Tom Dooley — the second highest paid exec with $$34.1M — “executed on key operational goals such as strengthening relationships with key partners, increasing the Company’s investment in  content as well as cost-effectiveness in our operations, building our international operations and returning capital to our stockholders while  maintaining a solid financial position.” The company also praised them for achieving  ”strong financial results while continuing to navigate economic challenges and positioning the Company well for the future.”

84th Academy Award Nominations

Not all Oscar categories are announced during the annual early-morning ceremony in Hollywood. So writer-director Andrew Bowler and producer Gigi Causey had to find out the old-fashioned way that their live-action short Time Freak made the final cut that punches their ticket to the Academy Awards. And like good filmmakers they got it on camera in one take — and still in their PJs.

There are three figures that stand out about last night’s CNN Republican presidential debate in Florida: It averaged 5.36 million viewers, and it was the 10th most watched of 18(!) GOP TV debates so far this election season. It was slightly up from the last debate on CNN on January 19 (5.02 million) and slightly down from the last one on rival Fox News (5.48 million). Broadcast networks ABC and NBC lead the pack in total viewers with their specials. Here’s the ratings rankings for the debates so far:

Net             Date           Day           Total Viewers

ABC            12/10/11     Saturday     7.57 million

NBC            1/23/12      Monday        7.13 million

Fox News    12/15/11     Thursday     6.71 million

ABC            1/7/12         Saturday     6.25 million

Fox News     9/22/11      Thursday     6.11 million

CNN             10/18/11    Tuesday      5.50 million

Fox News      1/16/12     Monday       5.48 million

MSNBC         9/7/11       Wednesday  5.41 million

CNN             1/26/12   Thursday    5.36 million

CBS             11/12/11    Saturday     5.29 million

Fox News      8/11/11     Thursday     5.05 million

CNN             1/19/12     Thursday      5.02 million

NBC/MSNBC  1/8/12       Sunday       4.72 million

CNN              9/12/11     Monday       3.61 million

CNBC           11/9/11      Wednesday 3.33 million

Fox News      5/5/11       Thursday     3.26 million

CNN             6/13/11      Monday       3.12 million

EXCLUSIVE: Anderson executive producer Jim Murphy is stepping down, completing the behind-the-scenes changing of the guard at Anderson Cooper’s syndicated daytime talk show. Murphy’s departure leaves rising star Terence Noonan as the only executive producer alongside Cooper at the helm of the Telepictures-produced freshman talker, which has already been renewed for a second season. Noonan joined Anderson from Dr. Oz at the beginning of October and was quickly upped to executive producer alongside the show’s original executive producers Lisa Morin, Murphy and Cooper. Morin left at the beginning of December, followed by today’s exit of Murphy. “I’m grateful for Jim’s help and his hard work launching the show,” Cooper said in a memo to the staff. “He’s a good friend and will always be a friend of our show. We have a terrific team in place led by our executive producer, Terence Noonan, and I’m really excited about the momentum we’ve built and the future of the show.”

For the week ending January 15th (the most recent ratings we have), Anderson posted a 25% jump to a series high 1.5 household rating, the largest household rating increase of any new show. It also scored 20% or better increases in every key female demo, including 29% among women 25-54 to a 0.9. Murphy, who came from Good Morning America, is said to be looking to to return to news. “This has been an amazing experience being involved in the creation of this great new show and it has been exceptional to get to know and work with Anderson and the rest of the team,” he said. “I leave the show in great hands with Terence.”

EXCLUSIVE: Camilla Belle has left WME and has signed with UTA in a team led by Theresa Peters for representation in all areas. The American-born actress, who is part Brazilian, is currently attached to Legendary/Warner Bros’ upcoming film Paradise Lost directed by Alex Proyas. Belle broke out in the highy regarded indie The Ballad of Jack And Rose and starred in Adrift. She continues to be represented by manager Deborah Gould and attorney Marcy Morris.

Washington, DC — The National Association of Broadcasters announced today that Garry Marshall, legendary Hollywood actor, director, writer and producer, will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame during the 2012 NAB Show Television Luncheon, sponsored by Wide Orbit, on Monday, April 16. NAB Show, held in Las Vegas, is the annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage and distribute entertainment across all platforms.

EXCLUSIVE: Former EVP Music/Creative Marketing Glen Lajeski filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court today alleging breach of contract. It claims that he was terminated without warning or explanation by Walt Disney Pictures 2 years before his employment pact was due to expire and without providing him any opportunity to cure.

Lajeski began working for Disney in 1996 as VP of Music Marketing. Among his credits, he spearheaded the unexpected success of the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack which won Grammy and Country Music awards. He also had success with soundtracks for films like Coyote Ugly, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Dangerous Minds, and Armageddon. Lajeski’s lawsuit says that early success prompted top execs to request his services on music marketing for the animation and direct-to-video film divisions. That’s when his work on the Cars soundtrack went platinum. Soon Lajeski was responsible for “initiating a new system of coordination among all the divisions at Disney using music (including live action, music publishing, record labels, animation, ABC-TV, and Direct-To-Video) in order ti make communications between the divisions more efficient and cost effective and reducing unnecessary overlap between divisions. This initiative resulting in sigbnificant savings for Disney and has been studio-wide ever since.” Based on his continuing success, Lajeski was promoted to EVP and entered into the first of several multi-year employment agreements with Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production.

Lajeski’s most recent employment contract with Disney began on January 2, 2008 and wasn’t supposed to expire until January 1, 2013.