MIRAMAX No More

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/rip-miramax-13606?page=1

Sorry, folks at Miramax. I've been there. I know. Once the big media giants swallow-up those mini-major studios, it's only a matter of time. Now we can add Miramax to the list. It is sad because with a little support and marketing, some of these films would find a wide audience. Maybe it's the theatrical system that's the problem. Is it really necessary these days? Except for movies like Avatar, the theatrical costs are just too overbearing for independent films and studios. Time to look at the alternatives. In the meantime, good luck Miramax employees!

Miramax Dies: Rest in Peace

It’s been a slow death, but Miramax dies on Thursday.

The New York and Los Angeles offices of the arthouse movie studio owned by Disney will close.
Eighty people will lose their jobs. The six movies waiting distribution -- "Last Night," "The Debt," "The Tempest” among them -- will be shelved, to gather dust, or win a tepid release.
It’s not clear that anyone at the studio will care.
But a lot of other people around the movie business mourned the impending loss of a label that once set the bar for taste and artistry. (Update Thursday: A Disney spokeswoman called to protest that Miramax is not 'dead.' "Miramax will consoldiate its operations within Walt Disney Studios, and will be releasing a smaller number of films than in previous years. But it will continue to operate within the Walt Disney Studios," she said.)
Over 31 years, the movie company that for most of its existence was led by founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein brought the public enduring stories that plumbed the depths of human emotion (“My Left Foot”) and pushed the boundaries of cultural barriers (“Reservoir Dogs”).
When we think of the movies that defined the latter part of the 20th century -- the movies that mattered, that stories that hit pop culture like a hammer and left a dent -- more often than not they came from Miramax.“The Piano.” “Pulp Fiction.” “Sex, Lies and Videotape.” “Clerks.” “The English Patient.” (See slideshow.)
All too often, we may find ourselves saying: Why doesn’t Hollywood make those movies anymore?
Maybe the movie industry doesn’t know how to. Miramax, for well over a decade, was something special.
“Miramax wasn't just a bad-boy clubhouse, it was a 20th century Olympus,” filmmaker Kevin Smith wrote to TheWrap. “Throw a can of Diet Coke and you hit a modern-day deity. And for one brief, shining moment, it was an age of magic and wonders.” (Read Kevin Smith's full Hollyblog.)
With these in the vault: “Shakespeare in Love” (Oscar: Gwyneth Paltrow). “The Crying Game” (Oscar, Neil Jordan). “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (5 noms). “Chicago” (6 Oscar wins).
“If there was any company that contributed more to the shaping of a generation and a sensibility -- I don’t know it,” said veteran publicist Fredell Pogodin, lamenting the closure.
There were lots of overambitious flops, or movies that tried too hard -- “The Aviator.” “The Shipping News.” “The Four Feathers.” “Cold Mountain.”
But there was also lots of plain audacious filmmaking, movies that nobody else would dare make, much less ride to awards glory: “Kill Bill I and II.” “The Ciderhouse Rules.” “Good Will Hunting.” “Swingers.”
The story of Miramax has been told and retold: Scrappy New York brothers name the studio after their parents, wheel and deal to hold their movie company together, bully business partners, seduce filmmakers and spend loads of money on Oscar campaigns.
Then came the sale to Disney. The success, the hubris, the Oscars, the overspending. The loss of identity, the desperate attempts to reconcile with Michael Eisner followed by the bitter divorce, and the quiet takeover by Daniel Battsek.
The final chapter has been short and bitter.

Battsek was squeezed to a smaller and smaller size by Disney, despite releasing some respectable movies including “The Queen,” “Tsotsi” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”

The studio endured endless rumors of its impending closure. On Oct. 2, Disney announced that “Miramax Films will reduce the number of films it releases annually while consolidating certain of its operations.”

Dick Cook, the former chairman of the studio, told me last summer that while reduced in size, the studio would continue.

But by year-end , Dick Cook was gone, and Rich Ross had taken over. Soon after, Daniel Battsek was gone, too.

Remained the final sweep-up -- the firing of the remnant staff as part of the Ross reboot of the larger Disney studio, focused on a digital future with great, big, global brands.

I asked Harvey Weinstein how he felt on Wednesday. He wrote:

"I'm feeling very nostalgic right now. I know the movies made on my and my brother Bob's watch will live on as well as the fantastic films made under the direction of Daniel Battsek. Miramax has some brilliant people working within the organization and I know they will go on to do great things in the industry."
The Weinsteins have tried to buy the name of their former company back. Disney has not responded. But Bob Iger has made it known that he would be willing to sell Miramax outright -- for about $1.5 billion.

Too rich for the Weinsteins, and probably anybody else.

So on Thursday, one more arthouse film outlet goes away.
Some in this business just can’t believe it.
“I refuse to believe it will go away forever,” said Amanda Lundberg of 42West, who spent eight years of her life at the company.
“I think Miramax is too strong a brand to not exist in some incarnation. Maybe not this year or in five years, but the library is huge and the brand is big. I can’t imagine it will disappear.”
Source URL: http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/rip-miramax-13606

An Excellent Analysis of Live Nation Entertainment

An excellent analysis of the Live Nation-TicketMaster merger by the folks at Backstreets. the original story can be found here:

http://www.backstreets.com/news.html

THINGS WILL GET WORSE, THEY GOT TO GET BETTER…
Talk about your Blue Mondays. On January 25, the U.S. Justice Department’s Anti-Trust Division officially approved a “watered-down” version of the merger between ticket-sales agency Ticketmaster and concert-promoter/venue-owner Live Nation, creating a new company called Live Nation Entertainment. (One of the better initial reports/analyses of the deal can be found here.) In reality, there’s very little “watered down” from the original proposal first made a year ago, which essentially will solidify and strengthen what many considered to be a live-entertainment monopoly already since Pearl Jam et. al. unsuccessfully sought restrictions on Ticketmaster from the Anti-Trust Division back in the ’90s, during the Clinton presidency. Springsteen fans in particular should be appalled that not a single item in the “significant changes” ordered by the Justice Department even pretends to address the blatant conflict of interest that is Ticketmaster’s wholly-owned “secondary ticket market” (legal scalping) subsidiary TicketsNow, the source of so many problems for fans who attempted to buy tickets during the Working on a Dream tour last year.

Speaking of conflicts of interest, one of the other "concessions" that the new company surprisingly did not have to make allows it to keep its artist-management wing, headed by Irving Azoff, to boot. To understand just how anti-artist and anti-fan this move is, just remember that when Springsteen was forced to mount his famous lawsuit against former manager Mike Appel, Bruce's major source of revenue to sustain him and his band through that period came from their live performances. Any artist managed by Ticketmaster could be restrained from repeating such a strategy now, with the new company's increased power to control access to venues, ticket sales, etc. Even if you're an artist who's not directly managed by Azoff, if you don't like any aspect of how you or your audience get treated by Live Nation Entertainment, it now will be even more difficult, if not impossible, to oppose the company's policies and continue to make a living as a professional musician.

This latest action (or, more accurately, inaction) from the Anti-Trust Division comes in spite of the public opposition of many, including Bruce Springsteen, his management and touring organizations, and many of his fans who wrote letters, sent e-mails and/or made phone calls urging the Anti-Trust Division to stop this merger. As Springsteen's official website previously noted, "[T]he one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing." Barring any significant actions from Congress or the President (who still could actively oppose the Anti-Trust Division's ruling if they chose to do so), it looks pretty certain now that we're headed further down that road.

Despite the discouraging news, however, the battle isn't over just yet. Click here for more information.
- January 27, 2010

Live Nation and TicketMaster - Perfect Together?

LOS ANGELES and WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan 25, 2010 -- Live Nation, Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. today announced that they have reached agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and with the Canadian Commissioner of Competition, clearing the way for the merger of the companies. Upon closing, the company will be renamed Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. to reflect the combination of Live Nation's concert promotions expertise with Ticketmaster's world-class ticketing solutions and artist relationships.

Let's face it. For live music they are the only game in town. You know that ticket prices will soar. Oh, not at once...why risk public outcry and government intervention? A gradual increase will do. The Diller machine will make money on both ends of the business. After all of the investigations (like the the NJ State Attorney General's office) they still received approval for the merger. The higher prices will drive away fans of all but the top tier acts. The music business is in for more hard times.

Some Thoughts About the Haiti Telethon

I was quite surprised and impressed with some of the performers last night. Shakira did a great job with I'll Stand By You. She really has a great voice and talent but she overdoes the sexy dancing in her videos. Christina Aguilera delivered a powerful performance. Justin Timberlake singing Leonard Cohen? I was floored! He nailed it! I never expected something like Hallelujah from him. Excellent rendition. Motherless Child by John Legend was another beautiful performance. How about Mary J. Blige's gospel rendition of Hard Times? Great job! Jennifer Hudson's soulful Let It Be was remarkable. Those were the performances I was most impressed with last night.

SAG Award Winners

Read more: http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

Tonight's winners for the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
DANIEL BRÜHL / Fredrick Zoller
AUGUST DIEHL / Major Hellstrom
JULIE DREYFUS / Francesca Mondino
MICHAEL FASSBENDER / Lt. Archie Hicox
SYLVESTER GROTH / Joseph Goebbels
JACKY IDO / Marcel
DIANE KRUGER / Bridget Von Hammersmark
MÉLANIE LAURENT / Shosanna
DENIS MENOCHET / Perrier LaPedite
MIKE MYERS / General Ed French
BRAD PITT / Lt. Aldo Raine
ELI ROTH / Sgt. Donny Donowitz
TIL SCHWEIGER / Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
ROD TAYLOR / Winston Churchill
CHRISTOPH WALTZ / Col. Hans Landa
MARTIN WUTTKE / Hitler

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
SANDRA BULLOCK / Leigh Anne Tuohy - THE BLIND SIDE (Warner Bros)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
JEFF BRIDGES / Bad Blake - CRAZY HEART (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
MO'NIQUE / Mary - PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE (Lionsgate)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
CHRISTOPH WALTZ / Col. Hans Landa - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (Weinstein/Universal)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for Television
MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan - DEXTER (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for Television
JULIANNA MARGULIES / Alicia Florrick - THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Television
MAD MEN (AMC)
ALEXA ALEMANNI / Allison
BRYAN BATT / Salvatore Romano
JARED S. GILMORE / Bobby Draper
MICHAEL GLADIS / Paul Linsey
JON HAMM / Don Draper
JARED HARRIS / Lane Pryce
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS / Joan Holloway (Harris)
JANUARY JONES / Betty Draper
VINCENT KARTHEISER / Peter Campbell
ROBERT MORSE / Bertram Cooper
ELISABETH MOSS / Peggy Olson
KIERNAN SHIPKA / Sally Draper
JOHN SLATTERY / Roger Sterling
RICH SOMMER / Harry Crane
CHRISTOPHER STANLEY / Henry Francis
AARON STATON / Ken Cosgrove

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Television
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon - 30 ROCK (NBC)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for Television
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - 30 ROCK (NBC)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for Television
GLEE (FOX)
DIANA AGRON / Quinn Fabray
CHRIS COLFER / Kurt Hummel
PATRICK GALLAGHER / Ken Tanaka
JESSALYN GILSIG / Terri Schuester
JANE LYNCH / Sue Sylvester
JAYMA MAYS / Emma Pillsbury
KEVIN McHALE / Arty Abrams
LEA MICHELE / Rachel Berry
CORY MONTEITH / Finn Hudson
HEATHER MORRIS / Brittany
MATTHEW MORRISON / Will Schuester
AMBER RILEY / Mercedes
NAYA RIVERA / Santana Lopez
MARK SALLING / Puck
HARRY SHUM JR. / Mike Chang
JOSH SUSSMAN / Jacob Ben Israel
DIJON TALTON / Matt Rutherford
IQBAL THEBA / Principal Figgins
JENNA USHKOWITZ / Tina

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
KEVIN BACON / Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl - TAKING CHANCE (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
DREW BARRYMORE / Little Edie - GREY GARDENS (HBO)

Light of Day Asbury Park, NJ

NY/NJ/PA music fans. Tonight at The Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ: The 10th Annual Light of Day Concert to fight Parkinson's Disease. A great show and a few surprises! Expect the unexpected!

The Devil and Pat Robertson

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/the_devil_writes_pat_robertson.html?sc=fb&cc=fp

Go to the link above for a great read. It's amazing what a creep with a television camera can do.

NINE Lives at the Weinstein Company? Not!

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/weinstein-co-suffers-more-exits-the-411-on-why-nine-was-financial-disaster/#more-22333

According to Nikki Finke above, Nine is going to lose far more than just money. It appears that the Weinsteins have taken over the the job of picking high-priced disaters from the former New Line. The thing about Nine is that it was too expensive for it's niche audience. And even they didn't like it. now the employees will take the hit. Isn't that how it always goes? Read about it at the link above.

Conan Leaves With His Dignity

For those of you who may not have read Conan O'Brien's statement regarding The Tonight Show mess, here it is:

Conan KOs 'Tonight'mare
By CONAN O' BRIEN

Last Updated: 6:52 PM, January 13, 2010

Posted: 4:03 AM, January 13, 2010

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over “The Tonight Show” in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night, and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my “Tonight Show” in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime time by making a change in their long-established late-night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move “The Tonight Show” to 12:05 to accommodate “The Jay Leno Show” at 11:35. For 60 years, “The Tonight Show” has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying “The Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. “The Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t “The Tonight Show.” Also, if I accept this move, I will be knocking the “Late Night” show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with “The Tonight Show,” I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network, but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

A Solution for NBC's Late Night Dilemas!

I had a thought. Why not dig up Johnny and Ed, prop them up in their familar positions and play the audio of old Tonight Shows. It would be ratings dynamite! Of course, when it's time for the interviews, they'd have to exhume Buddy Hackett, Tottie Fields, Jan Murray, Mel Tormé, Dean Martin, Rodney Dangerfield, Groucho, John Wayne, etc. Now NBC would probably go for it, but the costs would run almost as high as what they'll have to pay-off Conan to walk away.

NBC Confirms Leno Cancellation

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni1394613/

Well, the confirmation didn't take long. I guess NBC would prefer to take the one-time contractual expense hits it will cost to make these moves than continue to lose revenue for their affiliates. Click the link above. Oh, and Jeff Z., try The Five O'Clock Club first.

FOX Waves Carrot at Conan

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Fox-Conan-Obrien-1013547.aspx

Looks like FOX is already making overtures to Conan O'Brien. They know where this thing is going. The thing is, most of us saw this coming last May. Read about it at TV Guide. Go to the link above.

Leno Back to Late-Night?

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/01/07/lenos-future-air-rumors-swirl-hes-moving-late-night/

Fox News (for what it's worth) is reporting that Jay Leno could move back to the 11:30 p.m. slot sooner rather than later. Didn't Leno have a two-year "no cancellation" clause in his contract? Of course, anything is negotiable. It seems that while the network was content to lose the 10 p.m. ratings war, the affiliates were not. Max is better with Bruce, anyway. Go to the link above to read more.

FOX, TWC Make Nice

Well, what a surprise. Time Warner Cable and FOX agreed to extend the contract deadline and hammered out a solution that both sides could live with. Terms were not disclosed, but here's the statement:

The Fox Networks Group and Time Warner Cable announced today that they have agreed in principle to a comprehensive distribution agreement to provide more than 13 million households with programming from Fox Television Stations, Fox Broadcasting (FOX), Fox Cable Networks and Fox’s Regional Sports Networks. The deal also includes carriage agreements for Bright House Networks’ 2 million additional subscribers.

"We're pleased that, after months of negotiations, we were able to reach a fair agreement with Time Warner Cable -- one that recognizes the value of our programming,” said Chase Carey, Deputy Chairman, President and COO, News Corporation.

“We’re happy to have reached a reasonable deal with no disruption in programming for our customers,” said Glenn Britt, Chairman, President and CEO, Time Warner Cable.

Ruppert jumps for joy!