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Archive for January 29th, 2009

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

THURSDAY JANUARY 29, 2009

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

HBO has ordered a half-hour pilot script and set Ellen Barkin to star in and exec produce the untitled project. TV series would be the first for the actress. The script will be written by Shauna Cross, who scripted Drew Barrymore’s upcoming directorial debut “Whip It!” Story revolves around a woman famous for her high-profile marriage who divorces and re-enters the singles market and finds herself developing a close, platonic bond with the 24-year-old son of her ex-husband.

Universal will add a new chapter to “The Thing,” lining up another take on the paranoid horror classic most recently brought to the screen by John Carpenter in 1982. Studio has set “Battlestar Galactica” exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining. New project borrows heavily from the John W. Campbell Jr. short story “Who Goes There,” the basis of the Carpenter film and 1951 Howard Hawks original “The Thing From Another World.” It is set in a Norwegian camp and chronicles how the shape-shifting alien was first discovered and overcame the inhabitants of that camp. Strike Entertainment’s Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing.

Fox Atomic has snapped up comedy spec “The Sitter” by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka. Script, described as a cross between “Superbad” and “Adventures in Babysitting,” sparked a heated bidding war Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Paramount seemed to have the advantage, but infighting between Vantage and the parent studio may have torpedoed the studio’s efforts. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura was attached to one of the Par bids. Instead, Michael De Luca is producing for Atomic.

Imagine is going back to its roots, developing a TV version of its 1980s theatrical “Parenthood” for NBC. Peacock has greenlighted a pilot for “Parenthood,” which is being adapted for TV by “Friday Night Lights” writer-exec producer Jason Katims. The new “Parenthood” has been created as an hourlong comedy-drama, and will retain the tone of the movie — but with new characters, and with storylines that center on the modern challenges that come with raising kids in this post-Facebook, post-iPod world. Katims will exec produce “Parenthood” along with Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

“Gladiator” scribe William Nicholson is dusting off his sword and sandals to write “1066,” about the confrontation between England’s King Harold and William, Duke of Normandy, for control of the English throne. William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings, and the Norman takeover of England, earned him the moniker William the Conqueror. It was the last successful hostile invasion of the country. It’s the first pic greenlit by Shine Pictures, the joint venture set up in July between Shine Group’s Kudos Pictures and New Regency.

PROJECT UPDATES

ABC is in talks to pick up the orphaned Bob Saget sitcom “Surviving Suburbia.” The comedy from Media Rights Capital was set to bow this March as part of MRC’s Sunday-night block on the CW. But those plans were scrapped after the CW reclaimed the night and terminated its pact with MRC in November. Production nonetheless continued on the 13 episodes of “Surviving Suburbia,” with MRC shopping the show to nets since then. Kevin Abbott (“Reba”) exec produces the laffer, along with Acme Prods.’ Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis. “Suburbia” revolves around Keith and Anne Stevers and their two children, all of whose lives are upended when they get new next-door neighbors.

One month after Disney decided to pull the plug on co-financing the third movie in Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series, Walden has found a new partner in 20th Century Fox. Fox, which was entitled to first crack at “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” after Disney dropped out because of the shared Fox Walden marketing and distribution label, has made a commitment to develop the project. The two sides are still working out budget and script issues, but the hope is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

Amanda Seyfried will topline Myriad Pictures’ adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s comedy “A Woman of No Importance” opposite Annette Bening and Sean Bean. Donald Zuckerman’s producing and Bruce Beresford’s directing from Howard Himelstein’s script.

The U.S. film adaptation of “Astro Boy,” the iconic 1960s Japanese toon about a robot boy and his scientist “father,” is back on track after producer Imagi Entertainment temporarily suspended production. The company’s U.S. prexy, Erin Corbett, said Tuesday that the company had to shut down its U.S. operations for a week because bridge financing hadn’t come through on time. The coin, however, is now in place and will carry the company until funding from private equity companies arrives Tuesday.

ABC is going for a “Threesome.” The network has handed a pilot order to a comedy from “Family Guy” alum Ricky Blitt. The multi-camera project, produced by Warner Bros. TV, centers on a thirtysomething guy who hasn’t quite grown up. He finds himself torn between his needy best friend and the newfound love of his life and her teen kids.

BUSINESS NEWS

AOL is the latest big media player to set layoffs, informing staff Wednesday of a 10% trim to its 7,000-strong ranks. The chief reasons for the cuts are a steep downturn in ad revenue — pegged by chief Randy Falco in the “hundreds of millions” — and the cost of restructuring the company to increase its competitive edge. The layoffs, which will take place over the next several quarters, will also be accompanied by a merit-raise freeze. Cuts to domestic employees, who comprise the vast majority of the company’s global workforce, are projected to conclude by the end of March.

Overture and The Film Department could be the latest minimajor and production company to hook up. The Liberty Media production/distribution company has finalized an agreement to release “Law Abiding Citizen” from Mark Gill and Neil Sacker’s Film Dept., and the two outfits have been in talks for a broader distribution pact that would put a number of Film Department titles into the Overture pipeline. Details are still being hammered out, but if terms can be reached, a pact would allow Film Department titles to capitalize on the full range of Overture platforms, which includes its theatrical releasing arm, home video label Anchor Bay and a TV output deal with Overture sister company Starz.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Telepictures Prods. has upped David Decker to exec VP, business and legal affairs. Formerly operating under a senior VP title, Decker will continue to oversee business and legal affairs, finance and administration for the Warner production arm. He reports to Estey McLoughlin for Telepictures and to Ken Werner, president, Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution.

Paramount Worldwide Acquisitions Group has tapped former New Line exec Alexandra Rossi as its London-based group VP and Televisa’s Mineko Mori as its Mexico-based group director. Rossi previously spent 10 years as VP of European acquisitions and production for New Line before it was shuttered last year by Warner Bros. She will be responsible for securing acquisitions for distribution as well as exploring local European co-productions.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Despite the firing of Doug Allen and Tuesday’s resumption of contract talks with the congloms, the Screen Actors Guild’s threatened strike remains alive — at least on SAG’s website, which still sports a list of 6,000 members who support a strike authorization. As of early Wednesday, SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers had not announced officially when they would meet to hammer out a deal. But later in the day, they agreed on Tuesday and Wednesday dates.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.pettube.com/

Longtime TV producer Bill Bracken has discovered web audiences’ endless fascination with cuddly, silly or stupid pet tricks. This site was launched on Sept. 2007 on a shoestring budget as way to make use out of animal-themed clips in the library of Brad Lachman Productions, which has been producing shows and specials on linear TV for 25 years. (Bill says he got the idea for the site when he stumbled upon a clip of Einstein The Talking Parrot someone had posted from one his shows on YouTube that had garnered over 1 million views.) It follows your basic video sharing template, with some simple interactive and social networking features thrown in for good measure. With no publicity and little marketing efforts, the site managed to serve over 2 million videos during the past two months, including views via PetTube channels on YouTube, Metacafe and MySpaceTV. PetTube has yet to generate much revenue, according to Mr. Bracken, but it has proved to be an effective tool to market the company’s core product – licensed TV clips. Yet with a little web 2.0 ingenuity, PetTube could prove to be a valuable brand in its own right. Find sponsors for those videos and syndicate them out to anyone and everyone who wants to add a little cuteness to their site. Local TV station sites have experienced some of their highest video view numbers to date from pet themed clips.