Variety.com

Beale nabs NBC int'l production role

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:34:25 EST

International News: Exec was formerly at Alchemy, 12 Yard, BBC -- U.K. independent producer Mike Beale has been tapped by NBC Universal as its veep of international television production.

Italian political talkshows gagged

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:12:37 EST

International News: Berlusconi loyalists silence critics on RAI -- The Italian parliament is clamping down on political talkshows on pubcaster RAI ahead of next month's regional elections.

'Cove' secures Japanese release

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:39:17 EST

International News: Unplugged to distrib controversial documentary -- Controversial nature docu "The Cove" will get a Japan release, Tokyo-based distrib Unplugged announced on Wednesday.

Stan Lee teams up for 'Super Seven'

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:00:00 EST

Comic Book Biz: New print, digital comicbook also set for animated TV series -- Stan Lee's Pow Entertainment has teamed with Andy Heyward's A Squared Entertainment and Archie Comics to create a line of print and digital comicbooks that will also be adapted as an animated TV skein.

Seghatchian to head UKFC fund

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:59:34 EST

International News: Exec was in charge of development coin -- Public funding org the U.K. Film Council has tapped current development fund topper Tanya Seghatchian as the head of its new, unified film fund.

SXSW unveils short films, panels

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:01:00 EST

SXSW News: Michel Gondry, Quentin Tarantino to speak at fest -- South by Southwest, the sprawling movie and music fest that takes over Austin, Texas, for one week each year, has unveiled its list of 2010 film panels and short films.

'Deadliest Catch' captain dies

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:08:00 EST

TV News: Phil Harris was star of Discovery's popular reality series -- The Discovery Channel says the captain of the "Deadliest Catch" fishing vessel Cornelia Marie has died.

Goodman sets 2010-11 sked

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST

Legit News: Season includes new plays by Ruhl, Taylor, Bradshaw -- World premieres from Sarah Ruhl, Regina Taylor and Thomas Bradshaw, plus a reimagining by Mary Zimmerman of "Candide" are among highlights of the 2010-11 season at Chicago's Goodman Theater.

Grosvenor upped at Wonderland

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:27:50 EST

TV News: McG names director of television under Johnson -- McG is expanding his TV exec ranks, upping Jeff Grosvenor to Wonderland's director of television.

AFTRA the deal of choice

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:04:05 EST

Labor Issues: TV producers shun SAG -- AFTRA has clearly become the deal of choice this pilot season, as producers shun SAG -- which once dominated primetime.

Off-Broadway puppets for adults

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:34:33 EST

Legit News: Henson improv 'Unstrung' set for Union Square -- Puppet improv offering "Stuffed and Unstrung," an adult-oriented comedy show from Henson Alternative, will play a 10-week run this spring at Off Broadway's Union Square Theater.

'Stuffed' sets Off Broadway dates

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST

Legit News: Henson Alternative show to play ten-week run -- Puppet improv offering "Stuffed and Unstrung," an adult-oriented comedy show from Henson Alternative, will play a ten-week run this spring at Off Broadway's Union Square Theater.

Freetime Machos

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:59:59 EST

Film Reviews: Pic is an affectionate sendup of stoic northern Finnish manhood.

'Princess' goes Roadside

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:55:33 EST

Film News: Historical Hawaiian film to be released in theaters in spring -- Roadside Attractions has nabbed U.S. distribution rights to the historical biopic "Princess Kaiulani," starring Q'orianka Kilcher.

Survivors

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:26:04 EST

TV Reviews: Proves eminently watchable in an extremely commercial, popcorn-movie kind of way.

NBC lines up Boys and Girls Clubs campaign

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:16:29 EST

Web Exclusive: Public service messages tied to 'Parenthood' launch -- As part of its "Parenthood" launch campaign, NBC has tied in a public service campaign for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Comcast ups marketing trio

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:16:06 EST

Los Angeles: Department under goes restructuring -- Comcast Entertainment has given expanded roles to three marketing execs as part of a departmental restructuring.

Rogen-McAvoy comedy hits Summit

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:01:30 EST

Film News: Studio acquires rights to Jonathan Levine pic -- Summit Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Mandate's Seth Rogen-James McAvoy comedy formerly titled "I'm With Cancer."

ABC orders more 'Dating'

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:59:42 EST

TV Renewals & Rejections: Three men, three women try to find mates with no light -- ABC has ordered another six-episode season of last summer's reality competish, "Dating in the Dark."

Vfx artist plight at issue

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:52:46 EST

Technology News: Blog posting highlights low pay rates, grinding workload -- Though the WGA strike and the dramas among SAG and AFTRA leadership found their way into mainstream media, post-production labor issues rarely enter the consumer press.

R

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:39:25 EST

Film Reviews: As inventors know, good ideas sometimes surface simultaneously in multiple places, and the first to get the patent wins.

MTV leaps into stunt shows

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:28:52 EST

Los Angeles: 'Dudesons,' 'Parkour' get greenlights from network -- MTV is betting TV's next reality sensations are named Jukka, Jarno and Jarppi.

Disney earnings come in flat

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:21:21 EST

Front Page: Underperformers 'Frog,' 'Carol' hurt bottomline -- The Mouse House's ears still looked perky Tuesday as Disney's earnings came in flat in the quarter ended Jan. 2, a period when films like "A Christmas Carol" and "The Princess and the Frog" underperformed and lower attendance at theme parks were expected to hurt the company's bottom line.

Vespa

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:56:20 EST

Film Reviews: Deceptively simple tale is saved by straightforward helming and the thesps' naturalistic perfs.

Vital Signs (Les Signes vitaux)

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:34:02 EST

Film Reviews: Ultra-serious tone sinks Sophie Deraspe's pic under its own gravitas.

The Enchanted Pig

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:15:00 EST

Legit Reviews: The tale of the princess seeking to save the prince offers a gender-reversal twist.

Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:00:49 EST

Legit Reviews: Christopher Durang, master of neurotic urban self-involvement, brings his A game and A+ notion of citizenship.

Happy Now?

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Legit Reviews: It's always a joy to watch other people's marriages crash and burn.

Chris Cornell

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 17:16:25 EST

Music Reviews: Casual was the byword for Chris Cornell's solo acoustic turn at the Troubadour Friday night.

Awake and Sing!

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 17:11:28 EST

Legit Reviews: Set in the Bronx during the Depression, Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing!" gets juiced with some decidedly contemporary and prototypically Chicago-style acting in Amy Morton's production at Northlight Theater.

Within the Whirlwind

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 16:53:58 EST

Film Reviews: Like "Antonia's Line" and "Mrs. Dalloway," Dutch helmer Marleen Gorris' latest cinematic paean to female fortitude places a strong woman at the flashpoint of historical change.

Einsatzgruppen: The Death Brigades (Einsatzgruppen, les commandos de la mort)

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:45:33 EST

Film Reviews: The harrowing two-part, three-hour docu "Einsatzgruppen: The Death Brigades" exhaustively chronicles the lethal work of an SS band charged with exterminating Jews in Russia and the Baltic states before the establishment of the death camps.

Sebbe

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 13:19:48 EST

Film Reviews: A sensitive teenage loner contends with bullies at school and abuse from his stressed-out single mom.

Miyoko (Miyoko asagaya kibun)

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 13:10:28 EST

Film Reviews: Life and obsessions of cult manga artist Shin'ichi Abe fuel Yoshifumi Tsubota's dissatisfying pic.