April 19, 2013
More Emmys: TV academy reverses awards planBy Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A TV miniseries and movie comeback will mean more Emmy Awards than expected at this year’s ceremony.
The TV academy’s board of governors said it’s reversing its 2012 decision to combine lead and supporting acting honors for such projects.
In a statement, the board said that because of the “unanticipated resurgence” of TV miniseries and movies, it had voted to reinstate the separate acting categories.
The board was swayed by a rich field of potential contenders, including Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter in Sundance Channel’s “Top of the Lake” and Ben Whishaw and Dominic West in BBC America’s “The Hour.” The Thursday night decision overturned the consolidation that was to go into effect at this year’s 65th annual Emmy Awards ceremony.
That means instead of the two planned longform acting awards there will be four: best actress and actor and best supporting actress and actor for a miniseries or movie.
At last year’s Emmys, both Kevin Costner and Tom Berenger collected trophies for “Hatfields & McCoys,” with lead acting honors for Costner and a supporting award for Berenger. Such an outcome for this year’s contenders would have been impossible if the TV academy hadn’t reversed course. The result would have been the same for Julianne Moore, who claimed the best actress award for “Game Change,” and Jessica Lange, the supporting actress winner for “American Horror Story,” with one going home disappointed.
The awards will be held Sept. 22 and broadcast by CBS.
Freightopolis Launches Video Campaign OnlineMONTREAL–Freightopolis, a Montreal-based freight management software provider, has released the first video in the series entitled “EVERY DAY” on YouTube. The videos depict fictitious, yet typical examples of freight shipping complications. The video campaign aims to raise awareness of the difficulties during the work day of businesses dealing with transport related issues.
Freightopolis has kept the “EVERY DAY” tone light and humorous in order to better emphasize the need for a solution to the traditional way of freight management. The existing system is burdened with inefficiencies from instance cargo loss to miscommunication between parties and the inability to track a shipment. These are the central themes of the “EVERY DAY” video series. To view the opening video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-hxdYo7LaI
Report: Lawsuit over Lap-Band ads is settled
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A company that promoted Lap-Band weight-loss surgery has agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle a false-advertising lawsuit, with some of the money going to billboards warning the public about the risks of weight-loss surgery, a newspaper reported Thursday.
From 2009 to 2011, five patients died after Lap-Band surgeries at clinics affiliated with the 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The proposed settlement still needs the approval of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman, who asked attorneys at a hearing Thursday to provide more information and resubmit their settlement motion before he gives the deal his OK.
Relatives of two of the dead patients, Ana Renteria and Laura Faitro, filed the lawsuit as a class action in 2011.
The lawsuit sought damages from several companies and two brothers, Michael and Julian Omidi, who court documents said owned and managed Top Surgeons, a weight-loss business.
John Hueston, an attorney for the Omidis, said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
“Under the agreement, our clients … are dismissed without any admission of liability, and made no contribution whatsoever to the settlements,” Hueston said in a statement cited by the Times.
A lawyer for the surgery centers, Konrad Trope, said the action against the facilities was dismissed without admission of liability or financial penalty.
The proposed settlement will be paid only by Top Surgeons, one of the companies behind the GET-THIN operation, the newspaper said. The company did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press.
The lawsuits and other public documents showed that 1-800-GET-THIN was a marketing company that steered patients to a network of outpatient clinics, where thousands of weight-loss surgeries were performed.
The company used dozens of billboards — along with ads on television, radio and the Internet — to promote Lap-Band weight-loss surgery.
Some of the suits alleged that the clinics put profits above patient safety, employing physicians who were unqualified and allowing surgeries to be performed in unsanitary conditions, the Times said.
The proposed deal calls for $100,000 to be spent on billboard advertising throughout Southern California “intended to explain the risks of weight-loss surgery.” The agreement does not specify the language to be used in the ads but says it must be approved by the court.
LulzSec hacker gets prison in Sony Pictures attackLOS ANGELES (AP) — A 25-year-old hacker with the group known as LulzSec was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison and ordered to pay $605,663 in restitution for an attack on Sony Pictures computers that began in late May 2011.
Cody Andrew Kretsinger, who went by the online nickname “recursion,” was also sentenced to a year of home detention and 1,000 hours of community service.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said Kretsinger pleaded guilty last April to the attack, in which hackers breached the Sony Pictures website, stole personal data including the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of tens of thousands of Sony customers and distributed it over the Internet.
Raynaldo Rivera, a 20-year-old who also pleaded guilty to the attack in October, is to be sentenced May 16.
Golden Globes set for Jan. 12, starts award seasonLOS ANGELES (AP) — With the Golden Globes ceremony scheduled for next January, Hollywood’s 2014 awards season is set.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Thursday that the Golden Globe Awards will be presented on Jan. 12.
Awards shows face additional scheduling challenges to avoid overlap with the 2014 Winter Olympics, set for Feb. 7 to 23 in Sochi, Russia.
Globes organizers snatched up the last available weekend in January for the 71st annual ceremony. The Screen Actors Guild Awards are Jan. 18. The Producers Guild of America will hold its awards ceremony on Jan. 19. And the Directors Guild will present its annual honors on Jan. 25.
The 86th annual Academy Awards are set for March 2.
Golden Globe nominations will be announced Dec. 12.
‘Star Wars’ films to come yearly starting in 2015
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Disney is turning “Star Wars” films into an annual summer ritual.
Walt Disney Co. chairman Alan Horn announced Wednesday that the studio would release films set in a galaxy far, far away every year starting in 2015.
The parade of films will start with “Star Wars: Episode VII,” directed by J.J. Abrams.
Horn said the studio will then alternate films in the new “Star Wars” trilogies with spin off films drawn from the same universe.
He made the announcement during a presentation at the movie theater convention CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Disney announced plans to reboot the space franchise after buying Lucasfilm Ltd. last year.
Twitter introduces ads targeted at words in tweets
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter s is introducing a feature that lets advertisers target ads based on words that appear in users’ tweets.
Twitter said in a blog post Wednesday that users won’t see any difference in their use of Twitter and the change doesn’t mean ads will show up more frequently.
Rather, Twitter says this keyword targeting will bring its users ads that are more relevant to them. For example if someone writes a tweet about a band they like, they might see an ad about the band’s upcoming concert nearby.
Twitter is privately held and doesn’t disclose revenue figures. Research firm eMarketer, however, expects the San Francisco company’s worldwide ad revenue to hit $583 million this year. Next year it is expected to grow to nearly $1 billion.
Studio remains in hunt for ‘Snow White’ sequel
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A follow-up to “Snow White and the Huntsman” is moving forward, though it’s still unclear if Kristen Stewart will return as the warrior princess.
Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson says the studio is aiming for a 2015 release on the sequel to last year’s fairy-tale action story.
The movie became overshadowed by headlines surrounding Stewart’s affair with her “Snow White” director, Rupert Sanders. The revelation temporarily broke up Stewart’s romance with “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson, though they later reconciled.
Fogelson said Tuesday at the CinemaCon convention for theater owners in Las Vegas that a sequel is in the works. A studio spokeswoman says no other details are available.
Stewart’s spokeswoman did not immediately return phone and email messages Wednesday about whether the actress would be back for the sequel.
Alloy Digital Acquires Digital Broadcasting Group
NEW YORK–Next generation media company Alloy Digital, LLC, maintaining a portfolio of content brands and proprietary networks, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG), a distributor, creator and producer of premium content and video advertising across digital media platforms. The transaction combine’s DBG’s massive video syndication network with Alloy Digital’s digital distribution network, which includes several popular digital entertainment brands.
DBG brings to Alloy Digital a strong portfolio of in-stream video partners across 2,600 publishers, its proprietary CLiP syndicated video player featuring original daily content programming, and a suite of innovative pre-roll ad units. The joined distribution assets significantly strengthen Alloy Digital’s “all under one roof” vertically integrated capabilities, which encompass its leading owned content brands, which live on multiple dedicated screens with extensive social media reach, as well as talent management, content development, and production across all media platforms.
In addition, the acquisition further bolsters Alloy Digital’s advertiser-focused category offerings across key demographics and existing consumer segments, which currently encompass Women’s Lifestyle, Men’s Lifestyle, Comedy, Entertainment and Gaming. The combined assets also provide Alloy Digital with immediate entry into new category platforms such as Sports, Tech, Health and Travel, as well as extending its market reach beyond its core P12-34 audience. The Alloy Digital Network, which includes owned content brands SMOSH, ClevverTV, Crushable, The Gloss, Gurl, Teen and The Escapist, among other premium partners, reaches more than 90 million consumers monthly, according to ComScore, and counts more than 30 million social media followers across its multiple profiles.
“This acquisition instantly creates a powerhouse modern media company, building on a platform agnostic content and distribution model that reflects the rapid pace of change in consumer media consumption,” stated Matt Diamond, CEO of Alloy Digital. “In a short period of time, Alloy Digital has grown multiple entertainment brands that now reign among the digital generation’s most favored. With the added muscle of DBG’s impressive video and CLiP platform we are further realizing a vision for delivering compelling content directly to both consumers and advertisers and effectively monetizing the value of our top content brands in a new media world.”
DBG CEO and co-founder, Chris Young, along with co-founders Rick Kleczkowski and Joseph Gomes, will join the Alloy Digital leadership team with Young serving as chief marketing officer.
“The combination of our distribution channels and complementary assets creates an even more powerful and diversified media portfolio that delivers innovative brand experiences with unmatched scale,” commented Young. “With growing market demand for contextual video programming and targeted pre-roll, we are energized to bring our clients and partners a nimble new model under Alloy Digital that truly meets any campaign objective and budget.”
Oscar producers Zadan, Meron to return in 2014
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the Oscars again.
The film academy announced Tuesday that it has invited Zadan and Meron to return for the 2014 Academy Awards telecast, and the two producers said they’re honored to come back.
Their first Oscar show featured “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane as host. It drew Oscar’s largest audience since 2010, including more coveted younger viewers.
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Hawk Koch said Zadan and Meron have “the overwhelming support of the Academy’s Governors” to produce the Oscars a second time.
“To establish continuity with this year’s enormously successful show, we felt it was important to give these consummate professionals the green light now to begin creating another great evening,” Koch said.
The duo’s production credits also include “Chicago,” ”Footloose,” ”Hairspray,” ”The Bucket List” and TV’s “Smash.”
There’s no word on whether MacFarlane will also return as host. He said during the run-up to the show that he saw the Oscar job as “a one-time thing.”
Some critics found MacFarlane’s material, which included a song called “We Saw Your Boobs,” juvenile and sexist.
The 2014 Academy Awards are set for March 2.
U.S. Internet ad revenue grows 15 percent in 2012
Barbara Ortutay, Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Internet advertising revenue grew 15 percent to a record $36.6 billion in 2012, with mobile ad revenue growing faster than other types, according to a new report Tuesday.
The report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers said that mobile ad revenue more than doubled from the previous year to $3.4 billion. It accounted for 9 percent of total Internet ad revenue in 2012. In 2011, the $1.6 billion in mobile ad revenue made up 5 percent of the total. Mobile ads represent an area of growth for many companies, including Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. Facebook started showing mobile ads last year.
Research firm eMarketer, which includes more types of mobile ads in its calculations, expects U.S. mobile ad spending to grow 77 percent in 2013 to $7.29 billion from $4.11 billion last year.
Search ads, where Google dominates, still account for nearly half of all online advertising revenue, at $16.9 billion in 2012, according to the report.
The IAB, which represents media and technology companies, releases online advertising revenue numbers each quarter. Management consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers compiles the data based on information from companies that sell advertising on the Internet.
Brian Wieser, analyst at Pivotal Research Group, called the online advertising growth rate “solid” at 15 percent, but noted that “we can clearly see that if we strip out growth from Google and Facebook, the rest of online advertising likely grew by 3.8 (percent).”
“This bodes poorly for conventional Web publishers such as Yahoo, as Google and Facebook are likely to remain as the most dominant sellers of online advertising,” Wieser wrote in an emailed research note.
Tribeca reveals Ephron prize for female filmmakersNEW YORK (AP) — The Tribeca Film Festival has created an award for female filmmakers in honor of the late Nora Ephron.
Tribeca announced the prize on Tuesday, on the eve of its 12th annual festival. The award will be presented to a woman writer or director, the festival said, “who embodies the spirit and vision” of Ephron.
The 71-year-old New York-based Ephron died last year after a lifetime of books, plays and movies, including “When Harry Met Sally…” and “Sleepless in Seattle.”
Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said in a statement that Ephron was “a great friend to the festival” and that she hoped the award “will inspire a new generation of women filmmakers and writers.”
The $25,000 prize is eligible to filmmakers with films premiering in North America at Tribeca.
Motion picture group will emphasize rating details
By Hannah Dreier
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Motion Picture Association of America announced changes to its movie rating system Tuesday, saying it wants to help parents make informed decisions at the multiplex.
The new system, rolled out as the “Check the Box” campaign, will include prominent descriptions explaining why a movie received its rating. Films that might previously have been stamped PG-13 with a sentence beneath the rating will now feature those same descriptions in large type next to the ratings code.
The changes announced by MPAA CEO Christopher Dodd in Las Vegas on Tuesday come in the aftermath of explosions at the Boston Marathon and recent shooting rampages, though the former U.S. senator did not address such examples directly.
The White House has called on the movie industry help parents monitor violence in media since the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., the state Dodd represented for 30 years as a Democrat until 2011. And in a sweeping proposal this year, President Barack Obama asked specifically for a stricter rating system.
Dodd announced the industry’s plan at the annual movie-theater convention CinemaCon and spoke generally about the need to help parents “so they can make the best choices about what movies are right for their children to watch.”
The MPAA began issuing ratings descriptions for every film rated PG or higher in 1990. Those descriptions will now feature more prominently.
One example read, “An intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage, brief strong violence.”
“We’re changing the way they’re presented so that they’re easier to read,” MPAA spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said.
Some observers had hoped Dodd might use his keynote address to signal to the industry that the MPAA would begin assigning R ratings to all hyper-violent movies, potentially limiting their audience and quashing their box office appeal.
Conservative groups have for years accused the MPAA of “ratings creep,” a ratcheting down of ratings in the interest of profits, so that material once considered a PG-13 now gets a PG and what once was an R is now a PG-13.
“I am not moved,” said Tim Winter, the president of nonpartisan Parents Television Council “I think this is a distinction without a difference. A cynical view of the announcement today is, How can the MPAA protect themselves and continue a toxic level of violence, especially in PG-13 movies, while providing themselves cover from all the scrutiny?”
Gun control advocacy groups greeted the announcement with a shrug.
The MPAA will bolster the campaign with a public service announcement that will be shown before movies and posters that will appear in theaters across the country. It will also update its green pre-trailer screens to clarify that the trailer is approved for the audience viewing the main feature.
Kareena says women’s role in Bollywood is changing
NEW DELHI (AP) — Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor says the portrayal of women in Indian cinema is changing and increasingly film directors are creating more meaningful roles for them.
Kapoor says Bollywood has begun portraying women in a more positive manner. Women’s “roles are being written by new and young directors and they are showing that we are not just objects of desire,” she said.
For the most part women lead subservient lives in India, and Bollywood’s portrayal of women is no different. In most Indian films, the female lead’s job is to pout and make the male protagonist look good.
Kapoor was speaking on New Delhi Television channel on Monday after receiving NDTV’s “Entertainer of the Decade” award. She has acted in more than 50 films since joining the film industry in 2000.
Peterhoff named exec creative director at SelectNY
LOS ANGELES– SelectNY, an independent global branding and advertising agency, has hired Fredrik Peterhoff as executive creative director, a new position. He will report directly to Olivier van Doorne, SelectNY’s worldwide creative director, and will be based in the agency’s Los Angeles office.
Peterhoff brings more than 15 years of experience across fashion, luxury, beauty and lifestyle brands to SelectNY. Most recently, he served as creative director of photography for Anthropologie, where he defined the new photography direction across all channels.
Previously, Peterhoff led his own agency, Peterhoffs, where he produced innovative campaigns for fashion-focused brands such as Eli Tahari, Jessica Simpson, Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor. Prior, he was creative director for MD70, a full-service advertising agency focusing on fashion, luxury, beauty and lifestyle brands. He has also served as sr. director of creative services for BCBG Max Azria Group, overseeing as many as 21 fashion and accessory brands.
Ohio county expects interest from baseball movieBy Dan Sewell
CINCINNATI (AP) — The southern Ohio home county of late baseball executive Branch Rickey expects increased interest from his depiction in the movie “42” as the baseball executive who signed Jackie Robinson to break the color line.
The movie, which opened nationally this weekend, tells the story of how Robinson became the first black player in modern Major League Baseball. Actor Harrison Ford portrays Rickey, who decided Robinson was the right player to endure playing amid the harsh prejudice a black man would face.
Rickey was born in southern Ohio in 1881 and is buried there, in Rushtown Cemetery in the community of Rushtown. He is also among those featured on Portsmouth’s Floodwall Murals, colorful artwork stretching along a 20-foot-tall floodwall showing the history and famous figures of the Ohio River city some 100 miles east of Cincinnati.
“It should heighten interest, make people more aware that he was from this area,” said Kim Bauer, executive director of the Portsmouth-Scioto County Visitors Bureau. “And even some people locally will have an ‘aha’ moment. They didn’t realize he was from here. It is something that should heighten interest for people coming to see the murals.”
Among others featured on the murals are star athlete Jim Thorpe, who played for and coached a Portsmouth football team, and singing cowboy movie star Roy Rogers, who was raised near Portsmouth, a city of some 21,000 people. Besides signing Robinson, Rickey is known as a highly successful baseball innovator who also pioneered the farm system approach to developing players in minor league.
Rickey’s home is not open to the public but the cemetery where he is buried is. His gravesite is near Portsmouth, and the Shawnee State University baseball team in the city plays at Branch Rickey Park. The school hosted an advance screening of the movie Thursday evening. Among those attending was Al Oliver, a Portsmouth native who starred for major-league teams including the 1971 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
Oliver said Rickey’s role in opposing segregation is particularly notable for someone who came from the predominantly white Appalachian region that struggled with racism.
“No. 1, most people would not believe that someone from southern Ohio would have been the one to have made that move,” Oliver said Friday.
He credits Rickey’s upbringing and Christian faith for giving him the determination to integrate baseball.
“His spiritual outlook on life was what made him the man he was,” Oliver said of Rickey, while also paying tribute for Robinson for his strength and perseverance to pave the way for the black players who followed. Oliver played baseball in southern Ohio as a boy with Larry Hisle, who also starred in the major leagues. Both are black.
Oliver, a motivational speaker who returned to Portsmouth to live after baseball, is active in supporting a community that fell on hard economic times after the decline decades ago of steelmaking and other industrial employers in the region. He said its strong sports history can be used as a drawing card.
Oliver and fellow local native Gene Bennett, a longtime scout for the Cincinnati Reds, recently testified before an Ohio Legislature committee for a bill by state Rep. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, which would rename part of U.S. 23 the Branch Rickey Memorial Highway, the Portsmouth Daily Times reported.
Oliver, who gave “42” high marks, said renewed attention to Rickey’s historic role for civil rights should be uplifting for the region.
“I think it gives a better perspective on southern Ohio — the people who are from here and the people who live here today,” Oliver said. “Anyone who watches that movie from southern Ohio should take pride, whether you’re black or white. Maybe it will bring all of us just a little bit closer together.”
Weinstein, Chapman welcome baby boyLOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman have added a baby boy to their family.
A spokeswoman for the 61-year-old co-chairman of the Weinstein Co. said Monday that Weinstein and his 37-year-old fashion designer wife welcomed a son Thursday in New York.
Weinstein and the Marchesa co-founder are already parents to a 2-year-old daughter. The Oscar-winning producer of such films as “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Django Unchained” also has three daughters from his previous marriage to Eve Chilton.
Chapman and Weinstein married in 2007.
Google clears another step in EU antitrust caseBy Juergen Baetz
BRUSSELS (AP) — Google has taken another step toward settling a European antitrust investigation focusing on whether the Internet giant is abusing its dominant position of online search and advertising markets.
Google Inc. has submitted a list of remedies in legally binding form to address the concerns voiced by the European Commission, which acts as the 27-nation bloc’s antitrust authority, the body’s spokesman Antoine Colombani said Monday.
He added that they will shortly be put to a market test to see whether they will be sufficient, but declined to elaborate on how long it might still take to reach a settlement in the three-year-old investigation.
The Commission is probing whether Google unfairly favors its own services in its Internet search results. Google’s search engine — the world’s most influential gateway to online information and commerce — enjoys a near-monopoly in Europe.
The major concession offered by Google is widely expected to center on more clearly labeling search results stemming from its own services such as YouTube, Google Maps or its shopping search function.
In addition, Google is supposed to offer remedies on the three other main areas the Commission has criticized. Those centered on how Google displays content from other websites, how it manages the ads appearing next to its search results, and how its actions affect marketers’ ability to buy ads on rival networks.
Both, Google and the Commission, have declined to spell out what remedies the Mountain View, California, company is proposing pending the official announcement of the market test.
Without reaching a settlement — to which both sides are committed — the Commission would likely formally file a case against Google, setting the stage for a lengthy process that could result in the company being fined up to 10 percent of its annual revenue.
The EU Commission has often taken a harder line with U.S. tech companies than its American counterparts, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department. Google settled a similar antitrust complaint on its search business with the FTC in January without making any major concessions on how it runs its search engine.
Separately, major tech companies led by Microsoft last week filed another EU antitrust complaint against Google, alleging the company uses the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system to illegitimately promote its own array of internet services.
Microsoft Corp., which has been a leading player in the complaints against Google, has had its own protracted run-ins with the EU Commission. The Redmond, Washington, company has paid 2.2 billion euros in various fines since investigations began in 1998.
Oscar-winning re-recording mixer Mark Paterson joining Todd-AO
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.–Todd-AO will be adding Academy Award-winning re-recording Mixer Mark Paterson to its creative team in Los Angeles.
Coming fresh off an awards season that saw a clean sweep in the sound mixing category for “Les Miserables” at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs and at the Cinema Audio Society, the U.K.-based Paterson will be looking to Todd-AO to play an important role in shaping and supporting the next stage in his promising career.
Paterson’s Oscar-winning exploits on “Les Miserables” came during his tenure at Goldcrest Post in the U.K.
Of his new roost, Paterson said, “Todd-AO has long been a company I have aspired to be a part of, and it is a real thrill for me to have this opportunity to work side by side with the extraordinary collection of creative talent at both Todd-AO and Soundelux.”
