July 5, 2013

Taiwan director admits China military ruseTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A celebrated Taiwanese film director apologized Wednesday for allowing an award-winning Chinese photographer to use false papers to gain access to a naval base in southern Taiwan while scouting sights for a new feature film.

Niu Chen-zer apologized for his “negligence” in not paying attention to government regulations barring mainland Chinese from entering sensitive military establishments, according to a statement by filmmaker Atom Cinema, the producer of Niu’s “Military Paradise” which is scheduled to begin shooting next month.

“I might have gone overboard in order to make a better film,” Niu said on his Facebook page.

The photographer, Cao Yu, visited the Tsoying Naval Base with a local film crew on June 1, carrying the identity card of a Taiwanese man, according to the Apple Daily newspaper.

Niu did not provide details on how Cao gained access to the base.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. While relations between the sides have improved dramatically under the China-friendly government of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, China still threatens the use of force against the democratic island, and the Taiwanese military remains committed to maintaining strong defenses against a possible Chinese attack.

Cao twice won photography awards from Taiwan’s Golden Horse movie festival, underscoring the close cinematic cooperation between Taiwan and the mainland.

Taiwan’s military originally agreed to assist in the filming of “Military Paradise,” which tells the story of a group of Taiwanese soldiers stationed in the offshore island of Quemoy during the protracted 1958 Chinese bombing campaign against that isolated target. The film stars Taiwan heartthrob Ethan Juan.

But that appears to be changing.

On Wednesday military spokesman Yan Chen-kuo told Taiwanese TV stations the navy would back off from its earlier promise to provide sailors to assist in the filming of “Military Paradise.”

Disney board extends Iger’s CEO and chairman post
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — The Walt Disney Co.’s board wants Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger to stick around a bit longer.

The media conglomerate said Monday that the board extended Iger’s tenure through June 30, 2016, when his contract is due to expire.

Disney noted that the terms of Iger’s contract were not changed.

Prior arrangements had Iger, 62, remaining CEO until April 1, 2015, and then as executive chairman for another 15 months to help in the transition to Disney’s next CEO.

The move delays that succession and gives more time for Iger to oversee the integration of “Star Wars” creator Lucasfilm, which Disney acquired last year for $4.06 billion.

Iger has been CEO since September 2005, leading Disney through a major business expansion.

In addition to the acquisition of Lucasfilm, Iger’s tenure has included the acquisition of the Marvel and Pixar movie studios, the expansion of the Disney Channel overseas and the launch of theme park additions.

In May the company reported a 32 percent jump in net income for the January-March quarter, aided by revenue gains at Disney’s parks and movie studio.

NBC announces sequel to ‘The Bible’ miniseriesLOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC says it will air a sequel to the hit cable miniseries “The Bible.”

The network said Monday that it will join with producer Mark Burnett and his actress-wife, Roma Downey, on the sequel. Burnett and Downey produced “The Bible” for the History channel.

Downey starred in “Touched by an Angel” and also played Jesus Christ’s mother, Mary, in the miniseries that aired earlier this year.

NBC says the sequel has the working title “A.D.: Beyond the Bible” and will open in the days following Christ’s death.

Casting and an air date haven’t been announced.

Burnett’s producing credits include the NBC series “The Voice” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Nigerian woman launches entertainment TV network
By Michelle Faul
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A woman who could be considered Africa’s Oprah Winfrey is launching an entertainment network that will be beamed into nearly every country on the continent with programs showcasing its burgeoning middle class.

Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu wants EbonyLife TV to inspire Africans and the rest of the world, and change how viewers perceive the continent. The network’s programming tackles women’s daily life subjects — everything from sex tips to skin bleaching.

“Not every African woman has a pile of wood on her head and a baby strapped to her back!” the glamorous Abudu, 48, told The Associated Press from a hotel’s penthouse floor against a backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and high-rise buildings flanked by palm and almond trees.

“We watch Hollywood as if all of America is Hollywood,” she said. “In that same vein we need to start selling the good bits of Africa.”

Months of work to provide original content includes the flagship program “Sistaz!” about two Greek-Nigerian sisters and a British-born Nigerian friend who check into the Eko Hotel for a holiday reunion and rediscover the passion of sisterhood and the vibrant city of Lagos.

“It helps show that you can go to Africa for a holiday, you can go to Nigeria on holiday, you can go to Lagos” and enjoy a vacation, Abudu said of the much-maligned Nigerian financial capital that is much improved since the country transitioned from military dictatorship to civilian rule in 1999.

The characters are as cosmopolitan as Abudu, a tall and elegant woman with sculpted cheekbones. She was born in London, came to Nigeria when she was a youngster and returned to Britain after her father died when she was 12. She returned to settle when she married a Nigerian at age 28.

Once her children were in their teens, Abudu, a former executive with the oil giant Exxon-Mobil, abandoned a 20-year career in human resources in 2006 to become a self-taught television talk show host. “Moments with Mo” became the first syndicated daily talk show on African regional TV and also is aired in Britain on a Sky TV channel.

She has interviewed celebrities from Hillary Rodham Clinton, former African presidents F. W. de Klerk of South Africa and John Kufuor of Ghana, former England soccer skipper Rio Ferdinand, musician R. Kelly and American fashion icon Diane Von Furstenberg.

A telling moment for Abudu came she was standing at London’s Marble Arch and decided, on a whim, to ask people what came to their minds when they heard the word Africa.

The answers ranged from Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s dictatorial ruler of 33 years, the British charity Oxfam and famine to babies with flies on their faces. “The nicest thing I heard was ‘sunshine,'” said an appalled Abudu.

Years later, she is setting out to transform that vision by shining a bright light on the so-called “dark continent’s” riches — its super-talented young entrepreneurs, fabulous art scene, up-and-coming fashion designers, provocative authors and sassy musicians.

One program is hosted by rhythm and blues artist Banky W and singer-songwriter Tiwa Savage. Their first program discusses why more and more Nigerian women are bleaching their skins and whether men prefer lighter-skinned black women.

So the network will not ignore some of the darker sides of Africa’s realities, though Abudu promises “a different reality.”

It will feature a specially commissioned movie, “New Horizons,” from award-winning filmmaker Tope Oshin Ogun that bares the plight of women across the continent subjected to domestic abuse, a prevalent crime that is not often addressed.

And radio host Oreka Godis stars in “Love Lounge,” where she will ask the cheeky questions for which she is known of sexologists, life coaches and psychotherapists.

While Nollywood movies also are notorious for often poor quality, though this is improving, Abudu aims for the highest quality in a network she hopes will eventually be broadcast beyond Africa to the millions in the diaspora.

“What we say is ‘Everything you think you know about Africa is about to change,'” Abudu said. 

Tribune to acquire 19 TV stations for $2.73BCHICAGO (AP) — Tribune Co. said Monday that it reached a deal to buy Local TV Holdings LLC’s 19 TV stations for $2.73 billion in cash, significantly boosting its television business as it looks to sell its newspaper operations.

Tribune currently owns 23 TV stations and cable network WGN America, along with the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers. It says the deal will make it the country’s largest commercial TV station owner with 42 stations.

Tribune Co. said it expects the deal to boost its profits immediately and result in more than $100 million in annual cost savings within five years. Local TV’s holdings include stations in Denver, Cleveland, St. Louis and other major cities.

Meanwhile, the Chicago company said the increased scale will help it maximize its national and local advertising sales, while also giving it a larger footprint to distribute its video and digital content.

“This is a transformational acquisition for Tribune — it makes us the No. 1 local TV affiliate group in America, expands the distribution platform for our high-quality video content, and extends the reach of our digital products to new audiences across the country,”  Tribune Co. President and CEO Peter Liguori said in a statement.

Tribune Co. is trying to sell its newspapers to focus on its more profitable broadcasting operations. The newspaper sale is being done at the behest of a group of lenders that took over the Tribune as part of a bankruptcy reorganization.

The newspapers have been hurt by a shift that has driven more readers and advertisers to the Internet and mobile devices. The downturn in print advertising was one of the factors that caused Tribune Co. to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008. It emerged from court oversight at the end of 2012.

Other traditional newspaper companies are also adding TV stations. Last month, Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today, announced plans to buy TV station owner Belo Corp. for about $1.5 billion. If approved, the all-cash deal will make Gannett the fourth-largest broadcast group in the U.S.

Local TV is principally owned by private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners.

The deal, which remains subject to antitrust and Federal Communications Commission approvals, is expected to close by the end of 2013. Tribune Co. said it has received committed financing of up to $4.1 billion and expects the deal will be financed through a combination of debt financing and cash on hand.

Facebook is pulling ads from racy, violent pages
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook is pulling ads from pages that contain violence or sexual content.

The social network said that on Monday, it will expand its definition of pages and groups that are too controversial to carry advertisements.

Facebook has sought to strike a balance between giving its 1.1 billion users the freedom to post what they want and providing advertisers with space to sell their products.

In May, Facebook Inc. lost more than a dozen advertisers, at least temporarily, after the activist group Women, Action and the Media urged an advertising boycott to protest hate speech on the Facebook site. The controversial content included grisly photos and mottos that encouraged rape, abuse and other violence against women.

The company said then that it would review its guidelines, update training for employees and increase accountability for those who post such matter. It also said it would work more closely with women’s groups. Some of the companies that initially pulled their ads — including automaker Nissan and the car-sharing service Zipcar — said then that they were pleased with Facebook’s response.

Facebook had already banned ads on certain pages. The new policy will expand on the categories affected by the ban. In the past, a company selling adult-theme products could have ads running on the right side of the page, for instance. Those pages will be ad-free starting Monday.

“We recognize we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial Pages and Groups,” the company said in a statement Friday. “So we are taking action.”

Facebook will continue to remove entire pages if they are deemed to violate its terms of service. The new policy covers pages that are permitted, but controversial.

Facebook said the new restrictions won’t have a meaningful impact on its business.

Late film critic Ebert honored for columns
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Late movie critic Roger Ebert has been honored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Ebert, who worked at the Chicago Sun-Times for more than 40 years, took first place for online columns or blogs on large websites in the NSNC’s annual column contest. The group held its annual conference Saturday in Hartford, Conn.

Ebert died earlier this year at age 70, after a long battle with cancer.

The day before his April 4 death, he wrote in a post on his blog that he was taking a break from his schedule of almost-daily movie reviewing because cancer had recurred.

He won national fame teaming with fellow film critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune in 1975 for a television show that had them each give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating to the latest releases.

Film academy invites 276 people to join its ranksLOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Lopez, Lena Dunham, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lucy Liu have received one of the most exclusive invitations in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that it has invited them, and 272 others, to join its ranks.

Other invitees include Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, “Machete” star Danny Trejo, “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig and “Before Midnight” writer-star Julie Delpy.

All 16 branches of the film academy extended invitations to new members, from hairstylists and sound engineers to producers and publicists.

Those who accept the invitations will be able to vote on the recipients of the next Academy Awards, set for March 2, 2014.

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