June 3, 2011
Rihanna defends video, says victims need a voice
By Mesfin Fekadu
NEW YORK (AP) – Rihanna is defending her latest music video, which opens with a man being shot in the head.
“Man Down,” which premiered Tuesday on BET, is a song about a girl who shoots her abuser in public. The video also portrays sexual assault.
On Tuesday, the Parents Television Council called the clip “disturbing” and asked BET to stop airing it.
But on Thursday’s “106 & Park,” BET’s music video countdown show, Rihanna said the video is “art with a message.”
“We just wanted to hone in on a very serious matter that people are afraid to address, especially if you’ve been victimized in this scenario,” Rihanna said.
BET says it will continue to play the video, explaining that the network “has a comprehensive set of standards and guidelines that are applied to all of our content” and that Rihanna’s video “complied with these guidelines and was approved for air.”
MTV hasn’t played the video. A MTV representative said they’re “in the process of reviewing the video.”
Rihanna, who was attacked by then-boyfriend Chris Brown in February 2009, says she doesn’t agree with violence.
Brown attacked Rihanna on the eve of the Grammys two years ago. He pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
“I’ve been abused in the past and you don’t see me running around killing people in my spare time,” she said.
But the 23-year-old says rape happens too often and those victims need a voice.
“If I can be a voice for so many that aren’t heard, then I win twice,” she said.
The “Man Down” clip was directed by Anthony Mandler, who has directed other Rihanna videos.
The Grammy winner says she didn’t intend to make a controversial music video. She was hoping to display her acting skills and create “something raw and artistic.”
The video for “Man Down” has not yet appeared on iTunes. A rep for iTunes said that decision is up to the label.
An email seeking comment from Rihanna’s record label went unreturned Thursday.
Online: http://www.rihanna.com
NBC to bring back ‘Fear Factor’
LOS ANGELES (AP) – NBC is reviving “Fear Factor,” the reality show that boasted challenges ranging from daring to gross.
“Fear Factor” aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 with host Joe Rogan. The network said Thursday it’s ordered new episodes but didn’t announce an air date or whether Rogan would return.
“Fear Factor” contestants, supervised by Hollywood stunt coordinators, will face challenges that test their endurance and mental resolve, NBC said.
In the original series, challenges also included eating bugs or other unusual menu items. The contestant who wins the final challenge takes home the prize, NBC said.
The network didn’t specify if the prize would be more than the $50,000 awarded in the original “Fear Factor.”
Jimmy Fallon is new face, voice of studio tour
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) – Jimmy Fallon has written a love song to the Universal Studios Tour.
Fallon wrote the tune, titled “Tram-tastic,” as part of his role as the tour’s new face and voice. Besides the song, the NBC late-night host created a series of video commentaries for the attraction.
Fallon, who describes himself as a big fan of the Universal tour, visited the studio Thursday with guitar in hand to perform his new song.
The Universal Studios Tour gives those dreaming of a show business career an “awesome” opportunity to peek inside back-lot life, he said.
Fallon said his goal is to add more fun and visitor participation to the tour.
NBC and Universal Studios are part of NBC Universal.
NBC hires ex-NPR chief Schiller as digital officer
By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – NBC News is hiring former National Public Radio chief Vivian Schiller, who left this year in the midst of a political controversy, to run its digital operation.
Schiller resigned under pressure as NPR president and CEO earlier this year after a conservative activist caught a former NPR fundraiser calling the tea party movement racist. NPR’s management was also criticized last year for how it handled commentator Juan Williams’ firing.
At NBC, Schiller will oversee the company’s websites and mobile phone venture. She is filling the newly created position of chief digital officer. Before joining NPR, Schiller was general manager of The New York Times website and helped run the Discovery Times channel.
NBC News President Steve Capus said Thursday that Schiller’s unpleasant ending at NPR had no effect on the consideration of her for the NBC job.
“The only aspect of the NPR experience that came into play is that, by all accounts, she took a radio network and turned it into a brilliant multi-platform organization, and she did the same thing with the newspaper website when she worked at The New York Times,” Capus said. “That’s why she got the digital job at NBC News.”
He raved about NPR’s tablet app and said Schiller was one of the top news executives working in the digital area.
Besides the general news site MSNBC.com, NBC News has new digital properties in EducationNation.com and theGrio.com, the latter a site devoted to news particularly affecting black Americans. NBC is also planning other targeted news sites, though Capus would not provide any details about them.
“We have a lot going on in the digital space and brilliant people running them,” he said. “I just needed an executive to pull it all together.”
Valiant to bring its characters back to comics
By Matt Moore, Business Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Valiant Comics will return to shops in 2012 after the company that owns it and its stable of 1,500 characters said Thursday that it had named a new chairman and expanded its management team.
Valiant Entertainment, based in New York, said that former Marvel chief executive and vice chairman Peter Cuneo was named chairman of the company, which was co-founded by Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani. It also said that it had received an infusion of capital from Cuneo & Co. LLC, a private investment firm focused on consumer products, media and entertainment. Cuneo is managing principal of the group.
Gavin Cuneo, also of Cuneo & Co., was named to Valiant’s board of directors.
“Peter’s decade of leadership at Marvel, Gavin’s decade of experience on Wall Street and their highly active roles with Valiant will be integral to our expansion,” Kothari said.
Gavin said there is a “great opportunity in today’s comic book industry for the emergence of a brand that combines the power of a strong legacy with a first-class creative and business team.”
Valiant was founded in 1989 by Jim Shooter, a former editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, and was home to several of the industry’s best-known writers and artists, including Frank Miller, Bryan Hitch, Neal Adams, Barry Windsor Smith, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennish as well as current Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada and DC Comics’ co-publisher Jim Lee.
During its heyday, Valiant sold 80 million comics with characters such as Shadowman, Armorines and Ninjak. It was later acquired by videogame maker Acclaim Entertainment, which used the characters for its games before it went out of business in 2005.
Kothari said that, initially, the company will focus on “nine or 10 of Valiant’s most popular characters,” including Harbinger, Bloodshot and X-O Manowar.
“These are the characters that made fans fall in love with Valiant in the first place, so that’s where we’re going to start,” he said. “They will be new and fresh but very familiar.”
“We have been planning the reintroduction of the Valiant titles for some time and I’m excited to announce our scheduled launch for 2012,” said Shamdasani. “Cutting-edge characters and stories were the core tenants of the original Valiant and are the core tenants of the new Valiant.”
Kothari said writers and artists are being lined up for the return, though he would not drop any names.
“Valiant’s been fortunate enough to have some of the industry’s top creative talents involved in the genesis of its comics and characters,” he said. “We can’t say just yet who will be involved with which comic, but we think fans will be excited as we announce the people who will be working with us and collaborating on the next chapter in the Valiant story.”
Noting the success of superheroes beyond the printed page – particularly in theaters – and the proliferation of different types of media, Valiant characters aren’t likely to stay in comic books, either.
“That’s definitely a goal. Comics come first, but because we’re re-launching classic characters in an era of vast media choices, fans can expect to see the same versions of the Valiant characters they love everywhere – in comics, games, digital media, and movies,” he said.
Online: http://www.valiantentertainment.com
‘Glee’ star Jane Lynch chosen to host Emmy Awards
NEW YORK (AP) – Get out the megaphone: “Glee” star Jane Lynch will be hosting the Emmy Awards.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Thursday that Lynch will host “The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards” honoring excellence in prime-time TV. The ceremony will be held at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and will air Sept. 18 on Fox.
Lynch stars as a megaphone-wielding cheerleading coach who bullies students on the hit Fox series about a high school glee club.
The actress says she’s “tickled pink” to be chosen as Emmy host. The awards show will be executive produced by Mark Burnett of “Survivor” and “Celebrity Apprentice” fame.
The 50-year-old Lynch has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as Sue Sylvester on “Glee.”
Disney CEO defends use of 3-D in movies
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) – Disney CEO Bob Iger defended the use of 3-D in movies Thursday, after several movies received less of their tickets sales from 3-D screenings than previously.
Iger told the D: All Things Digital conference that it’s “way too early to write 3-D’s epitaph.”
His comments come after stock analysts noted that The Walt Disney Co.’s fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s second “Kung Fu Panda” movie generated around 40 percent of their revenue from 3-D screenings, compared with about 60 percent for earlier films.
Some analysts trimmed estimates on DreamWorks and 3-D technology company RealD Inc. as a result.
Iger qualified his remarks to say that 3-D has to be used in the right way creatively and technologically to meet the demands of savvy moviegoers.
Greg Grunberg appears in pal JJ Abrams’ ‘Super 8’
By Lauri Neff
NEW YORK (AP) – Greg Grunberg is revealing that he has a small role in “Super 8,” the latest film from his longtime friend J.J. Abrams.
Grunberg previously said only that he’d beg for a part in the film. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday that people will have to “really, really search to find me” as he portrays a sitcom actor in “Super 8.”
Grunberg and Abrams have been friends since kindergarten. Grunberg starred in Abrams’ home movies growing up and has appeared in most of his professional films and TV shows, including “Felicity,” ”Alias,” ”Lost” and “Star Trek.”
Grunberg says of Abrams: “He calls me his lucky charm.”
Grunberg stars in the comedy “Love Bites,” which premieres on NBC Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern.
‘Avatar’ gets top billing at Seattle museum
By Donna Gordon Blankship
SEATTLE (AP) – A music and popular culture museum in Seattle is banking on fans of the Oscar-winning film “Avatar” to take in a new exhibit on how director James Cameron brought Pandora and its inhabitants to the big screen.
The exhibit at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame opens at noon Saturday after a Friday event featuring Cameron, some of the movie actors and Richie Baneham, who won the Academy Award for best visual effects.
The goal is to educate and entertain, but not go so deeply into the “Avatar” world that it resembles an amusement park, museum associate curator Brooks Peck said. It will be the first of its kind to showcase artwork and props from the blockbuster film.
The exhibit at the museum – built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen – should also appeal to people interested in the science and technology behind movie making and set design. Anyone who heads straight to the interactive displays when they visit a museum may be surprised by how much of a taste they will get of how the movie and the world of Pandora were created.
Visitors can try a virtual camera, like the one Cameron used, to see how the motion capture filming of the actors fit in with the virtual world created on computers. The gadget was created especially for the exhibit, which took more than a year to develop, Peck said.
Another interactive allows visitors to take the place of an actor from the film using motion capture technology. Cameron “directs” the guest actor in a scene and afterward they can watch themselves and their avatar on a video screen and post a copy on YouTube.
The main part of the exhibit experiences night and day with the lighting cycling back and forth about every 20 minutes. Tendril-like light tubes hang from the ceiling and change colors as the time switches.
The 40 artifacts on display from the film – which is a combination of live action and animation – include the skeletal robot weapon or “Amplified Mobility Platform” used as a weapon in the film and the motion-capture suit worn for filming by one of the actors. The robot is only 13.5 feet tall in real life but everything in the movie is larger than human scale and the exhibit illustrates this fact with a giant backpack and some giant shoes just waiting for a giggling 4-year-old to try on.
The exhibit is populated with the original sketches and models of the Na’vi people and creatures that guided the animators, from models of the heads of the main characters to intricate, feather-and-bead covered head pieces and necklaces,
Some of the art is used as a basis for two other interactive modules: a create-your-own Pandora plant station and a large touch screen library of hundreds of drawings and short films.
One of the coolest parts of the exhibit is located before the entrance: a large screen showing what appears to be a film of the Na’vi forest, but when visitors step closer, they’ll be able to interact with the playful “woodsprites” floating around. Peck said he hopes this screen will keep people entertained if they have to wait to get into the exhibit.
A few steps back from the exhibit, clips from the movie will loop on the EMPs giant screens along with clips from other science fiction flicks.
The exhibit is expected to travel to other museums in the United States and Canada – the EMP is in talks with museums in Canada, Chicago and the East Coast – but not until it finishes its run in Seattle in late 2012.
Cameron brought the idea for the exhibit directly to Allen a few years ago and asked if he wanted to work together to bring the world of Pandora to the public, EMP spokeswoman Anita Woo said. The exhibit was created in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Woo said Cameron was involved throughout development.
The museum won’t have timed entries or an extra charge to see the Avatar exhibit. Visitors will have access to all the museum’s exhibits including a recently opened retrospective on Nirvana and Seattle’s grunge music scene.
Tenn. passes Web entertainment theft bill
By Lucas L. Johnson II
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – State lawmakers in country music’s capital have passed a groundbreaking measure that would make it a crime to use a friend’s login – even with permission – to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix or Rhapsody.
The bill, now awaiting the governor’s signature, was pushed by recording industry officials to try to stop the loss of billions of dollars to illegal music sharing. They hope other states will follow.
The legislation was aimed at hackers and thieves who sell passwords in bulk, but its sponsors acknowledge it could be employed against people who use a friend’s or relative’s subscription.
While those who share their subscriptions with a spouse or other family members under the same roof almost certainly have nothing to fear, blatant offenders – say, college students who give their logins to everyone on their dormitory floor – could get in trouble.
“What becomes not legal is if you send your user name and password to all your friends so they can get free subscriptions,” said the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Gerald McCormick.
Under the measure, download services that believe they are getting ripped off can go to law enforcement authorities and press charges.
The bill expands an existing law used to prosecute people who steal cable television or leave restaurants without paying for their meals. It adds “entertainment subscription service” to the list of services protected by the law.
Tennessee would become the first state to update its theft-of-cable laws for the 21st century and address the new trend toward Internet delivery of entertainment, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
“I think it’s stupid,” college student Josh Merbitz said of the law. The 20-year-old music education major at Middle Tennessee State University said he watches Netflix movies online using the password of his friend’s father, with the father’s permission.
Stealing $500 or less of entertainment would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,500. Theft with a higher price tag would be a felony, with heavier penalties.
Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday that he hasn’t yet reviewed the bill but expressed support for steps to reduce music piracy, citing the large record industry presence in Nashville.
“I don’t know enough about that legislation, but if it’s combating that issue, I would be in favor of it,” Haslam said.
The recording industry, a major taxpayer in Tennessee, loses money when users share accounts for music services instead of paying separately.
Mitch Glazier, executive vice president of public policy for the RIAA, said the bill is a necessary protective measure as digital technology evolves. The music industry has seen its domestic revenue plunge by more than half in 10 years, from $15 billion to $7 billion, he said.
Bill Ramsey, a Nashville lawyer who practices both entertainment law and criminal defense, said that he doubts the law would be used to ban people in the same household from sharing subscriptions, and that small-scale violations involving a few people would, in any case, be difficult to detect. But “when you start going north of 10 people, a prosecutor might look and say, ‘Hey, you knew it was stealing,'” Ramsey said.
Music industry officials said they usually catch people who steal and resell logins in large quantities because they advertise.
Among the measure’s critics is public defender David Doyle, who said the wording is too vague and overly broad. He said an “entertainment subscription” could be interpreted to mean a magazine subscription or a health club membership.
Kelly Kruger, an 18-year-old aerospace major at Middle Tennessee State University, said she likes to watch Netflix movies online in her dorm by logging in with her mother’s account information. Kruger said she hands out the login information to friends who don’t live with her.
Even with a law against it, “I think people will keep doing it, like illegal downloading,” Kruger said.
Reese Witherspoon to receive MTV Generation Award
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Reese Witherspoon better make some room on her trophy shelf.
MTV says Witherspoon will receive its Generation Award at Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards.
The 35-year-old Oscar winner is being recognized for her range as an actress and for delighting the MTV audience throughout her career. MTV President Stephen Friedman called Witherspoon “one of the most versatile and accomplished performers of her time.”
“Saturday Night Live” star Jason Sudeikis will host Sunday’s ceremony at the Gibson Amphitheater, where Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Steve Carell, Shia LaBeouf, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Selena Gomez and Nicki Minaj are among those set to present the prizes.
Fans voted online for the winners in categories such as best kiss, best villain and best line from a movie. MTV chose Witherspoon, who joins previous Generation Award winners Sandra Bullock, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey.
Sunday’s show will also feature a first-look at footage from the latest “Twilight” installment, “Breaking Dawn, Part 1.”
Online: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2011/
FTC, Colo. sue over promissory notes infomercials
DENVER (AP) – Colorado and federal officials are suing a company that runs infomercials offering to teach people how make money in the promissory notes business.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on Tuesday announced the lawsuit against Westminster-based Dalbey Education Institute, formerly known as America’s Note Network. The company markets its products in infomercials that have featured actor Gary Collins.
Suthers and the Federal Trade Commission allege that the company and its principals engaged in deceptive trade practices. They say very few customers earn money from its products and that some testimonials don’t disclose actual earnings after costs are deducted.
The company denies the allegations and says the case is flawed.
Its attorney, Andrew R. Shoemaker, says customers can and do make money based on what they learn from the company.
Stuntman, Empire State Building near settlement
By Jennifer Peltz
NEW YORK (AP) – A TV daredevil and the Empire State Building’s owners are poised to settle the landmark’s $12 million lawsuit over his April 2006 parachute-jump attempt, lawyers for both sides said.
Court records show the building owners’ civil case against Jeb Corliss was closed last week, and his lawyer said a confidential deal has been reached. Lawyers for the building said Tuesday the agreement hadn’t been finalized yet, but they anticipated filing final paperwork next week.
Corliss is “very, very pleased with the resolution,” said his lawyer, Mark Jay Heller. “It’s been a tremendous drain and emotional strain on him.”
Empire State Building lawyers Thomas Keltner and David S. Tannenbaum declined to comment further until the final steps were taken.
Corliss is a BASE jumper – the acronym stands for “building, span, antenna, earth” – who says he’s made more than 1,000 successful leaps from structures and cliffs around the world. He lives in California.
He was the host of a Discovery Channel program called “Stunt Junkies” when he donned a fat suit with a parachute hidden underneath and went up to the 102-story Empire State Building’s 86th-floor observation deck on April 27, 2006. He stripped off the disguise in a bathroom, put on a helmet with a video camera and scaled a fence at the edge of the deck. Security guards stopped him by grabbing him through the fence.
Corliss was later convicted of a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to 3 years’ probation and 100 hours of community service. The Discovery Channel dropped Corliss after his arrest.
He told the jury he didn’t “think there was anything wrong with what I do” and believed BASE jumping should be a right.
The Empire State Building’s owners saw those remarks as a continuing threat to trespass at the storied skyscraper. The lawsuit also argued that the stunt attempt harmed business at New York City’s tallest skyscraper, in part by forcing an hourlong shutdown of the observation deck.
Corliss denied those allegations and said the handling of the incident caused him emotional distress.
Delayed ‘Hobbit’ films get release dates, titles
NEW YORK (AP) – Peter Jackson’s two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” has release dates.
New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. and MGM announced Monday that “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released Dec. 14, 2012. The sequel, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” is to be released Dec. 13, 2013.
The films have suffered repeated delays over studio funding problems, a threatened actors’ boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson. Shot consecutively, they began filming in March in New Zealand.
The 3-D “Hobbit” films are prequels to Jackson’s Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The movies star Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom.
Morricone to head Rome Film Festival jury
ROME (AP) – Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone will head the jury at the 2011 Rome Film Festival.
Morricone has composed scores for movies including “The Untouchables,” ”The Mission” and the Spaghetti Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” He was nominated for an Academy Award five times and won an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2007.
Organizers said Tuesday the festival will run from Oct. 27-Nov. 4. It will be the festival’s sixth edition.
