EXCLUSIVE: As I have been reporting all along, Steve Rabineau is on his way from William Morris to UTA where he will become a partner and senior agent in the motion picture literary department. The deal is in its final stages of being worked out, I’m told, but is far enough along for Rabineau to have visited UTA this afternoon where Board members Jeremy Zimmer and David Kramer introduced Rabineau to the other agents in the department. Rabineau is expected to bring all his clients to UTA, including Alfonso Cuaron, Phillip Noyce, Don Roos, Craig Gillespie, Todd Graff, John Amiel, Sergei Bodrov, Eric Brevig and others. In 2004, Rabineau, along with David Lonner, famously departed Endeavor and headed to William Morris. It’s still unclear where Lonner will end up, although it’s known that UTA is eager for him to settle there as well.
More WME Merger News…
Now I’m hearing that CAA just wants Mark Itkin from the William Morris Agency’s reality TV department — and can’t agree on salary.
R.I.P. Nora O’Brien
The VP of Drama Programming for NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios died last night after fainting on the set of NBC’s pilot Parenthood up in Berkeley and being rushed to Marin General Hospital. Reports say the cause of death was a brain aneurism. She was only 44. Here’s the … Read More »
Working To Set New 3D Home Standard
MultiChannel News reports that the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has released a report on the requirements for standards for the creation of 3-D stereoscopic content viewable on television sets and other home-entertainment displays. A SMPTE task force was set up last August to do this, and … Read More »
‘Nightline’ To Look At Daytime TV Soaps
Tonight, ABC’s Nightline looks at the recession and viewership woes of Daytime TV. Of course, the show is an advertorial for All My Children and its veteran star Susan Lucci. But there does seem to be some journalism in the aftermath of pulling the plug on Guiding Light , the … Read More »
New Fed Piracy Report Accuses Canada
Turns out the South Park guys were right to blame Canada. Because a new federal government report released today on Copyright Piracy Abroad that shows several countries, including America’s Northern pal, are failing to enforce legal protections for copyrighted works and thus harming U.S. creative industries and the economy as a whole. According … Read More »
Liz Mahoney Exiting UTA To Return To ID
I hear it’s in the works and all her idea. So let me get this straight: Liz Mahoney was at UTA, then became an ID publicist, then returned to UTA as an agent, and is planning to return to ID as a publicist again.
Studios Delay Movie Openings In Mexico
First, 20th Century Fox delayed the debut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine from May 14th in Mexico because of the flu crisis there. Now Sony has delayed two films for the same reason. “We have been closely monitoring the situation in Mexico all week and we continue to be extremely concerned … Read More »
Casting Agency Targets Known Seniors
I checked and it appears to be on the level. Magnamedia Casting Agency — based in New York, Beverly Hills, and London — announced today the addition of a new and specialised division called Senior Stars for “mature, name talent” for films, television, legitimate theatre, commercials, PSAs, infomercials, print, and … Read More »
NBC Universal Allows Anti-Union Rant
I wish every Hollywood guild member could spend time this morning listening to CNBC and its anti-union ranting over the Chrysler-is-saved announcemet by President Obama. The anchors and guests are accusing the White House of “demonizing” Wall Street instead of the ”real enemy” which is the UAW. Let’s not forget that CNBC … Read More »
Viacom’s 1st-Quarter Earnings Down
Viacom’s Philippe Dauman is claiming that the ad market has stabilized. “We are not seeing any further deterioration.” Viacom beat the street even though net income was down by 34% on 7% lower revenue because of weak advertising.
UPDATED: Disney To Buy Into Hulu…
It was just a question of when, not if. Disney will buy 27% of Hulu for less than $35 million to put full ABC episodes on the site — about what NBC and Fox have. (Providence Equity Partners also is an investor.) Disney will get 3 seats on Hulu’s board for Bob Iger, … Read More »
SAG Ballot Schedule
SAG TV/Theatrical Referendum Ballot Schedule
Tuesday, May 19
Ballots mailed.
Tuesday, June 9, 5:00 PM PT
Deadline for receipt of voted ballot.
Video: A Message From ‘Better Off Ted’
This requires some setup: Because ABC agreed to provide free air time to President Obama tonight, the season finale of ABC comedy Better Off Ted is no longer airing this evening and being rescheduled for a later date. In response, series creator Victor Fresco made this commercial parody. (FYI, the sitcom is set at a morally … Read More »
Is Zimmer Making Way for WMA Agents?
United Talent and its motion picture lit agent Adam Weinstein are parting company. I don’t get it: this kid was Jeremy Zimmer’s assistant and is a junior agent who has been intensely loyal to the UTA mo-pic chief. Disappointing.
If You Wanna See Big Screen ‘Wolverine’
No pre-midnight screenings of X-Men Origins: Wolverine are scheduled on Thursday. About 1,500 theatres will run shows starting at 12:01 AM Friday. Twentieth Century Fox will be releasing the pic on 9,000+ prints in 101 markets internationally (excluding Mexico, India, and Japan. Let the summer movie season begin!
DreamWorks Animation 1st-Q Ups Profit
Goldman Sachs has just issued a “Buy” (from “Neutral”) on DreamWorks Animation and expects the stock price to hit $27. Meanwhile, the company’s share price rose today to $23.93 after beating the street estimates with its best 1st-Quarter performance and more than doubled profits. Better-than-expected theatrical and home video sales from Madagascar: Escape 2 … Read More »
News From Inside William Morris…
UPDATE: Some agents have been given “the nod” that they are safe. Some people have been told nothing. I hear that, during this waiting period for state and federal approvals, no one can be fired officially.
I’m hearing much of the TV reality department led by Mark Itkin have decided to stay together and … Read More »
Time Warner Buries Bad Film Financing News Inside 2008 Annual Report: Also 1st-Q Movie Division Revenue Falls 7.3%; AOL Spinoff Planned
Matthew Garrahan, the Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, has a great scoop that just went online today: “Time Warner has been forced to absorb the cost of four films released in 2008 by its Warner Brothers subsidiary after one of the studio’s key financing partners failed … Read More »
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