Category: media

“The Dark Knight chased Spider-Man 3 from the record books with a $155.3 opening weekend gross. The figure capped three days of eye-popping figures.”

“The stakes are too high to concede jurisdiction and residuals for programs made for new media. That future is now and, if we ignore it, it will pass actors by and this generation and future generations of actors will never recover.”

“Movie and television production employed 157,800 people in the area last year but will drop this year to 151,800, said the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. It gave the industry a C-minus, one of the lowest grades among all major export industries. The 3.8% drop puts entertainment second from the bottom among major industries, ahead of only construction, which will see a 6.6% drop in employees.”

“U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 53 percent in June from a year ago.”

“Hollywood’s largest actors union said it can’t accept studios’ proposed labor contract because it doesn’t ensure union jurisdiction over new media, signaling an impasse between the two groups.”

“Mad Men, AMC’s sleek drama set in the advertising world circa 1960, and FX’s legal thriller Damages made Emmy nominations history Thursday as the first programs on U.S. basic cable to gain best-series nods.”

“Mara Manus, the Public Theater’s top financial executive for the last six years, will take over as executive director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center… Ms. Manus, a former film studio executive who in April announced her decision to step down from the Public, is widely credited with helping to guide the theater to financial stability.”

“Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild have failed to reach an agreement in their latest meeting over a proposed new pay deal. Neither side made any comment after they met for two hours in Los Angeles.”

Hollywood writers are taking their long-simmering dispute with producers of reality TV shows public, protesting at the audition events for the new season of American Idol. “The WGA has sought to represent reality show workers since 2005… The union alleges that employees, such as production assistants and editors, write scenarios and outlines.”

Google Inc. said Wednesday that it will partner with filmmaker Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. to share revenue from ads that Google places on YouTube clips from the studio’s movies.