Film News Brief from @FilmNewsBriefs

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http://voxer.com/

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I am in the process of blackmailing my father.

For Christmas, my father gave me a Kindle and a Nook. Immediately thereafter, he told me he had written a play and asked me to “put it on those” so he could start selling his play online. He even had a marketing plan which, frankly, was quite interesting. I told him that I would be happy to do it for him IF he would let me clear out 30 years of clutter from his home. Being a stubborn Greek man, he was not about to let his daughter go through his things. I told him I understood, and I hoped he would understand that I would not be able to upload his play onto the digital readers for him until his home was cleared. A negotiation ensued. I won. Four weeks and three dumpsters’ worth of accumulated non-essentials later, my father’s apartment was ready to be painted and re-carpeted. My father saw this “construction” phase as an opportune time to spend a week in Las Vegas.

Did I mention that my father is 93 years old?

For way too long, Hollywood has taken the point of view that after a certain age people are set in their ways and stop consuming media. Especially new media. Ergo, they are not a desirable audience segment. As a result, Hollywood surmised that older creatives were equally set in their ways. Ergo, they are not a desirable employee pool. Anyone who has become trapped in this netherworld of misconception can tell you this is a fallacious argument. Be that as it may, Hollywood continues its pursuit of the young and the new only to discover that their most desirable demographic has become fickle and harder to seduce.

If the idea that an individual’s age has a direct correlation to their capacity to understand and/or consume new media, somebody forgot to send the memo to Kirk Kerkorian. When the former owner of MGM sold his studio in 2005, new media was still a series of bubbles that were crashing into each other at a frenetic pace. The assumption was that this man of great accomplishments was ready to relax his way into “The Long Goodbye.” Rather, it seems, Kerkorian took a pause to reflect on which direction he wanted to pursue for the next stage of his career. Along the way, he endowed an academic scholarship for the honors program at UCLA and invested in the automotive industry.

Flash forward to 2012. Kerkorian has decided that online distribution into global territories looks like a growth industry. Consequently, he is looking to purchase an entertainment production or technology company that can serve as his vehicle into the biggest corridor of new media.

Did I mention that Kirk Kerkorian is 94 years old?

Now, I will be the first to admit that while my father walks two miles each day — just because he can — and is not representative of everybody over 90. But there was an indication that something was percolating in the back of his sharp-as-a-tack mind when he showed up for a holiday dinner with a stack of index cards and started asking his three grandsons the questions he’d written on them:

“What is a Google?”

“Where is the NetFlix?”

“How does digital commerce work?”

Next thing I knew, my father had purchased a laptop and a printer and started to surf the web. Through Best Buy, Dell and HP had a new customer. Do you think they care how old my father is? Or were they just happy to have a new customer who is already formulating plans for his expansion into a new career as a playwright?

If we’re going to move gracefully into the future, we have to leave our old, broken, erroneous ideas behind us. Hollywood is a commerce based industry. The “over 50” population is the largest growing demographic in our country. It also possesses the largest pool of disposable income at a time of economic crisis, which should matter to the finance executives that determine the bottom line.

Lucky for me, the longevity gene seems to have trickled down into my DNA. Lucky for you, I’ll be keeping you posted on my father’s new career.

Catherine@nuclearfamilyfilms.com

Ideally, none of us have broken any of our New Year’s resolutions just yet. The hope that you are going to accomplish what you’ve promised yourself you would should still be springing eternal, five days into the New Year. Personally, like probably many of you, I have sworn to become better at this whole fitness thing in 2012; eat healthy, stay away from “Breaking Bad” marathon sessions, run more. With that in mind, take a look at this site, which is currently available for $0.99 in the Apple App Store. Simply put, it’s a running coach. All it asks of you is 90 minutes a week, eight weeks and a commitment from you to give this running thing a shot. Should be easy, right?

http://itunes.apple.com/app/ease-into-5k/id301233668?mt=8

Have you ever had a prophetic dream come true? I haven’t. But, I used to think it was possible, so I bought one of those dream books that teach you how to document and interpret your dreams and followed it to the letter. I even kept a small flashlight on the nightstand so if I woke up after a dream, I could write it down before I forgot it. I was excited, anticipating the discovery of my real Self. But, after 30 days, I had found no insight into my life, nor any sense of enlightenment. So, after dreaming about doing a backward flip as Don Cornelius bogeyed me down the line on “Soul Train,” I gave it up forever.

Careful what you wish for though, because wouldn’t you know it, I soon began having dreams about Cuba Gooding, Jr. Oh yeah, he was all over me, trying to hook up. Being no cheap date, I told him he’d have to finance my next film if he wanted to get with me. But, he told me he didn’t think he could do that because my hair wasn’t long enough and my butt was too big. What?! Oh no he didn’t. Yes he did. Nevertheless, the deal was still on the table, so I called his bluff. I told him to give me a few weeks, then I came back with the fiercest weave you’ve ever seen, and after doing my daily P90X “Legs and Back” workout, I was a sight to behold. Cuba couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw me and eagerly put his money where his mouth was and green lighted my film. Pay dirt!

I was flying high, everything I’d ever wanted was coming true, and I started getting my crew together and looking for my leading man. Who did I find but Terrence Howard, who just happened to be looking for work, and I just happened to have the perfect script for him. He loved it! Could this be magic? I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Soon, a buzz got started and people began Tweeting about my upcoming film and predicting it would get an Oscar nod. The entire brilliant cast was ecstatic, and we shot it in 19 days and completed post production in no time. I was finally ready for the big time. Nothing could stop me now. I had successfully directed my first film starring an A-list actor and gifted cast, and knew it would sell itself. But, I couldn’t get a distributor. I was told the film was too “ethnically dense” and could never be released worldwide. I had nowhere to turn and my dream began morphing into a nightmare. I woke up.

It had been a really wild ride, and I jumped out of bed, disoriented and disappointed, having come so close to Nirvana. I turned the TV on to distract myself, and there on the screen was Piers Morgan interviewing Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terrence Howard. They were talking about “Red Tails,” a film they’d just completed which had been financed by George Lucas when nobody in Hollywood would touch it with a ten foot pole. Piers Morgan seemed dumbstruck over the fact that after all these years great actors who had proven themselves time and time again, were still considered “not good enough” to cross over globally. Nevertheless, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terrence Howard remained convinced their film, “Red Tails,” could and would reach the hearts and minds of moviegoers everywhere, proving that true talent has no color restraints, and lofty dreams do come true.

kalika@limitlessskyfilms.com

ABC Family wants Tyler Blackburn in its family fold permanently. The “Pretty Little Liars” recurring guest star has been upped to series regular. The actor who plays badboy Caleb Rivers on the Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario and Shay Mitchell series will officially become a regular during season three, which kicks off in the summer. Blackburn’s Caleb, a fan favorite, was first introduced as a foster child whom Hanna (Benson) sought out for help with hacking into “A’s” phone. In the Feb. 13 installment, titled “CTRL:A,” Detectives Wilden and Garrett are now circling Caleb on bogus hacking charges and in possession of his computer, wondering what “A” could have planted.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pretty-little-liars-tyler-blackburn-caleb-285956

SnagFilms has acquired exclusive digital rights to “Kinyarwanda,” which won the world cinema dramatic audience award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where it had its premiere. The film will debut via SnagFilms partners such as Comcast Xfinity, FiOS, DIRECTV, iTunes, Amazon and VUDU. Alrick Brown wrote and directed the fact-based film, which follows six different storylines of people struggling through the Rwandan genocide. Darren Dean and Tommy Oliver produced.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/snagfilms-sundance-kinyarwanda-285918

Since “The Strangers” was a surprise hit back in 2008, we might have expected its director to jump straight back behind the camera. What would Bryan Bertino do next, we wondered. The answer is a lot of writing and producing, but he’s now finally set to direct again, with a found-footage affair tentatively titled “Mockingbird.” Bertino has working on the screenplay since November, but this is the first news that he’ll be directing it himself. The film involves a couple who mysteriously receive a videocamera and a list of explicit instructions that they have to follow to prevent somebody dying.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32996

Hopefully you like the chemistry Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence display onscreen in “The Silver Linings Playbook”! The pair of seemingly mismatched onscreen paramours will team again for an adaptation of “Serena,” a 2008 novel about timber magnates and their iron-fisted rule of North Carolina. Based on Ron Rash’s book, “Serena” follows George and Serena Pemberton (Cooper and Lawrence), a pair of young newlyweds who turn “War of the Roses” on each other when Serena finds out she can’t have children of her own; an issue complicated by the fact that George has an illegitimate son. Cooper and Lawrence will be seen together onscreen this November in “Playbook,” an adaption of Matthew Quick’s quirky novel about a recently released mental patient (Cooper) and the girl who lives next door to his mother, which is directed by David O. Russell.

http://news.moviefone.com/2012/01/30/lawrence_n_1242684.html

So is Harmony Korine reaching for the mainstream, or is this all just a ruse to get tweens to watch “Trash Humpers”? Whatever it is, Korine is currently ramping up to start filming “Spring Breakers,” a road trip comedy of sorts that has an improbable cast that includes wholesome Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and James Franco (Emma Roberts recently dropped out). Well, one more unlikely name has come aboard. Ashley Benson, best known for playing Hanna Marin on the ABC Family show “Pretty Little Liars,” is the latest to come aboard the bonkers-sounding pic. The story will follow four college-aged girls who decide to rob a fast food restaurant in order to pay for the annual getaway, and who get thrown in the slammer once they get there. Franco will then show up, playing a rapping drug and arms dealer who bails out the girls, and coaxes them to kill his nemesis named (of course) Arch.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/pretty-little-liars-star-ashley-benson-joins-harmony-korines-spring-breakers

Tilda Swindon will rejoin her “The Limits of Control” helmer Jim Jarmusch for the director’s new film, a take on the vampire romance genre titled “Only Loves Left Alive.” Fellow Oscar-winner John Hurt, most lately of “Tinker Tailor Solider Spy,” Mia Wasikowska of “Albert Nobbs” and “War Horse” actor Tom Hiddleston also star in the horror drama, described as an unusual love story between two vampires who have been in love for centuries. Jarmusch is producing “Only Lovers Left Alive” together with Cologne-based Pandora films.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tilda-swinton-john-hurt-join-285758

Rooney Mara has signed on to the lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects,” replacing the previously announced Blake Lively. As reported last week, Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures had backed out of financing the film, unhappy with Lively’s casting. Mara will play Emily Hawkins, a troubled young woman whose husband (to be played by Channing Tatum), is about to be released from prison, while Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones will both play psychiatrists charged with her care. The script comes from Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion”), while Open Road, fresh from the success of “The Grey” this past weekend, will distribute.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/rooney-mara-replaces-blake-lively-as-lead-in-steven-soderberghs-side-effects

James Marsh might have missed out on another Oscar nomination for his excellent film “Project Nim” last week, but he’s not too upset. For one, the DGA gave him their documentary directing award over the weekend for his work on the film. For another, his latest feature, the IRA thriller “Shadow Dancer,” was the toast of Sundance last weekend, picking up excellent reviews. The writer-director is working with Focus on “The Silent Land,” a novel by British writer Graham Joyce. Marsh is writing the script with Nick Drake.”

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/james-marsh-attached-to-direct-silent-land-for-focus-features-talks-about-projects-valiero-el-aura

CBS is looking to Louis C.K. and Spike Feresten for laughs. The network has ordered an untitled comedy pilot from the comedic duo, who previously collaborated on a passed over sitcom pilot “Boomtown” more than a decade earlier. The current project centers on an ensemble of young people who are trying to achieve their creative dreams in these tough financial times. The partners, who both spent time writing for the “Late Show With David Letterman” in the mid-1990s, will write and executive produce the comedy, which hails from Berman/Braun in association with Universal Television and CBS TV Studios. Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein are also attached as executive producers.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cbs-greenlights-comedy-louis-ck-spike-feresten-285500

Former multiple-time MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian is on the prowl for a new Hollywood deal, looking to buy a studio, production firm or technology firm playing in the entertainment industry, according to reports. 

Jay Rakow, an executive at Kerkorian’s investment vehicle Tracinda Corp., told the paper that the 94-year-old investor who has stayed away from Hollywood since selling MGM in 2005 just before U.S. DVD sales peaked sees opportunities in new forms of online distribution and in emerging markets, such as China, India and Latin America, but wouldn’t name potential targets.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kirk-kerkorian-acquisitions-hollywood-mgm-tracinda-285757

USA is getting political with Greg Berlanti and Laurence Mark. The network has ordered a six-hour drama event series, “Political Animals,” slated to launch this summer. The truncated series, from Berlanti Productions and Laurence Mark Productions in association with Warner Horizon Television, is about a former first family in turmoil. The project centers on a divorced former First Lady and current Secretary of State, who is struggling to keep her family together while simultaneously dealing with the crises of the State Department. She finds an unlikely ally in a famous D.C. journalist who has spent her career tearing Elaine down. Berlanti wrote and will direct the pilot as well as serve as an executive producer with Mark. Melissa Kellner Berman of Berlanti Productions is attached as a co-executive producer.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/usa-network-greg-berlanti-laurence-mark-285380

Another American is setting up residence at “Downton Abbey.” ITV and Carnival films announced Monday that Shirley MacLaine is joining the U.K. series for its upcoming third season. The Oscar winner’s addition makes her the second American cast member (and character) on the British period drama. She’s set to play Martha Levinson, the American mother of Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), and joins the cast as they begin shooting the new season next month. The third season, which reportedly takes the narrative into the 1920s, is expected to premiere in the U.K. in September, with a U.S. premiere to follow. “Downtown Abbey” is currently in its second stateside season on Masterpiece Classic.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/downton-abbey-shirley-maclaine-elizabeth-mcgovern-285812

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has booked a multiepisode arc on Season 3 of Showtime’s “The Big C.” On the dark comedy, created by Darlene Hunt, Laura Linney stars as Cathy, a woman diagnosed with cancer who is determined to make the most out of her life. Idris Elba starred in Season 1 as Lenny, a painter with whom Cathy had an affair; Hugh Dancy had a major arc last season as Lee, a fellow clinical trial patient whom Cathy befriended and whose death had a great impact on her.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/big-c-susan-sarandon-guest-star-season-three-280896

Relativity is moving full steam ahead with a production of “Stretch Armstrong,” setting an April 11, 2014, release date for what it is calling a live-action tentpole. Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh, Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennet Schnier are producing. Stretch was introduced as a toy in 1976. The toy was different from other action figures in the sense he could be stretched out, twisted and folded but he always returned to his original form. The toy had a big relaunch in the 1990s and that’s when Hollywood took serious interest.Stretch was part of a series of properties that were part of a Hasbro-Universal pact made in 2008. It had several release dates (the first one was April 15, 2011) that were pushed back until the project eventually left the studio.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/stretch-armstrong-relativity-taylor-lautner-285783

The doctor is in on Wednesday’s episode of NBC’s “Whitney”: “Monty Python’s” and “A Fish Called Wanda’s” John Cleese enters the fold to hand out some relationship advice. Set that DVR!!!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/whitney-nbc-john-cleese-guest-star-preview-285777