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  • Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014
James Avery of 'Fresh Prince' fame dead at 68
This photo provided by NBC shows James Avery as Philip Banks from season 2 of the TV series, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

James Avery, the bulky character actor who laid down the law at home and on the job as the Honorable Philip Banks in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," has died.

Avery's publicist, Cynthia Snyder, told The Associated Press that Avery died Tuesday in Glendale, Calif., following complications from open heart surgery. He was 68, Snyder said.

Avery, who stood more than 6 feet tall, played the family patriarch and a wealthy attorney and judge on the popular TV comedy that launched the acting career of Will Smith as Banks' troublemaking nephew.

The sitcom, which aired on NBC from 1990 to 1996, was set in the Banks' mansion, to which Smith's character was sent from Philadelphia when things got tough in his own neighborhood. Fans came to know the imposing Banks as "Uncle Phil."

Avery liked to say that the way to be an actor was to act, and he had a busy and diverse career before, during and after " More

  • Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013
Alicia Johnson joins BCM as brand strategist
NEW YORK -- 

Be Creative Management (BCM) has signed brand strategist Alicia Johnson. Johnson has been leading entertainment and consumer brand turnarounds for over 20 years.

The CW recently tapped Johnson for brand strategy and naming of their new digital content platform, CW Seed. Launched earlier this year, the new digital “channel” is an incubator for new program content geared to mobile millennials.

Johnson’s strategic leadership of the re-brand of Comedy Central repositioned them from being a TV “channel” into a media company. 

“Alicia is like a brand therapist,” BCM partner, Aaron King said. “Sometimes it’s hard for clients to see the big picture when they're in the trenches.  That’s where Alicia is brilliant.  She devours consumer research, is a dedicated student of the market, and asks questions that lead clients to think of their brand in new ways."

Johnson’s deep agency experience gives her a unique perspective on the More

  • Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013
SAG-AFTRA remembers Joseph Ruskin
Joe Ruskin
LOS ANGELES -- 

Stage and screen actor Joseph Ruskin died of natural causes at UCLA Santa Monica on December 28.  He was 89. 

Ruskin was a long serving actors’ union member and officer.  In 1979 he became the first Western Regional Vice President of Actors Equity Association, was on the board of the Screen Actors Guild from 1976-1999 with eight of those years serving as 1st National Vice President and served a decade on AFTRA’s National Board. He was honored for distinguished service by AEA with the Lucy Jordan Award in 2003 and the Patrick Quinn Award in 2013, and by SAG with the Ralph Morgan Award in 2011.

Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Ruskin attended high school in Cleveland and enlisted in the Navy in 1942.  He returned to study drama at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon University) and began his professional career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the Rochester Arena Stage.  His list of 124 television More

  • Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013
More cars and coffee on Seinfeld's Web talk show
This image released by Crackle shows comedians Louis C.K., left, and Jerry Seinfeld in a scene from Seinfeld's web series talk show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." (AP Photo/Crackle)
By Frazier Moore, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Jerry Seinfeld loves cars. He's fond of coffee. And, of course, he's a comedian who loves to talk comedy.

But the inspiration for his online talk show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" (wherein he and a fellow comedian crack wise while powered by a car and caffeine), was inspired by an episode of his eponymous 1990s sitcom.

In that memorable episode, Jerry's sad-sack pal, George, decided success might await him if he lived his failed life in the opposite manner.

"That," recalls Seinfeld in a recent interview, "gave me the idea to create a talk show that was the opposite of the typical show.

"With a typical talk show," he explains, "you have to go to a studio. You have to tell them in advance what you're going to talk about. You have to dress up. You have to put on makeup. It's very, very organized.

"I thought, maybe there's a different way than being stuck on a couch: Outside More

  • Monday, Dec. 30, 2013
Italian distributor apologizes for "Slave" posters
"12 Years a Slave" (Image from Fox Searchlight).
MILAN (AP) -- 

The Italian distributor of the film "12 Years A Slave" has apologized for promotional posters attacked as racist for featuring Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender, despite their relatively minor roles, and not the film's star, Chiwetel Ejiofor.

BIM Distribuzione said in a statement Monday the "inappropriate materials have now been withdrawn" and expressed "regret any distraction this incident may have caused." BIM said the new posters feature only Ejiofor, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a freed black man who is abducted and sold into slavery.

The distributor said the posters featuring Pitt and Fassbender were aimed at "giving wide representation of what is told in the film itself."

The film by director Steve McQueen opens in February in Italy.

  • Friday, Dec. 27, 2013
'Booty Call,' 'Above the Rim' director dies at 54
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- 

A producer of TV's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and writer-director of "Above the Rim" has died.

Police say Jeffrey Ian Pollack was found collapsed early Monday morning in the Greenbelt jogging area of Hermosa Beach, about 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles. Pollack was 54.

Authorities said Thursday they do not suspect foul play. Pollack was wearing jogging clothes and carrying an iPod when a passer-by discovered him and contacted police.

Pollack produced several seasons of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," as well as a Jennifer Lopez concert documentary. Besides "Above the Rim," Pollack directed the films "Booty Call" and "Lost & Found."

  • Friday, Dec. 27, 2013
Balloting begins! Oscar nominations voting starts
In this Feb. 25, 2012 file photo, a Oscar statue is seen on the red carpet before the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 

Oscar voters, start your ballots.

Voting begins Friday for 2014's Academy Awards nominees. Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are invited to cast secret ballots for their favorite film work from the past year until Jan. 8, 2014.

The academy is offering electronic voting for the second consecutive year. It announced last week that 289 feature films are eligible for best-picture consideration.

Nominations for the 86th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 16.

Ellen DeGeneres will host the ceremony when the Oscars are presented on March 2.

  • Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013
US mobile ad spending to soar
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Research firm eMarketer expects spending on mobile advertisements to hit nearly $9.6 billion in the U.S. this year, up from $4.4 billion in 2012 and from less than $1.6 billion in 2011 as Facebook and Google barrel ahead.

Mobile ads now represent nearly 23 percent of the money companies spend on digital advertising, or ads people see on their computers, tablets and mobile phones. That's up from about 12 percent last year and less than 5 percent in 2011.

Facebook, which began showing mobile ads in 2012 and Google, which has by far the biggest share of the digital advertising market, account for much of this growth. EMarketer expects Facebook Inc. to surpass Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. when it comes to digital ad revenue this year, trailing only Google Inc. That's faster than it had predicted earlier.

Google is expected to take a 40 percent share of the digital ad market this year, compared with 7.4 percent for Facebook, 5.9 More

  • Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013
Facebook testing video advertisements
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Facebook said Tuesday that it's testing video advertisements that show up in its users' news feeds, creating another potential source of advertising revenue for the social network.

Under the current plan, the advertisements automatically start playing without sound when they appear. Users can click on a video to view it with sound, or scroll past it if they're not interested.

Facebook said it's been testing the silent auto-playing videos for video content shared between Facebook users since September, and has since seen a 10 percent increase in the number of videos watched, liked, shared and commented on.

Facebook said the new format will allow its advertisers to reach a large number of people in a short amount of time, while also improving the quality of advertisements its users see in their news feeds.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company emphasized that the idea is still in the More

  • Monday, Dec. 16, 2013
Nominees announced for 51st Annual Publicists Awards
LOS ANGELES -- 

The Publicists of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) have announced nominees in five categories, with the winners to be announced at their 51st Annual Awards Luncheon to be held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Friday, February 28, 2014.

Nominees for the Les Mason Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor they can bestow on one of their members, are Sharon Black, director of written communications, Warner Bros. Pictures; Maureen O'Malley, senior staff publicist, Warner Bros. Pictures International; Michael Singer, VP marketing and publicity, Jerry Bruckheimer Films; Murray Weissman, founder/chairman of Weissman/Markovitz Communications; and Deborah Wuliger, unit publicist.

Nominees for the Press Award honoring members of the American media are Ed Douglas, ComingSoon(.)net; Michael Fleming, Deadline Hollywood; Tim Gray, Senior Vice President, Variety; Jeff Jensen, More

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