News Briefs

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Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014

Oscar nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone" song rescinded

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

The motion picture academy says it's rescinding the Academy Awards original song nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone" from the film of the same name after it discovered composer Bruce Broughton emailed members of the group's music branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period.

Broughton serves as a member of the music branch's executive committee and is a former governor for the academy.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said Wednesday using a position within the organization to personally promote one's own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage.

An additional nominee will not be named. The other nominees are "Happy" from "Despicable Me 2"; "Let It Go" from "Frozen"; "The Moon Song" from "Her"; and "Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom."

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014

Viacom, Fox want to run anti-smoking ads too

By Michael Felberbaum, Tobacco Writer

RICHMOND, Va. --

More TV networks want to gain from tobacco companies' mandate to run anti-smoking ads that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

Fox Broadcasting and the company behind MTV, Comedy Central and BET argue that a court-ordered plan to air anti-tobacco ads on ABC, CBS and NBC won't do a good job reaching young adult and black viewers. Those populations were aggressively targeted by the tobacco industry and are areas of concern for the public health community.

Fox, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., and Viacom Inc. are asking the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to include its channels in the anti-smoking ad purchase.

The required ads stem from a 2006 ruling that the nation's largest cigarette makers concealed the dangers of smoking for decades. A judge ordered the tobacco companies to pay for corrective statements related to issues such as the adverse health More

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014

Football moves Emmy Awards to Monday this year

In this Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013 file photo, Jon Hamm, left, and Alec Baldwin present the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series on stage at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

This year's Emmy Awards ceremony will air on a weeknight instead of its traditional Sunday slot.

NBC and the TV academy say the ceremony honoring prime-time TV's best is set for Monday, Aug. 25. A host has not yet been announced.

The network said Tuesday that a potential conflict with NBC's "Sunday Night Football" led to the switch. The Emmy ceremony rotates annually among the major networks and is required to air the week after the creative arts Emmy ceremony.

The creative arts awards, which honor technical and other achievements, were already set for Aug. 16.

Sunday has become the home for most major awards shows, including the Oscars. NBC says the last time the Emmy ceremony was held on a Monday was in May 1976.

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014

Mirren to be honored at British Academy awards

A Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 photo from files showing Helen Mirren as she arrives at the 66th Annual DGA Awards Dinner in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell Invision/AP, File)

LONDON (AP) --

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, whose roles have ranged from a hard-nosed detective to Queen Elizabeth II, is to receive the British Academy Film Awards' highest honor.

The academy announced Monday that the 68-year-old will collect the BAFTA Fellowship at a London ceremony next month. Chairman John Willis said Mirren was being honored "as one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation."

Previous fellowship recipients include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor and Judi Dench. Mirren said that "to join that list of legendary names is overwhelming."

Mirren was acclaimed for her starring role in the TV detective series "Prime Suspect" and won a best-actress Academy Award in 2006 for playing Britain's monarch in "The Queen."

The awards ceremony takes place Feb. 16 at London's Royal Opera House.

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014

Miami is the product being placed in these films

In this undated photo provided by Reel Miami Project, a couple, played by Eric Aragon and Elisabetta Fantone, sit on Miami Beach. (AP Photo/Reel Miami Project)

By David Fischer

MIAMI (AP) --

Product placement is nothing new in movies or TV. Insert a fast-food logo or a certain car in a scene and you've made a subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) pitch for the brand.

Now a group in South Florida is using the concept of product placement to market Miami. In this case, the product is the city itself.

And the placement is in a series of short fictional films, with various neighborhoods serving as the backdrop for stories about out-of-towners discovering the destination.

The films, collectively called the Reel Miami Project, will be marketed online and through social media with the goal of promoting tourism.

Films for Miami Beach and Wynwood were released this week, with films featuring South Beach, Downtown Miami, Coral Gables and the Everglades set to follow.

Bacardi, the liquor company whose U.S. headquarters is located in Miami, is providing some of the financial backing. More

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014

Quentin Tarantino sues website over leaked script

In this Oct. 18, 2013 file photo, director Quentin Tarantino delivers a speech before receiving the Lumiere Award during the 5th edition of the Lumiere Festival, in Lyon, central France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

By Anthony McCartney, Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Quentin Tarantino sued the news and gossip website Gawker on Monday over a post that directed readers to a leaked copy of the Oscar-winning screenwriter's latest movie.

Tarantino's lawsuit accuses Gawker Media LLC of contributory copyright infringement for posting a link to the 146-page script for a planned film titled "The Hateful Eight" last week. A link to the script was posted on Gawker's Defamer blog and remained active Monday afternoon, despite demands from Tarantino's lawyers to take it down, the lawsuit states.

"There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public's violation of (Tarantino's) copyright in the screenplay, and it's conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity," the lawsuit states.

Gawker Editor-in-Chief John Cook said the company would fight the lawsuit and pointed out that the company More

Monday, Jan. 27, 2014

Luis DeAnda becomes GM at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA

Luis DeAnda

LOS ANGELES --

TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles has appointed Luis DeAnda to the role of general manager, as part of the executive leadership team for the agency. This is a new role for the expanding agency group, and DeAnda will report directly to agency president, Carisa Bianchi.

DeAnda (43) joins from TBWA\Media Arts Lab, where he was most recently global managing director for TBWA\MAL’s international network. As part of his new role, DeAnda will focus on agency operations, client management and talent management for the Los Angeles office. He will also continue to partner with TBWA\MAL’s leadership in helping the Apple brand expand into key global markets.

Bianchi commented, “As our agency model has evolved to include Digital Arts Network, Shopper Arts Network, BEING and Let There Be Dragons within the TBWA LA Group, it is important that we have a strong leadership team in place More

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014

Ex-Marlboro Man dies from smoking-related disease

By Daisy Nguyen

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Eric Lawson, a working actor who portrayed the Marlboro Man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died. He was 72.

Lawson's wife, Susan Lawson, said Sunday that her husband died Jan. 10 at his California home. The cause was respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

The ruggedly handsome Lawson portrayed the smoking cowboy in Marlboro print ads from 1978 to 1981. He also had bit parts in such TV shows as "Baretta" and "Charlie's Angels" before injuries sustained on the set of a Western film ended his acting career.

A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro Man and an "Entertainment Tonight" segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking.

He is also survived by six children.

Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014

Tonight's DGA Winner Could Get Edge inTight Oscar Race

By Jessica Herndon, Film Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

With the tightest three-way Oscar race in years, the 66th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards could give "Gravity," ''American Hustle" or "12 Years a Slave" the edge in the home stretch to the Oscars.

The DGA hands out awards for best director in TV and movie categories in Los Angeles on tonight in what customarily is a final calling for the film that wins the best picture and director Oscars.

Coming out of the recent flurry of Hollywood honors, Alfonso Cuaron's space saga "Gravity," David O. Russell's con caper "American Hustle" and Steve McQueen's historical epic "12 Years a Slave" all remain in competitive positions as they head for the March 2 Academy Awards.

Yet the DGA could further complicate the race by choosing still-viable nominees Paul Greengrass ("Captain Phillips") or Martin Scorsese ("The Wolf of Wall Street") for its top honor — outstanding directorial achievement in a More

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014

Cast & Crew launches financial services division

BURBANK, Calif. --

Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, a provider of payroll services serving the entertainment industry for nearly four decades, has expanded its services by establishing Cast & Crew Financial Services, LLC, it was announced by company president and CEO Eric Belcher. Cast & Crew Financial Services will provide production incentive financing and administration services for film and television productions.

Deirdre Owens, who has 14 years experience in finance and media, has joined the company as VP, production incentive financing. In her position she facilitates loans for film and television productions collateralized by production incentives, such as grants, rebates and transferable tax credits. Owens comes to Cast & Crew from Grosvenor Park Media, where she was sr. VP, finance, specializing in underwriting senior, gap and tax loans to production companies.

Owens teams up with Joe More