Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Daytime, Celebrities, Talk ShowI guess I'm not surprised to hear that Oprah Winfrey has been named the most powerful woman in entertainment. You can read the full list here, in The Hollywood Reporter's 17th annual "Women in Entertainment: Power 100" special issue. OK, here's the thing about this. I really do get why Oprah is powerful. She's in charge of her own show (remember years ago when she fought to gain control and fired a bunch of people?); she's launched a bunch of other shows, including Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil, and maybe Dr. Oz coming up;...
With Pushing Daisies pushing up daisies over at ABC, show creator Bryan Fuller is heading back to NBC's Heroes. He's expected to be in place in time to bring the "Fugitives" arc to a close in April next year. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fuller is in talks for a two-year deal with Universal Media Studios that will see him rejoin Heroes by the 20th episode of the show's troubled third season, although it's uncertain whether he'll stay with the series for a fourth season, or move to another Universal-produced series for the Fall 2009 schedule. Whichever option he...
Filed under: Industry, Reality-FreeThe cold, icy death hand of economic uncertainty and depression-era apple bargaining has finally pointed its bony finger at the TV industry and said, "I choose you." The Hollywood Reporter reports that NBC Universal has already laid off 30 people as part of their ongoing effort to cut costs across the board. So far, the 30 people who have been given their pink slips worked in the sales departments. More pink slips are expected to land on desks later this week in the news division, the first areas of the media industry that normally take a bullet...
You see these opening logos every time you go to the movies, but have you ever wondered who is the boy on the moon in the DreamWorks logo? Or which mountain inspired the Paramount logo? Or who was the Columbia Torch Lady? Let's find out: 1. DreamWorks SKG: Boy on the Moon In 1994, director Steven Spielberg, Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, and record producer David Geffen (yes, they make the initial SKG on the bottom of the logo) got together to found a new studio called DreamWorks. Spielberg wanted the logo for DreamWorks to be reminiscent of Hollywood's...
Hollywood is in a bit of a mess right now as the major studios are clashing with not one, but two labor guilds over new media payments. Talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the studios broke down last month over Internet shows, and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) says the studios have yet to pay the online residual owed to the writers. SAG is making moves to authorize a strike from its 120,000 members — but given the economic climate we’re currently in, there’s deep division amongst the membership over whether that’s a good idea. Perhaps smelling...
If you watch television or read magazines, you've probably seen Ashton Kutcher swanning around chi-chi Hollywood parties with the Nikon Coolpix S60, a slick new digital camera with an iPhone-like touchscreen. The camera looks hot on the party scene, but as reviewer Michael Lasky discovers, it's a bit disappointing when you try to live with it for awhile: With its high-gloss metal case and giant 3.5-inch, iPhone-like touchscreen, the Nikon Coolpix S60 just begs to be touched. But your lust will turn to disgust once you get to know this camera's internal quirks. In this case, beauty is only...
Lindsay Lohan, the popular Hollywood actress, has suffered a painful experience, her Facebook account has been shut down. Ironically enough, Lohan posts about her experience on her MySpace blog. In her post, Lohan expresses her frustration with Facebook who lets numerous fake Lindsay Lohan accounts flourish but has decided to shut down her real account after it had been hacked, or so she claims. Lohan continues with the real reason that she wrote the blog post on her MySpace blog: maybe i am just venting, but i am also writing this blog in hopes that the people at facebook will...
Blockbuster Partners with Microsoft; two companies plan to use the “Live Mesh” software platform to distribute movies to mobile devices. (Dallas Morning News) 5min Launches Syndication Network; VideoSeed will match relevant how-to videos to keywords used on partner sites. (TechCrunch) AMPTP Says It’s Making WGA New Media Payments; studios say online video residuals due to the writers are being paid or will be paid soon, slowdown happened because new payment systems had to be created. (The Hollywood Reporter) Trouble with Rokus? Owners of the Netflix Player set-top box say video quality has taken a nosedive, Roku says problems are on...
Despite being the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, Reese Witherspoon has to be one of the most inoffensive celebrities ever. And yet the tabloids love to manufacture drama about her. She Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s Blonde Beard! No, They Are More In Love Than Ever! Reese Still Not Over Ryan’s Affair! Etc. But sometimes, even the squeakiest stars do something dumb enough to capture my attention. Exhibit A, from an interview with the BBC: What’s a typical Christmas Day for you? I have kids, so it’s a lot about opening presents. And then I start cooking and I really enjoy that part...
The exact nature of the impact that video games have on humans is a contentious issue among researchers and any possibility of a consensus seems inconceivable. It is almost like an incessant war between the myriad of video game researchers across the globe with contradictory video game studies being continuously exchanged by them instead of lead. The founder of the Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam - Europe’s very first and sole video game de-addiction clinic - Keith Bakker has downplayed video game addiction, which he believes is immensely exaggerated. Only 10% of all compulsive gamers, according to Bakker, are...
Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray Remember when high-def discs had to be priced competitively, else the other format would gladly undercut it? Yeah, those were the days. Now that BD is parading around as the lone high-def physical format, the only real competitors are digital downloads, DVDs and internet piracy. All of which are very real threats, by the way. A recent writeup over at The Dallas Morning News brings up an excellent point -- now that Blu-ray player prices are at a reasonable level, when can we expect movies to follow suit? Oh sure, we understand that programming in all...
