“If I had not gone inside myself, I would not have believed such a residence existed in the world,” MGM boss Louis B. Mayer once said of Casa Encantada, considered by many to be the finest residence in the United States. Currently on the market for an eye-watering $195 million, the storied estate, lording over the Bel-Air Country Club on a stunning 8.4 acres, features a 7 bed/20 bath main house described by its Russian-born architect James Dolena as a “modern Georgian with Grecian influences.” The longtime residence of hotelier Conrad Hilton, it has been called “The House Where Dreams Come True.”
But since 2019, Casa Encantada has repeatedly been listed only to be pulled back off the market, its price slashed from $250 million to $195 million. Now a trio of super-agents — Westside Estate Agency’s Kurt Rappaport, Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates, and Million Dollar Listing’s Josh Flagg of Compass — are dreaming of...
But since 2019, Casa Encantada has repeatedly been listed only to be pulled back off the market, its price slashed from $250 million to $195 million. Now a trio of super-agents — Westside Estate Agency’s Kurt Rappaport, Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates, and Million Dollar Listing’s Josh Flagg of Compass — are dreaming of...
- 10/11/2024
- by Hadley Meares
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has postponed an event for new members scheduled for Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis, in the wake of pushback from Jewish members who sent an open letter to Academy leadership.
“We are postponing the Monday, Oct. 7, New York New Member Reception to a later date,” the Academy said in a statement Thursday morning. “It is important to us that everyone feel comfortable and secure at our events.” The organization said it will set a new date.
TheWrap has obtained the open letter, which was organized by Seth Fradkoff, SVP of publicity at Amazon MGM Studios, and Lisa Zaks Markowitz, VP of national publicity at Sony. The letter says the Academy ignored initial calls sent through “proper channels” to reschedule the event, until it formally turned down the request this week.
“We, the undersigned, will now speak honestly...
“We are postponing the Monday, Oct. 7, New York New Member Reception to a later date,” the Academy said in a statement Thursday morning. “It is important to us that everyone feel comfortable and secure at our events.” The organization said it will set a new date.
TheWrap has obtained the open letter, which was organized by Seth Fradkoff, SVP of publicity at Amazon MGM Studios, and Lisa Zaks Markowitz, VP of national publicity at Sony. The letter says the Academy ignored initial calls sent through “proper channels” to reschedule the event, until it formally turned down the request this week.
“We, the undersigned, will now speak honestly...
- 9/26/2024
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Kiirokuro Productions etched a groundbreaking business model for the development or film and fostering relationships for Cinema globally. A passion project known as The Bynd with frequent collaborator Ross Metcalf and a love for Special Effects united Director Asua Han with an untapped acting prodigy Kelvin Taylor. Han & Taylor sharing a podcast together as Film Fu in the vain of mutual YouTube peers Gary Buechler aka Nerdrotic and Chris Gore of Film Threat evolves into developing new business model in Show Business.
Asia-Based Korean Australian film director Asua Han from age 15 worked his way into storyboarding science fiction film concepts leading to advertisements for Samsung, Budweiser, Bose, and Pepsi. His latest directorial release of “A New Dawn” with Vietnamese musician Soobin in collaboration with video game Afk Journey is making its waves throughout Asia. Recently releasing his first book as a compendium to guide upcoming Directors into commercial filmmaking and...
Asia-Based Korean Australian film director Asua Han from age 15 worked his way into storyboarding science fiction film concepts leading to advertisements for Samsung, Budweiser, Bose, and Pepsi. His latest directorial release of “A New Dawn” with Vietnamese musician Soobin in collaboration with video game Afk Journey is making its waves throughout Asia. Recently releasing his first book as a compendium to guide upcoming Directors into commercial filmmaking and...
- 9/5/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The story of Giancarlo Parretti, the flamboyant Italian waiter-turned-financier who bought MGM in 1990 and was ousted and indicted when his takeover deal for the Hollywood studio collapsed, is in early stages of getting the big screen treatment.
Independent Los-Angeles-based film producer Niels Juul has tracked down Parretti, now 82, and living in the lap of luxury in a palazzo in his native Orvieto. Juul is at the Venice Film Festival shopping a screenplay for the Parretti biopic titled “The Lion of Orvieto.”
The “Lion of Orvieto” is penned by TV comedy writer Michael O’Rourke, who has worked with Sacha Baron Cohen on “Da Ali G Show” but has also written several unproduced dramas. “Lion” is based on extensive research and an unpublished book containing in-depth interviews with Parretti.
Raised in an orphanage before being adopted at the age of 6, Parretti’s ascent into high-stakes financial wheeling and dealing started when he...
Independent Los-Angeles-based film producer Niels Juul has tracked down Parretti, now 82, and living in the lap of luxury in a palazzo in his native Orvieto. Juul is at the Venice Film Festival shopping a screenplay for the Parretti biopic titled “The Lion of Orvieto.”
The “Lion of Orvieto” is penned by TV comedy writer Michael O’Rourke, who has worked with Sacha Baron Cohen on “Da Ali G Show” but has also written several unproduced dramas. “Lion” is based on extensive research and an unpublished book containing in-depth interviews with Parretti.
Raised in an orphanage before being adopted at the age of 6, Parretti’s ascent into high-stakes financial wheeling and dealing started when he...
- 9/1/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
In 1953, Elizabeth Taylor made the forgettable melodrama “The Girl Who Had Everything,” which also is an apt description of her life and her career. Over her 79 years, she segued from a stunningly beautiful child star to a va-va-va-voon sex symbol to a two-time Oscar-winner to a pioneering AIDs activist. Taylor was more than a star. More than an icon. Even a dozen years after her death, cinephiles are still obsessed with the violet-eye actress.
But a new HBO/Max documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” illustrates she didn’t have “everything.” In the 1960s, Taylor gave interviews to celebrity journalist Richard Meryman who died in 2015. Forty hours of their interviews were recently discovered in his archive and are the anchor for this compelling piece. (There is also an interview from the 1980s with Dominick Dunne).
Wrote the New York Times: “For the Taylor enthusiast, the film is unlikely to reveal much new information.
But a new HBO/Max documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” illustrates she didn’t have “everything.” In the 1960s, Taylor gave interviews to celebrity journalist Richard Meryman who died in 2015. Forty hours of their interviews were recently discovered in his archive and are the anchor for this compelling piece. (There is also an interview from the 1980s with Dominick Dunne).
Wrote the New York Times: “For the Taylor enthusiast, the film is unlikely to reveal much new information.
- 8/7/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSGrand Tour.SAG-AFTRA is on strike against ten major video-game companies after two years of contract negotiations, on which the union has said it remains “far apart” from management on “fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the A.I. use of their faces, voices, and bodies.”Teamsters Local 399 and other Hollywood Basic Crafts unions have ratified their new contract, securing 7% wage increases for about 8,000 workers.The New York Film Festival (September 27–October 14) has announced its Main Slate selections, including Cannes and Berlinale favorites All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia), Dahomey (Mati Diop), Anora (Sean Baker), and Grand Tour (Miguel Gomes).After a report that David Lynch would likely never direct again due to debilitating emphysema,...
- 8/7/2024
- MUBI
Producer Daniel Selznick, the last direct link to one of Hollywood’s founding families, died Aug. 1 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Country Home campus in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles.
Selznick grew up in Beverly Hills as showbiz royalty. He was the younger of two sons of “Gone With the Wind” producer David O. Selznick and stage producer Irene Mayer Selznick. His grandfather was Louis B. Mayer, the gregarious Canadian immigrant who led Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to the pinnacle of art and commerce during Hollywood’s 1930s and ’40s Golden Age. By the time Daniel Selznick was a young teenager, his parents had divorced and his father was remarried to Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Jones.
Daniel Selznick’s birth was reported in the May 19, 1936, edition of Daily Variety
In his own career, Selznick worked as a champion of the arts and to preserve his family’s legacy. Daniel...
Selznick grew up in Beverly Hills as showbiz royalty. He was the younger of two sons of “Gone With the Wind” producer David O. Selznick and stage producer Irene Mayer Selznick. His grandfather was Louis B. Mayer, the gregarious Canadian immigrant who led Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to the pinnacle of art and commerce during Hollywood’s 1930s and ’40s Golden Age. By the time Daniel Selznick was a young teenager, his parents had divorced and his father was remarried to Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Jones.
Daniel Selznick’s birth was reported in the May 19, 1936, edition of Daily Variety
In his own career, Selznick worked as a champion of the arts and to preserve his family’s legacy. Daniel...
- 8/3/2024
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Daniel Selznick, a Hollywood producer and executive who was a son of legendary Gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick and theatrical producer Irene Mayer Selznick, has died. He was 88.
He died Thursday of natural causes at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills and will be remembered “for his intelligence, charm, sweetness and generosity,” a spokesperson announced.
Born in Los Angeles on May 18, 1936, Selznick graduated from Harvard University, attended the University of Geneva and did graduate work at Brandeis University. He continued in his family’s footsteps and pursued a career in the entertainment industry, including working as a production executive at Universal Studios for four years.
His father, who died in 1965, produced dozens of iconic films, including 1939’s Gone With the Wind, 1946’s Duel in the Sun and 1933’s King Kong. His mother, who died in 1990, was the daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer...
He died Thursday of natural causes at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills and will be remembered “for his intelligence, charm, sweetness and generosity,” a spokesperson announced.
Born in Los Angeles on May 18, 1936, Selznick graduated from Harvard University, attended the University of Geneva and did graduate work at Brandeis University. He continued in his family’s footsteps and pursued a career in the entertainment industry, including working as a production executive at Universal Studios for four years.
His father, who died in 1965, produced dozens of iconic films, including 1939’s Gone With the Wind, 1946’s Duel in the Sun and 1933’s King Kong. His mother, who died in 1990, was the daughter of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer...
- 8/3/2024
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Daniel Mayer Selznick, a one-time television producer and preserver of film history who was also one of the last direct links to two of Hollywood’s most storied families, died Friday of natural causes. He was 88.
At the time of his death, Selznick was living in the Motion Picture Country Home, the home in Woodland Hills, California, for elderly entertainers in need maintained by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The MPTF organization announced his death.
Born May 18, 1936, Selznick was the son of legendary “Gone With the Wind” film producer David O. Selznick and equally successful theater producer Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of Hollywood founding father Louis B. Mayer. Growing up in Beverly Hills around entertainment industry royalty, he attended the George School and Harvard University as well as the University of Geneva and for graduate school, Brandeis University.
He spent most of his life working in and around entertainment,...
At the time of his death, Selznick was living in the Motion Picture Country Home, the home in Woodland Hills, California, for elderly entertainers in need maintained by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. The MPTF organization announced his death.
Born May 18, 1936, Selznick was the son of legendary “Gone With the Wind” film producer David O. Selznick and equally successful theater producer Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of Hollywood founding father Louis B. Mayer. Growing up in Beverly Hills around entertainment industry royalty, he attended the George School and Harvard University as well as the University of Geneva and for graduate school, Brandeis University.
He spent most of his life working in and around entertainment,...
- 8/3/2024
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Daniel Mayer Selznick, one of Hollywood’s last direct connections to the industry’s founding families, died of natural causes on Thursday, August 1 at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California at 88.
He had been a longtime and beloved resident at the retirement home, overseeing the construction of the Louis B. Mayer Theater on the campus, and also speaking at the opening of the remodeled theater complex in 2017.
During his time at the Motion Picture Home, he wrote a memoir, Walking with Kings, which will be published next year by Alfred Knopf. The book recounts in vivid detail the author’s recollections of growing up as a young prince of Hollywood.
The younger son of iconic film producer David O. Selznick and theatrical producer Irene Mayer Selznick, as well as the grandson of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer and his first wife, Margaret Shenberg Mayer, Daniel Selznick grew up in Beverly Hills.
He had been a longtime and beloved resident at the retirement home, overseeing the construction of the Louis B. Mayer Theater on the campus, and also speaking at the opening of the remodeled theater complex in 2017.
During his time at the Motion Picture Home, he wrote a memoir, Walking with Kings, which will be published next year by Alfred Knopf. The book recounts in vivid detail the author’s recollections of growing up as a young prince of Hollywood.
The younger son of iconic film producer David O. Selznick and theatrical producer Irene Mayer Selznick, as well as the grandson of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer and his first wife, Margaret Shenberg Mayer, Daniel Selznick grew up in Beverly Hills.
- 8/3/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer has had his contract renewed and will continue to lead the organization behind the Oscars through July 2028, taking him through the Academy’s centennial. His contract was up for renewal in 2025, but the organization said it was approved one year early “due to [Kramer’s] exceptional leadership and significant contributions.”
“Bill is a dynamic and transformational leader, and the Board of Governors agrees he is the ideal person to continue to broaden the Academy’s reach and impact on our international film community and successfully guide the organization into our next 100 years,” said Academy President Janet Yang in a statement.
Kramer took over as CEO of the Academy in June 2022, replacing Dawn Hudson, who had led the organization for a decade. He first joined the Academy in 2012 and became the director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in January 2020. Since becoming CEO,...
“Bill is a dynamic and transformational leader, and the Board of Governors agrees he is the ideal person to continue to broaden the Academy’s reach and impact on our international film community and successfully guide the organization into our next 100 years,” said Academy President Janet Yang in a statement.
Kramer took over as CEO of the Academy in June 2022, replacing Dawn Hudson, who had led the organization for a decade. He first joined the Academy in 2012 and became the director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in January 2020. Since becoming CEO,...
- 6/24/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy Museum has pledged to make “immediate” changes to its Hollywoodland exhibition about Jewish film industry pioneers after an open letter took the institution to task for “double standards”.
“We have heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community regarding some components of our exhibition Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,” the Museum said in a statement on Monday.
The Museum said it took the concerns seriously, adding that the changes “will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. This will also help to eliminate any ambiguities”.
The letter,...
“We have heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community regarding some components of our exhibition Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,” the Museum said in a statement on Monday.
The Museum said it took the concerns seriously, adding that the changes “will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. This will also help to eliminate any ambiguities”.
The letter,...
- 6/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Following backlash from a group of Jewish activists, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles announced Monday it will revise its new exhibit on Hollywood’s Jewish roots.
The museum noted in a statement to the The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that it had “heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community” and that it was “committed to making changes to the exhibition to address them.”
“We will be implementing the first set of changes immediately — they will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes,” the museum said, also noting they are “convening an advisory group of experts from leading museums focused on the Jewish community, civil rights and the history of other marginalized groups to advise us on complex questions about context and any necessary additions to the exhibition’s narrative.”
Days earlier, the institution had also noted...
The museum noted in a statement to the The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that it had “heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community” and that it was “committed to making changes to the exhibition to address them.”
“We will be implementing the first set of changes immediately — they will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes,” the museum said, also noting they are “convening an advisory group of experts from leading museums focused on the Jewish community, civil rights and the history of other marginalized groups to advise us on complex questions about context and any necessary additions to the exhibition’s narrative.”
Days earlier, the institution had also noted...
- 6/11/2024
- by Zoe G. Phillips
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Academy Museum has vowed to modify language in its new “Hollywoodland” exhibit dedicated to the Jewish founders of Hollywood amid outcry labeling the exhibit antisemitic.
“We have heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community regarding some components of our exhibition ‘Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,’” the Academy Museum said on Monday in a statement obtained by IndieWire. “We take these concerns seriously and are committed to making changes to the exhibition to address them. We will be implementing the first set of changes immediately — they will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. This will also help to eliminate any ambiguities. In addition to these updates, we are convening an advisory group of experts from leading museums focused on the Jewish community, civil rights, and the history of other marginalized groups to advise us...
“We have heard the concerns from members of the Jewish community regarding some components of our exhibition ‘Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,’” the Academy Museum said on Monday in a statement obtained by IndieWire. “We take these concerns seriously and are committed to making changes to the exhibition to address them. We will be implementing the first set of changes immediately — they will allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. This will also help to eliminate any ambiguities. In addition to these updates, we are convening an advisory group of experts from leading museums focused on the Jewish community, civil rights, and the history of other marginalized groups to advise us...
- 6/10/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
“More stars than there are in heaven” was once the slogan for Hollywood’s largest studio. Larger-than-life celebrities like Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Harlow and Gene Kelly were common fixtures at MGM. Today, MGM is an IP outpost purchased by Amazon for $8.5 billion in 2022, but in its day, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had the biggest lot in Hollywood and produced some of the most extravagant films. Located in Culver City, MGM’s famously sprawling lot began as it grew from the 40 acres owned by Samuel Goldwyn. The legendary MGM property was 3 miles long and housed more than 45 buildings and 14 stages, in addition to numerous outdoor sets that would be built over the years.
MGM was home to countless classic films, and in 1939 alone, the studio backed the timeless fantasy The Wizard of Oz and distributed the Oscar-winning Gone With the Wind, the Ernst Lubitsch/Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka,...
MGM was home to countless classic films, and in 1939 alone, the studio backed the timeless fantasy The Wizard of Oz and distributed the Oscar-winning Gone With the Wind, the Ernst Lubitsch/Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka,...
- 4/29/2024
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In Hamilton McFadden's 1934 film "Stand Up and Cheer!," the unnamed off-screen president (actually Franklin D. Roosevelt) posits that the real reason for Great Depression was a sudden crisis of optimism. Additionally, wicked bankers were running amok and getting rich while the rest of the nation starved, leaving everyone nihilistic and horrified. The wasteful and corrupt Warren Harding administration followed by the Crash of '29 isn't mentioned, as McFadden's film sought to cheer people up, not make their depression — and the Depression — any worse. In "Stand Up and Cheer!," Fdr created a Department of Amusement and appoints a secretary (Warner Baxter) to oversee a feel-good, nationwide show to keep morale up.
The bulk of the 80-minute film is a series of auditions in the secretary's office wherein performers come in to sing and dance, effectively turning the movie into a revue. Modern audiences may bristle at some racist caricatures, notably actress...
The bulk of the 80-minute film is a series of auditions in the secretary's office wherein performers come in to sing and dance, effectively turning the movie into a revue. Modern audiences may bristle at some racist caricatures, notably actress...
- 4/17/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
It had all the elements of a good action movie – jeopardy, revenge, a mega budget – with even some casualties thrown in (albeit corporate).
The Bob Iger vs Nelson Peltz (who?) war is over now and Iger has won. But some filmmakers and ticket buyers might wonder: Did any of it matter? Would a modest change on the Disney board of directors have had any impact on the future of entertainment? (Peltz himself runs a hedge fund called Trian Partners and has no background in entertainment.)
To be sure, it’s been a good show, albeit a throwback to an era when Hollywood was run by Big Personalities, not monoliths like Amazon or Apple. The battles of that era were ego wars, not proxy wars — Redstone vs Diller or Murdoch vs Ted Turner, with bewildered stars and their reps huddled in the middle.
But now Iger has won – again. The onetime...
The Bob Iger vs Nelson Peltz (who?) war is over now and Iger has won. But some filmmakers and ticket buyers might wonder: Did any of it matter? Would a modest change on the Disney board of directors have had any impact on the future of entertainment? (Peltz himself runs a hedge fund called Trian Partners and has no background in entertainment.)
To be sure, it’s been a good show, albeit a throwback to an era when Hollywood was run by Big Personalities, not monoliths like Amazon or Apple. The battles of that era were ego wars, not proxy wars — Redstone vs Diller or Murdoch vs Ted Turner, with bewildered stars and their reps huddled in the middle.
But now Iger has won – again. The onetime...
- 4/4/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
On Sunday night, for the 96th time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hand out Academy Award statuettes, which many have referred to since the early 1930s, and the Academy itself has described since 1939, as “Oscars.”
The Academy has long asserted that these shiny gold figurines — which are now the world’s most iconic prizes, even more recognizable than the Nobel or Pulitzer variety — depict a knight standing erect and holding, right hand over left, a crusader’s sword (in order to defend the film industry), which pierces beneath him a reel of film with five spokes (representing the original branches of the organization, producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians).
The nickname “Oscar,” meanwhile, has been variously attributed, without convincing evidence, to the Academy’s early executive director Margaret Herrick (who supposedly said it reminded her of an uncle named Oscar), actress Bette Davis (who claimed it...
The Academy has long asserted that these shiny gold figurines — which are now the world’s most iconic prizes, even more recognizable than the Nobel or Pulitzer variety — depict a knight standing erect and holding, right hand over left, a crusader’s sword (in order to defend the film industry), which pierces beneath him a reel of film with five spokes (representing the original branches of the organization, producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians).
The nickname “Oscar,” meanwhile, has been variously attributed, without convincing evidence, to the Academy’s early executive director Margaret Herrick (who supposedly said it reminded her of an uncle named Oscar), actress Bette Davis (who claimed it...
- 3/10/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“That movie was the President’s idea, not mine, but it was a demand, not a suggestion.”
The speaker was Jack Warner in a 1947 foreshadowing of his Donald Trumpian style. I recalled his remarks this week as I drove onto the Warner Bros lot, the fabled arena where Warner long reigned.
In his heyday, Warner was a Trump pre-clone in terms of temperament and rhetoric – a man who boasted about his mental acuity yet, to Hollywood’s power players, seemed occasionally unhinged.
I was visiting Warner Bros this week to spend some time with David Zaslav, a figure who, in temperament and politics, is the mirror opposite of Warner but whose empire is nonetheless a product of Warner’s erratic vision. Some believe that Zaslav’s studio – Hollywood in general – might still glean some insight from its founder’s idiosyncrasies.
A career maverick, Warner promoted gangster movies like Public Enemy...
The speaker was Jack Warner in a 1947 foreshadowing of his Donald Trumpian style. I recalled his remarks this week as I drove onto the Warner Bros lot, the fabled arena where Warner long reigned.
In his heyday, Warner was a Trump pre-clone in terms of temperament and rhetoric – a man who boasted about his mental acuity yet, to Hollywood’s power players, seemed occasionally unhinged.
I was visiting Warner Bros this week to spend some time with David Zaslav, a figure who, in temperament and politics, is the mirror opposite of Warner but whose empire is nonetheless a product of Warner’s erratic vision. Some believe that Zaslav’s studio – Hollywood in general – might still glean some insight from its founder’s idiosyncrasies.
A career maverick, Warner promoted gangster movies like Public Enemy...
- 3/7/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Charles D. King made history tonight, becoming the first Black producer to accept the PGA Milestone Award. Watch his acceptance speech below.
It’s an award that’s bestowed to producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The Producers Guild’s 2023 recipients were Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Other past honorees include Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron and more.
When the Macro founder and boss said that when he first got the news of the honor, “I was a little shocked and surprised. I was without words. I was filled with tremendous gratitude.
“I stand on the shoulders of all the incredible producers, executives, my parents and our ancestors who kicked down doors, made sacrifices and blazed a trail for me to...
It’s an award that’s bestowed to producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The Producers Guild’s 2023 recipients were Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Other past honorees include Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron and more.
When the Macro founder and boss said that when he first got the news of the honor, “I was a little shocked and surprised. I was without words. I was filled with tremendous gratitude.
“I stand on the shoulders of all the incredible producers, executives, my parents and our ancestors who kicked down doors, made sacrifices and blazed a trail for me to...
- 2/26/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
As a teenager, Barbra Streisand dreamt of being an actress while sitting on her bed in Brooklyn with a pint of coffee ice cream and a movie magazine. During those days, after school she would make a break for New York’s Astor Theatre, which showed black-and-white international movies. Another time, she ducked into a showing of Guys and Dolls at the Loew’s Kings Theatre in her neighborhood.
“Everything was so beautiful up on that screen,” Streisand said in opening her acceptance speech upon receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award during Saturday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. “That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn’t like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like the other women on the screen. My mother said, ‘you better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen.
“Everything was so beautiful up on that screen,” Streisand said in opening her acceptance speech upon receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award during Saturday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. “That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn’t like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like the other women on the screen. My mother said, ‘you better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen.
- 2/25/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a meditative and heartfelt speech, Barbra Streisand accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award on Saturday by paying tribute to the industry’s roots and extolling her abiding passion for the craft.
“For a couple of hours people could sit in a theater and escape their own troubles – what an idea! Moving pictures on a screen,” she said in remarks that followed a nearly 1-minute standing ovation as she took the stage.
“I can’t help but think back to the people who built this industry. Ironically, they were also escaping their own troubles,” she continued, in a contemplative but forceful tone. Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and the four Warner Brothers “were all fleeing the prejudice they faced in Easter Europe, simply because of their religion. And they were dreamers, too, like all of us here tonight.
“For a couple of hours people could sit in a theater and escape their own troubles – what an idea! Moving pictures on a screen,” she said in remarks that followed a nearly 1-minute standing ovation as she took the stage.
“I can’t help but think back to the people who built this industry. Ironically, they were also escaping their own troubles,” she continued, in a contemplative but forceful tone. Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and the four Warner Brothers “were all fleeing the prejudice they faced in Easter Europe, simply because of their religion. And they were dreamers, too, like all of us here tonight.
- 2/25/2024
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
“It Happened One Night,” which premiered at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 22, 1934, helped usher in the screwball romantic comedy, changed the careers of stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin and transformed the Poverty Row Columbia Pictures into a major player. And let’s not forget, “It Happened One Night” also made Oscar history winning five major Oscars: picture, director, adapted screenplay and both actor and actress. It would be 41 years before “One Flew of the Cuckoo’s Nest” would accomplish the same feat at the Academy Awards.
Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...
Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...
- 2/20/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
As Hollywood neared the midpoint of the 1980s, the industry had abandoned the risk-taking ethos of the 1970s and unabashedly embraced formula filmmaking. Stars still mattered, but the pitch was king. Studio executives keen on becoming their generation's Jack Warner, Daryl Zanuck and Louis B. Mayer were through humoring unpredictable auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Hal Ashby. They wanted can't-miss high-concept projects powered by high-wattage stars that could play for months on end in theaters because, despite the skyrocketing value of home video and pay cable channels, theatrical was still king.
"Beverly Hills Cop" traversed a rocky path from inception to production, but producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer doggedly developed and re-developed the project until they paired a 23-year-old comedy superstar with a once-hot director who'd two years prior gotten himself fired off "WarGames." The particulars of the fish-out-of-water plot shifted many times over the years (it was nearly...
"Beverly Hills Cop" traversed a rocky path from inception to production, but producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer doggedly developed and re-developed the project until they paired a 23-year-old comedy superstar with a once-hot director who'd two years prior gotten himself fired off "WarGames." The particulars of the fish-out-of-water plot shifted many times over the years (it was nearly...
- 1/30/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
If Hollywood truly suffers from a leadership malaise, as some charge, would the return of Monroe Stahr resuscitate the system? Filmmakers respect his judgment, stars his panache and investors his discipline, so Stahr’s return may ignite a new Irving Thalberg-like era.
Whoops — he’s not available.
The manic and manipulative hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon ruled MGM in its ‘30s heyday, but Stahr’s fictional reign was short-lived. So was Fitzgerald’s brilliant but never completed 1939 novel, which modeled Stahr after Thalberg.
Having achieved literary stardom with The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s decision to write a Hollywood novel, while simultaneously working as a script doctor, plunged the novelist into alcoholic paralysis. He never managed to finish his book and even his screenplays were unrealized.
The Last Tycoon briefly flickered back to life as a movie thanks to the great Elia Kazan, who cast Robert De Niro,...
Whoops — he’s not available.
The manic and manipulative hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon ruled MGM in its ‘30s heyday, but Stahr’s fictional reign was short-lived. So was Fitzgerald’s brilliant but never completed 1939 novel, which modeled Stahr after Thalberg.
Having achieved literary stardom with The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s decision to write a Hollywood novel, while simultaneously working as a script doctor, plunged the novelist into alcoholic paralysis. He never managed to finish his book and even his screenplays were unrealized.
The Last Tycoon briefly flickered back to life as a movie thanks to the great Elia Kazan, who cast Robert De Niro,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Nine decades ago this December, moviegoers were witnessing the beginning of one of the most successful movie teams, as well as the demise of one of the most dramatic.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made box office magic during the Depression-era 1930s in nine Art Deco musical comedy delights from Rko including 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee” and 1936’s “Swing Time.” Their chemistry was unmatched, and they literally made beautiful musical together introducing countless standards including the Oscar-winning “The Continental” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” And their dancing was robust, romantic and heavenly-just check out the “Never Gonna Dance” routine from “Swing Time.”
It was 90 years ago this week, their first pairing “Flying Down to Rio” opened at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One of the big surprises is that the duo aren’t the stars of the lightweight pre-Code musicals: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond...
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made box office magic during the Depression-era 1930s in nine Art Deco musical comedy delights from Rko including 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee” and 1936’s “Swing Time.” Their chemistry was unmatched, and they literally made beautiful musical together introducing countless standards including the Oscar-winning “The Continental” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” And their dancing was robust, romantic and heavenly-just check out the “Never Gonna Dance” routine from “Swing Time.”
It was 90 years ago this week, their first pairing “Flying Down to Rio” opened at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One of the big surprises is that the duo aren’t the stars of the lightweight pre-Code musicals: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond...
- 12/28/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
As My So-Called Life nears its 30th anniversary, Executive Producer Ed Zwick took a walk down memory lane Saturday to remind folks about working on the before-its-time drama that starred Claire Danes.
In a long X thread, Zwick shared an “origin story” about how he was first drawn to the work of Winnie Holzman before he would end up co-EPing her script with longtime producing partner Marshall Herskovitz. Zwick chronicles his work on My So-Called Life, as well as thirtysomething, The Last Samurai and Glory in his upcoming book “Hits, Flops and Other Illusions,” out in February.
“Kristy McNichol played ‘Buddy,’ an adolescent girl on ABC-tv’s Family,” Zwick began. “I’d write surly teenage dialogue and get network notes on my scripts with the initials N.O.B. meaning “not our Buddy.” I vowed someday I’d get to portray real adolescence.”
“Marshall wrote a provocative pilot for Showtime called “Secret Seventeen” about unruly,...
In a long X thread, Zwick shared an “origin story” about how he was first drawn to the work of Winnie Holzman before he would end up co-EPing her script with longtime producing partner Marshall Herskovitz. Zwick chronicles his work on My So-Called Life, as well as thirtysomething, The Last Samurai and Glory in his upcoming book “Hits, Flops and Other Illusions,” out in February.
“Kristy McNichol played ‘Buddy,’ an adolescent girl on ABC-tv’s Family,” Zwick began. “I’d write surly teenage dialogue and get network notes on my scripts with the initials N.O.B. meaning “not our Buddy.” I vowed someday I’d get to portray real adolescence.”
“Marshall wrote a provocative pilot for Showtime called “Secret Seventeen” about unruly,...
- 12/23/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced that their 2024 Milestone Award would go to Charles D. King, founder and CEO of MacRo, for his contributions to the film industry. The “They Cloned Tyrone” producer will accept the award at the 35th annual Producers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 25.
Past recipients of the Milestone Award, meant to recognize producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry, include 2023 recipients Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the current co-CEOs of Warner Bros., as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron, George Lucas, and Kathleen Kennedy, and Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Its legacy goes far enough back to also include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and Alfred Hitchcock as past recipients.
“Charles King’s achievements in our industry are undeniable whether as an agent representing important voices or as the...
Past recipients of the Milestone Award, meant to recognize producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry, include 2023 recipients Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the current co-CEOs of Warner Bros., as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron, George Lucas, and Kathleen Kennedy, and Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Its legacy goes far enough back to also include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and Alfred Hitchcock as past recipients.
“Charles King’s achievements in our industry are undeniable whether as an agent representing important voices or as the...
- 12/19/2023
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
Annette Bening, who recently starred in Netflix’s biopic “Nyad,” will receive a special Golden Medallion tribute award from the Telluride Film Festival on Jan. 6, 2024. Meg Ryan will present the award to her at Netflix’s Tudum Theater in Los Angeles. The event will also feature a conversation focused on her career trajectory, which Bening’s “Nyad” co-star Jodie Foster will moderate.
Due to the actors strike, Bening was unable to accept the honor at the Telluride Film Festival in September, marking the first time Telluride has presented an honor outside of the dates of the festival. Previous Golden Medallion recipients include Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.
Bening was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for portraying Diana Nyad. She has also received Oscar nominations for “The Grifters,” “American Beauty,” “Being Julia” and “The Kids Are All Right.”
Charles D. King to Receive Milestone Award at 2024 Producers Guild...
Due to the actors strike, Bening was unable to accept the honor at the Telluride Film Festival in September, marking the first time Telluride has presented an honor outside of the dates of the festival. Previous Golden Medallion recipients include Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.
Bening was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for portraying Diana Nyad. She has also received Oscar nominations for “The Grifters,” “American Beauty,” “Being Julia” and “The Kids Are All Right.”
Charles D. King to Receive Milestone Award at 2024 Producers Guild...
- 12/19/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, Valerie Wu, Jaden Thompson and Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
The Producers Guild of America announced today that Charles D. King will be honored with the 2024 Milestone Award, citing “his immeasurable contribution to the film industry.” King will accept the award at the 35th Annual Producers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 25.
The Milestone Award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The 2023 recipients were Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Other past honorees include Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron and more.
Related: 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More
King is the Founder & CEO of Macro, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company’s business verticals include film (Macro Film Studios) and television studios (Macro Television Studios) that finance,...
The Milestone Award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The 2023 recipients were Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Other past honorees include Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron and more.
Related: 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More
King is the Founder & CEO of Macro, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company’s business verticals include film (Macro Film Studios) and television studios (Macro Television Studios) that finance,...
- 12/19/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The Producers Guild of America will honor film producer Charles D. King with the Milestone Award at the 2024 PGA Awards.
King will accept the accolade, which is the PGA’s most prestigious honor, at the 35th annual awards show on Feb. 25.
The award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. Early recipients of the Milestone Award include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as contemporary innovators Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and James Cameron. The PGA most recently honored Warner Bros. Picture Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy with the award in 2023.
King is the founder and CEO of MacRo, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company...
King will accept the accolade, which is the PGA’s most prestigious honor, at the 35th annual awards show on Feb. 25.
The award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. Early recipients of the Milestone Award include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as contemporary innovators Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and James Cameron. The PGA most recently honored Warner Bros. Picture Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy with the award in 2023.
King is the founder and CEO of MacRo, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company...
- 12/19/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sony Pictures Entertainment is marking Columbia Pictures’ 100th anniversary with a new centennial logo inspired by the historic “Lady With the Torch” iconography.
Ahead of Columbia’s anniversary celebration on Jan. 10, 2024, the new logo has an enhanced glow to the torch to symbolize the vibrancy of the Hollywood studio’s history, Sony said in a statement.
“There is one thing that separates a major studio from all other content producers: history. At Columbia, that history is reflected in the countless cultural talismans created by thousands of people over now 100 years. All of us at Columbia are proud of that legacy and honored to celebrate it,” Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The studio behind classic Hollywood movies like It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and You Can’t Take it With You was founded by brothers...
Ahead of Columbia’s anniversary celebration on Jan. 10, 2024, the new logo has an enhanced glow to the torch to symbolize the vibrancy of the Hollywood studio’s history, Sony said in a statement.
“There is one thing that separates a major studio from all other content producers: history. At Columbia, that history is reflected in the countless cultural talismans created by thousands of people over now 100 years. All of us at Columbia are proud of that legacy and honored to celebrate it,” Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The studio behind classic Hollywood movies like It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and You Can’t Take it With You was founded by brothers...
- 11/14/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Szmuel Gelbfisz. Lazar Meir. Hirsz Mojżesz Wonsal. Or as you know their instantly recognizable Americanized surnames as ones of the ment who built Hollywood: Samuel Goldwyn. Louis B. Mayer. Harry Warner. Hollywood was created by Jews who strove to fit into a non-Jewish-shaped box. Jews who wanted to un-Jew. Frankly, who could blame them? The United States was not overly friendly to Jews and un-Jewing was what you needed to do to get by. The trouble is that Hollywood is still stuck in their shadows and it’s a dangerous pattern to keep repeating.
The history of the Hollywood studios easily explains how we started down this road. The fantasy of the American Dream was upheld by Jews who held onto America for survival. The idealized world, the mythos that became “Hollywood,” was literally invented by people whose upbringing was defined by America — and what the “American Dream” had to...
The history of the Hollywood studios easily explains how we started down this road. The fantasy of the American Dream was upheld by Jews who held onto America for survival. The idealized world, the mythos that became “Hollywood,” was literally invented by people whose upbringing was defined by America — and what the “American Dream” had to...
- 10/18/2023
- by Archie Gottesman
- Variety Film + TV
In the early 1940s, a young Lena Horne began an engagement at an intimate L.A. club called Little Troc, where her silken voice — with her perfect enunciation and her sophisticated interpretation of the lyrics — dazzled the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Cole Porter, Lana Turner and Greta Garbo. Among the many eyes that observed her during her run were those of the astute, sensitive Roger Edens, who was an integral member of the Freed Unit at MGM Studios. Led by innovative producer Arthur Freed, the unit consisted of musical artists who created many of MGM’s great musicals from the golden age: It had recently produced Babes in Arms (1939) and would strike gold with An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Gigi (1958).
Within the Freed Unit, Edens stood out as a highly respected composer, arranger and associate producer who eventually won three Academy Awards. After seeing Lena perform,...
Within the Freed Unit, Edens stood out as a highly respected composer, arranger and associate producer who eventually won three Academy Awards. After seeing Lena perform,...
- 10/12/2023
- by Donald Bogle
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After years in development, actress Gal Gadot ("Wonder Woman") will star in the 8-episode TV series "Hedy Lamarr" chronicling Lamarr's life and movie career, set during World War II, for streaming on AppleTV+:
"...after a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial film 'Ecstasy' (1933)...
"...Lamarr fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer, and secretly moved to Paris.
"Traveling to London, she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where she became a film star from the late 1930's to the 1950's.
"Among Lamarr's best known films are 'Algiers' (1938), 'Boom Town' (1940), 'I Take This Woman' (1940), 'Comrade X' (1940), 'Come Live With Me' (1941), 'H.M. Pulham, Esq.' (1941) and 'Samson and Delilah' (1949).
"At the beginning of World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes.
"...after a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial film 'Ecstasy' (1933)...
"...Lamarr fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer, and secretly moved to Paris.
"Traveling to London, she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where she became a film star from the late 1930's to the 1950's.
"Among Lamarr's best known films are 'Algiers' (1938), 'Boom Town' (1940), 'I Take This Woman' (1940), 'Comrade X' (1940), 'Come Live With Me' (1941), 'H.M. Pulham, Esq.' (1941) and 'Samson and Delilah' (1949).
"At the beginning of World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes.
- 9/16/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Will the Hollywood studio become extinct?
One hundred years ago, Louis B. Mayer unfurled his grand idea to mobilize “all the stars in heaven” for his filmmaking adventure. His dream factory, once prolific, now seems adrift amid the economic debris of streamerville and linear TV.
The studio system still has its advocates, one of whom, Francis Coppola, attempted to re-invent the studio on three occasions. He’s still trying.
His intriguing, if bizarre adventure, is told in a gripping new book by Sam Wasson titled Path to Paradise, vividly chronicling how the director leveraged his two great movies into an assembly line of cinema.
Well, almost. Coppola’s effort to orchestrate the genius of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now into an enduring filmmaking enterprise was defeated by two realities: The eccentricity of his management style and the frailty of his infrastructure.
Zoetrope was to be owned and run by creatives...
One hundred years ago, Louis B. Mayer unfurled his grand idea to mobilize “all the stars in heaven” for his filmmaking adventure. His dream factory, once prolific, now seems adrift amid the economic debris of streamerville and linear TV.
The studio system still has its advocates, one of whom, Francis Coppola, attempted to re-invent the studio on three occasions. He’s still trying.
His intriguing, if bizarre adventure, is told in a gripping new book by Sam Wasson titled Path to Paradise, vividly chronicling how the director leveraged his two great movies into an assembly line of cinema.
Well, almost. Coppola’s effort to orchestrate the genius of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now into an enduring filmmaking enterprise was defeated by two realities: The eccentricity of his management style and the frailty of his infrastructure.
Zoetrope was to be owned and run by creatives...
- 9/14/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Swedish-born Greta Garbo became a star with a string of hit films throughout the 1920s and 1930s before disappearing from screens in 1941 at the age of 36. Though she appeared in only a handful of titles, enough have remained classics to give her a special place in history. Let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1905, Garbo got her start in the silent era, acting in her native Sweden before coming to Hollywood at the behest of MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer. She soon became a popular presence on the silver screen as a romantic leading lady. Her performance in “Flesh and the Devil” (1926) as a seductress who tears two friends apart proved she was a woman to die for.
Since English was not her first language, Mayer was rightfully nervous that the emergence of sound would destroy one of his biggest stars.
Born in 1905, Garbo got her start in the silent era, acting in her native Sweden before coming to Hollywood at the behest of MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer. She soon became a popular presence on the silver screen as a romantic leading lady. Her performance in “Flesh and the Devil” (1926) as a seductress who tears two friends apart proved she was a woman to die for.
Since English was not her first language, Mayer was rightfully nervous that the emergence of sound would destroy one of his biggest stars.
- 9/14/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Actress Gal Gadot continues developing "Hedy Lamarr" for a Showtime limited series, chronicling the 1940's film star's life and career, including her brilliant inventions that led to the development of 'WiFi' and 'Gps':
"...after a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial film 'Ecstasy' (1933)...
"...Lamarr fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer, and secretly moved to Paris.
"Traveling to London, she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where she became a film star from the late 1930's to the 1950's.
"Among Lamarr's best known films are 'Algiers' (1938), 'Boom Town' (1940), 'I Take This Woman' (1940), 'Comrade X' (1940), 'Come Live With Me' (1941), 'H.M. Pulham, Esq.' (1941) and 'Samson and Delilah' (1949).
"At the beginning of World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes.
"...after a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial film 'Ecstasy' (1933)...
"...Lamarr fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer, and secretly moved to Paris.
"Traveling to London, she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where she became a film star from the late 1930's to the 1950's.
"Among Lamarr's best known films are 'Algiers' (1938), 'Boom Town' (1940), 'I Take This Woman' (1940), 'Comrade X' (1940), 'Come Live With Me' (1941), 'H.M. Pulham, Esq.' (1941) and 'Samson and Delilah' (1949).
"At the beginning of World War II, she and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes.
- 8/24/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
“How did I become Tom Joad? I used to write for a living.”
Tom Joad was the hapless farmer in The Grapes of Wrath who fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California. The man who cited him this week is a successful screenwriter who’s been walking the picket line and asked that I not use his name.
While the cast of pickets might not mirror John Steinbeck’s characters in his great novel, still “the rhetoric of this strike has taken on a ‘rich against the poor’ obsession,” in the words of one studio CEO.
The bargaining jargon once focused on residuals, but now it’s about “land barons” and “tone-deaf greedy bosses” (the words of SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher). Little wonder polling shows only 7% of the public siding with the “bosses.” The “class warfare” has passed the 100-day mark, with L.A. city workers joining in Tuesday.
Tom Joad was the hapless farmer in The Grapes of Wrath who fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California. The man who cited him this week is a successful screenwriter who’s been walking the picket line and asked that I not use his name.
While the cast of pickets might not mirror John Steinbeck’s characters in his great novel, still “the rhetoric of this strike has taken on a ‘rich against the poor’ obsession,” in the words of one studio CEO.
The bargaining jargon once focused on residuals, but now it’s about “land barons” and “tone-deaf greedy bosses” (the words of SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher). Little wonder polling shows only 7% of the public siding with the “bosses.” The “class warfare” has passed the 100-day mark, with L.A. city workers joining in Tuesday.
- 8/10/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed “Oppenheimer,” which revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist considered the father of the atomic bomb, is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. Actually of the year. Over the decades there have been several films dealing with the Manhattan Project that culminated with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki thus ending World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
Soon after the global conflict ended MGM, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox were rushing to be the first studio to greenlight a movie dealing with the birth of the atomic bomb that ushered in the Cold War. MGM quickly put a project in motion hiring Robert Considine to write a story . The studio was circling the likes of its “A’ stars Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Van Johnson. Meanwhile over at Paramount, producer Hal Wallis was preparing a $1.5 million atomic bomb film called “Top Secret.
- 7/21/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Here’s looking at Warner Bros. which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Earlier this year, Turner Classic Movies, which is a member of the Warner Bros. Discovery family, celebrated the centennial with a monthlong tribute to the studio that gave the world such landmark films as 1927’s “The Jazz Singer,” the first feature with synchronized recorded singing and some dialogue; the ultimate gangster flick 1931’s “Public Enemy,: the glorious 1938 swashbuckler “The Adventures of Robin Hood”; and the beloved 1942 “Casablanca.
And during its Golden Age, its roster of stars included such legends as Rin-Tin-Tin, John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Paul Muni, John Garfield and Sydney Greenstreet.
Max is currently streaming the four-part documentary series “100 Years of Warner Bros.” (the first two episodes premiered at Cannes). And also arriving this week is the lavish coffee table book “Warner Bros.
And during its Golden Age, its roster of stars included such legends as Rin-Tin-Tin, John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Paul Muni, John Garfield and Sydney Greenstreet.
Max is currently streaming the four-part documentary series “100 Years of Warner Bros.” (the first two episodes premiered at Cannes). And also arriving this week is the lavish coffee table book “Warner Bros.
- 5/30/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
This is a dark moment for frazzled members of the writing fraternity.
Picketers in Hollywood and New York fear a prolonged standoff gripping film and TV. Also troubling, their colleagues in digital media are patching together their résumés as Vice Media and BuzzFeed prepare for crash landings. Will others follow?
Even a digital zealot like Ben Smith sees the moment as “a humbling experience.” His new book, titled Traffic, vividly revisits the picaresque adventures of the “muckrakers, dweebs and wing nuts” who set out to revolutionize legacy journalism. Some became at once rich and unemployed.
The New York Times liked Smith’s book, even though he quit that paper to start yet another digital adventure called Semafor — its fate still to be determined.
Here’s the irony: While Smith and his social media colleagues are making lots of noise for their next adventures, their colleagues in film and TV are frozen in silence.
Picketers in Hollywood and New York fear a prolonged standoff gripping film and TV. Also troubling, their colleagues in digital media are patching together their résumés as Vice Media and BuzzFeed prepare for crash landings. Will others follow?
Even a digital zealot like Ben Smith sees the moment as “a humbling experience.” His new book, titled Traffic, vividly revisits the picaresque adventures of the “muckrakers, dweebs and wing nuts” who set out to revolutionize legacy journalism. Some became at once rich and unemployed.
The New York Times liked Smith’s book, even though he quit that paper to start yet another digital adventure called Semafor — its fate still to be determined.
Here’s the irony: While Smith and his social media colleagues are making lots of noise for their next adventures, their colleagues in film and TV are frozen in silence.
- 5/4/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
You are reading an exclusive WrapPRO article for free. Want to level up your entertainment career? Subscribe to WrapPRO now.
If you look at the coverage around the current Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, or the one that took place in 2007-2008, it tends to revolve around television. With TV taking less time to produce more content, a strike of any significant length of time will affect that medium well before the big-budget world of film, where the average length of pre-production can range anywhere from six months to a year.
As the writer John Gregory Dunne once wrote in his essay “Hollywood: Opening Moves,” “From the earliest days of the motion picture industry … the screenwriter has been regarded at best as an anomalous necessity, at worst a curse to be born.” Though audiences starting in Hollywood’s earliest days came to know the names of some prominent screenwriters,...
If you look at the coverage around the current Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, or the one that took place in 2007-2008, it tends to revolve around television. With TV taking less time to produce more content, a strike of any significant length of time will affect that medium well before the big-budget world of film, where the average length of pre-production can range anywhere from six months to a year.
As the writer John Gregory Dunne once wrote in his essay “Hollywood: Opening Moves,” “From the earliest days of the motion picture industry … the screenwriter has been regarded at best as an anomalous necessity, at worst a curse to be born.” Though audiences starting in Hollywood’s earliest days came to know the names of some prominent screenwriters,...
- 5/3/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Character actor Michael Lerner, known for his Oscar-nominated role in Joel and Ethan Coen's "Barton Fink," has died at the age of 81. Lerner passed away on Saturday, April 8, 2023. His nephew, "The Goldbergs" star Sam Lerner, confirmed the news in an Instagram post the following day (via Variety).
Michael Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 22, 1941. In the 1960s, he appeared on sitcoms like "The Brady Bunch" and "The Doris Day Show" and studied at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre before landing his first film role in "Alex in Wonderland" in 1970. In the decade that followed, Lerner would continue juggling movies, TV shows, and TV movies, making a number of guest appearances on shows like "Ironside," "The Bob Newhart Show," "M*A*S*H," "The Odd Couple," "Starsky and Hutch," "The Rockford Files," "Kojak," and "Wonder Woman."
In the 1980s, Lerner costarred in "The Postman Always Rings Twice...
Michael Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 22, 1941. In the 1960s, he appeared on sitcoms like "The Brady Bunch" and "The Doris Day Show" and studied at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre before landing his first film role in "Alex in Wonderland" in 1970. In the decade that followed, Lerner would continue juggling movies, TV shows, and TV movies, making a number of guest appearances on shows like "Ironside," "The Bob Newhart Show," "M*A*S*H," "The Odd Couple," "Starsky and Hutch," "The Rockford Files," "Kojak," and "Wonder Woman."
In the 1980s, Lerner costarred in "The Postman Always Rings Twice...
- 4/10/2023
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Michael Lerner, the busy Oscar-nominated character actor who had memorable turns as bombastic types in Barton Fink, Harlem Nights, Eight Men Out and so much more, has died. He was 81.
Lerner died Saturday night, according to an Instagram post from his nephew, Sam Lerner, who is also an actor (ABC’s The Goldbergs). The cause of death was not immediately known.
“It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me,” Sam wrote. “His stories always inspired me and made me fall in love with acting. He was the coolest, most confident, talented guy, and the fact that he was my blood will always make me feel special. Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was — in the best way.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Sam Lerner (@samlerner)
Raised in a Brooklyn housing project as...
Lerner died Saturday night, according to an Instagram post from his nephew, Sam Lerner, who is also an actor (ABC’s The Goldbergs). The cause of death was not immediately known.
“It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me,” Sam wrote. “His stories always inspired me and made me fall in love with acting. He was the coolest, most confident, talented guy, and the fact that he was my blood will always make me feel special. Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was — in the best way.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Sam Lerner (@samlerner)
Raised in a Brooklyn housing project as...
- 4/9/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Money may very well equal power, but so does information — especially the dirty kind. Hollywood understands this. From The Sweet Smell of Success to L.A. Confidential, the movies are laden with bullying blackmailers and influence-peddlers using muscle and corruption to scrub the tainted and gain an upper hand. The dynamic, of course, is quite real, and the gripping new two-part documentary Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano provides a fine if troubling look at how it works in contemporary showbiz.
The latest production from FX’s The New York Times Presents series,...
The latest production from FX’s The New York Times Presents series,...
- 3/10/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
Millions of moviegoers think the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has one purpose: To hand out Oscars. Members know that’s not true and veteran AMPAS exec Bruce Davis reveals that awards were initially a low priority for the organization, in his new book “The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” (Brandeis University Press) about the early decades of the group.
Davis also makes clear that the group, formed in 1927 as movies were undergoing seismic shifts, made decisions that forever changed the way we watch movies — but that had nothing to do with Oscar.
The org was the brainchild of MGM exec Louis B. Mayer, whose goal was “to stymie the formation of craft unions,” Davis writes.
So for several years the Acad became an arbiter of labor disputes, which nearly led to its downfall.
But even before that,...
Davis also makes clear that the group, formed in 1927 as movies were undergoing seismic shifts, made decisions that forever changed the way we watch movies — but that had nothing to do with Oscar.
The org was the brainchild of MGM exec Louis B. Mayer, whose goal was “to stymie the formation of craft unions,” Davis writes.
So for several years the Acad became an arbiter of labor disputes, which nearly led to its downfall.
But even before that,...
- 3/5/2023
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
While most kids were going through elementary school, Shirley Temple was becoming the biggest movie star in America. Her talents as a performer and prepubescent charisma delighted audiences of all ages. And Fox leveraged Temple’s image to cultivate a brand around the actor in a way that was rare for the time.
Temple made a lot of money for the people around her. But she didn’t get to keep most of it. Her parents took control of the majority of her earnings. And their mismanagement of Temple’s funds resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
Shirley Temple was an icon of 1930s cinema
Temple was only three when she made her first steps into the entertainment industry. Her parents Gertrude and George took her to classes at Meglin’s Dance School in Los Angeles. Temple’s performances in the class caught the attention of Charles Lamont,...
Temple made a lot of money for the people around her. But she didn’t get to keep most of it. Her parents took control of the majority of her earnings. And their mismanagement of Temple’s funds resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
Shirley Temple was an icon of 1930s cinema
Temple was only three when she made her first steps into the entertainment industry. Her parents Gertrude and George took her to classes at Meglin’s Dance School in Los Angeles. Temple’s performances in the class caught the attention of Charles Lamont,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Garrett Burke
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Recommended New Books on Filmmaking: Bong Joon Ho, Avatar: The Way of Water, Alfred Hitchcock & More
Spring is on the horizon (yay!) but we’re still deep into winter (grr). And that means time for reading. Our latest roundup of noteworthy new books connected to the world of cinema features a typically diverse lineup: Bong Joon Ho, the art of James Cameron’s latest, screwball comedies, Alfred Hitchcock, and––’tis the season––Oscar history.
Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema by Karen Han (Abrams)
In recent years Little White Lies and Abrams have released wonderfully comprehensive, immaculately designed books about Joel and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, and most recently Sofia Coppola. The latest subject, Bong Joon Ho, could not be more deserving of this treatment. Dissident Cinema is written by the ever-astute Karen Han, who shares Bong’s life story while diving into each entry of his filmography. Yes, there is much to be said about Parasite, The Host, Mother, Snowpiercer, Okja, and Memories of Murder.
Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema by Karen Han (Abrams)
In recent years Little White Lies and Abrams have released wonderfully comprehensive, immaculately designed books about Joel and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, and most recently Sofia Coppola. The latest subject, Bong Joon Ho, could not be more deserving of this treatment. Dissident Cinema is written by the ever-astute Karen Han, who shares Bong’s life story while diving into each entry of his filmography. Yes, there is much to be said about Parasite, The Host, Mother, Snowpiercer, Okja, and Memories of Murder.
- 2/15/2023
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Oscar is 95 this year, meaning he’s been around longer than most of us. And many people assume the look of the award, his nickname and the structure of the annual voting … just kinda happened.
However, Bruce Davis details the thought and innovations behind these things in his authoritative new book, “The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” (Brandeis University Press).
Davis, who was AMPAS’ executive director for 20 years, dispels a lot of Oscar lore. No, neither Bette Davis nor the Academy’s Margaret Herrick came up with the nickname Oscar. No, Mexican actor Emilio Fernandez was not the model. Cedric Gibbons didn’t sketch out the design on the tablecloth at the Biltmore.
Davis also points out, “Contrary to widespread opinion, the Academy’s knight is neither naked nor bald.” Oscar is wearing a thong-like strap and has close-cropped hair.
However, Bruce Davis details the thought and innovations behind these things in his authoritative new book, “The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” (Brandeis University Press).
Davis, who was AMPAS’ executive director for 20 years, dispels a lot of Oscar lore. No, neither Bette Davis nor the Academy’s Margaret Herrick came up with the nickname Oscar. No, Mexican actor Emilio Fernandez was not the model. Cedric Gibbons didn’t sketch out the design on the tablecloth at the Biltmore.
Davis also points out, “Contrary to widespread opinion, the Academy’s knight is neither naked nor bald.” Oscar is wearing a thong-like strap and has close-cropped hair.
- 2/11/2023
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
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