25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Winners Announced
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 10:01pm PDTTags: GLAAD, GLAAD Media Awards, Jennifer Lopez, Orange Is The New Black
The 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awardswere held tonight at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, honoring 12 of their 29 media categories, with comedian Ross Mathews hosting. Previously announced honorees include Jennifer Lopez, who received the Vanguard Award, a kudo that honors artists and media professionals whose work has increased the profile and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions is behind the ABC Family series The Fosters, which portrays a blended family with lesbian parents. Also Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox was presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak award by Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page. The honor, named after a casting director who was a LGBT crusader, is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. TheGLAAD Media Awards honor those who display a fair, accurate and inclusive representation of the LGBT community and their issues. Additional awards will be presented at the org’s New York City event on Saturday, May 3.
Announced winners tonight include:
Pioneer Award (presented by Wilson Cruz)
Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Vanguard Award (presented by Rita Moreno)
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Stephen F. Kolzak Award (presented by Ellen Page)
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
International Advocate for Change AwardManny de Guerre, founder of the Side by Side LGBT Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia
PILOTS 2014: Early Buzz Edition
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 1:52pm PDTTags: ABC, CBS, CSI, CW, Fox, Marvel, NBC, NCIS, Shonda Rhimes
With less than a month until the upfronts, we’re kicking off our annual Pilot Buzz series. As usual, the first edition only includes a limited number of projects that have been garnering early attention as many pilots are still filming. So, if a pilot is not mentioned, it probably means it is too early to weigh in or the feedback I’ve received is inconclusive at this time.
Shonda Rhimes. Viola Davis. Need we say more? ABC’ssexy suspense legal thriller How To Get Away With Murder, executive produced by Rhimes and starring Davis, is packing some heat early on. Secret & Lies starring Ryan Phillippe also is getting encouraging early response. It also has a seven-figure penalty and is directed by Charles McDougall, whose strong pilot record includes Desperate Housewives, The Good Wife and most recently, Resurrection last season. Then there is Marvel’sstealth Agent Carter project. Last year, the company went into Fort Knox mode on its Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, which was kept under lock and key. They took that a notch further this year with 
Agent Carter. Because there is a prototype — the project is inspired by a one shot, which was featured on the Blu-ray release of Iron Man 3 — word has been that it would forgo a pilot and go straight to series. The script was finished more than three months ago (“the script is great,” ABC’s Paul Lee said back in January), the option on one-shot’s star Hayley Atwell came up and was extended, but the green light never came. Now there is talk that a pickup for Agent Carter may come along with a renewal for Marvel’s freshman Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with the new series possibly serving as a bridge between the fall and spring portions of S.H.I.E.L.D. Also getting various level of early traction at ABC is mystery Sea of Fire and several dark horses, alien drama The Whispers (aka The Visitors), medical drama The Warriors and mysteryClementine. UPDATE: James Cameron on ‘Avatar’ Sequel Timetable Following Rupert Murdoch’s Comments
By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor and THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 10:25am PDTTags: 20th Century Fox, Avatar, Reddit, Rupert Murdoch, Stacey Snider
Update, Saturday 10:25 AM: In a Reddit AMA this morning, Avatar director James Cameron expounded on the franchise’s timetable in regards to the screenplays, writing, “The second, third and fourth films all go into production simultaneously. They’re essentially all in preproduction now, because we are designing creatures, settings, and characters that span all three films. And we should be finished with all three scripts within the next, I would say, six weeks. There’s always pressure, whether it’s a new film or whether it’s a sequel, to entertain and amaze an audience. I’ve felt that pressure my entire career, so there’s nothing new there. The biggest pressure I feel right now is cutting out things I love to get the film down to a length that is affordable. There hasn’t been a problem finding new and wonderful things to include in the movie.”
In a Fortune interview earlier this week, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch reiterated what Deadline reported back in August: That there will be three Avatar sequels released respectively in December 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Robert Downey, Jr. Finally Gets His Own Twitter Account, Reflective Of Social Media’s Importance To Film Marketing
By ANITA BUSCH | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 9:48am PDTTags: Bruno Mars, Emma Watson, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr., The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Vin Diesel
The Iron Man himself has finally joined Twitter. With only 4 tweets this morning, he’s dipped his toe into the social media universe. Within hours, Downey has tallied 912K followers. Wow, word travels fast. And why not? Iron Man is a billion dollar franchise for Marvel since they first introduced Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark in 2008. Worldwide the first film grossed $585M, the second one, $623.9M and the third, $1.2B. The next Marvel title for the actor isAvengers: Age of Ultron which will bow May 1, 2015 from Disney. Welcome to the SMU, Mr. Downey, No doubt, Disney and Marvel are thrilled. The actor has long been a strong presence on social media due to his many fans who call him #RDJ. His fans post video bits from the actor from media, on-stage award shows, red carpet appearances, and other media events showcasing the wise-cracking, irreverance. His opening Tweet:RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Returns Strong, ‘Neighbors’ Finale & ‘Shark Tank’ Down, ‘Unforgettable’ & ‘Hart Of Dixie’ Up
By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 9:45am PDTTags: Kitchen Nightmares, Shark Tank, The Neighbors, TV Ratings, Unforgettable
For one of the traditionally quietest nights on TV, there was a lot going on Friday in primetime. For one, the Ramsayfication of Fox continued anew with the return of Kitchen Nightmares last night and that seems to have been a good place to be. Back for its sixth season, Gordon’s weekly attempt to save a failing establishment kicked off with a 2-hour debut that saw Ramsay return to Scottsdale, Arizona and Amy’s Baking Company, which he stalked out of last year, and then head to Denver to help a struggling pizza joint. In its first spring premiere, the 8 PM (1.2/5) KN was up 33% from the 0.9/3 rating among adults 18-49 that its 1-hour October 26, 2012 Season 5 debut drew in the same slot. The 9 PM (1.1/4) airing last night saw a 22% rise over the last season opener. Time slot to slot, the restaurant makeover series was even last night with its last season finale on May 10, 2013.Hot Trailer: Philip Seymour Hoffman In ‘A Most Wanted Man’
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday April 12, 2014 @ 9:31am PDTTags: A Most Wanted Man, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe
“It takes a minnow to catch a barracuda, a barracuda to catch a shark,” German intelligence agent Gunther Bachmann says. He’s using a young lawyer for a human rights group who is harboring a mysterious client as bait to trap an Islamist terrorist with Chechen connections who has made his way into Germany. So goes A Most Wanted Man, an international thriller based on spy-meister John le Carré’s 2008 novel. It’s the final starring role for Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in February. Director Anton Corbijn’s cast also includesRachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe and Robin Wright. Andrew Bovell wrote the pic, which debuted at Sundance. Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions opens the film July 25. Here’s a look:
‘Sharknado 2′ Producers Are Willing To Add An Extra Scene — If Fans Cough Up $50,000
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 9:01pm PDTTags: Indiegogo, Sharknado 2: The Second One, The Asylum
It seems everyone has an opinion onSharknado — even if they never saw it. Maybe especially if they never saw it. Those who are obsessed or distressed over the hit Syfy telefilm now can vent their glee or anger by pitching in (or not) to pay for an extra scene in the upcoming sequel. The Asylum, which produced the 2013 original and is working on Sharknado 2: The Second One, has come up with a plan to use Indiegogo to raise $50,000 to create another scene for the new pic, which is due to air in July. Those who contribute to the campaign, which runs through May 30, will get some Sharknado 2 swag and an exclusive window on production, from behind-the-scenes footage to breaking news and advance DVD copies. Naturally, the more they plunk down, the better the booty: People who pony up for the “Platinum Rewards Level” get a paid trip to the premiere party, plus an associate producer credit. (Don’t forget to tell IMDb.) No details on what will happen in the new scene, if indeed it gets funded. Your guesses are welcome. Hey, maybe a sharknado will touch down in on a joint session of Congress! Or a Real Housewives convention! While we wait, here’s a reminder of how Round 1 of Humans vs. Sharknado went:Fox Searchlight Sets Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s ‘Birdman’ For October 17 Bow
By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 6:24pm PDTTags: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman, Fox Searchlight, Michael Keaton
EXCLUSIVE: While there has been speculation that Fox Searchlight and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarrituwould race to make the Cannes Film Festival, Fox Searchlight co-president Stephen Gilula tells Deadline that the film will open Friday, October 17. It won’t complete post production until late May or early June, meaning that it will be eyeing fall festivals.
This is his first black comedy, but Inarritu’s past films have been magnets for festivals, and he should have several choices for a festival that is compatible with the opening of Birdman, which Searchlight made with New Regency and Worldview Entertainment. Searchlight controls worldwide distribution and will release it overseas in January. So start the jockeying, Toronto, Telluride and Venice.
Sunshine Sachs Ups Heather Lylis And Keleigh Thomas Morgan To Partner Level
By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 6:22pm PDTTags: Heather Lylis, Keleigh Thomas Morgan, Sunshine Sachs
Sunshine Sachs’ Principals Ken Sunshine and Shawn Sachs have elevated Heather Lylis and Keleigh Thomas Morgan to Partner. They will join Sunshine and Sachs as the only other partners at the firm. The PR firm started 23 years ago to service a wide variety of clients. Sunshine and Sachs said their new partners have been invaluable over the past decade in growing the firm.
Thomas Morgan, who runs west coast operations for the firm, previously served as Senior Vice President of the company. She started in New York, relocated to Los Angeles in 2007 and her client list includes Jennifer Lopez, Tyler Perry, Natalie Portman, Andre Benjamin, Mariska Hargitay, Lee Daniels, The Golden Globes, Parkes MacDonald, Ivanhoe Pictures, Cinetic, and The Geffen Playhouse. Lylis has helped expand the firm’s media relations, social media, creative, sponsorship, talent integration, and events work with clients in the non-profit, corporate, media, and advertising industries, including Feeding America, Girl Scouts of America, Human Rights Campaign, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Opportunity International, Global Poverty Project, Bing, Facebook, Instagram, Virgin Mobile, eBay Giving Works, Clear Channel, and Advertising Week. She also played a large role in the opening of the firm’s Washington, DC office in 2013. Prior to Sunshine Sachs, she worked at Boston based Solomon McCown & Co. She is a graduate of Northwestern University
Leonard Roberts Joins VH1′s ‘Drumline’ Sequel; Amazon’s ‘Cosmopolitan’ Recasts Role
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 6:16pm PDTTags: Cosmopolitan, Drumline 2: A New Beat, VH1
Leonard Roberts has been cast
in VH1‘s Drumline 2: A New Beat, co-written by Karen Gist and Regina Hicks. The sequel to the 2002 feature Drumline feature focuses on a new set of characters at a fictional New Orleans university. The story follows Danielle (Dani) Bolton, an upper-class Brooklyn girl who defies her parents in order to attend a college in Louisiana so she can join – and revitalize – their once-prominent drumline. Roberts will reprise his role of Sean Taylor from the 2002 pic. Fox TV Studios is co-financing and looking at the project as a possible back-door pilot. Leonard, repped by Greene & Associates and Evolution Entertainment, can be seen in upcoming features Any Day and My Favorite Five.
in VH1‘s Drumline 2: A New Beat, co-written by Karen Gist and Regina Hicks. The sequel to the 2002 feature Drumline feature focuses on a new set of characters at a fictional New Orleans university. The story follows Danielle (Dani) Bolton, an upper-class Brooklyn girl who defies her parents in order to attend a college in Louisiana so she can join – and revitalize – their once-prominent drumline. Roberts will reprise his role of Sean Taylor from the 2002 pic. Fox TV Studios is co-financing and looking at the project as a possible back-door pilot. Leonard, repped by Greene & Associates and Evolution Entertainment, can be seen in upcoming features Any Day and My Favorite Five.
Related: 2014 Amazon Studios Pilots
Deadline Big Media 80 – Comcast Goes To Congress Podcast
By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor and DAVID BLOOM | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 5:22pm PDTTags: Comcast, Congress, IMAX, NAB
In this week’s podcast, Deadline’s executive editor David Lieberman and host David Bloom untangle the latest twists in the giant Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger proposal, as aSenate committee grills Comcast’s “Jedi Master” of a chief lobbyist and Charter prepares a challenge at the TWC annual meeting. The Davids also talk about the very different tone of two just-signed retransmission deals, at least compared to last year’s Time Warner Cable-CBS brawl; how IMAX reduced its stake in China while increasing its influence; and this week’s National Association of Broadcasters conference, where FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler urged broadcasters to think like “tech disruptors” and NAB chief Gordon Smith called for a federal plan for broadcasting.Peter Liguori To Leave Yahoo Board
By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 3:40pm PDTTags: Peter Liguori, Yahoo
This little item popped up in the Friday data dump of filings at the SEC. The Tribune CEO told Yahoo that he won’t seek re-election at the next annual meeting, when his term expires.Peter Liguori, formerly a honcho at Fox and Discovery,joined the board in 2012. Yahoo had hoped that the appointment of an independent director would help to derail a planned proxy fight by Third Point’s Daniel Loeb who said, among other things, that the company was underperforming in part because directors were too closely aligned with management. That plan didn’t work, though the company and Loeb finally made peace after it hired Marissa Mayer to be CEO. (Loeb is an investor in Variety with Deadline’s parent company, PMC.) Last year, Liguori also left the MGM board.Jack Kilmer Joins Juno Temple In ‘Len & Co.’; David Mazouz Cast In ’6 Miranda Drive’
By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 3:35pm PDTTags: 6 Miranda Drive, David Mazouz, Jack Kilmer, Len & Co.
Jack Kilmer has been cast in Len & Co., an indie drama from director Tim Godsall. The pic follows a surly record producer who embarks on a journey to compassion and love when his son (Kilmer) arrives at his home in hopes of reconnecting and bonding with his father. Juno Templeplays the son’s music protege friend. Production begins this weekend in Toronto. Kilmer made his feature debut in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto, which co-stars his father Val Kilmer. He is repped by Principato Young Entertainment, Resolution Entertainment and Hirsch, Wallerstein, Hayum, Matlof and Fishman.
David Mazouz has booked a role in 6 Miranda Drive, the Blumhouse thriller directed by Greg Mclean. Kevin Baconstars in the film about a family that unwittingly brings a supernatural force home with them from vacation. Mazouz starred on Fox’s Touch and will play young Bruce Wayne in the network’s Batman prequel Gotham. He recently finished shooting Blumhouse’s Incarnate with Aaron Eckhart and next appears in The Games Maker. The actor is repped by Paradigm, Intellectual Artists Management and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein.Syfy Gives 10-Episode Order To Space Opera ‘The Expanse’ From Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, Alcon Entertainment
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday April 11, 2014 @ 3:30pm PDTTags: Alcon Television Group, Syfy, The Expanse
Syfy continues to aggressively build its original slate with a 10-episode order to The Expanse, a series based on James S.A. Corey’s series of novels. The project, which received a very rich straight-to-series order in a competitive situation, is in the space opera genre in the tradition of Battlestar Galactica that Syfy brass had been looking to bring back to the network. The Expanse was put together as straight-to-series by Alcon Entertainment’s TV arm Alcon Television Group and Sean 
Daniel and Jason Brown of the Sean Daniel Co., who developed the original pitch with Oscar-nominated writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man). This marks the first series order for ATG, which launched two years ago. Fergus and Ostby wrote the script on spec and will continue as writers and executive producers.
Related: 2014 Syfy Pilots
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