XM Satellite Radio, the satellite broadcast that hosts our Slice of SciFi show each week on The Sonic Channel, and Sirius Satellite Radio have announced a two month extension to their proposed merger deadline. This was done to off-set a penalty that would have been triggered since the original proposal occurred a year ago. Termination without a deal... 

Media king Time Warner Inc. said Thursday its Warner Bros. Entertainment studio would swallow whole its New Line Cinema unit. The independent studio was the hugh production company responsible for some of the best SF and genre-related movies in the last four decades, most notably Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. One... 

Now that the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) have reached deals with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television producers (AMPTP), members of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are starting to feel the pressure to get their talks started with the studio and network bosses. Many want the contract talks to begin as soon... 

The European Commission has levied a fine of $1.35 billion (E899 million) against Microsoft Corp for not complying with a 2004 antitrust ruling. The fine is a record setter, the biggest ever against a single company. However, when the company leader is the richest man in America and in the Top 5 richest people on the planet with a personel net worth... 

We already told you about The USA Network deal with Paramount to be the first non-premium pay cable channel to get to run “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Now we have news of other cable channels getting on board with similiar first run deals for flicks some have already debuted in theaters while others haven’t... 

In a bit of anti-climatic news the members of the Writers Guild of America overwhelmingly approved the contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The new contract increases payment for shows offered on the Internet among a bevy of other positions the writers held out for during their 4-month long strike against the studio... 

Last year we reported that China would be banning all Hollywood produced films and even some films coming out of its more Western leaning city of Hong Kong until at least March of 2008. Well, March is just around the corner and adding to our article this week about “The Golden Compass” being let into Chinese theaters comes word of at least... 

The battle is finally over, the dust has settled and the blood has been mopped up. The only contender left standing is Blue-ray hovering over the heavy breathing, badly beaten remains of what use to be called HD DVD. On our show this week we talked about how the giant of all online rental companies put the final nail in the coffin of HD DVD. That,... 

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has finally negotiated a successful contract with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and completed a similar deal earlier in the month with the Directors Guild of America(DGA). It is now time to sit down with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the attorneys for the producer’s association... 

Over 92% of the scribes in the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have voted to accept the end strike resolution worked out between their leadership and attorneys for the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMTP). Members are now free to go back to work immediately. “The strike is over,” Patric Verrone, WGA prexy stated. “Our... 

After New Line and Peter Jackson kissed and made up the studio figured their legal troubles over “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy was finally over. Nothing could have been further from the truth. It now appears that the Tolkien Trust, the English charity that overseas the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, and book publisher HarperCollins have brought... 

The nearly 4-month long writer’s strike is offer as it is highly expected that members will vote to accept the contract worked out between the leadership of the WGA and AMPTP. TV writers that also share duties as producers and showrunners will return to work today (Mon. Feb. 11), while the rest of the 12,000 members of the Guild begin filtering... 

The 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted today (Sunday) and again tomorrow (Monday) on whether or not to accept the proposed contract agreed to by their leadership with the Alliance of Motion Pictures & Television Producers (AMPTP). Here are a few of the details of that contract agreement as we received them tonight: SUMMARY... 

WGA members will have the chance to vote on whether to end the strike under an expedited 48-hour voting process, according to reports in the entertainment trade paper Variety. WGA leaders told members during Saturday’s night’s meeting to detail the contract deal just reached with the majors. That means scribes technically will not be back... 

The leadership of The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Pictures & Television Producers (AMPTP) have overcome some of the major hurtles that have separated them for nearly four months and came to an agreement early today. The proposed 3-year contract will now go before the 12,000 members of the Guild for final approval.... 

The leadership of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have called on its membership on both sides of the country to convene a meeting in New York and Los Angeles on Saturday, February 9. The purpose of the get-together will be discussion about the new contract agreement that they have ironed out with the bargaining unit from the Alliance of Motion Picture... 

More pressure is being exerted on the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) to get a deal with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) done and signed. That pressure comes in the form of more news of independent filmakers cutting a deal with striking writers. Three more indies have made their own interim contract agreements ending... 

Like ducks in a row, the independent filmmakers continue to line up making their own deals with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), by-passing the big guns at the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP). We already reported on how David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants put the first chink in the AMPTP armor by getting its own pact... 

The Lionsgate movie studio, following Letterman (Worldwide Pants), The Weinstein Co. and Cruise/Wagner (United Artists) has signed their own interim deal with striking writers late on Thursday night. Informal talks between the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers will continue today with hopes that some kind of... 

The informal negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which began yesterday, got off to a rocky start but, by mid-afternoon came some clues that things might be looking up. Rumors began filtering around that the WGA would bend on one sticking point and those rumors were... 

One down and two more to go. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) came to a contract agreement late Thursday stopping any possibility for a strike by the directors. Most now think this will turn up the pressure on the striking members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) to loosen... 

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) have come to their first agreement. They will sit down and begin talks. This may not sound like such a big deal, but for the past month the two bargaining giants were at such odds that they couldn’t even agree to meet with each other. An... 

David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants started it, Tom Cruise followed up and now more independent film and production companies are getting in line to make their own deals with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), ignoring the powerful studio/network bargining arm of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The next in line... 

The one major battle in the Hi-Def DVD wars may be coming to an end soon and after the dust settles, Blue-ray could be the only format left standing. The entertainment trade paper, Variety, has confirmed that two of the studio hold-outs will soon be jumping on the Blue-ray train. Universal has just ended its commitment to stay true to the HD DVD format... 

Not too long ago we did a story on our Slice of SciFi Show about the practices of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), especially as it applies to their push toward trying to gain control of pay cable and premium channel programming. At the time we indicated that the FCC was overstepping its authority in its consideration to what we called strong... 

According to Variety, the headlined quote comes from one official from the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and his assessement of the informal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The behind the scenes talking has been so ineffective that neither side can even settle on a date for when and if formal talks... 

Taking a page out of David Letterman’s strategy play-book, Tom Cruise and his United Artists (UA) studio are trying to work out a separate deal with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), side-stepping the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner’s United Artists is talking with union leaders... 

Variety is reporting that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), in a show of solidarity for the membership of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) that is currently on strike against the American Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), have called on all actors to be no shows at this year’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony. SAG president... 

If you had a choice between staying up and watching the unpredictable madness of Robin Williams or the…yawn…of Governor Mike Hucklebee, which channel would you tune in? Robin Williams will be David Letterman’s first guest upon the return of his “Late Show” on CBS this coming Wednesday (Jan. 2) while Leno will have the Presidential... 

Just as Steve Jobs and his Apple iTunes is gearing up with its new online movie service Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began dismantling its own online video download service after only a year in business. On Thursday of this week the giant retailer closed own its download site after Hewlett Packard stopped the technology used to power it. HP stated that it... 

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