Warner Brothers will officially close its video distribution market in Korea next month after it releases “The Dark Knight.”
Warner is the last of the major U.S. studios to withdraw from the collapsing entertainment market in Korea.  The company launched its Korean arm in 1999 with aggressive discount policies to attract consumers, especially in the wake […]

On-screen smoking in movies is coming under attack by the American Lung Associations and the the American Medical Association Alliance. The groups are petitioning the MPAA to issue an automatic R-rating to any movie that shows characters smoking on screen. The exception to the rule would be for biographically stories or movies that have an […]

The Superme Court is scheduled to hear an FCC appeal of a earlier decision about the use of “fleeting profanities” on broadcast television today according to USA Today.
The case stems from a live broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards on Fox when Cher used a four letter explative.   Under new rules from the FCC, Fox […]

Viewers in the Asian-Pacific market can look forward to seeing more British television programming on their screens. BBC Worldwide is looking to expand their presense in the region according to Variety.
“We are right at the beginning of this journey, and have a heck of a lot of catching up to do,” BBC Worldwide Channels  Darren […]

After only 72 hours on the picket line the Bollywood strike was settled on Friday with both sides coming to a mutual agreement on new terms. Workers returned to work on at least 40 films and a bevy of television shows currently in production on Saturday.
Studio producers will now pay workers within two weeks […]

The verbal battle between the actors and producers continued throughout the summer derailing a strike from the thespians, but their patience is growing very thin. With the latest rejection from the producers to return to the negotiating table given just last week, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) leadership is asking its members for a […]

Hold on! Hollywood isn’t the only film capital that can be affected and completely shut down by a strike. Bollywood, that other great center of filmmaking has also been struck with strike fever when over 147,000 workers from 22 different unions walked out on Wednesday literally shutting down India’s film industry completely. […]

Lawyers representing the estate of Sheldon Abend claim that Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks and parent company, Paramount Pictures broke copyright infringement law when they made the movie “Disturbia,” the serial killer film that starred Shia LaBeouf, David Morse and Carrie-Ann Moss. The suit states that their film is a rip-off of the Cornell Woolrich short […]

Andrew Ainsworth, a prop designer who worked on the original 1977 Star Wars film designing props for the George Lucas production has been found not guilty for selling his own line of Star Wars replicas online and from his London store by the British High Court. The court stated that Ainsworth didn’t violate any […]

Just as renowned, award-winnding director Steven Spielberg is looking to leave his haunts at Paramount Pictures the studio lands a new big fish for its line-up a star helmers. Brett Ratner, will be packing up his Rat Entertainment shingle and leaving the troubled New Line for new gigs with Paramount.
While very few director’s resumes […]

The merger between Sirius and XM Satellite Radio is now complete after the final FCC hurtles were successfully jumped.
The new company, now called Sirius XM Radio, can boast of over 18 million subscribers and is now poised to compete directly against terrestrial radio and digital audio players such as iPod and Zune.
This joining of the […]

A new report issued by CBS Interactive shows that live-streaming full-length television shows doesn’t negatively impact broadcast ratings reports the Hollywood Reporter. 
The reports says more than half of the network’s online audience (46%) primarily views their favorite shows online, and most say that the wide availability of these shows across the Internet does not impact […]

Many people have been wondering why the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) refused to accept the new contract offered by producers, especially after the deal was sweetened with an additional incentive number in the millions of dollars ($250 million). SAG leadership and its 120,000 members have been mum on the issue until now.
On Thursday (July […]

While the ruling two weeks ago from Judge Louis L. Stanton of the U.S. District Court in New York allows Viacom access to user ID’s and internet IP addresses, the media giant has opted to allow Google-owned YouTube to mask the online viewing history of the material downloaded from that video site.
This is considered a […]

The members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) soundly rejected the “final deal” being offered by the major Hollywood film and television studios leaving the entire industry seated on needles and pins wondering what will happen next.
The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) said on Wednesday that its final offer to the more […]

The Alliance of Motion Pictures & Television Producers (AMPTP) have put a little extra sugar on their “final offer” to the actors to try and get the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to accept a new contract with them.
That sugar is a $10 million sweetener retroactive to July 1 if, and only if, the union membership […]

An overwhelming majority (62%) of the 70,000 members of the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) have ratified that union’s contract deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) knocking back the larger actor’s union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), on its heels.
AFTRA had signaled early on in their negotiations […]

After a new U.S. court ruling, Google must now release information on the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any kind of video on YouTube. While this ruling was issued in a U.S. court, it is believed it will be enforced worldwide.
The ruling was propagated by Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against […]

The clock ticked down to midnight and no last minute, save-the-day deal was forthcoming. In fact, The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) says it has made its final offer to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and there will be nothing new coming any time soon from the producers.
SAG says that the […]

The actors contract with the AMPTP runs out at midnight tonight and there is no light at the end of this tunnel. The two parties are still very far apart on key issues, especially those dealing with new media compensation.
The only question that remains is will this be the final act of a 3-act […]

The other day we reported how some pretty big names and important people in the entertainment industry were getting behind AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the smaller actor’s union, and showing support for the organization’s decision to accept a proposal from the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers) for a […]

In a move that will no doubt cause some serious cracks in SAG support among the rank-n-file, influential actors Tom Hanks and George Clooney are showing support for AFTRA, the smaller actor’s union, in its decision to make a deal with the AMPTP, a deal that SAG leadership doesn’t like. Members of AFTRA will […]

It’s beginning to look like a new contract between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will probably not happen by current contract’s end-date of June 30.
The AMPTP issued a statement late last night that indicated that they are tired, “frustrated and discouraged” in their dealings with […]

For years, we’ve said that the ratings system is broken and in desparate need of re-thinking. 
New numbers for the just completed television season only lend more credence to that.  With DVRs only in use in 23% of American homes, television networks are seeing significant bumps in ratings for shows, especially those in competitive time-slots according […]

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have come to a tentative agreement for their next three-year contract.
According to union sources this new contract deal will establishe fees for content streamed and downloaded over the Internet and preserve an actors’ rights of […]

Apple is close to announcing it has signed a deal to sell HBO original programming and movies on iTunes, according to sources within the HBO heirarchy. The deal will mark the first time that Apple has agreed to a separate price structure for a content provider.
The HBO insider said that the new service […]

It would appear that the feud between actor Tom Cruise and financial/entertainment mogul Sumner Redstone, now 84, may be drawing to an end after nearly two years of back and forth battling of one another.
Restone announced this morning that he has no problem with Cruise headlining the next chapter in the “Mission Impossible” saga. […]

After the heated closing of talks earlier this week between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) it looked like it was going to turn into another nightmare for the entertainment industry. Each left the table on Tuesday angered at one another without scheduling a time […]

Both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) halted talks indefinitely late last night after total failure at coming to a reasonable solution to the wide “new media” gap that stands between the two parties. And, even though the SAG contract expires on June 30, no […]

Ex-Sony Pictures exec VP of Sony Pictures Digital and their king of digital imagery, Ira Rubenstein has been wooed away from the mega company by Marvel Entertainment to lead the comic book company’s massive effort to become a major player for the mobile and online business model, according to Variety.
Marvel, already the leader in the […]

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