Australian Academy lauds 'Artist'

"The Artist" needed top picture, actor and pointing honors within the first Australian Academy of Cinema and television Arts Intl. Honours Friday evening. Michel Hazanavicius was named best director within the inaugural ceremony, while "The Artist's" Jean Dujardin and "The Iron Lady's" Meryl Streep showed up the acting nods. Voters were tied on script honors, so honours visited both "Ides of March" and "Margin Call." AACTA prexy Geoffrey Hurry introduced the individuals who win in five groups within an intimate West Hollywood ceremony at Soho House. "As our industry becomes a really global entity, it's fitting the brand new Australian Academy recognizes the industry's best, health club abroad," Hurry mentioned. Despite the fact that Australian Film Institute remains around for more than one half-century, the academy was created last summer season just like a professional offshoot and patterned following a branch structure in the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "We're wanting it's the beginning of a great tradition," mentioned AACTA Boss Damian Trewhella. Trewhella mentioned AACTA has between 1,500 and two,000 people which is searching to build up further. The crowd may also be searching ahead with a second developmental phase, including opening a place of work in La to market Australian productions inside the U.S. The AACTA Intl. Honours are created to recognition film excellence regardless of geography, as with different jury of Australian entertainment professionals. Contact Christy Grosz at christy.grosz@variety.com

Howard talks up AFTRA merger

HowardWith Celebrities facing an progressively murky future, Screen Stars Guild leader Ken Howard desires to clarify that situation whenever you can by trading his time pursuing a merger while using American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.Asked for are you aware the main concerns nowadays from people, Howard responds positively."In a nutshell: strength," according to him. "Individuals are anxious for your merger to happen since they know we are more effective together. Our marketplace is dealing with serious changes which is critical there is available a unified strategy, together with a united states . front, to make sure artists keep their great deal.InchHe thinks strongly that individuals of SAG and AFTRA, who'll most likely see ballots for just about any merger referendum in March or April, desire to mix unions to then resolve the dilemma of seeing pension and health contributions enter into separate SAG and AFTRA plans.Howard was handily re-selected with a second two-year term in September and contains made merger the key factor element of both elections, so he's not necessarily been able to seeing lots of distinction between the second term."What remains same is always that I'm remaining dedicated to serving the needs of SAG individuals with my leadership team and our partners at AFTRA to make a single union," according to him. "For me the finest difference throughout my second term is always that we're really going to make it happen. The folks are depending upon us to do this and i'm unlikely to dissatisfy them."Howard was selected last season, a few days after winning a supporting actor Emmy for "Grey Gardens." He is constantly work, turning up as Atty. General Harlan F. Stone in "J. Edgar" too as with a recurring role on "30 Rock.""I've required to decline a few things because of the needs to become SAG leader, but my union service has furthermore given me some terrific experience and an alternative way of searching within the work I've had the chance to just accept,In . according to him. "Furthermore to 'J. Edgar,' I've done a TV movie ('The Council of Dads'), 'The Closer' and 'Fairly Legal,' and that i have stood a wonderful time playing the role of Hank Hooper on '30 Rock.' It's saved me very busy, but it's also aided me to stay current and mounted on our people."A year ago also saw Howard and AFTRA leader Roberta Reardon create a country wide "listening tour" to search for member opinions."I am constantly amazed through the dedication of people serving the union both people and staff," he adds. "I'm not only speaking in regards to the people Sometimes inside the nation's leadership, but people all nationwide. One of the many advantages in the listening tour Roberta which i completed a year ago is always that I obtained to visit with many different people and branch staff by themselves home turf. The quantity of commitment they offer the union cause -- during places where the challenges are not as easy, like right-to-work states -- is inspiring."The merger remains selected lower two occasions by SAG (1999 and 2003) with rivals saying the combo would strip SAG of the unique character, and warning the SAG health insurance pension plans may take a hit. People continue being potentially combative issues but Howard thinks people would favor a merger so that they aren't any more faced having a predicament of contributing to 2 separate health plans rather than being qualified for either."Individuals are frustrated with seeing their earnings split up into two plans, making it considerably harder to qualify," he adds. "There's just undoubtedly the single union with elevated leverage will let's address these and many types of other concerns."Howard's set to supply on-air speech at Sunday's SAG Honours ceremony within the Shrine Auditorium in La, following a couple of days of conferences in the SAG national board to approve the merger proposal."I aim to balance my obligations, but sometimes it's tough to tug off," according to him. "Furthermore to my behave as SAG leader, including my service round the AFL-CIO executive council, I stay very active having a couple of charitable causes that are crucial that you me. And, clearly, I'm always searching toward my next role becoming an actor."But within the last couple of years, the primary concentrate on getting SAG and AFTRA together has already established the lion's share of Howard's time."This is often a crucial and historic opportunity to safeguard the long run for anyone,Inch he adds. "Even though it's taken lots of time, I'm very grateful to own been a lot of it.InchAnd Even The NOMINEES ARE...FILM Cast "The Artist" "Bridesmaids""The Descendants""The AssistanceInchInchNight amount of time in Paris"Actor Demian Bichir, "A Far Greater Existence" George Clooney, "The Descendants"Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. Edgar"Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"Kaira Pitt, "Moneyball"Actress Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"Viola Davis, "The AssistanceInchMeryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"Tilda Swinton, "We must Discuss Kevin"Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"Supporting Actor Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"Armie Hammer, "J. Edgar"Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"Nick Nolte, "Warrior"Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"Supporting Actress Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"Jessica Chastain, "The AssistanceInchBethany McCarthy, "Bridesmaids" Jesse McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"Octavia Spencer, "The AssistanceInchStop Ensemble "The Adjustment Bureau""Cowboys & Aliens""Harry Potter as well as the Deathly Hallows: Part 2""Transformers: Dark in the Moon""X-Males: Top ClassInchTv Drama Cast "Boardwalk Empire""Breaking Bad""Dexter""Wager on Thrones""The Truly Amazing Wife"Comedy Cast "30 Rock""The Big Bang Theory""Glee""Modern Family""WorkInchCrisis Actor Patrick J. Adams, "Suits"Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"Kyle Chandler, "Friday Evening Lights" Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"Drama Actress Kathy Bates, "Harry's Law"Glenn Close, "Damages"Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story"Julianna Margulies, "The Truly Amazing Wife"Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"Comedy Actor Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" Ty Burrell, "Modern Family" Steve Carell, "WorkInch Jon Cryer, "two and a half Males"Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family" Comedy Actress Julie Bowen, "Modern Family" Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"Tina Fey, "30 Rock"Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"Betty White-colored, "Hot in Cleveland"Actor in the TV Movie/Miniseries Laurence Fishburne, "Thurgood"Paul Giamatti, "Too Big to Fail"Greg Kinnear, "The Kennedys"Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce"James Forest, "Too Big to Fail" Actress in the TV Movie/Miniseries Diane Lane, "Cinema Verite" Maggie Cruz, "Downton Abbey"Emily Watson, "Appropriate Adult"Betty White-colored, "The Lost Valentine"Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce"Stunt Ensemble "Dexter""Wager on Thrones""Southland""Spartacus: Gods in the Arena""True Blood stream"SAG Honours 2012Idol of capri to acting icon Howard talks up AFTRA merger Acad, SAG share same voter pool Partygoers relax, revel following a show Stunts given due Brisk pace gives individuals who win last word Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

For agents, holiday break's too long

Many talent agents who haven't been consumed with Sundance business are emerging from a year-end break that unofficially began late in November, seems to linger a bit longer after New Year's, and has grown more pronounced over the last decade. Most are simply recovering from what's become an increasingly concentrated and hectic September-November dealmaking period with the majors. The more pronounced break afterward likely comes, at least in part, from the reduction in studio slates over the past few years, as well as the emphasis on big summer and Christmas releases with two correspondingly busy dealmaking periods (the other being March through June) to meet those deadlines. "There's also the opposing force of the award season, which basically grinds the business to a halt for three months," and inspires studios to get fall dealmaking done more quickly, says an agent who reps busy talent at a top tenpercentery. But there's more to it than that, says another top agent. The deals required for big-budget tentpoles and sequels that make up a larger portion of studio slates are often more straightforward and less complex than talent contracts on studios' shrinking number of original, midlevel-budget features, he says, often streamlining the process and shortening fall business dealings. (It's not a topic many want to call attention to, one reason no agent or studio development exec -- the two groups most affected by the break -- wants to discuss it on the record.) Some slowdown at the end of each year is a Hollywood tradition, of course, and even though studio dealmaking seems to have dialed down more during recent Decembers than in the past, it's never completely dead. "If something comes up, everyone's just a cell call or email away," says another agent at a top tenpercentery. "No one travels without their email." What does the break look like from the studio side? A development exec at one of the majors enjoys the opportunity to play catch-up on his work and field less pitches. "It's a welcome situation to have your call list down and your schedule open a little bit," he says. He agrees with the agent's theory that tentpoles and sequels have streamlined dealmaking, adding that agents' post-summer eagerness to get their clients work in fewer big-studio projects has led to a speedier fall. "But Hollywood never really sleeps, and if you've worked here long enough, everyone has your cell," he adds. "I ended up doing some business over the break." There's also possibility that the late-year dealmaking slowdown itself actually a good thing. One top agent thinks it points toward an efficient model for how the feature film business should operate. "We should try to replicate how the TV business has traditionally worked on a yearly cycle: By this date we have to have this sold, by this date we have to have the pilot script in, by this date we have to shoot the pilot ." While the agent realizes this will probably never happen -- due to the expansion of cable TV series' nontraditional seasons, for one, and other international business dealings -- an industry-wide move toward a more scheduled approach to business certainly would have its advantages. "There are writing assignments at studios that are open for years with the same execs and agents spinning their wheels, and writers presenting new takes on projects that ultimately never get made," he says. A more scheduled approach would allow everyone to get more things done and more new projects to move forward, he says. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

'Spidey' vs. Taymor, round two

TaymorProducers of Broadway tuner "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" fired back at director Julie Taymor with a legal defense and countersuit filed in response to the suit Taymor brought against them last year.Filed in district court for the Southern District of NY, the "Spider-Man" producers' counterclaims allege that Taymor is not in fact the co-writer of the original book as she's currently credited, and characterize her legal push for royalty payments as an attempt to profit from the work of others. The suit also accuses her of breach of contract for her alleged refusal and inability to make changes to the script as requested by producers and other collaborators."The show is a success despite Taymor, not because of her," according to the suit.The new legal action reps the latest volley in the fallout from the $75 million musical's tortured road to opening night, encompassing obstacles including funding failures, production delays and performer injuries that turned into international news. In March 2011, after more than three months of preview perfs, Taymor exited the production while director Philip William McKinley and book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa were brought in to re-tool the show.Much of the producers' Jan. 17 filing reps a line-by-line refutation of the claims Taymor's camp made in a Nov. 8 filing alleging the director hadn't been paid proper author royalties. The producers respond by asserting that for the "old book" of the musical -- as opposed to the "new book" penned by Aguirre-Sacasa and Glen Berger, incorporated after a production hiatus in the spring -- the real writing work was shouldered by co-writer Berger.Producers also argue that Taymor's copyright claims on story elements don't hold, since the majority of those elements are drawn from pre-existing sources including the "Spider-Man" comicbooks and films. They additionally bat back at Taymor's legal attempt to nix non-Broadway incarnations of "Spider-Man," arguing she has no contractual say in the matter.In response to the countersuit, Taymor's lawyers reponded, "The defendants' counterclaims against Ms. Taymor are baseless, although not surprising given their previous treatment of her. In her lawsuit, Ms. Taymor will continue to vigorously seek enforcement of her creative rights and will respond to the defendants' counter-claims, as well as their outrageous mischaracterizations and attempts to besmirch her reputation."The Jan. 17 filing reads like a producers'-eye view of the turmoil that publicly engulfed "Spider-Man" during its preview period. The counterclaims paint Taymor as a stubborn director who stopped talking to collaborators and remained unresponsive in meetings every time the producers and collaborators asked her to shift the production away from her dark, arty vision of the "Spider-Man" story.By the time the show opened in June, the "Spider-Man" team made a public show of seeming reconciliation, with Taymor appearing alongside other creatives at the tuner's opening night. With the filing of Taymor's author's rights suit in November, however, that facade crumbled.Meanwhile, producers also filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Taymor and the legit helmers' union, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, in response to a separate suit filed last year over directing royalties. SDC exec director Laura Penn said she did not yet have any knowledge of the suit. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Frequency will customize web video

FrequencyWith more videos showing up online, new startup Frequency aims to assist aggregate it for audiences across multiple platforms, including its very own website, iPad and Samsung's type of wise Televisions. Frequency can be obtained around the iPad free of charge from Apple's Application Store, Frequency's website as well as on Samsung's wise Televisions being an application. The La-based company, produced by former iFilm executive Blair Harrison, grabs videos from internet sites like Twitter and facebook, media sites and blogs according to a person's interests. On one screen, Frequency produces custom channels and updates them as new videos are located. Frequency's current platform includes news, entertainment, sports along with other content channels. Frequency folded out its service at CES now in Vegas, after being developed in the last 2 yrs. "Frequency includes, in a single effective and simple-to-use experience, all of the great Internet video that individuals wish to watch," stated Harrison, founder and Boss of Frequency. "The very first time, every movie a person really wants to see will come in one place, and accessible on any device. ... and keeps you up-to-date with video news, entertainment, what your buddies are discussing as well as your interests, anytime and anywhere." Company also offers a partnership with Brightcove that allows video marketers using Brightcove's Video Cloud platform to instantly publish to Frequency, moving metadata and enabling playback across all Frequency-supported products, including both products that support Expensive and products that do not. Complement will ultimately enable Frequency to branch out onto mobile phones, Blu-ray gamers, videogame consoles, set-top boxes along with other Internet-connected Televisions. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

2 Broke Women Not Ready For A Sex As Well As The City Cast Member Cameo

First Launched: The month of the month of january 11, 2012 2:51 PM EST Credit: CBS La, Calif. -- Caption Kat Dennings and Jesse Behrs by 50 percent Broke Girls2 Broke Women won't be crossing the paths of Max Black and Barbara Bradshaw soon. The area of Nicole Kidman and people women, and Max Black and Caroline Channing are very different, that we cant imagine [that happening], show creator Michael Patrick King mentioned responding with a question from AccessHollywood.com within the Television Experts Association Winter Session in Pasadena on Wednesday. MPK who produced the SATC TV series and written and directed both movies did note they've had discussions about possible guest stars. We feel a good deal in regards to the best standby time with the figures which come into Max and Carolines existence, and then we have no clue, we talk every once in awhile, he mentioned of the idea of recovering from his SATC cast. Continued to be as building tales, and then we have no idea, he added. MPK mentioned he isn't towards getting one of the SATC cast primary or supporting seriously 2 Broke Women, whether or not this fits. Any actor will have the ability to achieve seriously this program whos appropriate for any personality might be great, he mentioned. Beyond concentrating on 2 Broke Women, MPK revealed he's a completely new movie script inside the works together three major female stars. Im concentrating on a movie at this time around for Meryl Streep and also the famous host the famous host oprah Winfrey and Sandy Bullock, which Im finishing the script on, he added. 2 Broke Women airs Monday nights at 8:30/7:30 c on CBS. Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

U.K. cartoonist Ronald Searle dies

British cartoonist Ronald Searle, the creator in the willfully wicked schoolgirls of St. Trinian's who amused decades of British people, died 12 ,. 30 of natural causes in Draguignan, Provence, France. He was 91.Searle will be a prolific illustrator who came for your NYer, Punch and Disney and did title-design together with other use several films, nevertheless it was the imaginary girls' boarding school where the students went riot that lots of taken everyone imagination.The extended-legged, leering schoolgirls drank, smoked in most cases cut a swath of destruction their weapon-transporting antics were colored by Searle's morbid spontaneity. His satire in the venerable British school system struck a chord, beginning numerous hit films, plus a 2007 version starring Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton and Russell Brand that has produced two sequels.Searle's secret, while you early profile noted, wound up being to show "the epitome of decency and polite tradition for every right-thinking Englishman" into "an area of terror more hellish than anything produced since the occasions of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel."Searle was produced in Cambridge, but his dark streak may have been informed by his encounters just like a soldier throughout World war ii: His promising career as cartoonist was interrupted by his capture with the Japanese at Singapore. He spent the comfort in the conflict under atrocious conditions just like a prisoner of war but handled to keep drawing despite beatings and bouts of malaria and beriberi.His sketches of camping existence were launched following his liberation in 1945 in fellow prisoner Russell Braddon's account that belongs to them captivity, "The Naked Island."St. Trinian's sly schoolgirls made him famous, but Searle extended was adament the scholars were just "a little sector of my work."He designed cover art for your NYer and numerous editorial cartoons for France's Le Monde newspaper. He designed wry, every so often absurd advertisements for Church's shoes and U.S. Rubber. His Molesworth books, occur the imaginary St. Custard's, also shown popular.His first behave as a painter of film game game titles was for "Probably The Most pleased Occasions of the Existence" in 1950. Other such credits incorporated bigscreen adaptations "The Belles of St. Trinian's" (1954) (more youthful crowd had an uncredited role just like a likely to parent), "The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's" (1960) and "The Fantastic St. Trinian's Train Robbery" (1966), that his game game titles work was uncredited, plus 1965's "People Magnificent Males inside their Flying Machines," People Daring Teens inside their Jaunty Jalopies" (1969) and "Scrooge" (1970).Searle was set designer round the 1955 film "Round the Twelfth Day..." production designer on some films, "Energetically Yours" (1957) and "Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done" (1975) and both set and costume designer on 1963's "The King's Breakfast."Searle was married two occasions. His second wife died within this summer time. He's managed to get having a boy together with a daughter. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com