Studio & Project Development Briefs for Feb 5, 2015

5 Feb 2015

Studiobriefs03

We will be providing briefs of what comes out of the studios or independent project development on a daily basis and summarizing them in daily posts. These will be a quick way to attempt to keep everyone updated on movement of projects. This post is updated throughout the day. So check back for the latest updates.

NON-SPECIFIC (NOT SPECIFIC TO A GIVEN ENTITY)

ABC/DISNEY/AMC FAMILY/LIFETIME

Disney‘s Thomas Staggs has been appointed to a new role as Chief Operations Officer (COO) and will continue to oversee the parks until a successor has been named. Business segment leaders will now report to Staggs, except for the CFO (Jay Rasulo). Both Staggs and Rasulo are considered to be potentially candidates to succeed Bob Iger, Disney CEO when his contract expires in 2018. Other potential successor candidates include General Counsel Alan Braverman, Chief Communications Officer, Zenia Mucha and Chief Human Resources Officer, Jayne Parker. Iger feels that Staggs has “proven ability to lead a business.” Staggs responded that he is “humbled and honored by the opportunity.” In a company released statement about Staggs’ new appointment they credit the new COO for“delivering record revenue, profit and attendance levels” at the parks, while expanding into new territories and upgrading existing venues. It adds that he “played a critical role” in the acquisitions of Capital Cities/ABC, Pixar, and Marvel. In his 12 years as CFO “he spearheaded the realignment of Disney’s performance goals toward the combination of profit growth and strong long-term capital returns and free cash flow.”

AMC NETWORKS/AMC ENTERTAINMENT

CBS/CW/CBSFILMS/SHOWTIME

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION (AOL, AMAZON, HULU, NETFLIX, YAHOO)

Netflix just ordered a 13-episode musical drama series, The Get Down, from director Baz Lurhmann, which is set to debut in 2016. Shawn Ryan and Luhrmann co-created the series and the project has brought in casting directors, exploring possible young leads. Luhrmann will direct the first two episodes and the season finale and serve as executive producer. Ryan also executive produces alongside his producing partner Marney Hochman. Executive Producers on the project are Catherine Martin, Paul Watters, Thomas Kelly, and Stephen Adley. Taking place in New York City in the 1970’s, a rag-tag group of teens from the South Bronx, broken down, beaten up, violent and cash strapped, are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them but each other. The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the bring of bankruptcy, gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco told through the lives and music of South Bronx kids who changed the city and world forever.

DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS (DISCOVERY CHANNEL)

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

FOX ENTERTAINMENT GROUP/FOX SEARCHLIGHT

HBO

NBC/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS/USA NETWORK

NBC‘s News anchor Brian Williams sat down with David Letterman in 2013 and recounted the story of the shot down helicopter in 2003, which he claimed was under attack while he was in the helicopter, which he now admits was a fabrication (the part about him being in the helicopter, that is). Hear his own words recounting the story, which begins around the 2:40 mark:

Yesterday, he admitted that he was on a different plane that was never under fire and landed safely. He claims to have “bungled” the true events. “I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another,” he said in an interview. Per Stars and Stripes, Williams has told the false story several times including one last month. “As a war correspondent, I am not terribly good at it,” he said to Letterman in the 2013 video. “I do not do it full-time, I am New York based.”
Kate Walsh settles dispute with her management team Evolution Entertainment over commissions for her role in NBC‘s Bad Judges, but it is conditional. See More
NBC announced today renewals for a third season of The Blacklist, fourth season for Chicago Fire, third season for Chicago P.D., 17th season for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and fifth season for Grimm.
Variety: Brian Williams’ Tall Tale Raises New Challenge for NBC News
Deadline: Brian Williams’ Helicopter PIlot: “We Were Hit” -“Mr. Williams was on board my aircraft. We took small arms fire,” the pilot, former chief warrant officer Rich Krell, told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “All I know is one RPG was fired. It struck the lead aircraft, which was about what we call six rotor disks in front of me.”Those incoming bullets, he said “struck the belly up in the forward cabin area and one or two other side hits, but it didn’t cause any major damage, just some minor damage to electronic components.” Krell said Williams would have been aware his helicopter had been hit because of the ping of the bullets and the fact the crew was returning fire.“The door gunners were returning fire. M60s (machine guns) are very loud. The pings of the bullets hitting us…there were only a few, but it’s a distinct sound.”“I’m not taking issue” with other elements of Williams’ account, he said, adding “I agree he needed to apologize” to those on the helicopter that did in fact take an RPG hit that day, saying “That’s a life-or-death situation they walked away from. I can understand why they take issue” with Williams’ years-long account of what happened.Williams’ claim his helicopter came under attack and was hit — “that is a true statement,” Krell said, adding, “We were all scared. That’s the truth…He was there at the time of the attack.” See more above link.

LIONSGATE

Lionsgate’s fiscal Q3 numbers were okay with a net income of $98.2 Mil (+1-.6%) on revenues of $751.3 MIL (-10.6%). The revenue numbers fell short of predictions by Wall Street (predicted them to be at $783.8 Mil), but earnings at 65 cents per share were a penny ahead of predictions. “Our strong financial results in the quarter were driven by growing margins across our businesses,” says CEO Jon Feltheimer. The television unit “continues to emerge as a leading supplier of premium scripted content,” while films “achieved strong profitability.” In addition, digital initiatives are “beginning to deliver incremental revenue and profits, and we expect their contributions to continue to grow.” See more detail

PARAMOUNT STUDIOS/VIACOM

SONY/TRISTAR

Sony Pictures Entertainment’s co-chairman and chairman of the Motion Picture Group, Amy Pascal is stepping down from her position to launch a new produciton venture at the studio. She will transition to the new venture in May. See More
Variety: Sony’s Next Boss: Who’s Likely to Suceed Amy Pascal
Variety: Amy Pascal: A Cuationary Tale in an Age Without Privacy

TURNER BROADCASTING & ENTERTAINMENT/ TNT/ TBS

WARNER BROS.

Deadline: Jupiter Ascending Review: Pete Hammond’s Sinking Feeling

VIACOM

INDIE

Fifty Shades of Grey was denied a certificate by the Malaysian Film Censorship Board (LPF) and thereby will not be released in Malasia, canceling the Feb 12 release through United International Pictures. LPF chairman Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said it is “ore than pornography than a movie. The board made a decision in view of the film containing scenes that are not of natural sexual content. The content is more sadistic, featuring scenes of a woman being tied to a bed and whipped.”
Weinstein Company will co-finance and distribute domestically The Man Who Made it Snow starring Jake Gyllenhaal, produced by Fuqua Films & IM Global, along with Gyllenhaal. The screen play is by Tabor and Michael Kingston , adapted from the best-selling autobiography of Mermelstein with the same title as the film. The Man Who Made it Snow is a biopic of Max Mermelstein, a notorious 1980’s cocaine smuggler who at the time was the only American alive that ever admitted to the inner circle of the Colombian cocaine cartel.
Gaumont and Wild Bunch have cast Keanu Reeves adn Christina Hendricks, joining Elle Fanning in The Neon Demon, written and directed by Nicholas Winding Refn and produced by Space Rocket’s Lena Borglum along with Refn. The Neon Demon is a follow-up to Refn’s Only God Forgives and is a subversive female-driven horror tale. Abby Lee, Jena Malone and Bella Heathcote make up the rest of the female cast. Production is due to begin March 30. Gaumont and Wild Bunch are shopping the project at the European Film Market in Berlin and have started discussions with US buyers.
Writer-Producer Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), Producer Lisa Bruce and Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan have developed a 2016 production start for the epic WWII drama Darkest Hour. Working Title acquired the spec script of McCarten’s which is about Winston Churchill’s make-or-break moment of truth he faced in 1940. See Exclusive from Deadline.