Is Steve Jones Getting the Boot From The X Factor?

Steve Jones The X Factor's Steve Jones could be going the way of Brian Dunkelman.The 34-year-old Welsh host may not return for Season 2 of Fox's newest singing competition, according to the The Daily Mirror."The executives at Fox have already decided not to renew his contract and so, short of a miracle happening, it is pretty much a done deal that he will not take part next season," a source told the tabloid. "He got terrible reviews from critics when he started and things haven't got better. There have been mistakes and he just doesn't seem to have the knack for dealing with contestants."If Jones were to get the ax, he'd be the show's second casualty. Judge Cheryl Cole was dropped back in May and replaced by then-co-host Nicole Scherzinger. (The report also speculates that Scherzinger could take over as host, leaving an open seat at the judges' table for Season 2.)Jones' camp, however, denied these reports. "The Mirror Story is a fabrication that we would have corrected had we been called for comment. There have been absolutely no conversations about Steve Jones Leaving The X Factor," his rep told TVGuide.com in a statement. "Steve is very happy with the outcome of this season and he looks forward to being back and discovering more talent in the new year."What did you think of Jones' performance this season? If he doesn't return next year, who would you like to see take his spot?

Fox Intl. Channels to bow sports internet in South usa

Fox Intl. Channels will spike its presence in South usa while using launch from the Portuguese-language Fox Sports in February. It'll be entering a somewhat underserved pay TV marketplace where ESPN, local internet Sport TV and Fox-possessed Speed will be the only sports cable channels available. FIC has furthermore bought out HM Capital Partner's majority stake in Fox Pan American Sports, the important thing The the spanish language language-language sports programming service in Latin America so it formerly possessed another. This is re-named Fox Sports Latin America. FIC is at talks with Brazilian MSOs to keep both Fox Sports and/or Speed by themselves grids. It must develop the distribution of Speed Funnel South usa, which reaches 4 million houses on all key feevee and telco platforms. Fox Sports will be the only cable network in South usa to keep live games of Copa Santander Libertadores and Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana, the finest inter club soccer competitions in Latin America. "We'll offer 2,500 several hours of regional productions in South usa which 2,000 several hours are soccer games. The comfort of Fox Sports South usa programming includes original news and talkshows additionally to 2 exclusive live games in the Barclays Premier League each week,In . mentioned Hernan Lopez, prexy and Boss. Meanwhile, the business has upped Carlos Martinez to prexy FIC Latin America and Emiliano Saccone to prez, entertainment, FIC Latin America. Both were formerly professional VPs. Saccone has attracted on Eduardo Zebini as V . p ., controlling editor Fox Sports in South usa. He was most recently g.m. of TV while using World Cup South usa 2014 Committee. Zebini is dependent in Rio p Janeiro. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

George Clooney Joins Prop 8 Play Reading through in La

George Clooney happens to be political, although not political enough to honestly entertain ideas of running for office. "Take a look at my existence and check out everyone else's existence in politics," he stated throughout press for 'The Ides of March' in October. "Why would I ever wish to accomplish that? I am getting an excellent time." Indeed! Besides, if he was running for office, it's doubtful Clooney would have the ability to take part in such lightning fishing rod occasions, just like a reading through from the play '8' in La this March. Compiled by Dustin Lance Black ('Milk,' 'J. Edgar'), '8' is really a play that concentrates on "research and transcripts from Perry v. Schwarzenegger, this years federal court fight that worked using the legitimacy of Prop. 8, the questionable ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California. The judge within the situation ruled that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional, however the decision continues to be become a huge hit." Clooney may be the first actor introduced for that reading through, which is held on March 8, 2012, within the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Stated Clooney inside a statement: "It's astonishing that lgbt People in america continue to be treated as second-class people. I'm certain that, soon, the laws and regulations of the nation will reflect the fundamental truth that lgbt people -- like several people -- are born equal in dignity and privileges." Not sure yet on other stars who'll participate, but you may expect huge roster of talent. Additionally to Clooney and also the Oscar-winning Black, Take advantage of Reiner will direct the staged reading through. [via LAT/Culture Monster] [Photo: AFP PHOTO / HO / JAMES MORGAN] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Could Ryan Seacrest Replace Matt Lauer on Today?

Ryan Seacrest and Matt Lauer If Matt Lauer leaves his co-anchor chair on NBC's Today show in 2012, he or she is changed by... Ryan Seacrest. The Today producers met using the The American Idol Show host on Tuesday for preliminary discusses possibly succeeding Lauer, the Wall Street Journal reviews. Lauer continues to be with Today since 1997 and it has been considering departing the show. Early Idol? Fox announces midseason schedule Seacrest already works together with NBCUniversal, hosting and creating a regular news show around the company's E! network and creating the Kardashians' reality franchise. The discussions with NBCUniversal are ongoing and absolutely nothing continues to be made the decision yet. Do you want to see Seacrest within the co-anchor chair?

High School Romances and Hip Family Dramas: Sundance 2012 Competition Slates Announced

comments: 0 || add yours It’s nearly December which means that it is time for the Sundance Film Festival to announce their competitive programming selections. This year, the slates are varied containing two (2!) Mark Webber features, one Jonathan Kasdan teen rom-com, another Lena Dunham-penned dysfunctional NYC family drama and a number of titles that span genres and the globe. Among the actors featured in the line-up: Joel Edgerton, Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried, Danny Glover, John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, John Hawkes, William H. Macy and Helen Hunt. Look through the full press release below to predict who might be this year’s Elizabeth Olsen and what might be this year’s Take Shelter. ——— Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival. Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.” John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking. Looking at this year’s submissions, the result is more fully realized visions and stronger stories; we are proud to see the Festival emerging as a key indicator of the health and creativity of our filmmaking community. The overall quality of the films in the 2012 Competition section will make for an exciting Festival and a remarkable year ahead for independent film audiences everywhere.” For the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, 110 feature-length films were selected, representing 31 countries and 46 first-time filmmakers, including 26 in competition. These films were selected from 4,042 feature-length film submissions composed of 2,059 U.S. and 1,983 international feature-length films. 88 films at the Festival will be world premieres. In addition to the four Competition categories, the Festival presents feature-length films in six out-of-competition sections. Films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, NEXT <=> and New Frontier sections will be announced on December 1. Films in the Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections will be announced on December 5. On Day One, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program. Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The enthusiasm and optimism of John Cooper and his programming team this year is infectious; we are all excited to unveil and experience their selections for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. On behalf of my colleagues at the Sundance Institute we are pleased to introduce new storytellers to our audience, welcome new and returning filmmakers to the Festival and kick off a lively cultural dialogue for 2012.” U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films. Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) — Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world. Cast: Quvenzhan Wallis, Dwight Henry. The Comedy / U.S.A. (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Robert Donne, Colm O’Leary) — Indifferent even to the prospects of inheriting his father’s estate, Swanson whiles away his days with a group of aging Brooklyn hipsters, engaging in small acts of recreational cruelty and pacified boredom. Cast: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Kate Lyn Sheil, Alexia Rassmusen, Gregg Turkington. The End of Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Mark Webber) — A young father unravels following the loss of the mother of his child. Cast: Mark Webber, Shannyn Sossamon, Michael Cera, Jason Ritter, Amanda Seyfried, Frankie Shaw. Filly Brown / U.S.A. (Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, Screenwriter: Youssef Delara) — A Hip Hop-driven drama about a Mexican girl who rises to fame and consciousness as she copes with the incarceration of her mother through music. Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Gina Rodriguez, Jenni Rivera, Edward James Olmos. The First Time / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jonathan Kasdan) — Two high schoolers meet at a party. Over the course of a weekend, things turn magical, romantic, complicated and funny, as they discover what it’s like to fall in love for the first time. Cast: Brittany Robertson, Dylan O’Brien, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville, Victoria Justice. For Ellen / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: So Yong Kim) — A struggling musician takes an overnight long-distance drive in order to fight his estranged wife for custody of their young daughter. Cast: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva, Shay Mandigo. Hello I Must Be Going / U.S.A. (Director: Todd Louiso, Screenwriter: Sarah Koskoff) — Divorced, childless, demoralized and condemned to move back in with her parents at the age of 35, Amy Minsky’s prospects look bleak - until the unexpected attention of a teenage boy changes everything. Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott, John Rubinstein, Julie White. DAY ONE FILM Keep the Lights On / U.S.A. (Director: Ira Sachs, Screenwriters: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias) — An autobiographically inspired story of a passionate long-term relationship between two men driven by addiction and secrets but bound by love and hopefulness. Cast: Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane, Paprika Steen. LUV / U.S.A. (Director: Sheldon Candis, Screenwriters: Sheldon Candis, Justin Wilson) — An orphaned 11-year-old boy is forced to face the unpleasant truth about his beloved uncle during one harrowing day in the streets of Baltimore. Cast: Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton. Middle Of Nowhere / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ava DuVernay) — When her husband is incarcerated, an African-American woman struggles to maintain her marriage and her identity. Cast: Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick, Lorraine Touissant, Edwina Findley. Nobody Walks / U.S.A. (Director: Ry Russo-Young, Screenwriters: Lena Dunham, Ry Russo-Young) — Martine, a young artist from NY, is invited into the home of a hip, liberal LA family for a week. Her presence unravels the family’s carefully maintained status quo, and a mess of sexual and emotional entanglements ensues. Cast: John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, India Ennenga, Justin Kirk. Safety Not Guaranteed / U.S.A. (Director: Colin Trevorrow, Screenwriter: Derek Connolly) — A trio of magazine employees investigate a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel. One employee develops feelings for the paranoid but compelling loner and seeks to discover what he’s really up to. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karen Soni. Save the Date / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Mohan, Screenwriters: Jeffrey Brown, Egan Reich, Michael Mohan) — As her sister Beth prepares to get married, Sarah finds herself caught up in an intense post-breakup rebound. The two fumble through the redefined emotional landscape of modern day relationships, forced to relearn how to love and be loved. Cast: Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, Mark Webber. Simon Killer / France, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Antonio Campos) — A recent college graduate goes to Paris after breaking up with his girlfriend of 5 years. Once there, he falls in love with a young prostitute and their fateful journey begins. Cast: Brady Corbet, Mati Diop, Constance Rousseau, Michael Abiteboul, Solo. Smashed / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Susan Burke, James Ponsoldt) — Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and… drinking. When Kate decides to get sober, her new lifestyle brings troubling issues to the surface and calls into question her relationship with Charlie. Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally. The Surrogate / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ben Lewin) — Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist with an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he contacts a professional sex surrogate to take him on a journey to manhood. Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy. U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION The world premieres of 16 American documentary films. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry / U.S.A., China (Director: Alison Klayman) — Renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations and increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. The Atomic States of America / U.S.A. (Directors: Don Argott, Sheena M. Joyce) — In 2010, the United States announced construction of the first new nuclear power plant in more than 32 years. A year later, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Fukushima Power Plant in Japan sparking a fierce debate in the U.S. over the safety and viability of nuclear power. Chasing Ice / U.S.A. (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Science, spectacle and human passion mix in this stunningly cinematic portrait as National Geographic photographer James Balog captures time-lapse photography of glaciers over several years providing tangible visual evidence of climate change. DETROPIA / U.S.A. (Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady) — The woes of Detroit are emblematic of the collapse of the U.S. manufacturing base. This is the dramatic story of a city and its people who refuse to leave the building, even as the flames are rising. ESCAPE FIRE: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare / U.S.A. (Directors: Matthew Heineman, Susan Froemke) — What can be done to save our broken medical system? Powerful forces are trying to maintain the status quo in a profit-driven medical industry, but a movement to bring innovative methods of prevention and healing is finally gaining ground - potentially saving the health of a nation. Finding North / U.S.A. (Directors: Lori Silverbush, Kristi Jacobson) — A crisis of hunger looms in America and is not limited to the poverty stricken and uneducated. Can a return to policies of the 1970s save our future? The House I Live In / U.S.A. (Director: Eugene Jarecki) — For over 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world’s largest jailer and damaged poor communities at home and abroad. Yet, drugs are cheaper, purer and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong and what is the path toward healing? How to Survive a Plague / U.S.A. (Director: David France) — The untold story of the intensive efforts that turned AIDS into a manageable condition - and the improbable group of (mostly HIV-positive) young men and women whose amazing resilience broke through a time of rampant death and political indifference. The Invisible War / U.S.A. (Director: Kirby Dick) — An investigative and powerfully emotional examination of the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, the institutions that cover up its existence and the profound personal and social consequences that arise from it. Marina Abramovi The Artist is Present / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Akers) — Marina Abramovi prepares for a major retrospective of her work at The Museum of Modern Art in NY hoping to finally silence four decades of skeptics who proclaim: ‘But why is this art?’ ME at the ZOO / U.S.A. (Directors: Chris Moukarbel, Valerie Veatch) — With 270 million hits to date, Chris Crocker, an uncanny young video blogger from small town Tennessee, is considered the Internet’s first rebel folk hero and at the same time one of its most controversial personalities. The Other Dream Team / Lithuania, U.S.A. (Director: Marius Markevicius) — The 1992 Lithuanian National Basketball Team went from the clutches of Communism to the Summer Olympics in Barcelona - a testament to the powerful role of sports as a catalyst for cultural identity. The Queen of Versailles / U.S.A. (Director: Lauren Greenfield) — Jackie and David were triumphantly constructing the biggest house in America - a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot palace inspired by Versailles - when their timeshare empire collapses and their house is foreclosed. Their rags-to-riches-to-rags story reveals the innate virtues and flaws of the American Dream. DAY ONE FILM Slavery By Another Name / U.S.A. (Director: Sam Pollard) — As slavery came to an end with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place with shocking force, brutalizing, terrorizing and ultimately circumscribing the lives of hundreds of thousands of African Americans well into the 20th century. Love Free or Die: How the Bishop of New Hampshire is Changing the World / U.S.A. (Director: Macky Alston) — One man whose two defining passions are in conflict: An openly gay bishop refuses to leave the Church or the man he loves. We’re Not Broke / U.S.A. (Directors: Karin Hayes, Victoria Bruce) — As American lawmakers slash budgets and lay off employees, leaving many people scrambling to survive, multibillion-dollar corporations are concealing colossal profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. income tax. Fed-up Americans are taking their frustration to the streets. WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION Fourteen films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles. 4 Suns / Czech Republic (Director and screenwriter: Bohdan Slma) — Immature Fogi attempts to straighten up and accept his responsibilities as a new husband and father, as well as role model to his troubled son from a previous relationship, but finds himself unable to change his nature, leaving him to watch haplessly as his family begins to crumble. Cast: Jaroslav Plesl, Aa Geislerov, Karel Roden, Ji Mdl, Klra Melkov. World Premiere About the Pink Sky / Japan (Director and screenwriter: Keiichi Kobayashi) — A high school girl finds a wallet full of money and tracks down its owner, leading to unexpected consequences for the girl and her friends. Cast: Ai Ikeda, Ena Koshino, Reiko Fujiwara, Tsubasa Takayama, Hakusyu Togetsuan. International Premiere Can / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Rasit Celikezer) — A young married couple live happily in Istanbul, but their decision to illegally procure a child threatens their future together. Cast: Selen Ucer, Serdar Orcin, Berkan Demirbag, Erkan Avci. World Premiere Father’s Chair (A Cadeira do Pai) / Brazil (Director: Luciano Moura, Screenwriters: Elena Soarez, Luciano Moura) — Following the trail of his runaway teen son, Theo confronts his own identity as a son, a father and a man along the way. Cast: Wagner Moura, Lima Duarte, Mariana Lima. World Premiere L / Greece (Director: Babis Makridis, Screenwriters: Efthymis Filippou, Babis Makridis) — A man who lives in his car gets caught up in the undeclared war between motorcycle riders and car drivers. Cast: Aris Servetalis, Makis Papadimitriou, Lefteris Mathaios, Nota Tserniafski, Stavros Raptis. World Premiere The Last Elvis (El Ultimo Elvis) / Argentina (Director: Armando Bo, Screenwriters: Nicols Giacobone and Armando Bo) — A Buenos Aires Elvis impersonator who believes that he is the reincarnation of the King struggles to shake free from reality and live his musical dream. Cast: John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez. World Premiere Madrid, 1987 / Spain (Director and screenwriter: David Trueba) — The balance of power and desire constantly shifts during the meeting of an older journalist and a young student, of two generations completely foreign to one another. Cast: Jos Sacristn, Mara Valverde, Ramon Fontser. International Premiere My Brother the Devil / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Sally El Hosaini) — A pair of British Arab brothers trying to get by in gangland London learn the extraordinary courage it takes to be yourself. Cast: James Floyd, Sad Taghmaoui, Fady Elsayed. World Premiere Teddy Bear / Denmark (Director: Mads Matthiesen, Screenwriters: Mads Matthiesen, Martin Pieter Zandvliet) — Dennis, a painfully shy 38-year-old bodybuilder who lives with his mother, sets off to Thailand in search of love. Cast: Kim Kold, Elsebeth Steentoft, Lamaiporn Sangmanee Hougaard, David Winters, Allan Mogensen. World Premiere Valley of Saints / India, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Gulzar plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future Cast: Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, Mohammed Afzal Sofi, Neelofar Hamid. World Premiere Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta se Fue a Los Cielos) / Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Spain (Director: Andrs Wood, Screenwriters: Eliseo Altunaga, Rodrigo Bazaes, Guillermo Caldern, Andrs Wood) — A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes. Cast: Francisca Gaviln, Thomas Durand, Luis Machn, Gabriela Aguilera, Roberto Faras. International Premiere Wish You Were Here / Australia (Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith, Screenwriters: Felicity Price, Kieran Darcy-Smith) — Four friends embark on a carefree holiday, but only three return home. Who knows what happened on that fateful night? Cast: Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price, Antony Starr. World Premiere. DAY ONE FILM WRONG / France (Director and screenwriter: Quentin Dupieux) — Dolph searches for his lost dog, but through encounters with a nympho pizza-delivery girl, a jogging neighbor seeking the absolute, and a mysterious righter of wrongs, he may eventually lose his mind… and his identity. Cast: Jack Plotnick, Eric Judor, Alexis Dziena, Steve Little, William Fichtner. World Premiere Young & Wild / Chile (Director: Marialy Rivas, Screenwriters: Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutirrez, Pedro Peirano) — 17-year-old Daniela, raised in the bosom of a strict Evangelical family and recently unmasked as a fornicator by her shocked parents, struggles to find her own path to spiritual harmony. Cast: Alicia Rodrguez, Aline Kuppenheim, Mara Gracia Omegna, Felipe Pinto. World Premiere WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today. REVOLUTION / Denmark (Directors: Omar Shargawi, Karim El Hakim) — In January 2011, two filmmakers captured the reality of the Egyptian revolution as it occurred out of view from the world’s media in the alleyways and streets away from the square - and in the process were arrested by the secret police. North American Premiere 5 Broken Cameras / Palestine, Israel, France (Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi) — A Palestinian journalist chronicles his village’s resistance to a separation barrier being erected on their land and in the process captures his young son’s lens on the world. International Premiere THE AMBASSADOR / Denmark (Director: Mads Brgger) — What happens when a very white European man buys his way into being a diplomat in one of Central Africa’s most failed nations? Welcome to the bizarre and hidden world of African diplomacy, where gin and tonics flow and diamond hustlers and corrupt politicians run free. North American Premiere **BIG BOYS GONE BANANAS!*** / Sweden (Director: Fredrik Gertten) — The behind-the-scenes story of a full-scale attack on freedom of speech. When Dole set its sights on the WG Film production Bananas!* in May 2009, confusion was the method, aggression was the tactic and media control was the story. North American Premiere China Heavyweight / Canada, China (Director: Yung Chang) — In central China, where a coach recruits poor rural teenagers and turns them into Western-style boxing champions, the top students face dramatic choices as they graduate - should they fight for the collective good or for themselves? A metaphor for the choices everyone in the New China faces now. World Premiere Gypsy Davy / Israel, U.S.A., Spain (Director: Rachel Leah Jones) — How does a white boy with Alabama roots become a Flamenco guitarist in Andalusian boots? A tale of self-invention and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of the cost to others. International Premiere The Imposter / United Kingdom (Director: Bart Layton) — In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappears from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in Spain with a shocking story of kidnap and torture. But all is not what it seems in this tale that is truly stranger than fiction. World Premiere Indie Game: The Movie / Canada (Directors: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky) — Follow the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world. World Premiere The Law in These Parts / Israel (Director: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz) — Israel’s 43-year military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories unfolds through provocative interviews with the system’s architects and historical footage showing the enactment of these laws upon the Palestinian population. International Premiere Payback / Canada (Director: Jennifer Baichwal) — Based on Margaret Atwood’s best-selling book, Payback explores how debt is a central organizing principle in our lives - influencing relationships, societies, governing structures and the very fate of this planet. World Premiere Putin’s Kiss / Denmark (Director: Lise Birk Pedersen) — 19-year-old Marsha is a model spokesperson in a strongly nationalistic Russian youth movement that aims to protect the country from its enemies. When she starts recognizing the organization’s flaws, she must take a stand for or against it. North American Premiere Searching for Sugar Man / Denmark, United Kingdom (Director: Malik Bendjelloul) — Rodriguez was the greatest ’70s US rock icon who never was. Hailed as the greatest recording artist of his generation he disappeared into oblivion - rising again from the ashes in a completely different context many miles away. World Premiere. DAY ONE FILM The Sundance Film Festival A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors - Entertainment Weekly, HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase SapphireSM; Leadership Sponsors - Adobe Systems Incorporated, Bing, Canon, DIRECTV, Focus Forward, a partnership between GE and CINELAN, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and Yahoo!; Sustaining Sponsors - Bertolli Frozen Meal Soups, FilterForGood, a partnership between Brita and Nalgene, Grey Goose Vodka, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, L’Oral Paris, Stella Artois, Timberland, Time Warner Inc. and YouTubeTM. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. # # Tagged: sundance film festival, sundance2012

Harlan Ellison Drops Lawsuit Claiming 'In Time' Ripped Off His Story (Exclusive)

Harlan Ellison has decided that he doesn't want to take credit for In Time, the recent sci-fi film starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. In September, the legendary author suedNew Regency and directorAndrew Niccolover the 20th Century Fox-distributed film, alleging it was a copyright infringement ofhis multiple prize-winning 1965 work, "Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman." But Ellison had second thoughts and has decided to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice.our editor recommendsHarlan Ellison Sues Claiming Fox's 'In Time' Rips Off Sci-Fi Story (Exclusive) Ellison's attorney wasn't available for comment about why the author decided to back off of claims that both In Time and his own story told the same tale about a "dystopian corporate future in which everyone is allotted a specific amount of time to live." But according to a stipulation filed in court on Monday, the decision came after the plaintiff had a chance to see the film. It's conceivable that he wasn't very impressed. The film garnered a low 38 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grosses just $35 million in the U.S. (though it has done better overseas, grossing about $70 million). Ellison has a history of suing, and his legal track record suggests that he has no qualms about about going to the mat to demand payment for use of his high-concept ideas. But typically, his claims have been reserved for TV shows and films that have been well received. For example, he's battled Paramount over one of the most acclaimed episodes in Star Trek history, "The City on the Edge of Forever," which he penned. He also pursued, and eventually got an acknowledgment credit on The Terminator, saying it was based on two Outer Limits episodes he wrote. As part of the agreement to dismiss his lawsuit, Ellison has also agreed that each party will bear its own attorney fees. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 'In Time' Premiere Red Carpet Arrivals: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried Andrew Niccol In Time

New You'll be able to Film Experts Circle Award Individuals who win 2011: 'The Artist,' Kaira Pitt and Meryl Streep

Forget Cyber Monday that is Honours-Season Tuesday! Or something like that like this. Round the heels of Monday night's Gotham Honours -- where 'The Tree of Life' and 'Beginners' tied for top Feature, an effect that ups the chance of 'Life' producing a Best Picture nomination within the month of the month of january -- the NY Film Experts Circle is supplying its yearly honours. You'll be able to follow all the action ("action") survive Twitter at @nyfcc2011, but see the results ahead. Best First Feature: 'Margin Call' (dir. J.C. Chandor) Best Non-Fiction Film: 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' (dr. Werner Herzog) Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for 'The Help,' 'The Tree of Life' and 'Take Shelter' Best Actress: Meryl Streep for 'The Iron Lady' Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for 'Drive' Best Actor: Kaira Pitt for 'Moneyball,' and 'Tree of Life' Best Language Film: 'A Separation' Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for 'The Artist' Best Script: Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for 'Moneyball' Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for 'Tree of Life' Best Picture: 'The Artist' [Photo: Fox Searchlight] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

The First Ending to 'The Muppets' Was Much Better

Hey, I like 'The Muppets'! Just like a society of sentient creatures, many of us virtually love 'The Muppets.' It's funny, it's self aware, it's sentimental. Do you realize what else 'The Muppets' is? It's a movie with no excellent ending. As Badass Digest highlights, that wasn't always the problem. Inside the final film (yeah, spoiler alert) the Muppets try to boost $ten million to be able to save their studio within the dastardly Tex Richman (Chris Cooper). They don't come anywhere near that goal, though -- after we learn inside the credits -- a correctly-timed bowling ball for the mind convinces Richman to supply the Muppets their studio back. Inside the original script, the Muppets do achieve their goal (by utilizing Statler and Waldorf), meaning the hastily develop ending of Richman just giving the studio back wouldn't are actually necessary. But what's a lot more interesting here -- again, according to Badass Digest -- might be the backstory of Richman's "maniacal laugh." Apparently, there is a removed scene that fills inside the back story of Richman's childhood passion for the Muppets, but Richman, for approximately he loved the Muppets, did not manage to laugh -- hence the verbalized "maniacal laugh." (This really is suggested round the 'Muppets' soundtrack within a lengthy version of "Let's talk of Me," the rap song that Cooper works inside the film.) The bowling ball for the mind within the finish in the film would restore Richman's laughing ability, giving him a cheerful ending, too. But, in our version, Richman's capacity to laugh is certainly an afterthought for the Muppets getting their studio back. You'll be able to listen fully version of "Let's talk of Me" below. The backstory portion happens at 1:20. [via Badass Digest] You'll be able to contact Mike Ryan on Twitter Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Saul Richfield dies at 84

Saul Richfield, a supervisor and pr guy for Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, some Secrets as well as the Craig Brothers and sisters, died of cardiovascular disease on November. 15. He was 84. Born in NY City, he began inside the entertainment industry becoming an usher inside a cinema in Brooklyn. He was Darin's manager for nine years inside the 19 fifties and Francis' publicity guy at the begining of sixties. More youthful crowd did PR use Frankie Valli, the DeMarco Brothers and sisters, Joe Franklin and Jack LaLanne too for Madonna at the beginning of her career. There has been no children. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Netflix Stock Drops Below Year Low After Company Sells $200 Million in Bonds

Possibly it's the aftermath of huge content deals or perhaps the anticipation more later on, but Netflix mentioned Monday it's raising cash, and after-market traders go ahead and take thought just like a bad sign. The business mentioned in the controlling filing that it's going to sell about $200 million in convertible bonds to Technology Crossover Endeavors by getting a preliminary conversion price of $85.80 per Netflix share. PHOTOS: Netflix's 10 Most Leased Movies ever Netflix shares lost 5 % to $74.47 on Monday, as well as the stock was lower yet another six percent following a closing bell, sinking eliminate it below its 52-week low. Beneath the the acquisition agreement, Crossover has the legal right to nominate a Netflix board member. For the moment, Crossover has designated existing director Jay Hoag becasue it is board representative. The sale also requires Netflix to promote $200 million open to "non-affiliated organizations,Inch therefore the organization mentioned late Monday that mutual funds and accounts handled by T. Rowe Cost Affiliate marketers will purchase a few.86 million shares at $70 each. It's a well known fact that Netflix has required to spend a lot more recently for rights to stream Television films and shows laptop or computer has required to formerly. Analyst MIchael Pachter estimations it could spend from $1.9 billion-$2.1 billion next season on content acquisition, up from $180 million a year ago. Within it's filing, though, Netflix only mentioned it'll spend the $200 million roughly it boosts on "general corporate reasons." The filing also states that, "Once in some time we evaluate potential purchases of or acquisition of companies, technologies, or products that complement our business, although we've no present obligations or contracts to initiate any purchases or invesments." Pachter, the initial analyst to weigh in on Netflix's decision Monday, referred to as it "bad to the level of desperation," and mentioned that managament isn't doing smaller sized traders any favors. "They'll first dilute their existing traders by $200 million, then will problem the bonds to have an existing investor, Crossover, getting a really favorable option cost," he mentioned. "It's save to look in the beginning sight transporting this to purchase content," Pachter mentioned, "in addition to their revenues are insufficient to provide enough cash to pay for their planned content acquisition costs." After searching at Pachter's comments, Netflix representative Steve Swasey mentioned: "Netflix does not have cash or general liquidity needs, and for your reason we've no immediate expects to take advantage of the capital. We don't think we would like it, nevertheless it's always nice to own more earnings than you will need.In . Related Subjects Netflix

Bravo grows 'Watch What Happens'

Bravo is set to strip "Watch What Happens Live," an until-now weekly skein that started out as a digital show on the net's website. Show will move to a daily sked at 11 p.m. starting in January. The news was first reported by the NY Times."Live" is hosted by Bravo's exec veep of programming, Andy Cohen, and features further interviews with contestants and subjects from the unscripted-centric net's various reality shows, including the women of the sundry "Real Housewives" franchises and "Top Chef," along with interviews of celebs outside the net.The show ranks high among viewers, averaging 1.2 million total and 720,000 in the demo, and is also unusually inexpensive for the net to produce, as Variety reported in April. "We make it for a five-figure number, and not even a very high five-figure number," exec producer Michael Davies said at the time.Cohen will step back from his daily duties at the Peacock's biggest lifestyle cabler, relinquishing his exec veep title, although the Times reports that he will continue to oversee program and talent development.Taking over Cohen's exec duties will be Jerry Leo, who moves up to exec veep of program strategy and production from his current spot as senior veep of program strategy and acquisitions. "Watch What Happens Live" will begin its new sked starting January 8. Contact Sam Thielman at sam.thielman@variety.com

Nathan Parsons Dishes On His Strange New General Hospital Romance And The Possible Exit

Nathan Parsons The kid's a genuine star, but it is a question he's made it. Australian-born, Texas-elevated heartthrob Nathan Parsons became a member of ABC's General Hospital nearly 3 years ago becoming disadvantage guy Ethan Lovett however the authors haven't given him a genuine story - a smaller amount a romance - to call their own. Normally, that'd be dying within the cleaning soap world. But it is proof of Parsons' acting chops - and the edgy, harmful, True Bloodstream make of awesome - that he's still around, especially because of the ghastly budget cuts at GH. Actually, it's pretty damn miraculous. Now his fortune's going to change! On December 2, Ethan can come face-to-face using the Lady in Whitened (Alyshia Ochse), the phantom beauty that has been haunting Wyndemere Castle. This can eventually result in real love. The medieval kind. TV Guide Magazine had a unique talk to Parsons relating to this intriguing romance. But could it be coming past too far? His contract expires in a couple of days!TV Guide Magazine: Before we discuss the Lady in Whitened, let us backtrack a little. Help remind me the way you found GH. Did not they've created this part for you personally? Parsons: [Laughs] It is strange I have had so very little to complete since it appeared like everyone loved me in the beginning! I initially auditioned for any different role, a personality which i think later switched to be Dante, but at that time he'd another title. I normally seem like I am from Texas, however i began playing around with this particular random Australian accent - not whatsoever right for a personality from NY - so when they known as me back, I had been, like, "What?" They ended up creating a completely different role for me personally, and after two days at work they afflicted me with a contract. Not getting much to complete continues to be really frustrating sometimes. And confusing. I suppose I had been type of an outrageous card. I do not think they understood what related to me or things i was about. But I have used time at GH to understand some discipline. Now I am feeling ready with this story. I am, like, "Let us do that factor!"TV Guide Magazine: It did not help the authors made Ethan the merchandise of the affair between Luke and Carol. You have on a poor start. Parsons: I had been greatly resented for your! [Laughs] I had been a dagger in the middle of all of the Luke and Laura fans! They did not wish to believe Luke done this type of factor throughout his legendary romance with Laura. And That I don't blame them. It had not been my fault, however i required lots of warmth.TV Guide Magazine: Have you be worried about getting fired when that plot backfired badly? Parsons: Yeah, and that i still be worried about it, especially a year ago because of so many shows sinking the ones losing their jobs. Each time I recieve known as up to work I am like, "OK, is time to visit? Is the finish?" But, amazingly, that has not happened yet.TV Guide Magazine: Have you ever complain towards the brass regarding your insufficient story?Parsons: Initially when i first met with [current mind author] Garin Wolf I told him I had been fed up with Ethan being the state rescuer of damsels in distress. After I came on the program I had been in the wrong finish of the shotgun slowly destroying an online casino. Ethan wasn't a great guy. There is lots of darkness inside, also it got more dark when Carol turned up. Then something transformed and Ethan was all of a sudden this super hero. I told Garin I needed to return to where Ethan was at the start, to that particular more sinister place where you do not know if you're able to trust him. Maybe he does not trust themself. We do not know a great deal about his history. We all know he lies a great deal.Television Guide Magazine: Provide us with some deets about this Lady in Whitened.Parsons: Alyshia Ochse is phenomenal! She is going to be an enjoyable experience for that audience to look at. She's a wise, impulsive actress nobody challenges me, despite the fact that she has not even stated anything yet! It'll require sometime on her to talk. There is a lot tension building with this particular story. Ethan's been chasing after this mystery being - they have been running circles around one another forever - and she or he isn't what he expected. It will not be considered a traditional cleaning soap romance and that i love that. [Laughs] They will not be relationship or happening dates. It is extremely Wuthering Levels, the type of epic, fantastical mystery GH has not completed in years. I simply love the bigger-than-existence scope from it. When Ethan and also the Lady finally meet it's all regulated shock and awe. He's enthusiastic about her, though he isn't even sure she's real.TV Guide Magazine: What exactly are you saying? Maybe the Lady in Whitened does not exist except in Nathan's mind?Parsons: That is possibly. It is possible Ethan is crazy. In the end, he's a Spencer. His father, Luke, is speaking to themself and constantly vanishing. His brother, Lucky, is consumed together with his dead wife. Ethan is enthusiastic about this haunted mansion. [Laughs] It can be genetic! Maybe all of the Spencers 're going mad. If that's the case, I am pleased to visit. On the other hand, maybe Ethan's being performed here. Maybe the disadvantage guy has been conned.TV Guide Magazine: For any awesome, maverick hipster, the man is fairly desperate.Parsons: Ethan is continually trying to find an elusive concept of love. He recognizes he needs some type of redemption. He assumes the sins from the father. Luke is really a failure. A genuine mess. And when Ethan does not in some way overcome their own problems, he's heading down that same path and that he can get destroyed. So there's a nearly desperate need on his part to locate something beyond themself. He thought he would be content remaining drunk and living existence like Luke. Not any longer. Ethan continues to be instructed to perform some real soul searching. Maybe the Lady in Whitened is really a answer to that. He's beginning to obtain as enthusiastic about her as Luke was with Laura. It may be a significant story.TV Guide Magazine: To not put a damper on things, but does not the timing with this kinda suck? Does not your contract go out soon?Parsons: Yeah, at the outset of 2012. The timing's not the very best. It's strange to possess this happening now. [Laughs] What exactly are they thinking? I suppose we'll need to sit lower and talk.Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Rampart Trailer Online

Woodsy Harrelson might be the lawComing off just like a mix between Training Day and cases of gritty police drama The Shield, Rampart remains creating some Oscar warmth for Woodsy Harrelson within the role just like a decidedly dodgy cop. See the trailer below.Harrelson stars as Dork Brown, an LAPD officer whose grasp of justice can be a loose and light-weight, selecting to see by their very own rules rather than strictly stick with police force playbook. A Vietnam veteran along with his own code of ethics, his worldview is called into question when he's caught on tape delivering a violent smack lower with a suspect. But tend to his uncompromising attitude survive whilst his personal existence spirals uncontrollable as well as the scientists close to the coast.?Rampart sees the actor reunited with Oren Moverman, who gave him another solid starring role inside the Messenger. And when more, Moverman's nabbed a great supporting cast, including Messenger co-star Ben Promote, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Nixon, Ned Beatty and Steve Buscemi.America can get the film on November 23, but it'll arrive the following on February 10, 2012.

Sheriff: Robert Wagner Not Just A Suspect In Natalie Wood Dying

First Launched: November 19, 2011 2:33 PM EST Credit: WireImage La, Calif. -- Caption Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner within the Godfather premiere on August 9, 1972Actor Robert Wagner is not a suspect inside the 30-year-old drowning of his actress wife, Natalie Wood, and there is nothing to indicate a criminal offence, even though the analysis remains re-opened up up, a sheriffs detective mentioned Friday. Her dying was any kind of accident, an accidental drowning, mentioned Sheriffs Lt.John Corina. Government bodies wouldn't say the had to have another think about the situation, despite the fact that captain in the boat where the couple had continued to be blamed Wagner for Forest dying. Natalie Forest sister, Lana Wood, told CNNs Piers Morgan inside an interview Friday they doesn't believe her sister fell in the boat. Lana Wood told Morgan they has spoken several occasions while using watercraft captain Dennis Davern which he's shared with her that Wagner was associated with her plunge to the sea on November. 29, 1981. But Lana Wood mentioned she does not believe that whatever happened was deliberate. I dont think she fell, I've no clue if she was pressed, I've no clue whether there's an issue plus it happened accidentally but she shouldnt have remaining which does stay with me and hurt, Lana Wood mentioned. I'd rather always believe that RJ (Wagner) wouldn't do just about anything to harm Natalie that they loved her greatly, they did, which i dont believe that whatever ongoing was deliberate. Ive always considered him. It's my job to will be worried about him, she mentioned. Lana Wood written in the biography on her behalf account sister after her dying, What went lower is always that Natalie drank a lot of your evening. There'll always be queries about Forest dying on November. 29, 1981, with restored attention round the situation since the anniversary neared. The events re-opening together with a public demand information would be the initial hint the state account may need revision. Within several hours in the announcement, Corina mentioned, several people emerged offering their reminiscences from the products happened inside the waters off Southern Californias Santa Catalina Island. But he quickly noted that nothing the organization has reached date has motivated it to change the scene that there's no foul play. Davern, mentioned Friday on NBCs Today demonstrate that he lied to scientists about occasions on theyacht Beauty when he was asked after Forest dying. Davern accused Wagner of having a fight with Wood before she went missing and stalling the mission on her after she disappeared. Wagners family released a disagreement using a representative nonetheless they reliable detectives to evaluate any new information and find out whether it came from from the trustworthy source or sources aside from people simply trying to earn money in the 30-year anniversary of her tragic dying. This did not mention Davern by title, and noted that detectives hadnt contacted Wagner or his family. Around the program, Davern stated the sunday paper he co-written a year ago on Forest dying, but rejected to convey exactly why he blamed Wagner for your three-time Oscar nominees dying. Davern also declined he was attempting to make money from fascination with the problem. Vanity Fair as well as the television program 48 Several hours Mystery have joined and so are including Forest situation for just about any television special airing a couple of days ago. Corina mentioned his agency would consult with Davern eventually together with other witnesses would most likely be asked. He downplayed the role Daverns book or perhaps the anniversary would go through the analysis. Were not concerned about the anniversary date, Corina mentioned. It could have jarred another peoples recollections. Wood, who was simply 43 when she died, received three Academy Award nominations, for Digital digital rebel Without any Cause, 'Splendor inside the Grass and Love while using Proper Stranger. She came out in a number of other Hollywood classics, including West Side Story. Wood and Wagner were married two occasions, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972. Her dying through the Thanksgiving weekend three decades ago has extended sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved. Wood, Wagner and actor Christopher Walken and Davern remained on Thanksgiving weekend1981 both on Catalina Island and consuming round the yacht. Wagner has overlooked any suggestion the actress dying was anything beyond any kind of accident. In the 2008 autobiography, he recounted consuming with Wood and Walken inside a restaurant and incorporated. Wood visited the particular cabin within a disagreement involving the two males, Wagner mentioned. The ultimate time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair inside a bathroom vanity and he or she shut the entrance, he written. Despite various ideas in what introduced Wood for the water, which she feared, he mentioned, it absolutely was impossible to understand what happened. Nobody knows, he written. You will discover only two options either she was attempting to escape the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. However the finish outcome is that nobody knows just what happened. Coroners government bodies mentioned in those days they was possibly attempting to board the dinghy combined with fallen to the water, striking her face. Wood is discovered wearing a flannel nightgown, socks together with a red-colored-colored lower jacket, and Davern recognized her body for government physiques, according to an autopsy report. Her body had superficial bruises, in line with the report, but people were considered consistent with drowning. Assistant Chief Coroner Erection dysfunction Winter mentioned the organization hadnt been asked for to accomplish any other analysis into Forest situation. Wagner, star in the television series Hart to Hart, written within the book he blamed themselves for his wifes dying. Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I really could did something, he written. However wasnt there. I didn't see her. Copyright 2011 with the Connected Press. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

George Clooney: Ryan Gosling 'Wanted' Sexiest Man Alive

You weren't the only person disappointed that Bradley Cooper took home People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive title for 2011 over Ryan Gosling; apparently Gosling was too! At least if you believe noted prankster George Clooney, who told Extra that The Gos "want[ed]" the honor. "He [Gosling] really wants it," Clooney joked to Extra at Los Angeles premiere of 'The Descendants' on Tuesday night. "He's been saying ... the whole time we were on the set of 'Ides of March,' he was like, 'How did you pull that off?' So I called up Brad Pitt and we worked with him for weeks on the walk, we told him how to train ... everything." Apparently, it wasn't enough, as Cooper was chosen instead. Gosling devotees took to the streets outside the People Magazine offices in NY on Thursday to protest the selection of Cooper, perhaps an ill-advised decision considering the actual protests going on around Manhattan. [via ExtraTV] [Photo: Getty] Ryan Gosling 2011 Photos See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Big Overseas Box Office For Breaking Dawn

The film is off to a great start internationally as it rolls out roll out in territories around the globe. Early screenings from select territories total $8.9 million USD with many more markets, data and their grosses to come over the coming days. Here is Summit Entertainment’s report: FRANCE TWSBD pt 1 opened at #1 in France, grossing 3.83MUSD for its opening day. The film dethroned the highly popular French comedy Intouchables (with 4.3M admissions after 3weeks), to the #2 spot and also ahead of hugely popular Tintin that has garnered 4.74M admissions after 4 weeks. It is the third highest opening result for this year in France, behind Harry Potter and Tintin, largely ahead of Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean or Planet of the Apes. The film is performing very well across the country in all provinces First screenings at the Le Grand Rex theater in Paris was sold out and during the screenings there, audience members could not hear all of the dialog as it was being drowned out by fans screaming their support during the films presentation. AUSTRALIA Australias midnight screenings for TWSB pt 1 were a huge success last night coming in with an amazing 1.27M USD ITALY TWSBD opened #1 in Italy with a box office of $2.3M USD. TWSBD pt 1 is the film that Italian distributors have unanimously voiced is the film they have been waiting for to put a spark back into movie-going in the country. We still anticipate further figures from 30 screens (regional locations), which we are expecting to come through later. BELGIUM TWSBD pt 1 had a tremendous opening in Belgium taking in $786,595USD. TWSBD pt 1s film sales were 63.78 % of all the Wednesday film business, which is amazing for the region. The film dethroned local favorite Tintin 3D. This is especially notable considering the fact that unlike Eclipses opening, it was not during a summer or holiday period. SWEDEN Sweden had a great opening night and a strong opening day, with a box office $757K USD.

New Shocking Nuances of 'News in the World' Hacking Operation Revealed At Leveson Inquiry

LONDON - Twenty-seven News Worldwide employees were named in private agent Glenn Mulcaire'snotes about his phone-hacking work, the Leveson inquiry revealed Monday.our editor recommends'James Murdoch Arrested' Tweet Taken Lower by Sky NewsJames Murdoch Confesses News Corp. Put British MPs Under Covert SurveillancePrinces William, Harry, Daniel Radcliffe Family Emerge as News Corp. Surveillance VictimsRelated Subjects•Rupert Murdoch The massive of criminal activity at News Corporation's London newspaper operation was revealed the first time since the Judicial inquiry, introduced through the almighty Justice Leveson, began its evidence periods. Put into the wake in the News around the world closure, it has been due to the job of considering the issues around phone-hacking, newspaper invasion and relations involving the press and police. The inquiry opened up up for a very hard line round the wider culture in news reports Corporation division run by James Murdochsince 2007. Inquiry counsel Robert JayQ.C mentioned there's apparent evidence of what found "at least a thriving cottage industry" of illegal activity had happened in news reports around the world, including multiple private detectives and many former staff. He states private agent Glenn Mulcaire have been given 2246 separate analysis "tasks" by reporters round the paper, and mentioned law enforcement analysis into illegal hacking found evidence having a minimum of 690 sound files inside the first police raid in 2006. Considering police inquiry Operation Weeting now thinks that almost 6000 people may have been the people with illegal phone intercepts. Concerning the questionable payment to phone-hacking victim Gordon Taylorthat was personally approved by James Murdoch, Jay was particularly harsh. Murdoch has declined seeing an inside News Worldwide legal opinion developed in 2008 by Michael SilverleafQC, which found " a culture" of illegal activity in news reports around the world and advised the business it did not have choice but to ready the Gordon Taylor situation. Jay told the Leveson inquiry this handling in the a lawyer pointed to "a culture of denial and canopy-up" at News Worldwide. Speaking within the Parliamentary Culture Committee the other day, Murdoch mentioned he'd only received "sufficient information" in regards to the situation to simply accept settle but had not looked for or received anything through the organization's lawyer Tom Cronesuggesting the issue of criminal hacking went further. "Either the products within the report were passed up - through which situation we could make an inference ...or perhaps the decision was come to not steer clear of the data. Because situation we could draw another inference. In both situation we could draw implications in regards to the culture." Jay told the Leveson inquiry the handling in the a lawyer pointed to "a culture of denial and canopy-up" at News Worldwide. Speaking more generally in what seems being the most popular knowledge of phone interceptions within the newspaper - with 27 News Worldwide staff recognized in Glenn Mulcaire's notes - Inquiry counsel developed a bigger point. "Either senior management understood and condoned individuals activities ...or they did not know and there's failing of supervision and oversight," Jay mentioned. "In both situation we've evidence of a systemic and cultural problem." Over the following day or two The judicial inquiry, getting a short to analyze phone-hacking, will summon witnesses - prone to include James Murdoch and former News Worldwide leader Rebekah Brooks, who was simply arrested and charged taken. Sienna Burns, JK Rowlingand Hugh Grantmay also give evidence of their reference to phone-hacking later this year. Related Subjects Worldwide News Corp. News Worldwide James Murdoch Phone Hacking Scandal

May Be The Kids Still Headed for your Web?

Cameron Mathison The Kids leaves the tv airwaves, but they're the people of Pine Valley headed for just about any more permanent (and unforeseen) ending? Expects to carry on the ABC cleaning cleaning soap online in 2012 are actually positioned on hold, ABC Soaps Thorough reviews. The Kids: How managed to get happen all finish? Prospect Park, the business behind the web productions of both The Kids then one Existence to reside in, has made a decision it only needs one cleaning cleaning soap to create its new internal funnel - The Web Network. Because One Existence to reside in remains more efficient in re-signing current cast people - 13 up to now - Prospect Park has benched The Kids. The Kids has only signed Cameron Mathison and Lindsay Hartley to reprise their roles online. The business reaches discussions that has a lot more stars to return, but people talks will also be situated on hold. When Mathison spoken with TVGuide.com in the finish of October, he mentioned his longtime co-star Rebecca Budig "can be obtained to ... options" in addition to appeared positive a great appearance by series mainstay Susan Lucci. The Kids involves an finish: Creator Agnes Nixon as well as the cast think back One Existence to reside in will wrap its ABC run within the month of the month of january. A repetition for Prospect Park could not immediately be showed up at for comment. You think Prospect Park should stick with AMC?

'Anderson' coming back for second season

Cooper Fox Television Stations have renewed talkshow "Anderson" in Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston while also acquiring the Anderson Cooper daytime skein for its stations in NY, Minneapolis and Tampa."Anderson" has also been renewed in several markets by LIN (Indianapolis, Hartford, Norfolk, Austin, Buffalo, Providence, Dayton, Toledo and Terre Haute), Midwest (San Diego), Meredith (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Flint), Gannett (Jacksonville), Lilly (Erie) and Sun Broadcasting (Fort Myers)."This is a terrific testament to these strong stations who, like us, see 'Anderson' as the next early-fringe syndication franchise," Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution prexy Ken Werner said."Since its launch, the series has continued to grow and find its voice in a very competitive and fragmented landscape. We have great faith in 'Anderson' and with strong station partners, we believe we are well on the way to creating a valuable news lead-in."With the renewal, "Anderson" has proven its ability to fill at least part of the void left by the departure of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."StrongChild Prods. produces "Anderson" in association with Telepictures Prods."The show is off to a good start and has the opportunity to grow organically into something unique," said Telepictures prexy Hilary Estey McLoughlin.Fox is acquiring "Anderson" in NY from Tribune, according to Broadcasting and Cable, which first reported the renewal."I am enjoying the daytime show tremendously and am looking forward to what lies ahead," Cooper said. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Lindsay Lohan Assessments In which is Released From Jail within 5 Several hours

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan spent under five several hours in jail just before being released, TMZ reviews. On Sunday evening, the 25-year-old actress examined an eternity Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif., at 8:48 p.m. and was out by 1:30 a.m. because of overcrowding - a routine, government mandated move for nonviolent causes at packed prisons. Sources tell TMZ that Lohan referred to as jail "cold" and "frightening" - one of the worst places she'd are you currently in their existence. Lindsay Lohan headed to jail - but also for how extended? The other day, Lohan was sentenced to four weeks in jail for breaking her probation stemming in the Driving under the influence. Besides the incarceration, Judge Stephanie Saunter bought they serve 12 occasions of community service and attend four psychological therapy periods before returning towards the court on 12 ,. 14. Following a court date she must attend four more periods and serve another 12 occasions of community service before Jan. 17. If she doesn't complete the mandated several hours, she faces a 270-day jail sentence. Since her 2007 Driving under the influence, Lohan remains sentenced to jail five occasions.

AFTRA Sets Network Code Talks For Nov. 7

AFTRA said today that it will begin negotiations on a successor agreement to its National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting on November 7 at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks. Talks with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox over a new deal are scheduled through December 18. The current pact is set to expire November 15, but the deadline will be extended on a day-to-day basis for the duration of negotiations. The contract, which the union says generates more than $250 million annually for its members, covers dramas in first-run syndication, morning news shows, talk shows, serials (soap operas), variety, reality, contest, sports and promotional announcements. The labor talks come as AFTRA authorized a strike vote after its talks with music labels for a new sound recordings contract broke down last month.

New Regency boarding 'The Revenant'

New Regency is in talks to come on board Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's American West drama "The Revenant." Company would produce along with Anonymous Content's Steve Golin, David Kanter and Keith Redmon. Anonymous set up the project, which Warner Bros. has optioned to distribute. "Vacancy" scribe Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay. The project is based on the novel "The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge" by Michael Punke and published in 2003. Novel is set in 1823 and centers on a fur trapper who's mauled by a grizzly bear and robbed by the two men enlisted to stay with him. Fueled by anger, the trapper survives and makes his way through hundreds of miles of uncharted wilderness to exact retribution. Pic is among the first projects New Regency has signed on to since a shakeup in its exec ranks. In September, news broke that co-chairs Hutch Parker and Bob Harper would exit by year's-end, while founder Arnon Milchan brought former Paramount exec Brad Weston in as CEO. Earlier this month, company came aboard to co-produce the Allen Hughes-helmed drama "Broken City," with Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe attached to star. 20th Century Fox-based Regency also closed a $500 million credit facility last month. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

John Lasseter Discloses About Secret Winery for brand new

Everyone knows thatJohn Lasseter, who's set to obtain a star November. 1 round the Hollywood Walk of Fame, built the animation giant Pixar. He and also the wife, Nancy, created the Lasseter Family Winery inside the Sonoma Valley remains something from the secret -- to date. Only a few years back, the happy couple's wines were distributed at charitable organization occasions and offered in a tiny amount utilizing a customer list. Within This summer time, the happy couple went professional, having a publicist, getting representation from entrepreneurs covering eight states and speaking regarding side business the first time. But carrying out a good 11 years of operation, you now request ,: Why lift the embargo now? "It's just like John's films he won't speak a factor until he finds all the regions of his story," describes Nancy. "John jokes the winery is my movie. Now we could talk. Our vino is prepared -- everyone knows the story.Inchour editor recommends'Cars 2' Director John Lasseter Defends Film, States Follow-up Wasn't About MerchandisingJohn Lasseter Honored at 2011 Shorts AwardsDialogue: John Lasseter'Cars 2': How Pixar Used Its Ace Within The Hole on CGI Follow-up Aaron Sorkin States Jobs Asked for Him to produce a Pixar MovieSteve Jobs' Dying: Pixar Pays Tribute With Webpage Takeover'Cars 2' Toys, Disney Princesses Help Drive Mattel's Third-Quarter Results PHOTOS: Toy Wars: Fight in the Blockbuster Selling Producer-director wine-making is not a brand new phenomenon, especially among Lasseter's pals. Francis Ford Coppola is regarded as the visible he produces of a million cases yearly, and also the high-finish estate winery, Inglenook, can get upward of 45,000 site site visitors yearly. George Lucas is regarded as the veiled, along with his Skywalker pinot shrouded in mystique. He seeks no publicity, allows no site site visitors and makes only 600 cases yearly. The Lasseters straddle the street. They've recently ramped up production with a boutique-scale 6,500 cases yearly and possess quietly built fans, getting offered within the White-colored House Correspondents' Association Dinner and also on such La lists as Michael Mina's XIV, Drago Centro as well as the box seats within the Hollywood Bowl. However vineyards only might be visited by people inside the wine conduct business with visits. Around the property in Glen Ellen, having its 27 acres of vines, Nancy's imaginative design flair (she examined graphics at Carnegie Mellon) is proven in their wild idea to alter a stainless-steel fermentation tank in to a luxe outhouse too as with the chandelier in the heart of the economical vat room. John, 54, was one hundred percent responsible for the vintage steam train, the Marie-E, puffing using the syrah vineyard -- it once belonged to his mentor, Ollie Johnston, among Disney's original artists known to as Nine Old Males. More youthful crowd continues the web site the 1964 Ford Falcon that inspired Cars. "I'm a sizable kid," states John, who drives his Mercedes-Benz E55 approximately one hour each approach to be employed in Emeryville each day. "I learned I never required to develop. I have one of the finest toy collections -- Pixar -- and Nancy is very tolerant of my toys in your house.In . STORY: Disney Announces Two New Pixar Projects Selling vino is one challenge for your couple, privacy is an additional. "We must stop people from throwing scripts inside the fence," states Nancy, 51. "My staff sees that something that's obtainable in addressed to John can get returned." One of the changes the Lasseters would like to brag about may be the new labels. "Every one of these notifies an account in regards to the wine," states Nancy. "Round the syrah might be the Marie-E." She highlights the floral label for just about any blend based on a typical grape, malbec. "I'm the wild Irish rose," Nancy states. "As well as the bee -- well, that's John's first animation, Wally B." On her behalf, it creates the moment they met at the begining of eighties inside a Siggraph computer graphics conference while John was utilized by Lucasfilm. She grew to become an associate of Apple a few years later, and so they increased being close to Jobs ("I had been like brothers and sisters," John states.) In 1992, when the family (which might grow to include five boys) found live in Sonoma, Nancy's housekeeper needed her where you can her own hill full of zinfandel vines. Nancy came back a sticky mess and gushed to her husband: "John, you have to include me. It's fabulous!" They switched amateur vintners, employing their good pals Marcy and Tom Smothers' nearby winery. ten years later, Nancy suggested related to feelings . obtain hobby to destroy even, and so they bought the old Grand Cru vineyard, the web site from the well-known 1989 mass murder. Asked for whether they ever doubted their decision, Nancy states, "Sure, i had been concerned, however were built with a energy healbot can be found in and search the region out." STORY: Jobs Appreciated By Disney, Pixar Professionals They provided sure diversely too. Viewing themselves as stewards, the Lasseters hired famous organic viticulturalist Phil Coturri to change the land. "After Grand Cru, the land had opted for the Chalone Group," states Coturri in the huge multi-vineyard operation. "I like the family with values like the Lasseters bought back a business winery. They are interested in quality and tradition, not just the conclusion.In . They've created your wine with veteran Sonoma-based oenologist Julia Iantosca, which further reflects the Lasseters' sensibility -- she's recognized for making classics, not cult-chasers. "The Lasseters desire to make blends," states Iantosca. "That is brave because the the typical understanding is always to make single varietals." It is also the old strategies by California -- where balance familiar with matter greater than costly -- which resonates while using couple. For the extent they can, John is very associated with mixing options, design and dealing the harvest. "A Few Things I mostly love relevant for this existence might be the total amount it brings," according to him. "I like being this close to agriculture -- it's very grounding. Individuals are very. I like the Sonoma wine community. It's like Pixar -- nothing competitive, only encouraging. They're always rooting to suit your needs.In . WALK OF FAME When: Tuesday, November. 1 Where: 6834 Hollywood Blvd., as you're watching El Capitan Theatre GuestSpeaker:Bonnie Search Related Subjects John Lasseter Pixar 1 2 next last

'Puss in Boots' should pounce on B.O.

"Puss in Boots" opens day and date inside the U.S. and Russia. Your family market, underserved formerly 5 days, could bring large Halloween-weekend B.O. for Vital-DreamWorks Animation's 3d toon "Puss in Boots." Exactly how large the take is will depend on when the film can extend its pawprint to auds beyond parents and tykes. Componen requires a bow for "Puss" round the mid-$30 millions, though other B.O. bloggers the film could achieve somewhere north of $40 million. Also bowing wide, last century Fox's high-concept actioner "Over TimeInch opens at 3,122 locations, while R-rated The Actor-kaira Pitt starrer "The Rum Diary" launches today at 2,272 Stateside engagements via FilmDistrict. Pre-weekend monitoring signifies "With Time,Inch known as for just about any $12 million-$15 million opening, posseses an edge over "Diary," which likely will settle at between $8 million and $11 million through Sunday. The brand new the new sony will dsicover how effective its scaly-back release plans for Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous," which launches at 265 locations, use be. The studio made a decision early the other day to bow the film in limited release instead of taking a large rollout. Overseas B.O. will looks being centered by "The Adventures of Tintin: The Important Thing in the Unicorn," following Vital and Sony's early launch in the film abroad (see separate story). Componen is beginning "Puss" day-and-date while using U.S. in Russia, where 3d figures, specifically the "Shrek" franchise, have shipped large box office. The "Shrek" spinoff, allotted at $130 million, should have considerable Stateside success. The film is poised to exceed previous Halloween weekend record holder "Saw III," which bowed in 2006 with $33.6 000 0000 in your area. Though Halloween usually isn't a really large weekend within the box office, the holiday falls around the Monday this year, clearing trick-or-treaters to visit plexes, though pre-Halloweeen activities will still occupy families. A five-week drought of fresh family fare also bodes well for "Puss." The ultimate family film to bow inside the U.S., "Dolphin Tale," opened up as much as $19.2 million, the identical weekend as Disney's 3d retrofit of "The Lion King," which won within the second outing with $21.9 million. That pic far exceeded industry anticipation throughout its debut frame, scoring north of $Thirty Dollars million and gathering almost $93 million so far. Both "Lion King" and "Dolphin Tale," getting a cume of $60 5 million, accomplished good success from inadequacies in family product available on the market, as did DreamWorks' "Real Steel," which has attracted in nearly $70 million since its March. 7 bow. It's unclear simply how much 3d tests will boost overall totals for "Puss," beginning at 2,827 3d locations, or 72% of the total 3,952 engagements. "Lion King" acquired 91% of the opening from 3d, though that pic was marketed just like a 3d event. "Puss" likely will uncover an identical or slightly better opening 3d share as "Dolphin Tale's" 50%. Mostly positive early reviews might help the DWA toon broaden to adult auds. Fox's "With Time,Inch allotted around $40 million, has most effective interest among older males over 25, that has a lot more support from both males and girls under 25. From author-director Andrew Niccol, "With Time,Inch starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, notifies the story from the near-advanced society where its individuals don't age past 25. Pic will have to compete for teenage auds with Par's soph-sesh holdover "Paranormal Activity 3," which bowed above anticipation at $52 million. "Rum Diary," which FilmDistrict acquired rights to last spring, set you back a reported $45 million, produced by GK Films. Based on Hunter S. Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel, "Diary" should attract fans of Depp additionally to site visitors in the late renegade journalist. FilmDistrict pre-examined "Diary" strongly attending school metropolitan areas, including Austin, Texas, and Berkeley, Calif. In limited release, Componen is beginning Sundance's grand jury champion "ConstantlyInch with the studio's Componen Vantage label. Pic opens today at four locations in NY and L.A., getting a soph-sesh expansion into the top U.S. areas. Fox Searchlight, meanwhile, develops "Martha Marcy May Marlene" to 32 locations carrying out a effective launch last weekend. Wall Street-designed thriller "Margin Call," from Kerbside Sights, is broadening to 140 playdates, greater than double pic's opening count. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

Stockard Channing Reflects on Her Unintended Life as an Actor

Stockard Channing Reflects on Her Unintended Life as an Actor By Simi Horwitz October 26, 2011 Photo by Sebastien Piras Stockard Channing An acting career was not part of Stockard Channing's well-heeled Upper East Side world. She attended posh boarding schools and majored in history and literature at Radcliffe College with her sights set on being an educated wife and mother.She performed a bit in high school and college but largely accepted her family's notion that acting was, well, not exactly respectable as a profession and surely an insecure way to live. But when Channing found herself starring as Jenny in a Harvard University production of "The Threepenny Opera," the experience was revelatory. "It was opening a Pandora's box," she says, recalling her joy in discovering a creative purpose, audience reciprocity, and the heady sense of empowerment. "I found I could do things I didn't know I could do. It all came together."Since that time, and more than a bit of struggle in between, she has received a Tony Award and five nominations, three Emmy Awards and 11 more nominations, an Oscar nomination, and three Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Perhaps best known as the highly accomplished thoracic surgeoncumfirst lady Abbey Bartlet on "The West Wing," she has also tackled the imperious socialite Ouisa Kittredge in "Six Degrees of Separation" (film and play); the multilayered, anguished Judy Shepard in the TV movie "The Matthew Shepard Story" and the sophisticated, world-weary Vera Simpson in "Pal Joey" in the 200809 Broadway revival. Currently she stars on Broadway in Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities," playing the brittle and hard-edged Palm Springs matriarch Polly, heading a family whose tenuous ties begin to disintegrate when grown daughter Brooke (Rachel Griffiths) announces her intention to publish an "honest" memoir. Compassion versus truth-telling, family loyalty, and the corrosive nature of secrets are motifs. The cast includes Stacy Keach as the staunchly conservative patriarch, Thomas Sadoski as the man-child son, and Judith Light as Polly's insightful and formerly inebriated sister. A Lincoln Center Theater production, the play opened last year Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater to rave reviews and is now playing at the Booth Theatre. Good-humored, straightforward, and refreshingly devoid of pretension, Channing says frankly that she wasn't sure she could pull Polly off, mostly because the tastefully coiffed lady in question is so unappealing. "You don't want to play a character you can't inhabit or commit to fully," Channing says. "I had to find my way into this person without commenting on her, while still allowing her to be who she is. Initially, I didn't see her depth or the depth of this family's journey. At the end they are naked emotionally. There are no heroes and no villains and no one to blame. There is so much that's unspoken. Polly is tough, and she is a mother in every sense of the word. She is a lioness and protects her family."Channing's acting method is largely "rptition," she asserts in a well-executed French accent. Inspiration comes from a costume or hairstyle or a suggestion made by the director. Capturing Polly's hint of a Texan drawl was an early hook into the woman's psyche, she says. Working from the outside in and the inside out, she maintains, the key is to make sure nothing is forced. Channing also welcomes the special chemistry among the actors that adds yet another layer of interpretation. "It's a collaborative process when you have the luxury of working with great people," she notes. "We are a quintet. I didn't realize the level of love and connection in that family until the actors came in. It's belied by the dialogue, but there is a massive amount of love in that room. It will be interesting to have two new actors come in." (Off-Broadway, the recovering-alcoholic aunt and wayward daughter were played by Linda Lavin and Elizabeth Marvel, respectively. At the time of this interview, rehearsals for Broadway had not begun.)The admiration is mutual. "I've known Stockard for many years," says her co-star Keach. "I fell in love with her when she did '[A Day in the Death of] Joe Egg,' and 'Grease.' What she brings to every role is originality, unpredictability, charm, and great humor. She's like champagne and strawberries. Jon Robin Baitz gives Polly a wonderful acerbic wit that Stockard delivers. She's also a deeply emotional actress. She calls on her own feelings to express grief, anger, and the more serious aspects of Polly's character. The balance between humor and pathosno one can do it better than Stockard." Playwright Baitz adds, "With Stockard you get the very valuable willingness to start rehearsal at a pretty high level of commitment. She takes a run at a character, and it's the run of a NY actor who has been around the block and can make fast decisions. Then there is her innate intelligence and levelheadedness. These qualities make her so right for my play. I heard her when I was writing. I used her template and sort of 'rented' her in my head, the workshop in my head. When I teach playwriting, I spend a lot of time talking about the emotional intelligence of the characters, and Stockard has this high quotient of emotional EQ. It does not hurt that she has something old-fashioned about her, not coolly detached, but instead passionate and knowing, curious and dignified. Not to mention she recognizes the physics of being funny, the way a frog can spot a fly."Stockard Channing in "Other Desert Cities" (Photo by Joan Marcus) A Bohemian World, No Red Carpets Looking back, Channing says she came of age in a universe that's galaxies away from the actor's world today. It was the late 1960s, and the possibility of working in community and regional theaters was part of the cultural landscape. Local Boston theaters gave her the place to hone her acting skills in a range of styles. At the same time, she had the opportunity to perform Dylan Thomas in theater programs in the public schools. "The situation that allowed me to discover I loved acting doesn't exist now," she says. Economics were different, and so was the actor's sensibility. Bohemianism was in the air and appealing to young artists, she says. Being a celebrity and walking the red carpet were not her ambitions nor those of her contemporaries. Channing was also married at the time and living the life of a Harvard business wife in addition to being an actor. "Unfortunately the marriage ended, and that's when I moved to New York and threw myself into the breach," she says. One of her early lessons was the value of "focus and discipline," she recalls. "When I was younger I thought I was an artist and inspiration would just come to me." Channing continues to be free-spirited. Although she studied some of the more technical aspects of singing with "Pal Joey" music director Paul Gemignani when she starred in the Rodgers and Hart musical, she felt "it would all work if I just went out and did it," she acknowledges with a chuckle. "I'm a bit of a 'wing it.' " Perhaps not surprisingly, Channing never trained formally as an actor. Early in her NY career, she audited a few acting classes but found them "terrifying, with bullying teachers."Her first few years as an actor were "catch as catch can," she recalls. Acting jobs were in short supply, and others did not reach fruition. One production in which she had a role never got the necessary funding; from another, she was fired. Indeed, Channing was close to throwing in the towel when she reluctantly accepted a gig in the chorus of Joe Papp's "Two Gentlemen of Verona." "I felt like an overage idiot," she says. "I was 27 or 28 at the time. Everyone else in the chorus was fresh out of high school." Taking that stint turned out to be a major door opener, thus proving her contention, "You never know what will lead to what." She marvels at the element of serendipity, even in retrospect. Channing moved up the food chain, understudying the female lead and finally playing the role on the national tour, which brought her to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Industry insiders saw Channing, and word spread. The starring role in Joan Rivers' TV movie "The Girl Most Likely To" followed, and in short order she was co-starring opposite Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in Mike Nichols' "The Fortune." But, for some, Channing is still strongly identified as the tough-talking Rizzo in the 1978 blockbuster "Grease," starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and she continues to feel ambivalent about her part in the film and the reactions it generated. "Unfortunately the movie was despised by the artistic community in part because it made all that money," she says. "John and Olivia had opportunities, but for the rest of us, it was a step backwards. It became an uphill battle, and it was hard to even meet people professionally. I had done Rizzo too well, perhaps."If Channing had her druthers, she'd maintain a balance between film and stage roles, but it's not simply a matter of choice. "They're not writing that many parts for women my age," Channing comments about the film industry, without any rancor. "We don't want stories about people who have lived. We want stories about young people starting out, or maybe people getting second chances. But not third chances. It's not ageism. It's the way of the world. There was 'The Golden Girls,' but you can't hang your hat on what's not likely." Wretched Auditions and the Luck of the Draw Channing no longer auditions, and as she tells it, it's not a moment too soon. She was never especially good at it, she says, recalling auditioning eight times during an eight-week period for "Pippin" and then not booking it. "All auditions are awful, but this one was the worst. By the end when it was between myself and another girl, I was a beaten-up, twisted thing, while the other girl was fresh as a daisy." Preparation and being on top of the material helps, but it's so often the luck of the draw, she says. "Auditioning is a flawed process. I've sat in on casting sessions and been completely disgusted by them," she says. "At one audition a young actor sent in a tape of himself, and I thought, 'Jesus Christ, is that great or what?' It was passed over. I'm not going to say who he was, but today he is one of the most famous young actors around. Casting can be heartbreaking. Dealing with the disappointment is the hardest part."There is often no way of knowing why you didn't book a part, she continues. Sometimes you agonize over an audition for years, completely misinterpreting and misconstruing what happened. Many decades after one such audition, Channing ran into a director who had rejected her. She was introduced to him at a party, assuming he had long since forgotten her. "He leaned over and whispered, 'We made a mistake,' " she remembers. "He didn't have to do it. He had no idea I had been obsessing." She pauses to emphasize, "We never know the reason for anything. You just put a good face on it and keep going."At the moment, she has no roles she's dying to play. "As Frank Langella once said to me, 'It's always where and with whom?' " Channing also refuses to speculate on what she'd do differently if she could redo her career. "Those are evil thoughts," she insists. "I can't think that way."Channing, however, offers struggling actors a bit of advice: "Acting is such a bizarre way of life. Unless you're really passionate about it, you should give it up. Don't beat yourself up. Put one foot in front of the other. If you keep hitting the wall, the worst thing is stay in it too long. There's a whole world out there.""Other Desert Cities" is slated to run at the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., N.Y., through Jan. 8, 2012. (212) 239-6200. www.lct.org. Outtakes - Appeared on Broadway in such plays as "The House of Blue Leaves," "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun," "The Little Foxes," and "The Lion in Winter"- Starred in her own sitcoms"Stockard Channing in Just Friends" and "The Stockard Channing Show"- Has two films in the hopperthe TV movie "17th Precinct" and "A Fonder Heart" Stockard Channing Reflects on Her Unintended Life as an Actor By Simi Horwitz October 26, 2011 Stockard Channing PHOTO CREDIT Sebastien Piras An acting career was not part of Stockard Channing's well-heeled Upper East Side world. She attended posh boarding schools and majored in history and literature at Radcliffe College with her sights set on being an educated wife and mother.She performed a bit in high school and college but largely accepted her family's notion that acting was, well, not exactly respectable as a profession and surely an insecure way to live. But when Channing found herself starring as Jenny in a Harvard University production of "The Threepenny Opera," the experience was revelatory. "It was opening a Pandora's box," she says, recalling her joy in discovering a creative purpose, audience reciprocity, and the heady sense of empowerment. "I found I could do things I didn't know I could do. It all came together."Since that time, and more than a bit of struggle in between, she has received a Tony Award and five nominations, three Emmy Awards and 11 more nominations, an Oscar nomination, and three Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Perhaps best known as the highly accomplished thoracic surgeoncumfirst lady Abbey Bartlet on "The West Wing," she has also tackled the imperious socialite Ouisa Kittredge in "Six Degrees of Separation" (film and play); the multilayered, anguished Judy Shepard in the TV movie "The Matthew Shepard Story" and the sophisticated, world-weary Vera Simpson in "Pal Joey" in the 200809 Broadway revival. Currently she stars on Broadway in Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities," playing the brittle and hard-edged Palm Springs matriarch Polly, heading a family whose tenuous ties begin to disintegrate when grown daughter Brooke (Rachel Griffiths) announces her intention to publish an "honest" memoir. Compassion versus truth-telling, family loyalty, and the corrosive nature of secrets are motifs. The cast includes Stacy Keach as the staunchly conservative patriarch, Thomas Sadoski as the man-child son, and Judith Light as Polly's insightful and formerly inebriated sister. A Lincoln Center Theater production, the play opened last year Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater to rave reviews and is now playing at the Booth Theatre. Good-humored, straightforward, and refreshingly devoid of pretension, Channing says frankly that she wasn't sure she could pull Polly off, mostly because the tastefully coiffed lady in question is so unappealing. "You don't want to play a character you can't inhabit or commit to fully," Channing says. "I had to find my way into this person without commenting on her, while still allowing her to be who she is. Initially, I didn't see her depth or the depth of this family's journey. At the end they are naked emotionally. There are no heroes and no villains and no one to blame. There is so much that's unspoken. Polly is tough, and she is a mother in every sense of the word. She is a lioness and protects her family."Channing's acting method is largely "rptition," she asserts in a well-executed French accent. Inspiration comes from a costume or hairstyle or a suggestion made by the director. Capturing Polly's hint of a Texan drawl was an early hook into the woman's psyche, she says. Working from the outside in and the inside out, she maintains, the key is to make sure nothing is forced. Channing also welcomes the special chemistry among the actors that adds yet another layer of interpretation. "It's a collaborative process when you have the luxury of working with great people," she notes. "We are a quintet. I didn't realize the level of love and connection in that family until the actors came in. It's belied by the dialogue, but there is a massive amount of love in that room. It will be interesting to have two new actors come in." (Off-Broadway, the recovering-alcoholic aunt and wayward daughter were played by Linda Lavin and Elizabeth Marvel, respectively. At the time of this interview, rehearsals for Broadway had not begun.)The admiration is mutual. "I've known Stockard for many years," says her co-star Keach. "I fell in love with her when she did '[A Day in the Death of] Joe Egg,' and 'Grease.' What she brings to every role is originality, unpredictability, charm, and great humor. She's like champagne and strawberries. Jon Robin Baitz gives Polly a wonderful acerbic wit that Stockard delivers. She's also a deeply emotional actress. She calls on her own feelings to express grief, anger, and the more serious aspects of Polly's character. The balance between humor and pathosno one can do it better than Stockard." Playwright Baitz adds, "With Stockard you get the very valuable willingness to start rehearsal at a pretty high level of commitment. She takes a run at a character, and it's the run of a NY actor who has been around the block and can make fast decisions. Then there is her innate intelligence and levelheadedness. These qualities make her so right for my play. I heard her when I was writing. I used her template and sort of 'rented' her in my head, the workshop in my head. When I teach playwriting, I spend a lot of time talking about the emotional intelligence of the characters, and Stockard has this high quotient of emotional EQ. It does not hurt that she has something old-fashioned about her, not coolly detached, but instead passionate and knowing, curious and dignified. Not to mention she recognizes the physics of being funny, the way a frog can spot a fly."Stockard Channing in "Other Desert Cities" (Photo by Joan Marcus) A Bohemian World, No Red Carpets Looking back, Channing says she came of age in a universe that's galaxies away from the actor's world today. It was the late 1960s, and the possibility of working in community and regional theaters was part of the cultural landscape. Local Boston theaters gave her the place to hone her acting skills in a range of styles. At the same time, she had the opportunity to perform Dylan Thomas in theater programs in the public schools. "The situation that allowed me to discover I loved acting doesn't exist now," she says. Economics were different, and so was the actor's sensibility. Bohemianism was in the air and appealing to young artists, she says. Being a celebrity and walking the red carpet were not her ambitions nor those of her contemporaries. Channing was also married at the time and living the life of a Harvard business wife in addition to being an actor. "Unfortunately the marriage ended, and that's when I moved to NY and threw myself into the breach," she says. One of her early lessons was the value of "focus and discipline," she recalls. "When I was younger I thought I was an artist and inspiration would just come to me." Channing continues to be free-spirited. Although she studied some of the more technical aspects of singing with "Pal Joey" music director Paul Gemignani when she starred in the Rodgers and Hart musical, she felt "it would all work if I just went out and did it," she acknowledges with a chuckle. "I'm a bit of a 'wing it.' " Perhaps not surprisingly, Channing never trained formally as an actor. Early in her NY career, she audited a few acting classes but found them "terrifying, with bullying teachers."Her first few years as an actor were "catch as catch can," she recalls. Acting jobs were in short supply, and others did not reach fruition. One production in which she had a role never got the necessary funding; from another, she was fired. Indeed, Channing was close to throwing in the towel when she reluctantly accepted a gig in the chorus of Joe Papp's "Two Gentlemen of Verona." "I felt like an overage idiot," she says. "I was 27 or 28 at the time. Everyone else in the chorus was fresh out of high school." Taking that stint turned out to be a major door opener, thus proving her contention, "You never know what will lead to what." She marvels at the element of serendipity, even in retrospect. Channing moved up the food chain, understudying the female lead and finally playing the role on the national tour, which brought her to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Industry insiders saw Channing, and word spread. The starring role in Joan Rivers' TV movie "The Girl Most Likely To" followed, and in short order she was co-starring opposite Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in Mike Nichols' "The Fortune." But, for some, Channing is still strongly identified as the tough-talking Rizzo in the 1978 blockbuster "Grease," starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and she continues to feel ambivalent about her part in the film and the reactions it generated. "Unfortunately the movie was despised by the artistic community in part because it made all that money," she says. "John and Olivia had opportunities, but for the rest of us, it was a step backwards. It became an uphill battle, and it was hard to even meet people professionally. I had done Rizzo too well, perhaps."If Channing had her druthers, she'd maintain a balance between film and stage roles, but it's not simply a matter of choice. "They're not writing that many parts for women my age," Channing comments about the film industry, without any rancor. "We don't want stories about people who have lived. We want stories about young people starting out, or maybe people getting second chances. But not third chances. It's not ageism. It's the way of the world. There was 'The Golden Girls,' but you can't hang your hat on what's not likely." Wretched Auditions and the Luck of the Draw Channing no longer auditions, and as she tells it, it's not a moment too soon. She was never especially good at it, she says, recalling auditioning eight times during an eight-week period for "Pippin" and then not booking it. "All auditions are awful, but this one was the worst. By the end when it was between myself and another girl, I was a beaten-up, twisted thing, while the other girl was fresh as a daisy." Preparation and being on top of the material helps, but it's so often the luck of the draw, she says. "Auditioning is a flawed process. I've sat in on casting sessions and been completely disgusted by them," she says. "At one audition a young actor sent in a tape of himself, and I thought, 'Jesus Christ, is that great or what?' It was passed over. I'm not going to say who he was, but today he is one of the most famous young actors around. Casting can be heartbreaking. Dealing with the disappointment is the hardest part."There is often no way of knowing why you didn't book a part, she continues. Sometimes you agonize over an audition for years, completely misinterpreting and misconstruing what happened. Many decades after one such audition, Channing ran into a director who had rejected her. She was introduced to him at a party, assuming he had long since forgotten her. "He leaned over and whispered, 'We made a mistake,' " she remembers. "He didn't have to do it. He had no idea I had been obsessing." She pauses to emphasize, "We never know the reason for anything. You just put a good face on it and keep going."At the moment, she has no roles she's dying to play. "As Frank Langella once said to me, 'It's always where and with whom?' " Channing also refuses to speculate on what she'd do differently if she could redo her career. "Those are evil thoughts," she insists. "I can't think that way."Channing, however, offers struggling actors a bit of advice: "Acting is such a bizarre way of life. Unless you're really passionate about it, you should give it up. Don't beat yourself up. Put one foot in front of the other. If you keep hitting the wall, the worst thing is stay in it too long. There's a whole world out there.""Other Desert Cities" is slated to run at the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., N.Y., through Jan. 8, 2012. (212) 239-6200. www.lct.org. Outtakes - Appeared on Broadway in such plays as "The House of Blue Leaves," "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun," "The Little Foxes," and "The Lion in Winter"- Starred in her own sitcoms"Stockard Channing in Just Friends" and "The Stockard Channing Show"- Has two films in the hopperthe TV movie "17th Precinct" and "A Fonder Heart"