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Fox Sports Sued By Veteran African-American Executive For Discrimination
5 April 2013 8:03 PM, PDT
Read the entire lawsuit here. The plaintiff Jerry Davis alleges in a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court that the Fox Sports Corporate Group currently employs 34 executives above the VP level – and not one of them is black. “Indeed, to the best of Mr. Davis’s knowledge, no Black person has ever held any position at or above vice president in that division’s entire 19-year existence. Representation of Black individuals in leadership positions in other sports divisions at Fox is, and always has been, similarly abysmal. During the course of its existence, Fox Sports, through its various divisions and entities, has intentionally maintained a practice of directly and indirectly favoring the hiring and/or promotion of non-Black and non-minority employees at senior levels without any legitimate reason. Mr. Davis is a direct victim of this discriminatory practice.” Davis’ lawsuit describes himself as a 52-year-old African-American man, Berkeley grad, »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Iatse Charters New Film Locals In Canada
5 April 2013 8:00 PM, PDT
For many years Locals 849 and 667 served as the bargaining agent for motion picture technicians and camerapersons in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As of April 2nd, members of Locals 849 and 667 who reside in Newfoundland and Labrador have the option to transfer their memberships to the new locals: Local 709 (Mixed) and Local 671 (International Cinematographers Guild). International President Matthew D. Loeb said in a statement: “The chartering of these locals reflects the increasing talent pool of technicians in Newfoundland and Labrador.” »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Update: Hulu Starts Sale Process Again – And Peter Chernin Bids $500M For What?
5 April 2013 6:01 PM, PDT
Update 6 Pm: Deadline has learned that Hulu is back up for sale and the bidding process is quietly underway again. Sources close to Peter Chernin confirm that he has bid $500M for Hulu but is not talking about it. Presumably, The Chernin Group (now with $200M backing from Providence Equity Partners) is bidding on less of Hulu than Dish and Google were back in 2011 when the sellers wanted $2 billion for the whole enchilada. Remember that October 13th, Hulu owners abruptly called off the sale. News Corp, Providence Equity Partners, Walt Disney Company, and the Hulu senior management team issued a joint statement that it would ”work together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success”. What went wrong was one problem particularly difficult to overcome: an inability to agree on the scope of the programming they were willing to offer someone buying Hulu. This was especially true for advertising-supported VOD, »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Variety Up To Its Old “Creepy” Tricks
5 April 2013 5:46 PM, PDT
As the saying goes: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Variety was up to its old tricks this week even under new ownership. Immediately after the announcement came out that Roger Ebert had died on Thursday, Variety “was calling/emailing around Hollywood for people to take out creepy obit ads for him,” an exec at one studio which was approached tells me. That is Variety’s long-time but in-bad-taste revenue-raising practice that I hoped would have disappeared under Jay Penske (who also owns Deadline) and Third Point, a hedge fund founded by mega-investor Daniel S. Loeb. »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Friday Box Office: #1 ‘Evil Dead’ Really Strong And #2 ‘Jurassic Park 3D’ Decent
5 April 2013 12:45 PM, PDT
Estimates are coming in for a lively Friday domestic box office based on matinee trends. But, first, a complaint. The studios are sneaky. They keep starting their weekend previews earlier and earlier and then fold in those Thursday 7pm and 10pm grosses into the Friday midnight totals to pad first-day numbers. The result is that the so-called ‘midnight’ numbers have become actual ‘late show’ numbers and I will refer to them as such from now on. I also consider them worthless for predicting Friday or weekend strength or weakness. Thanks a lot, moguls, for making my box office reporting even more complicated. (Long sigh…) Sony’s Tristar/Film District/Ghost House’s Evil Dead took in $1.8M ”making it among the best late show openings of the year,” execs are gushing. “A great start for the film.” The film is playing on 3,025 screens this weekend and »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
Academy’s Nicholl Script Contest Deadlines
5 April 2013 11:13 AM, PDT
Beverly Hills, CA – Deadlines to submit entries to the 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition are Wednesday, April 10 (regular deadline) and Wednesday, May 1 (final deadline). As many as five $35,000 fellowships will be awarded in November. The Academy Nicholl Fellowships competition is open to any individual who has not earned a total of more than $25,000 from the sale or option of screenplays or teleplays. This amount for 2013 is an increase from the $5,000 limit in previous years. To enter, writers must submit a completed application online, upload one Pdf copy of their original screenplay in English and pay the appropriate entry fee before the deadline. The entry fee is $50 through 11:59 p.m. Pt on April 10, and $65 through 11:59 p.m. Pt on May 1. For online applications, rules and other details, visit www.oscars.org/nicholl. Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a new feature-length screenplay during the fellowship year. »
- NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief
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