Franchise Pictures has acquired 'Feardotcom'

Franchise Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the feature "Feardotcom" from Apollo Media and Carousel Prods., with the film set to go to theaters May 10 through Franchise's distribution deal with Warner Bros.

Directed by William Malone, "Feardotcom" stars Stephen Dorff, Natascha McElhone and Stephen Rea in a tale of the mysterious deaths of four people 48 hours after logging on to the Web site fear.com.

"I love the director, and I love the producer, Moshe Diamant," Franchise chairman and CEO Elie Samaha said. "It also will have all moviegoers jumping in their seats."

Franchise also is in business with Diamant on "Hairy Tale," which begins shooting in late April. Samaha described the film as "about chimpanzees, with a lot of martial arts." The acquisition caps what Samaha called "a really good market" at AFM for Franchise.

"We've sold out the world on 'Ecks vs. Sever'; Warner Bros. took about half a dozen territories, and we kept the U.K., New Zealand and Australia," he said. "We've also sold major packages of films to Art Port and Gaga in Japan. I'd say this has been better than any other AFM for us."

This year marks a significant change of profile for Franchise, which a year ago was locked in a legal brawl with Germany's Intertainment about alleged inflated budgets on a slate of films Franchise was producing.

"We were smeared by people saying that we would never make another film," Samaha said. "But now I ask, what has Intertainment done in the past year?"

Samaha revealed that Epsilon and Kirch Media have purchased German rights to seven titles Franchise won back from Intertainment. The films are "Driven," "Angel Eyes," "Heist," "Get Carter," "3000 Miles to Graceland," "Caveman's Valentine" and "The Pledge."

In addition to smoothing out his conflict with Intertainment, Samaha has reached an agreement to remain on the Warners lot for another five years while working on two upcoming Steven Seagal films for Columbia.

How to Lose a Matthew McConaughey in 10 Days

Matthew McConaughey is in negotiations to star opposite Kate Hudson in Paramount Pictures' "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" for helmer Danny DeVito. The project will go into production in mid-June.

The project marks a return to the romantic-comedy genre for the actor, who most recently starred onscreen opposite Jennifer Lopez in Columbia Pictures' "The Wedding Planner," a romantic comedy that grossed $60.4 million domestically and was No. 1 at the boxoffice during its first two weeks of release.

Robert Evans, Christine Peters and Lynda Obst will produce "Guy," which is about a womanizer who bets his friends that he can stay in a relationship for more than 10 days. He winds up getting more than he bargained for when the woman he chooses tries to get rid of him.

Kristen Buckley and Brian Regan wrote the script, which has its roots in Michele Alexander and Jeannie Long's illustrated guide of the same name that chronicles the "don'ts" of dating and what it takes to doom a promising relationship in only 10 days. Peters optioned the book three years ago. Burr Steers wrote the latest draft of the script. Hudson came aboard the project in May, while DeVito signed on in August (HR 8/8).

McConaughey is repped by ICM's Ed Limato and Jim Osborne and manager/producing partner Gus Gustawes of J.K. Livin' Prods. The actor next stars in the Walt Disney Co./Spyglass Entertainment's "Reign of Fire," Lions Gate Films' "Frailty" and Sony Pictures Classics' "13 Conversations About One Thing."

In addition to "Guy," sources have confirmed that McConaughey also is expected to develop and star in an action-thriller for Paramount that has yet to be determined.

The Ultimate Low Self-Esteem helmed by Frank Oz for Miramax

Frank Oz is in negotiations to direct Miramax Films' comedy "The Ultimate Low Self-Esteem Movie."

The project is about a woman who has bad luck with men -- they all end up dumping her. When she finally finds what appears to be the perfect guy, one minor problem arises: He happens to be a homicidal maniac.

Miramax picked up the project as a spec script from writers Jennifer Heath and Michele J. Wolff in September 2000 in a pre-emptive bid said to be worth $500,000 against high-six figures.

Miramax executive Michelle Raimo is overseeing the production. Oz, repped by CAA, most recently directed Paramount Pictures/Mandalay Pictures' "The Score." His credits include "Bowfinger," "In & Out" and "What About Bob?" among others.

Robert Downey Jr., The Singing Detective

Robert Downey Jr. is set to star in "The Singing Detective," a remake of the famed Dennis Potter-scripted BBC series. Shooting will begin April 23 with Keith Gordon directing. The picture, to be financed by Mel Gibson's Icon Prods., will mark the first feature Downey has starred in since the Curtis Hanson-directed "Wonder Boys" in 2000. He most recently had a recurring role on "Ally McBeal which garnered him an Emmy nomination and won him a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. Downey left the show after a substance abuse relapse, but has attended to his rehabilitation since.

Numerous movies have been offered to Downey, but he has chosen for his first film to work with Gibson, who co-starred with him in "Air America" and has remained a friend. Gibson runs Icon with production partner Bruce Davey.

"The Singing Detective" originated as a celebrated six-part BBC miniseries that starred Michael Gambon as a fiction writer hospitalized with a grotesque case of psoriasis. Most of the action takes place in his fever-plagued brain, as he reworks the fiction of his first novel, "The Singing Detective," and becomes the protagonist of his story, pursuing Nazis in the 1940s.

James Remar Has Duplex role Fear X

James Remar, best known for his role as Samantha's boyfriend on HBO's "Sex and the City," has been added to the cast of Miramax Films' "Duplex" as well the indie feature "Fear X."

At the same time, the actor has signed on for at least three more episodes of the award-winning HBO series, beginning with the first three shows of the next season. Remar will begin shooting "Duplex" this month before segueing into the other two projects next month.

"Duplex," directed by Danny DeVito, tells the story of a young couple (Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller) offered a dream apartment in Manhattan that they can occupy only when the current inhabitant, a cute old lady, leaves. Murder appears to be the only solution. Remar will play Chick, a slick hit man who fronts as a pornographer.

"Fear X" will be directed by Nicholas Wynding Refn, who co-wrote the screenplay with Hubert Selby Jr. The project is about a man (John Turturro), who is investigating the mysterious murder of his wife and comes face to face with the person who may be responsible for the crime (Remar). The film is being financed by several European subsidies, with Henrik Danstrub producing.

Remar, repped by the Gersh Agency and Lighthouse Entertainment, has appeared in such features as "What Lies Beneath," "The Phantom," "Boys on the Side" and "Renaissance Man."

Today, Everyone Is Responsible To Someone Who Else Is Responsible For A Business Plan

The Writers Guild of America on Monday continued its quest to draw attention to the effects of corporate media consolidation and vertical integration on Hollywood's creative community by hosting an American Film Market panel that delved into the issue.

Last month the WGA submitted comments to the FCC urging federal regulators to retain the cap that prohibits cable companies from owning systems that reach more than 30% of U.S. subscribers, to block the pending EchoStar/DirecTV direct-broadcast satellite merger and to set limits on the number of in-house productions each network can broadcast.

"The issue here is not size; the issue here is competition," television producer Leonard Hill said, referring to the current media landscape that is dominated in all facets by about 10 multinational conglomerates. "I believe we are in the midst of a cycle of conflicts of interest that is expanding at a near-exponential rate, and it threatens to overtake the competitive vitality that is the basis of our industry."

Other participants in the 90-minute panel, moderated by WGA president Vicki Riskin, were screenwriter Tom Schulman; writer-director John Singleton; Jerry Isenberg, chairman of the Caucus of Television Producers, Writers and Directors; and Frank Biondi Sr., managing director of Waterview Advisors.

Biondi, CEO of Universal Studios from 1996-98 and of Viacom Inc. from 1987-96, was in an unenviable position as the panel's default representative of the media conglomerates.

"I am personally not a big subscriber to the predicate that there are fewer voices," he said. "Today you have an awful lot of choices in entertainment, news and sports. And you may not like them all, and you may correctly say there are 500 channels and there is still nothing on, but it is not three channels."

Biondi noted that more motion pictures are being made today than ever before. "It is not (a problem) of a lack of desire to have good programming," he said.

Isenberg said that the rescinding in 1995 of the financial and syndication rules, which prohibited networks from acquiring a financial interest in independently produced programs and from competing in the syndication market, spelled the beginning of the end for many independent creative voices.

"The nature of the creative process has always been entrepreneurial and risk-taking," he said. "If you want to do a project that has no precedent, it is very hard to get a new breakthrough project through an organization where everyone is responsible to someone who else is responsible for a business plan. ... You have organizations now that are essentially bureaucratic in the way they are constructed, so the essential nature of the industry, both television and movies, has moved from an entrepreneurial to a bureaucratic environment."

Schulman, who won an Academy Award for "Dead Poets Society," concurred. "Ultimately, what I think global integration does it affects the quality of what gets attempted," he said.

Singleton, whose credits include "Boyz N the Hood," "Shaft" and "Baby Boy," said that executives' obsession with the bottom line has an ill effect on the freedom of filmmakers.

"It's amazing how all the executives operate out of an element of fear, even if you have a track record," he said. "It is very prohibitive to creative people."

Singleton also offered his two cents on media conglomerates potentially trying to determine a formula for creating popular content. "What I would say to a large media corporation is, 'Don't think to tell me what is cool,' " he said.

Riverhead, Has Snapped Up The Rights To Publish The Notebooks Of The Late Kurt Cobain

Riverhead, a division of Penguin Putnam has snapped up the rights to publish the notebooks of the late Kurt Cobain, the creative force behind Nirvana, for close to $4 million. The memoirs of the rock star Kurt Cobain where be auctioned for publication by his widow, Courtney Love.

Cobain was the leading light of Nirvana, the grunge band from Seattle which changed the direction of pop in the early Nineties. His suicide in 1994 at the age of 27 ensured him cult status as a musical genius who died young.

Cobain’s memory has been kept alive by Love, who has devoted the last six years to supporting her husband’s legacy. She has mounted legal actions against the surviving members of Nirvana, saying Cobain was the creative force in the band and that she and her six-year-old daughter by Cobain, Frances Bean, should be the beneficiaries of the Nirvana estate.

The cache of 23 notebooks, brought together by Love, includes graphic passages spelling out his desperation to become famous, his fondness for heroin and his regular bouts of depression which led him to shoot himself.

There are a number of romantic letters to Love and to other women, as well as his suicide note, written in red ink and addressed to Love.

Cobain’s strict management of the band and his business sense will surprise fans. The documents include a letter sacking Nirvana’s first drummer, bossy letters to band members, and a list of rules of behaviour drawn up by Cobain which he expected the band to obey.

People who have seen the diaries say they contain the minstrel of melancholia's black-and-white drawings as well as lyrics and lists of musicians who influenced him over the years. Joni Mitchell was tops early on, but indie divas the Breeders took the No. 1 slot later.

The singer's widow, Courtney Love, apparently has never read the books in their entirety and didn't have any input in the project. According to the source, she doesn't want to see the book before it's published.

Love, however, gave author Charles R. Cross limited access to the diaries, which provided him with insight for his 2001 book "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain."

Fans hope the diaries will shed light on the songwriter's dark existence and, most importantly, indicate what led him to kill himself in 1994.

Fall in sales casts cloud on Grammys

Sales of music CDs, records, cassettes and DVDs slumped by more than 10 per cent in the US last year, a disastrous performance that looks set to cast a shadow over the glitzy Grammy awards in Los Angeles tomorrow night.

The figures, which show the worst music sales slump in more than a decade, were released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group, which says the music industry is being brought to its knees by Internet piracy.

 The slump highlights the fact that record companies can no longer rely on established acts such as U2, the Irish rock band expected to win several awards tomorrow, to generate profits and revenue growth.

Hilary Rosen, president and chief executive of the RIAA, said: “A large factor contributing to the decrease in overall shipments last year is online piracy and CD-burning.” CD-burning is the process of copying a CD using a home computer.

She added: “When 23 per cent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot ignore the impact.”

Although the RIAA shut down online services such as Napster, other song-swapping websites are still in business.  The RIAA said that ownership of CD-burners had nearly tripled since 1999.

California Labor Authorities Declare "Cold Reading Workshops" Illegal

California regulators have warned more than a dozen operators of "casting director workshops" in Los Angeles that they are breaking the law by charging actors to audition. The Department of Labor's Standards Enforcement Division has warned the operators in a "demand for compliance" that they face a civil suit if they do not stop offering the so-called cold reading workshops for a fee.

"This practice, long condemned by responsible critics of the industry as oppressive and exploitative of actors, constitutes a clear violation of the provisions of Section 450 of the California Labor Code," said regional attorney Thomas Kerrigan.

The workshops include One on One Prods., Reel Pros, In the Act, David Goldyn Casting Director Workshops, ActorSite, Casting Break, The Casting Network, AIA Studios, TVI Studios, SeenWork Co., LA Actors Online, Show & Tell, Act Now and Aaron Spieser Acting Workshop.

The order came a month after Anne Stevason, the division's acting chief counsel, ruled the practice violated state law banning payment in exchange for applying for employment.

"It is my understanding that the organizations that maintain these workshops require a fee from all actor participants who attend, ranging typically from $25 to $50 per person per session," Stevason wrote in her ruling. "The actor participants attend the workshop on an appointed date, meet the particular casting director provided by the organization and perform for him or her in short scene subject to announced time limits. There is little or negligible instruction provided to the actor participants at these workshops, whose sole or primary purpose in attending is to find work in TV or films."

Stevason also said the casting directors typically receive a $100 to $150 fee for participating. Her opinion was issued in response to an August request by casting director Billy Damota, who founded and operated the donotpay.org Web site to publicize the issue of "pay-for-access."

"In no other industry do those with the power to hire or recommend prospective employees routinely pocket money from those same job applications," Damota said. "But in one of Hollywood's dirty little secrets, that's exactly what happens every day. Actors have paid out millions of dollars for these illegal opportunities."

Damota said he was "heartened" by the state's actions, adding the organization plans to continue pressing the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Casting Society of America on the issue. SAG's Rule 11 explicitly bars making inducements to prospective employers but SAG member Dea Vise contends staff has been reluctant to pursue action in this arena due to the popularity of the workshops and the press of issues such as the 2000 strike and negotiations.

Stuart Ford Will Oversee Miramax’s Busy Acquisitions Department.

Stuart Ford who is currently senior vice president of acquisitions and international operations at Miramax Films has been promoted to co-head of acquisitions alongside Agnes Mentre, executive vice president and co-head of acquisitions and co-productions. Together with Mentre, Ford will oversee Miramax’s busy acquisitions department.

Ford, who is based in New York, will report to Mentre and Harvey Weinstein, the co-chairman of Miramax, with regard to acquisition activities. Mentre continues to report directly to Weinstein.

Ford replaces co-head of acquisitions Andrew Herwitz, who is leaving Miramax at the end of the month to set up his own domestic sales operation The Film Sales Co.

Ford has been with the company for three years and joins an acquisitions department which includes LA-based senior vice president Matt Brodlie and vice president Michelle Krumm, New York-based Arianna Bocco who recently joined the company as senior vice president of acquisitions, vice president Andrew Stengel, director Sean McPhillips and director Jeff Tahler.

In the UK office of Miramax are vice presidents Elizabeth Dreyer and Maeva Gatineau along with manager of acquisitions Chiara Trento. The company’s Asian consultant is Beijing-based Dede Nickerson while Australian consultant is Sydney-based Victoria Treole.

Recent acquisitions include Tadpole and Blue Car at the Sundance Film Festival, Oscar nominees In The Bedroom, Amelie and Iris as well as Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room, Leon Ichaso’s Pinero, Lone Scherfig’s Italian For Beginners, Phillip Noyce’s The Quiet American and Gregor Jordan’s Buffalo Soldiers.