Longtime Head Of Mca Lew Wasserman Dies

Lew Wasserman, one of the last old-time movie moguls who helped build an entertainment empire while keeping company with presidents and the most glittering of Hollywood stars, died Monday. He was 89.

Wasserman died at home from complications of a stroke, said Sue Fleishman, spokeswoman for Universal Pictures.

As chairman and chief executive, Wasserman was the undisputed ruler of MCA Inc., the parent of Universal Studios. He owned 6.9 percent of the company's stock and, through a variety of trusts, controlled more than 15 percent.

When MCA was sold in 1990 to Japanese electronics giant Matsushita for $6.6 billion, Wasserman's take was put at $350 million, and he was retained as a manager. When Seagram Co. took over the company five years later, Wasserman retired from management with the honorary title of chairman emeritus. But he remained on the company's board of directors until 1998.

During his more than half-century with MCA, he and its late founder, Jules Stein, built it into an entertainment giant involved in movies, television programming, home video, records, consumer products and broadcast station ownership, as well as running its successful back-lot tour of Universal Studios.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan said Wasserman had been a close adviser to her husband, former President Ronald Reagan, for more than 60 years.

``Lew was Ronnie's first agent in Hollywood and they became fast friends,'' she said in a statement Monday. ``He gave Ronnie some of the best advice in the business. It seems no matter where we've been - Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles - Lew Wasserman was always there for us.''

Wasserman, whose thick black-frame glasses dominated his tall, thin frame, marked his 50-year anniversary with MCA in December 1986 in a celebration at its Universal City studios.

During the 1980s, Universal's film and television studios produced some of the public's favorite hits, including ``Back to the Future,'' the mega-hit of 1985 starring Michael J. Fox, and the ``Miami Vice'' television show.

Though he was considered one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, the public knew little of Wasserman aside from his philanthropic and business dealings that often found him on society and business pages.

The one-time publicity director for MCA preferred to work behind the scenes - he once claimed ``I'm just a paper-pusher'' - and shied away from personal publicity. He rarely granted interviews.

But the depth of his influence was apparent at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Wasserman and his wife, Edie, in 1986.

Among the 700 friends attending the bash at Universal Studios were Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Charlton Heston, Carol Burnett, Audrey Hepburn, Lady Bird Johnson and her two daughters, a number of former U.S. ambassadors and the state's two senators.

During one of his rare interviews, Wasserman was asked about his reputation as a tough, ruthless bargainer.

``If negotiating in an attempt to arrive at a favorable deal comes under the heading of being hard, I would stipulate that I'm hard,'' he replied.

``Actually, I don't think the word `ruthless' fits our time,'' he added. ``It is outmoded. It's a carryover from robber baron days.''

Active in many charities, he was presented in 1974 with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He also was a major donor to the Democratic Party and was listed in 1996 as one of 75 big donors to had spent a night in the Clinton White House, which a watchdog group likened to a ``fat cat hotel.''

Wasserman was born in Cleveland on March 15, 1913, and went to work at age 12 hawking candy in a burlesque house. During high school he was an usher in a movie theater, then managed a theater-nightclub, when he was introduced to Edith Beckerman, a clothing store clerk.

They were married in 1936, and three months later Wasserman landed a job as national advertising manager of Music Corporation of America, a talent-booking agency founded by Stein.

In 1946, Wasserman was named president of the company. Together, he and Stein built MCA into an entertainment empire, entering the growing field of television and forming MCA's own production company.

After MCA bought Universal Studios, federal regulators forced MCA in 1962 to abandon the agency business, uncomfortable that the same company was representing performers as their agent while at the same time its production company was hiring them.

While he kept busy by his duties at MCA's ``black tower'' corporate office complex in Universal City, Wasserman found time to keep company with presidents, serve on the board of other companies and numerous organizations, including American Airlines and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

He also maintained a decades-long friendship with Ronald Reagan.

It was that friendship that was the subject of a controversial 1986 book, ``Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA and the Mob.'' The book said that during the early 1960s, Reagan was investigated and ultimately cleared in a federal criminal probe into allegations that payoffs were made from MCA to Reagan and other officers of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1950s. MCA was then Hollywood's largest talent agency.

Natalie Portman Joining A High-Wattage Ensemble Cast To Climb 'Cold Mountain'

Natalie Portman is in advanced negotiations to co-star in "Cold Mountain," joining a high-wattage ensemble cast the likes of which hasn't been seen since "Ocean's Eleven."

The Miramax/MGM co-production, which is set to roll next month, also stars Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Jude Law, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Brendan Gleeson and Kathy Baker. Anthony Minghella will direct.

An episodic adventure based in part on Homer's Odyssey, "Cold Mountain" offers a slew of high-profile supporting roles. It's the story of Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier played by Law, who embarks on a perilous journey home to Carolina, hoping to reunite with his prewar sweetheart, Ada (Kidman). In his absence, Ada struggles to revive her father's farm with the help of a young drifter (Zellweger).

Sydney Pollack and William Horberg are producing along with Bona Fide Prods.' Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Minghella adapted Charles Frazier's novel for the screen.

"I could not be more thrilled with the quality of actor this material is attracting; it's a real testimony to the appeal of Charles Frazier's magnificent novel that we have been able to assemble such a formidable ensemble," Minghella said in a statement.

Portman is repped by CAA and Artists Management Group. Hoffman is repped by Paradigm and Davien Littlefield. Ribisi is repped by UTA and Joel Stevens Entertainment. Gleeson is co-repped by Essential Entertainment and Joan Scott Management.

Hunnam is repped by ICM and Handprint Entertainment. Winstone is repped by IFA Talent Agency and Creative Artists Management.

Pierce Brosnan Ruled by 'Laws of Attraction'

James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan will star in and produce "Laws of Attraction," a romantic comedy that will start shooting in the fall.

It's the next picture for Brosnan, who'll portray a divorce lawyer who falls in love with and marries one of his own kind. However, the couple find they're not immune to the same marital difficulties that bring them to court.

Brosnan will produce via his Irish Dreamtime Prods. banner, in conjunction with Intermedia Films and nascent production company Deep River Prods. He is currently filming his fourth outing as James Bond, "Die Another Day," which is set for release in November via MGM. "We're trying to move away from Bond slowly," Brosnan's producing partner, Beau St Clair told Dealmemo

Another Irish Dreamtime feature, director Bruce Beresford's "Evelyn," in which Brosnan co-starred with Aidan Quinn, is slated for a December release by MGM.

Jennifer Lopez Is Set To Play The Incredible Shrinking Woman.

Columbia Pictures has made an option deal on "Shrink," a comedy based on an Internet comic strip by former Marvel Comics creator-illustrator Rob Liefeld, which will be developed as a cross between "Men in Black" with "Analyze This."

Shrink!" is a comic strip in the vein of "The Far Side" in which a voluptuous female psychologist is seen treating superheroes. Four different strips can be found on www.SpinnerRack.com, each with a different costumed hero sitting in a chair or lying on a couch with a blond, buxom doctor nearby.

The comedy deals with a world populated by superheroes who turn to the shrink (Jennifer Lopez) to unburden. The protagonist was once a superhero herself until a traumatic incident prompted her to shield that power. She finds herself in a love triangle between a villain and virtuous superbeings.

Columbia hopes to use recognizable Spandex-clad heroes, the way "Shrek" did animated characters, to create a large-canvas comedy with a serious side.

It's the first project deal Lopez has made at the studio since signing an overall deal there under her Nuyorican banner. She is currently starring in "Enough" for Columbia. "Shrink" is a co-production between Nuyorican and Handprint, with Lopez producing along with Benny Medina, David Guillod, Liefeld and Kevin Messick.

"Rob came in with five visuals and the pitch, and the studio went for a film, which we hope will kick-start a comic book, TV series, anything we want," Guillod said. "After Jennifer made the Sony deal, we wanted to start with something that could be a gigantic franchise, and this is it."

Columbia executive vp production Amy Baer and director of development Shannon Gaulding are overseeing the project, reporting to production president Peter Schlessel.

Eriq La Salle Has Signed With Nine Yards Entertainment

 After hanging up his "ER" stethoscope to direct and produce films under the Humble Journey banner, Eriq La Salle has signed with Nine Yards Entertainment, whose Aaron Ray has quickly hooked him into two promising properties.

They've optioned the Alan Watt novel "Diamond Dogs," a drama about a football star who kills a kid while driving drunk and stuffs his victim in the car trunk. The book was optioned by Propaganda and rather than wait for rights reversion, Ray wrangled the rights through the courts.

Humble Journey also has bagged rights to "The Greatest Vendetta in the World," an article by former CIA operative Jeff Stein that was Salon.com's most-read article when originally published.

It alleges that a journalist investigating Ringling Bros. circus practices found herself haunted and manipulated by the CIA. Since then, animal rights group PETA has filed suit alleging that the circus and CIA spied on them and stole documents.

Humble Journey just did "The Salton Sea," and La Salle, who just directed and starred in the indie pic "Crazy as Hell," will produce and possibly direct the films.

Scribes John Glenn And Travis Wright Started A Production Company, Glenn-Wright Prods

Scribes John Glenn and Travis Wright have used the momentum gained from their Jerry Bruckheimer-produced futuristic actioner "Red World" to head in an unusual direction. The duo has started a production company, Glenn-Wright Prods., to draft other writers to turn their big ideas into specs.

Glenn and Wright scripted a redo of "The Warriors" for MTV and Paramount and followed with "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for the Zanucks and Fox 2000. Now, they have been set to script a remake of "Clash of the Titans" for producer Adam Schroeder and Warner Bros.

"The remake work came out of the fact that we're both film geeks who watch films like 'The Warriors' 'Deer Hunter' and 'Apocalypse Now' and pursue the ones we want to remake," Glenn said.

They reinterpreted "The Warriors" by mixing the original storyline with theology of warlords in feudal Japan. On "Clash," they've dropped the cheesy chess-board manipulation of characters by Zeus and other gods that was part of the original pic. It turns all the action toward Zeus' son, the ancient Greek soldier Perseus, as he tries to procure the head of Medusa to defeat an unstoppable tyrant.

"We had a 16-page take that got us the job, and the studio responded to what will be an adventure film with religious elements," Glenn said.

Teaming with Evan Astrowsky, Glenn and Wright will soon hit the spec market with their own original, "Apocalypse Games." Their reps at William Morris and Artists Management Group will also shop several other specs written by other writers they hired to draft their own ideas into three other projects.

Kelly Hu, Mutates Into 'X-Men 2' Villain

"The Scorpion King" co-star Kelly Hu has been added to the cast of 20th Century Fox's "X-Men 2" for director Bryan Singer.

Production is scheduled to begin this month, with Ralph Winter, Lauren Shuler Donner and Avi Arad producing. Hu will star as the villainous Anne, a mutant with human emotions who is the sidekick to Striker, the lead villain who has yet to be cast.

Last week, Aaron Stanford was cast as Pyro, a young mutant/student, while Alan Cumming will play Nightcrawler, a new superhero.

Returning characters include Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Rogue (Anna Paquin), Cyclops (James Marsden), Dr. Grey (Famke Janssen) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos).

Hu is repped by Innovative Artists' Craig Shapiro, Mosaic Media Group's David Fleming and Julie Wixon-Darmody and Stone Meyer & Genow. She is shooting Warner Bros. Pictures' "Cradle 2 the Grave" opposite Jet Li and DMX.

Legal; Woody Allen Takes Stand In Suit Against Former Business Partner

Woody Allen took the stand Monday in his lawsuit against former business partner and longtime friend Jean Doumanian, testifying that he had agreed to make pictures with Doumanian and her boyfriend, Jacqui Safra, mainly because they had offered to commit for three pictures -- giving him essentially the same deal he had while at TriStar Pictures -- and not charge for "expenses they didn't spend," something that Allen indicated was rare in the film industry.

Allen said he had a "Clint Eastwood" deal with TriStar, so called because he got paid as soon as any money started to come in from a movie, and Eastwood was one of the few actors who had such an arrangement.

Allen was so pleased with the arrangement that he opted for a deal that was financially inferior to his customary agreement, he testified. "It was all done in such good spirits, so I agreed to make a picture for less compensation than I normally would," he said.

Indicating that he was accustomed to a $2.5 million fee upfront, "a nice piece of first-dollar and 50% of profits," Allen told the jury that for his first film with Doumanian, "Bullets Over Broadway," a project he brought with him from TriStar, he opted for a $1.5 million fee and 50% of profits, forgoing any first-dollar take. He took a $2.5 million fee and 50% of profits for the rest of his movies done with Sweetland Films, Doumanian and Safra's production company.

The "good spirits" of that initial agreement, however, eventually soured, and Allen filed suit in May 2001 against Doumanian, Safra and Sweetland Films, claiming that they had cheated him out of about $12 million owed him from the proceeds of eight films: "Bullets Over Broadway" (1994), "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995), "Everyone Says I Love You" (1996), "Deconstructing Harry" (1997), "Wild Man Blues" (1997), "Celebrity" (1998), "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999) and "Small Time Crooks" (2000). Allen claims that Sweetland Films did not provide him with accurate information regarding the earnings of the eight movies.

Last week, Peter Parcher, Doumanian's lawyer, said that Allen had asked Doumanian and Safra to help him make his films.

"I never in my life asked them to make movies with me," Allen said. "It was something they wanted to do for many years. Jacqui thought there would be money to be made."

In 1993, according to Parcher, TriStar dropped Allen "without a boo hoo" after the scandal over his affair with Soon-Yi Previn, the daughter his then-lover, Mia Farrow, had adopted while married to pianist Andre Previn.

In his testimony Monday, Allen said that he ultimately left TriStar because its chairman, Mike Medavoy, with whom he had enjoyed a long relationship, appeared to be on his way out at the company.

Allen's contract with Sweetland says the first three movies are "cross-collateralized." This means that Sweetland, to protect itself, subtracts all the losses from all the profits of all the movies to determine if there are profits to share.

Parcher said that because Allen and his backers agreed to let terms of the first contract apply to the latter five movies, all eight films are subject to cross-collateralization. Allen disagrees.

Parcher said Allen wants his backers to absorb all of his movies' losses while he shares the profits with them. Allen so far has gotten $19.5 million out of the Doumanian-Safra-Sweetland deal, the lawyer said.

Allen took the stand Monday after his longtime business manager, Stephen Tenenbaum, spent a day and a half responding to questions that centered on accounting procedures and how many pictures the cross-collateralization agreement between Doumanian's Sweetland Films and Allen's Moses Prods. included.

Parcher produced numerous documents during his cross-examination of Tenenbaum, attempting amid repeated objections from Allen's head counsel, Peter Zweig, to establish that both sides had agreed to extend cross-collateralization to each film Allen made for Sweetland.

Allen began his testimony by telling state Supreme Court Justice Ira Gammerman and the jury about his New York City origins, his early comedy career and his film work.

A couple of times, the judge stopped Allen from expanding on answers to questions from one of his lawyers, Alyson Weiss -- at one point ordering Allen to "stop talking."

"Stop talking?" Allen asked.

"Yes," the judge said. "I'm the director here."

Allen is scheduled to continue his testimony today.

Industry; Showbiz spending tops $1 trillion despite hurdles

Despite what PricewaterhouseCoopers called the "triple whammy" of 2001 -- the spillover from the dot-com meltdown, a global economic/advertising market downturn and the impacts of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- global entertainment and media spending still grew 1.5% to exceed the $1 trillion mark.

The consulting firm that published today its annual "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2002-2006" predicts industry spending to continue to grow, reaching $1.4 trillion by 2006, for an annual growth rate of 5.2%.

According to Kevin Carton, global leader of PWC's Entertainment & Media Practice, the majority of the growth will be driven by the digital distribution of content, aided by rising broadband penetration in the home.

"We have a highly digitized future where niche and customized content will be the norm," Carton said. "During this five-year period, we won't achieve the endgame, but we will reach 35 million broadband households by 2006." (Presently, broadband connectivity reaches only 9.4 million households.)

Carton believes the 35 million mark will represent enough of a broadband infrastructure for such services as music and video-on-demand to be available to consumers on a wide-scale basis.

However, while broadband delivery will drive growth, the downside of digital distribution -- piracy of unauthorized copyrighted material -- will limit economic growth for the next five years, the report said. PWC expects the music industry to be the most vulnerable to piracy, averaging only a 1.6% gain through 2006. However, an improving economy and rising digital subscriptions will offset declines in traditional music sales, with global spending in the music arena reaching $38.5 million in 2006.

PWC also expects that unless an industrywide solution is reached, piracy will spread from music to other major sectors, including filmed entertainment, home video and consumer book publishing.

In fact, while filmed entertainment spending should grow because of strong boxoffice receipts and DVD penetration, the category will expand only by a 5.7% compound annual growth rate from $59 billion in 2001 to $79 billion in 2006 because of the adverse effects of piracy.

The digital evolution will help the TV distribution sector, according to PWC, with upgrades to digital cable and satellite boosting subscription spending, especially in regions where cable and satellite penetration are already high. Global spending is expected to rise to $210 billion by 2006, growing at a 6.9% compound annual growth rate.

The other piece of good news for the future, PWC said, will come from a gradual rebound in the advertising market. In the next five years, the compound annual growth rate will be 4.8%, but 1.2% of that will occur this year, according to Carton. "This is impressive, considering we are coming off a very bad period that followed one of the best advertising periods we've ever seen," he said.

Broadcast and cable network business is likely to benefit the most from the advertising rebound. According to PWC, advertising and new channel launches will drive the business in the next five years, with global television networks peaking at $144 billion in 2006.

"The long-range consensus is (that) the market is coming back because of the rebounding global economy," Carton said. "If we have good corporate earnings in the next year, then confidence will build in the system, and that will have a cumulative effect."