Innholdsfortegnelse for Wednesday August 8 2018 i The Hollywood Reporter

Five days after several women accused CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct in a July 27 New Yorker exposé, the company’s board of directors issued a near-midnight press release saying it had hired two prestigious New York law firms to lead an internal investigation. The announcement offered the immediate impression that the company is taking seriously the Moonves claims, as well as allegations against 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager of creating a hostile work environment at CBS News. But some corporate governance and employment law experts already are questioning the integrity of the probe — criticisms that have implications for other workplace misconduct investigations currently playing out in entertainment and media. Legal insiders note the CBS investigation is being handled by two highly respected female attorneys…

So here’s why all the actors you know are — I say this in a loving Montessori indoor voice — insane. Being an actor feels like your ego is on a violent pendulum swing between a field of cashmere and a casual tub of knives. Depending on how the industry is treating you that hour, you either feel like a Mariah Carey sultan or a near-dead irrelevant possum, flashing people for change on the 405. Spend too long on either side, and you’re a terrible lunch partner. If you are working, it can be easy to start to confuse the concept of being a replaceable flesh puppet with being a member of the royal family. When 10 PAs are whisper-panicking that you haven’t gotten your oatmeal yet and have to…

Big Deal Tyler Oakley, meet Gigi Gorgeous. Talent management companies Flip and Select are merging to create one of the digital space’s largest representation firms. The all-stock deal will see longtime managers Lisa Filipelli, Scott Fisher and Adam Wescott join forces as partners under the Select Management Group banner. They will oversee a staff of 25 people and a roster of 60 clients, which in addition to Oakley and Gorgeous will include top lifestyle personalities LaurDIY, Eva Gutowski and Ingrid Nilsen. Merger conversations between the companies, which were each earning eightfigure annual revenues and had not brought in outside investors, began in 2017 but heated up earlier this year. As part of the deal, Select is creating parent company Third Act to expand the business further into content production and…

Lance Bass Says ‘Bye Bye Bye’ to Brady Bunch House ’N Sync’s Lance Bass took to Instagram on Aug. 5 to allege that the “winning bid” he placed on the Brady Bunch house — a 2,500-squarefoot home in Studio City — was unethically used to jack up the sale price. Bass, 39, said the “agent representing the estate” told him that while his offer of nearly $3 million was “WAY over the asking price” of $1.8 million, a “Hollywood studio” with “unlimited resources” had swooped in. But according to a source with knowledge of the transaction, Bass was merely among the buyers asked to submit “best and final” offers. He “made a mistake as a serious buyer to go on social media and claim himself the winner,” says the source.…

The last time I saw her, I was probably as old as she was when I first met her. I’m 55 now. But I was a teenager when we met. I was 16 and a bit rebellious. Then, you think you know everything. So I would play practical jokes, and I think I drove her crazy. She was a very serious actor, and that’s one of the reasons we annoyed her at times because we were kids and really didn’t take acting that seriously. Looking back, I missed out on learning from her. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate so much of the wisdom that she had from her life experience. We went through a lot together, a lot of different phases, and we stayed friends for…

Teens have long wielded soft influence over Hollywood. But today’s youth is at the center of the biggest shift in consumption habits that the video industry has seen. The post-millennial cohort known as Gen Z (anyone between the ages of approximately 8 and 22) is abandoning linear TV at faster rates than predicted even a few years ago. Teens are watching 49 percent less traditional television than they did five years ago, Nielsen revealed July 31 in the latest installment of its Total Audience Report. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching TV programming — they’re just watching it in a different way. Usage of internet-connected devices among teens is at around three hours a week, up from around two hours just a year ago. It’s no wonder that Nickelodeon…

Walk a New York City block with Yara Shahidi, and you too will find yourself questioning how she expects to blend in when her freshman year at Harvard begins in a matter of weeks. As we cross 4th Avenue, where the breakout of ABC’s Black-ish and star of its spinoff, Grown-ish, has been staying while she films the feature adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s best-seller The Sun Is Also a Star, she’s stopped by starry-eyed fans six separate times. She doles out selfies, bear hugs and effusive “thank-yous” — and, in one instance, engages in a conversation that ends with the 18-year-old invited to a happy hour drink. (Per her mother, who politely declines the invitation on Yara’s behalf, the only cocktail her daughter enjoys is a virgin mojito.) She’s then…

Zachery Ty Bryan Then The soccer-loving oldest Taylor son on Home Improvement (1991-99) Now↑ EP, 2018 Sundance hit The Kindergarten Teacher Cori Wellins Then A young girl terrorized by spiders in 1990’s Arachnophobia Now↑ WME partner whose clients include Alan Yang and Liz Flahive Jonathan Ke Quan Then↑ Data in 1985’s The Goonies and Short Round in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Now Stunt and fight coordinator on X-Men Jason Zimbler Then↑ The annoying little brother Ferguson on Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All (1991-94) Now HBO software developer Peter Billingsley Then Ralphie, the kid who wanted an air rifle in A Christmas Story Now↑ Producer, The Break-Up (2006); director, Couples Retreat (2009) Jeff Cohen Then↑ Chunk in 1985’s The Goonies Now Partner at the law firm Cohen…

What do Macaulay Culkin, Jena Malone and Gary Coleman have in common? They all sued their parents for allegedly squandering their hard-earned money. Across most of the U.S., when a minor earns a paycheck, that money legally belongs to the parents — but not in showbiz. Entertainment earnings are the exception thanks to the Coogan Law (aka the California Child Actor’s Bill), legislation created in 1939 after actor Jackie Coogan took action against his parents for spending his money before he came of age (a few other states have similar laws). “It’s one way the industry tries to protect kids for all the work they’ve done,” says Dana Fletcher, a talent agent at Coast to Coast who has been repping young stars for 20 years. The law requires parents to…

“Heidi Klum, naturally!” “Oprah, obviously. Did anyone not say Oprah?” “Andy Richter and Kate Flannery would be an unstoppable duo.” “Judge Judy” “Is Sean Spicer a TV host? He’d say whatever I left for him to read: ‘Kamau is happy you’re here to attend the largest funeral ever. And if he’s talking, then everybody would miss me even more.”…

Film MoviePass Lifeline? The app’s new strategy could impact theaters. p. 16 Digital Jeffrey’s $1B Bet Studios back Katzenberg’s ‘NewTV’ video push. p. 17 LeBron James The NBA star and producer sells three new unscripted shows (to HBO, Showtime and CBS) as he raises his Hollywood profile in advance of a move to the L.A. Lakers. Heather Schuster Amazon’s head of unscripted programming exits after slightly less than a year in the job following an investigation into claims of verbal abuse. Priya Swaminathan The Obamas anoint the former Annapurna Pictures development exec as their Higher Ground production company’s first key hire under their new Netflix deal. Johnny Depp The star’s Notorious B.I.G. thriller City of Lies is pulled a month before its release amid his bizarre behavior, likely making Warner…

In August 2017, when MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe launched a service that gave subscribers a movie ticket per day for just $10 a month, theater chains responded with silence or outright hostility. AMC Theatres, the nation’s largest circuit, said that it would review its legal options to “prevent” the app from being used at its locations. One year later, the chains may need to be careful about what they wished for. As MoviePass shutters that “all you can eat”-style offering — to be replaced Aug. 15 with a $9.95 plan for three tickets a month — the change could have an impact on theaters. That’s a potential difference of many per month, per sub, that MoviePass won’t be buying for its 3 million members. Theaters will miss out on that…

FILM Jennifer Lopez (CAA, Hirsch Wallerstein) will star in Annapurna stripper story Hustlers at Scores for director Lorene Scafaria. Glen Powell (ICM, Bloom Hergott) will join Miles Teller in Paramount’s Top Gun sequel. Priyanka Chopra (WME, Grubman Shire) will join Chris Pratt in Universal’s Cowboy Ninja Viking. Rebecca Ferguson (ICM, the U.K.’s Tavistock Wood) will join Chris Hemsworth in Sony’s Men in Black spinoff. Marc Maron (ICM, Avalon, Gray Krauss) is in talks to join Joaquin Phoenix in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Joker stand-alone movie. Margot Robbie (CAA, Australia’s Aran Michael, Management 360, Jackoway Austen) and Nicole Kidman (CAA, Media Talent Group, Australia’s Shanahan, Jackoway Austen) will join Charlize Theron in Annapurna’s untitled Fox News movie. TELEVISION Chris Rock (ICM, Untitled, Morris Yorn) will star in the fourth season of Noah Hawley’s…

Ghosted (PAMELA DORMAN BOOKS, JULY 24) BY Rosie Walsh AGENCY Nicky Lund/David Higham Assoc. Walsh’s U.S. debut, which is No. 5 on the New York Times fiction list, has Sarah investigating if there’s more to Eddie’s failure to call her after a whirlwind one-week romance than just being “ghosted,” and her persistence uncovers a dangerous mystery. Her Pretty Face (GALLERY BOOKS, JULY 10) BY Robyn Harding AGENCY Gersh Evoking comparisons to Pretty Little Lies, Harding’s newest has frumpy mom Frances bonding with stylish Kate at their kids’ posh special-needs school, but one is actually a teenage murderer using an alias, and Harding holds the twisty reveal until the end.…

“The golden age of television has become the gilded age of television.” JOHN LANDGRAF The FX CEO, warning journalists at TCA that the ever-increasing number of TV shows is dangerous to creativity. “I think there’s too much story, too much narrative. [Everything] feels vaguely familiar.” “Les tried to ruin my life.” HOWARD STERN The SiriusXM host, unleashing a 45-minute monologue about the embattled CBS CEO’s $500 million lawsuit over Stern’s 2006 exit, comparing Moonves to “Tony Soprano.” “Its also pretty nauseating to work for someone who’d empower a smear campaign by fascists #cybernazis.” DAVE BAUTISTA The actor, tweeting about Disney while defending Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director James Gunn, who was fired after his offensive tweets were resurfaced by the conservative website The Daily Caller. “This illness is not…

Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen were at Nobu Malibu. … Zoe Saldana reigned at Mr Chow. … Richard Lovett enjoyed the Dugout Club at Dodger Stadium. … Joe and Jill Biden sat together at Viale dei Romani. Disney Channels’ Gary Marsh was also in. On a different day, Billy Bush lunched there. … Julian Sands checked out Republique. … Kelsey Grammer stopped by Craig’s. … David Fincher brunched at Little Dom’s. … Over at Nerano, Warren Beatty sat for dinner. On a different day, Peter Benedek was in. … Jamie Bell and Kate Mara were at Lamill Coffee in Silver Lake. HOT NEW RESTAURANT Hasiba The Quick Pitch Lodge Bread Co.’s Alex Phaneuf, and Or and Ben Amsalam have turned their focus to pita bread at this tiny and bustling…

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will hold its annual Grants Banquet on Aug. 9 at The Beverly Hilton. Less well known than the splashy Golden Globe Awards, which the L.A.-based group of 91 foreign journalists hosts each January, the dinner draws an array of stars and filmmakers — from Alfonso Cuaron to Charlize Theron — as it hands out more than $3 million in charitable donations. Presiding over the ceremony will be Meher Tatna, serving her second one-year term as HFPA president, which pays about $85,000 a year. She’s guiding the HFPA at a key moment as it negotiates a new TV deal for the Globes, expected to increase the reported $21 million per-year fee it last received from NBC, and steps up the group’s activism with grants like one…

What she reads “I asked her to start reading fiction that was new for 2018,” says Shahidi’s mom. The 18-year-old is a self-proclaimed James Baldwin mega-fan and calls his Giovanni’s Room her favorite book. Other recent favorites include Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Jesmyn Ward’s “beautifully written” Sing Unburied Sing. What she listens to Shahidi famously told her CAA agents that her dream was to “live at NPR.” In the meantime, she settles for listening to NPR podcasts, including Code Switch and Planet Money. She’s also a fan of Crooked Media’s lineup (Pod Save the People, Crooked Conversations), and soon will have a podcast of her own featuring her interviews. What she dances to The self-described “music-head” spends whatever free time she can find going to concerts. Her favorite…

In 2014, producer David Kaplan noticed that a child actor on his set was receiving a rather unconventional education. “We found ourselves with a studio teacher who, among other things, trafficked in conspiracy theories — one of her favorites being that Hitler was still alive in a bunker somewhere in Argentina,” Kaplan recalls. The indie producer of such films as It Comes at Night began scrambling to find a replacement and zeroed in on a veteran named Marty Carlin. Hours away from making the switch, Kaplan learned from press reports that the man they thought they were about to hire was, in fact, an impostor, posing as Carlin. “Needless to say, it was a particularly grim day on that set,” he says, declining to name the production for legal reasons.…

Jonathan Jonah and Matthew Shapiro are adjusting to an unexpected kind of rock stardom. Lifelong best friends — now 40, they met in first grade at Temple Emanuel Academy Day School in Beverly Hills — they have grown over the past five years into Los Angeles’ hottest kids act with a pop-punk group known as The BeatBuds. Reality TV watchers might already be familiar with the Buds. They appeared in a 2014 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, where they performed at a “Kidchella”-themed 1st birthday party for North West, daughter of Kim and Kanye. (She has had them back since.) They also had a cameo on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, playing for Teddi Mellencamp (daughter of John) and her son. Count also the brood of Pink and…

American Ninja Warrior (NBC) The very nature of Ninja Warrior’s constantly evolving obstacle course has helped the show rejuvenate in each of its 10 seasons. Project Runway (Lifetime) Free of Weinstein Co. shackles, Project Runway ends its Lifetime run and returns to Bravo and original producer Magical Elves in 2019. RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1) The switch from Logo to VH1 in 2017 gave Drag Race a broader platform and, perhaps not coincidentally, a first hosting Emmy for RuPaul. The Amazing Race (CBS) Reality’s biggest Emmy winner, 30 cycles in, has recently leaned into thematic casts — like social media stars and Survivor alums. The Voice (NBC) Mark Burnett’s vocal competition with rotating chairs makes sure to rotate out the judging panel to keep things lively — and stay on top.…

Lele Pons is making the jump from six-second videos to a two-hour awards show. The Venezuelan-American comedian and singer, who rose to fame with humorous videos on the now-defunct Vine app, has seen her profile shoot higher lately, culminating with the July 16 news that she will co-host the Teen Choice Awards for the first time. The gig comes on the heels of Televisa’s spring announcement that Pons, 22, will host Mexico’s version of The Voice this fall. “I’ve been going to the Teen Choice Awards for like five years,” the Caracas-born Pons tells THR by phone from Italy, where she is vacationing with her family. “I haven’t ever presented an award [at the show], so skipping being a presenter to host is crazy.” Although the show has recognized online…

Covington & Burling Nancy Kestenbaum, 54 Partner Background The Yale Law School grad spent nine years as a federal prosecutor in New York and is co-chair of the firm’s white-collar defense and investigations practice group. Among her clients is the United States Olympic Committee in connection with sexual abuse issues. In January, she told Law360 that the #MeToo movement has “empowered” employees to raise issues at companies. Debevoise & Plimpton Mary Jo White, 70 Partner Background The Columbia Law School grad was the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2013 to 2017. During the Bill Clinton presidency, she served as a federal prosecutor and probed Clinton’s last-minute pardon of convicted commodities trader Marc Rich with encouragement from George W. Bush’s then-Attorney General John Ashcroft.…

After pitching Hollywood on his plan to turn bitesized content into a big business, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s bet on the future of entertainment is coming into focus. Now, the mogul has closed his first $1 billion funding round for streaming video startup NewTV set to launch in 2019. THR looks at the details. WHO’S IN? Every major studio, including Fox, Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony, WarnerMedia, Viacom, Lionsgate and MGM, plus e-commerce giant Alibaba and institutional investors Madrone Capital, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Liberty Global. Former HP CEO Meg Whitman is leading the venture. WHAT IS IT? A mobile-first subscription video service aimed at viewers ages 25 to 30 with programming delivered in 10-minute episodes. As with Hulu, there will be a higher-priced tier without advertising and a lower-priced one with…

Deal of the Week The launch of “New Fox” is still a year or so away, but the broadcast network’s summer Television Critics Association panel brought some welcome clarity about how it will likely function after the rest of 21st Century Fox’s properties (namely, sister studio 20th Century Fox TV) come under the Disney umbrella. Fox TV Group chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman insisted (again) at their Aug. 2 event that the network isn’t getting out of the scripted business despite Rupert Murdoch’s December statement that New Fox would be “80 percent live.” Walden and Newman said that figure applies to the entire company, which includes Fox News and sports networks FS1 and FS2. Although the broadcast network will rely more on live events than it has,…

For years, they’ve worked their way up their career ladders in virtual silos, so when WME partner and TV lit agent Theresa Kang-Lowe invited 10 top Asian-American agents, executives and creatives for what was planned as an hourlong dinner May 5, the party ended up closing down e.baldi in Beverly Hills. “We had powerful conversations that were different than the conversations we have in mixed company,” says journalist Lisa Ling of the night that at times grew emotional. “We took different roads to get here, and when we had that dinner, I felt like, ‘Wow, this is home. We realized we can actually do things for each other.’” Adds writerproducer Diana Son (American Crime, 13 Reasons Why), “I realized I have never been on a staff with another Asian-American writer,…

Summer TCAs Beverly Hills, July 25 to Aug. 8 The Miseducation of Cameron Post New York, Aug. 1 Pretty Woman: The Musical New York, Aug. 2 Party Crawler TCA Soirees While the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour party scene was on the quieter side this year, Netflix bused people over from the Beverly Hilton to a GLOW party at the World on Wheels roller rink and Fox hosted a Soho House shindig where Dana Walden (2) and Gary Newman (5) mingled with network talent. The 34th TCA Awards turned into a farewell celebration of FX’s The Americans, which took home the biggest award — program of the year — for its final season, plus the top actress prize for Keri Russell. Other honorees included Friends, with the Heritage Award,…

At its Aug. 9 banquet, the HFPA will announce donations to 78 organizations, ranging from educational and cultural programs to humanitarian aid efforts and nonprofits engaged in social services. A representative sample of the beneficiaries includes: American Cinematheque Cal State Northridge (Department of Cinema and Television Arts) Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment Dag Hammarskjold Fund for Journalists Hollywood Heritage Inc. Inner-City Filmmakers Kids in the Spotlight Inc. Los Angeles LGBT Center Museum of the Moving Image SAG-AFTRA Foundation Sundance Institute USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Veterans in Media & Entertainment Women in Film…

ANNIE LEBLANC, 13 One-fourth of the YouTube family Bratayley, LeBlanc broke out on her own through the web series Chicken Girls. The Georgia-born gymnast has 10 million total followers and recently started recording music. JACOB SARTORIUS, 15 Virginia-raised Sartorious first hit it big via lip-syncing app Musical.ly, where he reached 19 millionplus followers. He parlayed that fame into a music career; his “Sweatshirt” peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100. JOJO SIWA, 15 Her YouTube vlog, where videos regularly get millions of views, has become a hit with the under-13 set. Now the former Dance Moms star is bringing digital credibility to Viacom through a talent deal with Nickelodeon. RYAN TOYSREVIEW, 6 He has 15 million followers via his family-friendly YouTube channel and sells his own line of…

Fourteen years after it became one of the first reality shows (then a fledgling genre) to win an Emmy, Queer Eye again finds itself in awards contention — this time for its surprisingly well-received Netflix revival that has earned a flood of praise (and tears) for the new cast’s open-minded makeovers in red-state America. “I feel humble every day to realize this little idea from 15 years ago is having a real impact right now,” says creator David Collins, 51, who partnered with David George’s ITV America to reboot the long-dormant format at the streaming giant. “It means the world to me.” Collins, on the ground in Kansas City, Missouri, to film a fast-tracked third season, caught up with THR to talk about his series’ evolving identity, shooting in Trump’s…