Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/28/2016 i The Hollywood Reporter

‘AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HOLLYWOOD, NOT COMPETITION FOR HOLLYWOOD’ Deal of the Week If he builds it, will they come? Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin unveiled his ambitious entertainment venture at the company’s packed Oct. 17 gala in Los Angeles, sharing details about its proposed “Movie Metropolis” in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao as well as a $750 million development fund to lure Hollywood productions there. The 408-acre mixed-use urban space will include 30 soundstages as well as a convention center, hospital, six resort hotels, four indoor theme parks and a marina. The development fund, co-funded by the Qingdao regional government and Wanda itself, will support a whopping 40 percent rebate to qualifying productions to defray costs of everything from transportation to postproduction. Pacific Rim 2 will be the…

While the hack of Hillary Clinton’s emails didn’t serve up a lot of Hollywood dish — save for effusive emails from Harvey Weinstein when she was secretary of state and a 2011 email from “H” asking staff to put studio chief Alan Horn on her call sheet days after Warner Bros. ousted him — the same can’t be said for the recent hack of 2016 Clinton presidential campaign chairman John Podesta. As soon he resigned as an Obama White House adviser in February 2015 to work for Clinton’s notyet-announced bid, a priority was to court Hollywood, including Jeffrey Katzenberg (who backed Barack Obama in 2008’s primaries), according to the database posted on WikiLeaks. Podesta likewise is courted by the town: A Cable Chief’s UFO Chat Podesta, as he was leaving…

I first met Bill at the 1976 Super Bowl in Miami. He had been on Howard Cosell’s [variety] show that didn’t last long and wasn’t famous yet. We’ve been to football games, baseball games … well, a little bit of everything. He’s a great noticer of detail, a mystical figure, and you never know when he’s going to pop up behind you. He was going to get married at one point, and I was supposed to be in the wedding. I bought this warthog head at this store in Atlanta and was ready to bring it as his present, but then he called off the wedding. I don’t know what happened. I still have that warthog head. Maybe I’ll bring it to the Mark Twain ceremony. — AS TOLD TO…

ELLEN GOLDSMITH-VEIN The Gotham Group CEO She may fundraise in Victoria Beckham, but when the CEO goes to work, she pairs feminine Gucci blouses with black leather pants by J. Brand “because they feel more dressed up than jeans.” The latest headlines about first-class groping and backstage peeping are enough to make a woman feel like wearing a paper bag to work. But if Michelle Obama has taught us anything, it’s that women can simultaneously wield their power — witness the first lady’s epic Oct. 13 speech — and feminine individuality. The same is true in Hollywood, where female fundraisers this election cycle are eschewing any notion of a standard political power uniform. “Whether it’s Melania, Ivanka, Hillary or Chelsea, it’s not one size fits all. There used to be…

My dad is Irish-Australian, my mom Afro-Cuban, and they got married in 1958. There was lots of overt hostility, to the point where they couldn’t get served in restaurants together. People were intentional about keeping interracial couples apart. My older sisters were born in Maryland, which, like Virginia, was under an anti-miscegenation law, and my mom told me people would spit on them as they walked down the street. Even when my family moved to New York, where I was born, it was hard to get housing. But my parents never talked about that while we grew up. They didn’t want that to frame how we thought about our community. They were quiet activists but felt they were on the right side of history. My dad told me they…

DANIEL J. FIENBERG We’re now several weeks into what the broadcast networks still call the “Fall TV Season,” and there are shockingly few outright ratings failures. It seems viewers weren’t totally opposed to a TV version of Lethal Weapon (Fox) or a new MacGyver (CBS). Sure, ABC isn’t doing so well with dramas that look as if they come from Shonda Rhimes but don’t, and Fox is struggling to get people to watch its version of The Exorcist. But mostly, things are doing decently. So, Tim: Does that mean we’re going to hail this as the “strongest fall in recent memory”? TIM GOODMAN Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I definitely think networks are doing more of what they need to be doing in the drama department: keeping it simple,…

2006 A Seacrest producer shows up at Kris Jenner’s house to film the six kids at a family barbecue. The sizzle reel is pitched at E!, and a cable empire is born. 2007 Keeping Up With the Kardashians premieres on E! on Oct. 14, 2007. Within a month, the show reaches more than 13 million pairs of eyeballs. 2009 As the third season of KUWTK wraps and interest swells, E! premieres the first of seven RSP-produced spinoffs: Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. 2010 Kardashian-mania reaches fever pitch: The fourth season of KUWTK premieres with 4.8 million viewers, a high point for the series. 2011 E! launches yet another spinoff, Khloe & Lamar. There now is enough original Kardashian footage being produced to blanket E!’s airwaves all year long. 2011 Kim…

Reed Hastings The Netflix CEO rebounds from a soft quarter to report nearly 3.6M new subscribers (3.2M international) thanks to hot series Stranger Things, Narcos and Luke Cage. Jack Dorsey The Twitter CEO’s stock tanks as reports suggest such possible buyers as Salesforce, Google and Disney walk away amid concerns about growth and valuation. Ben Affleck The Accountant star again proves he can open a movie with a $24.7M domestic bow despite a low 49 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating for the Warner Bros. thriller. David Pecker The CEO of National Enquirer owner American Media is forced to issue a rare apology and retraction over stories claiming Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are divorcing. Showbiz Stocks $44.85 (+2.5%) TAKE–TWO (TTWO) The video game company’s subsidiary Rockstar teases what analysts presume will…

Signaling a quick rise and fall in theaters, Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation plummeted 60 percent at the box office in its second weekend, a sharp decline for a film expected to play throughout awards season. The question now is how much Fox Searchlight will lose after paying a record $17.5 million for worldwide rights to the slave-rebellion drama at the Sundance Film Festival and an estimated $18 million more on marketing. Birth had earned just $12.3 million as of Oct. 17. Some box-office observers believe the loss will be at least $10 million, considering the film likely will earn no more than $17 million domestically. Searchlight declined comment, but Fox insiders say the loss will be in the $7 million range — perhaps less than $5…

Big Number Narcos’ Boyd Holbrook (CAA, Morris Yorn) will replace Benicio Del Toro in Fox’s The Predator reboot. Kin scribe Daniel Casey (CAA, Writ Large, Hansen Jacobson) will adapt Ed Brubaker’s comic Incognito for Sony. Kevin Costner (WME, Zero Gravity, Hirsch Wallerstein) is in talks to play Jessica Chastain’s father in Molly’s Game. The Hunger Games’ Dexter Darden (APA, Crimson Media) will play Forest Whitaker’s son in indie drama Burden. Nickelodeon star Addison Riecke (Savage, Untitled, McKuin Frankel) has joined Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled remake. MGM has optioned Politico’s 9/11 article “We’re the Only Plane in the Sky.” Spy’s Miranda Hart (WME, the U.K.’s Troika) has joined Disney’s The Nutcracker adaptation. TELEVISION Ricky Gervais (WME, the U.K.’s United, the U.K.’s MHA, Nelson Davis) is teaming with ABC for kids…

“For the record, only my husband calls me ‘baby.’ ” JULIE CHEN The Big Brother host, responding to a contestant who repeatedly called her by the nickname her spouse, CBS Corp. chairman Leslie Moonves, uses for her. (Her nickname for him is “Boo.”) “Wasn’t it their Thanksgiving two days ago?” RYAN LOCHTE The Dancing With the Stars contestant, confusing Canadians with Jews as his publicist was explaining Yom Kippur. “I was very much believing my own hype. ... I was sitting with my dad, feeling great about my life ... and he was like, ‘You’re kind of an asshole.’ ” GWYNETH PALTROW The actress, revealing father Bruce’s words after she won an Oscar in 1999. “I had to explain to him why Trump keeps being mean to kittens. He just…

Bob Daly, Terry Semel and Steve Bing rendezvoused at Mr Chow. Tucker Tooley and Jim Wiatt were in on another day. Other recent visitors included Skip Brittenham, Michael De Luca and Rob Friedman. … Amazon Studios half-hours/drama head Joe Lewis and Jane the Virgin’s Yara Martinez joined Clark Gregg and wife Jennifer Grey at Farmshop. Conan O’Brien and wife Liza were at the next table. … Neil Patrick Harris popped by Georgie. … Attorney Jeff Cohen alighted at Ray’s. … Dustin Hoffman sat at Tavern one day, Anjelica Huston the next. … Nina Jacobson visited The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica. … Sylvester Stallone reigned at a table at The Palm. … Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis ate at Smoke.Oil.Salt. HOT NEW RESTAURANT Serafina The Quick Pitch New York’s breezy…

#ImWithHer on the Runway The Hillary effect was in top form with pantsuited models on NYC, Milan and Paris catwalks — JANE CARLSON…

While most luxury options for long-haul flying involve huge airplanes with such amenities as private suites and in-flight showers, British Airways uses a tiny aircraft to offer a little-known option between New York and London (but, alas, not L.A.) that’s close to a private-jet experience. Known as Club World London City, the business-class service offers four flights daily on Airbus A318 jets configured with only 32 seats — each of which converts into a 6-footlong fully flat bed (BritishAirways.com). Round-trip fares in October range from $7,800 to $13,000, with perks not found as part of firstclass offerings elsewhere. At JFK, travelers can get a complimentary massage at the Elemis spa, grab a craft beer at the open bar or eat a gourmet meal in the Terraces lounge to maximize sleep…

As Chicagoans Bill Murray and John Cusack know well, it has been 108 years since the Cubs won the World Series. But now the team could be headed to its first Fall Classic since 1945 — and Fox Sports is as happy as any long-suffering fan. The Cubs’ Division Series clincher Oct. 11 delivered a record 6.4 million viewers. Now the team is playing the L.A. Dodgers for a berth in the World Series, which begins Oct. 25 on Fox against the Cleveland Indians or Toronto Blue Jays. Ad sales for the World Series are pacing 30 percent ahead of 2015, with a 30-second spot scoring more than $500,000, say sources. The increase, notes Fox Sports president Eric Shanks, owes largely to the Cubs. “It has all the makings of…

VITAL STATS AGE 30 BORN New York City BIG BREAK Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt REPS UTA, Suskin Management G enevieve Angelson might have missed the 1970s, but the selfdescribed “free-love hippie who just wants to roll around in a field and wear flowers in my hair” was a natural for her first leading television role as a tenacious potsmoking flower child on Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt (Oct. 28). The 10-episode dramedy about a group of female magazine researchers in 1969 who demand equality in their testosterone-driven newsroom is based on Lynn Povich’s 2012 memoir about her early years at Newsweek, which Angelson (who attended Wesleyan with Povich’s daughter) read the year it was published. The show features a few real-life figures — including Nora Ephron, played by Grace…

Walk to Defeat ALS Los Angeles, Oct. 16 Party Crawler A Ridley Scott and Sue Kroll Salute For his career achievements, the American Cinematheque honored filmmaker Ridley Scott (3) — or ‘Giggly Scott,’ as Kristen Wiig (4) referred to him during her tribute at the 30th annual gala at the Beverly Hilton. The notoriously stoic English director-producer cracked a few smiles as Sigourney Weaver (4), Josh Hartnett and Matt Damon (3) shared their on-set experiences of working with him. Scott sat with former Fox film chief Jim Gianopulos and his wife, Ann, while new 20th Century Fox Film chair Stacey Snider held court at the Fox table. Warner Bros. Pictures marketing chief Sue Kroll (2), who was awarded the second annual Sid Grauman award for her industry contributions, spent the…

Weddings CAA managing director Bryan Lourd married Bruce Bozzi Jr., executive vp at Palm Restaurant Group, on Oct. 12 at the Beverly Hills Courthouse alongside daughters Ava and Scream Queens actress Billie Lourd. Adam Griffin, manager/partner at LINK Entertainment, married Kacie Higginbotham, director of marketing at Bullpen Integrated, on Oct. 1 at Hinoki & the Bird in L.A. The couple will honeymoon in South Africa and Mozambique. Births Whale Wars star Paul Watson and wife Yana Watson welcomed son Tiger on Sept. 29 in Lebanon, N.H. Stephanie Kahan, entertainment director at Jonesworks, and husband Samuel Ross Moore welcomed son Huntley David on Sept. 26 at Cedars-Sinai in L.A. Congrats Lionsgate extended CEO Jon Feltheimer’s contract through 2023 on Oct. 13. Joe Lewis added drama series development at Amazon Studios and…

Donald Trump has been hiding in plain sight. Or not hiding. Seldom, if ever, has an American politician so aggressively acted out and imposed his unfiltered personality on the public, consequences be damned. And yet, the final weeks of the presidential campaign now are wholly centered on the media’s shocking revelations about who he really is. “Well, where have you been?” is one glaring question for the media. The other is about how complicit the media has been in covering for him until now. Trump is a thrice-married beauty pageant owner, a compulsive attention seeker and a sexual braggart. The possibility of him not engaging in lewd, loutish, outre and, for a presidential candidate, scandalous behavior is nil. Was no one in the media looking? Did nobody care about the…

1 LINDA LICHTER Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler “When I wear Susan’s jewelry, someone always asks where I got the piece and comments how the design is so unique.’’ 2 SUSAN FOSTER Susan Foster Jewelry Says Foster of her clients: “They are bold, brilliant, defiantly and daringly individual. Most of all, they want special, not trendy.” 3 CATHY SCHULMAN Producer “The jewelry stands out phenomenally and always has a combination of delicacy and strong design.” In a town synonymous with glamour, it’s hard for ornaments to stand out, but Susan Foster’s collection featuring sliced diamonds and Australian black opals, among other gems, has captivated a following of Hollywood powerhouses, including 20th Century Fox Film CEO and chair Stacey Snider. In addition to Snider, CAA’s Beth Swofford, producer Cathy Schulman, entertainment lawyers…

The quintessentially Los Angeles idea of having Frank Gehry build a trauma center for the Watts-based Children’s Institute Inc., a social services organization that serves kids affected by violence, came to Gelila Assefa Puck while she was, of course, driving. Says the Ethiopia-born fashion designer (and wife of restaurateur Wolfgang Puck), who sits on the board of the 110-year-old group: “I thought, ‘How amazing would it be if we could get a notable designer?’ ” She felt strongly that the neighborhood still haunted by the race riots of 1965 could use a new kind of notoriety. The agency recently had bought a plot at 102nd Street and Compton Avenue. “Our main goal was to create a beautiful, welcoming space that would become a hub of community activity for the children…

Merv Griffin always said that his path to achieving longevity in our business was doing more than just hosting a show,” says Ryan Seacrest, one of Hollywood’s most fluid multihyphenates. “That stuck with me.” So, while American Idol still was reaching 30 million viewers a week, he parlayed a 2006 contract with E! News into a deal that set up Ryan Seacrest Productions. Ten years and eight Kardashian-fronted series later, RSP boasts 40 full-time employees, a roster of six reality shows and Jennifer Lopez drama Shades of Blue, and advantageous pacts with Endemol Shine and CBS Studios (unscripted and scripted, respectively). With the Kardashian “mother ship” still going strong, an average 2.7 million viewers in its 12th season and a new spinoff (Rob & Chyna) dominating E! originals ratings, Seacrest,…