Any Filmmakers Out There Need $50,000? Try Louisiana

If it's good enough for Werner Herzog, Tony Scott and the reigning Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, then by God, it's good enough for you: "Executive Director Gregory Kallenberg announced today the inaugural Louisiana Film Prize, with a grand prize of $50,000. The Louisiana Film Prize contest and festival invites filmmakers from all over the world to create and present a short film under one condition it must be shot in the Shreveport-Bossier area." Good luck! Write if you get work! [LAfilmprize.com]

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Hollywood -- When Meryl Streep turned up within the Governors Ball, she was welcomed by Wolfgang Puck, and scurrying beside them will be a press person yelling to site visitors, "Cell phones away, please!" Apparently, the customs of twenty-first century technology are not used to that guy. When James Earl Manley introduced "the legendary" Tony Bennett, who sang a few tunes, site visitors rushed for the ft in the stage to capture the perf via cell phone. Streep visited the Engraving Room, where a team screwed metal nameplates onto the foot of winners' trophies. She sitting with Octavia Spencer, Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo while people swarmed around them and a lot of photography fanatics clicked on away, until Streep finally mentioned, "OK, that's it, fellas." Concurrently, Jean Dujardin was undetected by a lot of partygoers while he sitting with three youthful women, the Oscar between his foot while he happily ate sushi. At Vanity Fair's fete, Catherine O'Hara skyrocketed with delight at meeting Katy Perry. In recognition in the football star attending, Jonah Hill attempted his best Tim Tebow pose. Even though traditional In-N-Out burgers made the models within the Sunset Tower, Liam Hemsworth chosen for just about any chili aioli slider. But his date Miley Cyrus declined, watching, "I've already had one lots of.In . The Elton John Helps Foundation Oscar-viewing party made its home in the tent in West Hollywood Park, where a quiet auction came Steven Tyler, Gwen Stefani, Quincy Manley, Whoopi Goldberg and Heidi Klum, who purchase such items just like a tennis lesson with Rafael Nadal (it offered for $190,000, two occasions), an in-home cooking class with chef Cat Cora (offered for $100,000 to Steve Tisch) together with a collection visit to "Vampire Journals," plus lunch with John and David Furnish ($80,000). Timothy M. Gray and Kirstin Wilder brought with this report. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Amy Smart Joins NBC Pilot Bad Girls, Matt Lauria Cast In ABCs Gilded Lilys, ABC Family Series Baby Daddy Recasts Lead

Amy Smart and Karolina Wydra have been cast in NBCs drama pilot Bad Girls. Adapted from the long-running UK series, the project, from John Wells Prods and Warner Bros TV, follows the ins and outs of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison: a scandalous female warden, her new protg and a host of inmates some mothers, some friends who struggle with loyalties to people on the inside and outside. Smart will play “the perfect blond Barbie doll from Orange County” serving time for stealing her friend’s credit card and running it up to the max. Wydra will play a scheming, sultry inmate. Smart, repped by Gersh and Untitled, is recurring on Showtime’s Shameless. Wydra, repped by IFA and Artist Management, recurs on Fox’s House as Dr. House’s green card wife. Friday Night Lights alum Matt Lauira has joined KJ Steinberg and Shonda Rhimes ABC period drama Gilded Lilys. Set in 1895, it centers on the Lilys, who are looking to revive their familys fortunes by opening the most lavish hotel in NY history while their beautiful daughter Violet (Sarah Bolger), engaged to be married to wealthy family friend Charlie (Lauria), falls madly in love with charismatic lowly ships servant John Kidd (Long). In addition to vying for Violet’s heart, Charlie also is a business partner of her father (Bran F. OByrne). Lauria, repped by Principal Entertainment andBauman Redanty Shaul, recently co-starred in The Chicago Code and did arcs on CSI and Person Of Interest. Newly picked up ABC Family’s multi-camera comedy series Baby Daddy is undergoing recasting. Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Kyle XY) has been cast as the lead, Ben, replacingCameron Deane Stewart, who played the part in the pilot. Additionally, Melissa Peterman has been upped to a regular, joining pilot regulars Chelsea Kane, Derek Theler and Tahj Mowry. Created by Dan Berendsen, Baby Daddy centers on Ben (Bilodeau) who, in his 20s, becomes a surprise dad to a baby girl when shes left on his doorstep by an ex-girlfriend. Ben decides to raise the baby with the help of his mother Bonnie (Peterman), his brother Danny (Theler), his best buddy Tucker (Mowry) and his close female friend Riley (Kane), who is harboring a secret crush on him.

Guy Pearce's Prometheus role revealed

Prometheus has lengthy been considered to share an association with Ridley Scott's previous sci-fi smash Alien, and based on Scott, that connection is going to be embodied through the character described by Guy Pearce."Once the first Alien movie and Edge Runner were made," describes Scott, "I figured that soon the planet is going to be possessed by large companies. For this reason we've the Tyrell Corporation in Edge Runner, and Weyland-Yutani in Alien. They sent the Nostromo spaceship.""The Prometheus is possessed by a business owner known as Peter Weyland," he continues, "and it is performed by Guy Pearce. This is the link between the 2 films, and absolutely nothing more. Prometheus is really a new film, a " new world ", and is filled with new ideas. Not to mention new monsters too.InchHow can you explain the area Jockey then Ridley? Err? Regardless, this latest update is definitely an intriguing nugget of information. We are supposing Pearce's participation will most likely be fairly minimal, but it is interesting that both Nostromo and also the Prometheus are sent on their own missions on the rear of Weyland family funding.Starring Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba and Charlize Theron, Prometheus opens within the United kingdom on 1 June 2012. Approximately three several weeks to visit then, prior to the relaxation of Ridley's secrets are revealed...

Jesse Montgomery Can get Charge In CBS Drama Pilot Baby Large Shot

EXCLUSIVE: British actress Jesse Montgomery (Black Swan, Our Idiot Brother) has showed up charge in CBS’ drama pilot Baby Large Shot. The project, from author Dana Calvo, showrunner Kevin Falls, The brand new the new sony TV and Julia Franzs Fanfare, can be a legal drama devoted to Martina (Montgomery), a practical-class lady who uses her street inteligence to deal with her more polished co-employees inside a top NY lawyer. Baby Large Shot can be a rare drama pilot getting a 20something female lead this season that sparked competition among youthful stars. Montgomery, repped by UTA, Anonymous and Uk’s Hamilton/Hoddell, carried out E’s assistant Jennie in Cinemax’s Entourage throughout the past few seasons in addition to will be a regular on Season 2 of Fox’s Human Target. She's now filming the BBC miniseries Dancing Round The Edge.

Pre-packed films find greenlight

Steve Carells participation with 'Crazy Stupid Love' aided sell it off to art galleries, which are progressively emphasizing tentpoles, like 'Transformers Dark in the Moon.'Hollywood's reliance on franchises and identifiable brands has triggered a fundamental energy change inside the film biz, while using decline in development budgets within the major art galleries whetting appetites for prepackaged, ready-to-shoot projects. The finish result: Producers and filmmakers will have with additional hold within the mid- and small-budget levels.With faster greenlights since the prize, filmmakers have new incentives to totally develop their ideas prior to taking those to the art galleries. Agents and managers, meanwhile, are affixing talent to projects earlier on the way -- a big change that, every type of people players will attest, beats fighting with art galleries for approval."It is a lot more about creating (movies) and less about developing them in current day marketplace," states one lit agent.While you manager puts it: "The kind of Relativity only want packages they could pull the trigger on. They do not have the time or attention span to develop something by yourself. They assume that's your projects, which is your reason for obtaining a script to allow them to start with.InchNot one of that's prone to change, since the corporatization of Hollywood makes art galleries more unlikely to think about risks on misguided projects, and rather switched their concentrate on large-budget tentpoles that could perform as franchises within the box office too as with retail lanes. Since the 2007 writers' strike as well as the 2008 recession, the art galleries have felt more pressure to appease parent companies which are currently more cost-conscious and profit-hungry. They progressively need to produce content that moviegoers will instantly recognize and embrace. Last summer season alone saw the art galleries dedicated to familiar characteristics like the Transformers, the Smurfs, Thor, Eco-friendly Lantern, Captain America and Planet in the Apes.But whilst they devote their development dollars largely to tentpoles, art galleries have distribution pipelines to fill. They need to feed the megaplexes year-round, even when they're ultimately creating that product.That's opened up in the entrance doors for producers to create the comfort in the studios' slates with original fare."ten years ago, art galleries might have a package, however they weren't always trying to find them," one top agent inside a tenpercentery notifies Variety. "Now it's really important. Art galleries uncover their location becoming an opportunity to purchase something they are fully aware may happen instead of needing to pay a couple of million on developing a thing that will not ever happen."That doesn't imply it's simpler to acquire a greenlight. Tenpercenteries need to assemble packages that grab the eye of art galleries bosses and so are easily marketable to moviegoers.The packaging process, really, is becoming being spoken about before scripts are looked for the art galleries, and agents and managers are increasingly being taught to carry out the extra legwork to produce projects salable.Warner Bros.' "Crazy Stupid Love" will be a spec that several art galleries were towards the top of if the was put on the auction block a couple of in the past. What aided attract concentrate on the romantic comedy wasn't just its scribe, Serta Fogelman -- hot off Disney's "Cars" and "Twisted" -- nevertheless the attachment of Steve Carell becasue it is star. Getting produce a volume of high-profile videogame and comicbook adaptations within the art galleries, Adrian Askarieh has gone to live in accept independent road to package their very own projects, for instance "Alien Sleeper Cell," an alien invasion pic that Morgan Davis Foehl will write and Bill Block ("District 9") will produce through QED Intl. Askarieh takes the same approach with "Just Cause," an adaptation of Eidos' hit vidgame -- with Michael Ross ("Turistas") scripting and Eric Eisner's L+E Pictures co-creating -- to have the ability to retain more creative control and accelerate the development process.Most recently, the background music business is becoming involved: ICM has began packaging a tale-style pic turning around music with the Grateful Dead, after being granted unlimited ease of access band's music catalog.Another package that came attention was Universal's deal to buy an R-rated college-based comedy that will star Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, with various script by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. Rogen will produce with Evan Goldberg through their Point Grey Pictures shingle.The commitment more talent early on the way has aided enhance the cost of those deals, reps say, doubling in addition to tripling whatever they might have showed up for just about any traditional spec purchase formerly.Inside the Rogen-Efron deal, the scribes attracted in seven figures as well as the thesps pocketed greater-than-usual quotes along with post sales costs carrying out a investing in an offer war happened to secure the project. Rogen will earn $8 million on top of the seven-figure creating fee.Acquiring lower talent, however, could be much like difficult as selling an activity with a studio. Just getting talent to determine the material holds back a package, reps say. However it doesn't hang on a minute.InchIt is a factor to get the right talent to like the material are available onboard. It's a completely other step to obtain that director or actor to determine it," states one lit agent. "Often it takes 72 hrs, in some cases it takes them three several days, numerous issues we come across come lower to timing."The participation of multiple agencies could also cause delays, considering that each possesses its own idea regarding who's to topline a particular little bit of material.For your raunchy college comedy setup at Universal, UTA and Principal repped Rogen. The tenpercentery also repped Goldberg. Efron's deal was handled by CAA and Alchemy, because the scribes may also be repped by CAA. Financing can be a primary component that frequently is essential when packaging such projects just before them getting their footing inside a studio.Numerous auteurs got their projects all set to go due to the Annapurna Pictures banner, headed by Megan Ellison.Within the this past year, Ellison originates onboard to purchase pictures for instance Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Particular,In . "The Wettest County" and Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal's untitled project concerning the quest for Osama bin Laden. And last May, Creative Artists Agency attached "Fast Five" helmer Justin Lin and producer Robert Cort for the two-picture "Terminator" package that provided to Annapurna for roughly $20 million inside an auction within the Cannes Film Festival. In virtually every situation, Annapurna originates onboard incorporated within the packaging process before these projects were brought to some studio. (Ellison's brother David, in comparison, constitutes a status for themselves by boarding studio tentpoles, for instance "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" as well as the "Star WarsInch follow-up, within the financing stage.)Outdoors financing has fostered other nontraditional development.India's Reliance Group invested $325 million in DreamWorks, and gave CAA clients Kaira Pitt, Jim Carrey, Brett Ratner, Jay Roach and Jennifer Aniston $2 million each to develop films. It provided $5 million to visualize Entertainment to create an inhouse authors lab to produce scripts. These development funds, however, have not yet yield any projects.Even though it may appear like less specs are increasingly being provided to art galleries nowadays, some reps believe the majors continue being willing to battle such work once the material feels right, since it was with Fox's "Chronicle," a small-budget horror pic that's already passed $50 million within the domestic box office. And at least one lit representative is adamant that spec sales aren't dead, that the primary reason lots of go undetected is really because a simple pitch with no one attached doesn't arrive concentrating on the same fanfare the pedigreed package typically does."Packages just jump out more on television because of the talent attached," the repetition states. "Let's say I sell a pitch for $375,000 however someone else sells a pitch with Tom Cruise attached. That merely comprises a larger splash." What: Art galleries see pre-packed projects weight reduction efficient, less pricey.The takeaway: Packaging gives filmmakers with additional hold over mid-range budget photos.Return to Movies & Money >> Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

Paul Master ink first-look cope with Universal

WalkerJoining his "Fast Five" co-star, Paul Master has inked a 2-year first-look production pact with Universal Pictures to accommodate his Laguna Ridge Pictures. The very first project under this agreement may be the action thriller "Skyscraper," according to an authentic idea by Mike Sobel. Master will executive produce and star, with Neil Moritz's Original Films creating. "I have were built with a lengthy and effective relationship with Universal therefore it is the apparent and perfect home for Laguna Ridge Pictures. I am excited to grow my relationship together with Neal, who is a catalyst along with a guide throughout my career. Getting the support of Jim Berkus, Theresa Peters and Chris Hart at UTA, together with my manager Matt Luber and my creating partner Brandon Birtell, this is the time to consider the following step," stated Master. Laguna Ridge Pictures operates by Master, Brandon Birtell and manager Matt Luber. "Fast Five," the newest installment within the "Fast & the Furious" franchise, made a lot more than $630 million in the worldwide B.O. and subsequently installment adopts production this spring. "It's impossible the Fast and Furious franchise might have end up being the phenomenon it has without Paul's imprint around the series," stated Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman, Donna Langley inside a joint statement. "We are excited to become the receivers of his creative act as he branches out like a filmmaker and takes up projects like a producer." The offer marks a distinctive move through the studio that has now secured its four top bits of creative talent in the franchise to similar handles helmer Justin Lin and author Chris Morgan also receiving similar deals because the pic bowed last April. Currently where galleries appear to become reducing their on-lot-deals, Universal appears to to be the opposite not just filling out the "Fast Five" group to deals but additionally getting on Jason Blum and the Blum House pictures towards the lot too reupping Imagine Entertainment's deal. Since "Fast Five" bowed, Master has locked onto two Peter Safran created indies, "Vehicle 19" and "Hrs," and sources say he's wanted to obtain more on the job together with his projects for a while. Master is presently filming "Hrs" and can jump into filming "Fast Six" this might. He's repped by UTA and Luber Roklin. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com