Doris Day to get Career Achievement Award From La Film Experts Association

Getty ImagesDoris Day circa 1966 Doris Day continues to be named the person receiving the La Film Experts Association's Career Achievement Award. Even though actress hasn't made an appearance on fim because the late ླྀs, through the ཮s and early ླྀs she was among Hollywood's reigning boxoffice stars. Although she's best referred to as virginal heroine of these creamy comedies as Pillow Talk which Touch of MInk, she made an appearance in an array of films from thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock's The Guy Who Understood An Excessive Amount Of to musical dramas like Charles Vidor's Love Me or Leave Me. STORY: Doris Day Interviews With Mister Paul McCartney Before Album Drops Throughout the path of her career, she received one Academy Award nomination as well as actress for 1959's Pillow Talk. Through the years, her fans supporters also have advised the Academy to pay for tribute to her by having an honorary award, even though it has yet to do this. LAFCA also introduced that it'll meet to election on its option for the entire year's best films 12 ,. 11. Doris Day

Amy Winehouse Died From Drinking Too Much Alcohol, Coroner Rules

The results of the inquest into Amy Winehouse's death have been revealed.our editor recommends'Today Show' Makes Amy Winehouse Gaffe (Video)Amy Winehouse 'Seemed Out Out of It' Day Before Death, Mom Says PHOTOS: Amy Winehouse Funeral The Grammy winner died from alcohol poisoning, a London coroner said Wednesday. Coroner Suzanne Greenaway tells the Associated Press the verdict has been ruled "death by misadventure" because Winehouse voluntarily consumed alcohol and took on the consequences of her actions. PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths A pathologist's report found that Winehouse had consumed a "very large quantity of alcohol," and was more than five times the legal limit when she died. The singer's body was discovered at her North London home on July 23. She was aged just 27 and had fought a very public battle with both alcohol and drugs during her short but notable musical career. Sitting at St Pancras Coroner's Court in London, Greenway said of Winehouse: "she had consumed sufficient alcohol at 416 mg per decilitre of blood and the unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death." The British legal limit for driving under the influence of alcohol is 80mg. The singer's weight loss, tiny frame and bronchial problems are also likely to have increased her exposure to the effects of alcohol on her system. The hearing was told that she had not consumed any alcohol in the three-weeks leading to her death. An earlier toxicology report published in August had found that there were no illegal drugs in her system, despite press reports claiming she had been out the night before her death buying drugs in North London. The inquest also heard that live-in security guard Andrew Morris had checked on the star on the morning of the 23rd July and thought she was in bed sleeping. He called the emergency services when he checked on her five hours later and found she had not moved. Empty vodka bottles were found at the scene. The multi--award winner is widely regarded as one of the most dazzling vocal talents to emerge from Britain in recent years, with hit album Back To Black returning to the top of the charts within days of her death this summer. Related Topics Amy Winehouse

Starz orders 'Da Vinci's Demons'

Starz has greenlit original adventure series "Da Vinci's Demons" from BBC Worldwide Prods. David Goyer ("Batman Begins") written the pilot and you'll be showrunner for your series, which will begin production on its eight-episode order early next season, getting a 2013 premiere specific. "Demons" will be the first project in production beneath the multiyear agreement Starz signed with BBC Worldwide Prods. this summer season. "If there are any day has Tony Stark, the Renaissance had da Vinci," Starz Media controlling director Carmi Zlotnik mentioned. "This is often a story we're feeling will captivate the creativity of audiences around the globe which is the initial from the products we be ready to be many productions with this particular gifted partners at BBC Worldwide Productions." The series will begin with da Vinci at 25, already a designer, inventor, swordsman and romantic. "Da Vinci was the first Renaissance guy -- a near-mythic figure that has worldwide appeal," Goyer mentioned. "We now have spent with figures like Batman and Superman, it developed a strange kind of sense will be able to join in towards the particulars and tales swirling round his roots. "This can be a show about secret histories, genius, madness, and many types of things profane. And i'm particularly excited that we get to make it happen on premium cable, where the story is frequently as dark and challenging and irreverent since it warrants being. Starz and BBC Worldwide Productions are actually only encouraging." BBC Worldwide Prods. will handle worldwide distribution in the series, which Goyer will professional produce with BBC Worldwide Prods. senior scripted veep Julie Gardner and topper Jane Tranter. "The youthful information on the incredibly complex and brilliant guy is not looked into," Tranter mentioned. "We're able to not be passionate about getting this story to U.S. audiences and worldwide audiences." Starz opened up its latest original series, Kelsey Grammer starrer "Boss," the other day. "Spartacus: Vengeance" returns within the month of the month of january, then your premiere of "Miracle City" in April. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Jenna Elfman Joins DirecTVs Damages

Comedy actress Jenna Elfman is taking a dramatic turn with a major recurring role on the upcoming fifth and final season of DirecTV’s Damages, starring Glenn Close and Rose Byrne. The former Dharma & Greg star is joining another major new addition to the show, recently cast Ryan Phillippe. Elfman will play an investment bank employee troubled by her companys conduct. When she approaches Channing McClaren (Phillippe), the iconoclastic founder of a website devoted to corporate and government transparency, it lays the foundation for the case that will pit Patty Hewes (Close) and Ellen Parsons (Byrne) against each other. Also recently cast as a recurring on Damages‘ fifth season, set to air next year, is John Hannah (Spartacus) as McClarens loyal adviser and protector. Elfman, repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment, was last seen on the season premiere of Two And A Half Man and in the summer feature comedy Friends With Benefits. She is the latest network TV comedy star to take on a dramatic role on Damages, following Ted Danson, Martin Short and John Goodman.

Aisha Tyler to Co-Host CBS' 'The Talk'

Getty Images Aisha Tyler has became a member of CBS' daytime show The Talk. The actress-comedian will function as a co-host alongside Julie Chen, show co-creator Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood, beginning Monday. PHOTOS: 'The Talk's' Memorable Guest Hosts Tyler becomes the 2nd new co-host on the program, following Underwood, who became a member of the talker because of its second season, which opened Sept. 6. Her casting came around the heels from the recent departures of Leah Remini and Carol Robinson Peete. Original co-host Marissa Jaret Winokur also left early this season. Meanwhile, Osbourne introduced in This summer that she'd be going for a break in the Speak with hang out with her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, who definitely are overall an 18-month-lengthy tour. Tyler, who presently voices a job in Forex's animated series Archer, isn't any stranger to hosting. She's offered asguest host around the Talk, CBS' Late Late Show and E!'s Talk Soup and shot a talk show pilot for ABC 2 yrs ago. Various other credits include roles on Ghost Whisperer, CSI, 24 and Buddies. RELATED: Kris Jenner To Guest Host on 'The Talk' Comedian Sheryl Underwood Joins as Co-Host Sharon Osbourne Taking Break From 'The Talk' Aisha Tyler The Talk CBS

FEINBERG & FRIENDS, Episode 3: Scott & Hollywood News' Sean O'Connell on the Awards Race (Audio)

Paramount I'm very pleased to bring you the third episode of "Feinberg & Friends," a podcast that will air on The Race every week, usually on Tuesdays. Each episode features a discussion between me and a different guest -- a film blogger, critic or journalist of some other variation -- about 10 different awards-related topics (which we will list in the text accompanying the audio so that you know exactly what you're signing up for) and will last approximately 30 minutes (so that if one topic is not of particular interest to you it will only be about three minutes before we're on to the next one, which hopefully will be). PHOTOS: Steven Spielberg's 'The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn' I was delighted that my friend Sean O'Connell, who runs the "Awards Alley" blog for HollywoodNews.com and also contributes to several other sites, agreed to join me for this episode. I really enjoyed our chat, during which we addressed the following 10 topics: 1. The two biggest awards developments this week, thus far: (a) the well-received debut of The Adventures of Tintin, the motion-capture/animated film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, which had its first press screening in London ahead of its Paris debut; and (b) the continued success of The Artist, which won the audience award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, which is attended by many industry insiders, including Academy voters. 2. If all of the remaining "question-mark movies" -- War Horse, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, J. Edgar, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Young Adult -- prove to be disappointing when they are finally screened, which of the other films that we have seen would be most strongly positioned to win best picture? In other words, what is the strongest contender that we know about already? The Artist? Moneyball? Midnight in Paris? The Help? Something else? 3. Can The Tree of Life, Carnage, or any other film with an ensemble cast/without a clear lead (or at least a clear shot at getting a lead nomination) successfully argue -- like Bullets Over Broadway (1994) or Babel (2006) in years past -- that all of each of its cast members should be considered in the supporting categories? 4. Are Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and -- to a lesser extent -- The Ides of March actually too smart for their own good when it comes to awards contention? Will voters who crave escapsim rather than intellectual stimulation -- i.e. the folks who secured The Blind Side a best picture Oscar nod -- be able to wrap their heads around films that really make them think? 5. Will the best supporting actress category feature two nominees from the same film gain for the fourth year in a row, a la Doubt (2008), Up in the Air (2009), and The Fighter (2010)? The Descendants's young star Shailene Woodley has seemed like a pretty solid bet to score a nod ever since the film premiered in Telluride, but buzz has also been building since then for her co-star Judy Greer, who has only a few minutes of screen time, but one particularly powerful scene that could conceivably land her a Beatrice Straight (Network)/Viola Davis (Doubt)-type nod of her own. 6. This week, the Academy released its list of all of the films submitted for best foreign language film Oscar. Did any countries surprise us by picking obscure films over popular ones, as was the case in recent years with several films, including Sweden's Let the Right One In (2008) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2010)? Perhaps Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In? And, of those that were submitted, which look to be the strongest contenders to make it onto the short-list and face the Academy's eccentric foreign language sub-committee? 7. Of this year's many worthy "little" movies -- among them, Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Take Shelter, Drive, Win Win, and Tyrannosaur -- which stand the best chance of registering in one category or another with the Academy? And where? 8. Of this year's "bigger" movies -- including Super 8, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2, Hugo, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- which have the best shot of snagging nods outside of the tech categories? 9. Is a best actress nomination for Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) as much of a sure-thing as many people seem to believe it is? The movie is not really provoking passionate support in many circles, and, where it is, much of it is reserved for best supporting actress hopeful Janet McTeer. And, if Close doesn't make the final five, who will fill the two spots not occupied by -- presumably -- Viola Davis (The Help), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), and Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)? 10. Is best actress hopeful Ellen Barkin (Another Happy Day) helping or sabotaging her prospects of securing her first Oscar nod with her -- pardon the expression -- "f*ckin'" Twitter rampage? We ran a little longer than 30 minutes this week, but I think it was all time well spent. You can decide for yourself by tuning in below... NOTE: We welcome your constructive feedback about this week's edition and topic suggestions for next week's edition in the comments section below. Ellen Barkin Judy Greer The Adventures of Tintin The Descendants

Oscar Index: Is It February Yet?

Welcome back to week five of Movieline’s 2011-12 Oscar Index — week five! Already! We’re entering the second month of this sucker, and our scientists and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics remain hard at work uncovering new hints and implications every passing day. Well, not every passing day. OK, like, maybe a couple times a week. What can I tell you? It’s still early! Let’s have a glimpse at the latest — if light — movement this week. [Click the graphs for full-size images.] The Leading 10: 1. War Horse 2. The Artist 3. The Descendants 4. Moneyball 5. J. Edgar 6. The Help 7. Midnight in Paris 8. The Ides of March 9. My Week With Marilyn 10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Outsiders: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy The Tree of Life, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows After last week’s belabored (re)statement of purpose that pretty much nobody read, instead zeroing in on the graphs as some sort of subjective dream scenario (yes, I really, really must see War Horse walk away with everything, please, nothing would make me happier than more lugubrious Spielberg-ian Oscar bait devoured by a self-satisfied bunch of blue-haired Hollywood shut-ins), I’m just going to cut right to the chase this time around: The Artist is a very, very good film that earned a nice profile boost last week in the closing weekend of the NY Film Festival and as the Audience Award winner out at the Hamptons Film Festival. (It overshadowed The Descendants at both events — though not by much — and added another award at the Chicago International Film Festival as well.) A cluster of pundits reiterated its status as the current film to beat, though the experts aggregated at Gold Derby collectively have it topping out at fifth in the race. Perhaps the more intriguing discussion this week concerned just how many Best Picture nominees there would have come Jan. 24. According to Steve Pond’s calculations, the Academy will choose seven: Yes, it’s conceivable that 10 films could end up with the 250-or-so votes needed to land on the Best Picture slate. With nearly 6,000 voters eligible to cast ballots, that number shouldn’t be unreachable. But given the way votes will be spread out among dozens of films, and the limited opportunity to make a move after the initial count, I suspect the number of nominees will be closer to five than to 10 most years. The Academy, after all, revealed a crucial piece of information when it announced the change: PricewaterhouseCoopers went back and studied 10 years worth of voting, and concluded that if the new system had been in effect, it would have resulted in years of five, six, seven, eight and nine nominees. But never a year of 10. Sasha Stone, meanwhile, sees a little more expansion, with The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Midnight in Paris and Moneyball locked into the running for sure and a few unseen prestige pics taking up the remainder of slots — however many that means: The final number of Best Picture nominees will probably be between 5 and 9. 5% of 6000 is 300. That is a high estimate of how many ballots will be turned in. Likely, we’re looking at a lower magic number. To reach that number of 300 you either have to have a film with enormous support (like 20% of number 1 votes) or else have enough votes heading into round two that, with the partial votes left over from the 20% ballots to reach 300. […] I’ll probably end up predicting 9 nominees. Unless one of these films that hasn’t yet been seen drops off. There is wiggle room for one or two surprises, but they’d have to be really stunning, enthusiastic ones. Speaking of which, a few possibilities arose with The Adventure of Tintin (which earned raves out of its London premiere) and even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which Scott Feinberg reports has a major awards push forthcoming from Warner Bros. We’ve been hearing this for months, of course, and it’s a tremendous long shot under the rule requiring 5 percent of first-place votes for a nomination. But stranger things have happened. Wait. Actually, no they haven’t. Nothing more colossally fucking strange than the second installment of the seventh film in a fantasy franchise based on bestselling young-adult novels being nominated for Best Picture has ever happened in the history of the Academy Awards. Ever. The Leading 5: 1. Steven Spielberg, War Horse 2. Alexander Payne, The Descendants 3. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist 4. Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar 5. David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Outsiders: Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; George Clooney, The Ides of March; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris; Tomas Alfredson, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Tate Taylor, The Help How to enliven what is shaping up as the worst category of the year? How about a game? With no clues to go on except the graph above, guess the date on which this story ran at Gold Derby: “Oscarologists split between directors Spielberg and Payne.” Only 18 more weeks to go, everyone!

B.C. digs for Look

Visual effects house Look Effects has opened up up a Vancouver location inside the Gastown district. The business already has offices in La and Gotham. It joins a slew of other production and vfx companies with facilities in Vancouver, including Pixar, Digital Domain, and Rhythm & Hues, among others. Look Effects prez Mark Driscoll told Variety the organization happen to be searching at Vancouver for "about 10 years.In . The drive to start a Canuck outpost "came lower to flexibility," he mentioned. "Clients preferred to be capable of use Look, in locations where were preferential because of tax incentives and shooting locations." The vfx company will staff the Vancouver branch with Canadian talent. Its first project in Vancouver will probably be Summit's horror pic "Warm Physiques." Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Comedy rules season's first month

"The Office" continues to deliver demos for the Peacock network. Tim Allen in "Last Man Standing" "Two and a Half Men," above, has given CBS some extra spark on Mondays while "Last Man Standing" delivered a big bow for ABC. Comedy is king for the first month of the TV season, with the best story coming out of every network related to half-hours. It's a different story, meanwhile, in other genres as most reality shows and dramas seem to be facing an uphill battle. The record-setting top shows on basic cable, in fact, have ventured into the teeth of the broadcast season and fared very well. Last week among adults 18-49, AMC's second-season premiere of "The Walking Dead" ranked second among all primetime dramas (tied with CBS' "Criminal Minds" and not too far behind the Eye's "NCIS"), while MTV's "Jersey Shore" outperformed all unscripted broadcast skeins except for one seg of Fox's "The X Factor," according to Nielsen. In comedy, though, broadcast is where it's at, as half-hours account for the fall's top six entertainment series in 18-49. CBS, the season leader in 18-49 through four weeks, has made its biggest noise in comedy as new series "2 Broke Girls" (4.3/11, 10.71m) and the new-ish "Two and a Half Men" (5.9/14, 16.20m for the fourth seg featuring Ashton Kutcher) have re-energized the entire Monday comedy block, and leadoff hitter "How I Met Your Mother" is off to its own hot start (4.0/11, 8.89m last week); CBS Monday has even emerged as the top-rated live-action comedy block among adults 18-34, surpassing ABC's Wednesday (which is also up) and NBC's Thursday (which is down). Also for the Eye, "The Big Bang Theory" is Thursday's No. 1 series (4.6/14, 13.58m last week). At Fox, while dinosaur drama "Terra Nova" and Simon Cowell-fronted reality show "The X Factor" have done OK but not performed as well as many had thought, it's Zooey Deschanel comedy "New Girl" that has put up the best ratings. Preempted last week, the laffer is tied with "2 Broke Girls" as the season's No. 3 comedy and top newcomer. ABC, whose reality tentpole "Dancing With the Stars" is having a sub-par season ratings wise, is pleased with its new Wednesday comedy "Suburgatory" (3.1/8, 8.92m last week), which is building a bit on its lead-in from "The Middle" (2.9/9, 8.87m last week) and providing a better lead-in for "Modern Family" (5.9/15, 13.65m last week). Now in its third season, "Family" is up and trails only CBS' "Two and a Half Men" in the 18-49 non-sports program rankings; it's also the most DVR-ed show, and when final numbers come in for Week 4, it is expected to move ahead of football to finish No. 1 for the first time. The Alphabet also saw Tim Allen's new show "Last Man Standing" open well last Tuesday (3.6/10 in 18-49, 13.19m), becoming the top-rated 8 p.m. comedy debut on any net in nearly eight years. And while it has been a tough start to the season for NBC, its Wednesday comedy "Up All Night" has showed a spark (2.1/6, 5.24m last week) and figures to be asked to help shore up Thursday night at some point. "The Office," meanwhile, remains easily the net's No. 1 entertainment series in demos (3.3/9, 6.08m last week). Looking at numbers for the week of Oct. 10-16, Fox took advantage of Sunday's NFL overrun to win in adults 18-49 with a 2.9 rating/8 share. It was followed by CBS (2.6/7), ABC (2.3/6), NBC (2.1/6) and Univision (1.4/4). Fox also edged ahead of CBS for the week's lead in adults 25-54 (3.5/9 to 3.4/8) while the Eye continued its winning streak to start the season in total viewers (10.6 million to 8.9 million for Fox). Of note for the frame, ABC's "Revenge" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 7.90m), arguably the most buzzed about new fall drama, became the first drama to show a week-to-week 18-49 gain. One night later, CBS' "Person of Interest" did the same (2.8/7, 12.04m). The dramas whose fates appear to be up in the air are CBS' "A Gifted Man" on Friday (1.2/4, 7.71m) and ABC's "Pan Am" on Sunday (1.8/4, 5.83m), with the latter down a tick week-to-week and down more than 40% from its premiere. On the comedy side, NBC's "Whitney" has already been picked up for the rest of the season but continued its decline last Thursday (2.0/5, 4.25m), off nearly 40% from its premiere. On cable last week, AMC's "Walking Dead" (3.8/9, 7.26m) established a basic-cable drama record for most adults 18-49 (4.8 million). It and MTV's unstoppable "Jersey Shore" (3.6/9, 6.47m) ranked among TV's top 15 primetime series in 18-49 last week. Other top performers included E!'s finale of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" (2.1/5, 3.98m), BET's "Hip Hop Awards" (2.1/5, 4.08m) and FX's "Sons of Anarchy" (1.9/5, 3.56m). FX's "American Horror Story" (1.4/3, 2.46m) retained nearly 90% of the demo aud for its premiere of the previous week. Showtime's "Homeland" averaged 1.08 million for its third episode Sunday at 10 p.m., up 15% week to week. Including its same-night repeat, Sunday's seg drew slghtly more viewers than the premiere (1.34m vs. 1.33m), and the pay cabler said the show is on track to become its top-performing first-year drama to date. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com

Rankings: Pan Am Lower Again

Pan Am Rabbits and angels and stewardesses, my dear! Pan Am continues its descent, showing it is not a great season for fake feminism. Fall TV Recognition Contest: What new shows have won you over? ABC's sixties drama about stewardesses possibilities for ladies required on just 5.89 million audiences because of its 4th episode Sunday evening, finishing a distant third in prime time's final hour. Simply to chart the downward trajectory from the previous days: Viewership has totaled 10.87 million, 7.75 million and 6.42 million. Only at that rate, the show soon will join the not brilliant-and-canceled scrap heap using the Playboy Club and Charlie's Angels. Simultaneously, CSI: Miami snapped up 10.51 million people along with a 2.4 rating whilst fans were tuning the Sunday Evening Football game because the Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings. The overall game averaged an uncharacteristically low 14.74 million, a figured pulled lower through the 12.61 million who hung inside from 10 to 11 p.m. EDT. Fall TV Eye Chocolate: The most popular males and ladies from the year At 9/8c, CBS' The Great Wife attracted 10.4 million fans (2.1 rating), whileDesperate Housewives' snapped up 8.56 million (2.7). In prime time's first hour Sunday, Amazing Race had 9.26 million versus. Extreme Transformation: Home Edition's 7.ten million. A unique Sunday airing from the X Factor drawn in 8.sixty five million people while posting a 3.4 demo rating.

Renee Zellweger, Lifetime Team for Hollywood Period Drama

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty ImagesRenee Zellweger Lifetime takes a couple of pages from Renee Zellweger's diary. The feminine-skewing cable network has acquired Cinnamon Girl, a sixties drama loosely according to Zellweger's journey from small-town Texas to Hollywood. Produced by Zellweger and Anthony Tambakis (Warrior), Cinnamon Girl will center around four women because they come old throughout the cultural revolution from the late sixties and early seventies in La. The drama will explore Cassie, Lola, Cent and Lou's lives because they achieve a crossroads from the era's political, artistic, social and sexual rebellions. "Renee's passion, clearness of character and deep emotion with this project immediately moved us towards the late '60s/early '70s and produced a resonance around attempting to experience again that energy," Lifetime leader and GM Nancy Dubuc stated inside a statement announcing this news Wednesday. "Cinnamon Girl is a game title changer for the network and is the kind of show you want to deliver." Zellweger and Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) will executive produce, using the Bridget Johnson actress co-writing the storyline alongside Tambakis, who'll pen the script. O'Connor will direct with Danny Bramson (Jerry McGuire) becoming producer and music supervisor. "We are thrilled to become joining up with Nancy Dubuc and Take advantage of Sharenow, who share our enthusiasm and inventive intentions, and that we believe the timing is ideal for Cinnamon Girl to possess found a house at Lifetime throughout this major juncture in the network," Zellweger stated. "We are really searching toward making Cinnamon Girl arrived at existence in their campaign to grow audience anticipation and redefine what it really means to become a Lifetime show." The time drama marks Zellweger's second project with Lifetime. In 2008 she executive created Living Proof, the real story of UCLA's Dr. Dennis Slamon, who assisted develop the cancer of the breast drug Herceptin. Cinnamon also can serve as the most recent inside a lengthy type of high-profile projects for that cabler, which now opened its original movie Five, an anthology of short films going through the impact of cancer of the breast on individuals lives. Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore and Alicia Secrets were one of the company directors participating. The network can also be creating a period drama turning round the Hollywood Reporter founder William Wilkerson with Johnny Depp's shingle Infinitum Nihil attached in addition to a contemporary reboot of Steel Magnolias from Hairspray duo Neil Meron and Craig Zadan. Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com Twitter: @Snoodit Renee Zellweger Lifetime

NYU fund honours three pic projects

Visitors in the Chris Columbus/Richard Vague film fund are Nicholas Brennan (second from left), Alexandra Gordon and Chloe Zhao. Venture capitalist Vague reaches far left Tisch alum Columbus is third within the right. The Kanbar Institute of Film, TV & New Media at NYU's Tisch School in the Arts has selected three visitors of the 2011 Chris Columbus/Richard Vague Film Production Fund. Tisch students Nicholas Brennan, Alexandra "Sasha" Gordon and Chloe Zhao can get a complete of $225,000 to produce docu "Hard Rock Havana," "It Must be You" and "Lee," correspondingly. The winning three were among a lot of students to submit scripts for your award. After passing using the first stages, runners up required to pitch and discuss their ideas -- like the feasibility and budget in the projects -- getting an organization that incorporated "The AssistanceInch producer and Tisch alum Chris Columbus and venture capitalist Richard Vague. "We required to consider whether these kids could really get these films made," Columbus told Variety. "50 % of it is the script and 50% is, 'Do you have a realistic budget?'?" Brennan's "Havana" follows Cuban heavy-metal band Zeus while Gordon's "You" centers around a NY jingle author on the path to self-discovery. Zhao's "Lee" notifies the story from the daring Lakota boy round the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Columbus/Vague honours support Kanbar's recent alumni and thesis students within the grad and undergrad programs by delivering financing for first features. Individuals who win include Andrew MacLean and Dee Rees, who used their honours to produce "Round the Ice" and "Pariah," which examined at Sundance this year. Focus will release "Pariah" in December. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Raine Group sets equity fund

The Raine Group has completed the fundraising for its flagship private equity fund, expanding the company's reach into entertainment, digital media and sports investments with more than $475 million assets under management. Raine said Tuesday it has completed three principal investments with the fund: multimedia company Vice, browser-based games giant Jagex, and celeb-driven e-commerce platform OpenSky. "We are pleased to have successfully completed our fundraising process," said Jeff Sine, one of Raine's two founders. "This is a significant milestone for Raine and we are excited about the prospects for our investments to date and our ability to continue to bring together strong management teams with our limited partners to execute on the global opportunities we see in our focus areas." Company also announced that media banking vet Glenn Schiffman has joined the firm as a partner. Schiffman hails from Nomura Holdings, where he headed investment banking. Before Nomura, he spent 17 years at Lehman Brothers. Sherri Williams has joined Raine as managing director for private placements and capital markets. She was previously with Montgomery & Co., where she was helped build the firm's private placement business. Sine and Joseph Ravitch and founded Raine, a merchant bank focused solely on entertainment, digital media and sports, in partnership with WME in 2009. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Might be the Halo movie back on?

Gets the Halo movie finally fought against against its exit of development hell?Information incorporated in the French news release for just about any book good videogame signifies a movie is planned for release in 2012 which is being created in cooperation having a couple of major names."A film adaptation is occur 2012. It'll be completed with each other by two heavyweights of yank cinema: Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks," states the news release for Halo: Cryptum, should you choose translation.ET return home (before we frag your ass)?Sadly, Microsoft has shot lower whispers from the rebirth for your Halo movie."The information inside the news release in mind is inaccurate. We've no plans for just about any Halo feature film at this time around. Our focus is on developing Halo: Anniversary and Halo 4 Trailer Trailer,Inch the tech giant told IGN. Master Chief, where are you currently presently?

Publisher Author Solutions Sets $1M Script Development Fund For New Film Arm

Indie book publisher Author Solutions has solidified a $1 million development fund to finance screenplays adapted from books written by its stable of self-published writers, who account for more than 145,000 titles. The publisher, which has a first-look deal with Principal Entertainment, will run the fund out of its newly formed production shingle FuseFrame that is being overseen by Author Solutions’ film and new-media unit boss Marcus Chait. The first property in the fund is A Game Of Hide And Seek, by Irene Farrimond. John Swetnam is adapting the book, a thriller about a group of teens vacationing in a remote mountain resort who must rescue their parents after they are taken hostage by a band of criminals. Chait is producing with Principal’s Danny Sherman; Principal’s Jen Weinbaum is co-producing.

X-Men: First Class Full Movie