The Hot Button by David Poland

Thursday, 14 January 1999

LET THE WARS BEGIN: Michael Ovitz is back in the Hollywood business and, as I've written before, he's brought the superhot power couple Rick and Julie Yorn with him. The couple was part of the Addis-Weschler talent management group before turning producers (Industry Entertainment) before going back to managing. Well, they teamed up with Ovitz in the Artists Management Group. Ovitz, as I'm sure you know, came from CAA, then the most powerful agency in the world. So, what's the war about? For the last decade, talent managers have bent the balance between the jobs of agent and manager in actors' careers. The idea was that agents looked for jobs and negotiated the deals while managers shaped the choices their clients made. But managers started taking producing credits on shows and as producers, suddenly they were creating work, shutting out the agents who were supposed to be looking for work.

The line was relatively subtle, but with Ovitz (former agent supreme) going the management route, all eyes are watching. And agents are beginning to feel a bit screwed. Now, as the movie exhibition business changes, the government has allowed studios to start owning lots of theaters again. And as the networks were becoming less profitable, they were allowed to start owning more of their own shows. So, maybe the laws governing the agency business will soon change and the war will be settled before it really begins. But for now, Ovitz has sent the first shot across the agencies' bow, signing directors Barry Levinson and Martin Scorsese to his new company. Scorsese will keep his agency, CAA, for now. But that doomsday clock is ticking. Tick, tick, tick.
SWEEPING UP THE GREEN DIRT: Peter Hoffman is another long-time mover and shaker in Hollywood. He is perhaps most famous for running the company that produced Terminator 2, Basic Instinct and Cliffhanger into bankruptcy. But, like everyone else who gets to play with hundreds of millions of dollars, win or lose, he has the shelf life of plutonium. Now, he has started a company, with partner Jay Firestone, that is designed to pick up small films from companies who can't afford to finish their movies. They expect to buy as many as eight titles for approximately $12 million. That's between $20 and $24 million worth of movies for just $12 million. And there's more! They have 16 more troubled movies in their sights. How can they do it? Well, low-budget films are gap financed with the expectation that foreign rights sales will cover the shortfall. But the market sucks internationally for the low-budget business these days and selling off your film at half-price is better than going bankrupt, right? Well, it wasn't for Hoffman.
ACADEMY NUMBERS: With Billy out and Whoopi headed in -- snooping reporters seem to have forced the announcement of the switch before the deal could be closed with the center square -- there are some numbers from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that may be of interest to you. Oscar nomination ballots have already gone out to the 5,467 voting Academy members. That breaks down into the following branches: actors: 1,306; art directors: 342; cinematographers: 159; directors: 351; executives: 398; film editors: 209; music: 245; producers: 452; public relations: 349; shorts: 308; sound: 388; visual effects: 183; writers: 393; and assorted others: 384. Voting ballots have to be in by Jan. 29, nominations hit the street Feb. 9 and the Big Show is on March 21.
SEE S--- FIRST!: An interesting story came through yesterday. When you see "World Premiere Movies" on HBO or Showtime, you aren't seeing films that were made for the cable nets, with the exception of HBO Original Originals and one Showtime original to date. What you are seeing are films that didn't quite make it to theatrical distribution but have strong enough elements for the cable nets to promote effectively. (Just for the record of the home team, TNT Pictures are always made specifically for the network, with international theatrical distribution.) So, now Blockbuster is getting into that game. Blockbuster Originals are on their way. They bought a movie from hackhouse Trimark (A company that has been trying, pretty unsuccessfully, to invest in art lately.) and will apparently be at Sundance (with me) looking for possible movies for the new outlet. That may put them in conflict with Sundance itself, with whom they have a deal for promotion. But just think, you can see Charlie Sheen shoot stuff... only at Blockbuster!
TWO ADDS: One, Charlie is being credited as Charles Sheen in some crummy movie premiering on HBO this week. And, two, the Sundance Channel has set up an e-commerce store for movies that have shown at the festival in years past and for stuff like T-Shirts. It's www.sundancefilmstore.com. Seems like a cool idea to me.
BIG MOVIE, LITTLE SCREEN: Speaking of the film/cable connection, HBO just gave the greenlight to 14 episodes of "L.A. Confidential: The Series." The series will start eight years before the movie and none of the original cast or crew is expected to be part of the series. However, the one constant will be producer Warner Bros., who is also producing the USA Cable series, "La Femme Nikita," also based on a movie. Plans for Soldier: The Series may be a while in coming.
EVERYWHERE THEY WANT YOU TO BE: Universal Studio's credit card program is offering... WAIT! Universal Studios has a credit card program? Yes. It's already 14 months old. Why didn't anyone tell me? Apparently, Universal is co-branding with Discover on the card, which accumulates "studio points" as you spend. Five-thousand points can get you, for instance, a George Clooney-signed copy of the Out of Sight screenplay. But, how do you accumulate the points? You receive 200 points for paying for the studio tour with the card, 1,000 points for every $500 worth of merchandise you buy in the studio store, and a whopping 20,000 points for getting through Meet Joe Black without napping. (But, I kid the studio... There's good news for Universal in tomorrow's Hot Button.)
DAVID MAN-MET: Apparently, David Mamet didn't think that Gwyneth Paltrow breaking Elizabethan gender rules in Shakespeare in Love was all that good of an idea. Or did he? He just shut down a New York production of three of his short plays because the all-actress group was going to have women play men's roles. The always irascible (and brilliant, in my opinion) writer is already infamous in theatrical circles for his use of foul language and the "who harassed it?" drama, Oleanna. I guess Gloria Steinem and co. will have something to focus on for a while besides protecting President Clinton's rear.
MARCHING TO SUNDANCE: If you're looking for hot, hot, hot international action at Sundance, keep an eye out for Run, Lola Run. The high-intensity thriller is already a big hit in Germany and makes its American debut at the fest. The story has a low-end criminal losing some money he is supposed to deliver. His quick-witted, gun-toting girlfriend, Lola, is his only chance. Will they survive or end up in a pool of blood? You'll only know if you march to Sundance yourself.
READERS OF THE DAY: Julian sent yet another Best Scenes list. Again, beware the spoilers: "10. Halloween: H20: Jamie Lee (Curtis) finally listens to all of us out there in the theater after ignoring us throughout the film (she said, 'I'll be right back.' Twice!) and decapitates her brother, ending that one particular killing spree permanently. 9. Shakespeare in Love: The writing of Twelfth Night as Will's negativity vs. Viola's sense of hope, reminding the audience that, as great as Romeo and Juliet is, Shakespeare has more than one masterpiece under his belt. Closely followed by the intercut writing/love scenes. 8. The Truman Show: When Truman confronts his wife, 'You don't love me. You can't stand me,' and ending on Laura Linney's cry for help to the producers. Closely followed by when he tries to drive himself and his wife out of the show, followed by all the scenes from his childhood, especially when giving examples of other people who've tried to warn Truman, and ways in which Truman was indoctrinated into not traveling. 7. The Opposite of Sex: Lisa Kudrow's sex rant, culminating in preferring a good shampoo over sex. Closely followed by the opening scene, with accompanying voice over. 6. Deep Impact: The whole meteor-hits-Earth thing would almost qualify if it wasn't merely a simple SPFX scene; the bit that got me was the brief moment when, just as she's leaving for safety Tea Leoni comes upon Laura Innes with her daughter, who explains why she's in the playroom, heartbreakingly, in five seconds.
"5. A Bug's Life/Antz: The credits for A Bug's Life vs. the wasps in Antz. 4. Wild Things: The credits. You thought you knew what was going on. You didn't know, you couldn't know. 3. Pleasantville: The drive through the petals accompanying 'At Last,' by Etta James. Color never looked so beautiful. 2. Out of Sight: The intercut seduction/sex. What could have been the most routine part of the film was instead the most exciting, just by showing the beginning and the end at the same time. 1. Saving Private Ryan: The opening battle. You've seen it. You won't forget it."
And Dove sent this one: "1. The first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Need I say more? 2. The love scene in Out of Sight with (George) Clooney and (Jennifer) Lopez. It shows the strength of editing. 3. The scene in the bar in Stepmom between (Julia) Roberts and (Susan) Sarandon. An incredible piece of acting and it moved me to a tear or two. 4. The hair gel scene in There's Something About Mary because it successfully pushed the envelope and made me laugh a whole lot. 5. The accident scene in The Horse Whisperer because it proves what good directing is all about. 6. The scene in the trunk between Clooney and Lopez in Out of Sight. Can you tell I liked the movie? 7. The scene between Jim Carrey and Laura Linney in The Truman Show after he finally realizes something's up and she begins with her product placement. 8. The proposal scene in Stepmom. It was original and romantic. OK, I really liked this movie, too. 9. Christina Ricci's narration in The Opposite of Sex. It was the best part of the movie. 10. The heart attack scene in Meet Joe Black. I didn't really care for the movie -- it was OK, but Anthony Hopkins was amazing as usual and that scene worked."

E ME: Do you feel ripped off by "premiere movies" that should have premiered in your basement rec room? Do you have a Universal credit card? And how many points do you think Barry Diller will get on his card if he buys PolyGram Filmed Entertainment?