Turner Newsroom: TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

WE DID IT!!!

Turner Newsroom: TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

Release Date: 11/2/2009
TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

TNT has picked up the critically acclaimed series SOUTHLAND, closing a deal with Warner Bros. Television that will bring the drama from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing) to the network in January. TNT has obtained exclusive rights to air all six episodes that have been shot for the second season, as well as the seven episodes from the series’ first season. SOUTHLAND will air on TNT Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning with the first episode of the series on Jan. 12.

“This is a great win for fans of SOUTHLAND and a perfect opportunity to introduce the series to new viewers,” said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. “It’s also another outstanding example of how TNT has established itself as the go-to place for the best dramas on television.”

“We are extremely pleased that TNT has acquired all 13 episodes of SOUTHLAND, giving devoted fans the opportunity to watch a show that they passionately support,” said Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television.

“We’re delighted that TNT has stepped forward to pick up SOUTHLAND. We are all extremely proud of the show,” Wells said.

SOUTHLAND premiered on NBC in April to rave reviews. The series was called “tough-minded [and] suspenseful” by The New York Times, which also said, “SOUTHLAND is commendably stinting and cold, a series that doesn’t aim to please, and is all the more pleasurable for it.” The Hollywood Reporter called SOUTHLAND “exciting, smart, realistic and brilliant,” while Daily Variety said, “[John] Wells and company have delivered a cop drama with its own racing pulse. The crisp execution … has a decidedly elite cable feel.

In SOUTHLAND, John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz – A River Runs Through It) is a veteran cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie – The O.C.). Cooper attacks his job with a no-nonsense firmness that sometimes leaves Sherman wondering if he’s really cut out to be a cop.

The series also follows Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King – Ray, Jerry Maguire), who spends her off-work hours serving as her mother’s primary caregiver. Her partner, Detective Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott – Boiler Room), is a father struggling with an unhappy marriage. Detective Daniel “Sal” Salinger (Michael McGrady – The Thin Red Line) oversees a unit of gang detectives, including Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro – Drive, Ugly Betty) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy – Alpha Dog). And patrol officer Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis – Crossing Jordan) is a single mom determined to make her mark as the first woman in the SWAT unit.

SOUTHLAND is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Created by Emmy winner Ann Biderman (NYPD Blue, Public Enemies), the series is executive-produced by Biderman, Emmy winner Chris Chulack (ER, Third Watch) and Wells. Chulack is also a primary director of the series.

Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) is one of the entertainment industry’s most respected providers of original content, producing award-winning drama and comedy series for both broadcast network television and cable. For the 2009-2010 television season, WBTV is producing more than 25 primetime series, with at least one show on each of the five broadcast networks. New programs include the one-hour drama The Vampire Diaries, the #1 show on The CW; one-hour shows Human Target and Past Life for Fox; the hourlong V, Eastwick and The Forgotten, as well as half-hour comedies The Middle and Hank for ABC; and an untitled medical drama from Jerry Bruckheimer Television for midseason on CBS, among others. Continuing programs include TV’s #1 comedy among households and total viewers in Two and a Half Men, TV’s #1 comedy among adults 18-49 in The Big Bang Theory, the #1 new program of 2008-2009 among households and total viewers in The Mentalist, the Julia Louis-Dreyfus-starring comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine and veteran drama Cold Case for CBS; the #1 new program of 2008-2009 among adults 18-49 in Fringe for Fox; Chuck for NBC; and Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural for The CW. WBTV also produces The Closer for TNT and Nip/Tuck for FX.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Raising the Bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Contact(s):
Susan Ievoli
(212) 275-8016
New York Eileen Quast
(310) 788-6797
Burbank Heather Sautter
(404) 885-0746
Atlanta

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes! | EW.com

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes! | EW.com

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes!
by Ken Tucker
Categories: Cancellations, Fall TV 2009, News, Talk Shows, Television

southland_l

As EW reported last night, Southland has been canceled by NBC. A combination of so-so ratings and, more significantly, the lack of the 10 p.m. time-slot a grown-up cop drama a series such as Southland requires are undoubtedly the chief reasons.

This is a cryin’ shame. Southland had all the makings of what used to be considered a classic NBC show: Good serialized stories, a fine ensemble cast, and that comfy workplace-drama feel that ER and Homicide: Life On The Street used to have.

Oh, but NBC doesn’t care that Southland’s Regina King was probably well on her way to an Emmy nomination if her cop character had remained as strong as it did last season, or that Ben McKenzie had found a fine post-O.C. role to grow into. Naw, the network just wants a couple million people to yuk it up while Jay Leno is stuck in that hour, making jokes with Gerard Butler about being naked in the latter’s film roles, as Leno did last night.

Give us all a break. Where can producer John Wells and creator Ann Biderman take Southland? I wouldn’t trust its chances on the already-crammed ABC, CBS, and Fox networks. It won’t fit on pay-cable — not edgy enough. Yet it’s too edgy for a basic-cable channel such as USA. But why not TNT? If it’s Saving Grace, why can’t it save Southland?

Are you irritated that Southland was cancelled? What NBC show will get the axe next? Maybe they’ll decide that one of the Law and Orders isn’t pulling in enough viewers at 8 or 9 p.m., when it should be on at 10 anyway?

Beyond that, where do you think a wounded Southland could resurface, and thrive, on TV?

Shopping ‘Southland’ | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

This is a travesty

Shopping ‘Southland’ | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

Shopping ‘Southland’
October 9, 2009 | 2:36 pm

So the folks behind the recently canceled “Southland” are working the phones today, hitting up every cable network they can think of that might be interested in the cop drama.

First on everyone’s list for taking the departed NBC drama is TNT. For starters, “Southland” is produced by Warner Bros., which like TNT is owned by Time Warner, so there is a family connection. Second, while “The Closer” is still going gangbusters for TNT, the network recently lost “Saving Grace,” and its other dramas, including “Dark Blue,” have not been setting the world on fire.

SOUTHLAND While “Southland” certainly would be a good fit on TNT, it remains to be seen if the network would want to buy someone else’s castoff. With six episodes of “Southland” already in the can, TNT may be able to negotiate a decent price, and since Warner Bros. will already be getting paid for those shows by NBC, it might be willing to cut a slight break on the license fee. Then, if the show were a success for TNT, it could ask for more money. NBC was paying about $1.5 million per episode for the show, people close to the production say. That is not a huge fee for a cash cow like TNT.

Another likely network would be A&E. However, we’re told A&E has already passed. And A&E is partially owned by NBC, so that might have been a problem politically even if it did want it. USA Network is totally owned by NBC and “Southland” is much too dark for them, so that’s out.

That brings us to AMC, home of “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” They like to spend money there, but everyone thinks they are the new HBO, so they might not want to sully their image with a show from a (cough) broadcast network.

FX already has a ton of programming, and while “Southland” may be gritty (there’s that word again) for NBC, it’s “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” for FX.

People will say it should go on HBO or Showtime, but it’s not nearly quirky enough.

So unless Food Network or The Weather Channel (whoops, that’s NBC again) want to go in a completely different direction, the only real candidate out there may be TNT.

Let’s see if blood is thicker than money.

– Joe Flint

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected – Tech Products & Geek News | Geek.com

This can’t be a good thing…

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected – Tech Products & Geek News | Geek.com

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected
Oct. 9, 2009 (9:01 am) By: Matthew Humphries

Comcast alert

One of the biggest problems with an infected PC is that unless the user of that PC notices or realizes their machine is infected there is little that can be done about it. The emphasis is on the user to secure and monitor their own machine and therefore malware writers go to great lengths to ensure their infections remain silent and unnoticeable.

Comcast has decided it is going to take action and aid its subscribers by informing them if a machine is suspected of being compromised. It will do this by regularly monitoring the network activities of individual connections looking for the common signs of a machine being used as part of a botnet, for example. If such a machine is identified then a warning will be sent to that user as a service notice stating the following:

Comcast has detected that there may be a virus on your computer(s). For more information on how to clean your computer(s), please visit the Comcast Anti-Virus Center.

A security center link then takes that user to a page where they can find tools to clean up their machine. The message, as seen in the image above, is displayed on the Comcast website and a follow-up e-mail is sent, but other than that the company will not be contacting the user directly, so this warning can be ignored. No further action will be taken if the user doesn’t do anything, as this is just meant to be a helpful hint rather than the start of a process to get them running virus free.

Comcast has made it clear that the monitoring involved will remain anonymous with no data stored or looked at during the process. In order to determine what classes as a potential infection Comcast will employ independent help such as known infected IP lists from the likes of Spamhaus as well as its own analysis system. At worst a user may get to see one of these messages as a false positive. At best users who had no idea they were infected take action and clean up their machine.

Read more at DSLReports.com and a detailed description of the monitoring posted by Comcast on the DSLReports.com forums

Matthew’s Opinion

Malware writers are very good at covering their tracks and can make an infected PC act as normal while in the background it works as part of a botnet helping to spread spam. Most users wouldn’t even know their machine has been compromised and unless they run security checks how will they ever know? Some malware even blocks users going to security sites in an attempt to stop the compromise ever being found.

With that in mind this monitoring by Comcast should be welcomed. It is an anonymous check that just looks for the common signs of an infection and then its an unintrusive warning with no further intervention. You can’t get much more hands-off while still being helpful and it’s an important action to take. Spam levels are so high because there are so many machines out there on botnets pumping the stuff out to inboxes. Unless those PCs are cleaned up the spam will continue to flow and unless users know their machines are infected this will never change.

I’d argue Comcast should go further than just the message on a website and an e-mail. Why not phone up that subscriber and inform them that they may have an infected machine. Nine times out of ten I bet the response is one of “what do I do?” at which point they can be helped. A message or e-mail on the other hand may get overlooked or looked at with suspicion as a possible scam.

What do you think? Is Comcast’s idea one that should be copied across all ISPs? Should it go further than just a warning message on a website?

Bloggers Must Disclose Payments for Reviews – New York Times

Bloggers Must Disclose Payments for Reviews

• By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 5, 2009

Filed at 2:48 p.m. ET

The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.

The FTC said Monday its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final Web guidelines, which had been expected. Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could bring fines up to $11,000 per violation. Bloggers or advertisers also could face injunctions and be ordered to reimburse consumers for financial losses stemming from inappropriate product reviews.

The commission stopped short of specifying how bloggers must disclose conflicts of interest. Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s advertising practices division, said the disclosure must be ”clear and conspicuous,” no matter what form it will take.

Bloggers have long praised or panned products and services online. But what some consumers might not know is that many companies pay reviewers for their write-ups or give them free products such as toys or computers or trips to Disneyland. In contrast, at traditional journalism outlets, products borrowed for reviews generally have to be returned.

Before the FTC gave notice last November it was going to regulate such endorsements, blogs varied in the level of disclosures about these potential conflicts of interest.

The FTC’s proposal made many bloggers anxious. They said the scrutiny would make them nervous about posting even innocent comments.

To placate such fears, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations. The exception would be a blogger who runs a ‘’substantial” operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.

Existing FTC rules already banned deceptive and unfair business practices. The final guidelines aim to clarify the law for the vast world of blogging. Not since 1980 had the commission revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

Cleland said a blogger who receives a freebie without the advertiser knowing would not violate FTC guidelines. For example, someone who gets a free bag of dog food as part of a promotion from a pet shop wouldn’t violate FTC guidelines if he writes about the product on his blog.

Blogger Linsey Krolik said she’s always disclosed any freebies she’s received on products she writes about, but has stepped up her efforts since last fall. She said she adds a notice at the end of a post, ”very clear in italics or bold or something — this is the deal. It’s not kind of buried.”

Offical Comment on LibraryBinding.com from James Jasek

I wanted to get to get more infomation from LibraryBinding.com about the recent news that was posted on Bleeding Cool News to cut through all the conflicting reports I have been seeing on the various message boards.

This is what James Jasek had to say:

Chris

Right now we are not accepting any new orders until November at which
time I hope we are still in business.

I should be able to tell you something positive by October.

So there is still some hope left for this great company, lets all cross our fingers!

Busiek.com: Paul Levitz

Busiek.com: Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz

Some years ago, while I was negotiating with DC Comics over their offer to publish Astro City after the initial 6-issue run at Image, I was in Paul Levitz’s office talking over contract terms. I mentioned there were a couple of points that were troubling to me, and Paul told me he couldn’t take them out of the contract, but he could assure me, if it had value to me, that as long as he was sitting in the Publisher’s chair at DC those clauses wouldn’t be activated. I said that no offense meant, but there was no guarantee that he was going to stay in that chair, so while I believed him and appreciated the gesture, I still had to negotiate as if those clauses could be triggered tomorrow. He nodded, and acknowledged that while he had no intention of leaving DC any time soon, that yeah, there were no guarantees. I wound up signing with Wildstorm—and then DC bought Wildstorm, and has published Astro City ever since. Though I’m glad to report that the contract doesn’t have those two clauses that troubled me, because DC bought the Wildstorm contract along with the company.

And I’ve been glad to have Paul at the helm; had it not been for those two minor contractual terms, I’d have happily signed with DC then and there.

Well, today—over a decade since that conversation—the day came. The internet’s abuzz with the news that Warner Bros. is reorganizing DC Comics, creating a new company called DC Entertainment to shepherd DC’s characters and concepts more smoothly into movies, TV and other media. And as part of that restructuring, Paul is stepping down as President and Publisher and will return to writing, as well as being a contributing editor and a consultant to the new management.

As I’ve told a couple of the comics news organizations already, the DC Entertainment news, like the Disney-buys-Marvel news, doesn’t much interest me—it’s all about movies and video games and brand management, and I’m sure it’ll change the way things get done in some ways, but the part of the industry I care most about, the comics—it doesn’t seem to affect that much at all.

But Paul Levitz leaving DC management?

That’s huge. That’s the story that’s going to change things.

Paul has been at the forefront of just about every industry development of the last couple of decades, and has been key to how the industry’s shaped itself over those years. Shifting from a periodicals-only business to a strong backlist-oriented business with trade paperbacks and hardcovers, adding imprints like Vertigo, creating new opportunities for creators and for creator ownership, seeing that DC gave a fair (or at least fairer) deal to the creators who originated the concepts that turned up in DC-based movies, from Arkham Asylum and Lucius Fox to Robin’s motorcycles (yeah, because they called Chris O’Donnell’s ride the “Redbird” in one of the movies, Paul Levitz saw to it that Chuck Dixon got money) and more, Paul was an important part of a huge number of changes that DC’s seen, and that the whole industry’s seen. Some of them big changes everyone’s noticed, some of them behind-the-scenes stuff few people know about.

And some people have been impatient that Paul was cautious, and wanted him to move faster, to leap into new things instead of easing into them. But in an industry where many publishers throw money into the latest cool thing, only to find themselves overextended and floundering, Paul was always careful that growth and change should be sustainable, doing things like building a backlist of trade paperbacks slowly, so the revenue from the existing books would fuel the addition of new ones, and a large library was built over time. And often, when other publishers’ precipitous actions had made things unstable, DC Comics provided a backstop, a stability that let the comics industry ride out the rough waters and get to the next safe haven. To mix metaphors shamelessly.

Paul is one of a very few people who’ve been absolutely key in shaping the comics industry from what it was in the mid-Seventies to what it is today. Staggering changes, built slowly over time, so that DC (and the companies that adopted DC’s innovations) could build from strength to strength.

I don’t know who’ll sit in that chair next, and I don’t know what they’ll do. But whoever they are, whatever their experience, instincts, skill and priorities, they’ll be different from Paul’s, and that’ll change comics. In a good way? In a bad way? Probably a mixture of the two. But this, I’m confident, is where the big changes for comics publishing will be coming from. Not Disney deals and movie plans, but a new guy in what for a long time was the most stable, influential, skilfully-run office in the business.

On the other hand, while the freelancer in me braces for change, the reader part of me is delighted that we’re going to see Paul Levitz writing comics again, starting with Legion of Superheroes, the feature that established his name for so many enthusiastic fans. No door closes but a window opens somewhere, and I can’t wait.

And just to wrap up—I’m reminded of a text feature, back in DC books in the mid-Seventies, one of those “DC ProFiles” or “Meet the Staff” features, that gave a quickie bio of and interview with Paul. At the time, he was attending college and paying his way by working for DC in his spare time, and the bit of it I’ve always remembered is the part where Paul said that he couldn’t see staying in comics after he graduated, that he loved what he was doing, but his career plans would take him elsewhere.

Well, maybe you didn’t see it then, Paul, but your plans changed, and took you along a pretty damn cool career path. And comics has been better off for it. So congratulations on all you’ve done.

And now new possibilities open up, and we’ll get to see what Paul Levitz does next. Whatever it is, it’ll be worth watching.

[And I haven't been able to find that mid-70s DC text feature again, so if anyone knows where it ran, let me know so I can dig it out, huh?]

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » WARNER BROS. CREATES DC ENTERTAINMENT

Speculation is over.  Levitz won’t be leaving altogether, but will be doing more writing

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » WARNER BROS. CREATES DC ENTERTAINMENT

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

By David Hyde

WARNER BROS. CREATES DC ENTERTAINMENT

Diane Nelson to Serve as President, DC Entertainment

Paul Levitz to Segue from President & Publisher of DC Comics

To Writer, Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant to DC Entertainment

(Dateline – Burbank, CA) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros.

DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.

In her new role, Nelson will report to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, in order to best capitalize on DC Entertainment’s theatrical development and production activities and their importance to drive its overall business with each of the divisions of Warner Bros.

Nelson will bring her expertise and more than 20 years’ experience in creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production to ensuring DC Entertainment’s dual mission of marshalling Warner Bros.’ resources to maximize the potential of the DC brand while remaining respectful of and collaborative with creators, talent, fans and source material. Additionally, Nelson will continue to oversee the franchise management of the Harry Potter property, which she has done since 2000, and also continue to represent the Studio’s interests with the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling. Nelson will segue from her post as President, Warner Premiere but maintain oversight responsibilities of that division. (An executive succession plan for Warner Premiere will be announced shortly.)

Paul Levitz, who has served as President & Publisher of DC Comics since 2002, will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to DCE. This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC’s business operations.

In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry’s creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment’s goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades.

Widely recognized and respected for his support of writers, artists and creators in the comics industry, Levitz is best known creatively for his work with DC Comics, having written most of the classic DC characters, including Batman, Wonder Woman and the Superman newspaper strip. At Comicon International in 2008, Levitz was awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award as part of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the only industry executive ever so honored.

“DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company’s efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties,” said Meyer. “Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We’re also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we’ll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business.”

“It’s no secret that DC has myriad rich and untapped possibilities from its deep library of iconic and lesser-known characters,” said Horn. “While we’ve had great success in films and television, the formation of DC Entertainment will help us to bring more DC properties across additional platforms to fans around the world, while maintaining brand integrity and authenticity. Diane is a terrific choice to lead DC Entertainment, and with Paul in his new role as a valued consultant and contributing editor, both our company and comic fans win.”

“Based on the great success we’ve had working with DC Comics to create some of the most popular and successful super hero films of all time, I’ve long believed that there was much more we could do across all of Warner Bros.’ businesses with this great body of characters and stories,” said Robinov. “The prioritization of DC and the creation of DC Entertainment is a great opportunity that reaches far beyond the film group. There are endless creative possibilities to build upon the many significant successes already achieved by my colleagues Kevin Tsujihara and the Home Entertainment Group in the videogame, home video and direct-to-platform arenas and Bruce Rosenblum and the Television Group in live-action, animated and digital series. Collectively, we have the ability to grow a body of properties highlighting the iconic characters and the diversity of the creative output of DC Comics.”

“The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort,” said Nelson. “DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.”

“After so many roles at DC, it’s exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage,” said Levitz. “It’s a new golden age for comics and DC’s great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time.”

DC Comics will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 (NEW FUN COMICS #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment’s corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year.

Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:

– “Human Target” is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.

– “Midnight Mass” is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.

– “Jonah Hex,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.

– “The Losers,” Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures’ action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.

– “The Green Lantern,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.

– “Lobo,” based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

– Warner Premiere’s direct-to-platform DVD animated release of “Green Lantern: First Flight” debuted July 28.

– Warner Bros. Animation currently produces “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” which airs on Cartoon Network.

– Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released “Batman: Arkham Asylum” on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows.

Prior to being named President, DC Entertainment, Nelson most recently served as President, Warner Premiere since its founding in 2006. Warner Premiere is a Studio-based production company which develops and produces high-quality, direct-to-DVD and short-form digital content, including the highly successful line of DC Universe animated DVD titles, and also pioneered the development of the motion comics category. Under Nelson’s leadership, Warner Premiere functions as a full-service production entity with its own resources and release schedule, furthering the Studio’s mandate of being a destination for both established and up-and-coming talent to create stand-alone properties as well as experiment in new media.

Before that, Nelson served as Executive Vice President, Global Brand Management, Warner Bros. Entertainment, with the primary responsibility of working cross-divisionally and throughout Time Warner to maximize and optimize all the various windows and outlets available to the Studio’s signature franchises, brands and event properties on a global basis. In this post, Nelson’s primary focus was the management of the Harry Potter brand, which she has overseen since the brand’s launch at the Studio in 1999. These efforts have helped drive the success of the brand to become the most successful film franchise of all time, as well as a respected consumer property that has generated billions of dollars for the Studio.

At Global Brand Management, Nelson and her team of more than 15 employees worked in all media and platforms to support a number of other key franchise properties, including “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Happy Feet,” “Polar Express” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” among others.

Prior to overseeing Global Brand Management, Nelson had served as Executive Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. Nelson rose quickly through the ranks, having also served as Senior Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures and prior to that, Senior Vice President, Family Entertainment, Warner Bros. Corporate Worldwide Marketing and Planning. She was also Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Promotions, a post to which she was promoted in March 1998, after joining the Studio in September 1996 as Director of Worldwide Corporate Promotions.

Nelson came to the Studio from Walt Disney Records, where she served as Director of National Promotions. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.

# # #

Contact: Susan Fleishman/Warner Bros. Entertainment

818/954-1919 susan.fleishman@warnerbros.com

Scott Rowe/Warner Bros. Entertainment

818/954-5806 scott.rowe@warnerbros.com

David Hyde/DC Comics

212/636-5450 david.hyde@dccomics.com

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros’ Jeff Robinov Restructures DC Comics; Diane Nelson Put In Charge Of DC Business; DC Titles In Development Pulled From Producers – Deadline.com

I wonder how long Didio has left at DC now?

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros’ Jeff Robinov Restructures DC Comics; Diane Nelson Put In Charge Of DC Business; DC Titles In Development Pulled From Producers – Deadline.com

BREAKING NEWS: I’ve learned that the announcement may be made as soon as later today. The restructuring of the stand-alone DC Comics business is being described to me as Warner Bros Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov’s first priority since having his contract re-upped by Time Warner. I know what everybody is thinking: that this move is in response to the announcement August 31st that Disney is buying Marvel. You can think that, but you would be wrong. This change has been in the works quietly for two years ever since Robinov moved into the top slot. “It was Jeff’s idea to have DC Comics reporting to him, and DC will be his direct responsibility with Diane Nelson,” an insider confided to me. I’ve also learned that Robinov for months has quietly gone to producers like Chuck Roven and Joel Silver and Akiva Goldman and “called back” all their high profile DC titles in development like The Flash and Wonder Woman. Not only was that shocking to the producers, but even more so when they found out this was part of Robinov’s strategy to severely limit the number of gross participants on the projects. Because the producers were told that they may get the titles back to develop, but with far less rich deals. “Jeff always wanted some kind of oversight of DC, and now he wants Warner’s to hold onto ownership,” my insider explains. (My understanding is that Joel Silver, who is buddies with Robinov, was allowed to continue bringing low profile The Losers to the big screen under his Dark Castle banner. But Silver’s 10 years of developing Wonder Woman is history now.)

diane_nelson_bw07_2006I’m told that Robinov went to management as soon as he took over as president of Warner Bros Pictures Group in January 2007 with a proposal to take over DC Comics. It’s taken this long to get it done. Paul Levitz, DC Comics president and publisher, will stay with the company. But in charge and reporting directly to Robinov will be Nelson, the brilliant marketer who beginning in 2000 oversaw the management of the Harry Potter franchise across all platforms and represented the studio’s interests with author JK Rowling. The plan is to have her do the same with DC Comics biz.(Kudos to the website BleedingCool.com, which on August 25th first tipped that Nelson might “take on more new projects at the media empire — including DC Comics”.)

Nelson has served as President of Warner Premiere the studio-based production company which develops and produces direct-to-consumer DVD and short-form digital programming content since its founding in August 2006. She’s already well familiar with DC Comics since it has titles already in development and production and release with Warner Premiere. Prior to that, Nelson served as EVP of Global Brand Management at Warner Bros Entertainment since May 2004, with the primary responsibility of working cross-divisionally and throughout Time Warner to maximize and optimize all the various windows and outlets available to the Studio’s signature franchises, brands and event properties on a global basis. And, before that, Nelson was EVP of Domestic Marketing for Warner Bros Pictures.

Previous to this, DC Comics’ Levitz reported directly to Warner Bros Chairman Alan Horn. But then Horn’s film division was embarrassed by not nailing down the legal rights to Watchmen adequately, with mogul after mogul shaking their heads in disbelief how Warner Bros could even have started filming the graphic novel with 20th Century Fox still laying claim to the pic. Cutting Fox in at the last minute with paramount already an overseas played wrought havoc with Warner Bros’ economics on the movie. But Horn’s biggest failure has been to leave the most valuable DC Comics characters in movie development limbo. Of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League, only Batman has an ongoing live action franchise. And now that director Chris Nolan is working on back-to-back pics, who knows when the threequel will get a start date. True, Jonah Hex has wrapped, and Green Lantern starts shooting in the spring. That’s the same time period that Human Target debuts on Fox. There’s been some very successful development by DC Comics SVP of Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck. But Horn’s studio has been chaotically starting and stopping work on scripts for the high profile live action pics. Meanwhile, Marvel is exploiting the hell out of its characters with an ultra-ambitious and self-financed (except for Spider-Man at Sony) film slate.

What Disney-Marvel Means for More Deal Making – Deal Journal – WSJ

What Disney-Marvel Means for More Deal Making – Deal Journal – WSJ

* August 31, 2009, 3:05 PM ET

What Disney-Marvel Means for More Deal Making

Walt Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment represents the kind of deal that the global financial crisis had practically silenced.

Disney says its primary reason for acquiring Marvel–and for paying a hefty premium for the creator of Spiderman, Daredevil and other popular comic characters–is that it simply liked the company and wanted its assets.

“This was a company that we admired that we saw growing right before our eyes, that we were impressed with,’” Disney chief Bob Iger told investors during a conference call Monday. “So it was not driven by anything other than continued interest in what Marvel is and what they have done and a continued desire at this company to look for great creativity, great creative people, great intellectual property.”

He added: “We don’t have any…problematic strategic holes. We did not have any situation that in any way suggested that this was a must-do deal.”

Under most circumstances, there would be nothing unusual about Iger’s comments. But this is no normal year. Until Disney announced its bid for Marvel this morning, August had been the slowest month for M&A deal volume since researcher Dealogic began keeping records in 1995.

And many of this year’s deals have been driven by the interests of near-term survival, not primarily by long-term growth. Pharmaceutical giants have acquired bio-technology companies to replenish badly depleted drug pipelines. Mergers in the energy, agriculture and home building sectors have been driven largely by a belief that bigger companies are better able to weather a global recession and falling commodity prices.

Then consider Baker Hughes’ $5.5 billion acquisition of BJ Services, also announced today. Baker Hughes said it needed BJ’s pumping operations to better compete in the oilfield business internationally, while BJ Services determined it could compete more effectively when combined with a larger company. Baker Hughes paid a 16% premium to BJ Services’ Friday closing price. Investors, worried that Baker Hughes overpaid, sent the stock tumbling 8.5% in afternoon trading.

Disney didn’t do much to sugar coat the 29% premium it is paying for Marvel. “We are acquiring a premium company at a premium set of assets, and for that I think you have to pay a full and fair price,’’ Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said on the call. Disney shares fell 3%, mostly on concerns that the cash-stock deal would be dilutive in the near term.

For Disney, the deal means it can use Marvel’s Spidey and Hulk franchises to tap into an older, male audience. (Girls tend to like Disney more than boys.) Of course, Disney may have overpaid for Marvel. After all, how many more blockbusters can be created from Marvel’s library of 5,000 lesser known comic book characters?

And one deal does not a trend make. Still, Disney may have broached a psychological barrier in M&A by completing a deal that neither company says it needed to do. And it could signal that other companies with sizable cash reserves and strong balance sheets may start switching back to offense from defense. Perhaps the old normal is back.

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