Beijing Film Festival Champions International Co-Productions

The second Beijing International Film Festival launched the Beijing Film Market and co-productions forums on Tuesday, following a star-studded opening ceremony on Monday that was attended by luminaries from both China and Hollywood, including director James Cameron, Avengers star Jeremy Renner, Hong Kong actor-producer Andy Lau and local auteur Ann Hui.

PHOTOS: Cannes Film Festival: Veterans Ready to Return to the Croisette

Once the glitzy opening was over however, BIFF got down to business on its first full day. The Film Magic Beijing Forum, which includes the Sino-Foreign Film Co-production Forum, and Summit Forum of World-Renowned Film Companies, was kick-started with the signing of US-China co-production Gods, produced by X-Men and Transformers producer Tom DeSanto, as well as a 3D film project based on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

Panelists, including director Cameron, Avatar producer Jon Landau, Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, Tong Gang, head of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and Han Sanping, head of China film Group, discussed the opportunities presented by the rapid growth of the Chinese.

The panelists’ wishes for future co-productions came on the heels of an announcement from Beijing International Film Festival organizers that the event will see 5 billion yuan ($790 million) in contracts signed this year, a 79% rise from the 2.8 billion yuan ($444 million) at the inaugural edition of the event in 2011.

The forums were held alongside the Sino-Foreign Co-production Project Negotiation Meeting, a two-day financing event which takes place on April 24 and 25. 

While the forums and meetings are likely to bring about future co-produced projects between major Hollywood Studios and China, the backbone of the event is the festival, where 260 films from 54 countries around the world were selected. Foreign Language Oscar winner A Separation opened the festival.

Under the festival banner, the Beijing Film market also opened on Tuesday, with over 200 exhibitors, including U.S. majors Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros in attendance. Said to be the largest of its kind in China, the market aims to provide a platform for project pitching, industry project presentations, business meetings and contract signing. A sidebar to promote and develop new projects, called Project Pitch and Catch, will select three winners among 20 projects from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Bangladesh.

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Upfronts 2012: AOL Announces New Flagship Hub For Video Content

AOL is launching a new video hub that will bring its entire library of video content under one umbrella. Dubbed the "AOL On Network," the company hopes 60 milion North America consumers will tune into 14 new content channels that will bring together curated videos from the likes of Nina Garcia, Heidi Klum, and Adrian Grenier and original programming, including the launch of seven new series.

The announcement is being made tonight at AOL’s 2012 Digital Content NewFront at Highline Stages in New York City. The event comes as many online giants roll out their content and meet with advertisers over a two-week period. The digital companies are not only bringing TV industry style upfront presentations, but also offering comfort food for ad buyers --  concepts like "programming" and "channels."

LIST: THR's 2012 Digital Power 50

In AOL On, the company's top executives say they are launching a "flagship" for the company where videos won't be programmed through any algorithm, but rather manually curated. According to a briefing in advance of AOL's NewFront, executives say the idea is to create a "new level of trust" with entertainment consumers who might appreciate the relaxation that comes with being handed a channel grid, but also want to partake in the web's strong diversity of content.

"Consumers need a destination to discover videos on the topics that matter when they want them," explains Ran Harnevo, senior vice president of video for the new initiative. "AOL On is at the intersection of relevant entertainment and information served in a way that helps consumers stay on top of what’s ‘on’ now.”

AOL On  is a reorganizaiton of 320,000 short-form videos created by more than 1,000 publishers from its former AOL Video, goviral, StudioNow and AOL HD brands. Now, the company will offer 14 channels around different so-called "passion areas" including entertainment, fashion, and news. The channels will be offered across desktop, tablet, mobile devices and connected TV devices.

As for additional original content, celebrities including Rachel Ray, Erin Fetherston, Marc Forgione, Sam Talbot and Christine Vachon have been signed to create "playlists." An example might be Heidi Klum's favorite fashion trends for the summer for the style channel.

In addition, AOL is tonight announcing seven new series, including Digital Justice, a reality show about forensic investigators; Fetching from Amy Harris (Sex and the City) about a young woman who quits her job as a lawyer to open a doggy daycare store; Little Women Big Cars, a series centered around four soccer moms; Next Door Hero, a reality show about America's everyday heroes; Nina Garcia, where the Project Runway star helps women get their mojo back; Tiger Beat Entertainment, a lifestyle show for teens; and ur + 1, a gaming platform where users pick teams of celebrities and compete in a fantasy challenge where points are awarded based on coverage on AOL properties.

Ad buyers are being told they can purchase space by passion channel or by any targeted demo.

“The AOL offering can be a compliment or viable alternative to traditional TV-buying strategies, and we are well-positioned not only from a scale perspective, but from a programming perspective to capture TV dollars," says Harnevo.

AOL hopes to capture the growth in online video spending. The company cites a study by eMarketer where U.S. online video spend is projected to reach $7 billion in 2015.

The "channels" approach to programming web content isn't new. Last October, YouTube announced its own initiative on this front with 100 television-style niche channels. AOL believes, however, that its new video hub, which is going live with tonight's announcement, is organized better.

Up until now, despite the large audiences, AOL has struggled to keep pace with the growth of its rivals.

Last week, Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research, noted in a report that online video is rising, albeit with a strong caveat. "Overall, this category grew to $1.8 billion in ad revenue during 2011, up from $1.3 billion in 2010," he said. "However, stripping out our estimates of US-based revenues of $300 at Hulu and $600 million at Google’s YouTube... reveals a surprisingly modest market and growth rate for online video...While our figure remains ahead of the total television industry, growth outside of YouTube and Hulu appears to be far from exploding."

Wieser adds that the "web increasingly exists as a winner-take-most environment in which few companies dominate despite the nominal openness of the platform."

With the announcement, AOL executives believe they are on a path to reset the company's video offerings and make inroads.

“AOL is a brand company.  We offer innovative platforms like the AOL On Network, along with vibrant and engaging video content that we know people are flocking to the Web to consume at an unprecedented velocity,” said Tim Armstrong, chairman and chief executive at AOL.  “With the launch of AOL On we are bringing people closer to the things that matter, while helping them discover and share the stories and information that color their lives.”

E-mail: eriq.gardner@thr.com

Twitter: @eriqgardner

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Cannes 2012: Film Festival Unveils Members of Star-Studded Jury

PARIS - After a trip to the Croisette last year with We Have a Pope, new Festival de Cannes jury president Nanni Moretti now has his jury. Or at least some of it.

This year's jury will be tres chic with fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier being joined by model-turned-actress Diane Kruger and international heartthrob Ewan McGregor. 

Festival boss Thierry Fremaux made an appearance on Canal Plus’ morning show La Matinale on Wednesday where he said that Gaultier, Kruger, McGregor, as well as Alexander Payne and Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck would be part of this year’s feature films jury.
Gaultier's participation will mark the first time in festival history that a fashion designer serves on the jury, though he is no stranger to the big screen, having designed the costumes for Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. Kruger will also add her signature touch of glam to the fest, familiar territory for the actress who starred in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds in 2009 and served as Mistress of Ceremonies in Cannes in 2007.

Fremaux denied rumors that Ryan Gosling would go to Cannes as a member of the jury.

An Early Peek at Cannes Films

Descendants director Payne will head from Hawaii to the Cote d'Azur to join the Italian director at the 65th annual Festival de Cannes.
Belgian director Jean-Pierre Dardenne will preside over the Cinefondation and short films jury, and British actor Tim Roth will reign over the Un Certain Regard jury.

“Jean Paul Gaultier is a designer who has worked a lot in film and has already been, in one way or another, in competition. It’s important because these people will be judging the creme de la creme of world cinema so they need to have a certain legitimacy,” Fremaux said. He also called him  “a joyous, curious, generous, enthusiastic man who is also a cinephile.”

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'Machete Kills' Director Robert Rodriguez Lines Up 'Fire and Ice' After 'Sin City 2'

Robert Rodriguez is a busy man. Since rebooting his Spy Kids franchise last year, the writer-director has lined up two highly anticipated sequels in his immediate future: Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. But in an interview with THR on Monday, Rodriguez indicated that he had a third film in development, which is set to start as soon as he’s finished with Sin City.

PHOTOS: The Scene at San Diego Comic-Con 2011

“That’s in the works to go right into after Sin City, Frank Frazetta’s Fire and Ice,” Rodriguez said during a telephone interview in conjunction with the Blu-ray release of his 1994 telefilm Roadracers. “We’re almost done with the script; we’ve got it pretty much 70 percent there. I’m really excited about that one.”

First announced during Comic-Con last year, Fire and Ice is a remake of Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi’s 1983 animated feature. According to previous reports, Rodriguez said his goal is to re-create the depth and artistry of Frazetta’s iconic work. “The whole idea is to make it using the technology I used for Sin City because I want it to be as if you stepped into one of his paintings,” Rodriguez told The Playlist last year.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez indicated that his recently announced plans to finally tackle the sequel to Sin City should actually provide him with extra time to get the script for Fire and Ice into shape before the film goes into preproduction.

“I think the timing is going to work out just right, and we’ll have a finished script in the next month or so,” he said. “So we can start lengthier preproduction and we can go right into preproduction -- well, we’re actually in preproduction, sort of, or we’ve been doing a lot of the previsualization. But that would be the next thing after Sin City.”

Rodriguez’s Frazetta fandom extends to preservation and celebration of the artist’s work; at Comic-Con 2011, he premiered a gallery of original paintings from the artist that are scheduled to be showcased in a gallery in Austin. He said that he was looking forward to breathing new life into Frazetta’s artwork and introducing him to a new generation of sci-fi and fantasy fans.

“I’m really excited about that,” Rodriguez said. “For Frazetta fans, this will be the ultimate tribute to what he did, and inspired so many people. I think it’s going to be pretty powerful when people see it.”

Roadracers, a Showtime movie starring David Arquette and Salma Hayek, was released April 17 on Blu-ray.

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CinemaCon 2012: Baz Lurhmann Previews 3D Footage of Leonard DiCaprio's Starring Role in 'The Great Gatsby'

LAS VEGAS -- Director Baz Luhrmann insisted that F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale The Great Gatsby, first published in 1925, is "possibly even more relevant [today] than when it was written" as he introduced scenes from his new 3D film version at the CinemaCon exhibitors' convention in Las Vegas.

Presenting the footage during the studio's slate presentation Tuesday, Warner Bros. Pictures president Jeff Robinov said that Luhrmann uses 3D in the movie to increase the “emotion, intensity, power” and the “immersive” feel of the drama.

In the debut clips, viewers saw Luhrmann’s use of 3D from the flamboyant style of a party at Jay Gatsby’s mansion to close-ups, including intimate scenes between Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Daisy (Carey Mulligan).  

FULL COVERAGE: CinemaCon 2012

In a videotaped message, Luhrmann said he wanted to show the “spectacle” of what he is aiming to create, introducing a series of “untouched” 3D clips from the film that had not yet been color corrected and whose VFX had not been completed.

Great Gatsby was shot in 3D using Red Epic cameras and 3ality Technica rigs.

The film opens Christmas Day.

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Kanye West Shooting Secret Project in the Middle East

Kanye West has been spotted in the Middle East nation state of Qatar, reportedly shooting a music video alongside fellow rapper Kid Cudi.

Rumors first emerged in February that West was considering the region for his next video project, with members of his team having spent some time scouting possible locations and production partners in Qatar, alongside Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

But it seems Qatar emerged as the victor, and Kanye and his crew were seen late last week filming at the spacious ceremonial court in Education City, a vast complex on the outskirts of Doha, the country’s capital. Students living in the area reported seeing camels and horses on the set while Twitter was awash with Kanye sightings around town. One source suggested that the Doha Film Institute, the government-backed cultural organisation behind such events as the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, was involved.

While the entire operation has remained extremely secretive, many assume the video will be in the same vein as 2010’s "Runaway," which served as a lengthy art-house teaser video for the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album.

“It’s going to be approximately 30 minutes long, in between a long form music video and short film,” a source told The Hollywood Reporter. “Kanye conceived the story, which is set in the Gulf. It’s supposed to showcase the beauty of the region, a piece that’s culturally sensitive and embraces the customs and traditions of the region.”

Speaking to local media, a student who had worked on the set said that models from a local agency had been used as extras, and that they had been dressed in a manner that was “culturally sensitive”.

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CinemaCon 2012: Fox Will Stop U.S. 35mm Film Distribution Within Two Years

Twentieth Century Fox has become the first major Hollywood studio to officially notify theater owners that it will distribute all of its films domestically in a digital format within the next year or two, bringing an end to 35mm film prints.

National Association of Theatre Owners president and CEO John Fithian, addressing CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday, revealed that Fox sent a letter to exhibitors in late 2011. Overseas, Fox already has ceased distributing 35mm prints in Hong Kong, effective Jan. 1.

PHOTOS: The Scene at CinemaCon 2012 in Las Vegas

"Last year, I stood on this stage and predicted that domestic distribution of movies in the format of celluloid film could cease by the end of 2013. That prediction is becoming a reality," Fithian said. "As a letter from our friends at Fox confirms, no one should rely on the distribution of film prints much longer.

"And we know that most other distributors share that belief," he added. "Given this reality, the entire industry continues our efforts to bring the promise of digital cinema to all exhibitors."

Fithian said 27,000 U.S. screens have been converted to digital, more than two-thirds of the total, and promised that efforts to help smaller cinema operators convert to digital continue in earnest. The movement to digital is designed to cut down dramatically on print fees and projection costs.

Other hot topics addressed by Fithian and Motion Picture Association of America chairman and CEO Chris Dodd in their joint state-of-the-industry address included premium VOD and the resurgence of the domestic box office.

Also, in a press briefing following their speeches, Dodd suggested that the rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over recent online piracy legislation could solve itself without congressional input if the sides can come to an understanding.

"SOPA is dead," he said in reference to the Stop Online Piracy Act, which lost support on Capitol Hill in January in a major defeat for Dodd and the MPAA.

Dodd said entertainment companies and technology firms could sign a memo of understanding whereby piracy sites are identified by certain means, but he didn't rule out another round of legislation that could be supported by both sides. He also conceded the consumer was left out of the discussion by the MPAA during the SOPA battle.

On the subject of premium VOD, both speakers said studios and exhibitors no longer are feuding over the topic and are working to find an acceptable compromise.

"We are not just improving and reimagining our product," Dodd said. "We are also evolving our business model, experimenting with new offerings that will allow consumers to purchase the content they want to see and view on the platforms they want to use, at a price that's right for them.

"That in no way changes the simple fact that the best way to see our movies is in your theaters, in the dark, on the big screen," he added. "I believe that very passionately, but more importantly, the studios I represent do as well."

Fithian and Dodd applauded the resurgence of the domestic box office, with first-quarter 2012 revenue up 23 percent year-over-year and attendance up 22 percent. Last year, domestic box-office revenue fell by 4 percent, accompanied by a steep 16 percent decline in attendance.

"Doomsday reporters drafted industry epitaphs, while 25-year-old Wall Street analysts questioned the continuing viability of the exhibition industry -- what a difference a year makes," Fithian said. "With diverse fare appealing across different demographics and the biggest March movie opening in the history of the business, the movies have come back to our screens, and the patrons have returned to our seats."

In the separate briefing with reporters, Dodd also addressed the recent dust-up over the R-rating assigned to Lee Hirsch's documentary Bullly for language. Dodd defended the ratings system, but said the system could be more "transparent" in terms letting the public know how decisions are made.

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CinemaCon 2012: Pixar's 'Brave' to Test Dolby's New Atmos Format

LAS VEGAS -- Disney/Pixar’s Brave will be the first film to test Dolby's new Atmos format, which was developed to create sound that Dolby says is more "natural and lifelike."

Dolby aims to have the new sound system, which it debuted this week at CinemaCon, installed in 10-15 theaters worldwide for the test, for which Pixar will prepare a special mix of the film.

Seven-time Oscar winner Gary Rydstrom is serving as sound designer and re-recording mixer on the project.

At CinemaCon, sound designer and supervising sound editor Erik Aadahl, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Transformers: Dark of the Moon, said of the new format: “This is, I think, the biggest breakthrough in sound that has happened in my career.”

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Aadahl, who did sound design using Atmos on a demonstration trailer that played at CinemaCon, likened the new Dolby format to having a new instrument to play.

“We’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do with this technology,” he said. “What I could have done on the Transformers movie with this! … And it doesn’t have to be an action movie. It could be lush atmosphere.”

Atmos is capable of transmitting up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio channels, and renders from 5.1 up to 64 discrete speaker feeds, according to Dolby. Speakers would be positioned around the theater and even overhead to create the immersive experience.

For the sound team, Aadahl noted that it might require some changes. He explained that the mix might add a “slight” amount of time to the schedule thought he expects it would be offset by a simpler process for creating deliverables as the sound team would only need to complete an Atmos mix.

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CinemaCon 2012: Peter Jackson Debuts 'The Hobbit' Footage, Touts 48 Frame-Per-Second Exhibition

LAS VEGAS -- Warner Bros. showed 10 minutes of 3D footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at 48 frames per second after director Peter Jackson said in a videotaped message that he hopes his movie can be played in 48fps in “as many cinemas as possible” when it opens Dec. 14.

The Hobbit, the first major motion picture to be made at the higher frame rate, closed the Warner Bros. slate presentation Tuesday at CinemaCon.

PHOTOS: The Scene at CinemaCon 2012

Frame rate refers to the number of images displayed by a projector within one second. The cinema standard has been 24 fps for many decades. Jackson explained that in the early days of film, silent pictures were shown at an even lower frame rate -- reducing the amount of film used -- but it was bumped to 24 to support the requirements of sound.

Jackson asserted that with digital, there's “no reason” to stay with 24, noting that higher frame rates can result in smoother, more lifelike pictures while producing fewer motion artifacts.

In his message, Jackson said higher frame rates could make cinema “more attractive,” especially in 3D, as it is “more gentle on the eyes.” He added that 2D at 48fps also looks “fantastic.”

The clips ranged from action sequences to quieter moments, including a dialogue sequence between Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gollum (Andy Serkis). The CinemaCon audience also saw the return of castmembers from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas).

The clarity Jackson described was visible in the presentation, but because the clips were described as "a work in progress," Warners did not screen footage that was fully color-corrected or had completed VFX work.

Digital cinema equipment manufacturers are at CinemaCon discussing plans to support 48fps exhibition.

Between Cinemark and Rave, there are nearly 4,000 screens in North America that have Barco Series 2 projectors with the required software update and a Doremi Integrated Media Block with beta software to make it capable of playing 48fps, Barco vp digital cinema entertainment Patrick Lee told The Hollywood Reporter.

On Tuesday, Sony announced that a software update for its digital cinema projection systems would support 48fps and be available in the fall. Sony expects the majority of its 13,000 installed 4K digital cinema projectors to support high frame rates by the time The Hobbit is released.

The Hobbit will also be available in 24 fps.

Peter Jackson’s Rings trilogy resulted in an estimated $2.9 billion at the global box office and a combined 17 Academy Awards.

Part 2 of The Hobbit, titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for a Dec. 13, 2013, release.

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'Adjustment Bureau' Case Takes Strange Turn With Dueling Lawsuits

The legal battle between the estate of late author Philip K. Dick and producers of the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau has taken another odd turn.

A day after the Dick estate refiled its lawsuit over profits from the Matt Damon film in state court, producer Media Rights Capital has struck back with its own suit in federal court seeking a declaration that rights to the Dick story that formed the basis for the movie had fallen into the public domain.

Read the Complaint Here

Confused? Here's the backstory:

As we first reported in October, the estate of the late sci-fi author sued MRC and filmmaker George Nolfi in federal court claiming they were refusing to pay millions of dollars in royalties because they believed the story that formed the basis for the film was in the public domain. The Dick estate claimed Nolfi approached it in 2001 seeking rights to The Adjustment Team, Dick's 1953 story about a group of men who "adjust" the lives of ordinary citizens. The estate agreed to license the story, with Nolfi saying he would make "substantial payments" to the trust if the movie ever got made. 

Years later, Nolfi and MRC exercised an option to produce the movie for Universal. But a month after the film was released in March 2011, Nolfi and MRC claimed they discovered that Adjustment Team was in the public domain, which should have allowed them to make the movie without paying the trust anything.

MRC and Nolfi claimed the story had first been published in an periodical called Orbit Science Fiction in September 1954. The Dick estate claimed that the 1954 publication was a mistake (even though it was apparently authorized by Dick's longtime agent) and that the actual first publication came in 1955. The difference between publication in 1954 and publication in 1955 is huge because it would mean that, under federal law, the story fell into public domain before the Dick estate filed for a copyright renewal in 1983. (He died in 1982.)

A judge later dismissed key claims in the case from federal court, prompting the estate to drop the lawsuit entirely. The trust re-filed the case Monday in state court as a claim for breach of contract and other causes of action.

But MRC lawyers Michael Kump and Jeremiah Reynolds still want the judge to rule on the public domain issue, so now we have dueling lawsuits in state and federal court.

In filing the suit, MRC provided THR the following statement:

“When the Philip K. Dick Trust filed its initial lawsuit in federal court, we looked forward to the Court ruling on whether the underlying story to the “Adjustment Bureau” is in the public domain. We were disappointed when the Trust dropped its lawsuit before the Court could reach a decision. The issue remains an important one, so today MRC filed an action in federal court asking the court to rule on the public domain issue. We look forward to a prompt resolution of this issue.”

E-mail: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com

Twitter: @THRMattBelloni

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Maggie Smith Gets BAFTA TV Nomination for ‘Downton Abbey’

LONDON -- Maggie Smith’s portrayal of a snippy dowager duchess in Downton Abbey earned her a supporting actress nomination for this year’s British Academy Television Awards. But it's the only nom for the much-trumpeted ITV drama.

The big winner is ITV1’s serial killer drama Appropriate Adult, which leads the field for the Arqiva-sponsored awards, dished out by BAFTA.

Adult scored nominations for Dominic West and Emily Watson in the lead acting categories, and the ITV Studios-produced show also is nominated for best miniseries. Monica Dolan rounds out the quartet of noms for the show in the supporting actress category.

PHOTOS: The Faces of TV Pilot Season 2012-13

In the international TV category, the U.S. is repped by Modern Family, from creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd and made by 20th Century Fox, airing on satcaster BSkyB’s Sky One channel here.

It will have to win hearts ahead of Danish thrillers The Killing and Borgen and the adaptation of best-selling Australian novel The Slap, all of which air on BBC Four, the pubcaster’s digital channel.

To win the best actor plaudit, West will have to overcome challenges from Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock, John Simm in Exile and Joseph Gilgun in This is England ’88.

Watson will have to rise above Nadine Marshall in Random, Romola Garai in The Crimson Petal and the White and Vicky McClure in This Is England ’88 to grab the lead actress nod.

Smith and Dolan are up against Anna Chancellor (The Hour) and Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife) in the supporting actress race, while best supporting actor will be contested by Andrew Scott (Sherlock), Joseph Mawie (Birdsong), Martin Freeman (Sherlock) and Stephen Rea (The Shadowline).

The ceremony is set for May 27 in London.

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'Smash' Taps 'Gossip Girl's' Josh Safran as New Showrunner

NBC's Smash is about to get a Gossip Girl injection.

The NBC drama has tapped Gossip Girl showrunner Josh Safran to replace creator Theresa Rebeck on the musical drama about the staging of a Broadway production, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Safran, who has been with the CW staple as an executive producer and co-EP and consulting producer since 2008, when Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage brought him into the Gossip Girl fold.

Safran, who currently serves as showrunner on the CW series, replaces Rebeck, who stepped down from the helm of the freshman NBC series in March. She's expected to remain a writer and executive producer on Smash's recently announced second season.

STORY: 'Smash' Creator Steps Down as Showrunner

Rebeck, who wrote the first three episodes of the series' freshman run, is an established Broadway playwright, andSmash's lead character, Julia (Debra Messing), is based on her. She has been involved with the series from its inception, adapting the script initially for Showtime and then later at NBC. The shift to broadcast entailed a rethinking of the drama, including such elements as who initially would win the prized role as Marilyn in the pilot.

Safran's addition comes as viewers of both series have been vocal about the story lines on both series.

Despite early critical praise, Smash has been criticized of late for its focus on the personal lives of the characters attached to the production, including Julia's marriage and subsequent affair. For its part, Gossip Girl viewers have been vocal about its skewed focus and on Blair and Dan.

While NBC has already picked up Smash for a second season, the CW has been mum about the future of Gossip Girl. Safran is repped by UTA.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit

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'The Voice': Behold Season 2's Semifinalists (Exclusive Photo)

After surviving blind auditions, several heart-wrenching eliminations and overcoming their nerves while winning America over, NBC’s The Voice is now down to its top eight performers. And The Hollywood Reporter has the first look at the season two semifinalists' class photo.

PHOTOS: 'The Voice' Teams -- All of Season 2's Performers

Pictured above from left, Team Cee Lo Green’s inspiring and energetic Jamar Rogers and powerhouse vocalist Juliet Sims; Team Christina Aguilera’s edgy Lindsey Pavao and the classically trained Chris Mann; Team Adam Levine’s soulful Katrina Parker and veteran musician and former Mouseketeer Tony Lucca; and Team Blake Shelton’s timeless Erin Willett and the velvety smooth former Alicia Keys backup singer Jermaine Paul. 

Aren't they an attractive and talented bunch?

PHOTOS: 'The Voice' Contestants Volunteer at L.A. Food Bank

Next Monday, the semifinalists will perform once again for America’s votes and only four of them will move on to the finale episode on May 8 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro

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CinemaCon 2012: 'Dark Knight Rises,' 'Dark Shadows' Footage Revealed

LAS VEGAS -- Christopher Nolan promised theater owners in Las Vegas on Tuesday that The Dark Knight Rises will provide a "thrilling conclusion" to his Batman trilogy and showed a selection of scenes from the tentpole never previously seen.

PHOTOS: 28 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Avengers,' 'Dark Knight,' 'Prometheus'

The footage included numerous exchanges between Batman, played by Christian Bale, and Catwoman, played by Anne Hathaway, with one shot suggesting they are allies. And -- perhaps ending the intrigue over the clarity of Bane's voice in the movie's opening scene -- Bane's voice was much more clear in a new snippet shown Tuesday.

Dark Knight Rises was part of Warner Bros. and New Line's star-studded presentation at CinemaCon, which runs throughout the week at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The studio also wowed with footage from Dark Shadows, Rock of Ages, The Campaign, The Great Gatsby -- and, in one of the highlights of the week -- 10 minutes from New Line and Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

PHOTOS: The Scene at CinemaCon 2012

Dark Knight Rises opens July 20 and is already being tagged as one of the biggest grossers of 2012.

"We wanted to finish this in the biggest way possible," said Nolan as he took the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars after being introduced by Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov, who said Nolan is known on the lot as "The Governor."

Robinov wasn't the only one to invoke nicknames. Dark Shadows director Tim Burton, decked in black sunglasses, took the stage to talk about his upcoming film, which marks his eighth collabration with Johnny Depp. Beckoning Depp from the wings, Burton said, "Come on, Sweetsie."

CinemaCon 2012: Peter Jackson Debuts 'The Hobbit' Footage, Touts 48 Frame-Per-Second Exhibition

Burton said he was obsessed with the soap opera Dark Shadows as a kid and that it even kept him from his homework. "That's why I was such a lousy student," he said.

The filmmaker confessed he, Depp -- who also was obsessed with the soap opera — and Michelle Pfeiffer were the only ones on the set who remembered the show. He said he and Depp "have a very strange love of weird cultural phenomenon."

Adam Shankman followed Nolan on the stage to show raucous scenes from New Line's summer musical Rock of Ages. Shankman called the project "like Hairspray but with booze and strippers."

"I'm older than he is, but I want to be Christopher Nolan when I grow up. After I saw the footage, I just looked at him and said, 'You f---er, that is some bad ass shit,'" Shankman added.

Director Jay Roach introduced clips from his upcoming comedy The Campaign—which pits Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis against each other in a Congressional race.

Roach said that they considered putting the comedians up against each other in a variety of situations before decided on politics. He added that the movie's August release data would “make sure nothing crazier happens” before the Presidential election. 

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'New Girl': Jeanne Tripplehorn on Ouli's Awkward Return, Finding Humor After 'Big Love'

Jeanne Tripplhorn's name doesn't immediately recall a comedic resume.

Best known playing unsatisfied polygamist matriarch Barb Henrickson over five seasons of HBO's Big Love, leading lady in dramas like The Firm and even Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the scripted adaptation of Grey Gardens, her career has hardly been punctuated by laughs.

But the 48-year-old actress, making her second appearance on Fox's New Girl this Tuesday, wants everyone to know that she really does love comedy.

PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of 'New Girl'

"I left Julliard and immediately started getting cast in dramas," she tells The Hollywood Reporter, "which was great, but comedy has always been where my heart is. In Hollywood, when they get you pegged, it's really hard to get out from under people's perceptions of you. And the flip side of all that is that good comedies are really, really hard to come by."

One such comedy for Tripplehorn is New Girl. She counts the freshman series among television shows she watches regularly and didn't hesitate to sign up for the two-episode arc as Ouli, the ex-wife of Jess' (Zooey Deschanel) current boyfriend Russell (Dermot Mulroney).

"When I got the call from Fox, I told [creator] Liz Meriwether that it was like I got an invitation to a really good party," she says.

That's not to say Tripplehorn yuks it up by herself. Ouli's humor comes in the palpably awkward situations she's able to create for Jess. "In something like this, it's more serving the comedy," she says. "The comedy in this is Zooey and her reaction to what's going on."

What's going on includes Jess running into Ouli at the gym, accidentally getting a naked hug from her in the steam room and inviting her out for one of the least appealing three-person dates conceivable.

"She's just completely inappropriate and open-minded," says Tripplehorn. "She really likes Jess, but she can't see what she's putting out there."

STORY: 'New Girl's' Resident 'Fancyman' Dermot Mulroney Praises Show's 'Controlled Improv'

And while she notes that the unresolved tension between her character and her ex-husband is likely one of the reasons why his relationship with Jess is doomed, as a fan of the show, she's not going to object. "I'm really invested in the Nick [Jake Johnson] and Jess storyline," she says. "I'm so happy they have another season, though clearly they're going to take that a ways. You just want to see if they're going to end up together or not."

In the '90s, after acting and writing on her own sketch comedy show in her native Tulsa, Tripplehorn enjoyed comedic turns on The Ben Stiller Show and David Cross and Bob Odenkirk's Mr. Show -- something she said added to her appreciation for the New Girl set.

"I think that's what gives the show it's great energy," she says, referring to the variety of takes the series often shoots. "It just flies off the screen at you. Now that I've worked on it, I know how much improv goes into it, what they're weaving into the show. I think it's one of the reasons people respond to it so much. It just crackles."

Tripplehorn, who's own five-year run with Big Love ended last year, says she's looking for another series -- possibly a comedy -- she just hasn't found anything yet.

"There's not a lot out there right now," she says, adding that nothing from the past pilot season really appealed to her. "It's hard after Big Love. The writing was so good. The experience was so rich and so deep and over such a long period of time, I hope that I will have an experience like that again, but it may take a while. It was as gratifying an experience as I've ever had."

In the meantime, Tripplehorn seems happy to return to New Girl, should the opportunity ever present itself: "It's always nice, when you're an actor, to be working on something you watch and want to be a part of."

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CinemaCon 2012: Pixar Announces New Latin-Themed Project, Disney Plans 'Muppets 2'

LAS VEGAS -- Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were personally on hand as Disney president of production Sean Bailey officially announced there will be a Muppets 2 while addressing the annual gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas.

Later, Disney and Pixar animation chief John Lasseter announced that Pixar is pursuing a 2015 animated film based around the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich will be in the director's chair with Darla K. Anderson producing.

Pixar also has titled its May 30, 2014 dinosaur film The Good Dinosaur.

Bailey provided no other details regarding the Muppets sequel, which was one of a number of projects touted during Disney's presentation at CinemaCon. Exhibitors saw the first footage from Oz: The Great and Powerful, as well as 30 minutes from Brave, the first Pixar film to feature a female heroine, while Johnny Depp showed up to tout Lone Ranger.

Bailey informed exhibitors that recording artist Jack White will write, produce and perform the score for The Lone Ranger, which opens May 2013.

Disney has good reason to pump its upcoming slate: its turn on the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace comes only days after Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross resigned follow box office bomb John Carter.

Exhibitors responded warmly to the Oz presentation, a combination of footage and concept art that was introduced by director Sam Raimi and producer Joe Roth. Oz stars James Franco and Mila Kunis took the stage after.

Franco went off script just as the music cued up for the group to exit, commenting that the tendency is for big movies to have more and more violence and action. "This is a different kind of big movie," he said.

Depp and Lone Ranger producer Jerry Bruckheimer showed up to discuss their movie, which features Depp in the role of Tonto (Armie Hammer plays the Lone Ranger). Bruckheimer promised that Depp is a decidedly unconventional Tonto.

"He's got some interesting additions," said Depp, who receieved a rousing response.

Added Bruckheimer: "It's the Odd Couple meets The Wild Bunch."

Tim Burton and footage from his upcoming stop-action pic Frankenweenie was another hit of Disney's show. The 3D black-and-white movie opens Oct. 5.

DreamWorks also was part of the Disney presentation, including a clip from The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which was introduced by Jennifer Garner. There was no footage shown from Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

Pixar's part of the presentation also included a tease of the 3D relrelease of Finding Nemo. And, before Brave played, Lasseter took off his famous Hawaiian shirt to don a traditional Scottish kilt and take the stage with a group of bagpipers.

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Look beyond the stars: This industry is crucial to the economy, and it's hurting

As the nation and the world wait with bated breath to see the effectiveness of the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package, all Americans — regardless of politics — should want nothing less than to see its complete success. I believe the package will prove a constructive step, but there is a noteworthy lesson for policymakers and our industry in the debate we just witnessed.

As many now know, a tax credit offered to more "traditional" U.S. businesses investing at this pivotal time was denied to companies that create not cars and computers but movies and television shows. A handful of terrific films connected with their audiences last month, and suddenly in Washington it's "Hollywood is fine" — and in a twist out of "Alice in Wonderland," some policymakers railed about the tremendous health of our industry.

Here in the real Hollywood, we know the situation is quite different. Like nearly every other U.S. industry, entertainment companies are reporting breathtaking economic losses, and many good, creative people are losing their jobs in the resulting cutbacks. It's a stark contrast to the glitz and glamour of the red carpet that captivated the world during Sunday's Academy Awards, but it is the reality of our industry in the current economic environment.

When I was in President Clinton's Cabinet, nothing would get folks more excited than a call from "the White House." Each time an aide burst into my office with the news, I asked the same questions: "Who is the White House? Is the building calling, an intern or the president himself?" We need to apply a similarly healthy skepticism to the monolithic and false prevailing notion of "Hollywood."

Throughout history, "Hollywood" too often has been cast in American politics as a stock villain in a tired tale. According to the script, everyone in "Hollywood" makes millions of dollars and lives in palatial homes featured on MTV's "Cribs."

For all the attention showered on "Hollywood," the truth largely is known only to those who live it every day: The American film and television industry is a national community of tens of thousands of creative artists and executives who work in nearly every state. Their ranks include a handful of talented A-list actors and directors working alongside tens of thousands of camera operators, lighting technicians, caterers, costume designers, truck drivers, stuntmen, writers and working actors — 85% of whom are employed by the universe of small businesses that contributes mightily to the production of U.S. movies, TV shows and commercials. As in most businesses, there are a few well-compensated stars, but most are middle-class workers earning a living wage.

Looking at the facts, it's hard to dispute that the creative industries of film and television are an essential component of our nation's economy. We employ nearly 1.5 million Americans, contribute about $60 billion annually to the U.S. economy and run a positive balance of trade with nearly every country with which we do business.

With the typical "on location" feature-film shoot bringing an estimated $225,000 a day into that local economy, more and more state policymakers are recognizing that show business is good business. Some of the most honored pictures on Oscar Night were filmed in Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana and New Jersey. All are among the 40 states offering incentives to encourage "Hollywood" production.

And California now has joined other states with a competitive tax incentive package that will produce jobs and help generate much-needed revenue for the state. Foreign nations, too, have become quite aggressive in rolling out the welcome mat: When Batman swooped into President Obama's hometown of Chicago, production on Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight" injected $35 million worth of jobs, taxes and other revenue into the local economy in just 65 days.

As our nation becomes a more information-based economy, it's important that our policies reflect this modern reality. Whether jobs and growth come from building cars or building movie sets shouldn't matter. With constructive policies, American film and television can play a starring role in our nation's economic recovery.

As the eyes of the world turned their focus to Hollywood during the weekend, we should follow up by finding opportunities to pull back the curtain and remind our nation and its leaders that, yes, we love our Brads and Leos and Toms and Wills, but they would be the first to attest that American film and television is so much more. We are not something other than America; we are a broad, diverse creative community that helps define the country, and given the chance, our collective efforts can spark not only powerful emotions but also powerful new cycles of American growth, innovation and opportunity.

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'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' Gets 3 More Seasons

E! is banking on several more years of Kardashian family success.

PHOTOS: 2011's Biggest Rule Breakers Kim Kardashian, Netflix's Reed Hastings, Chuck Lorre and Ashton Kutcher

An E! spokesperson confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that it has extended Keeping Up With the Kardashians for three more years through season nine.

The agreement covers the entire clan: Kim, Kourtney Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian Odom, Rob Kardashian, Bruce Jenner, Kris Jenner, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner. The deal also extends the cable channel’s first look rights on all of the family's nonscripted ideas, concepts and projects.

Keeping Up With the Kardashians has been a growing success for E! since it premiered in 2007 to 898,000 viewers. Fast-forward six seasons and last season’s September finale attracted 3.3 million viewers. It has also spawned several highly watched spinoffs, including Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Khloe & Lamar and Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami.

PHOTOS: Inside Kardashian Inc.

The series is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions. Ryan Seacrest has yet to finalize his deal covering the next three years but is expected to do so as part of an upcoming agreement with NBCUniversal.

Keeping Up With the Kardashians returns for season seven at 9 p.m. Sunday, May 20 on E!

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro

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CAA Promotes 14 to Agent, Executive Status

CAA today announced a host of promotions at the agency.

Fourteen coordinators have earned their stripes and graduated to agent or executive status. They include Jon Cassir, Marissa Edler, Ryan Fitzjohn, Charlie Jennings, Meredith Jones, Bobby Kenner, Franklin Latt, Alex Mebed, Tess O’Sullivan, Chelsea Reed, Elan Ruspoli, Angie Sun, Jin Wang, and Luna Xu.

Cassir was a motion picture/right coordinator and is now an agent in the department.

Edler was a coordinator in the baseball division of CAA Sports and has been upped to executive.

Fitzjohn was a music coordinator in the agency’s London office and is now an agent.

Jennings is an agent in motion pictures after being a department coordinator.

Jones, who began as an assistant in the Nashville music office has been upped to agent, focusing on college market bookings for music and comedy clients. 

Kenner, a television alternative coordinator, is now an agent in that department.   

Latt, who worked for CAA partner and managing director Kevin Huvane, has been promoted to motion pictures agent.

Mebed is now a motion pictures agent after staring in the agency’s lifestyle/licensing department before moving to motion pictures.

O’Sullivan is now an agent at CAA Sports after acting as a sports coordinator.

Reed was a coordinator in the television literary scripted department and is now an agent in the same department.

Ruspoli began as an assistant in the TV talent department, moved to motion pictures and is now an agent.

Sun moved from coordinator to executive in CAA Marketing.

Wang will now handle publicity on behalf of the agency’s China-based clients as an executive in CAA’s Beijing office.

Xu was promoted to motion picture agent in CAA’s Beijing office.

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SEC Probing Hollywood Dealings in China (Report)

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent letters to major movies studios including Fox, Disney and DreamWorks Animation, seeking information about potentially inappropriate payments to government officials in China, according to a report by Reuters on Tuesday.

The U.S. regulators are said to be investigating whether the American entertainment companies have paid bribes or had any illegal dealings with Chinese officials. Reuters said its source was an unidentified person who had knowledge of letters sent to the studios in the past two months.

Calls and email requests for comment that The Hollywood Reporter sent to Fox, Disney and DreamWorks Animation were not immediately returned. Reuters said that China Film Group and representatives of Fox studio owner News Corp., DreamWorks Animation and the Walt Disney Co. had all declined comment.

China has become a top priority for American entertainment companies looking to take advantage of its booming population and love of entertainment. The state-owned China Film Group tightly limits the number of foreign releases allowed in the country to about 20 per year, though in February a deal was cut to allow more American films to screen in the country. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Vice President Joe Biden announced the new trade expansion with China with great fanfare.

Disney, which is building a new theme park in China in partnership with a government-owned company, last week announced that it is partnering with China's DMG Entertainment to co-produce its upcoming Iron Man 3. DreamWorks Animation has made several deals in China, including a September pact to build an animation facility in Shanghai to make content for the Chinese market.

If true, an investigation could lead to prosecution for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for Americans to pay bribes to foreign government officials in order to facilitate their business dealings. While the law has been on the books in the U.S. since the 1970s, it has only been used a few times. An action against Hollywood studios would be a bombshell case.

The total Chinese box office has soared in recent years as multiplex theaters have been built across the mainland. In 2009-10, the Fox film Avatar grossed more than $193 million in China, helping the film become the highest-grossing of all time. That occurred even though the 2-D version of the movie was taken off Chinese screens for a time.

Email: Alex.Benblock@thr.com
Twitter: @ABBlock

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Safe: Film Review

Despite some impressively gritty street-level action, "Safe" plays it far too safe.

Friday, April 27 (Lionsgate)

Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon, James Hong

Boaz Yakin

LONDON -- The former athlete and model whose relatively short action-hero career has generated more than a billion dollars of box office business, Jason Statham sticks within his narrow but highly marketable range in this fast-moving New York gangland thriller. Though Safe initially seems a little darker and more thoughtful than the British star’s previous comic-book escapades in Death Race, The Expendables or the Transporter trilogy, it ultimately reverts to testosterone-heavy formula. Millions of loyal, undemanding fans who have already made Statham a one-man action franchise will doubtless flock to make his latest star vehicle a solid multiplex hit, but anyone expecting him to diversify into more complex material in the tradition of Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone should sit this one out.

Writer-director Boaz Yakin has a spotty track record punctuated by the odd commercial hit, notably his 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans. Working with Tarantino’s long-time producer Lawrence Bender, Yakin fills Safe with well-choreographed action set-pieces, stock characters and painfully clunky dialogue. Statham plays a variation on his usual tight-lipped tough-guy persona, barely stretching his dramatic chops beyond a half-hearted stab at a non-specific American accent, and even this he appears to forget intermittently.

Luke Wright (Statham) is a former black-ops supercop previously hired by a corrupt New York mayor (Chris Sarandon) to play Travis Bickle, unofficially wiping criminal scum off the streets. But disgust with his crooked bosses and colleagues eventually leads him to become a cage fighter instead, until a lethal accident and a proud refusal to throw a fight brings him into the vengeful orbit of a sadistic Russian mafia godfather Docheski (Sandor Tecsy). Instead of killing Wright, Docheski’s henchmen murder his wife and leaves him homeless, contriving a baroque punishment that forces him to spend the rest of his life isolated from human contact. Under constant surveillance, anybody he becomes close to will be instantly targeted for execution.

Meanwhile, the Russians are also engaged in a violent feud with the Chinese Triads over access to 10-year-old Mei (Catherine Chan), a genius-level golden child abducted from China due to her superhuman math and memory skills. Both Docheski and his Chinese counterpart Hang Jiao (veteran Chinese-American stalwart James Hong, alumni of both Chinatown and Blade Runner) covet Mei’s beautiful mind because it contains the secret combination to a fortress-like casino safe where the Triads have stashed a vast fortune. But as she flees from a series of botched abduction attempts, Mei crosses Wright’s path, pulling him back from the brink of suicide with a redemptive mission to protect her from harm.

After this preposterous but fairly compelling set-up, Safe becomes increasingly hobbled by obligatory action-movie clichés as Wright turns the tables on both his Russian and Chinese pursuers. Escaping from a spectacular hotel siege, he gathers together his former sworn enemies on the police force for a heavily armed, Ocean’s Eleven-style raid on the safe itself. This noisy climax feels both wildly implausible and almost incidental to the plot, as if grafted on as an afterthought to ramp up the action and reinforce the title’s double meaning.

Safe initially seems to promise more than a standard Statham thriller, with its gritty aesthetic and bleak character back story. Yoakin is clearly a gifted action stylist, dispensing with the opening credits altogether to dive straight into the guts of the story via a series of jump-cut flashbacks, quickfire set-ups and percussive stunt sequences. His car crashes are especially good, making virtuoso use of mirrors and point-of-view shots to amplify their kinetic, in-your-face impact.

Film fans raised on classic 1970s New York thrillers will also enjoy Yoakin’s anachronistic vision of the city as a grimy, grungy, retro-sleazy gangster’s paradise. While his street chases have some of visceral white-knuckle charge of primetime William Friedkin or John Frankenheimer, his depiction of Manhattan as ruled by shady officials and violent cops recalls the quasi-Shakespearean rotten kingdom that often served as Sidney Lumet’s territory. Inevitably, these nods to former glory lack the political subtlety and dramatic weight of their cinematic ancestors, but it is pleasing to note that pre-Guiliani NYC still maintains a gravitational pull on the collective psyche.

Safe ultimately resolves itself into a string of familiar Statham money shots – leaden quips, fist fights, gun battles and a huge body count. Indeed, even action genre devotees may balk at the high number of random killings here, most of them sloppy and dramatically pointless. In the process, Wright bounces back from guilt-ridden, grief-stricken husk to one-man army of righteous revenge. His final bonding session with Mei, father and daughter style, is as corny as it is inevitable. And thus a movie which opens with teasing echoes of Unforgiven or The Bourne Identity settles for being just another cookie-cutter star vehicle with almost no moral center or emotional depth.

Of course, Statham did not become the Billion Dollar Man by pandering to arthouse ambiguity. He clearly knows his target audience and has little interest in challenging them, or himself. But where once he was tipped as a prospective successor to Willis, career choices like this one suggests he is happy to settle for being the new Chuck Norris. For all its surface grit and dark undertow, Safe plays it very safe indeed.

Production: IM Global, Automatik Entertainment, Tigger Street Productions, 87 Eleven 
Cast: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon, James Hong, Sandor Tecsy, Robert John Burke, Reggie Lee, Anson Mount, Joseph Sikora, Danny Hoch, Matt O'Toole
Director: Boaz Yakin
Screenwriter: Boaz Yakin
Producers: Lawrence Bender, Dana Brunetti
Executive producers: Stuart Ford, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Kevin Spacey, Deepak Nayar
Director of photography: Stefan Czapsky
Production designer: Joseph Nemec III
Editor: Frédéric Thoraval
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Costume designer: Ann Roth
Rated R, 94 minutes

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