House of Cards : Pain
Steven Soderbergh Loves 'House of Cards'
I feel very lucky because David Fincher sent me advance episodes of House of Cards. I’ve got three to go, and I’m totally hooked. What I like about all those shows is that there’s an aesthetic that’s adhered to no matter who is directing it. They have rules, there’s a tool kit. I don’t like seeing stuff where there’s no coherence to the choices that are being made. House of Cards is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen on a screen.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wendi McLendon-Covey To Recur On Showtime’s ‘Masters Of Sex’
EXCLUSIVE: Bridesmaids co-star Wendi McLendon-Covey, who was just tapped as the female lead of Adam F. Goldberg/Seth Gordon’s ABC comedy pilot How The Hell Am I Normal, is set for a recurring role on Showtime‘s upcoming drama series Masters Of Sex. The series, an adaptation of Thomas Maier’s book, stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, and chronicles their unusual lives, romance and pop culture trajectory. McLendon-Covey will play Dr. Lillian DePaul, a new, formidable doctor at the hospital — the only female in an all-boys club who is both competitive with and a mentor to Johnson (Caplan).
Like How The Hell, Masters Of Sex is produced by Sony Pictures TV, which helped sync up the schedules of the two projects for McLendon-Covey. The actress also has ongoing recurring roles on Sony TV’s veteran CBS comedy Rules Of Engagement and on ABC/20th TV’s Modern Family. McLendon-Covey, repped by UTA and manager Gladys Gonzalez, just wrapped Tyler Perry’s Single Mom’s Club.
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Directed by Jonathan Leder
Introducing Amy Hood
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Catch a promo for Vikings, HISTORY's original scripted series, premiering Sunday, March 3 at 10pm.
Unaccustomed to seeing historical fiction on the History Channel as we are, History’s ‘Vikings‘ seems more and more an intriguing new series worthy of carving out a new place in the TV pantheon. The original series will hit TV screens on March 3, 2013, and apart from the teaser and photos we’ve seen, the network has issued the most real footage yet in the latest trailer for ‘Vikings.’ Will you watch Ragnar Lothbrok sail into the west? Check out the new trailer for Vikings inside, and judge for yourself! With ‘Spartacus‘ soon to be at an end, and ‘Game of Thrones‘ season 3 somewhat far off, TV fans have been in need of a new sword-swinging hero. Enter Ragnar Lothbrok of History’s upcoming historical fiction TV series ‘Vikings’ to fill the void! The channel has unleashed the latest trailer for its upcoming epic, which gives our best look yet at the action and scope of the coming project.
‘Vikings’ follows actual historical figure Ragnar Lothbrok, considered to be the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar’s band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods. According to the show’s initial descriptions, “legend has it that he was a direct descendent of Odin, the god of war and warriors.”
Having previously cast veteran actor Gabriel Byrne for the series, ‘Vikings’ features Travis Fimmel in the central role of Ragnar Lothbrok, Viking hero of the tale, while joining him are Jessalyn Gilsig (‘Glee‘) as Siggy, the wife of Earl Haraldson (Byrne), Gustaf Skarsgard as Ragnar’s friend Floki, Clive Standen as his devious cousin Rollo, and Katheryn Winnick as first wife, and warrior Lagertha.
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Interview with “Spartacus” Creator Steven S. DeKnight
by Kyle Anderson on January 28, 2013
Steven S. DeKnight already has geek cred out the wazoo, having been a writer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and Smallville as well as serving as a producer of the latter three. Since 2010, he’s been up to his ears in sandals, sex, and severed arteries as the creator/producer/head writer for Starz’s Spartacus series. Its third and final season, given the subtitle War of the Damned, premiered Friday, the 25th of January. We spoke to Mr. DeKnight about the decision to end the series, how the epic nature of the show has changed, and what corner of genre TV he plans to tackle next.
NERDIST: War of the Damned is the third and final season of Spartacus; What can we expect from the culmination of the story?
STEVEN S. DEKNIGHT: A lot of triumphs and tragedy, really. I think this year’s subtitle is particularly apropos, War of the Damned, and really all sides are damned. I think people can expect what they’ve always come to expect with Spartacus which is the grand spectacle, but also the really heartfelt drama and some extremely gut-wrenching moments onscreen.
N: Not too many shows get to choose when they end, and how they end, and too often shows go on for longer than they probably should; When and how did you guys make the decision to actually end it after this season?
SSDK: Yeah, there was a lot of discussion about that. I feel the same way; I watch quite a bit of television… probably shocking to everyone, but I do feel that sometimes [it goes] past the point of really strong, creative motivation and it becomes a financial motivation. Because it’s a big hit, it’s making money, it fills a necessary part of a network schedule, and it becomes kind of a test of wills between the viewer and the show of who’s going to blink first. We definitely wanted to avoid that with Spartacus. Originally, I had planned on 5-7 seasons, and when we were getting close to this season and looking at the war years, it becomes exponentially more expensive and complicated to produce. And the history itself becomes somewhat repetitive and a little more difficult to tell an exciting new story each season. So we thought, you know, a little bit outside the box, why not tell 10 fantastic episodes, ramp up the series on a high note and actually leave the audience wanting more? Historically, that gave us the leeway to take some of the most interesting events that happened during the war and (this season’s main villain) Crassus’ chronology and move a couple of events around and combine a couple of characters. There’s a lot of fantastic stories about the battles that Spartacus fought and what we did is we gave most of those to Crassus so we had one antagonist that was going through all of the historical story points for Spartacus. We actually knew, or were 99.9% sure, after writing last season that this season would be it. So, that gave me the leeway, of course, to really plot and plan way back at the end of last season to wrap it up.
N: Did you have a list of beats you wanted to hit that you had to cut out or not do because you were only going to have one more season?
SSDK: I don’t think we cut out anything that we had originally intended to do. I always say I approached this like The Princess Bride, where we just cut out the boring parts. Cut out a lot of shoe leather of the Romans sending wave after wave of their generals to go after Spartacus. You know, I can’t think of one thing that we’d talked about that I went “Oh, gosh, I wish we could have had time to do that.” We really did approach every single episode of this season like a precious gem. We didn’t want to squander any of it.
N: Starz as a network has given you a lot of freedom, content-wise, to kind of do what you want. Through the course of making the show, have you imposed any rules or guidelines on yourself for how far you want to go and what kind of stories you want to tell?
SSDK: No, no; That’s one of the great things about premium cable, and definitely one of the great things about Starz, is that they just gave us complete creative freedom. There were many, many times over the last four years where they nervously questioned, perhaps, some of our choices, but in the end said, “You guys are the creatives; you know what you’re doing. We trust you.” And it always turned out very, very well. So, they never imposed anything, and for us – we just always wanted to be as open as possible. Sometimes, specifically, you come up with something in the room, usually sensual, and we’d look at it and go, “Ehhhhhh.” There’s a fine line between sensual and titillating and just gross. So, we tried to avoid landing on the just “Ugggh” side of things, and I think mostly we were successful.
N: What sort of challenges did you face going from season one, with gladiators fighting in arenas, to now dealing with the onslaught of war and huge battle scenes? Obviously, that’s really what happened in history, but what kind of writing challenges arose from that?
SSDK: It’s definitely tricky. One of the trickiest things is, (co-executive producer) Rob Tapert and I always planned that end of season one, Spartacus breaks out. We had stretched 13 weeks of television from a very, very small mention in history that basically says Spartacus was a gladiator who was a slave in Batiatus’ ludus, or school for gladiators, and he broke out with 70-some men. That’s pretty much all it says and we took that and made 13 episodes out of it. So, for Rob and I, Spartacus, or the story most people know about Spartacus, is his war against Rome. We intended to get to that and neither one of us realized that the show would become very popular and at the end of the first season, when it’s a hit, we’re just blowing up the entire paradigm and changing it into quite a different show. That made everybody very nervous. Rob and I felt that we weren’t telling the story of just some slave in a gladiator camp; we’re telling the story of Spartacus so you have to tell the story of Spartacus. And there was a lot of discussion about, should they attempt to escape and the escape fails and we spend another season in the ludus? Rob and I felt like that was just the tail wagging the dog. We were doing that not for story purposes but for safety reasons. As an audience member, I think I would have watched that and thought, “Oh, this stinks; this is just treading water so they can keep doing the same thing.” So, again, Starz gave us their blessing to do something unheard of, which is to completely change the dynamic of a hit show.
That was very challenging when we got to Spartacus: Vengeance, figuring out a different way to do it since we no longer had the inherent upstairs/downstairs of the dramatic storytelling. And, of course, Andy (Whitfield, who played Spartacus for the first season)’s passing was devastating and the most difficult thing from which to continue forward. We came very close to ending the show after season one, but Andy very much wanted us to continue, so that’s where I pulled the idea of a prequel (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena) out of my ass. Which, I like to think, out of that tragic circumstance, we were able to do something unique and heartfelt and it actually, I think, enriched the entire series being able to do that six-episode prequel and really give the backstory and introduce Gannicus (played by Dustin Clare). We were always going to introduce Gannicus, but this gave us a way to introduce him that had a lot more meaning. With Vengeance, we had to reinvent the wheel and figure out what we were doing and once we go to War of the Damned we had figured out, really, how to make that war feel work. And I think the series is really invigorated by bringing in the final “villains” in Marcus Crassus and Julius Caesar. Crassus gave us such a rich arena to play in, if you’ll excuse the inadvertent pun, with the Roman side of things. I think people will be just mesmerized by Simon Merrells’ portrayal of Crassus. It’s really, really fantastic.
N: Part of what I really like about the show is the language used in it. That kind of baroque dialogue peppered with filthy, filthy swear words. As a writer, how do you tune your ear to that kind of speech, which, obviously, nobody talks like today?
SSDK: Yeah, that was challenging. That’s another instance where my hat’s off to Starz for letting me do that. I remember early on, when they got the first script, there was much concern that the audience wouldn’t know what the hell anybody was saying. It’s a very odd structure; I always call it Shakespeare meets Robert E. Howard. There’s a fine line. We’ve had scripts that go too Shakespearean and we don’t want to go all the way to “Thee” and “Thy” and “Thine” and “Forsooth.” You know, that’s a little bit too far, but I wanted to do something different that would give just that flavor of antiquity to elevate the language just a bit. And, of course, with the cursing it’s kind of like these two worlds crashing together. I remember when we first aired; a lot of people were complaining that the anachronistic cursing took them out of the story and I had to keep explaining that, no, every single curse word you hear in Spartacus has a Latin equivalent. I had my historian give me a list of curse words and I was shocked! “These are the same ones that we use!” If I could go off on a tangent – the word “fuck” was the one that people were really outraged that I would use a modern word like that. And, no, there is a Latin word that means exactly the same thing. I think people got confused because the English version of that word originated in the 13th, 14th Century, somewhere around there. But, the Latin equivalent is scrawled on walls in graffiti, so we actually stuck very close with the cursing. And, you know, some people curse more than others. I don’t know if people have realized that Spartacus never swears, he never says the word “fuck.” He’ll say “shit” and “ass,” but that’s about as far as he’ll go. Then you have the other side of the coin which is Batiatus (John Hannah’s character in season one and the prequel), who is a lower-class Middle-Class Roman, and he just lets it fly.
N: Now that Spartacus is winding down, what’s next for you? What are you working on now?
SSDK: I am deep, deep, DEEP into the next project for Starz, which is a very, very complicated science fiction show. That’s the one genre I haven’t gotten to play in yet and it’s, like, my favorite genre. I, about a year and a half ago, pitched them this completely insane idea of doing, basically, Band of Brothers meets Halo.
N: Oh, wow!
SSDK: And, much to my shock, they said, “We love that idea!” So, it’s called Incursion; it’s set hundreds of years in the future and it’s basically a classic war tale. It follows one squad and it’s humans versus aliens. Each season’s a different planet, and it’s very much a ground-based show and it’s soldiers in the thick of war against an enemy they don’t completely understand. With Spartacus, which is about gladiators fighting a war, there were a lot deeper things I wanted to explore, and with Incursion, I really wanted to explore how a war changes a person, how your image of the enemy changes as you continue a war, and also lots of scenes about religion and how war can alter your thoughts about God. And we’ve got all the trappings I think people who love the genre will really like, but at its heart it’s a war story.
N: That sounds really, really good. I’m really excited to watch that.
SSDK: I can’t wait for people to see what we’re doing. Right now, we’re writing the scripts and we’re designing the aliens and the weapons and I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve come up with. I think it’s some incredible stuff. We’re gearing up, full bore, and we’re still waiting for the official green light, but we’re hoping it’ll be on the air some time in 2014.
N: Lastly, do you have any parting thoughts for the fans of Spartacus as they watch this final season?
SSDK: I gotta say, it’s so hard to end a series, and I am just so incredibly proud of our finale. I think it is just a phenomenal job by everybody, by Rick Jacobson the director, Rob Tapert producing the hell out of it, Liam (McIntyre who’s played Spartacus since Vengeance) does his best work. I mean, everybody is just fantastic. I think the audience will be really swept away by it. I think it’s a phenomenal piece of work.
* The casting for 'Incursion' should commence at end of the year. Do expect New Zealand/Aussie stars to snared major roles but hopefully there will be room for Americans.
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Kate Upton : Zoo mag 2013[Jan]
Dakota Fanning: I'm secretly bad
Monday, 28 January 2013
Dakota Fanning has an inner "badass" persona.The actress confessed she finds being bad more fun than being a good girl.
The star has a double-sided personality and often stems her true naughty nature in favour of the girl-next-door image she is best known for.
"Yeah, for sure [I can be badass and good-girl]. For me, I'm the person that witnesses someone being rude at a coffee shop and I walk home, like, I should have said, 'What's your problem, man?' You know what I mean? I'm that person. I feel badass in spirit, but overall a good-girl, but badass is trying to come out and when she does it's like 'Woah! Where did that come from?'" Dakota laughed to Refinery 29. "You know? I think I'm a mixture of both things."
The 18-year-old American star appears in this year's movie Very Good Girls alongside fellow hotly-tipped young actress Elizabeth Olsen. In the film Dakota plays Lilly Berger, a high school student who makes a pact with her friend Gerry, played by Elizabeth, to lose their virginity over the summer.
The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, with discussion focusing around the movie's themes of young women having sex and being in control of their love lives.
"People are fascinated with that [young women having sex] because I think we've all seen enough of guys pursuing girls, and guys getting girls, and guys sleeping with girls, and choosing and pitting them against one another. I think it's really refreshing to see girls in the driver's seat of that and making their own choices because that's how we really are now. It's like Naomi [Foner, the Very Good Girls director] said when she was growing up; she didn't have any one she could really identify with that was in the films except for Katharine Hepburn," Dakota continued. "It was always a man. I think everyone is like 'guys, you know?whatever'. I think it's time for us to see girls being the guys."
On if she’s having fun with the “fashion icon moment” she and sister Elle are having now…
“It’s really fun when you’re getting dressed for something. It’s not when you’re in the rain with an umbrella and trying to carry a case of water. Yep, that’s me, alone, coming from Duane Reade. I’m not wearing a bra. Deal with it.”
On if she was surprised when her Marc Jacobs perfume ad was banned in the U.K. in 2011 for being “sexually provocative.” [In the ad Fanning sits on the floor with a large perfume bottle between her legs.]
“Yeah, I was! If you want to read something into a perfume bottle, then I guess you can. But it’s also like, Why are you making it about that, you creep? I love Marc and trust him, and we just laughed about it.”
On if she’d ever turn her love of clothes into a career a fashion designer…
“I don’t think so. I mean, I won ’t rule it out, because then one day I’ll be like, “I said that in Glamour in 2013, and here I am now [with my own line].” But when you know designers and see the work that they put into making their collection, and how much passion they have for that—I think that’s so amazing. And I don’t have the passion to design clothes. It’s nice to be able to grow up and know what you want to do…. I’m reminded of that every time I make a film.”
On what little sister Elle has taught her…
“She’s very uninhibited and will try pretty much anything. Even the way she dresses— she dresses totally for herself. She risks being made fun of…by me, which I sometimes do, because I’m an older sister! But I totally admire her and think she’s very cool.”
Read the complete interview with Dakota Fanning in the March issue of Glamour, on newsstands February 5 or download the digital issue on your tablet right now.
P.S. Don't miss Dakota Fanning's cover-shoot gallery shot by Ellen von Unwerth and styled by Anne Christensen!
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The star has a double-sided personality and often stems her true naughty nature in favour of the girl-next-door image she is best known for.
"Yeah, for sure [I can be badass and good-girl]. For me, I'm the person that witnesses someone being rude at a coffee shop and I walk home, like, I should have said, 'What's your problem, man?' You know what I mean? I'm that person. I feel badass in spirit, but overall a good-girl, but badass is trying to come out and when she does it's like 'Woah! Where did that come from?'" Dakota laughed to Refinery 29. "You know? I think I'm a mixture of both things."The 18-year-old American star appears in this year's movie Very Good Girls alongside fellow hotly-tipped young actress Elizabeth Olsen. In the film Dakota plays Lilly Berger, a high school student who makes a pact with her friend Gerry, played by Elizabeth, to lose their virginity over the summer.
The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, with discussion focusing around the movie's themes of young women having sex and being in control of their love lives.
"People are fascinated with that [young women having sex] because I think we've all seen enough of guys pursuing girls, and guys getting girls, and guys sleeping with girls, and choosing and pitting them against one another. I think it's really refreshing to see girls in the driver's seat of that and making their own choices because that's how we really are now. It's like Naomi [Foner, the Very Good Girls director] said when she was growing up; she didn't have any one she could really identify with that was in the films except for Katharine Hepburn," Dakota continued. "It was always a man. I think everyone is like 'guys, you know?whatever'. I think it's time for us to see girls being the guys."
Glamour's March 2013 Cover Star Dakota Fanning on Going Braless: "Deal with it."
Can we make this official? Dakota Fanning isn’t a child actress anymore. When she arrives at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, she’s wearing a black half-leather miniskirt, over-the-knee boots, Cartier jewelry, and a whisper-thin white tee—a far cry from the waif who starred in I Am Sam at age seven or the perma-tween vampire she played in the Twilight series. And not only does she have casual-sexy glam down perfectly; this 19-year-old, with her messy-cute hair and short, chipped glitter-orange nails, actually strikes us as fun. Serious, we-want-to-be-friends-with-that-girl fun. Here's a sneak-peek at Amy Spencer's interview with our March cover star: On if she’s having fun with the “fashion icon moment” she and sister Elle are having now…“It’s really fun when you’re getting dressed for something. It’s not when you’re in the rain with an umbrella and trying to carry a case of water. Yep, that’s me, alone, coming from Duane Reade. I’m not wearing a bra. Deal with it.”
On if she was surprised when her Marc Jacobs perfume ad was banned in the U.K. in 2011 for being “sexually provocative.” [In the ad Fanning sits on the floor with a large perfume bottle between her legs.]
“Yeah, I was! If you want to read something into a perfume bottle, then I guess you can. But it’s also like, Why are you making it about that, you creep? I love Marc and trust him, and we just laughed about it.”
On if she’d ever turn her love of clothes into a career a fashion designer…
“I don’t think so. I mean, I won ’t rule it out, because then one day I’ll be like, “I said that in Glamour in 2013, and here I am now [with my own line].” But when you know designers and see the work that they put into making their collection, and how much passion they have for that—I think that’s so amazing. And I don’t have the passion to design clothes. It’s nice to be able to grow up and know what you want to do…. I’m reminded of that every time I make a film.”
On what little sister Elle has taught her…
“She’s very uninhibited and will try pretty much anything. Even the way she dresses— she dresses totally for herself. She risks being made fun of…by me, which I sometimes do, because I’m an older sister! But I totally admire her and think she’s very cool.”
Read the complete interview with Dakota Fanning in the March issue of Glamour, on newsstands February 5 or download the digital issue on your tablet right now.
P.S. Don't miss Dakota Fanning's cover-shoot gallery shot by Ellen von Unwerth and styled by Anne Christensen!
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The Reason Behind Me is a short film by Dani van Herk
Cast: Kate Austin and Bianca Bradey
Cinematographer: Kieran Fowler
Cast: Kate Austin and Bianca Bradey
Cinematographer: Kieran Fowler
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Five Sundance characters you won't see anywhere else (fortunately)
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| College-bound Dakota Fanning and ice-cream vendor Boyd Holbrook in 'Very Good Girls' (Sundance Film Festival / January 28, 2013) |
(January 28, 2013)
The Sundance Film Festival has given us some great characters over the years. A nerdy, catchphrase-using Idahoan who wanted us to vote for Pedro. A pie-making waitress with a thing for Andy Griffith. A suicidal Proust scholar who didn't mind pushing a VW van every once in a while.
But for all the lovable, and believable, quirky characters on Sundance screens — and there are many — there are plenty that seem forced, self-consciously idiosyncratic types we wouldn’t see in real life (or, for that matter, on other movie screens). With the 2013 festival now behind us and many of the movies set to roll out in the coming months, here’s a crop of characters that deserve a spot on the only-in-Sundance wall.
The-Staten-Island-born-ice-cream-vendor-who-lives-on-the-couch-of-a-famous-photographer-while-quoting-Sylvia-Plath-to-woo-the-ladies. It's possible that in the several hundred-year history of Staten Island there was once a hunk who sold Chipwiches for a living and liked to read morose poetry in his spare time. But we doubt it. Unless, of course, you’re in the land of “Very Good Girls,” where just such a soulful Mimbo has both Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen wrapped around his finger thanks to that rare combination of literary aptitude and dairy know-how.
The-often-naked-South-American-road-tripper-who-is-inexplicably-drawn-to-George-Michael-Bluth. We’ve never taken a road trip in Chile. It sounds like a fun thing to do. If we did, we would now expect to run in to a hippie with an aversion to clothing and razors but an affinity for dropping New Age crystals in strangers’ drinks — that is, when she’s not drawing in her sketchbook, overcoming a childhood sexual trauma or showing Michael Cera the true meaning of life. It happens in “Crystal Fairy,” anyway.
The-concussed-suburbanite-turned-Sapphic-escort. Most people who get plunked in the head with a softball end up in the emergency room, maybe with some painkillers and a small bump to show for it. The heroine of Stacie Passon’s “Concussion” has something more consequential happen to her after such a mishap: a career in lesbian prostitution. If the movie catches on, expect many frat boys in coed softball games to start developing accuracy problems.
The-lonely-Silver-Lake-housewife-married-to-an-app-company-founder-who-decides-to-take-in-a stripper-as-her-nanny-to alleviate-her-pain. Like you don’t know one.
The-precocious-teenager-living-under-the-thumb-of-oppressive-but-wryly-comedic-father-who-chooses-to-enact-Thoreau-like-fantasies-while-secretly-shopping-at-Boston-Market-and-pretending-he-hunted-the-chickens. Yes, this really happened. Then again, the man responsible for it, “Toy’s House” helmer Jordan Vogt-Roberts, is prone to wearing a full-length fur coat in perfectly temperate rooms.
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The Stunning Work of Aram Bedrossian
Very few photographers have the ability to tell cinematic stories within a single picture, and yet that’s what Aram Bedrossian does very effortlessly.Aram is a New York-based editorial and portrait photographer whose images seem almost from another time. It’s also not a surprise that Aram has lent his talents to directing as well, working on various film projects and commercials.
His images are pretty and polished, yet still contain a raw element. But what really draws me into his work is that he has a way of making complex shoots look effortless and simple ones to look unusually complex.
See more of his work here.
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Allison Williams watches 'Girls' sex scenes with dad
The actress has no problems watching her 'Girls' sex scenes with her newsman dad and everyone else in her family.
Awkward!Allison Williams, one of the stars of HBO's Girls, chatted with Chelsea Handler on Monday's Chelsea Lately and they discussed the sex scenes in the show.
"You had sex with a gay man a couple weeks ago on the show," said Chelsea.
"I did," confirmed Allison.
"That's weird. And it would be weirder to watch with your dad," who is the "super cool" NBC newsman Brian Williams, said Handler.
"Which I did," said Allison.
She went on to say that she has watched every sex scene she's had so far on the show with her entire family.
When asked how that went, Allison's reply was, "People are vomiting in their chairs."
She then explained that she gets her family through those scenes by preparing them in advance for what's about to come, and taking them through the scenes in a technical way.
I had a great casting gig last week. It lasted all of 18 hours. And then it bit the dust. Ah, this business. Easy come, easy go.
Of course, the instant I got the call, I went to work. I started doing research, I broke down the script, I made my first draft of the casting list, I checked my Ulmer Scale for bankability, I started calling agents to find out actors' quotes for this type of project. And I created the first draft of my Casting Deal Memo.
Sun-up day two and it's time to send over the first-draft version of everything, but first goes over the deal memo. I learned the hard way the first time I handed over work product with no contract in place that you always get that deal memo signed before handing off the work. Ah, but this job was not to be. "We're sooo sorry." Yeah. I know. Me too.
Should I have not done any work 'til we had a deal memo? Nah. This business is all about trust and relationships and timing. It's often very important to get the jump on everything and that sometimes means getting to work right away, and sorting out the details later. This means when you "get to work," it's essential that your "picker" is good. Really good! I have no regrets over having worked for a few hours on a job that no longer exists. This was not the first time I worked with--and will not be the last time I will work with--these fine folks. We're building our career-long trust with one another. Now they owe me one. And we all know it.
But what about you? You're an actor entering into a relationship with producers you've not previously encountered. How much work do you do before your contract is in place? Well, you already start working before you audition, just by downloading the script and preparing. And then you earn the callback and you work on the script some more. You get off-book. You explore more about this character so you can have an intelligent conversation with producers, should they want to know your take on that amazing thing that happens in act three.
Then you get the call that you've been cast and--based on the type of project we're talking about--you start getting other calls right away, or much later, from wardrobe and production and travel and so on. Your agent is negotiating your deal and you still haven't signed a contract, but you've started the process of getting time off work and arranging for your beloved pet's care while you're out of town. You've put out a blast to your mailing list that you've booked a great role. You may have even designed some postcards and started prepping a mailing about the booking, since you have a bit of time to kill while learning lines, working out, and planning the travel that's ahead of you.
And then the deal falls through. The project loses funding. A first-time producer loses her mind and goes MIA without a word to the rest of the crew. Either they recast you or there is no project in which anyone is cast anymore. Whatever the reason, you suddenly have no job (and perhaps no communication that your status has changed--people are weird like that in this business sometimes) and this could happen before or after you have a contract. So what does it mean?
Depends.
I once had a contract for casting services on a project for which it turns out the producers forged documents to verify their financing. One producer was stealing from another of the producers in order to form the LLC with which my deal was made. It seems they wanted to see just how far they could get into the movie-making process before they'd actually have to write a check, in case investors would start throwing money at them, just based on the amazing idea they'd crafted. After the wannabe players left town owing me tens of thousands of dollars, I consulted an attorney who told me I absolutely could go after them, and then I would have a judgment. And a judgment "isn't worth the paper it's printed on," in this case. I'd be out the legal fees for going after these guys who, frankly, weren't going to be easy to find. I'd be out the time and energy, of course. And in the end I'd have a piece of paper that said exactly what my contract already said--that they owed me a bunch of money, now plus reimbursement for legal fees. And... that piece of paper would get me no closer to getting paid, since the LLC no longer existed (if it ever really did).
Instead of wasting time and energy and money pursuing a judgment that may never actually yield the money I was due, I chose to work on "my picker." Far better use of energy to make sure, next time, the producers are for real. Their project is for real. Their money is for real.
Psst! This is why people work with the same producers, again and again, in this town. We like working with people who actually deliver FAR more than we like taking the risk of developing new relationships with producers who may really just be "producers." The rule I like to apply is one Mark Sikes introduced a while back: "Someone who has yet to complete their first project is not a producer. Not yet. A producer is someone who has finished the job. That's what makes them a producer. Any idiot can walk around calling themselves a producer." Dude. Amen to that. Recently learned that lesson, big time. Until your IMDb page shows at least one "win" in the world of producing, you're just an actor-turned-screenwriter with a few great relationships and a dream. That's not a bad thing! It's just not enough to mean much to many. We've all been burned. And that's why we're cautious in issues of Risk Assessment, in this business.
And what if you've started working on the project before a contract comes over and then the project goes away? Can you get anything out of that? Not likely. The reason a contract is so important is because it spells out expectations and benchmarks and a timeline that is agreed upon by both parties. Without a document that spells that stuff out, neither party can point out a "meeting of the minds" on the terms of collaborating on the project. As you can probably imagine--since it's often tough to get even contracted services paid for if one party is scamming another--it's pretty much impossible to get services for which there was never even a contract paid for! This is why pros insist upon "putting it in writing."
So, am I saying, "Try to get a contract right away. But even then, it might not protect you. So why bother?"
No. I am not saying that. Contracts in the entertainment industry are so much like a pre-nup. You hope you'll never need the protections that you put into place, but you have them should you need them down the line. People who cannot agree to the concept of even having a contract drawn up to protect both parties are telling you an awful lot about their character and their professionalism. A good contract protects everyone and really just spells out terms, expectations, and a timeline. A producer who won't spell out your series attachment when casting you in a spec pilot is not only not taking care of you but is also potentially screwing himself. I mean, let's say your work in the pilot is so amazing that you are the reason the series will fly. Suddenly, negotiations are going to be much tougher. Their mistake. Anyone who is afraid to commit is a non-pro. Let them take that lack of professionalism elsewhere. You don't want to work with them anyway.
An agent or a manager who wants to rep you without a contract? Well, why would they want that? Why wouldn't they want something spelling out that your bookings are commissionable? What's the reason for not having a contract? Usually, in cases of representation, it's due to an interest in keeping commitments at a minimum and an official client list looking smaller than it actually is. Does that mean actors should always avoid hip-pocket deals? Heck no! Sometimes they work out really great! But just don't start feeling that you're "all taken care of," when you have a handshake deal for representation. You really just have a deal that marries you but allows the other party to screw around on you with a whole bunch of others. Be sure you're okay with that before you consider yourself "off the market" to other suitors.
Remember that SAG will look over any contract a member brings in, whether it's a contract for representation or for a project in which you've been cast. Take advantage of their expertise and the benefits your dues provide! Let them help you, if you need it.
I've told you before about the Copy Provided Form that Holdon Log makes available for download. Definitely make sure any project in which you're cast includes a guarantee that you'll get your copy! Especially in "copy, credit, meals" deals, that's a big part of your "pay." And speaking of pay, make sure your contract spells out exactly how much you're getting paid and when. If a project is deferred pay, under what circumstances do you receive pay and how long after producers get that first buck do you get yours? Have you agreed upon the scale of measurement you're using to determine back-end payments? Is it what Variety reports? Or does a producers' cleverly-structured profit-and-loss spreadsheet trump that official ledger? Get it in writing.
Make sure your safety is protected. Never agree to be a part of a project on which you'll be asked to do stunts when there's no stunt coordinator and choreographer on set. If there's nudity required of a role, every possible element should be fully disclosed in your nudity rider. How long will how much of what part of your body be on camera? Who will be on set during the shooting? What are your rights in terms of approval? Use of stills? Distribution to the Internet? Use of a body double? Get it in writing!
Finally, remember that "nonunion" does not mean "no contract." There are still state, federal, and child labor laws out there to protect every employee on every type of project. Mandated work breaks, insurance, minimum-standard working conditions are all within your rights as a performer. Asking for terms to be spelled out in writing is also your right, whether you're a member of a performer's union yet or not! Since there will never be an end to the parade of (often well-meaning but sometimes shady) wannabes who fancy themselves producers in this town, remember to use your energy to hone your picker. Choose to work with the real pros in this biz and you'll rarely have to worry about "what if" on matters of a contract because it will all be taken care of--in writing. How do you know if a "producer" is legit or not? Start by asking 'em to put it all in writing. If your request scares someone off, good. Consider it an A-Hole Filter. Better to learn who you're dealing with now than later.
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Julia Garner Joins The Cast Of SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR
No, we still don't have our Ava Lord (the "dame" of the title,) but Deadline report that the young Perks Of Being A Wallflower actress has joined the ever-growing cast of Robert Rodriguez' Sin City sequel. Click on to find out some details about her role..
Garner made her feature debut in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene and nabbed roles last year in Wallflower and Not Fade Away. She recently hit Park City with the cannibal pic We Are What We Are, bought by eOne out of Sundance last week. Garner also starred as a young Mormon teenager in Rebecca Thomas’s Berlin entry Electrick Children and will next be seen in CBS Films’ horror sequel The Last Exorcism 2, in theaters March 1. She is repped by Authentic Talent and Literary Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
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HOLLYWOOD SPY EXCLUSIVE SPOTLIGHT ON NEW EPIC SHOW "DA VINCI'S DEMONS" WITH TOM RILEY, ELLIOT COWAN, BLAKE RITSON, LAURA HADDOCK!
On our utter delight next few years will be years of epic shows on TV, as you can see in HOLLYWOOD SPY sidebar section with FEATURED
DA VINCI'S STORY
The show brings the story of the world's greatest genius during his raucous youth in Renaissance Florence. Brash and brilliant, young Da.jpg)
Vinci is an artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist. As a free thinker, with intellect and talents that are almost superhuman, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time. He
_Zoroaster_(Greg_Chillin).jpg)
begins to not only see the future, but invent it. In a world where thought and faith are controlled, one man fights to set knowledge free. Leonardo Da Vinci is tortured by a gift of superhuman genius. He finds himself in a conflict between truth and lies, religion and reason, past and future. His aspirations are used against him by the opposing forces of the time
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Da Vinci is learned, but not yet wise. He will come to realize that personal sacrifice is often necessary for the greater good and will make sacrifices for both Florence and those he loves.
LUCREZIA DONATI
COUNT RIARIO
LORENZO MEDICI
institutions in Europe. But its sovereignty is being challenged by competing banks. Lorenzo regards Rome and Pope Sixtus as necessary evils.
CLARICE ORSINI
marriage, Clarice quickly proves herself to be much more than a political pawn. Sharp, patient, and deeply committed to Lorenzo, she’s a valuable advisor to her husband.
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'Banshee' Renewed for Second Season by Cinemax
via press release:
CINEMAX RENEWS ACTION SERIES BANSHEE FOR SECOND SEASON
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29, 2013 – CINEMAX has renewed the action series BANSHEE for a second season, scheduled to debut in 2014, it was announced today by Kary Antholis, president, HBO Miniseries and CINEMAX Programming. The show is currently in its first season, with episodes debuting Friday at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
Executive produced by Jonathan Tropper, David Schickler, Peter Macdissi, Alan Ball and Greg Yaitanes, BANSHEE stars Antony Starr (“Rush”) as Lucas Hood, an ex-con and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, Pa., where he continues his criminal activities, even as he’s hunted by the shadowy gangsters he betrayed years earlier. Scripts for the first season are conceived and written by Tropper and Schickler. Writers John Romano (“Monk”), Evan Dunsky (“Two and a Half Men”), and Doug Jung (HBO’s “Big Love”) join Schickler and Tropper for season two.
Also starring in season one of the series are: Ivana Milicevic (“Charlie’s Angels,” HBO’s “Mind of the Married Man”), Ulrich Thomsen (“The Celebration”), Frankie Faison (“The Good Wife,” HBO’s “The Wire”), Hoon Lee (“Premium Rush”), Rus Blackwell (“Burn Notice,” HBO’s “Recount”), Matt Servitto (HBO’s “The Sopranos”), Demetrius Grosse (“Justified”), Trieste Kelly Dunn (“Brothers and Sisters”), Ryann Shane (“Blue Bloods”), Daniel Ross Owens (“Prison Break”), Lili Simmons (“Fat Kid Rules the World”) and Ben Cross (“Star Trek,” “Ben-Hur”).
The ten-episode first season of BANSHEE, which began Jan. 11, has inspired critical raves, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it “taut, entertaining and smart,” and the Wall Street Journal describing the show as “enticing” and “indisputably satisfying.”
For more on the series, visit cinemax.com/banshee, facebook.com/cinemax, twitter.com @Cinemax #Banshee and youtube.com/Cinemax.
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Showtime’s ‘House Of Lies’, ‘Shameless’ and ‘Californication’ Renewed
Three weeks into the season, Showtime has renewed its entire current Sunday lineup: Drama Shameless for a fourth season, comedy House Of Lies for a third and veteran Californication for Season 7. The pickup comes as all three series are off to a strong start this season. They all returned on January 13 with their highest-rated episodes ever. The third season of Shameless is currently averaging 5.4 million weekly viewers across platforms, up 22% from last season and up 63% vs. Season 1. The second season of House Of Lies is averaging 3.2 million weekly viewers, up 10% from Season 1, and the sixth season of Californication is averaging 3.1 million weekly viewers, up 21% vs. season five. Production for the new seasons of all three series will kick-off in Los Angeles later this year for a 2014 launch. “Californication, House Of Lies and Shameless possess highly distinctive comedic voices, and given that all three continue to grow their audience season after season – the pick-up decision was easy,” said Showtime entertainment president David Nevins. In their most recent airings on Jan. 27, Shameless delivered 2.53 million viewers for the night, the series’ biggest total night ever. House Of Lies was on par with its season premiere, 1.4 million viewers for the night across two plays. Californication attracted 1.05 million cumed viewers.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You have read this article Allison Williams /
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