Jack Ma, Spielberg Strike Deal to Bring Hollywood to China
It’s a casting director’s dream. Jack Ma, China’s richest man, and
the highest-grossing Hollywood auteur of all time have struck a deal to
work together to produce and finance films for the world’s
second-largest movie market.
Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. is buying a stake in Amblin Partners, the production outfit backed by Steven Spielberg to work together on production, marketing and distribution both globally and in China. It’s the latest in a spree of deals over the past two years intended to help U.S. studios tap what could soon be the world’s largest box office, while hopefully imparting a little of that Hollywood movie-making magic to increasingly ambitious Chinese households.
The agreement with Spielberg’s storied studio marks Alibaba’s and Ma’s most comprehensive production effort to date. The company has been selective so far, preferring to invest in select films such as the latest installment of the “Mission Impossible” franchise, in return for an equity stake and the right to stream it across internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s various online services.
“Among Chinese consumers, there is an increasing demand for premium global content," Ma said in an e-mailed statement. "This collaboration can serve as a cultural bridge and have a positive impact on the next generation of Chinese consumers.”
“We intend to make six to nine movies a year, ” Amblin Partners President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Jeff Small said Sunday at a launch of the tie-up in a downtown Beijing skyscraper’s ballroom. The films would be distributed by a network that included Universal Pictures Ltd. China had the “fastest-growing demand in world.”
“There’s a lot in China that’s becoming more and more known, through media ... and China’s tremendous renaissance,” said Spielberg, who was part of a crew that shot the movie “Empire of the Sun” in Shanghai in the 1980s. He said he wants to “bring more of China to America and more of America to China."
Ma Support
Ma told the launch he’s not personally trying to envision movies of the future, but “my job is using technology to support these guys.”
China has been a focus for Hollywood studios in recent years as the U.S. film market has stagnated. In 2015, China’s box office totaled $6.8 billion, up 49 percent from the previous year, according to consulting firm Artisan Gateway. The North American box office had its biggest year in 2015 at $11.1 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
American studios have been looking to Chinese partners for funding and ways to maximize their revenue from a country that limits the number of foreign firms exhibited annually at 34. That aligns with the ambitions of a coterie of local media houses that are in turn trying to hone an ability to reach worldwide audiences, and hasn’t been shy about paying for it.
But the rapid pace of acquisitions has some in Washington spooked. Lawmakers have called for an overhaul of regulations to give the U.S. greater ability to scrutinize and block Chinese investment in U.S. media, as well as force lobbyists acting for the Chinese to register their interests.
In December, Spielberg brought new life to his production company DreamWorks Studios, renaming it Amblin Partners. The director of “E.T.,” the biggest-grossing director in history, raised $800 million in debt and equity from banks and partners Reliance Group, Participant Media and Entertainment One. As part of the deal, Amblin’s films will be distributed by Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures rather than Walt Disney Co.
Spielberg’s been honored with more than a dozen best-director and best-picture Academy Award nominations, winning for “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” But his latest effort, “The BFG,” failed to recoup its costs at the box office. This weekend in the U.S., Universal Pictures releases the first movie from its pact with Amblin, “The Girl on the Train,” based on the best-selling mystery novel.
— With assistance by Christina Larson, Anousha Sakoui, and Lulu Chen
Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. is buying a stake in Amblin Partners, the production outfit backed by Steven Spielberg to work together on production, marketing and distribution both globally and in China. It’s the latest in a spree of deals over the past two years intended to help U.S. studios tap what could soon be the world’s largest box office, while hopefully imparting a little of that Hollywood movie-making magic to increasingly ambitious Chinese households.
The agreement with Spielberg’s storied studio marks Alibaba’s and Ma’s most comprehensive production effort to date. The company has been selective so far, preferring to invest in select films such as the latest installment of the “Mission Impossible” franchise, in return for an equity stake and the right to stream it across internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s various online services.
“Among Chinese consumers, there is an increasing demand for premium global content," Ma said in an e-mailed statement. "This collaboration can serve as a cultural bridge and have a positive impact on the next generation of Chinese consumers.”
Board Seat
Alibaba Pictures will also name a representative to sit on the board of Amblin Partners, a content creation company formed by DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, Reliance Entertainment and Entertainment One. Spielberg is the Chairman of Amblin Partners.“We intend to make six to nine movies a year, ” Amblin Partners President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Jeff Small said Sunday at a launch of the tie-up in a downtown Beijing skyscraper’s ballroom. The films would be distributed by a network that included Universal Pictures Ltd. China had the “fastest-growing demand in world.”
Ma and Spielberg appeared together at the launch.
“There’s a lot in China that’s becoming more and more known, through media ... and China’s tremendous renaissance,” said Spielberg, who was part of a crew that shot the movie “Empire of the Sun” in Shanghai in the 1980s. He said he wants to “bring more of China to America and more of America to China."
Ma SupportMa told the launch he’s not personally trying to envision movies of the future, but “my job is using technology to support these guys.”
China has been a focus for Hollywood studios in recent years as the U.S. film market has stagnated. In 2015, China’s box office totaled $6.8 billion, up 49 percent from the previous year, according to consulting firm Artisan Gateway. The North American box office had its biggest year in 2015 at $11.1 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
American studios have been looking to Chinese partners for funding and ways to maximize their revenue from a country that limits the number of foreign firms exhibited annually at 34. That aligns with the ambitions of a coterie of local media houses that are in turn trying to hone an ability to reach worldwide audiences, and hasn’t been shy about paying for it.
‘Jurassic World’
Fellow Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. has been among the most aggressive in its overtures. It bought “Jurassic World” co-producer Legendary Entertainment and has agreed to co-finance and market releases in China for studios including Sony Pictures. Wanda, now said to be eyeing Golden Globes show-runner Dick Clark Productions, also runs the world’s biggest chain of movie theaters after buying AMC Entertainment. Other Chinese players investing in studios include Fosun Group and Huayi Brothers.But the rapid pace of acquisitions has some in Washington spooked. Lawmakers have called for an overhaul of regulations to give the U.S. greater ability to scrutinize and block Chinese investment in U.S. media, as well as force lobbyists acting for the Chinese to register their interests.
In December, Spielberg brought new life to his production company DreamWorks Studios, renaming it Amblin Partners. The director of “E.T.,” the biggest-grossing director in history, raised $800 million in debt and equity from banks and partners Reliance Group, Participant Media and Entertainment One. As part of the deal, Amblin’s films will be distributed by Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures rather than Walt Disney Co.
Spielberg’s been honored with more than a dozen best-director and best-picture Academy Award nominations, winning for “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” But his latest effort, “The BFG,” failed to recoup its costs at the box office. This weekend in the U.S., Universal Pictures releases the first movie from its pact with Amblin, “The Girl on the Train,” based on the best-selling mystery novel.
— With assistance by Christina Larson, Anousha Sakoui, and Lulu Chen
Actor Gary Sinise to attend 75th Pearl Harbor commemoration
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An 11-day event is planned to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The
theme of the event, which is being organized by the 75th Commemoration
of Pearl Harbor Committee, is "Honoring the past, inspiring the future.”
It will include concerts, movies and galas to commemorate the remaining survivors of the attack.
A new documentary, "Remember Pearl Harbor,"
will debut at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Dec. 4.
Actor Gary Sinise
& the Lt. Dan Band are scheduled to perform at Waikiki Beach on Dec.
5 prior to an outdoor showing at the beach of "From Here to Eternity."
The official commemoration will be televised nationally and shown at New York City’s Times Square on Dec. 7.
American Airlines will sponsor a round-trip flight carrying about 120 Pearl Harbor survivors from Los Angeles to Honolulu on Dec. 3.
“Because
of American Airlines, the last of the Pearl Harbor survivors and World
War II veterans who experienced the emotional awakening on Dec. 7, 1941,
have an opportunity to be together at the sacred place where World War
II began,” said Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, chair of the committee.
Tony Curtis dies at 85; actor was star of 'Some Like It Hot' and 'Sweet Smell of Success'
Tony Curtis was a strikingly handsome 23-year-old native New Yorker playing the lead in an off-Broadway production of "Golden Boy" in 1948 when he was spotted by a Universal Pictures talent scout. Sent west for a screen test, he signed a seven-year contract at $75 a week.
"I got into movies so easy it was scary," Curtis told the Denver Post in 1996.
The former Bernie Schwartz went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1950s and '60s, one whose early reputation as a "pretty boy" tended to blur recognition of his growth and range as an actor who starred in some of his era's landmark films.
Curtis, who died of cardiopulmonary arrest Wednesday night at his home in Henderson, Nev., at age 85, delivered memorable performances in films such as Billy Wilder's classic comedy "Some Like It Hot" and dramatic roles in "The Defiant Ones" and "Sweet Smell of Success."
And in 1959, he received an Academy Award nomination for best actor in "The Defiant Ones," the convict-escape film in which he was chained to costar Sidney Poitier.
He also lived like a movie star and was married five times, most notably to actress Janet Leigh, a union that produced another movie star, Jamie Lee Curtis.
"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages," Jamie Lee Curtis said in a statement. "He leaves behind children and their families who loved him and respected him and a wife and in-laws who were devoted to him. He also leaves behind fans all over the world."
Describing Curtis' death as "a personal loss for me," actor Kirk Douglas said in a statement Thursday:
"Tony and I were two Jewish kids from poverty-level families who could not believe our luck in making it as big Hollywood stars.... I did three movies with him, and he was a much better actor than people realize: Look at 'Some Like It Hot' or 'The Defiant Ones.'"
Poitier told The Times Thursday: "Tony Curtis loved life and life loved him. That's as I found him throughout the shoot and across all the years that followed.
"I think he left a mark as a presence and a person. And I'm sure that many males around the world saw him as kind of like a model for themselves. He was young and he was handsome and he was full of life. And he was available to people. But that was a part of the man's nature."
Curtis failed to receive an Oscar nomination for another strong role, one that he felt sure would finally win him an Academy Award: Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler. That 1968 film of the same name provided Curtis with the last of his major roles.
"After that, the pictures that I got were not particularly intriguing," he told the Seattle Times in 2000, "but I had lots of child-support payments."
For many film fans, Curtis' most memorable role was in "Some Like It Hot," the 1959 film in which he and Jack Lemmon played small-time jazz musicians who witnessed the St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago and, pursued by gangsters, posed as women to escape with an all-female jazz band bound for Miami.
In 2000, the American Film Institute named "Some Like It Hot" the best comedy of the 20th century.
"I feel that he's the great farceur of his generation," said former Times movie reviewer Kevin Thomas, citing Curtis' many comedy roles. But, Thomas said, "he developed tremendous range" as an actor.
Curtis made more than 60 feature and TV films after "The Boston Strangler," including "The Mirror Crack'd" in 1980 with Angela Lansbury and a string of forgettable movies, such as "Lobster Man From Mars" and "The Mummy Lives."
He also frequently appeared on television shows and talk shows. Regardless of the role, "Tony always gave his absolute, total best," Thomas said.
Starting out in 1949 as a contract player at Universal, Curtis broke out as a leading Hollywood actor in 1952 with "Son of Ali Baba."
The actor made the well-regarded "Houdini" in 1953 and from 1956 to 1959 starred in a string of critical and popular hits: "Trapeze," "Mister Cory," "Sweet Smell of Success," "The Vikings," "Kings Go Forth," "The Defiant Ones," "The Perfect Furlough," "Some Like It Hot" and "Operation Petticoat."
His characters varied, with swashbuckling heroes as well as a smarmy press agent, and showed, when the role called for it, genuine comic talent.
And his costars were the biggest names in Hollywood: Burt Lancaster, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Poitier, Lemmon, Natalie Wood and — in "The Vikings," "Houdini" and other films — his first wife, Janet Leigh.
In his later years, Curtis was mainly reduced to being a celebrity without serious portfolio and this, combined with his early teen-idol image and a raft of mediocre films he did while under studio contract, left him with a reputation that was lighter than many of his earlier roles would otherwise inspire.
But Thomas noted: "He was just as terrific an actor at the end as he was at the height of his career."
Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in New York City, the oldest son of Jewish Hungarian immigrants. His father was a tailor, and his mother raised their three boys. But the family was marked by tragedy: One of Curtis' brothers was hit by a truck and died at 9, while the other suffered from schizophrenia and was in and out of institutions throughout his life.
Curtis' early life was a series of struggles — he said he was constantly taunted for being young, Jewish and handsome. He grew up defending himself on whatever turf his parents lived on at the time: the East 80s in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan's Lexington Avenue.
That led to some work in the Borscht Belt in the Catskills and later to Yiddish theater in Chicago. He ended up back in New York doing "Golden Boy" at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Then it was on to Hollywood.
He changed his first name to Anthony and his last to Curtis — an Anglicized version of a Hungarian family name, Kertész. But before long, he was known simply as Tony Curtis.
One of the first things Curtis did on arriving in Hollywood was to learn to drive and then buy a convertible.
"Those days were great," he told the Daily Telegraph of London in 2001 about his early years in Hollywood. "The top down, the car door open.
"At these parties thrown by the studio, there'd always be a brand-new sweetie for me. I was the king of the hill then. And I didn't leave a skirt unmoved."
He reveled in his pretty-boy image and was regularly mobbed by teenage fans.
His acting career got its first boost with a bit part as a gigolo in the 1949 movie "Criss Cross," in which he had a brief dancing scene with the star, Yvonne De Carlo, that brought in a rash of fan letters. Soon Curtis had a bigger role in "City Across the River."
He made standard studio fare for many years for Universal, finally getting better roles when he linked up with powerhouse agent Lew Wasserman. After that, he starred with Lancaster in two well-regarded films, "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Trapeze."
In "Sweet Smell of Success," he played slimy publicist Sidney Falco to Lancaster's evil and all-powerful gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker.
"Curtis makes Sidney's naked ambition so tangible, you can almost feel his clammy palms, and it's Curtis' unsentimental, caffeinated study in amorality that gives 'Sweet Smell' its potent, bitter aftertaste," Entertainment Weekly said in a 2002 listing of the 100 best performances that were not nominated for an Oscar.
Ernest Lehman, the noted screenwriter who wrote the story on which the movie was based, said in 2001 that he viewed Curtis' performance in "Sweet Smell" as "one of the best performances by a male actor in the movies. Still gets me."
In 1959, Curtis starred in two of his best films, "The Defiant Ones" and "Some Like It Hot."
In the latter, director Wilder gave Curtis credit for one of the film's funniest scenes, aboard a yacht.
The actor's character, Josephine, reverts to being Joe and pretends to be a wealthy playboy to woo Sugar Kane (Monroe), the sultry singer in the women's jazz band.
In an interview for Curtis' 1993 autobiography, Wilder said he told Curtis that after his character had stolen the yachtsman's clothes to romance Monroe, he had to talk differently, "not the English of a Brooklyn musician."
Curtis offered to do Cary Grant, which he had learned from repeatedly watching "Gunga Din," the only movie aboard ship for a time while he was in the Navy.
"And it was a huge, wonderful plus for the picture," Wilder said. "I did not know he could do such a perfect imitation."
In 1960, Curtis starred with Douglas in the swashbuckling "Spartacus," a box-office hit that was also notable for the bathtub scene that didn't appear in the original but was restored in the 1991 re-release.
In the scene, Laurence Olivier, playing a Roman general, tries to seduce Curtis, the young slave, in dialogue alluding to one's preference for oysters or snails. (Because the original scene had not been properly recorded, Anthony Hopkins dubbed the dialogue for Olivier, who died in 1989. "I did me," Curtis said of the restoration.)
Unlike many who rose to his heights only to decry having to live their lives in a fishbowl, Curtis enjoyed fame and its accoutrements.
Writing in his 1993 autobiography, Curtis said he was able to handle the adulation of fans because, "I'd had that all my life, even before I got into movies; in school, in the neighborhoods where I lived, always a lot of furor. Everybody liked the way I looked, including myself."
Norman Jewison, who directed Curtis in the 1962 film "40 Pounds of Trouble," said that Curtis' simple belief that the camera loved him "gave his work a distinctive quality."
"He never got uptight, never lost control," Jewison wrote in his 2005 autobiography. "He was always totally cool."
Movies, Curtis once said, gave him "the privilege to be an aristocrat, to be a prince."
Throughout Curtis' life, women loved him, and he loved women. He was married five times, most famously to Leigh, for 11 years beginning in 1951. Theirs was the Hollywood marriage of their era — bigger than Debbie and Eddie and long before Liz and Dick.
In 1984, after family and friends intervened to talk about his drug problem, he admitted himself to the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Memorial Center in Rancho Mirage.
Before it was common practice, Curtis cut a deal to earn a percentage of the box office income on his films. He later said he had received income this way from 34 movies, collecting $2.5 million on "Some Like it Hot" alone.
"I'm telling you, I'm lucky to be me," he told the Buffalo News in 1993. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be Tony Curtis, and that's exactly who I am."
Besides his daughter Jamie Lee, Curtis is survived by his wife, Jill; three other daughters, Kelly Curtis, Alexandra Curtis Boyer and Allegra Curtis; a son, Benjamin; and seven grandchildren. A son, Nicholas, died in 1994.
Luther is a former Times staff writer.
Gary Glasberg, 'NCIS' Showrunner, Dies at 50
Getty Images
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Gary Glasberg, the well-loved showrunner on CBS' NCIS, died suddenly Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 50.
Glasberg, a married father of two, was juggling showrunning duties on both the 14th season of NCIS — the most watched show in the world — and its third-year spinoff, NCIS: New Orleans. In May, he signed a new three-year overall deal with NCIS producers CBS Television Studios that would have kept him at the helm of both shows through 2019.
Under Glasberg's oversight, NCIS finished the 2015-16 broadcast season as the most watched broadcast drama for the seventh straight year. The drama averaged 20.2 million total viewers, with its season 13 finale drawing an impressive 18 million — without DVR. The flagship series, starring Mark Harmon, has already been renewed for next season. What's more, Scott Bakula-led spinoff NCIS: New Orleans ranked as the third-most-watched drama last season with an average of 14.8 million total viewers.
Glasberg joined NCIS in 2009 and took over as showrunner in 2011. He has appeared on THR's annual Power Showrunners list every year since. The news comes a week after both NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans returned for their new seasons on CBS. It's unclear at this time who will take over as showrunner given Glasberg's sudden passing or if production on either show will be impacted.
Glasberg, born in New York City, started his writing career with comic books and animated series including Rugrats and Duckman before turning to dramatic procedurals including Crossing Jordan, The $treet, The Evidence, Bones, Shark and The Mentalist.
Glasberg is survived by his wife of 20 years, TV producer and screenwriter Mimi Schmir (with whom he worked on Shark),
and their two sons, Dash and Eli. He is also survived by his father,
Edwin Glasberg, and sister Mindy Glasberg. A memorial service is being
planned for later in October. The family has requested privacy at this
time."Gary was our rock, our cheerleader, our team captain. He inspired us with his leadership, his creative instincts and keen insight. NCIS will not be the same without him, and each of us will miss his smiling face and unwavering humor, which lifted us every day," the cast and crew of NCIS said in a statement.
Added CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller: "Today is an overwhelmingly sad day for NCIS, CBS and anyone who was blessed to spend time with Gary Glasberg. We have lost a cherished friend, gifted creative voice, respected leader and, most memorably, someone whose warmth and kindness was felt by all around him. Our heartfelt thoughts and sympathies go out to his wife, Mimi, his two sons and all his family and friends."
Said CBS Television Studios president David Stapf: "We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend and colleague Gary Glasberg. He epitomized the word mensch and brought kindness, integrity and class to everything he did. His remarkable talent as a writer and producer was only matched by his ability to connect with people. Gary was a beloved member of our family and we are so honored that he called CBS his home for so many years. Our hearts go out to his wife, Mimi, two sons, his entire family and all those who loved him."
California Enacts Law Requiring IMDb to Remove Actor Ages on Request
“On behalf of everyone in the industry who has struggled with age discrimination, whose opportunities to showcase their talent may have been blocked, I want to thank Gov. Brown and the bill’s author, Assemblymember Ian Calderon," says SAG-AFTRA’s Gabrielle Carteris.
California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed legislation that requires certain entertainment sites, such as IMDb, to remove – or not post in the first place – an actor’s age or birthday upon request.The law, which becomes effective January 1, applies to entertainment database sites that allow paid subscribers to post resumes, headshots or other information for prospective employers. Only a paying subscriber can make a removal or non-publication request. Although the legislation may be most critical for actors, it applies to all entertainment job categories.
“Even though it is against both federal and state law, age discrimination persists in the entertainment industry,” Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, said in a statement. “AB 1687 provides the necessary tools to remove age information from online profiles on employment referral websites to help prevent this type of discrimination.”
“Gov. Jerry Brown today stood with thousands of film and television professionals and concerned Californians who urged him to sign AB 1687, a California law that will help prevent age discrimination in film and television casting and hiring,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris.
The union and others lobbied for the legislation, an effort begun under the aegis of then-SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard, who died in March. His successor, Carteris, testified in front of a State Senate committee, and in August, wrote of her support for the law in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter.
“It is time to stop the ageism that permeates Hollywood’s casting process,” Carteris wrote. “This problem exists for all performers, but most distinctly for women. Performers create characters and often employ illusion to do so. That’s acting.”
She added, “Many actors have endured age discrimination of some sort throughout their careers. Those isolated, individual cases have now morphed into the almost-automatic age discrimination made possible by the online casting services. The information is put front and center before those making the decisions about whom to audition and whom to hire.”
The technology community opposed the law, saying it was a violation of free speech.
“We are disappointed that AB 1687 was signed into law today,” said Internet Association spokesman Noah Theran. “We remain concerned with the bill and the precedent it will set of suppressing factual information on the internet.”
Michael Beckerman, the association’s president and CEO, also wrote in August for THR, about his opposition to the law.
“Requiring the removal of factually accurate age information across websites suppresses free speech,” Beckerman wrote. “This is not a question of preventing salacious rumors; rather it is about the right to present basic facts that live in the public domain. Displaying such information isn’t a form of discrimination, and internet companies should not be punished for how people use public data.”
Some sites used by the entertainment industry may not be covered by the new statute.
Although the limitation to paid subscribes may leave some sites outside the law’s coverage – possibly including Gracenote’s popular Studio System – an actor who has been observing the process said that’s not a major deficiency.
“The focus of this legislation is on a practical solution to a real world problem,” said the performer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The Studio System is not presently a major source of this problem. Professional performers most affected by this are very likely to be subscribers to IMDb Pro and this legislation provides a desperately needed tool to those people.”
The actor added, “It may not be a panacea, but it will provide significant relief to the working actors most impacted by age discrimination. This is relief that could have been voluntarily provided years ago, but which ultimately required the use of the legislative process to achieve. But make no mistake – the impact of this law will be huge.
On another front, some observers have suggested First Amendment concerns, and the new law, like any statute that regulates speech or expression, may be subject to a Constitutional challenge. But Calderon said the limitation to subscribers will help insulate the new law.
“Requiring websites to remove all age information from profiles would seem to run afoul of the First Amendment restrictions on the regulation of commercial speech,” Calderon said in a statement to THR. “Limiting the bill to only subscribers makes it clear that the bill advances an important government interest – that of reducing age discrimination in a manner that is substantially related to that interest and no more extensive than necessary to achieve that interest.”
IMDb and Gracenote did not respond to requests for comment.
Calderon added that the law was more for actors and actresses not as well known as big stars.
“While age information for Hollywood’s biggest stars is readily available from other online sources, this bill is aimed at protecting lesser known actors and actresses competing for smaller roles,” Calderon said in the release. “These actors should not be excluded from auditioning simply based on their age.”
“On behalf of everyone in the industry who has struggled with age discrimination, whose opportunities to showcase their talent may have been blocked, I want to thank Gov. Brown and the bill’s author, Assemblymember Ian Calderon, and all the California lawmakers who were instrumental in this effort,” Carteris added.
The union president also cited California Federation of Labor President Art Pulaski, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Congressmen Ted Lieu and Brad Sherman, the Teamsters, WGA West, the Association of Talent Agents, the AARP of California, and “the thousands of SAG-AFTRA members who sent letters, faxes and emails” in support of thelegislation.
The bill passed both houses of the California Legislature overwhelmingly, records indicate.
Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund & Tom Wilkinson Join Drama ‘Burden’
Written and directed by Andrew Heckler and inspired by true events, the film follows Mike Burden (Hedlund), an orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan who attempts to break away when the girl he falls in love with urges him to leave for a better life together. As the Klan seeks Mike out for vengeance, a black congregation led by the benevolent Reverend Kennedy takes Mike, his girlfriend and her son in, protects them and accepts them into their community in hopes of teaching Mike about love and acceptance.
Set to begin production in two weeks, Burden has been in the works for more than a decade, with things seriously getting in motion in 2015 under producer Robbie Brenner, who brought the project with her when she left Relativity to join the newly reconstituted The Firm in September 2015.
Brenner is producing, with The Firm founder Jeff Kwatinetz executive producing along with Gabby Revilla and Kevin McKeon. Gary Raskin is handling production legal, with casting by Rich Delia.
Good Universe is handling international sales.
Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for portraying dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland and has The Arrival and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story next on his plate. He recently was seen in Southpaw, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Fruitvale Station and the Roots remake. He’s repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment.
Hedlund next will be seen in Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and other credits include On the Road and Tron: Legacy. He’s repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment and Sloane Offer.
Harper is best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Crimes of the Heart and her other credits include No Country for Old Men. She’s repped by BRS/Gage Talent.
Raymond, who records as Usher, in onscreen as Sugar Ray Leonard in the Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone. He’s repped by WME.
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