MovieDriver - Hollywood Teamster

Movie producer and executive David Brown, whose six-decade career produced box office hits and Oscar winners alike, died Monday at his home in Manhattan after a long illness. He was 93.

In partnership with Richard Zanuck, with whom he formed the independent production company Zanuck-Brown in 1972, Brown produced a string of financial and critical successes, including 1974 Best Picture winner "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. They also hired Steven Spielberg to direct his first feature, "The Sugarland Express," and later tapped him for the blockbuster "Jaws."

Brown was married for more than 50 years to Cosmopolitan magazine editor and author Helen Gurley Brown, who survives him.

A public funeral will be held on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 3:30 p.m. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel (1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street) in New York City.

Born in New York City on July 28, 1916, the young Brown went west to Stanford University intending to be a physicist. However, he felt overmatched by physics and higher math, and instead majored in what he described as "the softest discipline I could think of, which was journalism." After graduating from Stanford in 1936, he returned to New York to earn his master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1937.

He apprenticed at a San Francisco newspaper and the Wall Street Journal, and then became a copy editor and theater critic at Women's Wear Daily. Shifting to magazines, he had a stint as managing editor of Cosmopolitan, where his duties included penning attention-grabbing cover lines. Later in life, as an unpaid staff husband, he returned to writing the cover lines for the magazine, then edited by his wife.

"David Brown was a force in the entertainment, literary and journalism worlds," said Frank A. Bennack Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer of Hearst Corp. "We are very lucky at Hearst to have worked with him and his legendary wife, Helen, for many years. His expansive body of work will be enjoyed by people around the world for many centuries to come. He will be greatly missed."

Brown also wrote short stories and articles for national magazines like Collier's, Harper's, the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post, as well as for the New York Times.

Brown also authored a number of books, including his most recent, in 2006, "Brown's Guide to the Good Life Without Tears, Fears or Boredom."

With his eclectic journalism resume and a clear sense of narrative, Brown caught the eye of legendary Hollywood studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck, who hired him in 1951 to head the story department at 20th Century Fox. To prepare for his second move west, Brown, who then preferred plays to movies, had to take what he called "a crash course in moviegoing."

From 1952 to 1971, Brown rose through Fox's executive ranks, surviving two firings, one of which briefly took him to Warner Bros., where he was executive VP and a member of the board of directors. While at Fox, Brown began his longtime friendship with Richard Zanuck, son of Darryl.

Also while at Fox, in 1959, the twice-divorced Brown met and married Helen Gurley, then an advertising copywriter in Los Angeles.

Brown and Richard Zanuck formed Zanuck-Brown in 1972 and it continued to produce films until they dissolved the company in 1988.

"Jaws" was one of their biggest hits, creating the paradigm of the summer blockbuster and cementing Spielberg's reputation. Brown and Zanuck produced "Jaws 2" in 1978.

The pair also produced Sidney Lumet's "The Verdict" (1982), Ron Howard's "Cocoon" (1985) and Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992); the latter won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture.

Brown received numerous career honors over the years, including the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 1990 and the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 1995.

Other honors included the IFP Gotham Award in 1993, the ShowEast Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, the Writers Guild of America (East) Evelyn F. Burkey Award in 1999 and ShoWest Producer of the Year in 2001.

In 1988, Brown founded and became president of his own production company, the Manhattan Project Ltd., producing films including "A Few Good Men" (1992), "Deep Impact" (1998, with Richard Zanuck), and "Angela's Ashes" (1999).

Brown earned another Best Picture Oscar nomination as producer of "Chocolat" in 2001.

Asked to what he attributed his success in Hollywood, Brown once said, "I keep my word, even when I make a mistake. I never lived beyond my means, and therefore, I never had to be a slave to Hollywood. I always had this feeling that I could go back to journalism. Unlike many Hollywood people, I had another career."

Brown also produced stage and television productions, including the Broadway musical adaptation of "Sweet Smell of Success." Shows he helped transfer to the New York stage include "Tru," "A Few Good Men" and the musical version of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." He also was executive producer of 1996 CBS miniseries "A Season in Purgatory" and two movies for HBO.

Even though he is up for an Oscar, Jason talks about his enjoyment of 'The Hurt Locker'. Lots of great films this year, I hope 'Hurt Locker' wins. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole film...

Hesher may have scored one of the biggest distribution deals at Sundance on the weight of names like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, but it’s Devin Brochu’s breakout turn that makes the drama’s biggest impression. Playing T.J., the disaffected youth at the film’s center, 13-year-old Brochu takes a serious licking — he endures everything from eating urinal cakes to being threatened with hedge clippers to getting tossed around by heavy machinery. That he manages through it all to render such an astoundingly mature performances is a testament to his talent. We caught up with Devin minutes after taking questions from an enthusiastic Sundance screening, and were relieved to find a sweet, well-adjusted and thoughtful kid on the cusp of something big.

Was there something about this script that spoke to you?
Yeah! I really liked the script. I thought it was a great story, and I loved T.J. And I got to work with all these incredible actors — Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson, Piper Laurie.

You seem like a pretty happy, well-adjusted guy, and T.J. is a pretty miserable kid. Were you ever doubtful you’d be able to tap into all of that pain?
It was really hard to get there. I mean, this kid is tortured. He tries to get through every single day. It’s just so sad. I would have to go over it a lot with [director Spencer Susser], and [acting coach] Chris Neil was on set and would help me. We just took a lot of notes and talked about it a lot. I would think about different sad things that would help me get there.

Like what?
I thought about my dog Marley. She was a Doberman, and was around even before I was alive. She passed away a few years ago, and I just loved her so much. I just thought of that and it made me really emotional and sad.

There’s a scene where you go to group therapy for families in mourning. Even though those were just actors, that must have been very difficult to shoot.
Yeah. It was different.

What was your first meeting with Spencer like?
I went back a few times. He wanted to make sure we fit together well, and understand each other. He said he didn’t want it to be acting, he wanted it to be “real.” He helped me a lot.

This movie could really change things for you. Are you ready for that?
Yeah! Hopefully it will!

What are you hoping comes next?
I’m hoping another big thing. I have a couple of auditions coming up, but hopefully like you said, this will do a lot for me.

Tell me about your relationship with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Joe’s awesome. He started when he was young, just like me. So he knows what you have to do to be a good actor. He showed me so many good things, and gave me such great pointers. We really bonded together. He’s just a really great person and actor.

What’s a tip he gave you?
We would do different things to prepare for a scene. We’d do our rock n’ roll scream, which was when it was a very intense scene and you had to be mad, we’d just scream at the top of our lungs.

You take a lot of physical abuse in this movie. Did you have a stuntman?
Yeah, we had two stunt people.

Were they little people?
They were adults, in their 20s. They were kind of small, my size. The funny thing is that they were both girls — Emily and Kelly. They’re awesome.

And you give as good as you get. Did any of those moments result in someone getting accidentally hurt? How about when you kicked Joe in the groin?
[Laughs] Yeah. I had to learn how to kick him right and everything.

Finally, what’s your favorite movie scene of all time?
Let’s see. I like Rocky! I guess my favorite scene is him training so hard, and since he’s the underdog usually, it ends up with him winning. It feels, good, you know? He works so hard and everything.

SAG moves Towards Joint Bargaining with AFTRA

Jonathan Handel

The SAG National Board yesterday passed a resolution, by a surprising 82% to 18% vote, directing the guild’s president and National Executive Director to “seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract,” as quoted in a SAG press release. This move is as I predicted in a blog post three weeks ago, based on conversations then with a confidential source.

Those negotiations, scheduled for October 1 – November 15 of this year, would take place “under the terms of Phase One, modeled on the agreement used successfully in the 2009 Commercials Contract negotiations,” per the resolution. Phase One is the 1981 agreement between the two unions under which they have jointly bargained with the studios for almost three decades, with the notable exception of 2007-2009.

The margin was unexpected, since the board is almost evenly divided between factions that support joint bargaining (Unite for Strength and an independent in Los Angeles, and most or all members of the New York and regional boards) and a group (Membership First) that has generally expressed bitter opposition to joint bargaining under Phase One, a framework that gives SAG and AFTRA equal weight on the negotiating committee. (Because of the lateness of the hour, it was not possible to explore this issue with sources, and a call to a SAG spokesperson was not immediately returned.)

The resolution also directs the President, Ken Howard, and National Executive Director, David White, to “bring a recommendation to the National Board at the earliest opportunity.” The urgency presumably stems in part from the fact that AFTRA’s next national board meeting is February 27 meeting, and more generally from the constraints created by the October 1 date and the various processes leading up to it, as I have previously discussed. The TV/theatrical contract doesn’t expire until June 30, 2011, but the agreement reached last year between the studios and SAG mandates early bargaining, specifically, from October 1 through November 15.

The SAG press release is below.

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SAG National Board of Directors Meets via
Videoconference in Los Angeles and New York

Los Angeles, (January 31, 2010) - Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors voted today to seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract. Approved 82 to 18 percent, the resolution states:

“It was moved and seconded that in light of SAG's historically productive negotiating partnership with AFTRA, the SAG National Board of Directors directs President Ken Howard and National Executive Director David White to seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract, under the terms of Phase One, modeled on the agreement used successfully in the 2009 Commercials Contract negotiations. President Howard and NED White shall bring a recommendation to the National Board at the earliest opportunity.”

Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard said, “I am very pleased with the vote and thank the Board for their leadership and foresight on this important issue. I so appreciate the Board’s cooperative spirit in this discussion and throughout the day, and feel confident that our Guild is moving in the right direction.”

In other actions, the National Board voted unanimously to create a National Performance Capture Committee to address the unique concerns and experiences of members who render performances that are recorded using “performance capture” technology across all media, and to advise the Guild on all matters pertaining to work in this rapidly growing area.

The board also approved 83 percent to 17 percent the unanimous recommendation of the finance committee to authorize the extension of existing initiation fee reductions in targeted markets across the country and to have the Guild’s Joint Strategic Planning and Finance Committee review the initiation fee structure nationwide.

Reports
The national board received reports from elected leadership and staff including:

• President Howard memorialized those members who have passed away over the last year reading each name aloud and calling for a moment of silent remembrance. Howard also recognized the recent loss of former Houston Branch President and board member Jim Huston, who passed away January 28, 2010.

Mary McDonald-Lewis, Regional Branch Division board member from Portland, Oregon, delivered a special tribute to Huston, saying, “He stood with his brothers and sisters through the best of times and the worst of times, and did so with resolve.“

• Secretary-Treasurer Amy Aquino delivered a report on the Guild’s second quarter financial results noting that SAG’s revenue and expenses are closely tracking the projections for fiscal year 2010. Aquino also provided an update on investment performance indicating recoupment of certain losses in the Guild’s investment portfolio when compared to the prior year.

• National Executive Director David White reported on the strategic planning efforts underway at the Guild and preparation for negotiations. White updated the board on new institutional and member service initiatives including a revitalized organizing strategy and program. White applauded SAG committee members and staff for their innovative and thoughtful work in key areas including the 2010 SAG Awards, government relations and legislative activities, new media outreach activities, and the LifeRaft Live Streaming partnership with SAG Foundation, among other efforts.

The Board also appointed Deputy National Executive Director of Contracts Ray Rodriguez to the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Industry Advancement & Cooperative Fund (IACF) board and addressed a number of governance matters, including a constitutional amendment regarding written assent procedures; an amendment to Branch rules of procedure; advisory recommendations from the annual national membership meeting; amendments to the election guidelines; and a recommendation to study the feasibility of electronic voting.

The meeting adjourned just after 5:00 p.m. PST.

Company Town

The business behind the show

Sony Pictures to lay off 450 employees

February 1, 2010 |  3:26 pm

Sony Pictures Entertainment is laying off 450 people, more than 6.5% of its global workforce, as part of a studio-wide belt-tightening move blamed on the growth of piracy and changing media consumption patterns, particularly the ongoing downturn in DVD sales.

In a memo sent to Sony Pictures' approximately 6,800 employees Monday, Chairman Michael Lynton and Co-Chairman Amy Pascal said most of the layoffs would affect the home entertainment and information technology divisions. But all divisions will be affected, they said, including motion pictures, television, digital production and even the corporate suites.

Along with the layoffs, which will start in March, the studio is eliminating about 100 open positions.

"Our industry is affected by two things: It's affected by the economy, of course, and it's affected by technology," Pascal said Monday in a video message to employees. "Over the last two years, it's changed people's DVD-buying habits, which has had a huge effect on our company and the industry at large."

This will be the second time in a year that Sony Pictures has slashed its workforce. Last March, the studio laid off 250 people and eliminated an additional 100 positions.

Combined DVD and Blu-ray sales declined more than 13% in the U.S. last year. The downturn in what was once Hollywood's cash cow has had a big impact on every studio.

In December, Sony boasted that it had its best-ever box-office year in 2009, surpassing $3.5 billion in global receipts. But rising ticket sales have not been enough to compensate for plummeting home entertainment revenue.

Last week, Sony shuffled the executive ranks of its home entertainment division and made changes in its IT department. Lynton and Pascal said those shakeups were "first steps toward the creation of a new operating model for our studio."

-- Ben Fritz and Claudia Eller

Photo: Amy Pascal. Credit: Sony.

More in: Sony

February 01, 2010 at 05:48 PM

 

The Big Picture

Patrick Goldstein on the collision of entertainment, media and pop culture

The Oscar race: Isn't anyone picking 'The Hangover' for best picture?

February 1, 2010 |  6:00 am

In politics -- even with pollsters hounding voters every day of the week -- whenever you look around at election time, you can find a stunning upset in the making, as we all saw recently in the Massachusetts Senate race. So why doesn't it happen in Hollywood at Oscar time? Do members of the motion picture academy really have such drearily predictable artistic tastes that any half-bright Oscar blogger can pretty much predict what films they'll nominate?

With the Oscar nominations announced Tuesday, I was pondering this imponderable, especially after reading Vulture Oscar expert Lane Brown's latest predictions for the top Oscar races. I was all set to take issue with Brown's choices, since there's nothing more fun than belittling the crazy conjectures of my favorite breathless Oscar pundits. But after talking to a few Oscar consultants and awards-season veterans, I have to admit that, for the most part, Brown seems to be right on the money, at least in terms of this year's Oscar consensus. 

When it comes to the best-picture category, it's especially intriguing (and I plan to have more to say about this on Oscar day) that no one is betting that any of the year's big studio blockbusters -- outside of "Avatar," of course -- will make the academy top 10. After the obvious favorites -- "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds" and "Up in the Air" -- Brown has the same list of films that every Oscar pundit seems to have: "An Education," "District 9," "Invictus," "Precious," "A Serious Man" and "Up." Though "District 9" made a lot of money, it was an independently financed film, not one made through the studio system. But no one is picking "Star Trek," "The Hangover" or "The Blind Side," just to name a trio of well-received commercial studio hits.

Here are Brown's picks in a few other categories (the favorite listed first), along with my reaction:

Best director: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker." James Cameron, "Avatar." Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds." Lee Daniels, "Precious." Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

Hardly anyone disagreed with this list, except for one insider who thought Reitman was losing so much steam that he could drop out in favor of "An Education's" Lone Scherfig.

Best actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart." George Clooney, "Up in the Air." Colin Firth, "A Single Man." Morgan Freeman, "Invictus." Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."

Pretty much a consensus here too, although there was a bit of sentiment for adding "An Education's" Peter Sarsgaard, although that would probably mean dumping Freeman, which seems unlikely, since its hard to imagine anyone in liberal Hollywood not giving a nomination to an actor playing Nelson Mandela.

Best actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side." Helen Mirren, "The Last Station." Carey Mulligan, "An Education." Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious." Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

No disagreements here. These are the obvious favorites.

Best supporting actor: I'm not even bothering with this one. The race is already over. Christoph Waltz from "Inglourious Basterds" has it all sewn up.

Best supporting actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious." Penelope Cruz, "Nine." Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air." Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air." Julianne Moore, "A Single Man."

Dissenters say the reaction to "Nine" was so uniformly lousy that even Cruz may not end up with a nomination. It's also possible that one of the "Up in the Air" actresses might get dropped out of the mix. The most likely replacement: Maggie Gyllenhaal from "Crazy Heart."

If you think all these experts are nuts, feel free to offer up your own choices. It's a free country!

Photo: Oscar statues. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

More in: Film

Posted by: Taylor Vignali | February 01, 2010 at 11:13 AM