D'Works Animation's John Batter leaves for MediaNavi

EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks Animation production prexy John Batter is departing his publish in the toon studio, but he isn't going far.Batter will join Technicolor subsidiary MediaNavi as Boss, stretching a current relationship between Technicolor and DWA.Included in the initiative, Technicolor will launch a 2D-to-three dimensional conversion biz. DWA's "Kung Fu Panda" would be the first film to undergo the procedure.The 2 companies curently have a powerful publish-production relationship in position. Technicolor handled DVD and Blu-ray authoring and replicating focus on photos including "Monsters versus. Aliens" and also the "Shrek" series.MediaNavi is going to be concentrating on emerging content distribution models, having a large consumer launch targeted for 2012. DWA is particularly interested in benefiting from the development of three dimensional Blu-ray sales: People are progressively obtaining the dvds to experience on the three dimensional Tv's.Technicolor is continuing to grow its 2D-to-three dimensional conversion group in the last year. Company comes with an 80-person team located in Hollywood and most 200 people in Bangalore, India, where DWA includes a publish facility.In the new position, Batter will partner with Technicolor senior Vice president and gm from the Digital Content Delivery division Greg Gudorf, who'll function as chief operating officer. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Tibetan filmmaker wins Korean awards

SEOUL -- Tibetan-Chinese filmmaker Pema Tseden's "Old Dog" nabbed three honours in the Cinema Digital Seoul Festival, which wrapped Tuesday. He received $55,000 cash prize as a whole. Pic required the very best Red-colored Chameleon Award, along with the Eco-friendly Chameleon, provided by Korean crix and journos, and also the Whitened Chameleon, granted by audience people. The tragicomic pic activates a maturing dog who's offered with a boy from the wishes of his father. Sri Lankan helmer Sanjeewa Pushpakumara's debut feature "Flying Seafood" won nowhere Chameleon Award, provided by worldwide film crix. Pic won the very best prize in the Rotterdam fest this season. Three Korean rookie filmmakers -- Choi Jin-Seong, Yang Jungho and Park Jong-chul -- won the opportunity to get their next projects developed with CJ Entertainment, host company for that fest, within the Butterfly section. Opening with helmer Hong Sang-soo's "Your Day He Arrives," the seven-day fest tested 100 films from 32 nations. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Where Did Daniel Radcliffe Have His Beatles Moment?

NEW You are able to, N.Y. -- Daniel Radcliffes existence has drastically transformed because the ending from the Harry Potter series. Hes exchanged inside a existence of worldwide movie tours for any role on Broadway in How to achieve Business Without Really Trying, together with a quieter existence in New You are able to Citys West Village, but you will find still areas of the world under his spell. Japan, Daniel told Billy Rose bush on Fridays Access Hollywood Live when requested where Potter-mania was most intense. After I was 13 years of age I showed up in the Japanese airport terminal, since the privacy laws and regulations I suppose will vary in Japan, you are able to phone up an air travel and say, Is really and so forth this flight? So, after i reached the airport terminal at 13, there have been 5,000 people screaming waiting at arrivals, he remembered. Basically walk lower the road there, there's this snowballing of individuals, the 22-year-old described. Ive only had the experience two times and it is an incredible country plus they are probably the most unbelievably encouraging fans of Potter, because once they embrace something, they embrace it as being a nation. Japan is how the youthful actor first felt just like a couple of other famous British men. I'd my Beatles moment [there], result in know Im not likely to have this fame forever, this will probably be something Ive got now and it is likely to go sooner or later which means you gotta love this particular stuff although it happens, he stated having a smile. Adding, That stuff, it is not going to take place forever, so as i could make Japanese women faint, Im likely to! Talking about Daniel making women swoon, new particulars have emerged on his reported girlfriend, who he was captured pics of walking hands-in-hands now in New You are able to. Based on Britains Daily Mail, her title is Rosanne Coker. Shes a painter who first met the actor in 2007 about the group of Harry Potter and also the Half-Bloodstream Prince, where she labored like a production assistant. They've apparently been dating for any year. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved.These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Will 'The Large Bang Theory' Cancel Itself From the Emmy Comedy Actor Race?

If Steve Carell walks from the Emmys on Sept. 18 together with his first trophy for NBC's "Work,Inch he'll be good -- and familiar -- company.The only real other actor gain victory within the this past year of playing his lead comedy role was, ironically, the actor who came from "The Office's" bumbling manager persona: Ough Gervais, star from the British series, required home gold in 2007 for his performance in HBO's two-seasoner, "Extra supplies."Although a lot of feel Carell ought to be a lock this season, he's two glaring strikes against him. One, Emmy history implies that no comedy lead actor has ever won the very first time following a long term of nominations -- in Carell's situation, six, one for every year he was on the program. Second, the pool of challengers this season is really different and spoiler-ready, victory for Carell will be the least exciting of possible final results.Even without the "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Ray David (the Cinemax series did not air this year), Carell has formidable competition: stalwart contender and 2-time champion Alec Baldwin (NBC's "30 Rock"), last year's surprise victor Jim Parsons (CBS' "The Large Bang Theory") and the co-star Johnny Galecki, FX's one-guy band Louis C.K. ("Louie") and Matt LeBlanc in the first cable series (Showtime's "Episodes").The 2010 leading-guy race boasts possibly probably the most significant mixture of talent -- and systems -- ever put together within this category, which in fact had never had two newcomers from cable comedies in one year so far.Like Thursday nights through the the nineteen nineties, charge comedy actor category continues to be unabashedly centered by NBC, that has registered an archive 18 wins since 1974. Match it up go to CBS' eight, ABC's seven, USA's three -- that might be Tony Shalhoub's bizarre run of "Monk" wins in early to mid-2000s -- and, possibly in the worst-carrying out Emmy niche, HBO's paltry one for Gervais. NBC continues to have a powerful presence this season with noms for Carell and Baldwin, however the latter's Emmy run throughout "30 Rock's" peak years will probably happen to be his last. CBS' insular competition is really making bigger news this season: With "Large Bang," it is the only network that may boast two lead nominees within the same show over the entire Emmy ballot.The milestone is not lost on academy chair John Shaffner. "It's like Oscar and Felix being nominated within the same year," he states from the history-making 1975 race that pitted ABC's "The Odd Couple" stars Jack Klugman and Tony Randall against one another (Randall won). "Parsons and Galecki really are a similarly unique straight guy/funny guy duo."Regrettably, the newest time two lead network stars fought one another, it did not exercise for either of these: In 2002, the "Buddies" duo of LeBlanc and Matthew Perry went mind-to-mind but lost to Ray Romano. That does not bode well for "Large Bang's" Galecki and Parsons to be great at different roles within large ensembles can put voters inside a pickle.This is exactly what makes cable underdogs Louis C.K. and LeBlanc -- each of whom play tweaked versions of themselves -- exciting spoilers. It's difficult to think LeBlanc netted Showtime's first comedy actor nomination for playing LeBlanc. His amusing game-for-anything spin by himself celebrity in Episodes has demonstrated an important moment in the career. Works out, the man can act."I'm delighted for Matt -- he gave probably the most amazing performances as someone playing themself, but less than themself, I have seen,Inch Shaffner states.Exactly the same could be stated for FX's first comedy nominee -- this is a first for actor, actress or series "Louie" creator and star Louis C.K. Like LeBlanc, the brand new You are able to-based comedian plays a divorced fortysomething guy with kids who's attempting to manage loneliness, love and career. But it is pretty obvious that there are little distance between TV Louie and the real-existence counterpart. Sure, David's "Curb" hasn't won an Emmy, but that does not mean Louis C.K. is not poised to create history. Together with his nomination, in ways he already has.But where performs this leave Carell? Almost as much ast we'd like to watch him ride a final swell of "that is what she stated" jokes to Emmy glory, he simply has an excessive amount of competition to depend on nostalgia votes.No matter what in September, odds are excellent there's gold in Carell's future regardless. As TV grads go, couple of happen to be better poised for Oscar glory. The Hollywood Reporter

Jason Bateman Suffers ID Theft

Melissa McCarthy is the thiefEver since stealing scenes from the rest of the cast in Bridesmaids, writer/actress Melissa McCarthy has been in serious demand. And now she'll be putting those thieving skills to good, practical, cinematic use, as she's signed on to co-star with Jason Bateman in ID Theft. McCarthy's work is the main reason she's scored this latest gig: according to Deadline, Bateman saw what she did in Bridesmaids and, as producer on the new film, ordered that the script get re-written to include her. He'll star as an ordinary guy who has his identity stolen by a devious criminal. The thief was to have been a guy, but now McCarthy will be taking that role, adding an extra layer of comedy. The original screenplay was by The Pursuit of Happyness' Steve Conrad, but now The Hangover 2's Craig Mazin is taking a pass at it to change the gender of the criminal. Let's hope he's not just doing a find-and-replace search. This is a good place for an easy crack at the Hangover sequel, but we're bigger than that. ID Theft should kick off shooting next April when McCarthy has time free from US sitcom Mike & Molly. But the movie does still need a director...

MTV Cancels The Hard Times of RJ Berger

The Hard Times of RJ Berger MTV has canceled sophomore comedy The Hard Times of RJ Berger, TVGuide.com has confirmed. The series, which starred Paul Iacono as a very unpopular, but very well-endowed high school student, debuted its second season to 3.1 million viewers, but dropped to under 1 million by its season finale in May. What's on your Watchlist? Create one and add your favorite MTV shows Though the network credits RJ Berger with paving the way for scripted television on MTV, the ratings weren't there to warrant a third season. MTV also has a full slate of scripted series, including the second season of Teen Wolf and new series Awkward, Death Valley and I Just Want My Pants Back. In addition, Inbetweeners just went into production, and is slated to bow in 2012. Will you miss RJ Berger?

Halliday exits as Harpo PR topper

Lisa Halliday, head of communications and strategy at Oprah Winfrey's Harpo, Inc., has ankled after 12 years. The org says that Halliday is exiting "to return to Los Angeles to pursue other interests." Halliday had been with the company since 1999, when she left Walt Disney Studios for Harpo. As senior VP of communication and strategy, Halliday has been on the front lines of several high-profile Winfrey ventures, not least of which was the debut of Winfrey's troubled cable channel, OWN. Halliday also led media relations for the debuts of syndie shows "Dr. Phil," "The Dr. Oz Show" and "The Nate Berkus Show," as well as overseeing Oprah print branding with Winfrey's magazine, "O: The Oprah Magazine." Harpo reps said that Halliday's replacement would be named within a month. Contact Sam Thielman at sam.thielman@variety.com

The Help: Film Review

In his first major studio production, The Help, writer-director Tate Taylor enters a minefield of sociological, historical and artistic booby traps. The setting is 1963 Jackson, Mississippi, where racial tensions simmer between African-American maids and their white employers at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Through cruel words and haughty gestures privileged white women communicate disdain for their black help while the maids seethe at the casual insults delivered almost daily.our editor recommendsEmma Stone in 'The Help' Trailer 'The Help' Author Responds to Lawsuit By Maid Who Says Book Is Based on Her Taylor does capture the Jim Crow era and its anxieties well, but his characters tend toward the facile and his white heroine is too idealized. The film also seems as if it were made in a void of cinematic ignorance, as if no motion picture of that or any other era ever tackled this topic. Consequently, there is almost nothing new here that filmmakers, novelists and historians haven't picked over years ago. Indeed Jackson, Mississippi, along with Selma, Alabama, is still struggling to overcome being a geographic byword for Southern resistance to civil rights and human dignity. Where The Help succeeds magnificently though is in character portraits by actresses Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. They play maids who agree to tell their stories to a young white journalist, "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone), who means to write a book to demonstrate that racism doesn't just mean denial of education and voting rights. Davis' Aibileen Clark is the epitome of deferential politeness with a "m'am" at the end of every utterance. Yet her eyes speak volumes about the pain and anger she feels. She embodies the strange contradiction experienced by many a black maid or nanny who suffers abuse at the hands of white employers yet has lavished boundless love and devotion on the 17 white children she has raised. However, bitterness has crept into her soul since the death of her beloved son. Meanwhile Spencer's scrappy Minny Jackson, Aibileen's best friend and the best cook in the county, provides not only comic relief but a feistiness that shows that some maids found the gumption andmeans to get back at overbearing employers. Hers is a great character, the antithesis of Gone With the Wind's Mammy, and she nearly upends this movie with her righteous sass. VIDEO: Emma Stone in 'The Help' Trailer The film, based on a novel by Kathryn Stockett, takes place in the world of Southern women. The white men may rule the world but not their own households so they are deliberately marginalized here. The chauvinism they display toward their wives or girlfriends sets up a chain reaction where the white women take their own insecurities and inadequacies out on the black help. This is all well and good up to a point, but Taylor verges uncomfortably into cliché when he insists all wisdom and long-suffering nobility resides within the black nannies while the Southern belles of the country-club set are either witches, such as Bryce Dallas Howard's impossibly villainous Hilly Holbrook, or weak-minded go-alongers such as Allison Janney's Charlotte Phelan, Skeeter's mother, who cannot stand up to Hilly's bullying. Another female character who starts off like a cliché, Jessica Chastain's dumb blonde Celia Foote, blossoms into an accidental heroine, a social outsider in Jackson whose homemaking conspiracies with maid Minny demonstrate that some white Southerners were color-blind even then. Ditto that for Sissy Spacek's dotty, hard drinking old lady although at times she seems like a refugee from a minor Tennessee Williams play. Which leaves the problem of the film's actual protagonist. With a name like Skeeter, you can expect this 22-year-old to be a rebel and troublemaker. Nothing accounts for her color-blindness other that she is right-minded -and a writer. For, naturally, a novelist would assume a fellow writer is above such pettiness as racism and class snobbery. Stone is one of our very best young actresses and she acquits herself well in this role. She makes you imagine that this might be how Scout from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird might have turned out had she become a journalist: Too inquisitive, sensitive and empathetic not to brush aside the common wisdom of the day to see eternal truths about human beings. There are small moments in the film though that make you long for a movie that is not so deep-dish serious and self-conscious, a contemporary movie that could take advantage of the viewpoint of a half century to look at the past with a kind of cock-eyed grace such as Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven or even the TV series Mad Men. These moments come when you see a maid absurdly vacuuming a large stuffed bear or when one opines: "Love and hate are two horns on the same goat." Now that's the spirit! But, no, the film falls too much in love with its vintage cars, period hairdos, quaint customs and ubiquitous cigarettes. It lingers a tad too long on the Colored Only signs and Confederate flags. It makes its points with set design and camera movements rather than fully explore the never-ending puzzlement of human malice and ignorance. Opens: August 10 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) Production companies: Touchstone Pictures and DreamWorks in association with Participant present a Reliance Big Entertainment/Imagenation Abu DabiFZ/1492 Pictures production Cast: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney, Jessica Chastain, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, Mike Vogal, Chris Lowell, Cicely Tyson, Aunjanue Ellis Director/screenwriter: Tate Taylor Based on the novel by: Kathryn Stockett Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green, Executive producers: Jennifer Blum, Mohamed Khalaf Al-Mazrouel, Nate Berkus, L. Dean Jones Jr., John Norris, Mark Radcliffe, Jeff Skoll, Tate Taylor Director of photography: Stephen Goldblatt Production designer: Mark Ricker Music: Thomas Newman Costume designer: Sharen Davis Editor: Hughes Winborne PG-13 rating, 146 minutes Bryce Dallas Howard Chris Lowell Cicely Tyson Jessica Chastain Mary Steenburgen Viola Davis Emma Stone The Help

Cha Cha From 'Grease' Dies at 63

Annette Charles, best known for her role as Cha Cha DiGregorio in 'Grease,' passed away last night in her home in Los Angeles due to complications from cancer. According to Access Hollywood, Annette's mother, Mary Cardona, said that her daughter died after being hospitalized for approximately a month. Charles also appeared in TV shows like 'Magnum P.I.' and 'The Incredible Hulk' series. We all remember the legendary dance scene where Cha Cha comes out and steals the show. You can check out a clip of it below. Image courtesy of YouTube

Accused 'Twilight' sailing claims innocence

The Argentinian lady charged with pirating images from "Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning" has was adamant that she's innocent -- while Summit's not backing off on its accusation that they leaked stolen photos in the set last spring. Summit stated Monday that the civil action continues to be filed in U.S. District Court in La as well as in Argentina against Daiana Santia amongst others. Santia asserted Thursday in a news conference in her own native capital of scotland - Posada that they is not a hacker and discovered the moments while surfing the web, the Connected Press reported. "I closed everything which was it," she stated. "I could not try it again even when I needed to. One enters by moving, entering by different links. I only first viewed it, I did not distribute it like they are saying.Inch Summit fired back by saying Santia had renerged on the promise to cooperate. "First and many important this isn't about avarice or even the studio attempting to bully a lady from the suburbs in Argentina," it stated. "Rather, it's about stolen material that's private and sensitive that was acquired by unlawfully being able to access private/secure servers in addition to personal email options.Inch Summit stated it met using the Santia family on May 31, after which the studio was told they'd fully cooperate. It asserted that Santia confessed on June 21 that that they utilized servers and email options using a systematic attack -- stealing photographs, incomplete images and video clip over several several weeks. "Furthermore there's indisputable evidence connecting her straight to IP addresses that were utilized in the unauthorized access," Summit stated. "Her actions seem to be premeditated and never done on impulse, but instead using technology and tactics that need thought in addition to some time and skill. Because Ms. Santia made the decision that they doesn't wish to cooperate, Summit continues to be not able to stay this matter independently with Ms. Santia and her reps in Argentina." Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com