Seth Rogen to Host Independent Spirit Honours on IFC

The slacker-stoner schtick needs a tuxedo. Seth Rogen just been introduced because the host for that 2012 Independent Spirit Honours. The annual event recognizes the very best in "artist-driven" movies (no, not always "independent" ones -- last year's Best Picture champion was 'Black Swan'). The Very Best Picture nominees with this year include 'The Descendants,' 'Take Shelter,' 'The Artist,' 'Drive,' 'Beginners,' and, coincidentally (or, not), Seth Rogen's '50/50.' The ceremony happens throughout your day on February. 25 in Santa Monica, and will also be public later your evening on IFC. The Oscars are held eventually later. For Rogen, he'll be following 'Community' star Joel McHale, who located the big event this past year. What exactly are we able to expect from Seth? Hopefully nothing beats the performance his 'Pineapple Express' co-star James Franco gave throughout last year's Academy awards. [Photo: AP] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

'Gossip Girl's' Leighton Meester Dominates Over Her Mother in the court (Exclusive)

Simon & Schuster has acquired Sex Life, the 2nd book from Parks and Entertainment actor Take advantage of Lowe, for publication in 2013. It will explore Lowe's sights on from sex to marriage to money to fatherhood.our editor recommendsToronto 2011: Myriad Accumulates Take advantage of Lowe's 'Knife Fight' for Worldwide SalesTHR's 5 Book Deals each week: YA Sci-fi, Pirates and Female CopsEd ONeill, Take advantage of Lowe Slam Low-Having to pay Acting Jobs (Exclusive Video) It is really a follow-as much as the 2011 well-examined memoir,Tales I Only Tell My Buddies, which spent 17 days around the NY Occasions bestseller list making several year-finish "better ofInch lists. PHOTOS: 14 Holiday Roadtrip Reads Lowe stated inside a statement, "I am wishing visitors will think about the very first book like a restaurant where they ate a great meal, which they'll wish to return and check out a brand new dish." Simon & Schuster writer Jonathan Karp expressed enthusiasm for Lowe's new project. "The very first book demonstrated that Take advantage of Lowe is a superb storyteller. The 2nd book will prove he can talk about anything and then captivate visitors." PHOTOS: THR's Comedy Actor Roundtable Lowe is repped by Jennifer Rudolph Walsh of William Morris Endeavor and Jon Liebman of Brillstein Entertainment Partners. S&S acquired it at auction. Financial the deal weren't revealed. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 10 Greatest Book-to-Giant Screen Adaptations from the Last two-and-a-half decades Related Subjects Take advantage of Lowe Parks and Entertainment Books

Relativity sees gains, faces pains

Relativity's "Immortals" makes $77 million in your area. The departure the other day of John Edwards as Relativity Media's chief operating officer has fueled a completely new round of speculation about financial strain and management worries at Ryan Kavanaugh's company (Daily Variety, 12 ,. 9).But behind all the drama, Relativity will conclude its newbie just like a soup-to-nuts film production-distribution entity having a couple of notable accomplishments, and intends to sit in new details for next season. Relativity ranks No. 3 among indies in domestic B.O. for your year, with $225.4 million and counting. That puts it behind only Summit Entertainment which is "Twilight" juggernaut ($383.9 million), as well as the Weinstein Co. ($283.6 000 0000, fueled by "The King's Speech"), and outpacing such established players as Lionsgate.Relativity appeared to be the sole real indie to own two No. 1 openers this year, with "Limitless" and "Immortals."According to people familiar with Relativity's financials, all the photos the studio oversaw from production through to distribution have either made money or broken even, including "Immortals," its first tentpole, which has made $77 million domestic since opening Stateside on November. 11. Although not really a massive hit, the pic's performance has exceeded Relativity's anticipation and pressed Tarsem Singh's 3d sword-and-sandals epic near the black, sources say.The initial pic Relativity distribbed, "Season in the Witch," bowed noisy . The month of the month of january and assigned out just missing $25 million domestic.B.O. aside, there's without doubt the organization has experienced growing pains inside the 18 several days since it acquired the distribution assets of Liberty Media's Overture Films, the sale that put Relativity on the path to small-major status in enabling it to distribute a unique photos.Edwards' exit marks the fifth high-level professional disappear Relativity formerly year. And there's no secrete inside the biz that Relativity's talks for financing with JP Morgan have began to some halt (Daily Variety, November. 11). Kavanaugh happen to be relationship JP Morgan to switch its primary investor Elliot Management. Elliot, the NY-based hedge fund that aided get Relativity in the groundmostly by backing its co-financing handles Universal, is searching to reduce its ties to Relativity, which feeling is mutual.With funding sources in flux, Relativity has not remarkably been modifying its its plans for 2012. Part of the reason Edwards left, affiliates say, is always that Relativity's scaling-back and Kavanaugh's hands-on style left him lacking the necessary to accomplish. Edwards only agreed to be with Relativity for five several days before he chosen revisit the job he left, as COO of Mark Burnett Prods. "I desired to follow along with my heart, which was in operating with Mark (Burnett)," Edwards told Variety.Relativity was already searching for any new COO, though having its next release being the acquisition "Act of Valor" in February, there's not immense pressure to discover a alternative. Studio affiliates say Kavanaugh is making changes being more fiscally responsible and tailor their corporate must its approaching slate.Relativity has seven releases searching for next season, including inhouse productions "Haywire," "Mirror Mirror," "Raven" and "21 as well as overInch plus purchases, including "Act of Valor," "House within the Finish in the Street" plus an untitled comedy. Contact Rob Sneider at rob.sneider@variety.com

Secrecy bill can't silence SABC

CAPE TOWN - Picketing by disgruntled audiences, staffers and providers is becoming commonplace outdoors the South African Broadcasting Corp.'s (SABC) Gauteng HQ recently -- and shows no manifestation of abating because the near-bankrupt pubcaster wrestles having a string of scams.In the finish of November, the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition shown while watching building, with the federal government to axe SABC board chairman Ben Ngubane among accusations of staff corruption.The money-strapped broadcaster, which works three channels, has already established five leader officials and three boards since 2007 and it is presently missing a Boss, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.The picket in the SABC came 2 days after Black Tuesday, when mass protests unsuccessful to prevent the South African parliament from passing the security of Condition Information Bill. This so-known as Secrecy Bill implies that journalists and whistle-blowers might be jailed for two-and-a-half decades for having or distributing information the federal government has considered classified, even when acting within the public interest.Tensions inside the SABC began having a politically hired board in 2007.At any given time once the SABC was losing advertising revenue, audiences and also the production sector's trust, the pubcaster frantically needed visionary leadership, but rather grew to become involved inside a political fight between then leader Thabo Mbeki and current leader Jacob Zuma, using the professional-Mbeki board fired by Zuma's parliament last year.Throughout the financial crisis within the 2008-2009 financial year, the SABC lost near to R1 billion ($124.5 million), and was instructed to seek government guarantees of $186.7 million."Never-ending mismanagement, fruitless and inefficient expenditure, with no permanence in leadership continue being an order during the day in the SABC," states Marc Schwinges, deputy chair from the South African Screen Federation (Sasfed), which signifies virtually all of the film industry orgs.The pubcaster has already established no obvious financial recovery plan because the government withdrew the 1% tax on personal earnings that funded SABC.In the current picket, SOS, formerly referred to as Save Our SABC, complained the pubcaster hadn't clarified questions regarding a number of issues, including why the vacant professional positions had not been filled.They should also know why pubcaster professional Justice Ndaba, disgraced to take $30,600 for study and travel expenses, amongst other things, was changed by former mind Sipho Sithole, who formerly faced accusations that his private interests within the music and film industries conflicted together with his role in the SABC.The coalition also asked the SABC's lately launched Request Plans, its system for ordering in your area made shows. "This Years and 2011 RFPs constitute only a tiny proportion of what's needed in new original programming to satisfy local content quotas," states Schwinges. SABC air a mixture of children's programming, commercials, imported series plus some local general entertainment.A lot more than 120 people collected to aid the coalition, including reps from Sasfed the Congress of South African Trade Unions and it is affiliated unions and NGOs such as the Freedom of Expression Institute, the authority to Know Campaign, Media Monitoring Africa, and also the Soweto Concerned Citizens Assn.In reaction, government communications minister Dina Pule provides a war room to handle the SABC crisis. She's pressing for that SABC turnaround intend to be completed by The month of january. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

New Showtime Leading Guy Liev Schreiber Will Probably Reduce Role At Cinemax Sports

Having a deal to star in Showtime’s pilot Ray Donovan, Liev Schreiber may eventually get to be the face from the pay cable network. But simultaneously, it appears like he'll no more function as the exclusive voice from the sports division of rival Cinemax. I’ve found that Cinemax has elected to not renew its overall cope with the actor to become the the voice of Cinemax Sports, that has incorporated narrating almost all Cinemax sports documentaries, the 24/7 reality series, and also the National football league reality series Hard Knocks. Cinemax isn't cutting ties with Schreiber, that has been voicing Cinemax Sports’ programs within the last 16 years. Liev is placed to begin work in a few days on his next Cinemax Sports project, 󈧜/7 Flyers/Rangers: Route to the NHL Winter Classic, Cinemax Sports stated inside a statement, decreasing further comment. I hear that Schreiber is also scheduled to do another Cinemax Sports project in The month of january. Based on an Cinemax source, the network doesn't intend to sign a general cope with another actor, choosing for a number of voices. Since beginning in 1995, Schreiber has read just about all Cinemax Sports documentaries. (Among very couple of exceptions was the 2003 Red-colored Sox docu The Curse From The Bambino voiced by die-hard Red-colored Sox fan Film Clip). He's read basically one edition of Hard Knocks because the series’ launch in 2001 (the Might Chiefs edition in 2007 ended by Paul Rudd), as well as 24/7 since its 2007 start. The move coincides using the leadership change at Cinemax Sports. Ken Hershman was lately drawn on as new Cinemax Sports leader, and that he will join the pay cable funnel in The month of january. It coincided with Schreiber’s high-profile casting because the lead in Showtime’s pilot Ray Donovan within the feature actor’s first regular series gig, with a few stating that your decision by Cinemax is made soon after the announcement of Schreiber’s Showtime casting. Others inside Cinemax insist the 2 aren't related.

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Red Band Trailer: Sick Show, Great Job!

Every once in a while it’s nice to see a “red band trailer” that could possibly disturb somebody. Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie does just that, as well as build nicely upon Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim’s Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, which ran for five seasons. In the trailer for the new movie, which will premiere at Sundance, we watch as Tim and Eric don fetching khakis, sever a finger, astound Zach Galifiankis, reveal a staggering sex toy and “honor their love” for each other. Disgusting and undeniably funny. More Tim %26 Erics Billion Dollar Movie Videos I love the list of guest-stars: Will Ferrell, Jeff Goldblum, Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis — pretty esteemed company. I’m curious as to how a duo this irreverent and ridiculous can sustain a 90-minute feature, but it appears that random moments of naughty whizzbang will be key. I’m not sure anything can top the majesty of Paul Rudd’s Tim and Eric guest-spot as Celery Man, but I have to admit this is one of the Sundance selections I most look forward to watching. Or Maybe I’ll wait to catch it at the S’Wallow Valley Mall. · Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie [IGN] Follow Louis Virtel on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.