Well guys, I’m glad to be back from three weeks of traveling. First I was on vacation in Thailand. While there, I thought I was going to be able to write a lot except that for four of my eight days there, I was on Koh Ngai, a tropical island in the Andaman Sea. Unfortunately, Koh Ngai had no Internet. So, that plan disappeared. Then, I was in Toronto for five days and had no time to do anything except for the business this business trip was about.

Saturday I got home and caught up on my personal life. So, yesterday, I had some time to kill and thought I would see “The Help.” After all, it has been doing incredible business and being a producer, I figured I had better see it. I had no interest in the material and thought I was going to end up seeing a typical liberal-slant Hollywood film about the mistreatment of blacks in this country.

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Boy was I surprised when I left the theater. ”The Help,” at this point, is the Best Picture of the Year and should be nominated by the Academy and every other major organization. In fact, there is nothing even close to the quality of this film released thus far this year.

Taking a book about pre-civil rights south and converting it into a movie that would appeal to the masses is difficult at best. However, when you factor the chick flick factor into this one, it becomes almost impossible. Well, writer/director Tate Taylor has succeeded on a grand scale. He has taken a best-selling novel about southern mores during the early 1960s during the beginning of the civil rights movement and turned it into a four quadrant movie. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this film tops 200 million in domestic box office before its run is finished.

And, to make Taylor’s accomplishment even more unbelievable, Taylor is not known as a writer/director. In fact, this is his second feature; the first being a relatively unknown film. The remainder of his career to date has been as a bit-part actor. Let’s just say he will have no problem getting his next feature financed with an “A” list cast.

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Director Woody Allen is responsible for some of the most interesting feature films ever made, and some of the worst.  His latest work doesn’t fit into either category.  It actually fits somewhere in the middle of his oeuvre.  Comparatively, it is similar in tone to his 1985, “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”  That is all I want to say, as I do not want to give away the big spoiler.

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Owen Wilson portrays Gil Pender, a Hollywood screenwriter on holiday in Paris with his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents.  Gil is on vacation from being a Hollywood Hack and in the process of writing his “Great American Novel;” the theme of which is being enamored of the past.  You can tell from the beginning that he is not happy with either his life or his fiancé and wishes to be part of a better generation and era.

Inez, the direct opposite of Gil, is a materialistic ambitious character who is pretty much unlikable from the beginning.  Her mother is such a bitch that you cannot help but expect the same of her.  Her father is portrayed as a right-wing “tea bagger” who is constantly getting into arguments with the liberal Gil, mostly over politics.  There is never a point in the film when you feel the slightest sympathy for anyone in Inez’s family.  You just simply know that Inez will do something during the course of the film that will allow Gil to get out of the engagement and relationship.

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Today I had the pleasure of doing something I have wanted to do for the past twenty years:  I walked out of a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) arbitration.

For those you who are unaware of the method in which disputes are resolved between the entertainment unions and producers, I need to give you a little primer before I tell you what happened today.  Keep in mind that whenever a producer needs to hire any actor who is a member of SAG, they must agree to abide by all of the rules of the SAG Minimum Basic Agreement (“MBA”).  The MBA appears on its face to be fair.  It is not, however, as it is not enforced equally against both sides.  The enforcement procedure is heavily biased against independent producers.

The method of enforcement is a grievance procedure in which a group of union-leaning arbitrators decide the facts and issue judgments.  In fact, other than one or two of the approved arbitrators, the entire group is liberals and rarely find in favor of producers.  There is an article on the internet about a certain SAG Arbitration in which the writer states that:

There is a basic assumption in SAG arbitrations that the producer is always wrong and only wants to cheat the actors out of their rightful compensation

I personally have been involved in a SAG Arbitration in which Arbitrator Sol Rosenthal ruled that an interoffice memo at a certain talent agency had more legal effect than an executed agreement with the actor, even though the executed agreement stated clearly that outside evidence could not be considered when interpreting the agreement.  For those of you that have gone through law school, this is something you learn in First Year Contracts.  Did Arbitrator Rosenthal care?  Nope.  He ruled that the actor had a two-week guarantee of employment even though the written agreement he signed had no guarantee at all. (more…)

This week I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening of Millennium Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana.  As some of you know, I have a “first look” deal with Millennium.  I have enjoyed working with Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, and Danny Dimbort in various capacities since 1992.  This week was the culmination of the company’s growth and it came in a small city in Northwestern Louisiana with a Democratic Mayor.

Mayor Cedric Glover may be a Democrat, but he is a great conservative when it comes to business.  He helped us in many ways when we were building the studio including helping us in the land acquisition and facilitating a loan from the city when the economy collapsed and we needed a little extra cash to make sure the project did not fall apart.

This whole project started as an idea when I was in Shreveport shooting “Mad Money” in the Spring of 2007.   During that time I became acquainted with Cedric Glover and his city council.  My colleague and I, Michael Flannigan, spent a good deal of time working with the city during the production of “Mad Money” and Mayor Glover started talking about how he wanted to support the film industry and help it grow in Shreveport.  At that time, Louisiana had a 40% entertainment industry infrastructure tax credit in place.  We decided that if the City had land that was not being used, maybe we could lease it and take advantage of the tax credit to develop and build a movie studio. (more…)

The MPAA’s  decision to hire Chris Dodd to replace Dan Glickman as its Chief Executive Officer is inexplicable. But first some context… 

For those of you not in the Entertainment Industry, the MPAA is the major lobbying force for the motion picture industry in Washington.  According to Wikipedia, it was started in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.  It is primarily responsible for administering the Motion Picture Rating System which is a voluntary system to inform parents whether a film is suitable for viewing by children of various ages.  That’s right, it’s the MPAA that decides whether a film is rated “R” or “PG-13.”  This rating system began in 1968 when then head of the MPAA; Jack Valenti felt that the Hays Code was grossly out of date.  It was one of the main successes of Mr. Valenti’s tenure at the MPAA. 

Jack Valenti became head of the MPAA in 1966 under the insistence of Lew Wasserman who was running Universal Pictures and essentially running Hollywood at the time.  Valenti’s background was impeccable.  He was a known Washington insider and friend of both John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.  Valenti wielded much power on behalf of the Motion Picture Industry during his 38 year tenure.  He was loved by both the Washington Insiders and the Hollywood Executives.  Although a Democrat, he always had the best interests of the Industry at heart.  He served it well and retired at the ripe old age of 82.  Shortly thereafter, he passed away.

 Valenti was replaced by former Cabinet Member Dan Glickman who held the post for about five years.  Glickman retired one year ago and a search for his replacement has been going on by the Studio Executives since then. 

Finally last week, the replacement was found.  Imagine my shock when such replacement turned out to be Chris Dodd, the retired Senator from Connecticut.  Or, should I say, “The forced into retirement Senator from Connecticut.”  Chris Dodd did not run for reelection in 2010 most likely as a result of the numerous controversies during his last few years in office.  Basically, he knew he was going to lose. .. in the Blue State of Connecticut. 

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As you all know, I am a producer of feature films, well mostly TV movies.  Thus far, most of my films have shot overseas in order to keep costs down.  A number of them could have and would have been shot in America had there been any kind of tax incentives to level the playing field with the cheaper labor rates found in Thailand, India and Eastern Europe. 

In the past few years, many states have enacted such tax incentives.  The three most lucrative and most popular are currently Michigan, Louisiana and Georgia.  I have already written about the Michigan tax incentives in the past.  One such article about Michigan is “SAG and the Independent.”   These tax incentives are keeping billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs in the United States at a time when they are needed most.  As of this morning, the unemployment rate is 9.0% and the “Real” unemployment rate is approximately 16%. 

Recently, California has enacted a Tax Incentive Statute, to help keep its lucrative entertainment industry alive.  The California Statute provides a refund of up to 25% of Qualified Production Costs for Films that have 75% of their production days and/or 75% of their total budget spent in California.  The total amount allocated for this credit is one hundred million dollars per year.  However, the total amount has a lifetime cap and such cap is quickly approaching.

 Effectively, this California money will run out in about 18 months.  What this will do is remove all production from the state of California except for some TV, and a few feature films in which the stars have enough clout to keep the film in California.  As it is now, production in California is down even with the credit because, other than NY, it is the most expensive state to shoot in.  Without the credit, the industry will effectively leave the state.  Once it’s gone, it will be very difficult to ever get it back. 

Who will be hurt the most by this?  Will it be the major studios or independent producers?  No.  Studios will shoot films wherever they can make them cheaper.  Producers will do the same.  It may be inconvenient or uncomfortable for producers like me to live in a foreign country or in a hotel for a few months, but such is the cost of business. 

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Yesterday, after watching a number of college basketball games, I decided to put on the classic Frank Capra film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”  I had not seen it in about 15 years and had forgotten most of its content.  I did remember that I loved the movie and felt it was one of the most important ever made dealing with politics and patriotism.  Well, my memory served me correctly!

“Mr. Smith” is not only one of the greatest films ever made, but it also shows the love that Mr. Capra had for his adopted country.  For those of you that do not know, Frank Capra was an Italian immigrant.  He came to this country with his family as a young man and somehow ended up in Los Angeles during the early years of the motion picture industry.  He started in silent films as basically a gopher and eventually became one of the top five directors of the Golden Age of Motion Pictures.  Some would even argue today that he is one of the top five directors of all time.

In addition to “Mr. Smith,” Capra is also responsible for some of the great motion pictures of all time.  Among them are “It Happened One Night,” “Meet John Doe,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “You Can’t Take it With You,” and, of course, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  From 1933 to 1946, Capra was nominated for six Academy Awards for Best Director and won three.  “It Happened One Night” was the first movie to sweep the Oscars in all five major categories.  This did not happen again until “One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest” in 1975.  It has only happened once since. (more…)

Over the course of my writing, I and some of my friends have written many articles about the obsession on the left known as “PC” or Political Correctness.  These articles include, but are not limited to:  “Has PC Taken Away Free Speech,” “When Christmas was the Holiday,” “If it walks Like a Duck“ and “Synonyms.”

Unfortunately, this PC obsession on the left seems to have infected all aspects of our country ranging from education to entertainment, whether it is television, film, or the written word.  In fact, some friends of mine in education have told me that almost everything in education is controlled by PC at this point.  One of the most recent examples is the news that Mark Twain’s classic piece of literature, Huckleberry Finn, is now being edited to take out all usage of the dreaded “N” word “nigger.”

As I stated in my earlier article cited above “Has PC Taken Away Free Speech,” episodes of the classic television situation comedy “Sanford and Son“ are being edited now on TV Land to remove all usage of that word.  This is true regardless of whether the usage is funny or fits within the context of the episode.  The same is also being done to other situational comedies from the 70’s which contained irreverent and/or racial humor.

In fact, use of the dreaded ”N” word has gotten so toxic that just talking about it in this column makes me feel uncomfortable.  The mere suggestion that the word exists puts you into a different category of human beings unless of course you are an African-American rapper, at which point you can use that word as many times as you want without any fear of being called a racist pig.  (By the way, that is just one example of liberal hypocrisy).

Most of this, as it relates to the entertainment industry, came to a head last weekend at the Golden Globes ceremony.  The host was British comedian Ricky Gervais.  Mr. Gervais’ style is that he pulls no punches, and being British does not have the obsession with being PC that Americans do.  If you want to watch all of his monologues from the event, please click here:  Ricky Gervais on the Golden Globes.  This will give you a good example of his irreverent humor. (more…)

Last Saturday night I was sifting through my Academy Screeners and nothing much caught my eye.  I had already watched, “The Social Network,” “The Fighter,” “127 Hours,” “True Grit,” and “Black Swan,” as well as a myriad of movies that nobody has heard of and nobody will ever hear of.  After much deliberating, I decided to watch a movie I had never heard of entitled “Waiting for Superman.”  Prior to my putting the DVD into the player, I did not even know whether this was a feature film or a documentary.

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The movie started and I immediately got the impression I was about to watch some typical Hollywood liberal documentary; in this instance the subject matter being education.  The movie started with the usual poverty stricken minority groups complaining about the education system and that America has failed its youth.  There was the obligatory mention of the failure of “No Child Left Behind” and how every president since Johnson has claimed they wanted to be the education president and remembered for it.  In the end, the movie implies they have all been failures in their presidential dream as standardized tests show American education at the bottom of the curve against most developed and some developing countries.

At that point, the movie took an unexpected turn.  When it came time to really start laying the blame, it did not blame conservatives at all.  The movie stated that over the past decades real spending per child after inflation had increased dramatically.  The problems within the education system were not just in the lower socio-economic areas, but in the elite upper middle class neighborhoods as well.   The film then put the blame almost entirely on “tenure” and the teachers’ unions.  Imagine my shock when I saw really this was where the movie was really going.  It was not going to blame “uncaring conservatives” for all of the evil in the world. (more…)

This week in the Daily Variety there was an article by Ted Johnson entitled “Biz Need Louder Voice to Fight Piracy.”  In that article Mr. Johnson makes a case that the entertainment industry needs to be stronger and more vocal in its fight on the piracy issue.  His point is made almost entirely based upon a speech given by President of the DGA Taylor Hackford at the “Content Protection Summit.”  To quote Mr. Hackford from the article:

Our industry doesn’t get it at all. And I am talking about top executives down to secretaries.  I am talking about directors to craft service people.  Unfortunately, this is our (DGA) No 1 priority…But within our own members, they just don’t quite understand how serious this is…Hollywood is filled with very famous and successful people…And, we are really famous for our causes.  We care about things.  We step out, and we have our pet causes…The point is when we care about things, we back it with our money and we speak out.  The problem is nobody in this community speaks out about the threat that is actually happening in our community.  And, if we let this threat continue, they will not have the money to contribute to these causes.

The remainder of the article is mostly dedicated to the proposition that the problem stems mostly from the internet.  Mr. Johnson states that government should control the internet to protect the business models of the content providers.  He feels that the bill passed in the Judiciary Committee giving the Justice Department new powers to shut down “rogue” web sites is a good thing. (more…)

On June 27, 1966, a serial drama on ABC started running that would remain as a force in pop culture for many years.  That show, “Dark Shadows” created by my late friend Dan Curtis has either remained on TV or has been available on video since its inception.  To this day, there are still “Dark Shadows” conventions held in various parts of the country almost each and every year.  The surviving cast members attend these conventions and do whatever they can to keep the show alive. 

When I was growing up on Long Island in the late 1960’s, this was the show that everyone ran home from school to watch because it was on at 4:00 pm in the afternoon.  It almost became a cult to those of us that lived during those historic times of Martin Luther King, Woodstock, the Space Program, and the 1969 Mets.  There were “Dark Shadows” toy figures, games and Barnabas Collins Vampire Teeth.  It was an industry more so than any other soap opera in TV history.  In fact, to some extent it probably helped to create merchandising as a concept in the entertainment industry.  I confess that Davy Crocket Coonskin Hats were first, but nothing reached this level up to that point. 

The memories of those times are now being relived by the HBO drama “True Blood.”  In my opinion, “True Blood” is an updated version of “Dark Shadows” and appears to be getting more and more supernatural with each passing week, which is exactly what happened with “Dark Shadows.”  (more…)

I am sitting in my hotel room in Bangkok on a Sunday afternoon; taking a break from prepping a film that will star Djimon Hounsou and be directed by the Steven Spielberg of Thailand, Prachya Pinkaew.  Prachya is famous for Om Bak, Chocolat and Tom Yung Goon, three of the highest grossing films in the history of the country.  You may be wondering why I am in Thailand and not somewhere in the United States.  Why am I in a country 9,000 miles away from home when I could be shooting this movie anywhere in America including Los Angeles. 

In the case of this film, the answer is more complicated than in others.  The location of this film is South East Asia and, it is directed by a Thai national.  That is not always the case.  And, more often than not, the location of the film and its director is not even an issue.  Many films that could be shot in America are not.  In fact, many films with American locations are shot outside of America. 

Why?  The answer is simple:  cost.  Because of the ridiculously high labor costs and other production costs in America, it is just simply not feasible to make a movie in America anymore; especially a lower budget independent film.  And, unfortunately, this is a symptom of the entire economic problems facing America today.  I would love to work in the United States and be home with my family, friends and my little kitty Sidney.  I cannot.  (more…)

Over the last weekend, I had the privilege of seeing “Avatar.”  This is a film of epic proportions and although I had some problems with it cinematically, from a technological standpoint, I recommend that everyone should see it.  However, do not go and see it if you are expecting a live action film or good acting.  It is a combination of live action and animation and it should be viewed as such.  Just expect the equivalent of a technologically advanced, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”  I was disappointed because I was expecting a fully integrated live action film.

However, there is one thing about the movie that really upsets me.  It is blatant anti-military and less blatant anti-American.  Without giving away too much of the plot, the bad guys in the movie are the United States Marines.  Apparently, in the future, the world has become one big country that seems to be controlled by the United States.  The United States Marines are sent to the planet of Pandora to destroy the opposition to the New World Order’s acquisition of its substitute for oil which just happens to be located on Pandora. (more…)

It is pretty much the end of 2009. It is also the end of the first decade of the Millennium. Hard to believe that we’ve gone through ten years since the Y2K scare. Also, hard to believe we had three different presidents since the turn of the Millennium: One that was impeached, one that retired extremely unpopular and one that is becoming extremely unpopular.

Barack Hussein Obama has been president for 11 months. So, this year is his for all its good and bad. There is no doubt about that. When he became President, the entire world was energized. America had elected a new savior. He was young, energetic and promised hope and change. And, he is the first African American President in US history. All of the scars of the past had disappeared. Per the Progressives, we had become a true shining city on the hill. The Republican Party was in deep trouble. (more…)

As we all know, the American economy is currently battling double digit unemployment.  The current unemployment rate is 10% and most major economists believe it will go higher.  The Screen Actor’s Guild which has over 100,000 members would love to see an unemployment rate that low.  On any average day, their unemployment rate is probably over 80%.

Of course, you can argue that many members of the Guild should not even be actors and that is why they are unemployed.  You can also argue there is not enough demand for 100,000 actors and a large percentage will always be unemployed.  Both of these are somewhat true.  However, if the Screen Actor’s Guild (‘SAG’) made life easier for the producer and its own members, many more actors would have steadier employment; especially the ones who can actually act.

SAG has jurisdiction against producers only within the boundaries of the USA.  They are not recognized outside of the United States and hence have no controls.  Many other countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia have their own actor’s unions which are considered sister unions of SAG.  Because of this lack of jurisdiction, SAG cannot force producers to shoot movies outside the USA under its collective bargaining agreement.

However, there is a clause in the SAG agreement that every actor becomes obligated to when he/she becomes a member of the union.  That clause states in substance that “by joining the union, I agree not to work as an actor on a film or television show that does not agree to abide by the SAG collective bargaining agreement.”  This is SAG Rule One and its enforcement overseas is now known as Global Rule One. (more…)

Last Saturday night, in what was mostly a procedural vote, the Senate approved moving forward with debate on the health-care reform bill.  The vote was 60-39, the barest minimum necessary for debate to start in the Chamber.  To listen to Harry Reid and his cohorts after the vote, you would think the Senate had just accomplished the greatest feat since the creation of man.  What they really did was nothing . . . . . yet.  (I’m sorry, maybe they did do something.  It appears they bought the vote of Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana with a staggering amount of pork.) 

Sometime after Thanksgiving, true debate in the Senate will begin.  The pros and cons of Mr. Reid’s bill will finally be debated in front of the American public.  But, will it be a true debate at all?  Or, will it just be a front in which enough pork will be put into the bill to get the votes of Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, and Ben Nelson; the four Democrats who must be swayed into Harry Reid’s pack of wolves.  The same pack of wolves whose intent is ruining America under the guise of health care reform.  (more…)

A little more than eight years ago, a group of Muslim terrorists attacked Americans on American soil.  In the end, more than 3,000 innocent civilians were dead.  The attack on that day was just that: an attack.  A well planned and executed military attack that murdered thousands of people. 

Friday morning, another travesty relating to 9/11 occurred.  President Obama and his loyal minion, Attorney General Eric Holder decided that the war criminals who were responsible for 9/11 would be tried as civilians in a Federal courtroom in lower Manhattan, a few blocks from their main and most deadly attack that day.  A few blocks from Hallowed Ground. 

I am angry.  As all of you know from this column, I try to be fair and balanced in my arguments.  I do not allow anger to rule the day.  But today, I am angry.  The Obama Administration has now decided that these war criminals should have the same rights and privileges as ordinary citizens. 

The ramifications of this are obvious.  It is just another example of the appeasement and weakness of the Obama Administration’s policies.  I want you all to remember the last time appeasement was used in the late 1930’s.  After that travesty fifty million people were dead including six million innocent Jews.  The last time we were weak was during the Carter Administration.  The result, Americans held hostage for more than a year.  (more…)

Chris Christie was obviously wearing his; as was Robert McDonnell.  The GOP is officially breathing again.  It was a great day for Republicans Tuesday.  It happened exactly one year after we took our worst shellacking since the 1960s.  And, what did President Obama do while his party was getting whooped in two states which voted for him last year?  The official statement from the White House is that he did not even bother to watch any of the results as “they just didn’t matter and didn’t reflect on him:  They were locally driven.”

For the past year I have been saying the current President is one of the biggest megalomaniacs in history.  And Tuesday night he proved it again.  While the state of New Jersey, which is one of the bluest, was falling and the State of Virginia was being swept by Republicans (which has not happened since Reconstruction), the President refused to acknowledge any of it mattered. I wonder if he was wearing his lucky tie.  (more…)

A few months ago I wrote a column about the effect IATSE’s wage increase in Michigan would have on future production in Michigan.  Just recently, the company I have my first look deal with decided to produce another picture in Michigan and was informed my column made it impossible for IATSE to negotiate or help us in any way.  They basically said this is the deal, take it or leave it if you want to shoot here; your employee ruined it for you. 

My company then proceeded to disavow any knowledge of my column and said that what I write is of my own doing and not the policy of the company.  This is true.  It is my own doing.  No one tells me what to write or censors my editorial content. 

I still believe IATSE is harming the burgeoning film industry in Michigan.  I believe that if IATSE was doing the right thing in Michigan, the state of Michigan would be putting all of the other tax-incentive states out of business.  Producers would be running there in droves. 

Unions are supposed to be the mechanism to level the playing field for the working man.  Their job is to protect the working man from “the man,” and to keep their members employed fairly.  Isn’t employment what unions are really all about:  Especially now when unemployment is so rampant all over the United States, particularly in Michigan and California.  You would think the unions would be bending over backwards to work with “the man” in a mutually beneficial situation.  Let us all do whatever is necessary to keep employment in the United States; not Eastern Europe or Asia.  (more…)

I have been a California resident for the past 23 years.  During that time, I have seen the best of times and worst of times.  Prior to this economic disaster, the only serious recession in those 23 years was in 1991-1992.  At that time, myself and many others in similar situations faced economic turmoil.  However, nothing comes close to what is happening now in what used to be the greatest State in the union. 

According to the most recent reports, the unemployment rate in California has reached 12.2%.  The rate in Los Angeles County is at 12.7%.  Some cities within the county such as Compton and Commerce are over 20%.  These are all far worse than the national rate of 9.8%. 

What makes these numbers even scarier is that they have not hit rock bottom according to economic estimates at both the state and federal level.  In fact, the State Government estimate of a maximum unemployment rate of 12.8% seems like it is going to be topped shortly, probably by early winter.  Is it possible that California’s unemployment rate will top the number in 1940 of 14.7% which is the highest recorded on record?  (more…)