I told you this would happen, and now it has: the Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers representing the Big Media moguls finally acknowledged today that after 13 days the negotiations with SAG are at a stalemate with only 2 days left go. And, as I predicted, the AMPTP is blaming everything on the Screen Actors Guild. I can't help but admire how faithfully the Hollywood CEOs follow the scripts they write. Especially at a time when the movie studios have put into effect a de facto feature strike. (See my previous, FIRST NEWS ABOUT SAG-AMPTP TALKS)

The organization that speaks for the CEO clique running Hollywood issued a "Negotiations Update" that breaks its silence over the progress, or lack of it, in the talks with SAG:

"The AMPTP has been negotiating with SAG now for 13 days. Last week, we asked AFTRA to delay the start of its negotiations until May 5th so that we could give the SAG talks every opportunity to produce an agreement. Since the SAG negotiations are due to wrap up on Friday, May 2nd, today is a good time to let you know where things stand.

When we requested an extra week for the SAG negotiations, we told you that there were "significant gaps" between the parties. Candidly, we must offer the same assessment of the negotiations today, with just over two days to go. Although both parties have spent considerable time in the negotiating room, we are not yet close to an agreement. This is the case for two fundamental reasons:

First, SAG initially rejected the framework for new media that was established through the DGA, WGA and AFTRA Network Code negotiations. The Producers’ position has been that there is no valid reason to upend the new media framework that has already been accepted by writers, directors, and AFTRA Network Code. Last week, SAG indicated that it would be willing to live within the existing new media framework – but only with more than 70 changes to the framework, some of which would go a long way toward making the framework itself unworkable.

The second reason is this: SAG’s willingness to work with the existing new media framework (albeit with more than 70 changes) was conditioned on AMPTP addressing SAG’s demands in traditional media areas. Unfortunately, these demands – including a doubling of the existing DVD formula and huge increases in compensation and benefits – would result in enormous cost increases that we are not willing to accept. The SAG Basic and TV Agreements are mature labor pacts for mature businesses. In such circumstances employers in other industries typically negotiate reductions and efficiencies to reduce costs. We are not seeking to do this. But we cannot responsibly accept the unprecedented, double-digit increases in DVD residuals and conditions being sought by SAG, or wage hikes that in some cases reach 200%. As a result, we have made little progress in narrowing the significant differences with SAG on these critical traditional media issues.

We still have two days of negotiations remaining with SAG, and we are going to continue to work as hard as we can to find a mutually acceptable resolution. Failing that, we are prepared to begin negotiations with AFTRA on Monday, May 5th. "

See here for the AMPTP's entire negotiations update as well for as the AMPTP's "Setting the Record Straight" document that purports to counter SAG's recent series of 2008 Contract Reports -- #1 discussing middle-income actors, #2 talking about New Media (at end of post), and #3 exploring residuals.)

Within hours, SAG leadership issued this response to its members:

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) posted a message to their member companies today on the AMPTP website. We felt it was important that we directly communicate our continued dedication to the negotiations process.
    
Screen Actors Guild remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with the AMPTP. To that end, we are prepared to bargain continuously, for as long as it takes.

The AMPTP knows we did not state that they had to agree to all of our non-new media proposals. We expect the AMPTP to negotiate in good faith and we will do the same.        

We stand by our research and the information we provided you in our Contract 2008 Reports. We are not surprised that the employers dispute the economic hardships actors are facing. You know better.
        
We will not negotiate this contract in the press. Instead, we are focused on reaching a fair contract that addresses your needs as professional actors. We will continue to update you regularly.

C'mon, who does the AMPTP think it's fooling? The script all along was to stonewall SAG, make a quick (and terrible for the actors) deal with the AFTRA pushovers, villify SAG leadership to the members, and then try to break whatever is left of SAG's solidarity. I still think that using AFTRA as a wedge to soften up SAG is a non-starter. It doesn't matter what AFTRA does because that union doesn't even deal with motion pictures. But today AFTRA tried its best to look like the most "reasonable" of guilds -- announcing its members had ratified the Network Television Code by an overwhelming 93.35% approval, and that its leadership had pacted with producers of non-broadcast, educational, and industrial material for an 18-month extension to the contract that covers performers doing on-camera and voiceover services.

So what does Hollywood have to look forward to film-wise? More of the same: no greenlighting because of fears of a SAG strike. Major players in this town are telling me they haven't seen the movie industry this dead since, well, they can't remember. It's also a major reason that there's so much turmoil at the agencies; big-name clients are panicking and jumping ship if they're idle, and there's a cutthroat competition to keep them or sign them.

I've told you before and I'll repeat it again: The AMPTP is staying on message that it's now prepared to wait out SAG for a deal until as late as mid-July. That means months of more motion picture inactivity, all of which the AMPTP intends to blame on SAG. As today's statement shows, the AMPTP is furious that SAG negotiators are intent on getting a better deal for its actor members than the WGA or the DGA did on formulas for both New Media and also DVD residuals. Both Peter Chernin and Bob Iger in backchannel talks with SAG leadership, including a session as recently as the 2nd week in April, have been repeatedly saying that the studios and networks won't budge on the numbers previously agreed to with the writers and directors -- even if the actors have different needs.

But it's the moguls own fault: if only they'd kept their word and agreed in the past to visit the residual formulas for home video, and then DVDs, maybe leadership inside SAG would believe the moguls' pledge to revisit those for New Media three years from now. But truth and transparency have never been the strong suit of Big Media (i..e. studio accounting).

After the AMPTP pacts with AFTRA, I fully expect the mogul group to stay away from the bargaining table with SAG --  just like it did with the WGA -- or conduct what can only be described as disingenuous negotiating. The Hollywood CEOs are virtually daring SAG to strike when its contract expires the end of June. I do hope that SAG can restrain itself and hold off calling a strike after that, instead engaging in brinkmanship for a reasonable period. Because Chernin and Iger will in the end make a deal with SAG that I do believe will contain better numbers than the other contracts. Why? Because timing will be on SAG's side. And because the power is always in the moguls' hands, and never forget that, no matter if the AMPTP and its lapdog media choose to blame SAG.

(I've woven in more info...) Add TV Guide to the long list of publications undergoing massive downsizing. It's yet another sign of the shifting fortunes of TV in general along with the downsizing in network pilots and upfronts etc. An insider tells me that editor Ian Birch and the two managing editors Lois Draegin and Steve Sonksy and several others, including the marketing department, got the word this morning they'd be exiting. I heard that Birch, an editor at Heat (that hot tabloid in the UK) didn't even come in to the building today, while publisher Scott Crystal and a Human Resources henchwoman were "running around handing out the news that TV Guide is getting gutted today." The timing couldn't be worse: TV Guide is holding its annual high-profile "Sexiest Stars" party in LA on Thursday. 

Crystal just told the staff they will have a new editor in place by end of next week. (Rumors are it may be Debra Birnbaum...)

News Corp dumped TV Guide last fall and the mag moved out of the NewsCorp building in December. I hear some stockholder meeting by current owner Macrovision is happening today. Word is Macrovision is looking for a new owner for the magazine and, if none is found, the print version could shutter. Supposedly, Macrovision only bought Gemstar-TV Guide for the digital technology. Word is the company will keep the technology and the on-line version of TV Guide and sell the print version which does retain 3.5 million subscribers. But I'm told the print edition had been losing millions every year.

So the trial that would not end is finally ending with closing arguments. Not much of a Hollywood angle to report, except for the lawyer for LAPD Sgt Mark Arneson, who is accused of doing all those illegal law enforcement database investigations.  I've been reading the coverage - anxiously awaiting the verdict on this end! "It makes no sense that Mr. Ovitz a pillar of the hollywood community would hire Mr. Pellicano to put a fish on a car of a reporter. If he had a problem with The New York Times, he would just call the editor."

Meanwhile, jailed Hollywood P.I. Anthony Pellicano, who is defending himself, spoke for a mere 16 minutes -- and mostly rambled.

About Pellicano's closing argument, DHD/LA Weekly trial correspondent Steven Mikulan wrote: "Pellicano had told Judge Dale Fischer that he needed somewhere between an hour to an hour and a half to complete his speech to the jury, but he gave himself the hook after only 16 minutes. Appearing relaxed, affable and confident, Pellicano nevertheless gave a rambling dissertation on the roles of the jury and prosecutor. Jurors stared at him alertly but with opaque expressions.

"Pellicano has made much of how he detests snitches and 'rats', and certainly the government’s dance card was packed with witnesses who were either cooperating with prosecutors for lesser sentences in cases related to Pellicano’s, or who had completely dodged indictments in exchange for their testimony about Pellicano’s alleged wiretapping activities.

"' 'I could stand up here and take up more of your time and try to sway you," Pellicano instead told jurors. 'But Mr. Pellicano has instructed me not to do so.' "

The jury is expected to get the case tomorrow.

In the government's closing argument in the RICO trial of Pellicano and four co-defendants (including Arneson) who are facing nearly 80 counts involving wire fraud, conspiracy, identity theft and bribery, Mikulan praises prosecutor Daniel Saunders for getting to the point:

"The problem facing Saunders was that he had to remind the jurors of each and every count – not only matching the alleged crimes to the names of victims, but also to whom, exactly, among the defendants, the counts pertained. Saunders also had to give a brief summary of the charges, which ran his argument to almost an hour past the trial’s normal 2 p.m. closing time.  Still, the jurors remained attentive throughout the long day and Saunders landed some jabs, describing Pellicano’s investigation business as "a thoroughly corrupt organization . . . operated by a very well-connected and highly paid thug.”

"As an orator Saunders maintained an even keel – appearing neither ingratiating nor demanding toward the jurors. He would not be rushed, yet he seemed mindful, in the afternoon, of just how long he was running. More important, Saunders displayed a formidable command of his material, speaking for long stretches of time without referring to notes. Yet the sheer Alexandrian inventory of charges precluded him from engaging in the kind of narrative-tweaking storytelling that might have brought the eight-week proceedings to more vivid life."

UPDATE: Sources close to Arianna Huffington are claiming just that. Arianna Huffington is currently on book tour for her new political tome Right Is Wrong: How The Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded The Constitution, And Made Us All Less Safe, in which she goes after Tim Russert (and justifiably so). She's booked all over CNN, ABC, and CBS (but not Fox News Channel because she chose not to go on there). And NBC? Well, one insider says she was booked on Keith Olberman and Morning Joe to talk about her tome -- and then unbooked. "These are shows that call her regularly to come on. And then the word came from on high that she had to be cancelled." Arianna's accolytes are pointing the finger at Tim Russert, well known to be ridiculously thin-skinned, for blackballing her internally at NBC and not permitting her on any of the NBC network or cable outlets. 

It's certainly possible, considering how much clout the Washington bureau chief wields at the company (not to mention how much profit his Meet The Press yields for the company). NBC did confirm to me that Arianna Huffington won't be booked on any of the NBC network or cable shows past or present or future for her book. (Interestingly, a Knopf source says the publisher was never given a definitive no. "We were just told to 'Call back tomorrow.' There was never any explanation.") Granted Right Is Wrong is only #209 on Amazon.com, but Huffington pals are arguing to NBC it's a big book tour by a big name. "We get pitched countless books, and most of them don't make it on the air. And this one didn't," the network news spokesperson told me. The spokesperson points out that Huffington has had nasty things to say about Russert "for years" through HuffPo's RussertWatch but she's still been booked on NBC shows. "Arianna must be dialing for dollars again," the spokesperson snarked. Meanwhile, the respected Columbia Journalism Review just announced it will pick up HuffPo's RussertWatch as a regular online feature.

So what does Huffington say about Russert in her tome?

-- Russert's July 1, 2007, Meet The Press interview with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "was about as priapic a display as you're ever likely to see outside of a porno film or the monkey cage at the zoo, with Russert desperately trying to get Chertoff to pump up the panic meter..."

-- Russert's Meet The Press has been the Bush-Cheney "administration's top choice for push-back as its lies about Iraq were unraveling, because the White House could 'control' the message more easily there."

-- Russert is "one of the temple guards of conventional wisdom" and "a conventional wisdom zombie".

-- A 7-page scathing analysis of Russert and Meet The Press, based on this premise: "The reason the conventional wisdom survives no matter how many times its lies are exposed is that shows like Meet The Press allow their guests to go unchallenged."

When's the last time moviegoers were as excited as these GTA IV gamers?

It's certainly in demand: tonight, before Rockstar's creation hits store shelves, a few UPS workers were fired for stealing pre-ordered copies of Grand Theft Auto IV. There's no doubt it's going to set a new sales record for entertainment product starting tomorrow -- perhaps $400 mil and 6 mil copies because it plays on both Microsoft's Xbox 360 as well as Sony's Playstation 3, way beyond the previous record-holder Halo 3. In fact U.S. retail sales of video games jumped 57% in March, and analysts predict increased hardware sales due to the new game release. So on the eve of GTA IV's release, I turned to my video game guru Keith Boesky, whose company is responsible for selling the most intellectual property and developers into the game business and who has opined on video game violence here as well as on video games versus movies here. Now he analyzes whether GTA IV has really got game:

"To put it lightly, if the other things made for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are called 'games', we have to come up with a new word for GTA IV. I think the word is 'platform'. By every measure, GTA IV is orders of magnitude larger than anything else on the market, including with the critical scores. The fact you are reading this and know what I am talking about is already an indication of the scale. How many of you knew the second largest game on the Playstation, Gran Turismo: Prologue came out a couple weeks ago?

"The game business quantifies critical reviews and assigns scores. Metacritic.com, which also aggregates reviews for film, television, books, DVDs and music, is the game industry Q rating. The value of the property you are trying sell, as well as the ability to sell at all, is directly related to the Metacritic score of your last title. The Godfather is the only film with a perfect 100 on Metacritic. Today, GTA IV joins The Godfather in the 100 club (The 100 was for the PlayStation 3 version, the Xbox 360 scored slightly lower at 99). This is significant for a lot of reasons. First, GTA IV will have the critical praise of The Godfather, but it will have the box office of Titanic. While the direct relationship is not as unusual as film, it is still somewhat unusual in our business. In terms of the score, to give you a better idea of what a 100 really means, the highest average score for a publisher in 2007 was Nintendo's 75. 

"The scale of the praise is not as great as the scope of the game itself. If you are at all inclined to read about games, you probably heard about last year's mega hits, Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. If you play games, you are probably familiar with the critical darling and lesser hit, Bioshock. Each of these games run between 6 and 12 hours to complete, depending on how you play. GTA IV will take a player somewhere between 80 and 100 hours to complete - if they make it. The other games generate sales and justify a shorter single player experience with multiplayer capabilities. The play is infinite because you are playing against your friends - and enemies - thereby making the game new each time you log on.  This is a valid point and each of the games did ship with a number of multiplayer modes.  GTA IV trumps the competition again with 14 different multiplayer modes. If you don't want to go on mission, you can walk, drive or fly around the city with your friends. Think about it like golf without all that fresh air and walking and stuff.

"The next significant leap occurs on the advertising side. While most games are trying to figure out effective ways to leverage ad revenue by placing products and promotions into games, Rockstar, famous for turning its back on industry practice, chose the Harry Potter route. If you look at their social network - yes they have one - www.socialclub.rockstargames.com, you will start to see some of the licensing opportunities they created.  J.K. Rowling could have put Jelly Bellies in her books, but instead, she created Bertie Bott's Beans, and a ton of other stuff.  Rockstar's games have always created their own universe and now, it looks like they are taking it to the next level.  The social site includes promotion for the Liberty City Marathon sponsored by fast food joint "Cluckin' Bell Chicken", FLEECA and others. There is also an advertisement for a new card game in the club. They didn't stop there. Like I said, there is a radio network in the game. If you don't like the song on the car you are driving, change the channel, and a new one comes on. If you like it a lot, pick up a phone in the game, call ZIT music service, and the song is tagged on Amazon for your downloading pleasure. There is a lot more, but you can see it for yourself

"The most significant impact will come from the city itself. Rockstar built their own high resolution, on line city called Liberty City. I remember sitting in a meeting when an agent just returned from the set of Polar Express. He was telling the film agents about the wonder of motion capture. No makeup, no hair, no lighting, just capture the movements of the actor, put it together in post, and you have a movie. Image Movers can only put new content out when a film is released, or someone is willing to distribute a DVD. They also can't update the existing content on the DVD.  

"But Rockstar can update and broadcast whenever they please. By the end of the year, some 10 million plus people around the world will have purchased the game and put it into their console. All of the buildings, cars, people, streets and even a radio spectrum are sitting on people's consoles. It is a platform. Rockstar has the ability to 'broadcast' new missions or characters into the city and tell entirely new stories. If I want a new episode of Law & Order, I have to get the crew together, pay the actors, hire the location and more. If Rockstar chooses to make a cop show, they animate characters, or draw from the animation library, hire voice talent and send it out to the audience. The low cost would even make the Weinsteins cry with joy. And there is no concern about marketing, your audience is already there, and their billing information is already held on line. 

"Imagine if you could make an impulse buy offer of new content to everyone who watched your TV show last night, or saw your film. No one outside Rockstar knows if this going to happen, but the possibility sure is exciting. This one really looks like a game changer - pun intended."

So if you're one of the 10 readers of The Hollywood Reporter left in this town, then you may have noticed today's rebrand. Yes, it looks cleaner and sharper. But ultimately it's what's inside the trade paper that counts. "It all has a fresh-coat-of-paint-on-the-Titanic vibe to me," one THR source tells me. "I think the money could have been far better spent keeping bodies in the building that are now sorely, desperately needed."

Insiders tell me that today's THR.com launch was supposed to "correct" the 2006 site redesign that was perceived as "botched" mostly by the newsroom and the new executives. (Feedback from actual readers and metrics then were generally good.) Most of the inside-the-trade complaints concerned navigation issues. The newsroom thought breaking news was buried or hard to find. The business development side wanted a permanent home for its advertorial issues to grow consumer traffic. And advertising wanted more prominent video to sell pre-rolls. So does the new site solve any of these?

Insiders aren't sure what the new design accomplishes and they doubt if anybody there will be happy. The new site has fewer news positions and more flash modules, no features landing page at all, and still no pre-rolls on the videos a year after the video launch. Also gone is the iconic logo while there's no RSS. I'm told that video windfall promises were supposed to pay for this new design so the continued lack of it makes no sense.

"Soft ads but more expenses equal the 9 newsroom layoffs a couple weeks back...," a source says. "This is a misguided attempt to chase elusive 'prosumer' traffic of the global entertainment audience that doesn't advertise or work in Hollywood so whatever industry advertisers are left have no interest in reaching and so will provide no revenue growth."

Meanwhile, the architect of all this is unpopular publisher Eric Mika who is described to me as "the antichrist" and as "a prick with all the people skills of a feral pig".

U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer nixed Pellicano co-defendant LAPD Sgt Mark Arneson's motion for a mistrial. If only this trial would end... and it will soon. The case goes to the jury this week.

Breaking Pellicano Bombshell: A Mistrial? Feds' Witness Screws Up Trial Big-Time

The new U.S. citizen went way tougher on the press than on Dubya...

Good news going into the summer movie season --weekend box office was up finally, +15% compared to last year. Funny films swept the Top 3 as the obvious antidote to rising food bills, astronomical gas prices and the constant tide of bad news these days. Tina Fey's Baby Mama No. 1 Friday; Harold & Kumar #2, Sarah Marshall #3

 After 2 straight years of lousy drafts for its NFL-headed clients since its 2006 inception, costly CAA Sports finally found that the 3rd time was the charm. Let's not forget that, under the 2-year-old division head Tom Condon's guidance, primo NFL prospects Brady Quinn and Matt Leinart plummeted to No. 22 in 2007 and No. 10 in 2006 respectively, losing many millions of dollars as a result. (Lucky for Quinn, he'd already signed a bunch of endorsement contracts. Not Leinart, who a year later fired CAA.) Today, however, CAA Sports clients were all top draftees: Jake Long went No. 1, Matt Ryan No. 3, and Vernon Gholston No. 6. 2008 NFL Draft story here. But the cost of the operation is staggering: which is why I hear CAA renegotiated with Condon's former boss IMG to keep paying back commissions for only 2 years instead of 3 because it was having money troubles... 

This is the third in the Screen Actors Guild's 2008 contract reports about issues. Report #1 discusses middle-income actors and #2 talks about New Media (at end of post), and now #3 explores residuals below:

SAG CONTRACT 2008 REPORT
Number 3 – Residuals
April 25, 2008

The following update represents only a portion of our proposal priorities. We will be updating you about other proposal priorities in the coming days. SAG and the AMPTP have been meeting since negotiations began more than a week ago. On April 23, the parties agreed to extend the bargaining session and continue negotiations through the week of April 28. Our proposals address many critical issues confronting SAG actors. Below is information on the important topic of residuals.
 
Why are Residuals Important To Actors?
Residuals are critical to an actor's ability to make a living. As a deferred payment for the use or reuse of an actor's work, residuals are paid on a time cycle that allows many actors to receive income on a reliable basis. Residuals accounted for 53% of all pensionable principal earnings for middle-class actors under the TV and Theatrical Contracts in 2007. Changes in industry business models – like declining network repeats and increased online streaming -- and reality shows-- mean declining network residuals payments. Getting fair residuals formulas in new media, DVD's and other markets is a priority for the Guild.
  
What is the state of affairs in residuals?
• Real earnings are on the decline with average inflation-adjusted residual earnings decreasing 7% over the last 5 years. This has contributed to a negative annual growth rate in real aggregate earnings to actors over recent years. So, if it feels like you're making less, it's because you are.
• Primetime repeats are down 25.1% the last two television seasons resulting in fewer residual payments to actors.
• Total home entertainment consumer spending (rental and sell-through) is projected to top $31 billion in 2012, up from $23.4 billion in 2007.
• The DVD market is forecast to remain viable for years to come, partly because of projected growth in the BLU-Ray segment.
• Some series are streaming all episodes produced on ad-supported formats.

Here's what we are asking for:
1. Reasonable residuals for actors' work released to DVD and home video.
2. Reasonable residuals for content made for new media.
3. Reasonable residuals for content moved over to new media platforms from traditional media.
4. Reasonable residuals for made-for new media programs released in traditional media.
5. A sustainable residuals structure that ensures working actors can maintain a middle class income, and represents an appropriate share of the value contributed by actors.  

Please note that the above information is not intended to be an exhaustive list of our proposals. It is simply intended to keep you informed. We will keep you apprised of developments as the negotiation process continues. Check SAG 24/7 website at www.sag.org. Watch for Contract 2008 Report No. 4 coming soon.

SUNDAY AM: Good news going into the summer movie season --weekend box office was up finally, +15% compared to last year. Funny films swept the Top 3 as the obvious antidote to rising food bills, astronomical gas prices and the constant tide of bad news these days. Universal's female buddy comedy Baby Mama pairing 30 Rock's Tina Fey and SNL's Amy Poehler won Friday with an opening of $6.4 million Friday and $7 million Saturday from 2,543 theaters for what was a better-than-expected $18.2 million FSS. "There was nice movement towards the end of this week. Whatever they did with their TV spots worked for female audiences," a rival marketing marven told me. The PG-13 pic tracked well with women of all ages. "Unaided awareness, definite interest, and choice with women young and old is fantastic," a Uni source told me. "The hard part is tracking it against comparable movies. It's near impossible to think of a female-driven buddy comedy of the last few years." I can think of three -- The Sweetest Thing, and even Connie and Carla and High Heels and Low Lifes, all of which tanked. But those movies didn't have hot Tina Fey.

New Line's stoner guy pic Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay debuted to $5.9 million Friday and $5.1 million Saturday from 2,510 venues. It ended the weekend with $14.3 million. A sequel to a pic that didn't do even $19M in theaters during its entire release, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle didn't merit a follow-up until it had a terrific after-life in ancillary markets. Guantanamo Bay tracked well with young men, plus showed some strength with older men and younger women.

The other major newcomer, Deception, distributed by Fox as a favor to its X-Men/Wolverine/Australia star (and investment) Hugh Jackman, finished even worse than expected  -- in 9th place, eking out only $760K Friday and $920K Saturday for a meager weekend total of what was $2.2M. (See my weekend predictions, 'Baby Mama' To Berth No. 1)

There worries mid-week about too many comedies in the marketplace, and fears that Baby Mama would crowd out Universal's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But the holdover from Judd Apatow's laugh factory, finished Friday in 3rd place with $3.4M Friday and  $4.5M Saturday -- minus 38% from its opening a week ago -- what turned out to be a very good $11M weekend and $35M cume. In the 4th spot Friday was The Weinstein Co/Lionsgate's The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan making $3.2M Friday and $4.7M Saturday -- minus 48% from its debut -- for what was a $11.2M FSS and a new cume of $38.2M.

Sony's Prom Night keeps outperforming -- #6 with $1.6M Friday and $2M Saturday for a $4.4M weekend and new cume of $38.1M, the studio's 21 finished  #7 with $1.2M Friday and $1.7M Saturday for a $4M weekend and new cume of $75.7M, and Sony's third Top 10 pic 88 Minutes was #8 with a take of $1M Friday and $1.5M Saturday for a $3.6M weekend and new cume of $12.6M. Thanks to big Saturday kiddie matinees, Fox's family fare Nim's Island jumped up to #5 after earning $1.2M Friday and $2M Saturday for a $4.5M weekend and new cume of $38.9M, and that studio's other family fare, Horton Hears A Who! from Dr. Seuss., was #9 with $650K Friday and $1M Saturday for a $2.4M weekend and new cume of $147.8M. 

I'm told CAA partner Kevin Huvane is throwing a belated birthday party on Saturday night for recently released from prison Joe Francis, the scandalous founder of Mantra Films Inc, which produces those disgusting Girls Gone Wild soft-porn video and DVD series which have prompted so many complaints that women and even underage girls were filmed without their permission. UPDATE: *In addition I'm told Huvane along with his posse of friends use Francis's Mexico vacation compound in Punta Mita almost every Xmas and New Years as well as Easter. When Huvane's not having his own parties he parks his very special clients there. So some see the birthday party as a payback.*

I've confirmed that Francis is not a CAA client. But it's not only Francis's professional behavior that's controversial, but also his personal behavior. You may remember this article from the August 6, 2006 issue of the Sunday magazine of the Los Angeles Times by Claire Hoffman in which she described an incident in which Francis "humiliated" her by pinning her to the hood of a car and twisting her arms hard behind her back (so hard she feared he'd break them) while he pushed himself against her and shouted -- apparently demonstrating his 2003 arrest in Florida. Hoffman claimed that "the pressure he applied was so intense that hours later, my arms were covered in red hand marks."

There also have been many accusations leveled against Francis by women and even underage girls alleging he sexually exploited and abused them and even worse. And then there are the charges of tax evasion, business fraud, drug trafficking, and on and on. Given all this, it can only be deemed surprising that Huvane, because he is prominent in a talent industry where perception is everything, would have anything to do with this guy, much less throw him a birthday bash. Not only does Huvane represent some of the top actresses in Hollywood, including Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close, but many of these women are feminists to one degree or another. Kidman, in fact, is the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women and just this week spoke out in favor of UNIFEM's "Say NO To Violence Against Women" campaign to raise public awareness for the subject.

I alerted CAA today that I was writing about this, and the agency did not deny or explain Huvane's involvement with Francis. Huvane had no comment. Instead, a source at the agency thought it was "weird" this would be a story for me.

10:45 PM: COMEDIES RULE BECAUSE OF BAD NEWS: Tina Fey's 'Baby Mama' No. 1 Fri, 'Harold & Kumar' #2, 'Sarah Marshall' #3

1 PM: Here are the very early Friday total numbers which my box office gurus are projecting for the major movies opening this weekend. Universal's Baby Mama starring hot, hot, hot movie and TV comedienne Tina Fey and SNL's popular Amy Poehler should win with box office domestic gross around $14M-$15M and maybe as high as $17M from 2,543 theaters. "It should finish in the mid to high teens. There was nice movement towards the end of this week. Whatever they did with their TV spots worked for female audiences," a rival marketing marven tells me. Universal is "very optimistic" what with the PG-13 pic's tracking "really great" with women of all ages. "Unaided awareness, definite interest, and choice with women young and old is fantastic," a studio source tells me. "The hard part is tracking it against comparable movies. It's near impossible to think of a female-driven buddy comedy of the last few years." I can think of three -- The Sweetest Thing, and even Connie and Carla and High Heels and Low Lifes, all of which tanked. But those movies didn't have Tina Fey.

R-rated Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay from New Line (which is on life support these days as it's brought into Warner Bros) is a sequel to a pic that didn't do even $19M in theaters during its entire release (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle). No way it merited a sequel -- until it had a terrific after-life in ancillary markets. Now this new one is tracking swell with young men plus showing some strength with older men and younger women. It should come in 2nd with $12M-$13M from 2,510 venues, but one of my gurus wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with $15+M. Also worth noting is that FM Radio shock jocks and Sirius star Howard Stern have been heavily pushing this movie to their stoner guy audiences.

Holdovers Forgetting Sarah Marshall from Universal and The Forbidden Kingdom from The Weinstein Co/Lionsgate should be Nos. 3 and 4 respectively. 

Way down the Top 10 will be the other major newcomer. Only low to mid single figures are predicted for R-rated Deception -- about $4M to $5M from 2,001 runs, distributed by Fox. "No one has any expectations of that movie doing any business," a marketer told me. The Los Angeles Times did a needlessly exhaustive look at why Fox was bothering with the pic at all: to keep building on its relationship with Fox's X-Men/Wolverine/Australia star Hugh Jackman who is the lead and producer of Deception ("which was was once in development at Fox until the studio declined to underwrite its under-$25 million price tag"). 

UPDATED: It all has to do with Asst U.S. Attorney Daniel Saunders oversealousness in calling to testify a woman who appears to have lied on the witness stand and to the feds about Pellicano co-defendant LAPD Sgt Mark Arneson. Here is the just posted story by LA Weekly's Steven Mikulan, my DHD trial correspondent, who explains everything.) The jury has just been sent home, and U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer will rule on a mistrial motion filed by Arneson's attorney. Arneson is charged is charged with illegally using law enforcement databases to help Hollywood P.I. Anthony Pellicano's investigations. (CAA partners Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, among others, were probed that way...) So everything is now in a state of flux. And what everyone is wondering is whether this means all five defendants or just Arneson would have to be tried over again, and therefore a do-over by all those Hollywood witnesses. Mikulan emailed me: "As of now 'mistrial' pertains only to Mark Arneson, although how it could effect the others remains uncertain, should he be severed from the case."

LA Weekly: Pellicano Trial Bombshell: Witness Shocker Throws Trial Into Turmoil 

I'm told Jackie Chan fired CAA on the day his new movie The Forbidden Kingdom opened #1 last Friday. Today he landed with the William Morris Agency's Phillip Button. As for the There Will Be Blood director, Paul Thomas Anderson left Endeavor yesterday and landed tonight at WMA with Mike Simpson and John Fogelman. 

 

EXCLUSIVE (Keep refreshing for latest updates): I can now report that the negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the AMPTP are not making any progress with both sides very far apart and very frustrated. Negotiators for the Hollywood CEOs are privately making it clear they plan to make a deal first with AFTRA in order to use that as a wedge to soften up SAG. And, get this -- my sources tell me that the AMPTP is now prepared to wait out SAG for a deal until as late as mid-July. Which means the Big Media moguls are virtually daring SAG to strike when its contract expires the end of June.

I am, frankly, appalled. It's already clear that this week's move by the AMPTP to delay the start of talks with AFTRA is an utter sham. A game plan is already in place, just like the one that the AMPTP worked up to try to foil the WGA's contract demands. For that scenario, the AMPTP used the DGA to soften up the WGA. In the end, the WGA-AMPTP deal was incrementally better but not by much.

The AMPTP is furious that SAG negotiators are intent on getting a better deal for its actor members than the WGA's or the DGA's on formulas for both New Media and also DVD residuals.

Here's what's happened so far as of the 9th day of bargaining. Both sides have presented their terms. SAG has now responded to the AMPTP's New Media proposals, which I understand are simply a restatement of the DGA and WGA deals. Both Peter Chernin and Bob Iger in backchannel talks with SAG leadership, including during a session as recently as the 2nd week in April, have been repeatedly saying that the studios and networks won't budge on those previously agreed-to numbers. In turn, the SAG leadership insist that the actors have different needs than either the writers or directors -- and that, as a result, SAG will not back down from revisiting the DVD residual formulas or substantially bettering the New Media numbers as well. 

I'm told the SAG negotiators did spend a day and a half  recently posing questions to the AMPTP side in order to present their initial counterproposals. But I'm told the AMPTP thinks those counterproposals offer only glacial movement from SAG's original proposals. In turn, the AMPTP came back with its own set of questions for SAG. But I understand that only the barest of movement by the studios and networks' latest offer is anticipated.

The result is a near-stalemate at this early juncture. The AMPTP, I'm told, doesn't anticipate any substantial movement in the talks next week -- so I'm not sure why the network and studio negotiators even bothered to ask AFTRA to delay the start of their negotiations. Unless it was to create artificial drama and present SAG in the worst possible light, which is exactly what the AMPTP did over and over with the WGA.

I predict that, after May 5th, the AMPTP will put the SAG talks on a de facto hiatus and focus instead on making a quick and far less costly agreement with AFTRA which, after all, has a long history of making less lucrative deals for actors with the networks and studios. Once that's done, Hollywood will surely have to suffer during what will be a long period of uncertainty while the AMPTP either stays away from the bargaining table -- again, just like it did with the WGA -- or conducts what can only be termed disingenuous negotiating. All the while, of course, the AMPTP PR machinery will blame SAG for "wanting" to bring the Industry to another grinding halt.

But let's be perfectly clear about what's fact and what's fiction. And the fact is that the AMPTP right now is already prepared not to close a deal with SAG until, my sources say, even as late as the middle of July. I do hope that SAG can restrain itself when its contract expires at the end of June and hold off  calling a strike for a reasonable period after that. Still, with that kind of uncertainty hanging over the entertainment business, I forsee more turmoil.

But there's no need for that. If the networks and studios want to demonstrate their seriousness right now, they will have Chernin and Iger immediately step in and take over the negotiations with SAG. Those two in the end made the deal with the writers, and they can make the deal with the biggest actors union, too. What much smaller AFTRA does or doesn't do with its handful of primetime scripted network shows (and no motion pictures) will have no effect on the SAG leadership, trust me. What could have an efect is if IATSE's Tom Short gets involved and, for once, puts pressure on Chernin, Iger, et al, to act in a more timely fashion. After all, Short's membership will only suffer otherwise. There's no good reason to wait until July. The moguls will still have to partially meet SAG's demands sooner or later because time is simply on the side of the big actors union as long as it doesn't implement a strike. Make a deal and make it now.

UPDATE: SAG JUST SENT TO MEMBERS ITS 2008 CONTRACT REPORT #2 ABOUT NEW MEDIA (IT'S A FOLLOW-UP TO #1 ABOUT MIDDLE INCOME ACTORS): 

SAG CONTRACT 2008 REPORT
Number 2 — New Media
April 24, 2008

SAG and the AMPTP have been meeting since negotiations began on April 15. Our proposals address many of the new media issues specifically confronting actors today.  Below is information on this important topic.

Why Is New Media Important To Actors?
Today 134 million Americans (or 3 in 4 Internet users) view online videos each month. This means over 9 billion videos are watched online per month. YouTube alone has over 200 million unique visitors every month. This year the leading 100 media companies will realize an estimated $20.7 billion in Internet revenue. And advertisers will spend $2.9 billion annually on online video ads by 2010. All this adds up to tremendous opportunities for actors.

What is the current state of affairs in new media?
• This season some shows are being streamed live multiple times before the episode is scheduled to broadcast.
• Some series have their entire catalog of episodes available for ad supported streaming.
• Ad supported streams, downloads for rental and electronic sell through of feature films are now available.
• Some made-for new media content is moving to broadcast television.
• Made-for new media content is being created to complement the coming fall broadcast lineup.
• Subscription services are offering unlimited streams of their television and film catalogs to subscribers.
• Producers are setting up new studio systems for the creation and distribution of new media content.
• Producers are editing library content down to snack size pieces for new media distribution.  
 
Here’s what we are asking for:
1. Reasonable minimums for actors’ work in content made-for new media.
2. Reasonable residuals for actors’ work in content made-for new media.
3. Reasonable residuals for actors’ work in content moved over from traditional media to new media.
4. Reasonable protections and compensation for actors’ work moved over from new media to traditional media.

What About Jurisdiction in New Media?
SAG is not asking for jurisdiction in new media to be granted by the AMPTP because we already have jurisdiction. In fact, through our new media organizing efforts, we have already signed over 400 independent producers to SAG new media contracts and the number is growing daily.

Please note that the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of our proposals.  It is just intended to keep you informed of the highlights. We will keep you apprised of developments as the negotiation process continues. Check SAG 24/7 website at http://www.sag.org/contract-2008-tvtheatrical-negotiations. Watch for Contract Report No. 3 on residuals coming to you Friday, April 25.

You may remember that 10 days ago SAG's National Board deliberated about the petition drive lobbying for "affected member voting" and then voted 60/40 in favor of a motion to refer it to the union's Guild Government Review Committee "for proper review". Now AFTRA has done something nearly identical, only the union appointed a special committee to consider the issue, which will then reported back to an AFTRA panel, which will then take it to AFTRA's national board. But, to AFTRA's credit, the union today did set actual deadlines. The special committee will submit a report to AFTRA's Administrative Committee by May 23, so that AFTRA's National Board can take up the matter on June 6-7.

The real question, however, is whether this "affected member" voting issue will be decided in a timely enough fashion to go into effect if approved for the vote on what will be AFTRA's eventual new contract negotiated with the AMPTP. So now I'm urging SAG to set a similar timeline to AFTRA's so that this matter can be decided once and for all. No matter if you agree with them or not, the 1,500+ backers of the petition drive have played by the rules; they deserve an answer.

But once they have it from both SAG and AFTRA, they can't keep bitching about SAG leadership's treatment of them since it will be identical to that of AFTRA's leadership (which interestingly the petition drivers have yet to publicly criticize).  

As you know, DHD has been active in this debate by letting actors post their positions pro and con this idea of an earnings threshold for "qualified voting" on the union's contract issues. Stephen Collins (who will be chairing AFTRA's special panel on the petition), Amy Brenneman and Ned Vaughn have written in favor while Ron Livingston and Frances Fisher have written in opposition. For SAG'as most recent developments, see my previous, SAG Natl Board Sends "Affected Member" Petition to Committee For Later Review.) 

Here's is AFTRA's statement from today:

AFTRA TO EXPLORE AFFECTED MEMBER VOTING REQUEST
Appoints Committee and Sets Timeline for Delivery of Report

LOS ANGELES (April 24, 2008) -- The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists -- the national labor union of more than more 70,000 performers, journalists, broadcasters, recording artists, and other talent working in the entertainment and news media -- will explore affected member voting as approved by the AFTRA National Board on March 29 in Los Angeles. AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon has appointed a special committee officially charged to study proposals for affected member voting for major AFTRA freelance performer contracts.

"As both a working actor and a union president, I am thrilled that the working performers who brought forward this issue are engaged and providing input to their union," said AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. "The suggestions by these AFTRA members to apply affected member voting to other contracts, such as Primetime Dramatic/Exhibit A, were developed by performers in good faith at a grassroots level and deserve thoughtful, timely consideration and responses from the leadership of their union. Whatever the National Board's final decision on the matter, I welcome and encourage an honest and respectful discussion of this issue."

AFTRA has always applied affected member voting -- the concept of having the members who work under a contract, vote on that contract -- for its broadcasters' contracts, and has also employed this approach to a few contracts covering freelance performers, such as the Interactive and Sound Recordings contracts. The proposals to be reviewed would expand this concept to other major freelance performer contracts.

The Special Committee has been charged to develop and submit a preliminary report and recommendations to the AFTRA Administrative Committee no later than May 23, the date of the Committee's next scheduled meeting. A final report is to be provided to the AFTRA National Board at its next meeting, scheduled for June 6-7 in Los Angeles, for the Board's consideration at that time. The Special Committee has also been charged to consult with the leadership of a group of actors who recently initiated a petition calling for affected member voting for major television contracts. That petition now has more than 1,500 signatures.

The Special Committee will be chaired by actors Stephen Collins of Los Angeles and Ed Fry of New York.

Here’s some very early info to update you on 2008-2009 primetime pilots and presentations. I hear the following pilots have heat heading into the weeks before the network upfronts. In most cases, this good buzz is based on scripts considered above average and even exceptional, and/or the successful showrunners, producers, directors involved. Overall, ABC has the edge on comedy development (called "good stuff" by insiders). The quotes below are from sources in the know (and keep sending me your tips and infos):

ABC COMEDIES
Bad Mother’s Handbook (ABC TV Studios)
-- "Good but not great script". But was one of the network's two favorites. Pluses are Alicia Silverstone as star, Richard Shepard as director (he helmed the Ugly Betty pilot), and fact that exec producer Stu Bloomberg able to keep guilt-tripping one-time best pal Bob Iger for firing him as ABC Entertainment head back in 2002.
The Goode Family (Media Rights Capital)
-- Network already gave it 13 on-air commitment for 2009. It's animated.
This Might Hurt (20th Century Fox TV)
Roman's Empire (CBS Paramount/Katalyst)
-- "Good script".
Nuclear Family (ABC TV Studios)
-- This was the first pilot ordered by the network. Can't lose with star Alyssa Milano.

ABC DRAMAS
Captain Cook’s Extraordinary Atlas (WBTV)
-- "Really good script, but they're doing a rewrite on it". Pluses are Tom Wheeler writing and exec producing, and Tommy Schlamme directing. If it works right, will be on the air Sunday at 8 pm. Huge ambitious Harry Potter-style series.
Castle (ABC TV Studios/Beacon TV)
-- Pluses seen are Andrew Marlowe writing and producing, and Rob Bowman directing, and Desperate Housewives alum Nathan Fillion set for lead.
Prince Of Motor City (ABC TV Studios)
-- Praise for premise of Hamlet set in Detroit.
The Unusuals (Sony Pictures TV)
-- "Good".
 
CBS COMEDIES
Single White Millionaire (WBTV)
-- The script is only "lukewarm". But the heat comes from Jim Burrows on as director. Ricky Blitt writing and exec producing. Fred Savage set to star.
Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal (CBS Paramount/CBS)
-- CBS "very happy with how reading went". Now pilot has already been shot (as of Tuesday) and network thinks it's extremely strong. It's being renamed, thankfully.
 
CBS DRAMAS
Mythological Ex (CBS/20th Century Fox TV)
-- "Yeah, good script."
11th Hour (WBTV/Jerry Bruckheimer TV)
-- "It's a Bruckheimer show."
The Mentalist (WBTV)
-- Pluses are casting of Simon Baker and Robin Tunney, and writing and exec producing by Bruno Heller.
NY-LON (ABC TV Studios/Beacon TV)
-- "Good script. Whether it's going to work or not, who knows..."
Can Openers (Sony Pictures TV)
-- "Good script".
 
CW DRAMAS
90210 (CW/CBS Paramount)
-- "Slam dunk. Doesn't even have to be good."
How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls (WBTV/Alloy)
 
FBC COMEDIES
Spaced (WBTV/Wonderland)
-- "Good script." "Another McG production." Minus is it's an adaptation of a British series whose creators are badmouthing the U.S. series. And was tough to find a director to do it because producers insisted on someone new and fresh with a feature sensibility.
The Inn (FBC/20th Century Fox TV/Reveille)
-- "Unreadable. But network really likes this." Jason Bateman directing. It taped last night to great feedback.
Cleveland (20th Century Fox TV)
-- Family Guy spin-off already has 13-episode commitment.
Boldly Going Nowhere (20th Century Fox TV)
-- "Five-script commitment behind it."
 
FBC DRAMAS
Fringe (WBTV/Bad Robot)
-- "It's J.J. Abrams."
Dollhouse (20th Century Fox TV)
-- "It's Joss Whedon..." (Yes, he got screwed before, but probably not this time around.)
Courtroom K (20th Century Fox TV/Heel & Toe Films)
-- "Paul Attanasio's script was excellent."
 
NBC COMEDIES
Kath & Kim (Universal Media Studios)
-- Already on the schedule for six episodes, and network just ordered six more scripts. U.S. adaptation of a hit Australian comedy. Well cast with Molly Shannon as a 40-something divorcee and Selma Blair as her immature self-absorbed daughter. Yet another Reveille series ordered by Silverman.
The Office Spin-Off (Universal Media Studios)
-- Already on the schedule. Ben Silverman's Reveille gift that keeps on giving.
 
NBC DRAMAS
Kings (Universal Media Studios)
-- Already on the schedule.
My Own Worst Enemy (Universal Media Studios)
-- Already on the schedule. "Excellent script." Stars Christian Slater.
The Philanthropist (Universal Media Studios)
-- Already on the schedule. "Very good script." But writer/exec producer Tom Fontana just left over creative differences. (He wanted gritty and authentic. Net wanted escapist and fantastical.)

I'm going to keep a spotlight on video games over the next days because of all the hype surrounding the April 29th release of Grand Theft Auto IV which is going to set a new sales record for entertainment product (perhaps $400 mil, way beyond the previous record-holder Halo 3). Again, I look to my video game guru Keith Boesky, whose company is responsible for selling the most intellectual property and developers into the game business, to answer the oft-asked question: is there more violence in video games than movies? Keith takes issue with my recent description of GTA IV as "loathsome" and compares the game's content to past and present violent Hollywood films and TV:

"I love Nikki, I love GTA, so I have to address the adjective. I could think of a lot of ways to describe GTA IV. Perhaps 'mind boggling in scope,' 'unbelievable achievement in game making,' 'more technologically complex than the NASA systems that put a man on the moon,' or just 'beautiful.' ...GTA IV is an 'M' rated game -- the industry equivalent to the MPAA's "R" rating -- and will not be sold to anyone under 17. The GTA series drives its medium forward and takes us where we’ve gone in films like The Godfather, Scarface, or more recently, The Sopranos. 

"Isn’t the most troubling part of watching those movies feeling like you might do the same thing in the same situation? In GTA, you don't feel it, you do it. In each installment, you play a character, invited to prove himself to the bad guys. Instead of sitting and waiting to see whether Michael can take the gun out of the toilet and put a bullet in someone’s head, you do it. The game is not limited to large missions or tasks. Simple things serve to suspend your disbelief and move you further into the world than a film can. While the game is no better lodestone for your moral compass than Scarface, there are consequences to your actions. If you commit a crime in public, the police will be after you. Like Tony Soprano, it may get pretty hot, but also like Tony Soprano the heat may die down without your going to jail.

"GTA is violent, but like the movies, the violence is a reflection of our time. In 1972, Vincent Canby called The Godfather '... one of the most brutal and moving chronicles of American life ever designed within the limits of popular entertainment.' Today it runs regularly, unedited, on basic cable. Eleven years later Scarface took violence further to reach same point, and 15 years later, The Sopranos brought more sex and more violence directly into our homes on pay cable. In each case, it was ok to watch. GTA shows us, it is ok to play. The game is a fantasy, it is ok to pretend. Don’t be scared of the people doing this stuff in the game. Be scared of the people doing this stuff in real life...

"Games are constantly being attacked for sex and violence - even though we have none of the first, and strictly control the second. Politicians, media, parents and crazy lawyers all attack the industry with a broad brush, sweeping kids together with adults, and 'M' rated games together with 'E's. The industry is diverse enough to accommodate Mario and Snake Plisken but the media and politicians still portray our market as one for children. The average aged gamer, who is 33 years old, probably enjoys playing Mario, but he also wants to play some Halo, a bit of GTA, some Call of Duty and a touch of Zelda.

"Just to place some perspective on the market, I pulled some information from The Entertainment Software Association and the list of the top selling games from Next Gen. According to The ESA, 85% of the games sold in 2007 were 'E', 'E10' or 'T'. This equates to the 'G', 'PG' and 'PG-13' ratings in the film industry. (The rating system is administered by a self imposed oversight board called the Entertainment Software Review Board.) I went through the top selling games to see what people were buying ratings-wise. The three “M” rated games accounted for roughly 23% of the slightly less than 90 million units in sales represented by this list. Contrary to popular belief, there is no Hostel in there and no Debbie Does Dallas. In fact I challenge anyone to find a single naked boob. More significantly, I challenge anyone to find a single scene involving gratuitous violence.

"Game ratings are based on similar criteria to those applied by the MPAA. The number one title, Call of Duty 4, places you in the middle of a war zone. People are shooting at you from all over, your buddies are dying and you are killing bad guys who look an awful lot like Iraqi insurgents. Kids shouldn't play it. On the other hand, an adult gamer, would no more want to play an 'E' version of the game, than watch a version of Black Hawk Down edited to secure a 'G' rating. If you think these games are getting into the hands of children directly, you are just wrong. The average age of the most frequent game buyer is 38 years old and 80% of console games were purchased by people over the age of 18. I know statistics can be manipulated, so let's just look at practicalities. If a person under the age of 18 tries to purchase a game at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, Target, Toys R Us or Gamestop, a register prompt tells the cashier to check ID. Kids who are playing these games get them from their parents. In Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us, the games are locked behind glass. I don't think the bullets are locked up in Wal-Mart. A kid can't even get the game to the register unless someone hands it to them.

"I am not delusional. I know there are ultra violent games out there. I played the snuff film called Manhunt and saw the ESRB speech where Gail Markels showed the scene from Postal where the player lights someone on fire and pees on them, but these games just don't sell in volume. Don't take my word for it, look on the top 100. You won't find them. Based on the unit sales of the 100th title, if you don’t make it into the top 100, you don’t earn out your production cost.

"Like any other media, violence alone will not sell games. The game must be good. The Sopranos was loaded with violence and boobies on HBO, but they were able to strip out the violence and boobies and still have a hit on A&E. The same can be said for any best selling 'M' rated game. But as grown ups, why should we? So Mr. Politician, when complaining about in game violence, we are really asking whether someone over the age of 18 should be able to watch Black Hawk Down or Alien."

WGA West prez Patric Verrone and SAG board member Justine Bateman traveled to Washington DC and testified at a hearing by the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday, describing the Internet as the only remaining open market for truly independent creators and stressing the need for "Net Neutrality". Both spoke on behalf of independent content creators concerned that Internet and broadband service providers will discriminate against their sites. The duo support free speech efforts to ensure consumers are guaranteed equal and unfettered access to all legal websites and online content. 

Verrone, there representing guild writers whose bosses are the same companies that control the media, talked about the need to dethrone the Internet gatekeppers: "The axiom in Hollywood is that 'content is king'. But those who control access to the king control the kingdom. Because of federal regulation -- or lack thereof -- that control is in the hands of neither the consumer nor the content creators, but the distributors... The policy decisions that triggered the consolidation of old media has not yet been made for the new media. There is still time to protect the rights of content producers and consumers. We need to establish clear Net Neutrality rules to ensure that the Internet remains a level playing field for all."

Bateman was not representing the actors guild but instead speaking as a partner in a company that plans to launch an online video channel. "In entertainment, I believe we are on the verge of a creative renaissance and the Internet is the new grid upon which this renaissance can rest, because unfortunately the business grid of TV and film today cannot support that... We content creators have found open distribution on the Internet. And the idea of your site succeeding or failing based upon whether or not you paid the