New You'll be able to Occasions Former Boss Made Greater Than The Business Did

Bloomberg smartly notes that former NY Occasions Boss Jesse Robsinson’s$24M bundle this season was “equal close to 2.4% in the companys market cost of $981.9 million, and exceeds the roughly $3 million the business acquired in internet gain within the last four years.”The company’s proxy statement, out today, states Robinson — who left within the finish of 2011 — had an $11.3M compensation package a year ago($1M salary, $767,533 available honours, $797,185 in option honours, $3.6M in non-equity incentives, $523,898 in deferred compensation and $4.6M in other compensation). That’sup 113.2% versus 2010, but includes in “other compensation” a $4.5M fee therefore the organization can request her just like a consultant this year. On top of her compensation, Robinson is entitled close to $11.4M in retirement benefits. Her exit deal includes a “two-year non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disparagement covenant, a 3-year cooperation covenant plus an indefinite discretion covenant.” The business famous her “leadership throughout recent challenging a number of other significant accomplishments throughout her 28-year tenure using the organization”including the development of its digital strategy. It doesn’t hold her responsible for the 22.4% drop inside the Occasions’ market cost this season, or perhaps the 80% drop since she increased being Boss in the finish of 2004.

Julie Benz Will get Female Lead In Syfy Series Defiance, Pilot Rewind Casts First Actor

EXCLUSIVE: Dexter alumna Julie Benz will star opposite Grant Bowler Bowler within the Syfy series Defiance. Tony Curran (Support beams Of The World), Jamie Murray and Stephanie Leonidas also provide been cast within the live-action drama, written/executive created by Farscape creator Rockne S. OBannon, that was developed at the same time by having an movie game. Set on the future Earth, Defiance is occur a global where humans and aliens live together on the planet ravaged by decades of war and changed by alien terra-developing machines. It focuses on Jeb Nolan (Bowler), what the law states-keeper inside a busy frontier boomtown that's among the new mobile phone industry's couple of oasis of calmness and inclusion. Benz, repped by ICM and Vincent Cirrincione, will have Amanda Rosewater, the idealistic recently hired mayor from the mining boomtown who's going to maintain peace locally. Leonidas will have Irisa, an attractive warrior who's a part of an alien race known as the Irathients. After Nolan wiped out her criminal father, he adopted the lady and elevated her as his clever and lethal right-hands. Curran, repped by Domain and Sanders/Arstrong/Caserta, will have Datak Tarr, part of another elite alien race referred to as Castithans who schemed his way to avoid it of his home planet prior to being destroyed. Murray, repped by Sanders/Arstrong/Caserta, will have Dataks beautiful and proper wife. Scott Stewart (Legion) will direct Defiance, slated to start production in April in Toronto. Kevin Murphy will executive produce. Benz just wrapped the indie Supremacy. Shane McRae may be the first actor cast in Syfys two-hour pilot Rewind, from BermanBraun and Universal Cable Prods.Compiled by Justin Marks and directed by Jack Bender, Rewind involves a team of military area agents and civilian researchers who must use untested technology to visit in time for you to alter past occasions to be able to alter the future and steer clear of a devastating terrorist attack. McRae, repped by Gersh and TMT Entertainment, will have Henry Knox,ex-Special Forces who now ranks like a area operative inside a special division from the Department of Homeland Security.Rewind can also be set to start production in April.

Benedict Freedman dies at 92

Benedict Freedman, a mathematics professor at L.A.'s Occidental College who also composed movie and tv scripts, additionally to books, died Feb. 24 in Corte Madera, Calif. He was 92.Freedman written 10 books along with his wife, Nancy, one of these simple, the bestseller "Mrs. Mike," was modified in to a 1949 feature film starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes. It and film were using the true story from the Mountie and also the wife in Canada's remote far north. "Mrs. Mike" remains in guides.As he was married in 1941, Freedman have been a showbiz veteran. He dropped from Columbia U. at 16 to help support his family, prone to behave as a comedy author for radio. The happy couple met at MGM, where Freedman will be a author and Nancy a young actress.His bigscreen efforts incorporated the 1954 sci-fi comedy "The Atomic Kid," scripted by Freedman and John Fenton Murray in the story by Blake Edwards. It saw Mickey Rooney's character remade with the pressure from the nuclear blast. Freedman paired again with Murray round the original script for 1956 B-movie adventure "Jaguar" and again on 1961 comedy "Everything's Ducky," starring Rooney and Buddy Hackett as ocean adventurers who sneak a speaking duck onto their ship.Freedman written scripts for television shows including "The Mickey Rooney Show," "The Red-colored-colored Skelton Hour," "The Andy Griffith Show" and "The Most Popular Martian."He was produced in NY City, to David Freedman, a author for radio and Broadway, and also the wife, Beatrice, a violinist.He increased to become math wizzard only after returning to college, this time around around UCLA, within the late 40s.Nancy died this season. Freedman is managed to get by three children eight grandchildren four great-grandchildren together with a sister. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Musician Mike Melvoin dies at 74

Jazz pianist, composer, arranger, former Recording Academy president and prolific studio musician Mike Melvoin died on Feb. 23 in Burbank. He was 74. Sporting a recording resume that included the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" as well as key recordings from Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, the Jackson 5 and Tom Waits, Melvoin was also active as a film and TV composer and released a number of respected jazz recordings under his own name. Born in Oshkosh, Wisc., Melvoin began singing at age 2 and playing piano at 3. He told William Grimm in a 2003 interview, "(I thought) the alphabet ended with G." He attended Dartmouth College in the late 1950s and in 1961 moved to Los Angeles, where he became a fixture in the city's jazz scene, playing with the likes of Joe Williams and Peggy Lee. Melvoin released his first album as a bandleader, "Keys to Your Mind," on the Liberty label in 1966, a year that also saw him notch studio time on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" single and "Pet Sounds" LP, as well as Sinatra's "That's Life." Studio work on Lennon's "Stand by Me," Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen," the Jackson 5's "ABC" and Waits' live album "Nighthawks at the Diner" would follow. Melvoin began composing for TV and film in the early '70s and contributed scores to skeins "Fame" and "MacGyver." He had a small role in the Robert De Niro-directed "The Good Shepherd" in 2006. Melvoin was the first active musician to serve as topper of the Recording Academy. He received a Grammy nomination in 2003 for his recording of "All or Nothing at All," as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Friends of Jazz at UCLA and Los Angeles Jazz Society. Continuing the family tradition, Melvoin's twin daughters Wendy and Susannah played and recorded with Prince in the 1980s (with the former forming half of the Wendy & Lisa duo), and his son Jonathan was a touring member of the Smashing Pumpkins until his death in 1996. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Imax profit plunges to $6.3 mil

Imax net profit plunged last quarter to $6.3 million from $54 million, mostly on a major tax benefit the year before. Revenue eased to $67 million from $69 million.Backing out the tax item and others, net income fell to $9 million from $14 million. That was in line with Wall Street expectations given the quarter's soft box office.Company said 2011 was a year of record signings and installations with 497 Imax theaters installed in commercial multiplexes, up 33%, driven by China, Russia and North America. In 2012, CEO Rich Gelfond said the company will focus on South America, including four new theaters in Brazil, Western Europe and India, where a recent deal will bring Bollywood titles to Imax.Earlier this week, Imax named London-based Andrew Cripps, prexy of Paramount Pictures International, to oversee the rollout in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.Fourth quarter's film highlight was the December early release of Paramount's ''Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol,'' with scenes shot using Imax cameras. The five-day window when Imax had the pic to itself helped ''helped lead to its status as the must-see film of the holiday season,'' said Gelfond.Separately Thursday, Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the next James Bond pic ''Skyfall'' will be released in Imax theaters simultaneously with its international release Oct. 26, and its domestic release on Nov. 9. It will be the first Imax installment of the franchise.Imax said it signed contracts for 209 theater systems last year, including 26 in the fourth quarter, and installed 170 systems -- 57 for the quarter. At year end, there were 263 theater systems in backlog. The company expects to install 95 to 100 new theater systems in 2012, 45-50 under revenue sharing pacts and about 50 under sales arrangements.''Overall, 2011 was highly productive from a strategic perspective,'' Gelfond said, and that's carried into 2012 ''as the recent WTO agreement with China, highlighting IMAX, should enhance programming flexibility in our biggest international market.''''We believe we are positioning ourselves for both financial and strategic success, through our continued focus on differentiation, executing on network growth, and creating a compelling film slate,'' he said.The 2012 lineup is anchored by key franchise titles including ''The Dark Knight Rises,'' which will feature more footage shot in IMAX than any feature film to date; ''The Avengers,'' ''Men in Black 3,'' ''The Amazing Spider-Man,'' ''The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' and ''Skyfall.'' Gelfond said Imax also plans to expand local film releases. It's been been active in China and will move into Russia and France. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

David Stainton ankles Vital animation

StaintonWith the announcement of David Stainton's resignation carrying out a short tenure as mind of Paramount's fledgling animated film division, the question becomes: Without any films yet slated for release, where will it move from here?Four several weeks after employing the previous Disney feature animation leader, Vital introduced Wednesday that Stainton could be departing for private reasons, adding that Vital Movie Group prexy Adam Goodman will take control from the animation team of developers.InchWe're grateful for that time David spent in the studio and that we wish him well in the future endeavors," Goodman stated inside a statement.Vital hired Stainton in October to mind its new in-house animation division, that was introduced last This summer after "Rango" -- its first animated pic not created by DreamWorks Animation -- made a lot more than $240 million worldwide.At that time, this news seemed to be considered a settling tactic with DWA, whose distribution cope with Vital was set to run out in the finish of 2012. Both sides stated that the division might have no relation to discussions -- which were not even designed to begin until early 2012. But sources outdoors the studio saw the initiative as leverage that Vital could provide.The first arrange for the brand new division ended up being to release one pic annually starting in 2014. Though no film continues to be slated for any release yet, studio has stated several viable candidates have been in the whole shebang, including an adaptation from the graphic novel, "New Kid." Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the leader of a team of special agents belonging to the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Major Case Response Team. Gibbs, a former Marine, is a tough investigator and a highly skilled interrogator who relies on his gut instinct as much as evidence. Gibbs' second in command is Senior Field Agent Tony DiNozzo, a womanizing, movie-quoting former Baltimore Homicide Detective, who despite being the class clown always gets the job done. The team also consists of probationary field agent Ziva David, a former Mossad officer who is a skilled fighter, as well as Junior Field Agent Timothy McGee, a computer-savvy agent often mocked by DiNozzo. Assisting them are Abby Sciuto, the energetic-but-Goth lab tech who is like a daughter to Gibbs, and Dr. Donald Mallard, nicknamed Ducky, the eccentric medical examiner full of unusual stories. This team of elite agents, based in Washington, D.C., solve criminal cases involving Marine and Navy personnel and their families, sometimes traveling the United States - or the world - to do it.

Reel Suspects shuts deals on erotic 'X-Femmes'

Because the EFM systems up, Matteo Lovadina's Reel Suspects is closing further deals on "X-Femmes" and it is Jean Rollin Collection. "X-Femmes" is definitely an omnibus pic featuring erotic shorts directed by French filmmakers and thesps, including Lola Doillon, Tonie Marshall and Melanie Laurent. It had been acquired by Njutafilms in Sweden and Imovision in South america. Earlier within the mart, the pic was grabbed up by 8 Films in Germany, Eco-friendly Narae Media in Columbia and Ripleys in Italia. Reel Suspects has additionally offered his Jean Rollin Assortment of five remastered seventies horror films to Linetree in Columbia. The Paris-based shingle has already established an active mart. It closed a slew of deals across its slate, with films including "Disappearing Waves," "The Entire Year Dolly Parton Was My Mother" and "The 2nd Dying," Argentine helmer Santiago Fernandez's feature debut. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

China film fund goes Hollywood

BEIJING -- Whilst Hollywood seeks to go in china market, China's government is wanting to destroy into Hollywood.The country just setup its first condition-backed film fund make it easy for co-production between China as well as the U.S. Referred to as China Mainstream Media National Film Capital Hollywood, the fund might have offices in Beijing and Beverly Slopes and you'll be introduced by former China Film Group prexy Yang Buting, per local media reviews."Getting a Western movie-making approach and management according to financing from China, the business will finish up a gateway partner to Hollywood," according to Yang. He gave no particulars about how exactly large the fund, the primary focus that might be to co-finance and co-produce projects that have worldwide box office potential.L.A.-based film financier Endgame Entertainment, introduced by James D. Stern, is really a partner inside the initiative. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Social TV: Madonna's Halftime Performance Luv It or Hate It?

Madonna Was there a football game last evening? Because it seems as though Madonna's halftime show might be the only real factor that has everyone speaking! We received an outpouring of comments about Madge's performance, and therefore, Super Bowl XLVI is holding steady since the No. 1 most spoken-about show inside our Social Energy Rankings. @Jasdestiny tweeted, "That was the most effective #superbowlhalftime show inside a very long time. Stage was crazy." On Facebook, Jamie Durkin loved the show too. "I loved the fact she'll still do that at her age. In my opinion Gaga must remember who managed to get happen first. Madonna was which is the Icon." Super Bowl Halftime Show: Did Madonna get all your Luvin'? While not everyone was feeling the romance for your "As being a Virgin" singer. @Camicoquin tweeted, "Sad, pathetic, uninspired, absurd, lame, boring, silly." Reveal how you sense! "I've come across Madonna positioned on one heck from the entertaining show which one wasn't whatsoever entertaining personally,In . TVGuide.com user Humminbirdy stated. Inside our poll, 48 percent of voters thought Madonna was great, while only fifteen percent thought she was horrible -- and 36 percent of people didn't care either in situation, they just wanted a artist who didn't lip-sync. Whatrrrs your opinion? Did Madonna kill it, or are you currently searching for that 53-year-old to think of it as quits? Return anytime to look for the newest Social Energy Rankings, which are up-to-date instantly with the week.

Divorce Claims Man's The Exorcist Apartment

Tony Alleyne and also the "Star WarsInch theme apartment One guy strongly went where interior creating hadn't gone before - until divorce snapped up from him.After separating from his wife, Georgina, in 1994, British DJ/die-hard Trekkie Tony Alleyne spent 10 years and $150,000 altering his apartment in to a replica in the interior of Star Trek's U.S.S. Voyager - but she must tear everything lower since his wife has declared divorce. The apartment really was in their title and Georgina, who had previously been needing to spend the money for mortgage, desires to sell the region just like a conventional property, she notifies The Sun's Sun rays.View clips from Star WarsInchTo express I'm gutted is certainly an understatement," Alleyne notifies the paper. "It's my life's work - plus it seems like it's going in to a skip. The fact is that there has been tears."Lesson throughout your day: Never build something in or around the property you don't own.Follow the link to consider the geekiest guy cave previously it beams up.

More shows = more stress

Remember swag bags? That former staple of legit parties has largely evaporated because the fiscal crunch, however the Brooklyn Academy of Music stored the tradition alive, handing bags to visitors in the Jan. 18 gala perf of Kevin Spacey starrer "Richard III." Pretty classy for any nonprofit, however, the org is honoring its 150th anniversary, along with the final manufacture of its effective trans-Atlantic co-creating endeavor, the Bridge Project. The gala wasn't the only real factor the humanities org has spent cash on: Coming patrons had strolled past nearby construction which will yield another performance space for BAM to program. BAM leadership, including professional producer Joe Melillo, got a fired up gleam to them once they referred to the extra, exciting work they wished to create towards the venue. According to BAM staffers, however, the talk of 14 additional shows around the org's fall slate produced a gleam that looked a lot more like stress. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Guild draws line on producer credits

Koch GordonThe Producers Guild of America needs striking pay muck this year within the extended campaign to avoid the proliferation of undeserved producer credits.PGA co-presidents Mark Gordon and Hawk Koch desire to unveil the "producers' mark" -- a smaller-situation p.g.a. -- becoming an official designation to producers licensed with the guild as getting really completed creating duties. "The process remains recognized with the industry and that we are ongoing to maneuver forward while using mark this year,In . Koch states.The PGA joined an important hurdle in August within the decade-extended push being the authority on granting producer credits when the U.S. Dept. of Justice introduced it can't challenge the PGA's recommended usage of a voluntary certification system.The PGA held its first credit arbitrations in 2001, promulgated a Code of Credits in 2004 and acquired traction in 2005 when the Academy of motion Picture Arts & Sciences introduced it could reference the PGA's credit process on best picture nominations. If the introduced the ten films up for your Darryl F. Zanuck award Jan. 3, the PGA had designated all 24 producers, without any pending arbitrations as there's been formerly."In my opinion the industry's starting to become accustomed to the PGA process," states Gordon. "There were not any hiccups this time around around."The PGA still is not able to find the six major art galleries to register, a minimum of annually after it first introduced the "producers' mark." Key producers backing the campaign include J.J. Abrams, Kathryn Bigelow, George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, David Fincher, Gary Goetzman, John Grazer, Ron Howard, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Graham King, Frank Marshall, Scott Rudin, Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg.The PGA, which recently joined 5,000 membership mark, has extended pressed art galleries for recognition of the Code of Credits, which spells the qualifications for people qualified to find the "produced by" credit for features and executive producer credit for TV.The code attaches specific weight to producer functions: 35% for development, 20% for pre-production, 20% for production and 25% for publish-production and marketing, in addition to a producer to own had substantial participation in many people functions to qualify.Gordon and Koch, that are inside the second year from the co-presidency, may also be searching toward the fourth Produced By Conference, due to run June 21-10 round the The brand new the new sony Pictures lot. The PGA has became a member of while using Intl. CES -- produced with the Electronic Products Assn. -- to assist the confab. "We feel getting CES aboard can be a natural fit making our event feel welcome for transmedia producers," Koch notes.Last year's event at Disney came 2,000 participants, half of these non-PGA people. Gordon handled the keynote duties by ending up in Harvey Weinstein in greater detail. "You need to stress the wedding is not only for people," he adds.The duo has furthermore overseen improving in the org's site to produce together people and firms. "The finest factor our people should get is jobs," Koch states.Gordon and Koch appear at first sight experiencing the co-presidency and so are considering another term when their first expires mid-year. "I'm not doing anything without Hawk," Gordon quips.PGA AWARDSSpielberg: Empire in the stunner Extended-gestating 'Lincoln' driven by performances Guild draws line on producer credit Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Prince Harry To Visit Brazil In March

First Published: January 19, 2012 3:40 PM EST Credit: Getty Images LONDON, U.K. -- Caption Prince Harry visits Salford Ambulance Headquarters to meet ambulance crew members who were on duty during last weeks riots in Salford, England on August 18, 2011Britains Prince Harry will visit Brazil in March to support his charities there and help enhance U.K.-Brazil ties. St. Jamess Palace says the prince will visit Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo from March 9 to the 11th. The Brazil trip comes after Harry tours Belize, the Bahamas and Jamaica in the first week of March on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II as part of the her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The palace said Thursday that it would be the first time Harry visited any of the countries. The Brazil tour is organized by Britains Foreign Office, but Harry will stay on privately until March 14. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

David Letterman Near Deal to Stay on Late Show Through 2014

The Late Show with David Letterman David Letterman was passed over to succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show, but is now poised to dethrone Carson as the longest-running late-night star in TV history. Letterman, 64, is nearing a deal with CBS that would keep him behind the desk of the Late Show through 2014, according to The NY Times. 2014 will mark his 32nd year in late night (11 years on NBC's Late Night followed by what would be 21 years on CBS). Carson was on the air in late night for 30 years. As Dave catches Jay, are the late night wars over? CBS has been authorized by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, to make new deals with the show's staff, producers and writers, according to the newspaper. Although this indicates a deal with Letterman is "very close," as a source tells the Times, the future of CBS' other late-night host, Craig Ferguson, is uncertain. He may choose not to continue as the host of The Late Late Show. Although it was believed that Letterman would retire at the end of his current two-year deal, which expires in August, he is now likely to stay on TV. Ferguson has a clause in his contract that he will succeed Letterman whenever he chooses to step down. However, Ferguson may leave CBS if he is not offered a big salary or a higher production budget for his show, according to the Times. Are you happy David Letterman is staying in late night?

Frosh target different demos at B.O.

Disney "Beauty & the Beast 3D" (L-R) Belle & the Beast. 2011 Disney. All Rights Reserved. Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady" A three-way horse race among the weekend's new entries, along with several expansions for Golden Globes-nominated fare, should help keep overall domestic B.O. totals in line over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.Leading the pack is Universal's Mark Wahlberg thriller "Contraband," which bows today at 2,862 locations. Warner Bros.' musical-comedy "Joyful Noise" follows at 2,735, while Disney goes wide with its 3D re-release of 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," at 2,625 Stateside engagements.None of those pics, however, are expected to reach last weekend's record-setting $33.7 million debut for "The Devil Inside." Instead, bizzers predict the trio will fight for top placement, with bows through Monday in the mid teens.But amid the recent unpredictablity of the marketplace, tallies could sway in either direction.Among this weekend's awards hopefuls, the Weinstein Co. aggressively expands "The Iron Lady" -- nominated at the Globes for best actress-drama -- to 802 engagements, up from five, while Sony Pictures Classics' twice-nommed "Carnage" (both in the actress, comedy or musical category) broadens to nearly 500 playdates. "Iron Lady," entering its third frame, has tallied almost $570,000 domestically; "Carnage" stands at approximately $530,000 after four weeks.Also competing in the actress-drama category, Oscilloscope's "We Need to Talk About Kevin," starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly, bows limited at two engagements.FilmDistrict's Globes foreign-lingo contender "In the Land of Blood and Honey" also expands today, to 18 locations.Meanwhile, Warner's "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" should continue its reign atop the international B.O., expanding to Brazil. Last weekend, "Sherlock" displaced three-week overseas champ "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," which has cumed $289.9 million internationally. "Sherlock" has grossed $180.6 million in total."Contraband" reps the only new studio release to open day-and-date overseas, debuting in seven territories, including Russia.Domestically, the film is tracking similarly to Par's "The Fighter," which expanded wide during the equivalent frame in 2010, though U said "Contraband" is showing slightly stronger responses among young men. "The Fighter" earned $12.1 million in its first wide weekend."Contraband," based on the 2008 German film "Reykjavik-Rotterdam," is helmed by first-time director Baltasar Kormakur, and comes from Working Title and Relativity Media. Pic cost a reported $25 million.While "Contraband" is expected to open strong with mostly male auds, Warner's "Joyful Noise," toplining Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, will earn the majority of its opening tally from women. The Alcon-produced and -financed pic is poised as counterprogramming to "Contraband," though "Joyful Noise" might lose some of its femme aud, particularly moms, to Disney's 3D "Beauty."The Mouse re-release will benefit most from kids out of school, with an estimated 15% out today and 91% out on Monday."Beauty" in 3D isn't expected to hit the same opening heights as "The Lion King" did in its 3D rerelease in September ($30.2 million). "The Lion King" had more than doubled "Beauty's" initial theatrical earnings.Like "Lion King," Disney said it hopes "Beauty" will play to non-family auds based on nostalgic reasons. "Lion King" in 3D cumed nearly $95 million domestically -- a high bar for "Beauty."Disney released a 3D version of "Beauty" theatrically last September for an exclusive run at L.A.'s El Capitan theater. Launch was meant to coincide with the film's 3D DVD and Blu-ray release on Oct. 4. (Pic first came out on Blu-ray in 2010.) Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

Tech notes from around the biz

London vfx house Cinesite is accepting applications for its annual internship program, Inspire, now in its third year. Program now includes a new technical effects strand that specifically targets graduates with an interest in computer programming or technical effects. Antony Hunt, managing director, added the track to encourage a new-generation of programmers to consider the vfx industry as a viable option for their skills and to help budding effects artists demonstrate their technical ability. Cinesite internships are six-week paid summertime positions. "I'm always bowled over by the amount of submissions we receive for Inspire, and every year the quality of entries keeps getting better," said Hunt. Previous Inspire winners have worked on "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "John Carter" and "World War Z ." Since finishing their placements, all six winners have secured positions at Cinesite. * * * Bunim/Murray Productions picked Avid technology for all its editorial work beginning early this year, shifting away from Apple's Final Cut Pro software. As part of the switch, B/M will deploy Avid Media Composer 6, Avid Symphony and an Avid ISIS 500 shared-storage system. Company is credited with helping to create the reality television genre with its series "The Real World." Its work includes such shows as "Keeping up with the Kardashians," "Kourtney & Kim Take NY" and "Project Runway." "Due to the large volume of media generated by our reality shows, we needed to re-evaluate our editing and storage solutions," said Mark Raudonis, senior VP of post-production. Working closely with Avid and its reseller Key Code Media, B/M ultimately selected Avid for its ability to integrate Media Composer 6 and Symphony 6 into its existing infrastructure. "We won't need to change out any of the hardware from our editing stations," Raudonis added. "It's just a software install." * * * Editorial house and Deluxe subsidiary Beast has completed directing and editorial work for Western Union, via agency 180 Amsterdam , to promote "World of Betters," a six-week viral campaign that asks "what would you do with $1,000 to make someone's day better?" Western Union partnered with such stars as Alicia Keys, John Legend, K'naan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Pitbull to host "live-better events" around the world showcasing how Western Union moves money. Contact Peter Caranicas at peter.caranicas@variety.com

Total Films Goon Screening Report

[brightcove]1341474661001[/brightcove]Because of people people who found our exclusive screening of Goon last evening!Locked in the Charlotte now now Street Hotel london, we positioned on the film for your lucky individuals who win within our competition this year's week.The lavish location and free-flowing booze certainly shown to become impressive counter for the publish-Christmas blues.After our site visitors had taken their seats inside the screening room, Total Film's Jamie Graham introduced the evening's special guest: Goon star Seann William Scott!Following a crowd Q&A, we clicked in the American Cake actor for just about any quick chat, which he needed part in the Twitter interview with this particular fans (have a look at Total Film's Twitter timeline for his solutions, or search #goon).The absurdly likeable star also told us about his favourite new British catchphrase that he's acquired the following ("How's about some the old 'How's your father?'") and looking forward to his return to the American Cake franchise:"I seen [American Reunion] about recently plus it was awesome... It absolutely was wonderful to film it, I'd this kind of great experience but to check out it and discover everything meet up and everybody be really wonderful in [it], that alone is regarded as the rewarding."But he appeared to become keen to point he has not used among Steve Stifler's trademark lines to speak up a girl in solid-existence ("Oh my gosh God, In my opinion I'd probably get f**king hit... Or destroyed!"Which younger crowd shares the same type of films to TF: "I merely seen Drive, I thought it had been really awesome. Ryan Gosling's a genuine great actor and, guy, I am unable to say I really could ever do just about anything like him, but I'd love playing people kind of parts. It absolutely was awesome, it absolutely was stylish, and [Gosling] was great."On his terrible ice-skating capabilities, he told us: "I practised for approximately monthly before shooting which i attracted completely by way of the conclusion of shooting, and fortunately my character was stated to become bad... Just like a hockey player I'm awful."So thank you to all or any who handled to obtain before, and sorry should you didn't be capable of score tickets only at that juncture. Goon opens inside the Uk today.Read Total Film's Goon review.