Jobs will leave with Jay Leno! Gail Berman is free agent.
After the coffee. Before lobbying for later start times for earnings calls.
The Skinny: I had to get up at 4:40 a.m. today to listen to Time Warner Cable’s earnings call. How about some consideration for the West Coast when scheduling these things? Forgive the typos. I’m groggy. Today’s report includes the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences taking away an Oscar nomination, and Gail Berman ending her production partnership with Lloyd Braun. Also, industry big shots remember movie executive Tom Sherak, who died earlier this week.
Daily Dose: Time Warner Cable is considering following Comcast’s lead and to start selling digital downloads of movies through its systems. On a conference call with analysts, Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Rob Marcus said, “It’s definitely something we’re thinking about.” Comcast has already reported strong results from its electronic sell-through efforts.
Hitting the wrong note. The song “Alone Yet Not Alone” from the movie of the same name was stripped of its Oscar nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because of lobbying by the tune’s writer, Bruce Broughton. A member of the academy’s music branch executive committee and a former AMPAS governor, Broughton committed the no-no of emailing other members about his nomination during the voting period. “Using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” said academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Details on the controversy the Los Angeles Times and the Hollywood Reporter.
Breaking up. Former Fox and Paramount executive Gail Berman is exiting the production company she formed seven years ago with Lloyd Braun, the former ABC and Yahoo executive. Berman’s name has been mentioned in recent months for senior positions at ABC and Hulu. Though Berman hinted in her exit statement that she is considering other opportunities, no details of her future plans were provided. More on Berman’s news from the Los Angeles Times and Deadline Hollywood.
Jay Leno’s not the only one leaving. When NBC’s “Tonight Show” moves from Burbank to New York City next month, Jay Leno won’t be the only one without a TV gig. The relocation will also result in 164 people who worked on the show losing their jobs. According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, NBC told California’s Employment Development Department that the layoffs would start in mid-February.
Yeah, but do they have a Hollywood sign? Remember when someone would move here and hope to be discovered by hanging out on Sunset Boulevard? Well, these days you might have a better chance of getting noticed by movie and TV big shots by moving to Georgia or Michigan or Louisiana. Yes, we have another runaway-production story for you, this one from the Wall Street Journal.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Hollywood remembers Tom Sherak. A recap of Sundance from Kenneth Turan.
Follow me on Twitter and you are good to go! @JBFlint.
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