Studio

Industry News: Videogame deal for SAG?

8/28/2009 at 12:33 PM by Jessica Kantor

Ex-exec now tyro helmer
Former Pathe U.K. topper Alexis Lloyd is helming his first feature, indie “30 Beats.” Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s play “La Ronde,” Lloyd describes the pic as “six degrees of separation in love and sexual encounters.” Ensemble cast of 10 includes Paz de la Huerta, Justin Kirk, Jennifer Tilly, Lee Pace, Thomas Sadoski, Ben Levin and theater thesp Condola Rashad. International actors Ingeborga Dapkunaite (”Burnt by the Sun”), Jason Day (”Mancora”) and Vahina Giocante (”Lila Says”) round out the cast.

A&E acquires Lifetime
A&E Television Networks, the partnership between Disney/ABC, Hearst Corp. and NBC Universal, has officially acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services, the companies announced Thursday morning. Move had been in the works for months, and the transaction is expected to close sometime later this year. Under the new setup, A&E Television Networks will continue to serve as parent company of the combined entity, with prexy/CEO Abbe Raven remaining as head.

N. Carolina boosts production tax incentive
North Carolina has bumped its film production tax incentive from 15% up to 25% or a maximum credit of $7.5 million. Film industry dollars have been ebbing from the state’s coffers over the last few years, with neighboring Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia offering tax breaks as high as 32%. On Thursday, however, Gov. Bev Perdue signed into law a bill increasing the incentive — which North Carolina Film Office director Aaron Syrett said will help breathe life back into the state’s struggling economy.

SAG near videogame deal
In a sign it may be moving toward a videogames deal, the Screen Actors Guild has scheduled a series of member meetings about the talks. SAG had no comment about the Sept. 8 caucuses in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The guild disclosed the meetings Thursday in a message to members, saying only that it would provide an update on the negotiations. SAG has kept mum about the talks, which launched several months ago. People familiar with the bargaining have indicated negotiators have been making progress in recent weeks toward a tentative deal, which would replace the pact that expired last year. If the vidgame deal is concluded, it will be the sixth SAG contract that’s been wrapped up since April — including commercials, feature-primetime, TV animation, basic cable animation and basic cable live-action, the last of which was ratified Wednesday with 93.7% support.

DirecTV in talks to put cable shows online
DirecTV Group is in talks with the TBS and TNT cable networks to offer their shows online, according to two people familiar with the discussions. If a deal is reached, DirecTV subscribers would be able to watch shows from those cable networks on the Internet, the people said on condition of anonymity because the talks still are ongoing. DirecTV, the nation’s largest satellite TV operator, previously said it was considering such deals but did not specify the networks. DirecTV joins a growing list of cable, satellite and phone companies that are offering consumers a “multiscreen” experience: the ability to watch shows on TV, computers and mobile devices like cell phones.

Verizon, Time Warner to test Web TV service
And now two more U.S. pay TV providers, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications, plan to test systems to offer shows on the Web to paying customers in a bid to protect their subscription revenue. Time Warner Cable and Verizon separately announced their plans on Thursday and will follow Comcast, the largest U.S. cable operator, which said in July it would test a Web TV service with some of its customers. Pay TV companies are concerned that the recession-resistant subscription revenue of cable television could be undermined if cable shows became widely available over the Web, effectively cutting out the cable and satellite TV operators.