Category: Business

Is Hugh Hefner going bankrupt?
Hugh Hefner has fuelled reports he’s facing bankruptcy after opening the doors of his infamous Playboy Mansion to the public – for a fee.
Last month, Hefner was reportedly advised to dismiss employees in his Los Angeles and New York offices to avoid financial ruin.
Hefner’s spokesperson Elizabeth Austin would neither confirm nor deny the financial problems at the time, stating: “It is our policy not to comment on corporate matters such as employee issues.”
The Playboy boss has since extended an invitation to the exclusive parties held at the mansion, charging $5,000 to $25,000 a ticket, depending on the celebrities in attendance.
Hefner, whose Playboy Enterprises owns the mansion, pays a reported $700,000 annually in rent for the pad.
A company spokesperson denies Hefner’s recent split from girlfriends Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson are related to his finances, adding the girls “are not even on the payroll. So, they would be the last to go.”

Superhero summer heads for $4 billion box office
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood studios are nearing the end of their summer of superheroes with domestic box office receipts expected to roughly match last year’s record $4.18 billion sum despite lower movie attendance.
Led by the blockbuster Batman sequel “The Dark Knight,” U.S.-Canadian weekend ticket sales since May 2 are running just ahead of last summer, up 1.2 percent, according to box office tracking service Media By Numbers.
But with the number of actual admissions down nearly 3 percent from a year ago, the gain in revenues is fueled mostly by higher ticket prices.
With no other huge hits on the horizon before the U.S. Labor Day holiday on September 1, the 2008 vacation season will likely draw to a close at about the same level as last year’s summer tally, which crossed the $4 billion threshold for the first time, box office analysts said.
Brandon Gray of the Web site Box Office Mojo said Hollywood suffered in the second half of summer from a mediocre film slate propped up almost entirely by the record-breaking strength of “The Dark Knight,” now closing in on $500 million.
“If ‘Dark Knight’ failed to perform way above expectations, this would have been a decidedly down summer,” Gray said.
Paul Dergarabedian of Media By Numbers agreed, saying Hollywood was hard-pressed to repeat the success of last year, which was anchored by “threequels” “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
GAMES AND GASOLINE
Dergarabedian said keen interest in the Beijing Olympics may also have dampened moviegoing in August.
Economic woes and high gas prices cut both ways at box offices as cash-strapped families sought relatively cheap entertainment in the form of movies, but were more choosy about which films to see.
“They may not hesitate for one second to spend 10 bucks on a movie ticket to go see ‘The Dark Knight,’ but some of these other films, they may say, ‘Oh, I’m going to wait,’ or ‘I’m going to be a little bit more careful with my spending.”‘
Comic book adventures with a twist proved to be the hot ticket of summer 2008, accounting for at least three of the top four films and nearly $1.5 billion in revenues.
“The Dark Knight,” gained much of its notice from the menacingly edgy performance of Heath Ledger as the villainous joker, his last completed film role before he died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Likewise, “Iron Man” kicked off the summer season in robust fashion with Robert Downey Jr. winning praise for his role as a wealthy weapons executive and playboy going through a mid-life crisis as he invents a high-tech armor suit to fight bad guys.
Those films have been the two highest-grossing titles of the summer, amassing over $471 million and $317 million respectively in North American receipts so far.
Ranked fourth, with $225 million, was “Hancock,” starring Will Smith as a hung-over, often reckless superhero.
Even the summer’s No. 3 movie, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which grossed $315 million, could be classified as a superhero movie of sorts.
“The Incredible Hulk” was No. 10 with $134 million, while “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,” landed at No. 24 with nearly $75 million. Other bright spots included chick flick “Sex and the City” and the animated hits “Wall-E” and “Kung Fu Panda.”
With the exception of “Dark Knight” and the musical “Mamma Mia!,” the box office had cooled considerably by mid-July. Of the 16 summer weekends so far, nine were down year-to-year in overall ticket sales.
In 2007, Hollywood boasted 14 summer films grossing $100 million or more, compared with 12 this summer. Four films last summer cracked $300 million, versus three this season.

Rolling Stones switch recording deal to Universal
LONDON – The Rolling Stones, the world’s top-earning music act last year, have signed a long-term, exclusive worldwide contract with Vivendi SA’s Universal Music, dealing a major blow to the group’s former recording company, EMI Group PLC.
Universal said on Friday that the new deal covered both future albums by the Stones and their back catalog including such albums as “Sticky Fingers” and “Black and Blue” and songs “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up.”
Universal, the world’s biggest recording company, did not disclose terms of the deal.
The Stones’ departure from EMI, where they’d been for more than 20 years, is a low point in a bumpy ride for Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., the private equity firm that bought the London-based recording company last year.
New EMI boss Guy Hands failed to re-sign British band Radiohead. Other major artists, including Coldplay and Robbie Williams, have expressed unhappiness with some changes at the company since the buyout.
“Universal are forward-thinking, creative and hands-on music people,” the Stones said in a statement. “We really look forward to working with them.”
The British group has already had some experience of working with Universal after the company, a subsidiary of French media and telecommunication giant Vivendi SA, in March released the soundtrack album from “Shine A Light,” director Martin Scorsese’s film of the Stones’ 2006 performance at the Beacon Theater in New York.
Universal will now release all new recordings by the group through its Polydor label and take over full digital and physical rights. It added that it will “begin planning an unprecedented, long-term campaign to reposition the Rolling Stones’ entire catalog for the digital age.”
The Stones topped Forbes magazine’s list of wealthy music acts last year, reportedly earning some $88 million between June 2006 and June 2007, mostly from their “Bigger Bang Tour.”
EMI, whose artists also include the Beastie Boys, Norah Jones and Kylie Minogue, announced plans this year to cut more than one-third of its work force to offset a drop in CD sales revenue and the departure of several major artists, including Paul McCartney.
EMI has struggled more than the other major labels ó Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group ó as digital music downloading has gained in popularity.
The company blamed disappointing North American results for a series of damaging profit warnings, but industry experts also pointed to internal control problems and the company’s lack of new music.

Nickelback signs 3-album deal with Live Nation
Alberta rockers Nickelback are the latest group to sign a global recording and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation, according to the company.
Los Angeles-based Live Nation has previously signed deals with Madonna, Shakira, Jay-Z and U2.
Nickelback, fronted by Chad Kroeger, has signed a three-album, three-tour deal that industry sources valued at $50-$70 million, Reuters reported Tuesday. Live Nation did not release terms of the deal.
Live Nation has specialized in all-inclusive packages. This deal has it handling all of Nickelback’s merchandising, licensing, sponsorship, endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights as well as fan club, website and literary rights.
Nickelback’s last North American and Australian tour in 2006/07 grossed more than $67 million and its last album, All the Right Reasons, sold 10 million copies.
Three singles from that album ó Photograph, Far Away and Rockstar ó were top 10 hits on the U.S. charts.
The band still has two albums left to deliver to its Road Runner Records label before it makes any records with Live Nation.
Nickelback has announced a September 2008 tour of Germany, the U.K. and Ireland.

12 Smart Ways to Save on Gas
With gas prices going up and up, a year of weekly fill-ups now drains $2000 more from your wallet than just four years ago. Here are a few tips to help you squeeze more miles out of every tank.
DRIVE INTELLIGENTLY
Avoid aggressive driving. “Drive as if you had a hard-boiled egg between your foot and the gas pedal,” says John H. Davis, host of PBS’s MotorWeek. “It’s OK to break the eggshell, but you can’t squash it.” By observing speed limits and avoiding abrupt starts and stops, you can increase mileage by 5% on city streets and up to 33% on the highway ó that’s $27 per 20-gallon fill-up.
Control your speed. Using cruise control automatically reduces the amount of fuel you burn on the highway. When you set your speed, keep in mind that gas mileage decreases dramatically when you exceed 60 mph. Stick to the right lane, and you can reduce your fuel consumption by up to 20%.
Lighten your load. An extra 100 pounds of weight reduces mileage by as much as 2%, the equivalent of 8 cents per gallon. In other words, you can save up to $50 per year simply by cleaning out your trunk.
Don’t idle. If traffic is at a standstill, turn off the engine. An hour of idling can swallow a gallon of gas. Also, avoid long lines at drive-through windows. You’ll save money by going inside.
GET YOUR CAR IN SHAPE
Tune up. Keep your spark plugs clean, your engine tuned, and your wheels aligned. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your gas mileage by 10%, saving up to 40 cents per gallon. Ignore the hype about additives ó from chemical mixes to mothballs ó that claim to boost mileage. They’re not worth the money and may even damage your engine.
Use the right motor oil. If the oil is too thick, your engine will have to work harder ó burning more fuel. If it’s too thin, you won’t get the needed protection. Stick with the type recommended by your owner’s manual for maximum fuel efficiency.
Take care of your tires. Keep tires inflated to the pressure recommended in your owner’s manual. Soft tires use more gas, but overinflating your tires (as some mileage fanatics suggest) will mess with your car’s handling.
If you have two cars, use the one with better gas mileage. If you drive 12,500 miles a year, switching half of your trips from a car that gets 20 mpg to one that gets 30 mpg can save more than $400.
CHEAT THE WIND
Roll up your windows. It may seem odd, but you’ll get better summer mileage by cranking the A/C on the highway, since open windows create drag at high speeds. (If you’re just running errands around town, fresh air is best.)
Maintain a sleek profile. Avoid accessories like luggage racks, which increase drag, and keep your tailgate upright. Fix any dents, especially to the front of the car. A high-gloss finish won’t help your mileage much, but keeping the body straight will.
DELIVERING GAS SAVINGS
UPS squeezes every last drop of mileage from its fleet of 94,000 vehicles, saving 3 million gallons of gas a year. Some expert tips:
Plan ahead. Map out the most efficient routes and make single stops for multiple tasks in the same area. “Do all your work in one trip,” says Jack Levis of UPS, “and time your trips so you don’t run into congestion.”
Keep moving. “Left turns waste time and energy,” says UPS spokesperson Donna Barrett ó you don’t want the engine idling at a green light while you wait for oncoming traffic to pass. When you do make a planned stop, turn off the engine.

Actors’ petition doesn’t sway SAG board
LOS ANGELES – The prospects are looking dim for the proposal to limit which Screen Actors Guild members can vote in upcoming contract talks.
SAG’s board of directors on Saturday referred the matter to committee rather than immediately act on it, as more than 1,400 guild members demanded in a petition. It sought to restrict voting to actors who work at least one day a year.
The proposal ran into strong opposition from board members who argued it would exclude most guild members.
The majority of SAG’s 120,000 members don’t work regularly. Supporters of the proposal reason that nonworking members would be more likely to favor a walkout.
Contract negotiations with studios begin Tuesday.

TV, film actors’ unions sever ties
LOS ANGELES (AP) ó Unions representing film and television actors will negotiate separately with producers in upcoming contract talks after board members of the TV actors union voted Saturday to sever a long-standing agreement between the two guilds.
The vote by the board of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists came hours before a meeting with the Screen Actors Guild and just three months before the expiration of the contract covering movies and prime-time shows.
Despite a sometimes rocky 27-year relationship the unions had shown recent signs of peace as they prepared for the upcoming talks.
The two groups had hoped at Saturday’s meeting to set a start date for negotiations. Instead of discussing strategies the sides swapped accusations.
“For the past year SAG leadership in Hollywood has engaged in a relentless campaign of disinformation and disparagement,” AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said in a written statement.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg’s written response: “AFTRA’s refusal now to bargain together with us and their last-second abandonment of the joint process is calculated, cynical and may serve the interests of their institution, but not its members.”
The AFTRA board said the vote to terminate the agreement, known as “Phase One,” was “overwhelming.”
Wary of repeating the damage wrought by the recently ended 100-day Hollywood writers strike, producers and several A-list actors including Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro had been pressing for negotiations to start as early as this week.
The 120,000-member Screen Actors Guild represents actors in movies, TV and other media. The 70,000-member TV and radio federation represents, among others, actors, singers, announcers and journalists.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, said in a statement that it looks forward to bargaining with AFTRA. It did not mention SAG.

Report: Strike Cost $2.5 Billion
Lesson learned from the recent writers’ strike: The pen is costlier than the sword.
A report released Wednesday by Jack Kyser, the chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., has revealed that the three-month walkout by film and TV writers took a heavier toll on Tinseltown’s bottom line than predictedó$2.5 billion in lost show business.
The 71-page study, dubbed the Economic Forecast Report, concluded that the writers’ strike, which started Nov. 5 and ended last week, resulted in millions of dollars in lost wages for the cast and crews of shuttered film and television productions.
The strike’s impact alone on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual Golden Globes Award ceremony cost the Industry upwards of $60 million, including lost advertising dollars and missed promotional opportunities by studios looking to boost their prestige pictures ahead of this Sunday’s Oscars.
Despite solid gains at the domestic and global box office in 2007, as well as last week’s deal in which scribes won concessions for royalties from content streamed over the Internet, Kyser and his analysts expressed concern that the devastating economic effect of the protracted strike could lead the Screen Actors Guild to dig in its heels when its own contract is up on June 30.
It’s widely expected that the actors will follow the template forged by the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America in their new accords with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
However, Kyser’s report said another strike wasn’t out of the question, as SAG leaders are still “talking tough” about their negotiations.
Given how the work stoppage has thrown the scripted TV season for next fall into chaos, leaving many of its members scrounging for work, the union may hold out for a better revenue-sharing deal than the ones obtained separately by writers and directors.
The guild may seek to make up the shortfall in DVD sales, per the report. Sales remain flat this year, after suffering a steep 3.4 percent drop last year to $16 billion.
But with stars like Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro leading the charge, several key members of the Screen Actors Guild have urged the union to initiate early talks with the alliance to head off the possibility of another walkout.
While another strike would be grim news, the economic forecast for Los Angeles County for 2008 already predicts continued job losses in the manufacturing, information service and construction sectors due to the fallout from the strike.

Writers end strike; now they must write
LOS ANGELES – Hollywood writers’ brief moment to savor the end of their 100-day strike gave way Wednesday to the cold reality of a blank page and networks and studios eager for new TV episodes.
“What we’re all finding is there’s a certain amount of, `OK, what are we going to do now?’ said Shane Brennan, writer and executive producer for the CBS drama “NCIS.”
“You go back to your desk, open your computer, look at the last thing you planned, the last thing you wrote,” Brennan said, “and figure out how to go from there.”
Cheryl Heuton, executive producer for CBS’ “Numb3rs,” has been making a flurry of calls to muster crew members, writers and others connected with the drama.
“We’re just gathering everybody. The offices are pretty dark and lonely and will be for a couple more days,” said Heuton.
Members of the Writers Guild of America members voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to lift the union’s strike order, allowing the industry to jump-start stalled production of numerous TV sitcoms and dramas.
“It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff,” said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of the CBS drama “Criminal Minds.” Actual production won’t begin, however, until scripts have been completed, which could take days or even weeks.
For the Feb. 24 Academy Awards, the vote by East and West Coast guild members ended the threat of a boycott by writers and actors that would have robbed the ceremony of its celebrity luster.
Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, responded effusively.
“I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead,” he said, and without “hesitation or discomfort” for the nominees.
The writers’ decided overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike: 3,492 said yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job. The number of guild members involved in the strike was 10,500, with countless other industry workers forced into unemployment because of the walkout.
Writers did not vote on the tentative contract agreement that already has won approval from the union’s board of directors. The contract ratification vote will be conducted by mail and at meetings and will conclude Feb. 25.
Approval is expected, given Tuesday’s lopsided decision and the enthusiasm for the proposed contract expressed at guild meetings held last weekend in New York and Los Angeles.
“At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry,” Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Moonves was among the media executives who helped broker a deal after negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, collapsed in December.
Under the tentative agreement, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for programs streamed on the Internet in the deal’s first two years and then get 2 percent of a distributor’s gross in year three ó a key union demand.
Other provisions include increased residual payments for movies and TV programs downloaded from the Internet.
“These advances now give us a foothold in the digital age,” said Patric Verrone, president of the West Coast guild. “Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet.”
Michael R. Perry, a writer for “Persons Unknown” and other TV dramas, said the deal made him hopeful the guild and studios could be “partners in a growing pie” of Internet revenue.
“I want them to be fabulously, filthy rich. I just want my piece,” Perry said.
The strike that began Nov. 5 dealt a financial blow to a wide range of businesses dependent on work from studios.
It took a $3.2 billion toll in direct and indirect costs on the economy of Los Angeles County, the home of most of the nation’s TV and film production, according to a new estimate from Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.
The last writers strike, a 153-day walkout in 1988, resulted in an estimated $500 million in lost wages.
Hollywood’s labor pains may not be over: The contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is set to expire in June, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles firm of TroyGould and a former associate counsel for the writers guild.
“The signs are mixed whether this is going to be another difficult negotiation,” Handel said. “The actors face all of the new-media issues that the writers and directors faced.”

Hollywood writers to vote on contract
LOS ANGELES – TV producers say they expect writers to return to work as early as Wednesday now that the Writers Guild of America has moved to end its three-month-old strike.
On Sunday, guild leaders recommended a tentative three-year contract to members and asked them to vote separately on a quick end to the walkout.
Membership meetings will be held Tuesday in New York and Los Angeles, said Patric Verrone, president of the guild’s West Coast branch.
“This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years,” Verrone said.
The tentative contract secures writers a share of the burgeoning digital-media market, he said, including compensation for Internet-delivered TV shows and movies.
“If they (producers) get paid, we get paid. This contract makes that a reality,” Verrone said. But, he added, “it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved.”
Still, the union’s negotiating committee recommended Saturday that the contract be accepted, and the West guild’s board of directors and the East Coast guild’s council agreed. They called for a membership ratification vote, which will be conducted by mail over about two weeks.
Member approval of the contract and the strike’s end appeared likely. At heavily attended membership meetings Saturday in New York and Los Angeles, there was resounding support for the proposed deal that could put TV and movie production back on track, salvage the rest of the TV season and remove a boycott threat from this month’s Oscars.
Verrone thanked television viewers who “tolerated three months of reruns and reality TV.”
The guild’s major bargaining concession to studios was agreeing to take unionization of animation and reality TV shows off the table, Verrone said. The guild has said it still intends to pursue those goals.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, said it had no comment Sunday on the guild’s actions.
The strike’s end would allow many hit series to return this spring for what’s left of the current season, airing anywhere from four to seven new episodes. Shows with marginal audience numbers may not return until fall, or could be canceled.
A minimum of four weeks would be needed for producers to start from scratch with their first post-strike episodes of comedies and get them on the air, industry members said. A drama would require six to eight weeks from concept to broadcast.
“It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff,” said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of CBS’ drama “Criminal Minds.” He hopes to get a couple of scripts in the pipeline right away, and for about seven episodes to air by the end of May.
“It’s a real balancing act,” he said, “to get up and running as fast as possible, but not let the quality slip.”
The strike, the first in 20 years for the writers guild, began Nov. 5 and included bitter exchanges between the guild and the producers alliance. Talks collapsed in December.
In January, the studios reached an agreement in separate negotiations with the Directors Guild of America. Top media company executives, including Peter Chernin of News Corp. and Robert Iger of The Walt Disney Co., asked the writers to resume bargaining.
What were termed informal talks between the executives and guild leaders led to the tentative contract that writers will be voting on.
Together, the East and West Coast guilds represent 12,000 writers, with about 10,000 of those involved in the strike. It has cost the Los Angeles area economy alone an estimated $1 billion or more.
Based on the guild’s summary of the deal, it is similar to the agreement reached with directors.
It provides union jurisdiction over projects created for the Internet based on certain guidelines, sets compensation for streamed, ad-supported programs, and increases residual payments for downloaded movies and TV programs.
Writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for streamed programs in the deal’s first two years and then get a percentage of a distributor’s gross in year three ó the last point an improvement on the directors deal, which remains at the flat payment rate.
The writers and directors guild deals both include a provision that compensation for ad-supported streaming wouldn’t kick in until after a window of 17 to 24 days deemed “promotional” by the studios.
Some writers have balked at that, saying Internet traffic is heaviest in the first few days.