When Jennifer Aniston won a SAG Award Jan. 19, the mainstream media seized on one fact: She and her ex Brad Pitt were together in the winner’s circle. Woo-woo, hot stuff!
For gossip rags, that’s fun, but this angle misses the bigger picture. First, her award for “The Morning Show” was a nice validation for Apple TV Plus. Second, this was a project on which she and Reese Witherspoon are exec producers, meaning actor-producers have moved beyond the realm of “vanity productions,” as such deals used to be called for performers.
The 21st century has seen a sharp rise in actors with successful production companies. That list includes Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman.
Though 2019 Oscar nominations inspired protests for lack of gender diversity among directors, the tallies in the best picture rank are better — not 50-50 yet, but getting there. Eight...
For gossip rags, that’s fun, but this angle misses the bigger picture. First, her award for “The Morning Show” was a nice validation for Apple TV Plus. Second, this was a project on which she and Reese Witherspoon are exec producers, meaning actor-producers have moved beyond the realm of “vanity productions,” as such deals used to be called for performers.
The 21st century has seen a sharp rise in actors with successful production companies. That list includes Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman.
Though 2019 Oscar nominations inspired protests for lack of gender diversity among directors, the tallies in the best picture rank are better — not 50-50 yet, but getting there. Eight...
- 1/31/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Great news for Mary Pickford fans! Mary Pickford won the Academy Award for Coquette in 1929 and it’s now available on DVD From Warner Archives
In her first talkie, Mary Pickford won 1929’s Best Actress Academy Award® for her delightful portrayal of Norma Besant, a flirtatious socialite who falls in love with a poor ne’er-do-well. When Norma tells her father she has fallen in love with Michael Jeffery (Johnny Mack Brown), her widowed father forbids the two to see each other, knowing that Michael will never rise to their family’s social class. But their love for each other is stronger than her obligation to obey her father, and the lovers secretly continue their romance. But when they are seen together late one night, her father, gun in hand, sets out to settle things once and for all. Full of romance, passion and suspense, Coquette is also quite risqué for its time.
In her first talkie, Mary Pickford won 1929’s Best Actress Academy Award® for her delightful portrayal of Norma Besant, a flirtatious socialite who falls in love with a poor ne’er-do-well. When Norma tells her father she has fallen in love with Michael Jeffery (Johnny Mack Brown), her widowed father forbids the two to see each other, knowing that Michael will never rise to their family’s social class. But their love for each other is stronger than her obligation to obey her father, and the lovers secretly continue their romance. But when they are seen together late one night, her father, gun in hand, sets out to settle things once and for all. Full of romance, passion and suspense, Coquette is also quite risqué for its time.
- 4/23/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Hollywood Women’s Film Institute will launch its Hollywood Women’s Film Festival with “Why Not Choose Love? A Mary Pickford Manifesto” as its opening title, Variety has learned exclusively.
The Mary Pickford biopic, starring Sophie Kennedy Clark as the iconic actress, will screen on June 13 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. Written and directed by Jennifer DeLia, the film also stars Cary Elwes, Balthazar Getty, Luke Arnold, Josephine de La Baume, Jane Stiles, Summer Phoenix, Adam Fergus, and Scott Haze.
“Why Not Choose Love” is produced by DeLia through her Poverty Row production banner along with Julie Pacino, Nitsa Benchetrit, and Kim Zubick (“The Zookeeper’s Wife”). The festival will run through June 18 with screenings and events centered on initiatives dealing with education and integration advocacy at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, with additional venues including Dick Clark Productions and UCLA.
Pickford,...
The Mary Pickford biopic, starring Sophie Kennedy Clark as the iconic actress, will screen on June 13 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. Written and directed by Jennifer DeLia, the film also stars Cary Elwes, Balthazar Getty, Luke Arnold, Josephine de La Baume, Jane Stiles, Summer Phoenix, Adam Fergus, and Scott Haze.
“Why Not Choose Love” is produced by DeLia through her Poverty Row production banner along with Julie Pacino, Nitsa Benchetrit, and Kim Zubick (“The Zookeeper’s Wife”). The festival will run through June 18 with screenings and events centered on initiatives dealing with education and integration advocacy at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, with additional venues including Dick Clark Productions and UCLA.
Pickford,...
- 4/11/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
It could be lucky No. 7 and 13 for Glenn Close. She picked up her seventh Oscar nomination on Tuesday, for Best Actress for “The Wife,” which did not get any other nominations. If Close’s name is finally in the envelope on Oscar day, she’d be the 13th winner in the category as the only nominee for her film.
The first 12 were:
1. Mary Pickford, “Coquette” (1928/29)
2. Marie Dressler, “Min and Bill” (1930/31)
3. Helen Hayes, “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931/32)
4. Katharine Hepburn, “Morning Glory” (1932/33)
5. Bette Davis, “Dangerous” (1935)
6. Joanne Woodward, “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957)
7. Sophia Loren, “Two Women” (1961)
8. Jodie Foster, “The Accused” (1988)
9. Kathy Bates, “Misery” (1990)
10. Jessica Lange, “Blue Sky” (1994)
11. Charlize Theron, “Monster” (2003)
12. Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (2014)
Twelve times in the Oscars’ 90-year history doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is when you look at Best Actor, which only has five solo nominee winners: Emil Jannings, Jose Ferrer, Cliff Robertson, Michael Douglas and Forest Whitaker.
The first 12 were:
1. Mary Pickford, “Coquette” (1928/29)
2. Marie Dressler, “Min and Bill” (1930/31)
3. Helen Hayes, “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1931/32)
4. Katharine Hepburn, “Morning Glory” (1932/33)
5. Bette Davis, “Dangerous” (1935)
6. Joanne Woodward, “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957)
7. Sophia Loren, “Two Women” (1961)
8. Jodie Foster, “The Accused” (1988)
9. Kathy Bates, “Misery” (1990)
10. Jessica Lange, “Blue Sky” (1994)
11. Charlize Theron, “Monster” (2003)
12. Julianne Moore, “Still Alice” (2014)
Twelve times in the Oscars’ 90-year history doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is when you look at Best Actor, which only has five solo nominee winners: Emil Jannings, Jose Ferrer, Cliff Robertson, Michael Douglas and Forest Whitaker.
- 1/24/2019
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Friends and Cougar Town alum Courteney Cox has signed a co-production partnership with Ample Entertainment, with her newly launched Hopper Productions. Cox has a history with Ample, the prodco behind Nine Months, an upcoming documentary series on which Cox currently serves as an executive producer, for Facebook.
Under the pact, Cox and her Hopper team will work closely with Ample co-founders and co-presidents Ari Mark and Phil Lott to create, develop, and produce unscripted and scripted content with an initial focus on high-end lifestyle programming in the U.S., Canada and the UK. Focusing on Cox’s interests, the companies are already developing a slate across multiple genres ranging from design to documentary to crime. Their first project, a docuseries, follows Cox as she pulls back the curtain on Hollywood’s exclusive real estate world, which they’ll be pitching to cable and Ott outlets. Cox, Mark and Lott will...
Under the pact, Cox and her Hopper team will work closely with Ample co-founders and co-presidents Ari Mark and Phil Lott to create, develop, and produce unscripted and scripted content with an initial focus on high-end lifestyle programming in the U.S., Canada and the UK. Focusing on Cox’s interests, the companies are already developing a slate across multiple genres ranging from design to documentary to crime. Their first project, a docuseries, follows Cox as she pulls back the curtain on Hollywood’s exclusive real estate world, which they’ll be pitching to cable and Ott outlets. Cox, Mark and Lott will...
- 6/25/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
In the history of Best Actress at the Oscars, eight previous champs have never received another nomination: Mary Pickford ("Coquette," 1929), Ginger Rogers ("Kitty Foyle," 1940), Judy Holliday ("Born Yesterday," 1950), Shirley Booth ("Come Back Little Sheba," 1952), Louise Fletcher ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975), Marlee Matlin ("Children of a Lesser God," 1986), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Shakespeare in Love," 1998) and Halle Berry ("Monster's Ball," 2001). Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Oscar Predictions Brie Larson ("Room") is the ninth, but her Best Actress victory is just a couple of weeks old, so there's every possibility she'll earn another Oscar bid in the near future. For that matter, you can't rule out a future bid for any of the living champs: Berry, Paltrow and Matlin all work regularly. Even 81-year-ol...'...
- 3/9/2016
- Gold Derby
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Honorary Oscars have bypassed women: Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall among rare exceptions (photo: 2013 Honorary Oscar winner Angela Lansbury and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winner Angelina Jolie) September 4, 2014, Introduction: This four-part article on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Awards and the dearth of female Honorary Oscar winners was originally posted in February 2007. The article was updated in February 2012 and fully revised before its republication today. All outdated figures regarding the Honorary Oscars and the Academy's other Special Awards have been "scratched out," with the updated numbers and related information inserted below each affected paragraph or text section. See also "Honorary Oscars 2014 addendum" at the bottom of this post. At the 1936 Academy Awards ceremony, groundbreaking film pioneer D.W. Griffith, by then a veteran with more than 500 shorts and features to his credit — among them the epoch-making The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance — became the first individual to...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Honorary Oscars 2014: Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Maureen O’Hara; Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award goes to Harry Belafonte One good thing about the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards — an expedient way to remove the time-consuming presentation of the (nearly) annual Honorary Oscar from the TV ratings-obsessed, increasingly youth-oriented Oscar show — is that each year up to four individuals can be named Honorary Oscar recipients, thus giving a better chance for the Academy to honor film industry veterans while they’re still on Planet Earth. (See at the bottom of this post a partial list of those who have gone to the Great Beyond, without having ever received a single Oscar statuette.) In 2014, the Academy’s Board of Governors has selected a formidable trio of honorees: Japanese artist and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, 73; French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, 82; and Irish-born Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara,...
- 8/29/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Which power couple will be obsessing over in just six months time? The 87th Oscars approach and as long as the movies have been around there have been fabulously wealthy and glamorous movie star couples. Take Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks for instance, the original celebrity power couple. If you must know (I know you are too shy to ask) my favorite films of theirs are His: The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and Hers: Stella Maris (1918) though admittedly I have many more left to see.
Fairbanks & Pickford were married in 1920 when both were superstars, he the original Zorro and she Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and other big hits. He famously gave Pickford "The Star of Bombay," a 182-carat sapphire which was not actually from Bombay but from Sri Lanka. She later bequeathed it to the Smithsonian where it remains. There's your priceless (okay, $½ million in today's dollars) piece of trivia for the day.
Fairbanks & Pickford were married in 1920 when both were superstars, he the original Zorro and she Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and other big hits. He famously gave Pickford "The Star of Bombay," a 182-carat sapphire which was not actually from Bombay but from Sri Lanka. She later bequeathed it to the Smithsonian where it remains. There's your priceless (okay, $½ million in today's dollars) piece of trivia for the day.
- 8/24/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
D.W. Griffith movies at the American Cinematheque (photo: D.W. Griffith circa 1915) A series of D.W. Griffith movies made at Biograph at the dawn of both the 20th century and the art of moviemaking will be screened at the American Cinematheque next weekend. "Retroformat Presents: D.W. Griffith at Biograph, Part 3 - 1909 – 1910" will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. in the Steven Spielberg auditorium of The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The evening will be hosted by Tom Barnes; musical accompaniment will be provided by Cliff Retallick. Among the D.W. Griffith films to be presented by Retroformat are the following: Lines of White on a Sullen Sea The Gibson Goddess The Mountaineer’s Honor Through the Breakers A Corner in Wheat Her Terrible Ordeal The Last Deal Faithful D.W. Griffith and his stars As found in Retroformat’s press release, those early D.W. Griffith efforts feature "innovative cinematography" by frequent Griffith collaborator G.W. Bitzer,...
- 4/24/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today's Useless But Fun Oscar Trivia Numbers Chain!
• 17 years ago The English Patient (1996) won 9 Oscars, driving Julia Louis-Dreyfus Elaine to the brink of madness "quit telling your stupid story about the desert and just die already. die!!!" and making it one of the seven most-Oscared films of all time. (Only Titanic and Return of the King have since beat it). Can Gravity, which has 10 nominations but will definitely lose Best Actress, tie The Patient's record -- it would have to win All of its other nominations -- or do you foresee a "spread the wealth" year?
• Sal Mineo is the only 17 year-old of either gender ever nominated for an Oscar. That nomination came for his role as "Plato" in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Mineo also holds the record of youngest (male) actor to two nominations as he was nominated for Exodus (1960) by the age of 22. He would have turned 75 this...
• 17 years ago The English Patient (1996) won 9 Oscars, driving Julia Louis-Dreyfus Elaine to the brink of madness "quit telling your stupid story about the desert and just die already. die!!!" and making it one of the seven most-Oscared films of all time. (Only Titanic and Return of the King have since beat it). Can Gravity, which has 10 nominations but will definitely lose Best Actress, tie The Patient's record -- it would have to win All of its other nominations -- or do you foresee a "spread the wealth" year?
• Sal Mineo is the only 17 year-old of either gender ever nominated for an Oscar. That nomination came for his role as "Plato" in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Mineo also holds the record of youngest (male) actor to two nominations as he was nominated for Exodus (1960) by the age of 22. He would have turned 75 this...
- 2/13/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Women in Film: Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, and dozens of movie actresses in curious morphing montage A few dozen top international female movie stars, most of them Hollywood celebrities, are seen in the Women in Film morphing montage below created by Philip Scott Johnson. The faces belong to actresses from the 1910s to the early 21st century. (Image: The ‘Daughter’ of Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner — who sort of looks like a cross between Eleanor Parker and Cyd Charisse as well — in the Women in Film morphing montage.) Just as interesting as trying to identify each of the famous faces is stopping the video while the morphing is going on, so you get Daughter of Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner, or Daughter of Audrey Hepburn and Dorothy Dandridge, or Daughter of Michelle Pfeiffer and Sigourney Weaver. Some of those Daughters are quite pretty; others look like they’ve just landed on this planet.
- 7/31/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In Robert Wiene’s 1920 dreamlike horror classic, veteran German actor Werner Krauss plays the mysterious Dr. Caligari, the apparent force behind a creepy somnambulist named Cesare and played by Conrad Veidt, who abducts beautiful Lil Dagover. The finale in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has inspired tons of movies and television shows, from Fritz Lang's 1944 film noir The Woman in the Window to the last episode of the TV series St. Elsewhere. In addition, the film shares some key elements in common (suppposedly as a result of a mere coincidence) with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's 2011 thriller Shutter Island. The 1920 crime melodrama Outside the Law is not in any way related to Rachid Bouchareb's 2010 political drama. Instead, the Tod Browning-directed movie is a well-made entry in the gangster genre (long before the explosion a decade later). Browning, best known for his early '30s efforts Dracula and Freaks,...
- 4/1/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Big eyes, a luscious mouth, Oscar-winning star of dozens of movies, fame on an enormous, worldwide scale, the daughter of actor parents, a feisty, independent and ambitious nature, one half of an enviously beautiful Hollywood power couple, trailed by fans and paparazzi.
Sounds like Angelina Jolie, right?
Actually, it also describes the woman who, many years earlier, when movies were black-and-white, emotionally gut-punching and entirely silent, staked her claim as “America’s sweetheart” and paved the way for Jolie, for Brangelina, for Hollywood as we know it: Mary Pickford.
You may hear Pickford’s name more and more these days,...
Sounds like Angelina Jolie, right?
Actually, it also describes the woman who, many years earlier, when movies were black-and-white, emotionally gut-punching and entirely silent, staked her claim as “America’s sweetheart” and paved the way for Jolie, for Brangelina, for Hollywood as we know it: Mary Pickford.
You may hear Pickford’s name more and more these days,...
- 9/4/2012
- by Solvej Schou
- EW - Inside Movies
Jude Law as Douglas Fairbanks? It’s hard to imagine the cool and aloof (and blue-eyed blond) Law playing Fairbanks, the ever-smiling, ever-bouncing, swarthy hero of silent era blockbusters such as The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, and The Thief of Bagdad. But stranger things have happened: I’d never have imagined Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, but that didn’t prevent Williams from earning excellent reviews, critics’ awards, and an Oscar nod for her performance in Simon Curtis’ My Week with Marilyn. Anyhow, according to Forbes magazine, Poverty Row Entertainment producers Jennifer DeLia and Julie Pacino (Al Pacino’s daughter) want Jude Law to play opposite Lily Rabe‘s Mary Pickford in their upcoming Pickford biopic, which DeLia is set to direct. Fairbanks and Pickford, the King and Queen of Hollywood, were married in 1920. It was fairy-tale marriage — at least as far as the fan magazines were concerned. Away from the cameras and the press,...
- 5/30/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Perhaps the first real movie star, Mary Pickford got her start in the moving pictures back in 1909. She was 17 at the time, and the rest of her life would be dedicated to the crafts of acting, writing and producing. She’s probably best remembered for her starring role in Coquette, for which she won the Oscar in 1929. Of course, it helps that she was a founder of the Academy. According to Collider, Poverty Row Entertainment is going to give this titan her due. The production house acquired rights to “Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood” by Eileen Whitfield, and they’ve put together a team of director Jennifer DeLia (Billy Bates, I Am an Island) and writer Josh Fagin. It’s fantastic to see something like this being made, and it fits perfectly into a new mode where filmmakers are highly interested in other filmmakers. Now, who do you get to play her?...
- 5/4/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
If you’ve taken a film history class or two, chances are you’ve heard of Mary Pickford. The Canadian actress was vital in crafting the Hollywood we have today, co-founding United Artists. She was briefly brought to screen in Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr., but now she’s about to get her proper due in her own biopic.
Deadline reports that Julie Pacino, daughter of the famous actor, will produce with Jennifer DeLia an adaptation of Eileen Whitfield’s book Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood. DeLia, who last helmed the drama Billy Bates, would direct from Josh Fagin‘s script. I’m curious of the talent involved as they haven’t made anything worthwhile yet, but hopefully they’ll do justice to this icon.
The film will chronicle the life of Pickford, the figure known as “America’s Sweetheart” who later struggled with alcoholism. Aside from founding UA...
Deadline reports that Julie Pacino, daughter of the famous actor, will produce with Jennifer DeLia an adaptation of Eileen Whitfield’s book Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood. DeLia, who last helmed the drama Billy Bates, would direct from Josh Fagin‘s script. I’m curious of the talent involved as they haven’t made anything worthwhile yet, but hopefully they’ll do justice to this icon.
The film will chronicle the life of Pickford, the figure known as “America’s Sweetheart” who later struggled with alcoholism. Aside from founding UA...
- 5/4/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Mary Pickford The Mary Pickford Foundation is named after one of the biggest movie stars ever and one of the film industry's most important pioneers. Mary Pickford was one of the four founders of United Artists — along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith — and, nearly a decade later, was one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was also a Best Actress Academy Award winner (for Coquette) at the second Academy Awards ceremony. A week ago, I learned that the old Pickford-Fairbanks Studios in West Hollywood is about to be torn down, with the Mary Pickford Building scheduled to be demolished in the near future. Just today, I learned that the Mary Pickford Foundation has ceased funding for the Mary Pickford Institute, which, in the words of film historian Joseph Yranski, "has worked for over a decade to raise the public awareness...
- 4/4/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Letter (1929) Review Pt.1. [Photo: Jeanne Eagels as jealous murderess Leslie Crosbie.] Low-key, however, is hardly the appropriate manner to describe Jeanne Eagels' bombastic talkie début in a role played in London by Gladys Cooper and on Broadway by Katharine Cornell. Eagels, a sensation on stage as Sadie Thompson in W. Somerset Maugham's Rain and the star of a handful of silent films (e.g., The World and the Woman; The Fires of Youth; Man, Woman and Sin, opposite John Gilbert), acts the part of the adulteress-murderess as if she were playing to the far corners of the gallery. (Rain was unavailable for a film adaptation at the time because Gloria Swanson had produced and starred in Raoul Walsh's Sadie Thompson the year before.) Eagels' performance is all mannerisms — hand to forehead to show distress, trembling voice to show despair — and no emotional core. While Bette Davis' 1940 Leslie looks and acts like a cool, calculating vixen,...
- 1/27/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Theodore Roberts, Mary Pickford in Marshall Neilan's M'Liss; smaller photo: Joseph Yranski Mary Pickford was the definition of Movie Superstar from the early 1910s to the late 1920s. So popular and so powerful was Pickford that she, along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith, founded United Artists so as to have fuller artistic and financial control over her cinematic endeavors. Several years later, Pickford would be one of the co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Probably not coincidentally, she was the second Best Actress Academy Award winner, for her performance in the talkie Coquette. Those in the Los Angeles area unfamiliar with Pickford's work will be able to check her out at The Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education, which will be screening the 1918 comedy M'Liss on Tuesday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. Free admission, though donations are accepted to support the Institute.
- 5/9/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A top Hollywood law firm is quietly but doggedly trying to sever ties with its New York owner in the wake of his arrest on financial fraud charges.
Santa Monica-based Dreier Stein, the 40-attorney outpost of Dreier Llp. and home to well-known entertainment litigator Stanton "Larry" Stein, spent the holidays in expedited meetings with potential new merger partners on both coasts.
The goal, Stein said, is to split from firm principal and accused swindler Marc Dreier before the end of January.
"We're listening to offers," said Stein, who reps such industry clients as Lionsgate, Jennifer Love Hewitt and David Duchovny. "We've done nothing wrong, and we need to get out from under the burden of Dreier."
Dreier, who opened the West Coast outpost of his 250-lawyer firm in January 2007 via a pricey deal with Stein's entertainment litigation and corporate boutique, has been held in a Manhattan jail since early December...
Santa Monica-based Dreier Stein, the 40-attorney outpost of Dreier Llp. and home to well-known entertainment litigator Stanton "Larry" Stein, spent the holidays in expedited meetings with potential new merger partners on both coasts.
The goal, Stein said, is to split from firm principal and accused swindler Marc Dreier before the end of January.
"We're listening to offers," said Stein, who reps such industry clients as Lionsgate, Jennifer Love Hewitt and David Duchovny. "We've done nothing wrong, and we need to get out from under the burden of Dreier."
Dreier, who opened the West Coast outpost of his 250-lawyer firm in January 2007 via a pricey deal with Stein's entertainment litigation and corporate boutique, has been held in a Manhattan jail since early December...
- 1/6/2009
- by By Matthew Belloni
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
• The long, fierce battle over Mary Pickford's Oscar for "Coquette" was finally decided by a California court. Her heirs are not permitted to put it up for auction where it was expected to fetch about $800,000. Even though it's a pre-1951 statuette — which can normally be sold — a jury ruled that its fate is linked to an honorary Oscar Pickford received in 1976. When Pickford claimed the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award she agreed to give the academy the right to purchase her statuettes for $1 before putting them up for public sale. Read More • Halle Berry ("Monster's Ball") and actor-screenwriter Tyler Perry ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman") will host the...
- 12/17/2008
- by tomoneil
- Gold Derby
A jury in Los Angeles has ruled in favour of blocking the sale of two Oscars awarded to silent movie legend Mary Pickford.
Three female heirs, descended from a woman who married Pickford's third husband, Buddy Rogers, wanted to auction the star's two coveted statuettes, including the Best Actress Academy Award, which she scooped for 1929 movie Coquette in her first speaking role.
The trio also wanted to sell an honourary Academy Award handed to Rogers in 1986 for his humanitarian work.
The unnamed sellers hoped to raise money for charity from the sale - but Academy bosses argued that Pickford signed an agreement in the 1970s barring the trophies' sale.
In the 1950s, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences implemented a rule against selling Oscars in a bid to preserve the awards' unique value. According to the agreement signed by Pickford, the academy has the right to buy back Oscars for up to $10 (GBP6.80) before any statuette can be sold.
And a jury in L.A. decided on Monday that the current owners of the statuettes are bound by the agreement.
The ruling paves the way for a judge to officially block the sale in a hearing due to take place next week (beg22Dec08).
Three female heirs, descended from a woman who married Pickford's third husband, Buddy Rogers, wanted to auction the star's two coveted statuettes, including the Best Actress Academy Award, which she scooped for 1929 movie Coquette in her first speaking role.
The trio also wanted to sell an honourary Academy Award handed to Rogers in 1986 for his humanitarian work.
The unnamed sellers hoped to raise money for charity from the sale - but Academy bosses argued that Pickford signed an agreement in the 1970s barring the trophies' sale.
In the 1950s, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences implemented a rule against selling Oscars in a bid to preserve the awards' unique value. According to the agreement signed by Pickford, the academy has the right to buy back Oscars for up to $10 (GBP6.80) before any statuette can be sold.
And a jury in L.A. decided on Monday that the current owners of the statuettes are bound by the agreement.
The ruling paves the way for a judge to officially block the sale in a hearing due to take place next week (beg22Dec08).
- 12/16/2008
- WENN
It's a thorny dilemma, both legally and morally -- fittingly, the kind of story that, were it turned into a movie, might win a couple Oscars itself. The question is this: Does the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have the legal right to buy back an Oscar winner's statuette if he or she (or his or her heirs) decides to get rid of it? What if the Oscar winner wants to sell it at auction and donate the money to charity? Can the Academy in good conscience demand return of the statuette and deprive the charity of those funds? See? Thorny!
For Academy Award winners since 1950, the legalities are fairly uncomplicated. The minute you win the sucker, you have to sign a contract saying that if you or your heirs ever decide you don't want the trophy anymore, the Academy has the right to buy it back for...
For Academy Award winners since 1950, the legalities are fairly uncomplicated. The minute you win the sucker, you have to sign a contract saying that if you or your heirs ever decide you don't want the trophy anymore, the Academy has the right to buy it back for...
- 12/1/2008
- by Eric D. Snider
- Cinematical
The fate of Mary Pickford's 1930 Oscar for best actress soon will be in the hands of a Los Angeles jury as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences heads to court Monday to stop the sale of the statuette.
The Oscar was awarded to "America's sweetheart" for her performance in 1929's "Coquette," the first best actress honor given for a performance in a "talkie." The statuette is in possession of the estate of Beverly Rogers, the second wife of Charles "Buddy" Rogers, who was married to Pickford for 40 years until her death in 1979.
When Buddy Rogers died in 1999, Beverly Rogers inherited his estate, which included the 1930 Oscar as well as an honorary Academy Award given to Pickford in 1976 and Buddy Rogers' 1986 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
At the center of the dispute is a handwritten will ordering that the 1930 statuette be auctioned off, with proceeds donated to charity...
The Oscar was awarded to "America's sweetheart" for her performance in 1929's "Coquette," the first best actress honor given for a performance in a "talkie." The statuette is in possession of the estate of Beverly Rogers, the second wife of Charles "Buddy" Rogers, who was married to Pickford for 40 years until her death in 1979.
When Buddy Rogers died in 1999, Beverly Rogers inherited his estate, which included the 1930 Oscar as well as an honorary Academy Award given to Pickford in 1976 and Buddy Rogers' 1986 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
At the center of the dispute is a handwritten will ordering that the 1930 statuette be auctioned off, with proceeds donated to charity...
- 11/30/2008
- by By Leslie Simmons
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Movie icon Mary Pickford's Best Actress Oscar for Coquette has been saved from the auction block thanks to documents the actress signed, agreeing never to sell her little golden statue. Pickford's 1929 award, which was only the second Best Actress Oscar handed out, was close to being auctioned off by auctioneer Darren Julien recently, but the sale was pulled when new information about the gong was unearthed. It was believed the award could be sold as only those who won Oscars after 1950 signed contracts agreeing never to sell their golden honor. But Pickford, who was one of Hollywood's first 'royal' couples after marrying Douglas Fairbanks, agreed never to sell the gong when she was presented with an honorary Oscar in 1976. Julien tells website goldderby.com, "Unfortunately we could not sell Mary's Academy Award because she had signed a document in the 1970s after she won her honorary Oscar stating that she would never sell it or her original Academy Award." Both of Pickford Oscars are now the property of her love rival Beverly Rogers, who married the actress' second husband Buddy Rogers. Rogers' widow will auction off much of Pickford's memorabilia next month, but it is not known if she'll be given official permission to sell the late actress' Oscars.
- 11/24/2006
- WENN
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