Month: June 2012
More Showbiz Peeps Whose Families are Proud
Founding Fox 21 executive Jane Francis has signed a new deal with 20th Century Fox Television’s cable production company. As part of the multiyear pact, she has been promoted to EVP. Francis will continue to work under Fox 21 president Bert Salke, overseeing comedy, drama and animation development for the division whose focus is on scripted series for cable and unscripted programming for all networks. “Jane is an incredibly talented executive and someone I rely on greatly as we look to continue to grow Fox 21,” Salke said. “Writers absolutely adore her, and so do I.”
When Universal’s Ron Meyer Speaks, We Listen
We really enjoyed this article on a speech by one of showbiz’s truly good guys.
No, no, not ironic. Seriously.
Ron Meyer To UCLA Showbiz Grads: “You Don’t Have To Be An Asshole To Succeed”
Universal President and COO Ron Meyer this afternoon made an expletive-laced commencement speech to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Class of 2012. He told the graduating students that the best way to get ahead in showbiz is to ask questions. “Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups,” he told the audience. Twice. The longtime studio head also pointed out that despite the cliches “You don’t have to be an asshole to succeed.” He also stressed that finding an agent is the single most important thing a new graduate can do. Ask everyone you meet. “Just don’t ask me,” he warned. The ceremony was dedicated to the school’s founding dean and Oscar ceremony producer Gil Cates. The commencement also honored directors Penelope Spheeris and Shirley Jo Finney with distinguished alumni awards.
TVWriter™ Posts of the Week
As determined, once again, by us.
Here they are, the TVWriter™ posts TeamTVWriter likes best for the week ending today, June 15th:
Arnold Schwarzenegger Owes Me Bigtime
by Larry Brody
40 years ago this month – OMG! OMFG! I’m fucking OLD! – I went to work as an “Executive Story Consultant” on the series THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO.
It wasn’t a match made in heaven. Oh, I loved and respected the Big Boss, Quinn Martin, but the day-to-day producer of the series at that time very obviously resented my 27-year-old presence on the show. (In those days TV producers usually were in their late 40s or their 50s.) Worse, my shiny new red Alfa Romeo kept breaking down when it was time to go home.