Gene Maddaus-Senior: Last News

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Matt Yglesias returns to podcasting today with “Bad Takes,” a new show that aims to challenge political pieties that take hold online. Yglesias will co-host the show with his longtime editor, Laura McGann, who leads the newsroom of the startup site Grid. In an interview, Yglesias said the goal of the podcast is to bring political discourse “back to reality.” “I think there are a ton of very extreme ideas floating around on the left and right on the Internet,” he said. “In some ways, the easiest way to go viral and get engagement is with very wild takes. Part of the structure here is to push back and to bring people back to good sense.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Karen Bass announced a fresh round of celebrity endorsements on Monday, as she looks to highlight her ties to the entertainment industry in her campaign for L.A. mayor. Bass’ supporters include actors America Ferrera, Kerry Washington and Colman Domingo — all of whom have been involved in Democratic politics on the national level in recent years. Bass is running against Rick Caruso, who has also emphasized his Hollywood ties during the campaign, including support from Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry. Both candidates have vowed to be an advocate for the film and TV industry, which receives $330 million annually in California tax credits. A bill to extend the credit for an additional five years was postponed until next year, meaning the city’s new mayor may have an opportunity to weigh in on it.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Quentin Tarantino and Miramax have put aside their differences over an NFT auction of screenplay excerpts from “Pulp Fiction.” The studio filed a lawsuit last November seeking to block the director from going ahead with the sale. At the time, Miramax said it was pursuing its own strategy to capitalize on NFTs — non-fungible tokens — and it argued that Tarantino’s auction would interfere. In the end, Tarantino went ahead with the first of seven planned auctions. But after selling the first NFT for a reported $1.1 million, the remaining six auctions were canceled due to “extreme market volatility.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The summer lull is officially over in the race for Los Angeles mayor, as both Karen Bass and Rick Caruso have come out of the gate after Labor Day with accusations of corruption involving USC. Caruso, the billionaire mall developer, finished second in the June primary and is trailing in the polls, and needs to do something to change the trajectory of the race. On Thursday, he held a press conference at the Grove to highlight an L.A. Times story that draws a link between Bass and an ongoing federal corruption case at USC. In doing so, he also took a swipe at incumbent Mayor Eric Garcetti, saying that Bass would represent “more of the same.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Director Paul Haggis is scheduled to face a civil trial in New York next month on an accusation that he raped publicist Haleigh Breest after a film premiere in 2013. The trial will come nearly five years after the suit was filed, and just a couple of months after an Italian court dismissed a similar accusation against the director. Breest’s lawyers are now seeking information about the Italian case, which they may seek to introduce at the New York trial. In a motion filed on Tuesday, they asked Judge Sabrina Kraus to order Haggis’ lawyers to turn over records related to the case.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A man who met writer-director Paul Schrader at a campus event at their Michigan alma mater has filed a lawsuit alleging that Schrader later stole his ideas and used them in the film “The Card Counter.” Mark Vanden Berge alleges in the suit that he met Schrader after a screening of “First Reformed” at Calvin University, a Christian college in Grand Rapids, in February 2018. He says he told Schrader about a treatment he was working on for a film called “Blown Odds,” about a gambler’s search for redemption, and asked Schrader for help developing it into a marketable screenplay. According to the suit, Schrader told him to email him the treatment. Vanden Berge sent it to him, according to the suit, but never heard back from Schrader directly, though he says he was told that Schrader had received it.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Randall Miller, the director who was sentenced to a year in jail after the fatal train crash on the set of “Midnight Rider,” has asked a Georgia appeals court to terminate his probation early. Miller was ordered to serve 10 years of probation after pleading guilty in 2015 to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the crash that killed camera assistant Sarah Jones and injured six others. While he is on probation, Miller is forbidden from working as a director or having any other role on set where he would be in charge of safety. In 2020, prosecutors asked that Miller’s probation be revoked, after they learned that he had shot a new movie, “Higher Grounds.” The judge in the case, Anthony Harrison, declined to send Miller back to jail, but warned him not to make any more films for the balance of his probation.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract with Netflix that allows actors more freedom to work on shows on other platforms. The union announced that 89.03% voted in favor of the agreement, which is expected to cover the next four years. The union had been focused on addressing “exclusivity,” under which TV actors have generally been blocked from working on other shows during hiatus periods. Under the new agreement, Netflix will have to designate a three-month period after each season — “a conflict-free window” — during which actors will be allowed to work on any show they want.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Comedy Store filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming that it lost out on $8.5 million in COVID relief funds because its accountant didn’t know about a government deadline. The comedy club sued Moss Adams LLP, alleging that the firm failed to warn that the application period for the grants was about to close. In late 2020, Congress approved $16 billion in relief funding to theaters and live performance venues that had been forced to close due to the pandemic. In the suit, the Comedy Store says that its business plummeted by nearly 90% in the latter half of 2020. The iconic club — which helped launch the careers of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, David Letterman and many others — was not allowed to reopen at full capacity until last fall.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A&E filed a lawsuit seeking to block rival network Reelz from airing “On Patrol: Live,” which it claims is a blatant ripoff of its own show, “Live PD.” Both shows feature live footage from police ride-alongs, both are hosted by Dan Abrams, and both are produced by the same company. A&E canceled “Live PD” — one of its top-rated shows — in June 2020, at the height of protests over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Reelz debuted its version of the show last month. In the lawsuit, A&E argues that “On Patrol: Live” copies nearly every aspect of its own show’s format, down to specific catchphrases. The Reelz show even occupies “Live PD’s” old time slot.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A producer behind the hit Netflix series “Narcos” has filed a lawsuit claiming he is owed more than $1 million in unpaid profits on the show. José Padilha sued fellow producer Eric Newman, claiming that Newman has breached an agreement to split all profits on the show 50-50. The complaint alleges that Newman and his company have received “several millions of dollars in revenues arising from or connected with ‘Narcos’ that have not been reported to Plaintiffs.” The suit seeks to recoup 50% of all unreported revenues, as well as punitive damages. Newman has a longstanding relationship with Netflix. He is currently producing “Rebel Moon,” the streamer’s mega-budget sci-fi epic from director Zack Snyder. In addition to “Narcos,” his other Netflix projects include “Bright,” with Will Smith, and “Hemlock Grove,” which was the second show the streamer ever produced.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A Vanity Fair staffer who is portrayed in the Netflix show “Inventing Anna” filed a lawsuit on Monday, claiming she was falsely depicted in the series as “unethical,” “greedy,” “snobbish” and “disloyal.” Rachel Williams was a friend of Anna Sorokin, the convicted con artist at the center of the show. Williams was defrauded out of $62,000 and wrote a Vanity Fair article and a book about the experience.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge on Monday denied a defense request to postpone Harvey Weinstein’s trial in Los Angeles in order to avoid publicity for “She Said,” a feature film about the exposure of sex abuse allegations against him. Weinstein is set to go on trial on 11 counts of rape and sexual assault on Oct. 10, and the case is expected to last at least through the end of November. “She Said,” a film based on the book by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, is due out from Universal on Nov. 18. The film is also expected to have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 16.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Paramount filed a motion on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit that claims that “Top Gun: Maverick” infringes on the copyright of the 1983 magazine article that was the source material for the original film. Shosh and Yuval Yonay, the widow and son of writer Ehud Yonay, filed the suit in June, arguing that the studio made the sequel without first renewing the rights to the article. In the motion to dismiss, Paramount argued that it did not need to obtain the rights, because “Top Gun: Maverick” is a work of fiction that has almost nothing in common with the non-fiction article and that the facts and ideas conveyed in the article cannot be copyrighted.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks between the Motion Picture Association and the Hollywood labor unions have failed to produce an agreement on a new law that would address firearm safety on movie sets. The two sides backed competing proposals earlier this year in Sacramento in response to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in New Mexico last October. Both bills would have established a training standard for film armorers — a job that is currently almost entirely unregulated. The union proposal would have been more sweeping, however, establishing the role of a “set safety supervisor” who would have the power to shut down productions. Both bills stalled in the legislature in May, but the two sides continued to talk in hopes of reaching an agreement before the Aug. 31 legislative deadline.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Anthony Pellicano, the former private eye to the stars, is working for the billionaire owner of the Edmonton Oilers as he seeks to fight off a sexual misconduct lawsuit. Pellicano confirmed to Variety that he has been retained by Daryl Katz, who made his fortune in Canadian pharmacies before venturing into sports and entertainment, to help combat allegations that Katz engaged in sex with a teenage dancer. Pellicano spent 16 years in federal prison for wiretapping, racketeering, fraud and conspiracy. He is no longer licensed to work as a private investigator. Since his release in 2019, he has advertised his services in “crisis management,” “trouble resolution” and “due diligence.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A bill to extend California’s film and TV tax incentive program through 2030 has been placed on hold, as lawmakers continue to work on elements of the bill, including a new diversity mandate. The state’s $330 million tax credit for Hollywood is currently set to expire in 2025. Sen. Anthony Portantino has worked on a bill, SB 485, that would add another five years to the program. Last week, a new provision was added requiring that productions that receive a tax credit adopt hiring goals that are “broadly reflective” of the state’s demographics. Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, led the effort to include that provision, which also adds an extra 4% subsidy for projects that meet their diversity targets.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Industry veterans Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line have been elected presidents of the Producers Guild of America, the guild announced on Tuesday. The pair ran unopposed, and will succeed Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher, who have led the organization since 2018. Allain and De Line have both recently served on the PGA national board. Allain will become the first woman of color to serve as president of the guild. She has produced films including “Hustle & Flow,” “Black Snake Moan,” “Beyond the Lights” and “Dear White People.” In 2020, she co-produced the Academy Awards and received the PGA/UCLA Vision Award for her work championing diverse filmmakers. She is also a former director of the L.A. Film Festival.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A woman who is suing former “SNL” star Horatio Sanz for sexual assault asked the court’s permission on Tuesday to add Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels, and Tracy Morgan as defendants, arguing that they enabled Sanz’ misconduct. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, alleges that Sanz “groomed” her when she was a teen fan of the show. She also alleges that Sanz kissed her, groped her, and attempted to digitally penetrate her at a party in May 2002, when she was 17 years old. She filed suit in August 2021 under a state law that opened a two-year “lookback window” allowing victims of child sex abuse to bring claims that otherwise would have been barred by the statute of limitations. More recently, New York City amended its own law to create a one-year lookback window, allowing accusers to sue anyone who enabled such conduct.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer“Joker” was a very New York movie — so much so that tourists flocked to the Bronx staircase where Joaquin Phoenix danced in a montage.But the sequel, “Joker: Folie á Deux,” will shoot in Los Angeles, thanks to $12.6 million in tax credits to Warner Bros. from the state of California.The California Film Commission announced its latest round of credit allocations on Monday morning, awarding $93.7 million to 18 projects.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterYou might start seeing a lot more of your favorite TV actors, as their union approved a deal on Saturday allowing them to appear in multiple shows at the same time.SAG-AFTRA has been lobbying for a decade to curtail so-called “exclusivity” agreements, which block TV series regulars from taking other jobs while they are on hiatus.In the agreement approved by the union’s national board on Saturday, producers will be required to give TV actors a three-month window after each season in which they can take any job they want. That means that stars of shows may start appearing more often as guest stars — or even as regulars — on shows on other platforms and networks.