World Screen November 2009

0FROM THE DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY XA TONY KAYE TALKIEA NEW FILMS INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION 2O1O LOEWS 502

ZEROPOINT

THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • NOVEMBER 2009

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6 World Screen 11/09

NOVEMBER 2009/AFM EDITION

departmentsWORLD VIEW 10A note from the editor.

UPFRONT 12New content on the market.

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in the newsCONSISTENTQUALITY

Fernando Szew, the CEO of MarVista Entertainment, talks about the appeal of the

company’s broad programming slate.

—Anna Carugati

spotlightBUILDING ACULTURAL BRIDGE

New Films International’s president and founder, Nesim Hason, is focused on bringing

together various cultures through movies.

—Kristin Brzoznowski

special reportA NEW DAWNFOR INDIES

Independent producers and distributors are adapting to the new realities of the cash-

strapped market.

—Anna Carugati

one-on-oneSTARZ ENTERTAINMENT’S BILL MYERS

As president and COO, Myers is leading a company that offers more than 1,000 movies

per month across its pay- TV channels, as well as a host of advanced services.

—Anna Carugati

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PublisherRicardo Seguin Guise

EditorAnna Carugati

Executive EditorMansha Daswani

Managing EditorKristin Brzoznowski

Production and Design DirectorLauren M. Uda

Editor, Spanish-Language PublicationsElizabeth Bowen-Tombari

Online DirectorSimon Weaver

Executive Editor,Spanish-Language Publications

Rafael Blanco

Art DirectorPhyllis Q. Busell

Sales and Marketing DirectorTatiana Rozza

Sales and Marketing Manager Kelly Quiroz

Business Affairs ManagerRae Matthew

Sales and Marketing AssistantCesar Suero

Senior EditorsBill DunlapKate NorrisJay Stuart

George Winslow

Contributing EditorsGrace Hernandez

Bin LiuJosé Miguel López

Daniel McCourtGerry Regan

Contributing WritersDieter Brockmeyer

Chris ForresterElena Mora

David del ValleDavid Wood

Ricardo Seguin Guise, PresidentAnna Carugati, Executive VP and

Group Editorial DirectorMansha Daswani,VP of Content Strategy

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contents


A NOTE FROM THE EDITORANNA CARUGATI

Isn’t something wrong with this picture? I’m nofinancial expert, far from it, but does this seem bizarre—morally questionable, actually—to anyone besides me?Maybe, instead of handing out compensation packagesthat have effectively been given to reward risk, thesebanks could increase lending to businesses that reallyneed it. Is there collective amnesia out there? Have weforgotten that “rewarding risk” was a main factor indriving the proliferation of questionable loans and niftyfinancial tools like derivatives that actually helped trig-ger the financial crisis in the first place?

And let’s look at the concept of risk in busi-ness for a moment. A calculated risk can right-fully reap rewards, but if you risk too much youfail and fold. But with the banks, where is therisk? The government bailed them out eventhough they had risked and screwed up. Riskused to imply adverse consequences. Now, thepossible adverse consequences only happen tothe rest of us, including many who lost jobs orhomes. The banks got rewarded for failing—with our money—and their employees now getbonuses! While in our business, many peoplelost jobs, many media companies were forced toclose shop, but no one bailed them out.

It’s still really tough out there. In the food chainof the media business there will be no significantimprovement until advertising starts to pick up.When it does, broadcasters will see their revenuesincrease and consequently have more money tospend on programming, which in turn will ben-efit distributors and producers and boost their

businesses. I heard this over and over from media execu-tives at MIPCOM, who told me that they were seeingimprovement on the horizon.

And in fact, there is. Look at the latest data fromZenithOptimedia: while it has downgraded its globaladvertising forecast to a -9.9 percent for 2009, it hasannounced that in the second half of 2009, the advertisingdecline has been slowing. And looking ahead, developingmarkets are expected to grow by a healthy 7.8 percentin 2010 and by 9.8 percent in 2011. Developed markets

(North America,Western Europe and Japan), on the otherhand, are still bogged down by structural economic prob-lems and will continue to show a decline in advertising of2.9 percent in 2010, before seeing a modest recovery of1.5 percent in 2011.

“Looking to the longer term, we predict 4.3-percentgrowth in global ad expenditure in 2011, with all regionsexperiencing at least some expansion,” says Zenith-Optimedia in its press release. “This number…is some-what below the 5 percent to 6 percent average growthrate for the global ad market, but would represent a wel-come step towards normality.”

Back to normal—good words to hear. And while thenatural reaction is to draw a collective sigh of relief andput all the bad news behind us, that is precisely what weshould not do. During this dark, scary journey throughthe tunnel of recession, we have learned to do more withless—less money as we have cut costs—and in many casesless has also meant fewer people. Being “cost conscious”and “doing without” have become reflex actions.

And there is a lot of good in this new “less is more”attitude.This belief was expressed to me by several inde-pendent film producers and distributors I interviewedwhile preparing our feature on this year’s AmericanFilm Market. Prior to the financial crisis, there was waytoo much money available, due in part to a number ofhedge-fund fat cats who wanted to get a new coolimage by associating themselves with Hollywood glam-our. As one distributor told me, “There is a fool bornevery minute.”There were also far too many kids withcameras out there thinking they were the next Fellini,convinced they could not only direct an art-film mas-terpiece but also secure financing and distribution.Well,many of them did—secure the financing and distribu-tion, that is.The result was a glut of mediocre product.Now, thanks to “less is more,” there is less product buthopefully of higher quality—the kind viewers will wantto pay for and see.

The media industry is getting back to basics and show-ing a lot more responsibility than the Wall Street bankers.So here’s a toast to “less is more;” now let’s just try to for-get about those bonuses.

You have got to be kidding—big banks are about to give out record bonuses?

Yup, they are. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citicorp and Bank of America all

received billions in federal aid during the bailout bonanza last year. Now all

of them are awarding bonuses to their employees of up to tens of millions of

dollars, and a lot of that is taxpayers’ money.

Back to Basics

world view

DURING THIS

DARK, SCARY

JOURNEY THROUGH

THE TUNNEL OF

RECESSION, WE

HAVE LEARNED TO DO

MORE WITH LESS...

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The AFM will be the first film market for D3 Telefilm,whichis bringing titles such as Nightfall, which blends elements ofTwilight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Silent Venom, a suspensethriller; and From Mexico with Love, a Latin boxing drama. TheCage is an action movie set in the world of mixed martial arts.There’s also Tales of an Ancient Empire.“Demand has been veryhigh for this title, as buyers have been looking forward to thenew cut of the film that will be ready in time for AFM,” saysCord Douglas, the president of D3. Douglas also has somespecific goals outlined for the market. “After a successfulMIPCOM convention with many sales to TV buyers, we’relooking to make deals with all-rights buyers for key territo-ries.With titles like From Mexico with Love that require theatri-cal buyers and [like] The Cage, that appeals to action-filmbuyers, we’ve got strong product available for the AFM.”

Highlights• Nightfall• Silent Venom• From Mexico with Love• The Cage• Tales of an Ancient Empire

D3 Telefilm

Drama has a strong presence in E1 Entertainment’s cataloguefor AFM. Titles include the 90-minute Would Be Kings, themini-series Keep Your Head Up Kid:The Don Cherry Story andThe Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, based on a true storyfrom WWII.Further drama titles include Absolution and Cradleof Lies. In the way of action-disaster offerings there is DeadliestSea.The slate is also peppered with a mix of romantic come-dies, family comedies and thrillers.E1 hopes that its wide vari-ety of genres will bring in strong sales.

“There still definitely is a demand for TV movies,”says PrentissFraser, the VP and head of sales at E1.“People are getting a lotmore specific about the genres that are working for them.That’snot big news to anybody,but with the competitive environmentwe have right now, they are really honing in on what their audi-ence is looking for. But there is definitely an appetite.”

Highlights• Would Be Kings• Keep Your Head Up Kid:The Don Cherry Story• The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler• Deadliest Sea• Absolution

E1 Entertainment www.e1entertainment.com

“We are the only start-up company inthe marketplace featuring a film slateof this quality.”

—Cord Douglas

Silent Venom

“AFM is going to be different for us because it will be the first timethat E1 will be present as both television and theatrical together.”

—Prentiss Fraser

Would Be Kings

www.D3telefilm.com

Nightfall

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Alice, a reimagining of the classic Lewis Carroll stories Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, is a leadtitle for RHI Entertainment in heading to the AFM. Thefemale-skewing Lifetime mini-series Everything She EverWanted, featuring Gina Gershon, and the two-hour movie TooLate to Say Goodbye, starring Rob Lowe,are also top of the ros-ter. Both are based on Ann Rule novels. Rounding out theslate is The Phantom, based on the legendary comic-booksuperhero. Robert Halmi, Jr., the president and CEO of RHIEntertainment, is optimistic about shoring up new sales forthese titles, given the increased demand he’s seeing from theinternational marketplace. “Demand is picking up,” he says,“especially in Spain, the U.K., Italy and France.”As for enter-ing new territories, Halmi, Jr., points out that the company isquite well established around the globe.“We already deal witheveryone and we have good relationships with markets in allcorners of the world. Most territories are well covered.”

Highlights• Alice• The Phantom• Everything She Ever Wanted• Too Late to Say Goodbye

RHI Entertainmentwww.rhientertainment.com

Showcasing its classic catalogue is what The FremantleCorporation is most keen on for the AFM, says Irv Holender,the company’s principal director. As a further highlight, henotes, “We are looking forward to introducing our co-production projects that we’ve been working on to our globalpartners.” Titles on offer include The Last Flight of theChampion, a tale of a peaceful galaxy protected by a fleet ofpowerful space ships.Nevermore is a highlight from the thrillergenre.The Adventures of Black Beauty and The Further Adventuresof Black Beauty are family-entertainment offerings based onAnna Sewell’s classic novel. Fang Force is an animated series.Fantastic Tales is a franchise collection of 2-D and 3-D animatedfeatures.The movies feature the writing of H.G.Wells,RobertLouis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and others, as classiccharacters such as Merlin, Jekyll and Hyde, Peter Pan, MobyDick and Don Quixote are reintroduced in new stories.

Highlights• The Last Flight of the Champion• Nevermore• The Adventures of Black Beauty• Fang Force• Fantastic Tales

The Fremantle Corporation

The Last Flight of the Champion

“We are looking forward to introducing our co-production projectsthat we’ve been working on to our global partners.”

—Irv Holender

www.fremantlecorp.com

Everything SheEver Wanted

“RHI is expanding into the series business and we are actively developingnew original series.”

—Robert Halmi, Jr.


Fang Force


The catastrophe genre has been strong for SevenOne Inter-national, which heads to the AFM with such titles as CrashPoint: Berlin, Factor 8 and Sea of Death. In Crash Point: Berlin, apassenger plane is hurtling through the skies toward the cen-ter of Berlin. Factor 8 follows what happens as passengers on aplane develop serious flu symptoms and internal bleeding.Ahost of tourists come down with mysterious maladies after anaccident occurs on an oil platform in Sea of Death. CloudChasers centers on a dangerous weather phenomenon. It’s notall about catastrophe films for SevenOne, though, says manag-ing director Jens Richter. “On the TV-movie side, there issomething very interesting; we developed a new genre for us,mystery.” He explains, “ProSieben thought, OK, we do allthese TV movies, and why don’t we try a mystery TV movie,and the first one we brought out last MIPCOM was Gonger.”SevenOne is now offering two installments of Gonger.

Highlights• Crash Point: Berlin• Factor 8 • Sea of Death • Cloud Chasers• Gonger I & II

SevenOne International

Sea of Death

www.sevenoneinternational.com

Cinepool, the theatrical-sales division of Telepool, willpresent brand-new films at AFM, including eight marketpremieres and 14 screenings.“We have a large variety ofdifferent genres on offer,” says Irina Ignatiew, the execu-tive VP of international at Telepool. “From thriller, drama,action and family entertainment to science-fiction,Cinepool offers the best of German and selected Europeanfilms for every taste.” In the drama genre is Within theWhirlwind, while Cargo is a sci-fi adventure film. In theway of thrillers, The Door and Gravity lead the slate.There are also event mini-series, including Volcano.Ignatiew is optimistic about sales at the market. Shenotes, “AFM is more genre driven than any other largerinternational feature-film market. Besides our key Europeanmarkets, we also find it easier to target the Latin Americanand Asian buyers.”

Highlights• The Door • Within the Whirlwind • Volcano • Cargo • Gravity

Telepool

The Door

“From thriller, drama, action and familyentertainment to science-fiction, Cinepooloffers the best of German and selectedEuropean films for every taste.”

—Irina Ignatiew

www.telepool.de

“On the TV-movie side, there is somethingvery interesting; we developed a new genrefor us, mystery.”

—Jens Richter

Founded in 2003, MarVista Entertainment hasfocused on quality family and children’s programmingas well as made-for-television movies that have satis-fied the needs of broadcasters around the world. AtMIPCOM, in fact, MarVista sold several packages ofmovies to Brazil, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe andIsrael. The company has also successfully introduced tothe market live-action formats aimed at tweens. CEOFernando Szew talks about the appeal of MarVista’sdiverse programming slate.

WS: Has the demand for TV movies among inter-national broadcasters been fairly consistent, and hasyour financing formula remained the same,or haveyou had to rethink it?SZEW: The formula has not changed. It’s still

the same. As an independent in a tight-margin businesslike the TV-movie space, it remains about pulling togetherthe financing through presales and soft dollars available.The environment for tax incentives continues to shift ona yearly basis, influenced by the peaks and valleys of themacroeconomic conditions, but it hasn’t changed.

We are actually in a much better position than we’ve been.The demand for TV movies has remained constant in gen-eral terms and in particular for MarVista the demand hasincreased. One, because our positioning continues to getstronger and stronger as a company that has consistentlydelivered quality programming. Number two, unfortunatelyfor some, a number of our competitors have not been ableto provide that same level of consistency, and the way theyfinanced their movies was more sensitive to potential shifts inthe market, as what occurred a year ago in September whenWall Street crashed.So because of those factors we have seenan increase in demand and we are taking advantage of it.

WS: Jonathan Wolf, the managing director of the AmericanFilm Market,expects that there will be a 20-percent decreasein the number of movies screened this year, not so muchbecause of the credit crunch but because of consolidation inthe film business.SZEW: There is consolidation in the marketplace. Thatcontinues to be a trend in the broadcast area as well—thecompanies we are selling to are also consolidating. It is hap-pening in markets like Eastern Europe. It’s just anothervariable to contend with.At times now, because of consol-idation, buyers have the power to make deals across multi-ple territories, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesstifle competition. But we navigate the market with thecards we’ve been dealt.That’s the power of being an entre-preneurial company with the ability to be quick in ourdecision-making process.

WS: And your size allows you to be flexible, right?SZEW:Yes,our size astounds me to this day with all the thingswe have done! We totally retain that flexibility and we’redecision-makers still going out and feeling the marketplace,we’re not just behind our desks.That’s important that we arethinking both at a macro level and at the same time retaininga sense of the day-to-day concerns of our customers.

WS: Beyond TV movies,you’ve been doing quite well in thechildren-and-family programming business.SZEW: We have carved out a bit of a niche in kids’ realityprogramming. We have been successful with a number offormats, and that is an area where we are seeing growth aswell, especially in the tween and youth marketplace, wherelive-action kids’ reality can work across multiple territories ifwe format it in an appealing way. Kids’ broadcasters, like allbroadcasters,want to exploit local talent the audience can seeand enjoy in their local magazines. It just makes the showmore promotable and something closer to home.

We are seeing growth in that area. By way of example,Prank Patrol, which is the format out of Canada with fourseasons on YTV, has now been locally produced in the U.K.and aired on the BBC, and we are working on another localversion of it.That is another area of interest for us and I thinkit’s interesting for the marketplace because it’s innovative,something new.

WS: After the success of Beyond the Break do you still haveplans to develop and produce series? SZEW: It’s absolutely still on the table.We do have two proj-ects very actively in development with U.S. cable networksand we have also made some personnel changes that betterposition us to bring top-notch talent and ideas to our broad-cast partners to complement our financial and productionstrength and thus give us the ability to further our inroads inthe series space.

WS: Do you think the worst of the downturn is behind us?SZEW: We now have the benefit of the butterflies, so tospeak, having flown away from everyone’s stomachs! I thinkeveryone is a little more comfortable with what they haveand what they don’t have and what their planning is. So I’mhoping that because of that the decision-making time willbe shortened...there won’t be so much paralysis.

We are an independent company within a big industryand as we look at 2010 and beyond we are very optimistic.We are considered a stable supplier to top channels aroundthe world with a secure position in the marketplace and lotsof growth opportunities. From our perspective, we have lotsto be proud of but, more importantly, lots to be optimisticabout as we continue to expand.

Consistent QualityMarVista’s Fernando Szew

MAKING HEADLINES IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY BY ANNA CARUGATI


in the news

With a mission of blending multiple cultures throughmovies, New Films International produces andacquires projects intended for the global marketplace.Nesim Hason, New Films’ president and founder, haslong been a proponent of bringing cultures together,going back to 1980 when he began creating and sell-ing mixed tapes in Turkey as a young entrepreneur.His passion for opening peoples’ eyes to the worldaround them has only gotten stronger through theyears. He talks to World Screen about the positionthe company is in to keep this vision alive.

WS: How is New Films working to bridge thegap between the U.S. and international marketswith its own productions?

HASON: New Films International is bridging the gapbetween the U.S. and the international markets by takinglocally recognizable foreign talent and pairing them withwell-known U.S. stars. By doing this we aim to furtherintroduce talented international actors and actresses intothe Hollywood industry, thereby making a film that’s mar-ketable across the globe.

WS: How does this factor into your acquisitions strategy?HASON: When we acquire films, we look for award-winning talent with a story that people want to watch.Essentially, we buy the same kind of movies that we aspireto make. We’re always looking to pick up good product,and we’re always looking to make good product. Our nextproduction will be a political thriller directed by Tony Kaye(American History X ) and the mix of talent we’re looking tocast will surely amaze you.Everything we produce, just likeeverything we’re picking up, is only getting bigger and bet-ter…. 2010 is going to be a good year.

WS: What sort of titles do you pick up and how many doyou add per year?HASON: New Films International looks to pick upfestival-winning films with top directors and award-winning talent, within a fresh and interesting story. Rightnow our catalogue is heavy with Academy Award– andGolden Globe–winning talent, and we aim to only pick upbigger and better titles; about 10 to 15 per year.

WS: Have co-productions become increasingly importantgiven the financing issues nowadays?HASON: No, New Films International has always been anindependent company that is able to finance its own filmswith cash. In fact, we are one of the only companies to bedoing this at such a time of global financial crisis.On top ofthis, we recently opened our own theatrical division, where

we are releasing our own productions steadily within theU.S. We started on October 2 with A Beautiful Life,directed by Alejandro Chomski, with Alma Award winnerJesse Garcia,Angela Sarafyan, Bai Ling, Emmy Award win-ner Dana Delany and Debi Mazar. In November, we willrelease Turning Green with Academy Award winner TimothyHutton, and in December we’re slated to release Fall DownDead, a horror picture with David Carradine, starringDominique Swain, Udo Kier and Mehmet Gunsur.We arean incredibly happy and healthy company right now, andI’m proud to say I built it from the ground up.

WS: New Films has aligned with some key channel brands.Tell us about some of the current output deals in place andhow these relationships are leveraged to further the com-pany’s exposure.HASON: Currently we have output deals with MGM forall TV rights in all of Latin America; Warner Bros. forhome-entertainment rights and TV rights in Japan;Nordisk Film for all rights in Scandinavia; One Moviefor all rights in Italy; Falcon Films for all rights in theMiddle East; BBI for all rights in the Netherlands;California Films for theatrical and video rights inBrazil; and D. Productions (Dogan Group) for all rightsin Turkey. If these alone don’t say something about thequality of our product, then I don’t know what does.Weare incredibly lucky to have such positive relationshipswith these studios and distributors, and further to that,we’reworking on some others that are too fresh yet to mention.These output deals are helping us to become more wellknown as a premier independent producer/distributordomestically as well as internationally.

WS: You were an entrepreneur at an early age.What canyou tell us about how your prior experience led you intosetting up New Films and bringing the company to whereit is today?HASON: I was 17 years old when I established my firstcompany, and my father told me,“With your honesty andfairness and hard work, there is no way you cannot suc-ceed.” I guess I took that very seriously, and those wordsbrought me to where I am in this business after 29 years.

WS: What further expansion plans do you have for thecompany over the next 12 to 18 months?HASON: Our plan is to produce more international pic-tures by bringing incredible foreign talent into ourHollywood productions and helping our distributors tomake good box-office numbers in their countries.And, togo to the Golden Globes and Oscars with all my NewFilms International team.

Building a Cultural BridgeNew Films’ Nesim Hason

A LOOK AT INNOVATION IN THE TELEVISION INDUSTRYBY KRISTIN BRZOZNOWSKI


spotlight

The financial crisis of 2008 did morethan spark a series of controversialbank bailouts, shut off credit spigots,cripple the advertising market, andset off the biggest economic down-turn since the Great Depression.

It had a strong impact on theindependent-film community.Withless money available to finance pro-duction and with buyers havingmuch smaller acquisitions budgets,indie producers and distributorshave to focus on the fundamentalsof the business: making affordablemovies that buyers want to acquireand viewers want to see.

Getting back to basics will be anunderlying theme at the AmericanFilm Market (AFM),where everyoneagrees that this year will be a buyers’market. International buyers havealways been selective—now they arepickier than ever. Lack of funding inthe market has led to consolidation,as several companies have had toclose shop—not necessarily a badthing for the indie industry as awhole. Jonathan Wolf, an executiveVP of the Independent Film &Television Alliance (IFTA) and man-aging director of the AFM, saw thiscoming for quite some time.

“Last year I said there were toomany films and too many compa-nies,” states Wolf. “If the liquiditycrisis [had not taken] place, the mar-ketplace would have pushed out anumber of companies, because youcan’t double the amount of filmsthat are being made and expect theconsumer to watch them and spendmoney on them. We expected thisbubble—and that is the best wordto use—in production to burst. Wedidn’t know what would cause it,none of us knew that it would bethe credit crunch, but the bubblehad to burst because supply anddemand were out of balance andneeded to be realigned.”

As a result,Wolf expects a slightlysmaller AFM this year. “We willsee about 20 percent fewer filmsscreening this year compared to lastyear, and that will bring us back tothe level of 2004, which is probablywhere the industry needs to be,” hesays. “And we will see about 15 to

Independent producers anddistributors are adapting tothe new realities of limitedmoney in the market andvery picky buyers.

By Anna Carugati

26 11/09World Screen

Santa Monica.

for IndiesDawnA New

20 percent fewer companies, again,back to the levels of 2004.”

For Wolf, this readjustment is longoverdue. “During the last ten yearswe had more money coming intothe industry than at any period intime.We had the dollar reaching all-time lows, so exports should havebeen high.We had soft money fromtax subsidies from all over theworld. Cultural subsidies were at anall-time peak. There was moneyavailable through hedge funds andthrough wealthy investors, the pre-sales market through the early partof the decade was still healthy.Thisshould have been a renaissance periodfor the indie film sector. Yet we’veheard for the last three or four yearsthe woes of the industry.And this isreally because what makes theindustry successful and profitable isnot the access to production financ-ing, but it’s a balance of supply anddemand tied to great filmmaking.You can never leave out the fact thatthe product has to be good.”

Wolf ’s hope, which is shared bymany, is that consolidation will

weed out the less good and makeroom for quality.“Maybe producerswill be more careful and producebetter product,” says one distribu-tor, who prefers to remain anony-mous. “Instead of throwing filmsout there and hoping they will fly,they might actually seek someadvice from distributors before theyproduce.We had so much before. Iwould like to see less product and

of higher quality, just as the buyerswould. Maybe before it was just tooeasy and now only dedicated film-makers with credentials will be ableto raise money.”

Given the positive moods at theToronto International Film Festivaland at MIPCOM, distributors arestarting to see signs that the worst ofthe economic downturn has passed.

“As the world economy slowlyimproves,we are seeing some uptick,”notes Robert Halmi, Jr., the presidentand CEO of RHI Entertainment.“Prices have been a little down butactivity is picking up.”

“In general, you can see that theloss of advertising revenue has reallyimpacted how aggressive the buyersare and what they look for,” saysGavin Reardon, the head of interna-tional sales and co-productions atIncendo. “They are basically acquir-ing what they really need and payingjust what they have to pay to get it.”

SILVER LININGSOne relatively peaceful island in theturbulent sea of independent film-making is the TV-movie business,where demand is on the rise and thepresale financing model takes a lotof risk out of production.

A case in point is RHI Enter-tainment.The company, as Halmi, Jr.explains, is seeing “demand pickingup, especially in Spain, the U.K., Italy,and France. We sell our productbefore anything is produced, so it’sfinanced through presales.”

Gene George, the executive VP ofworldwide distribution at StarzMedia, is also upbeat about the TV-movie business. “We are definitelyseeing some positive signs for nextyear, and the reality of it is, it really alldepends on your content. If you’vegot content that works for the mar-ketplace and that buyers want, it’s stilla really healthy environment.”

“In Europe there are a lot of TV-movie slots,” says Jens Richter, themanaging director of SevenOneInternational. “In Spain, Telecincohas a weekend movie slot, in Franceevery afternoon you have TV movies,and sometimes even in prime time.Large broadcast groups run them acouple of times on their premiumnetworks, like M6 or TF1, and thenon their secondary digital channels,like W9 and TM6.There are also TV-movie slots in Germany, Italy, andCentral and Eastern Europe. It’s avery healthy model.”

“There still definitely is a demandfor TV movies,” concurs PrentissFraser, the VP and head of sales atE1 Entertainment.“Broadcasters aregetting a lot more specific about thegenres that are working for them.With the competitive environmentwe have right now, they are reallyhoning in on what their audience islooking for.”

The key to success in the TV-movie business is offering genresthat broadcasters want. “We targetmovies that can play in the rightslots, which right now are late after-


Away to Wonderland: Alice, a four-hour event for Syfy airing in December, which reimagines the Lewis Carroll classic, is amongRHI’s priorities at the AFM.

Popularity contest: From MarVista Entertainment comes Chatterbox, a 90-minutemovie in the tween category.

noon and post–prime time,” saysStarz Media’s George. “Typicallythose are action films or disasterfilms or the female thriller films,which can play post–prime time.”

Movies featuring empoweredwomen are a big sell on both sides ofthe Atlantic.“Female-skewing movies,especially those being made for cablechannels in the U.S., primarilyLifetime and Hallmark Channel, havefound a place in the internationalmarket because of the quality of thesemovies,” says Fernando Szew, theCEO of MarVista Entertainment.

“Plus, these cable channels have avery clear target audience thatmatches the target of certain interna-tional broadcasters,” continues Szew.“In addition, it’s now been a few yearsthat the female-targeted movies—either females in a position of poweror the more traditional romanticcomedies—have found an audienceand an easier time to clear more ter-ritories than they used to.”

At AFM, MarVista will have a slateof movies, including the thrillersHouse Under Siege and Crimes of thePast, as well as romantic comediessuch as Tricks of a Woman.

“The Lifetime thriller is anysalesperson’s favorite movie,” saysE1’s Fraser.“I wouldn’t say it’s a slamdunk, but it’s well received interna-tionally.” E1 is bringing a variety offilms to AFM, including thrillersand dramas such as The CourageousHeart of Irena Sendler, Absolution andCradle of Lies.

“We have a real sweet spot in thatthe type of product we are produc-ing—the female thrillers—appeal toa broad audience,” says Incendo’sReardon. Incendo is bringing severalto the market, including Equity,Second Chances, Web of Lies, Ring ofDeceit and Hidden Crimes.“Over thenext 16 months we will be deliver-ing a total of 11 films, and that’ssomething that the buyers are reallyexcited about—having a consistentsupply of product that really worksfor them.”

FEMALE PERSUASIONProjects featuring strong, empow-ered women are driving TV-movie production in Europe aswell as in the U.S. SevenOneInternational has recently hadgood results with The Night a

Village Vanished, based on an actualevent in 1961 when all the residentsof a village in East Germany decidedto flee to the West rather than givetheir land to Communist authorities.“This movie is a female thrillerbecause it’s a woman who has theidea to escape, it’s a woman whodoes the dangerous stuff, and theantagonist on the Stasi side is, of

course, a woman,” notesRichter. “The movie got a20-percent market share onSat.1 in Germany, when Sat.1normally averages an 11-per-cent share.”

SevenOne is working onanother female film, TheWhore, based on a bestsellingGerman novel. “That startedproduction in Hungary. It is aGerman,Austrian, Hungarianco-production, with a Frenchco-financing partner, and weadded some gap financing,”says Richter.

Vision Films is also dis-tributing a co-producedfilm. “Bathory, starring AnnaFriel as the infamous count-ess, history’s most beautifuland prolific vampiric serialkiller, is a Hungarian-Czechco-production shot in English,”says Lise Romanoff, the com-pany’s managing director ofworldwide sales.

Co-productions are not the onlyway of financing TV movies—themost common is through presales.“We combine presales with softmoney and tax incentives and try toshoot in locations that give us themost bang for our buck,” saysChristian Mercuri, the president ofinternational sales and distributionat Nu Image. Among the company’snew titles are the drama Trust, star-ring Clive Owen, and the action-adventure-fantasy Conan.

Companies based in Canada, suchas E1, can take advantage of variousgovernment subsidies.“The Canadianmodel is probably different fromother international models,” saysFraser. “We are quite fortunate thatwe have the government to helpsupport the financing of our proj-ects. But a lot of times these come tous with existing television licenses orexisting funding and we will justdeficit-finance the rest of the pro-duction in order to complete thefinancing on the project.”

Starz Media produces between10 and 12 TV movies a year andmakes use of output deals. “I liketo set up output deals because Iwant to give the company theconfidence going in that a certainpercentage of the budget is alreadycovered,” explains George. But intoday’s climate, with broadcastersbeing ever more selective and


Feminine mystique: There are a host of female-led thrillers on Incendo’s TV-movieroster, including Ring of Deceit.

Making the escape: Alongside its raft of disaster-themed TV movies, SevenOne has aselection of thrillers, like The Night a Village Vanished, based on a true story.

competitive, the key to a goodoutput deal lies in including theright kind of product.

“I have a pretty good sense aboutcoming up with content that isgoing to work for broadcasters andthat is going to fit into those deals,because even though they are out-put deals, they are only for certaintypes of content,” says George. “Ifwe do a TV movie that is a west-ern—which is very likely for Starzbecause we have the DVD distribu-tor Anchor Bay Entertainment andfor DVD in the U.S. the western isa great property—we could sell it toHallmark or any other of the cableplatforms, but international broad-casters are not looking for westerns.So I have to structure output dealsthat make sense for internationalbroadcasters.”

Among Starz’s offerings at AFM arethe family feature The Dog Who SavedChristmas, the disaster feature Megafaultand the thriller Blue Seduction.

RHI Entertainment is also bull-ish on output deals. “Packages andvolume deals are doing well over-all,” says Halmi, Jr.At AFM, RHI isfocusing on Alice, a re-imagining ofthe Lewis Carroll stories, and ThePhantom, both for Syfy, as well asthe female-skewing Lifetime mini-series Everything She Ever Wantedand the two-hour movie Too Late

to Say Goodbye, both based on AnnRule novels.

There’s no doubt, money is hard-er to find and buyers are moreselective than ever, so distributorshave to find different ways of serv-ing broadcasters’ needs and reachingnew audiences.

TRYING SOMETHING NEWVision Films has successfullybranched into documentariesand bio films. It has twoMichael Jackson specials,Michael Jackson: Unmasked andMichael Jackson: History TheKing of Pop.These were in theworks before Jackson’s deaththis summer and have sincesold around the world. Athird one is currently in pro-duction called Who Killed theKing of Pop?

Other companies arebranching out into the pro-duction of series. MarVista hasalready had considerable suc-cess with Beyond the Break andis developing more series. So isRHI Entertainment. “We areactively developing neworiginal series,” says Halmi,Jr. “We recently opened anL.A. program-developmentoffice to increase our presencein this regard. In addition,

some of our movies and mini-seriesare also serving as backdoor pilots.”

Incendo, too, is on the lookout forco-production projects. “We arelooking for partners to work with ontelevision series, specifically pay-TVseries,” says Reardon. “We are veryactively looking at projects with dif-ferent producers attached, and it isour goal within the next six to eightmonths to have two TV series.”

SevenOne International islooking for ways to broaden theappeal of its product. Togetherwith the German commercial sta-tion ProSieben, it has created a newgenre of TV movies for theEuropean market—the mysterymovie. The first, Gonger, scored an18-percent share for ProSieben,when the station’s average share is11 percent; it also performed wellon Antena 3 in Spain.

“We are coming out with threemore mystery movies, includingGonger II,” says Richter. “And westarted shooting a mystery withProSieben, this one in English.There are some German actors, butthe female lead is English, as is themajority of the cast, because wewant to see how we can extend thereach of our movies by shooting inEnglish. We have to think of newways. Channels love these kinds ofmovies, but you still have tofinance them in a period of timewhere money is a little bit harderto get.”

Getting back to the basics offinancing product that fits the spe-cific needs of broadcasters is the wayforward for independent producersand distributors.


Lady in waiting: Presales play a large part in the financing of Nu Image’s films, which include the thriller Stone,starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Milla Jovovich.

The perfect pair: The drama Cradle of Lies is among the Lifetime movies that E1Entertainment will be offering its clients.

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12 - 16 April 2010Palais des Festivals, Cannes, Francewww.miptv.comContact : [email protected]

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WS: Starz has 17.5 million subscribers.Encore has 31.5 million. Despite the eco-nomic downturn, how have you beendriving subscriptions?MYERS: When you look at the pay busi-ness, particularly in today’s difficult eco-nomic environment, Starz is a great valueand Encore is a great value. If you reallythink about getting 16 channels of ser-vice for what it might cost you to go to amovie once, and that service includesgreat first-run content, some terrificlibrary and now our originals, it’s a greatvalue for consumers.When they are stayingat home and they want something new andthat is free of advertisements, theymigrate to the premium services. We arenot immune to the economy. We’ve hadsome nice growth, but we’ve seen it levelout a little bit.While advertiser-supportedbroadcasters have had significant losses,we have not. I think it’s a testament to thevalue of the product.

WS: And what role has HD played in driv-ing subscriptions?MYERS: It’s an extension of our product.We have great linear product. We know

that consumers are changing the waythey look at content and they want tolook at it on different platforms, so wehave a very robust on-demand offering.We’ve rolled out five HD channels andyou will continue to see us roll out more.We rolled out an HD on-demand serviceand we’ll continue to expand that.We arestarting to see that as consumers get theirHD sets and get more comfortable withthem, the first place they go is to HDcontent, and they will do anything theycan to stay in that HD segment. So we arein that space, we have our five HD chan-nels and we’ll continue to expand. It’s abeautiful way to watch, and you getspoiled with that great experience.

WS: You mentioned on-demand. Is thatan important business, and are subscribersviewing on-demand mainly through tra-ditional TV, or is that also growing onbroadband?MYERS: It is important. If you look at anykind of research that tells you how peoplewill be viewing content over the next fourto five years, the traditional TV is still goingto be the dominant mechanism for watch-

oneononetarz, LLC, consists of two main businesses, StarzEntertainment and Starz Media, and through them itprovides a variety of content to consumers on severalplatforms: theaters, traditional linear TV channels,DVDs, and on-demand services on TV and via broad-band to computers and portable devices.

Starz Entertainment is a premium movie-serviceprovider and operates 16 channels in the U.S., including

the flagship Starz, with 17.5 million subscribers, andEncore, with 31.5 million, as well as Starz HD, EncoreHD, and several on-demand services.Starz Entertainment offers more than1,000 movies per month, and its pres-ident and COO, Bill Myers, is leadingthe company to cater to viewers’“whenever, wherever” penchant for watching films andprogramming. Under his leadership, Starz Media has startedproducing original series, such as Party Down and theambitious Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which will pre-miere in January and is already selling internationally.

Starz Media also includes several production entities:the animation houses Film Roman, known for TheSimpsons and the preschool series Wow! Wow!Wubbzy!; and Starz Animation Toronto, which producedthe animation for Focus Features’ 9 and the upcomingMiramax Films/Rocket Pictures release Gnomeo &

Juliet; as well as Starz Productions, a producer of live-action programming such as Lifetime’s Wisegal andSyfy’s Beyond Sherwood Forest.

Anchor Bay Entertainment and Manga Entertainmentare Starz Media’s DVD businesses and have a combinedlibrary of more than 3,500 DVD titles, including best-selling fitness franchises like 10 Minute Solution and theclassic horror franchises Halloween and The Evil Dead.

Overture Films develops, produces, acquires and distrib-utes feature films. It releases between eight and ten pic-

tures each year and, thanks toOverture’s integration with sister com-panies Starz Entertainment and StarzMedia, those films are exploited acrosstraditional and new-media platforms.

Myers is constantly on the lookout for ways of reach-ing and attracting consumers and enhancing their view-ing experience—whether it’s a partnership betweenElectronic Arts and Film Roman to produce an animatedmovie based on Dante’s epic poem Inferno, with accom-panying video games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3,or a partnership with cable and technology companies todevelop Enteract Now, an interactive TV feature thatallows viewers easier access to on-demand programmingfrom linear channels. Myers talks to World Screenabout his vision for Starz.

Bill MyersStarz Entertainment


ing content. But you will see a lit-tle bit more of that viewing beingon a time-shifted basis, and whereyou see time-shifted, it’s going tobe on-demand and on DVR. Soit’s an important part of our busi-ness. And as distributors, whetherit’s cable or satellite operators,improve that navigational capabil-ity to allow viewers to really surfthrough content on an on-demand

basis, it’s going to bevery important. Rightnow people do want tocome home and havethe linear-TV experi-ence because they don’twant to deal with navi-gating, because it canstill be somewhat com-plicated to get whereyou want to go. But ifit’s easy to navigate,

people do like morefreedom and morecontrol over whatthey watch. That’s

why you’ll see usput more on-demand

content as we go for-ward; we’ll putmore titles up andwe’ll put more titlesin HD up becauseit’s important.

Today we arestill seeing mostof the on-demandviewing done on

the traditional lin-ear service. IP and

broadband are niceways to extend yourbrand and allow view-ers to look at things ona different platform, soit’s convenient for them.But a very, very largepercentage of that view-ing is still on the tradi-tional television.

WS: What’s yourstrategy toward newmedia? Do you wantto get your productout on as many plat-forms as possible?MYERS:Yes. I thinkanybody who ownscontent would beremiss not to think

they need to beon as many plat-forms as they canbe. Consumers arelooking for flexi-bility and they

want to watch content in a lot ofdifferent ways.

The one thing we don’t want tosee happen is consumers leaving theStarz brand to watch content thatwe already own. So we want tomake sure that we are out there andwe want to work with our distribu-tors to make that experience work.We already have the linear channels,we’ve done on-demand, we’ve doneHD, we’ve done on-demand HD,and now we’re in the IP space.Thequestion is, what’s next? Maybe it’smobile—they are all extensions ofthat experience with Starz throughour 16 traditional channels.

WS: We’ve all heard the mantra“Content is king.” But for a longtime, large media companiesbelieved that they had to not onlyown their content but also ownthe distribution pipes. Is that stillas valid a statement today withbroadband and other new-mediaplatforms? MYERS: If your definition of“owning the distribution pipes” isthe cable distributor and connec-tivity to the home, people arewatching in such a wide varietyof ways that you can’t own all thatdistribution. But what’s impor-tant, when you think about Starzand the way we look at our com-pany, we are a distribution company,because we have theatrical distri-bution, we have home-video distri-bution, we have our pay channels

and we can sell product in theinternational syndication world.We create content primarily forthose platforms. So when ourOverture Films group wants to doa movie, what we are really look-ing at is how well will that play the-atrically, how well will that play inthe home-video market, is itsomething that is very importantfor the channels, and can we sell itdomestically and internationally?So I always look at our company asa distribution company foremostand then we are creating contentfor that. But do you need to ownthe connectivity to the home? Idon’t think so, because people arelooking at content in a lot of dif-ferent ways.

WS: For many years, Starz andEncore offered primarily movies.Atwhat point did the idea of originalprogramming come up? MYERS: We had talked aboutoriginals for a long time, but wehad such a strong position in themovie world and we were doingvery well in that space. But in thelast three or four years, as viewershave been able to get movie con-tent in a lot of different platforms,it really became apparent to us thatowning original content was goingto be important for us in the longterm. It does three things for us: itbrings high-quality content to ourconsumers, which is very valuableto them. It will help us differenti-

11/09 World Screen 35

Crash course: Dennis Hopper returns for another season ofCrash, a Starz original series co-produced with Lionsgate.

Catering to the crowd: The Starz original series Party Down, about a group of misfits whowork at an L.A. catering company, has been greenlit for a second season.

11/09

ate ourselves from our competi-tors, and the final piece is that itdoes give us an ancillary revenuestream—and you can see that herewith Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It isgoing to be a terrific show on theStarz channel but it’s also going todo very well in the internationalTV market. After we air it, whichwill be in January 2010, it willcome out on home video in theU.S., so we will have that productout on all platforms. But at the endof the day, consumers need tocome to your service for some-thing they can’t get anywhere else,and that is what original contentwill do for us.

WS: This past year has been toughfor independents. How has Overturemanaged to navigate the creditcrunch and still come out with animpressive slate of films? MYERS: We structured that threeyears ago when we put the creditfacility in place, and we’ve been for-

tunate that we haven’t really had todo much with it or need a wholelot more capital. I agree with yourstatement.We would not want to beout in the marketplace now lookingfor new money. But Overture hasn’thad to do much in that space over

the last few years, and therefore ithas allowed them to look at newideas and projects and continue tolaunch new films.

The plan has been to releaseeight to ten films a year and we’redoing that. We slowed it down a

little bit this year, butthat’s because we’renot seeing projects thatwe necessarily like. Atthe end of the day,when you look at Starzas a company [it has] alot of free cash flow,and if we need to wecan always fund our-selves, and that’s a nicebalance to the capitalstructure.

WS: Filmmaking is arisky business. Doeshaving a bouquet ofchannels help offset thatrisk a little bit becauseyou have a guaranteed

outlet for your films?MYERS:Yes, if you went to any stu-dio they would say that the outputagreement with a pay service is avery important piece of their eco-nomic stream. For us, since it’s all inthe family, [our channels benefitfrom that flow of movies] becausethey need a lot of movies. This iscontent that we now own and wehave a little bit more input on someof the creative aspects of the kind ofmovies that play very well on thechannels and that we hope will playwell on all the other platforms. Sohaving that outlet is really impor-tant, and from the channels’ per-spective we know we are gettingcontent that we really like.

WS: Starz Animation Toronto isdoing well and just got a sizeablegrant from the Canadian govern-ment.What does that say about thecompany? And how will you usethe money?MYERS: I think it says a lot aboutthe company and about the qualityof their work.The latest movie thatcame out was 9, and it was criticallyacclaimed from an animation per-spective. That really showed thequality of work that Starz AnimationToronto is capable of, and they aregetting a lot of calls now to do morework.We are doing another projectright now for Miramax that will be

36 World Screen

On the ball: Starz Media’s Film Roman develops original animated properties, such asWow! Wow! Wubbzy!

Roman holiday: Starz’s new gladiator epic Spartacus: Blood and Sand was inspired by the real-life slave of the RomanRepublic who led a revolt in 73 B.C.

oneonone

out next year. How will we spendthat money? To be honest with youwe haven’t worked through that yet,but I do think the grant is a testa-ment to the quality of the workthey do.

WS:The DVD market has been dif-ficult lately for many companies.What has been your experiencewith Anchor Bay Entertainment?MYERS: I don’t think we are anydifferent from other folks. Thechallenge, which we are trying tounderstand, is how many of theissues in the DVD business are reallyrelated just to the economy. I couldwalk in to a Target, Wal-Mart orBest Buy and people are just notpicking up DVDs the way theyused to. Is that because they aregetting that content from someother platform or is it because eco-nomically they can’t afford to buythem right now? It’s probably a lit-tle bit of both. So yes, we are see-ing the same [challenges in theDVD business]. But I will say, talk-ing to the folks at Anchor Bay, weare starting to see it settle out. I amreally excited about the fact that

we are starting to put moreOverture Films content on DVD,and we’re putting our originals onDVD, which gives them morehigh-quality content to sell.

People are going to buy Spartacuson DVD. At the end of the day, if a

second season comes out, you aregoing to want the first season onDVD to catch up on what you mighthave missed. I still think there isopportunity in that business, but wehave to continue to put good qualitycontent in there and we need theeconomy to rebound.

WS: In what areas of the companydo you see the most potential forgrowth, and where do you see thecompany in two years?MYERS: We still believe there is opportunity in our core pay-television business. We have 17.5million Starz subs, but that is only13-percent penetration of allhomes. As cable continues to rollout its digital platforms and we area digital service, you have to believethere is an upside in that. I see usadding new services that will con-tinue to drive the pay-televisionbusiness going forward.

As I said earlier, as we see theeconomy rebound and we start put-ting more content into the AnchorBay distribution platform, I dobelieve there are still a lot of growthopportunities in the DVD business,and we should see that in the nextseveral years.

We’ve got to continue to explorenew-media platforms and under-stand what those platforms are andwhere our customers want us to be.

In three to four years, I hope we’llhave a much bigger presence in theinternational marketplace. We’vedone a lot in the last two to threeyears, but we still have great oppor-tunities out there, whether that’sdoing co-productions with interna-tional partners, or finding ways toextend the Starz brand throughother distribution mechanisms inthe international marketplace.

WS: So you see launching channelsinternationally?MYERS: I think that is an opportu-nity that we would be foolish not tolook at.We have great HD channels.We’ve got good content.We own allrights to our original content, andthat’s what we’ve been trying to doand not just with our originals.When you look at Overture Films,in the best-case scenario you wouldwant to own all rights: theatrical,home video, pay television, interna-tional distribution. We need to bemore open and take advantage ofopportunities in the internationalmarket. It’s an exciting time.

11/09 World Screen 37

A new beat: The Starz subsidiary Overture Films releases between eight and tenmotion pictures per year, with a slate that includes The Visitor.

Quality time: Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche, was released theatrically by Anchor Bay Films, with DVDrights held by Anchor Bay Entertainment.


world’s endIN THE STARS

David LettermanGlobal distinction: Venerable late-night host.Sign: Aries (b.April 12, 1947) Significant date: October 1, 2009 Noteworthy activity: The late-night host reveals dur-ing the opening segment of his show that he has beenthe victim of an extortion plot. An individual threat-ened to go public with allegations that the 62-year-oldhad had affairs with members of the Late Show staffunless Letterman paid him $2 million. In testifying infront of a grand jury, Letterman admits that he engagedin sexual relationships with staffers.Horoscope: “You’ve worked very hard to get whereyou are, but remember that it could all be gone in aninstant. Make wise choices and watch your back, some-one may try to knock you off this path of success.”(ganeshaspeaks.com)

Maria ShriverGlobal distinction: Journalist and author.Sign: Scorpio (b. November 6, 1955) Significant date: October 14, 2009Noteworthy activity: Photographs and a video are postedon the Internet showing Shriver driving while chattingon her cell phone. Her husband, the governor ofCalifornia,Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed a law two yearsago making it illegal to do so.The Governator says he willtake “swift action” in addressing her infraction.Horoscope: “Everyone’s eyes have turned to you. It maybe weird at first, but if you can keep up your positiveenergy and positive actions, then others will look to youas an example of excellence.” (horoscopes.astrology.com)

Miley Cyrus Global distinction: Teen icon.Sign: Sagittarius (b. November 23, 1992)Significant date: October 9, 2009Noteworthy activity: The pop starlet deletes herTwitter account, citing the fact that tabloids were usingthe Tweets as fodder.To explain all her reasoning, Cyrusreleases a rap about abandoning the site, complete withbackup dancers, and posts it on YouTube.Horoscope: “Prying eyes may leave you feeling a bit vul-nerable this month.You may want to take a step back togain perspective on the situation.” (0800-horoscope.com)

Madonna

Lindsay Lohan Global distinction: Hollywood party girl.Sign: Cancer (b. July 2, 1986) Significant date: October 4, 2009 Noteworthy activity: The troubled actress/singer isnamed “artistic adviser” to the French fashion houseEmanuel Ungaro.After she makes her Paris Fashion Weekdebut, the reviews come rolling in and they’re not goodones. Women’s Wear Daily calls the clothes “cheesy anddated,” and others are even harsher.Horoscope: “You appear to put great effort into yourwork but may find very unreliable cooperation for yourefforts once you ‘release/apply’ them. Don’t get discour-aged, keep trying your hardest.” (0800-horoscope.com)

MadonnaGlobal distinction: Pop-culture icon.Sign: Leo (b.August 16, 1958) Significant date: October 16, 2009 Noteworthy activity: The Material Girl is sued by herneighbor for allegedly transforming her Central ParkWest apartment into a noisy studio. The lawsuit states:“Madonna and one or more of her invited guests repeat-edly dance and train...to unreasonably high-decibel,amplified music, causing noise and vibration to pourthrough the walls, ceilings and radiators.”Horoscope: “The Leo is very dramatic and likes to be inthe spotlight.This doesn’t always sit well with others, sobe prepared to deal with a backlash every now and then.”(astrology.yahoo.com)

Tina FeyGlobal distinction: 30 Rock funny gal.Sign: Taurus (b. May 18, 1970) Significant date: October 14, 2009Noteworthy activity: Appearing on the Late Showwith David Letterman, Fey admits to losing her virgin-ity at the age of 24. She tells the host her late bloom-ing wasn’t completely by choice: “[I] couldn’t give itaway,” she jokes. However, the man with whom sheshared her first experience is her husband today.Horoscope: “Exchanging information, ideas and opin-ions plays an important role in your life. However, thereare some things that should just always remain private.”(homepagers.com)

Almost every national constitution

forbids the establishment of an offi-

cial state religion. But this secular

bent doesn’t stop people from look-

ing to the heavens for answers to

life’s most troublesome questions:

Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will I

get caught having an affair with

David Letterman?

Every day, papers and magazines

worldwide print horoscopes—projec-

tions for people born in a specific

month, based on the positions of

the stars and planets. While many

people rely on these daily, weekly or

monthly messages for guidance in

their lives, some readers skip over

them entirely.

The editors of WS recognize that

these little pearls of random foresight

occasionally prove prophetic. But

rather than poring over charts of the

zodiac to predict world events, our

staff prefers to use past horoscopes in

an attempt to legitimate the science.

As you can see here, had some of

these media figures remembered to

consult their horoscopes on signifi-

cant days, they could have avoided a

few surprises.

Tina Fey David LettermanMaria Shriver

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