Exclusive: Judy Greer to Star as Ashton Kutcher's Ex on 2 . 5 Males

Judy Greer CBS has says Ashton Kutcher's 2 . 5 Males character is heartbroken, so we know who's responsible. Judy Greer has signed onto join the cast of Males inside a recurring role as Kutcher's soon-to-be ex-wife. Greer will have Bridget, who's along the way of divorcing Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt (Kutcher). She'll be observed in several instances of the show. Jon Cryer on new 2 . 5 Males: Yes, Sheen dies No, Charlie Harper will not be forgotten Getting split up together with his wife, Schmidt buys the house of the lately deceased Charlie Harper (as is available most likely read right now, it's correct: Charlie Sheen's character is dead). But Schmidt is really desperate he convinces Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) and the boy Mike (Angus T. Johnson) to hang in there. "He's maladroit socially, which enables me to create a kind of mentor relationship with him," Cryer informs TV Guide Magazine. "Which happens to be, absurd, because my character is really chaos as a person.Inch Cryer, Kutcher and Johnson sitting lower this month with TV Guide Magazine for his or her first joint interview because the new 2 . 5 Males trio. The heavens only have shot a number of episodes to date, but the mood about the set has rapidly gone from intense to upbeat. "There is lots of anticipation the very first week and lots of uncertainty," Cryer states. "But that actually got sprang the 2nd (Kutcher) turned up. And what's been since that time has truly been euphoric. We have got another playground to experience in." Kutcher states he isn't centered on the way a restarted 2 . 5 Males might perform within the rankings but rather states his job "is entertaining one individual.Inch States Kutcher: "I am likely to are hard when i can to provide about the promise I designed to come and play this character." For Greer, it is a quick go back to CBS' Monday evening selection, getting starred in last season's short-resided sitcom Mad Love. The casting is another reunion of sorts for Greer and Kutcher. Greer starred within the 2008 ABC comedy Miss/Led, that was executive created by Kutcher and the Katalyst Films production company. (Kutcher also guest-starred with an episode.) Greer's also no stranger to 2 . 5 Males audiences. She performed Myra, an appreciation interest for Charlie Harper, on two episodes in 2007. (Myra seemed to be the sister to Plant, who's now married to Alan's ex-wife.) But as Walden Schmidt's ex, Greer is playing a totally different character. Greer's additional credits include Arrested Development, Love Monkey, Californication and also the voice of Cheryl on Archer. She also guest starred on another Chuck Lorre series, The Large Bang Theory. Her feature credits include Love along with other Drugs, 27 Dresses and also the approaching The Descendants. For additional insight how Kutcher ended up on 2 . 5 Males, in addition to more scoop about the show's landmark ninth season as well as an exclusive photo shoot using the three stars, take a look at TV Guide Magazine's Fall Preview problem, which hits newsstands on September 8. Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Composer Jack Hayes dies at 92

Jack J. Hayes, an Oscar-nominated composer and orchestrator who worked on more than 200 films during a Hollywood career that spanned 60 years, died of natural causes Wednesday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He was 92.Hayes' behind-the-scenes skills as a fast, meticulous and highly skilled orchestrator for such top composers as Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Randy Newman, Quincy Jones, Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach kept him in demand for decades. His last credits were on Michael Giacchino's "Star Trek" and "Up."Hayes was Oscar-nominated twice, for adapting the musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in 1964 and for contributing to Jones' score for "The Color Purple" in 1985. Hayes enjoyed a long partnership with fellow orchestrator Leo Shuken beginning in the 1950s. Together they orchestrated numerous landmark films including "The Magnificent Seven" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" for Bernstein, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Days of Wine and Roses" for Mancini, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "Airport" for Alfred Newman, "In Cold Blood" for Jones, and "Casino Royale" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" for Bacharach.Hayes and Shuken also composed TV scores, including such Westerns as "Riverboat," "Wagon Train," "The Virginian" and "Gunsmoke." After Shuken's death in 1976, Hayes continued solo, orchestrating scores for Randy Newman including "Ragtime" and "The Natural"; for John Morris including "High Anxiety" and "The Elephant Man"; and for Bob Cobert the TV miniseries "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance." Hayes' solo TV-composing credits included "Quincy M.E.," "Laverne and Shirley" and "Salvage 1." He also collaborated with Tom Scott on the film score for "Fast Forward" and penned arrangements for singers including Donald O'Connor, Pearl Bailey and Barbra Streisand.An ailing Bernard Herrmann enlisted Hayes to conduct his final score, "Taxi Driver," in late 1975. Giacchino employed him as orchestrator on nearly all his films starting with "The Incredibles" in 2004.Hayes was born in San Francisco in 1919. He attended San Francisco State College and, later, the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Initially a trumpet player, he soon began arranging for radio's "Fibber McGee and Molly" and for bandleaders including Will Osborne. He later toured as bandleader for comedians Abbott & Costello and with cowboy singers Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.He composed several classical works and collaborated with jazz drummer Louis Bellson on numerous jazz and orchestral pieces.Hayes was honored by the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC), both in 2009, for his long career in films and TV.Survivors include a daughter and a son; a sister; and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at St. Anastasia Catholic Church, 7390 West Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles. Donations may be made to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Jack Kirby Estate Appeals Loss To Marvel

It had been expected that intellectual property lawyer Marc Toberoff, who's suing Disney/Marvel with respect to the estate of legendary comics artistJack Kirby, would appeal your decision with a federal judge in U.S. District Court for that Southern District Of Recent You are able to that went against him. The judge not just granted the studio motions for summary judgment but additionally refused the Toberoff/Kirby's mix-motion for summary judgment. The ruling revolved around character possession cheap Kirby would be a freelance author who did work-for-hire and thus did not support the copyright. As Toberoff had explained at that time, "Case the start.Inch The notice of attract the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal was filed today. Particularly, the estate of comic super hero legend Kirby -- co-creator of Captain America, The Great Four, The X-Males, The Avengers, Iron Guy, Hulk, The Silver Surfer and Thor -- sent notices terminating copyright to marketers Marvel and Disney, in addition to film galleries which have renedered movies and Television shows according to figures he produced or co-produced, including The new sony, Universal, twentieth century Fox and Vital Pictures. Normally most of these legal cases are ordinary for Hollywood. Although not when they are legally contested by Toberoff, who's the bane of Large Media galleries while he includes a winning history.

Bring It On Musical Could Get Brought Down by Original Screenwriter

That awesome Bring It On musical about to hit Los Angeles for a preview run? It might not happen — at least if the film’s original screenwriter Jessica Bendinger has any say. Bendinger, through the Writers Guild of America, has filed a claim that states Bring It On: The Musical production company Beacon Communications Corp. is exploiting Bendinger’s rights without her consent. Said the screenwriter, who has been left out in the cold like a Clover from the home video Bring It On sequels as well: “Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. Compensation is.” Beacon’s counsel says the claim is without merit. [THR/Hollywood, Esq.]

Fast Five Director Justin Lin Already Has 12 Minutes of Fast Six in the Can

Director Justin Lin had no idea how well his supercharged sequel Fast Five would go on to perform back when he was filming it — but he prepped, shot, and cut a 12-minute sequence for a sixth Fast & Furious film (his next upcoming production) just in case: “I already have a 12-minute sequence done. I did it just as an exercise. I had it done before we were finished with Fast Five, actually. So I wanted to do that just to have it there and to be honest with you, I didn’t know if I was going to do a Fast Six. I didn’t know if people were going to embrace Fast Five and we were going to have an opportunity. But I felt like I really wanted to make sure that the last scene, which I had talked to Vin [Diesel] about countless times — I wanted to make sure that was done.” [Box Office Magazine]

HBO 'Fielding' new drama project

Exclusive: HBO is playing ball with "The Art of Fielding." Drama series in development is based on the novel by Chad Harbach. The book is a tale of bucolic Americana set against the backdrop of a fictional Midwestern university that follows the fate of five people upended by an errant baseball throw.No writer is attached to the pilot yet. Scott Rudin will exec produce and Harbach will serve as consulting producer.Pay cabler, which renewed "True Blood" for a fifth season Thursday, has been busy on the development front lately. Net is teaming with author Tom Perrotta to adapt his novel "The Leftovers" to a series (Variety, Aug. 10).Hourlong drama explores the Rapture and how the sudden disappearance of loved ones in a suburban town affects everyone left behind. Perrotta, who is writing the pilot and is the author of "Election" and "Little Children," will exec produce with Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger. Rudin is also currently exec producing HBO's drama pilot "More as This Story Develops," about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at a cable news network. Jeff Daniels is starring in the Aaron Sorkin-scripted pilot with Alison Pill, Sam Waterston, Dev Patel and Emily Mortimer. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Adam Lambert Splits With 'Idol' Manager 19 Entertainment (Exclusive)

Adam Lambert is parting ways with 19 Entertainment, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The American Idol runner-up from season 8 is signing with Direct Management Group, whose client roster includes Katy Perry, K.D. Lang and The Go-Go's.our editor recommendsAdam Lambert on 'Behind the Music': 'I Was Ashamed of' Being GayWhich 'American Idol' Season 10 Alums Have Management Deals? DMG was founded in 1985 by partners Martin Kirkupand Steven Jensen and is based in Los Angeles. In the past, the company has also worked with Miranda Cosgrove and Jamie Cullum. Lambert, whose debut album For Your Entertainment has sold nearly a million copies, isn't the first Idol graduate to leave the confines of 19, the company with exclusive rights to the show's stars. The original Idol, Kelly Clarkson, and season 3 winner Fantasia both found managers independent of the Idol machine, while Carrie Underwood opted to remain with Idol creator Simon Fuller at his company, XIX Entertainment (Fuller also manages current Idol winner Scotty McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina). Most recently, Chris Daughtry's manager Stirling McIlwaine left 19 to open his own firm, taking his client with him. But while Lambert may be exiting, 19 will long reap the profits of its relationship with the singer. The company stands to pocket royalties from his five RCA Records releases, which include a live and remix album, as well as merchandise and other ancillary revenue streams. And while it's not clear whether he had a so-called "sunset clause" in his contract, as many Idols do, which details a specific cut-off date on continued profit sharing or a phasing out of commissions, Lambert is still a 19 Recordings artist. In fact, herecently released new music, the song "Outlaws of Love" said to be from his highly anticipated second studio album. Lambert's "Behind the Music" special airs on VH1 this Sunday, August 8. A representative for 19 Entertainment tells THR, "Adam remains signed to 19 Recordings as he brings a new management team into his career. We look forward to continued success together." Related Topics Adam Lambert Katy Perry American Idol Simon Fuller

AMC Chief Defends 'Drama' Around Matthew Weiner, 'Mad Men' Negotiations

When the nominations for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced July 14, the panelists for "The Hollywood Reporter's" inaugural TV Executive Roundtable had reason to pop champagne: Together, the invited execs scored a whopping 211 noms. It was a coincidence that the five whose schedules allowed them to participate a few weeks earlier included four cable programmers -- Charlie Collier (AMC), John Landgraf (FX), Sue Naegle (HBO) and David Nevins (Showtime) -- but that led to spirited debate about the medium's rivalries, the Netflix threat and how to handle unruly showrunners. As the only pure "seller" on the panel, Dana Walden (20th Century Fox Television) summed up the quintet nicely: "For people who are so darn competitive, it's a remarkably friendly group."The Hollywood Reporter: Is there a specific show you haven't done that you'd really like to make? Charlie Collier: Before I got here, AMC did "Broken Trail," a Western with Robert Duvall, and since then we've been looking for a Western series -- and we've seen a lot. Finally we have one, "Hell on Wheels," coming in November.Sue Naegle: I probably shouldn't have seen it, but I got a chance to. It's really good!Collier: Why, thank you.David Nevins: There are certain tones of comedy that are not out there that I think are big opportunities for us. There's a wide-open area of adult, R-rated comedy that feels sophisticated but is really raucous. That's doing well in the movies right now, and I think it is being underdone on television. I have ambitions in that direction.John Landgraf: Well, ironically, that's how I would sort of define our comedy brand, so I think David and I will be mining the same gold mine for the next couple years. I'm not so much genre-focused as just trying to find something different. One of the biggest challenges all of us face is the sheer volume of scripted original programming between broadcast and premium and basic cable. To find anything that's not already on television -- even mostly not on television -- is extremely difficult.Collier: "Wilfred" [the FX comedy about a man who sees his neighbor's dog as a person] is just that. It's so smart and so good and really different. I think that's the challenge: How do you find something that doesn't look like anything else that's out there? And then, when you do it, how do you make sure you just don't try to make something else that's repetitive of your success? Dana Walden: It needs to have a new twist. That's what we spend a lot of time talking about as we go into the development season, which we are about to go into again, which feels like Groundhog Day! (Laughter.)Naegle: I don't miss that train.Walden: It's trying to find something that you're not developing "out of the box," just to be out of the box. "Modern Family" is a great traditional comedy. There are many elements about it that feel fresh and original, but it's not reinventing the wheel -- it's just executing a comedy in an incredibly special way. "Glee" is a bigger swing, but again, it's telling high school stories, coming-of-age stories, just with this incredible twist. [Warner Bros. TV president] Peter Roth used to say, "A great series is a conventional idea with a completely updated twist." I think that is right.THR: Cable networks are brands. Do you feel pressure when greenlighting series to stay within that brand or to expand it? Nevins: That's the most relevant question for every programming decision we make. Showtime is not a narrowly defined brand, but it does have certain connotations of "adult" and "sophisticated" and having psychological depth to the shows. Unlike networks that sell advertising, we're not defined by a demographic that we sell to, so we can have shows that appeal to different groups. But we need people who will subscribe, and we need to make shows that are somebody's favorite show.Naegle: We talk about that a lot, too -- passionate engagement. Not every single show needs to succeed on the same level. The audience you get for "True Blood" doesn't have to be the audience you get for "Bored to Death." But whether people are passionately engaged in the show is the most important thing. Is this someone's favorite show?Collier: You know, what gets all the press for AMC is the original series, but our film library inspires a lot of what we do. "Walking Dead" is a huge brand choice, but for 14 years we have been doing something called "Fear Fest."Nevins: And killing with it.Collier: It's a two-week horror film festival, and it has some of our highest ratings every year. So how do you super-serve that audience? Because it's not for everybody. It's certainly not the "Mad Men" audience.Landgraf: We were a very male brand with "The Shield," "Rescue Me" and "Nip/Tuck," and then I said, "Well, there's got to be a female application," so we launched "Dirt," "The Riches" and "Damages." Two out of those three failed, but we got "Damages" out of it. Then we said, "Maybe there's a way to take a more traditional television genre and make an elevated, literary show out of it." So we launched "Terriers" and "Lights Out" and "Justified." Two of those three failed, but we got "Justified" out of it. I don't know if you guys feel this, but things felt limitless when I originally came to the channel. It was so great not to be bound by the convention of broadcast television, and then when you have a brand you start to love it, you curate it -- but you also start to feel hedged in by it because you're like, "Well, then I have to exclude all these things." I'm still restless to expand the boundaries, and so it's this yin-yang between fulfilling the brand, nurturing it, keeping it vibrant, making sure you're talking to the people that love your channel and love your shows, but also leaving that little room for experiment: "Well, this doesn't sound like an FX show, but maybe it is, right?"Walden: That's so smart. It has never made sense to me that annually, network executives will say: "We don't want to hear pitches in this particular arena. It wasn't successful; it doesn't fit our brand." I thought, "Well, what if someone came in and pitched you the best possible version of that arena and executed it in the best possible way?" The brand can't be so narrowly defined that you miss out on opportunities.Collier: If you bring in the best version of a big idea, there's no one around this room who's going to say: "You know what? It doesn't fit in." Naegle: Every time someone asks, "What are you looking for, and what are you not looking for?" I say: "Please! The only thing I don't want you to bring me is a lovable-prostitute show." (Laughter.)Walden: What about a really good one?Nevins: And yet you watch "Gigolos."Naegle: I do love "Gigolos." Because, you know, they are just there for each other. Walden: You guys were talking about that committed, passionate audience. Look at a show like "Prison Break," which was not a huge ratings performer, but it was a huge international performer. That audience would find that show anywhere: They would buy it on DVD; they would download it wherever they could. Like John with "Sons of Anarchy." All of us have had those shows that didn't make sense on paper, but you start with that Comic-Con group -- I remember with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," seeing this rabid group of people waiting in line to go in and see that panel.Collier: You don't have to wait for Comic-Con anymore. How many of you watch your shows with a Twitter feed on your lap now? Naegle: I watched "Game of Thrones" this week -- poor Ned Stark lost his head! I sat in my bed with a computer on my lap Nevins: Watching people's heads explode.Naegle: Some people were like, "I'm so upset with you!" Others said, "I thought it was brave." I like you, Jughead. Not so much you, MonkeyBrain.Collier: During the final episode of "The Walking Dead," the CDC explodes and they're running away, and people were saying, "Oh, my God!" and "I can't believe it!" And someone says, "Who cut the lawn?" Landgraf: Zombies are compelled to do two things: Eat brains and garden.THR: How do you guys really feel about Netflix? Landgraf: I don't think we really know yet. Dana and I do a show called "Sons of Anarchy" that [Walden's Fox 21 produces] and we air. It's a co-production with FX Productions, and its fourth season is about to air. If you looked at the ratings for the 10 p.m. Tuesday-night airings, which were the primary airings, they were up 14 percent. If you looked at the cumulative C3 rating for the week, which is what Charlie and I sell, it was down 8 percent. [C3 is a measure of commercials watched live and within three days of DVR playback.] DVRs just exploded, so a 14 percent gain in Tuesday-night viewership equals 8 percent loss in saleable ad impressions.What helps that is the fact that "Sons of Anarchy" is a huge DVD title, and there's lots of revenue coming in from the backend. I'm pretty sure that all five of us would say that we are in this as a passion -- we love great storytelling and great content, and we want to figure out how to allow the business to continue to evolve to support that. Particularly for Charlie and me, who are in the ad-supported side of the business, it's really tough. The DVR is making significant erosion into what we can actually sell to advertisers, so that brings in the question of the backend.With Netflix, I can't say I don't appreciate the revenue stream, but I will also say that maintaining the ecosystem of basic cable, satellite and premium cable is vital to the economics. So I look at Netflix as potentially helpful until it's causing cord-cutting erosion in that universe, at which point it's actually a leech that's hurting the organism that it's living on, which is the organism that actually creates the content that it puts in there. And so we'll just have to see. I think their move into original content in buying the Kevin Spacey project "House of Cards" kind of declares them in some ways as a direct competitor to Showtime and HBO.Naegle: I thought that was an aggressive announcement. There's value in saying to the world, "Not only are we going to swing, but we are going to swing really big." We all know it's incredibly difficult to get a series right, and to go right into series for that amount of time [26 episodes], it's a big undertaking. We looked at it and said, "OK, there's no competing with that," even though we have a great relationship with ["Cards" executive producer] David Fincher. I thought the script was very good. I think the original was really good. We've all seen it and loved it. So I think it's a really interesting show for them, but it certainly was a giant undertaking.Nevins: We'll see where it ends up. I think they are putting their toe in the water, but it remains to be seen whether that's going to be the main thrust of what they do.Walden: These are conversations about the future and whether our business can sustain in the future. These shows that we produce for everyone here are incredibly expensive shows. They are high-end, high-quality, big ideas. That comes at a price tag, and the studio business is under siege from every different direction. The DVD business is shrinking. Networks want to control more of the distribution beyond the typical license term. Syndication is no longer the business it once was. It's a fantastic opportunity for the slam-dunk "Modern Family," but that is 2 percent or 3 percent of your business. THR: "Mad Men" is hugely important to the AMC brand, but costs emerged as a key issue in negotiations with Matthew Weiner. At what point is the expense not worth it? Collier: It's, how do you balance the creative need with the business need? That's all of our jobs. "Mad Men" is a fantastic situation. It put us on the map. It is a calling card. We wanted Matt back for three years, and we wanted the show to end -- he said seven seasons. We wanted the show to come to a conclusion on our air. So that was the focus for that negotiation.THR: How close was it to being canceled? Collier: So much of this is in the public eye and so much of it is in sound bites, and it's never about the one thing that's in the sound bite. We had two things we wanted: We wanted Matt back, and we wanted the show back -- and there was a lot of noise and other things around it, but you get bits and pieces [in the media]. It's very flattering that our negotiations are a topic of conversation, but I see in everyone's eyes here, [heated negotiations happen on] every single show, you know what I mean?Naegle: We were just so happy ours weren't playing out in the press.Collier: I should say one other thing: Matt gets blamed for things that have nothing to do with him. And that creates drama as well. Look, I'm the president of the network, and recently someone was blaming Matt for the scheduling move of the show to 2012. Well, that has nothing to do with Matt -- that's a network decision. We made it because we are achieving that balance of getting Matt back on and getting the show to conclusion and paying for it and making a business model, and so the buck stops with me. But you get the sound bite, and it says, "Oh, you know, blame whoever, you know "Walden: Well, there is clearly the perception that the negotiation was so stalled and so delayed as a result of what Matt was trying to negotiate for himself.Nevins: Set the record straight, man.Collier: Well, that's what's unfortunate. Look, the buck stops with me. It really does. When that decision is made to move "Mad Men," it's not Matt's fault. The network has to create the balance between the business and the creative, and what's great is we have "Mad Men" coming back until its conclusion. To me, that's the best. It's not about the sound bite.THR: David, how would you describe the rivalry between HBO and Showtime as you pursue more male-oriented series? Nevins: It's all about me and Sue. (Laughter.) Naegle: What's the e-mail that I sent you on your second day on the job? I'm like: "Welcome to the job. Get ready; it's going to be a kung fu match." Walden: I think I should answer this question. (Laughter.)Nevins: Personally, there is a lot of respect going back and forth between Sue and I. We've known each other and worked together for, you know, 15 years.Naegle: You're going to age us.Nevins: The truth is, we do well when HBO does well. Because of the way that cable is sold, our businesses are quite tied to each other. It's a friendly rivalry. Naegle: I feel like there's actually a friendly rivalry between all of us. "The Killing," we didn't get a chance to hear the pitch because we didn't have a template deal with the studios. But we had been following the format; we were dying to have it. We actively engaged on "The Walking Dead." "Justified" is a pitch I really wanted to hear. To me, "Justified" looks like a perfect FX show. Would it have been a perfect HBO show? Maybe it would have turned out slightly differently, but I don't know.Nevins: There is a certain amount of rooting for the good stuff to win. We all do it that way.Walden: I want some good stuff to fail, but I'm a bad person. THR: We asked at the THR Showrunners Roundtable to name the most outrageous note they received from a network. So we'll ask you: What was the most outrageous response you've received from a showrunner to a legitimate note? Nevins: I've just got to go back through the library.Walden: It's got to be Mitch Hurwitz ["Arrested Development"], right? He was hilarious.Nevins: But he would always listen to a note. That's the thing.Walden: Mitch is lovely to work with, but he will engage you for a half-hour on your notes. You'll have a lively conversation, and he'll agree with some and disagree and push back -- and do none! Zero. But it seemed so productive!Naegle: David Simon [Treme] told me this story. I think this was on "Homicide" -- it was not on HBO, I'm praying -- but when they would get notes on "Homicide," they'd be listening to the speaker box [in the writers room, and they would run around and do what they call an "antler dance." They put their fingers in the air, and they just danced like crazy deer. So the executive is talking about these notes that they -- believe me -- labored over, thinking: "Is this really a thoughtful response? Do I believe what I'm saying?" Meanwhile, these writers are like, "Uh-huh, sounds really good," while pretending they're crazy animals. So I was just at "Boardwalk Empire" with Timmy [Van Patten] and [showrunner] Terry [Winter]. They were just about to do a notes session with our executive, and I walked out and was like, "I do not want to poke my head in and see this!" (Naegle does the antler dance.)Nevins: That's why, by the way, it's so much better to do it in person. You look someone in the eye.Naegle: I think about that antler dance a lot.Walden: [Producer] Henry Bromell told me on "Homicide" that they delivered a great episode very early on in the show, and the network president said, "I have just one note: Do we have to see a dead body?" And Henry says, "It's called 'Homicide.'" THE CONTENDERS Charlie Collier, AMC 29 Emmy noms, led by "Mad Men"John Landgraf, FX 6 Emmy noms, led by "Justified" Sue Naegle, HBO 104 Emmy noms, led by "Mildred Pierce"David Nevins, Showtime 21 Emmy noms, led by "The Borgias"Dana Walden, 20th TV 51 Emmy noms, led by "Modern Family" The Hollywood Reporter

Paul Schrader Teams with Bret Easton Ellis on Shark Thriller 'Bait'

Iconoclastic filmmaker Paul Schrader is teaming up with nihilistic author Bret Easton Ellis for the shark-infested psychological horror project Bait. Schrader, the writer behind Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and the writer-director of American Gigolo, has signed to direct the picture, and will collaborate with Ellis on the latest draft of the script, which follows a young man itching to take his revenge against the wealthy. The man, who works at a posh beach club, angles his way on to a yacht filled with the obnoxious elite, commandeering it into waters filled with the finned man-eaters. Galavis Film, Picture Machine and Ithaka Entertainment are behind the movie. Jesus Martinez of Galavis, Kevin Mann and Matthew Perniciaro of Picture Machine and Braxton Pope of Ithaka are producing. Lionsgate/Mandate international is handle international sales. The producers are aiming for a November start in Puerto Rico, with casting beginning immediately. The thriller is another project in Schrader's elective oeuvre. The man's last movie was the Holocaust drama Adam Resurrected but his genre offerings include the 2005 Excorcist prequel Dominion and 1982's Cat People. "Pairing Schrader and Ellis, two of the greatest literary minds of their generations, will elevate the genre," says Perniciaro while Pope said the combo will "create a distinct take on a summer, youth thriller." Email: Borys.Kit@thr.com Twitter: @Borys_Kit

San Seb boosts The spanish language selection

TAULL, The country -- The San Sebastian Film Festival, the greatest movie event within the The spanish language-speaking world, has introduced its most powerful The spanish language pic presence in a long time. Three films happen to be put into the 11 Competition game titles already introduced: Enrique Urbizu's "No Relaxation for that Wicked," Isaki Lacuesta's "Double Steps" and Benito Zambrano's "The Sleeping Voice." In dark crime drama "Wicked," Urbizu explores the noirish register which was an element of his most acclaimed movies, 1991 debut "Todo por la pasta" and 2002's "Box 507." Tests for "Wicked," that is repped in worldwide marketplaces by Filmax, were typically the most popular associated with a pic at June's Madrid p Cine-The spanish language Film Screening. In Africa-set "Steps," Lacuesta provides a strikingly shot, docu-style fiction drama "about soldiers, part vampire pic, part spaghetti Western," Lacuesta told Variety. The 3rd film from Zambrano, whose "Alone" won Berlin's Panorama audience award, "Voice" adjusts Dulce Chacon's novel about women about the losing side from the The spanish language Civil War. The Basque Country festival has additionally introduced an additional 11 The spanish language game titles playing From Competition or perhaps in the Zabaltegi fest sidebar. These vary wildly from genre photos to intimist dramas, docus and animation, and tap productions from key up-and-coming local shingles, highlight rising Basque talent, and can include a number of Spain's most eagerly looked forward to third and fourth films of 2011. One potential standout from the three The spanish language films competing for that Zabaltegi-New Company directors award is Ignacio Ferreras' debut feature toonpic "Facial lines," an older person buddy movie which was a standout at March's Cartoon Movie. 6 Sales handles worldwide marketplaces. Additionally, there are good buzz on David Trueba's "Madrid 1987," a 2-hander starring Jose Sacristan, playing an over-the-hill author, and Maria Valverde like a student delivered to interview him. Bertsolari," Asier Altuna's docu-aspect of Basque poets, plays From Competition. New fest director Jose Luis Rebordinos was likely to raise the genre pic presence, and that he has shipped with two movies from Madrid-based Apaches Ing.: Eduardo Chapero Jackson's fantasy pic "Verbo," and sci-fi laffer "Extraterrestrial," that was helmed by Nacho Vigalondo ("Timecrimes"), and it is being offered by Wild Bunch. Zabaltegi New Company directors will even include Sandra Sanchez's docu "Behind the Lights," following an itinerant fair worker Telmo Esnal's "Urte Berri on, Amona!," a dark comedy in regards to a mother-in-law and "Puzzled Love," a 13-part love story helmed by students at Barcelona's ESCAC film school. Also flying the The spanish language flag, Zabaltegi Special offers will screen Manuel Huerga's historic documentary "14 d'Abril: Macia contra Companys," Lacuesta's "The Clay Journals," a portrait of painter Miquel Barcelo, and Eterio Ortega's docu "In the Finish from the Tunnel within the Basque Country," from a concept through the indefatigable producer Elias Querejeta. As formerly introduced, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's "Burglars" opens the festival, which runs Sept. 16-24. Emiliano p Pablos led for this article. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

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