Jennifer Lawrence talks Hunger Games sequel

The Hunger Games is still a month away from its cinematic release, but Jennifer Lawrence has already started getting excited about shooting the series' first sequel, Catching Fire."Signing onto the movies I was like, 'Well, I'll probably love the first one and then I'll just want to get the rest of them out of the way,'" Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly. "But I can't wait to start training.""As soon as they were like 'We need to start training in July,' I was like 'Woohoo!'" continues Lawrence. "I can't wait to get back, though I don't know if that's because I think we might shoot in Hawaii!"Meanwhile, director Gary Ross has also been sharing his interest in the work that lies ahead, giving a few potentially spoilery comments on his love for the source material."I love the title Catching Fire because from the moment Katniss was willing to eat the berries," he says, "the moment she was willing to give her life for something larger than herself, she set off a chain reaction that was at once bigger than her and also because of her. That's a very exciting movie to make because you're seeing the emergence of a leader. It's the birth of a revolution so it has context that's larger than just the Games themselves."He also thinks that Lawrence's performance in the first movie was good enough to trouble the Academy judges."The range in this performance, the emotional terrain that she investigates, the demands of what this role are," he gushes. "It's such an intensely physical role and an emotional one. She carries the entire movie. To be able to do that at that age is so kind of incredible that I was in a little bit of awe. Do I think she should be nominated? Absolutely."The Hunger Games opens in the UK on 23 March 2012.

Fox's 'War' receives PG-13 rating after edits

Fox's 'This Means War,' starring Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy, has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA.A day after denying Fox's appeal for a lower rating, the MPAA has given a slightly edited version of "This Means War" a PG-13 rating. Studio cut out a few sex jokes from actress Chelsea Handler, according to a source close to the project, and resubmitted the film to the Classification and Rating Appeals Board.Pic, directed by McG, stars Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon. Pine and Hardy play best friend CIA operatives who fall for the same woman. Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg wrote the script.Fox had recently appealed an R-rating given to the film, which the CARA board denied Thursday (Daily Variety, Jan. 27).Last week, the studio bumped up "War" to open Feb. 14 to coincide with Valentine's Day.

Spartacus: What to anticipate in Season 2 (Past the Bloodstream and Physiques)

Liam McIntyre, Lucy Lawless "I'm Spartacus." Newcomer Liam McIntyre claims these legendary words in Spartacus: Vengeance, which returns to Starz because of its second season on Friday at 10/9c. In ways, the Aussie is stating the brand new regime, both because the slave who won his freedom and because the actor who walked into Spartacus' footwear after Andy Whitfield needed to exit due to lymphoma. (Whitfield died in September.) McIntyre: Andy Whitfield's dying was the "saddest day" around the Spartacus set Because the new guy, McIntyre makes its way into right into a fantastically overwrought realm of gore, copulation and pseudo-period dialogue that fans happen to be familiar. Regardless of the convoluted language and intense fight sequences needing several weeks of coaching, it had been the revealing sex moments he found probably the most challenging. "The word what I loved because I'd a Shakespeare background, therefore it really was fun to experience,Inch McIntyre informs TVGuide.com "It's like revisionist Shakespeare or something like that. The fighting is much like as being a 10-year-old it is so enjoyable. And So I guess probably the most challenging factor may be the nudity. It is simply this type of strange factor. It always works within the story, it certainly is a mix of an essential moment... but being an actor, it is simply a strange experience. People just don't bypass using their clothes off." Nonetheless, McIntyre removed lower and walked up, getting Spartacus to existence once more in most his naked glory. Season 2 accumulates with Spartacus leading the rebels who've won their freedom by overthrowing home of Batiatus inside a bloody fight. Take a look at what else McIntyre, executive producer Steven DeKnight and co-star Lucy Lawless have to say of what's approaching this year: A Brothel Massacre. Crixus (Manu Bennett) is set on acquiring information, and he isn't going to let a home of ill repute enter his way. Naturally, his fellow rebels tend to be more than wanting to participate. "In Episode 1, among the early things we put on the board within the writers' room, was 'Brothel Attack," and you simply can't fail having a title like this. There is a very emotional story that complements that, but we wanted to be, 'Well, you won't want to just use and attack a lot of men and obtain some good info. They ought to attack a brothel.'" VIDEO: Spartacus offers to "pay back with bloodstream" in Season 2 The Roman Upstart. Gaius Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker) was just seen briefly within the first season, but has returned with increased screen time because he sets to oppose Spartacus and also the rebels. Bad the more youthful generation of Romans aren't always on a single page. "We certainly desired to throw some roadblocks in the way and that is where we arrived with Seppius [Tom Hobbs] and the sister Seppia. [Hanna Mangan Lawrence]," DeKnight describes, adding they "desired to have this youthful guy" cause Glaber some trouble. "In early stages within the season, there is a scene between your two. They are just sitting and speaking, but it is among my faves of year, the scene by which Seppius eats the fig. It is a energy fight." The Unpredicted Slave. As Spartacus and the males travel the countryside, clearing slaves because they go, they encounter Tiberius (Pana Hema-Taylor) a youthful guy who is not thrilled to possess his master wiped out. "People like Tiberius challenge the concept that Spartacus has that everyone ought to be free," states McIntyre. "Rome is really an oppressive regime that sometimes it's better the demon you realize than another thing. And even when he was lashed and all sorts of individuals things, a minimum of they know where it's originating from. Whereas the issue the rebels have in the get-go is the fact that we are around the lam. We are away from home in the law, and also the law really wants to kill you. Is the fact that a real better factor than being given and fighting when it comes to for the money? Is the fact that a much better situation to stay in? In principle, yeah. The truth is not.Inch Not Only Figs. "I am large within the scripts about writing in a few occasions when individuals are eating. It carries a lot more weight," states DeKnight. "It's one thing we began doing with Nick Tarabay, who plays Ashur. There is a scene in Season 1 where we had the dailies, then one terrible was happening to somebody, and that we cut to Ashur, and he's getting just a little snack. Therefore we began writing that in. That actually just spoke tons about his character." The Return from the Retiarus. Gnaeus (Raicho Vasilev), who wielded the trident and internet when it comes to, might be dead this year, but another gladiator will require in the "fisherman's gear." "The retiarus, the trident and internet gladiator, in most the versions of movies and stuff, he has a tendency to look absurd," DeKnight states. "But on our show - and that is the genius of [stunt supervisor] Allan Poppleton - he managed to get absolutely badass. You will notice much more of tridents and nets." A real love for Lucretia. The domina made it home of Batiatus slaughter, however is not the Lucretia we once understood. Nonetheless, she still holds appeal not less than one individual. "Lucretia's lost everything," Lawless states. "She's lost her beloved husband, the kid she would provide him, the lover who enabled the kid, the house, status and for that reason the correct answer is understandable that she's lost her marbles meanwhile... but she comes with two love interests. Somebody falls deeply in love with her." Take a look at what else is available for Lucretia within our interview with Lawless: Are you going to stay tuned for that new Spartacus? Which character are you currently excited to determine back?

Pelman to exit Alliance Films

TORONTO -- Brad Pelman will be leaving Alliance Films for new business opportunities, the Canada-based multinational distributor and production company announced Thursday. Pelman had been helping oversee the integration of Maple Pictures, which Alliance bought from Lionsgate Entertainment for $38.5 million in August. Pelman launched Maple in 2005 with co-prexy Laurie May. Both moved to Alliance and May will remain at the company. The Maple sale, which saw some lay-offs, changed the dynamic of the Canadian indie distribution landscape, now dominated by multinational rivals Entertainment One and Alliance. With eOne exploring sale options and Alliance stakeholders Goldman Sachs and Investissement Quebec putting their shares on the block this month, the Canuck picture will shift once more. In a statement released Thursday, Pelman said he will maintain "a professional association" with Alliance. "Brad Pelman is a consummate professional whose leadership and experience made the transition of Maple Pictures into Alliance seem effortless," said Alliance CEO Victor Loewy. "We wish him continued success, we are grateful for his commitment, and look forward to collaborating with him again in the future." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Sundance Today: Swag Beats (Boots?) Snow

The Sundance Film Festival is about, since the title indicates, films. There's however another secret agenda within the center in the Park City days-extended event: swaaaag, guy! If you've been maintaining while using MTV Movies team's escapades inside our Sundance Today blogs, you know this author remains benefiting from difficult time walking bootless using the snowy slush of Utah. That's forget about the problem. I've experienced my Sorel-high quality boots tied tight, some shades within the lovely folks at Solstice Sunglass Boutique shielding my eyes, together with a sizable dopey grin in my face. The truth is movies at Sundance, which rocks !. But if you get free high-finish swag at Sundance, you understand you've turned up. The ones, certainly: I have turned up. Anyway, enough boasting about swag, no less than. There's more movies, more stars, more filmmakers inside our immediate future. Today, we're going one-on-one with "John Dies within the Finish" stars Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti, "Luv" stars Common, Charles S. Dutton and Michael K. Williams, "Parks & Rec" favorite (and "Safety Not Guaranteed" actress) Aubrey Plaza, "Red-colored-colored Hook Summer season" director Spike Lee, plus much more. For those who have questions for nearly any one of people males, you need to hear Them. Tweet them our way at @mtvmoviesblog and we'll do good to help you obtain the scoops you crave. Meanwhile, if you would like me, you will find me stomping throughout Park City throughout my new Sorels. No. Large. Deal. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is formally showed up, as well as the MTV Movies team is on the ground verifying around typically the most popular stars as well as the movies everyone will probably be talking about around later on. Maintain it locked with MTV Movies for everything there's to learn about Sundance.

Bingham Ray hospitalized at Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah -- Bingham Ray, recently named executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, was hospitalized Saturday while attending the Sundance Film Fest with what was widely reported as a stroke. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Bingham for a speedy and full recovery and our sympathies go out to his family and his many friends and colleagues at Sundance and throughout the independent film world," said Pat McBaine, SFFS board president. Ray, a former United Artists prexy, was recovering at a hospital in nearby Provo. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

APA ups Marc Kamler

KamlerAPA's alternative/worldwide-television agent Marc Kamler continues to be marketed to Vice president. Promotion was introduced by Hayden Meyer, partner and mind from the alternative & worldwide TV division, to whom Kamler reviews. Kamler, who became a member of APA in 2007, signifies numerous production companies, executive producers, as well as on-camera personas. Kamler started his career being an agent at David Shapira and Affiliates before moving towards the Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann Agency. Younger crowd packed Fox's "Remember The Lyrics" while at ICM. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Syfy's 'Face Off' ratings up

The launch in the second season of Syfy make-up skein "Face Off" enhanced substantially in the debut this past year. Wednesday's 10 p.m. episode came 2 million total audiences (up 37%) and 1.2 million (up 35%) inside the 18-49 demo. Other demos also saw improvement. An hour or so approximately earlier the cabler received 2 million overall audiences for your season-eight premiere of "Ghost Potential predators," a 16% increase from season seven. "Face Off" is produced by Mission Control Media, while Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films and television produce "Ghost Potential predators." Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Box Office: The Demon Inside Arrives On Top

The Demon Inside The Demon Inside transfixed moviegoers within the first weekend of release, grossing an thought $34.5 million, Hollywood.com reviews. After 2 days at No. 1, Jason Bourne - Ghost Protocol fell to second place, frightening up $20.5 million, climax raked in $170.2 million up to now. An Online Detective: A Game Title Title of Shadows adopted in third place with $14 million. Box office: Jason Bourne stays on top surpasses predecessor The Woman while using Dragon Tattoo rose to No. 4, consuming $11.4 million. Finishing the most effective 5, Alvin as well as the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked came $9.5 million. War Equine finished sixth, consuming $8.6 000 0000. We Bought a Zoo adopted carefully behind with $8.5 million. Rounding the very best ten: The Adventures of Tintin (No. 8, $6.6 000 0000), Mess, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (No. 9, $5.8 million) and New Year's Eve (No. 10, $3.3 million).

Creative America's Mike Nugent is the Standard-Bearer for Fighting Online Piracy

Creative America's Mike Nugent is the Standard-Bearer for Fighting Online Piracy By Daniel Holloway January 4, 2012 Mike Nugent The PROTECT IP Act, a bill that would empower the U.S. Justice Department to limit access to websites illegally distributing copyrighted material, is scheduled for a vote by the full Senate on Jan. 24. Its companion bill in the House, the Stop Online Piracy Act, has already received the approval of the House Judiciary Committee. So for those of you who enjoy intellectual-property legislation as blood sport, this is going to be a big month. Congratulations.PROTECT IP and SOPA have the support of Creative America, an entertainment industry initiative launched last summer by a coalition of labor and management organizations, including the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, CBS, Viacom, the Walt Disney Co., and others. Mike Nugent is the executive director of Creative America, which last month launched an ad campaign in support of PROTECT IP. He spoke with Back Stage on Dec. 30 about the importance of the act, the ways content theft is eating at Broadway, and why the American Library Association is on the "wrong" side of the fence.Back Stage: You recently launched a big ad campaign in support of the PROTECT IP Act. Why is this such an important piece of legislation? Mike Nugent: It's important because it gives the U.S. government tools to go after foreign websites that are dedicated to infringing activity. Right now they don't have those tools. Because the U.S. law has strengthened, the websites have left the U.S. and gone overseas. Yet they're still coming back to the U.S. market for revenue and to distribute illegal content. So this is just one more step in the battle, and it's a very important step, because foreign jurisdictions don't take as much umbrage at the activity of these sites as the U.S. does.Back Stage: What's at stake in this legislation for actors and other entertainment industry professionals? Nugent: We think this is all about jobs. Content theft doesn't affect the movie numbers that you see on Mondaythe blockbusters that come out. What it affects largely are the indie films, the downstream revenues. What it really affects is the economic model of the film industry, even for blockbusters. This is what I mean. Content theft takes out the heart of the revenue that is needed to reinvest in movies and film, that pays the residuals and the pensions and the benefits. If you look at the contracts of actors and others, their revenue streams and their livelihood and their pensions and their benefits are all derivative of downstream revenue. That is sales of DVDs, sales of subscription TV shows, of pay-per-view, of other kinds of downstream windows. This is where content theft really kills this industry. This is all about jobs. And also about pension and benefits.Back Stage: And how would PROTECT IP specifically help to curb content theft? Nugent: What it does is it gives the U.S. Justice Department the authority to go to a court and say, "This site is dedicated to infringing conduct," either distributing copyrighted material without authorization as a primary source of its business, or other products and services, such as distributing counterfeit drugs or distributing counterfeit parts, etc. Once the court is satisfied that that website is in the business of doing that, then the court issues an order to the intermediaries, as they call them in the U.S., who support that trafficking and stolen content. That would be the credit card companies that support the distribution, the search engines, the ISPs, and the ad networks. The court order would tell them, "You have to stop supporting the website." Then the intermediaries have to comply, and then the revenue stream for these sitesfrom the U.S., at leastis dried up.Back Stage: What do you say to critics who say that PROTECT IP would endanger civil liberties and damage the architecture of the Internet? Nugent: Their response is dead wrong. The techniques that are used to take the domain names out of the registration system are the same techniques that are used to block malware sites, porn sites, child-porn sites, and other sites. It's the same technology. It's never broken the Internet yet. And in terms of free speech and First Amendment, there's a legal answer, and then there's the normal answer. The legal answer is that there's no First Amendment right to either access or distribute stolen information. That's the legal answer, and constitutional scholars have supported that. The normal answer is that even when you look at what this bill does, it doesn't stop these sites from operating. It just stops these sites [from] being supported by intermediaries in the U.S. I really think that those who are arguing First Amendment and freedom of speech and access to information are really engaging in disinformation. Their main goal is to block a democratic vote on this in the House and Senate, because if it gets to the House and Senate, they know that it's going to pass, because at the end of the day this is a bill targeting illegal traffickers, who are really bad guys. It's not going after legit sites. It doesn't affect entities like YouTube or Facebook or Google. In terms of their role as disseminators of information, it does affect their liability. It also clarifies their liability in a space where it's not clear.Back Stage: Google, as you mentioned, has been outspoken against this bill. But also organizations such as the American Library Association have been. If the privacy, technological, and civil liberties issues surrounding this are so clear-cut, why are groups like the ALA stepping out against this legislation? Nugent: As I recall, and I'm sure I'm not as up on the ALA as I should be, when I looked at their issue, it was more of a technical issue. They're not intermediaries in this bill. The wording of the bill may have put them in the role of being an intermediary, because they provide all sorts of access to the Internet through their public facilities. I think that was their major concern. I think that concern is being addressed. There are some technical concerns being addressed in the markup process, and the hearing coming in January will address these issues. Back Stage: How good a job do you think the Obama administration has done in addressing intellectual-property issues? Nugent: Actually, to date they've been the strongest administration. They've appointed an intellectual-property czar [U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator Victoria A. Espinel]. Joe Biden, when he was in the Senate, was chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and has always had this issue close to him. At the enforcement level, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement group, ICE, which has been charged with this enforcement role, has been unprecedented in its strength. So the administration has been front and center and in support of all of our efforts in this regard. They're to be commended.Back Stage: When we think of content theft, we think of it as being something that affects mostly the film and music and television industries. What are you doing to engage the Broadway community, and what's at stake for them? Nugent: There's a number of things going on. Broadway is increasingly seeing its content up on the Internet, either peak moments or specific songs or even long stretches. The techniques that are used to do that are the same that are used in the movie industry: the camcorder. And they're very sophisticated these days. Broadway is increasingly being targeted by the same groups that are targeting TV, because Broadway is immensely popular globally and there's so little opportunity to get to Broadway. So my conversations with COBUG [Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds] and with the Broadway League suggest that there's strong concern in this area, and they also see this as a jobs issue and want to get involved and bring the Broadway voice to the battle in D.C.Back Stage: Does Creative America's formation represent a greater sense of cooperation or urgency on the parts of industry and labor groups? Nugent: Yes, it really does represent labor and management coming together on a common issue, and there are not a lot of common issues. They are strongly behind this effort. We are ready for our 2012 year. Our board just met and approved our plans and activity for 2012. Everyone is very much on board and frankly saying that we've got to get busier. Creative America's Mike Nugent is the Standard-Bearer for Fighting Online Piracy By Daniel Holloway January 4, 2012 Mike Nugent The PROTECT IP Act, a bill that would empower the U.S. Justice Department to limit access to websites illegally distributing copyrighted material, is scheduled for a vote by the full Senate on Jan. 24. Its companion bill in the House, the Stop Online Piracy Act, has already received the approval of the House Judiciary Committee. So for those of you who enjoy intellectual-property legislation as blood sport, this is going to be a big month. Congratulations.PROTECT IP and SOPA have the support of Creative America, an entertainment industry initiative launched last summer by a coalition of labor and management organizations, including the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, CBS, Viacom, the Walt Disney Co., and others. Mike Nugent is the executive director of Creative America, which last month launched an ad campaign in support of PROTECT IP. He spoke with Back Stage on Dec. 30 about the importance of the act, the ways content theft is eating at Broadway, and why the American Library Association is on the "wrong" side of the fence.Back Stage: You recently launched a big ad campaign in support of the PROTECT IP Act. Why is this such an important piece of legislation? Mike Nugent: It's important because it gives the U.S. government tools to go after foreign websites that are dedicated to infringing activity. Right now they don't have those tools. Because the U.S. law has strengthened, the websites have left the U.S. and gone overseas. Yet they're still coming back to the U.S. market for revenue and to distribute illegal content. So this is just one more step in the battle, and it's a very important step, because foreign jurisdictions don't take as much umbrage at the activity of these sites as the U.S. does.Back Stage: What's at stake in this legislation for actors and other entertainment industry professionals? Nugent: We think this is all about jobs. Content theft doesn't affect the movie numbers that you see on Mondaythe blockbusters that come out. What it affects largely are the indie films, the downstream revenues. What it really affects is the economic model of the film industry, even for blockbusters. This is what I mean. Content theft takes out the heart of the revenue that is needed to reinvest in movies and film, that pays the residuals and the pensions and the benefits. If you look at the contracts of actors and others, their revenue streams and their livelihood and their pensions and their benefits are all derivative of downstream revenue. That is sales of DVDs, sales of subscription TV shows, of pay-per-view, of other kinds of downstream windows. This is where content theft really kills this industry. This is all about jobs. And also about pension and benefits.Back Stage: And how would PROTECT IP specifically help to curb content theft? Nugent: What it does is it gives the U.S. Justice Department the authority to go to a court and say, "This site is dedicated to infringing conduct," either distributing copyrighted material without authorization as a primary source of its business, or other products and services, such as distributing counterfeit drugs or distributing counterfeit parts, etc. Once the court is satisfied that that website is in the business of doing that, then the court issues an order to the intermediaries, as they call them in the U.S., who support that trafficking and stolen content. That would be the credit card companies that support the distribution, the search engines, the ISPs, and the ad networks. The court order would tell them, "You have to stop supporting the website." Then the intermediaries have to comply, and then the revenue stream for these sitesfrom the U.S., at leastis dried up.Back Stage: What do you say to critics who say that PROTECT IP would endanger civil liberties and damage the architecture of the Internet? Nugent: Their response is dead wrong. The techniques that are used to take the domain names out of the registration system are the same techniques that are used to block malware sites, porn sites, child-porn sites, and other sites. It's the same technology. It's never broken the Internet yet. And in terms of free speech and First Amendment, there's a legal answer, and then there's the normal answer. The legal answer is that there's no First Amendment right to either access or distribute stolen information. That's the legal answer, and constitutional scholars have supported that. The normal answer is that even when you look at what this bill does, it doesn't stop these sites from operating. It just stops these sites [from] being supported by intermediaries in the U.S. I really think that those who are arguing First Amendment and freedom of speech and access to information are really engaging in disinformation. Their main goal is to block a democratic vote on this in the House and Senate, because if it gets to the House and Senate, they know that it's going to pass, because at the end of the day this is a bill targeting illegal traffickers, who are really bad guys. It's not going after legit sites. It doesn't affect entities like YouTube or Facebook or Google. In terms of their role as disseminators of information, it does affect their liability. It also clarifies their liability in a space where it's not clear.Back Stage: Google, as you mentioned, has been outspoken against this bill. But also organizations such as the American Library Association have been. If the privacy, technological, and civil liberties issues surrounding this are so clear-cut, why are groups like the ALA stepping out against this legislation? Nugent: As I recall, and I'm sure I'm not as up on the ALA as I should be, when I looked at their issue, it was more of a technical issue. They're not intermediaries in this bill. The wording of the bill may have put them in the role of being an intermediary, because they provide all sorts of access to the Internet through their public facilities. I think that was their major concern. I think that concern is being addressed. There are some technical concerns being addressed in the markup process, and the hearing coming in January will address these issues. Back Stage: How good a job do you think the Obama administration has done in addressing intellectual-property issues? Nugent: Actually, to date they've been the strongest administration. They've appointed an intellectual-property czar [U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator Victoria A. Espinel]. Joe Biden, when he was in the Senate, was chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and has always had this issue close to him. At the enforcement level, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement group, ICE, which has been charged with this enforcement role, has been unprecedented in its strength. So the administration has been front and center and in support of all of our efforts in this regard. They're to be commended.Back Stage: When we think of content theft, we think of it as being something that affects mostly the film and music and television industries. What are you doing to engage the Broadway community, and what's at stake for them? Nugent: There's a number of things going on. Broadway is increasingly seeing its content up on the Internet, either peak moments or specific songs or even long stretches. The techniques that are used to do that are the same that are used in the movie industry: the camcorder. And they're very sophisticated these days. Broadway is increasingly being targeted by the same groups that are targeting TV, because Broadway is immensely popular globally and there's so little opportunity to get to Broadway. So my conversations with COBUG [Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds] and with the Broadway League suggest that there's strong concern in this area, and they also see this as a jobs issue and want to get involved and bring the Broadway voice to the battle in D.C.Back Stage: Does Creative America's formation represent a greater sense of cooperation or urgency on the parts of industry and labor groups? Nugent: Yes, it really does represent labor and management coming together on a common issue, and there are not a lot of common issues. They are strongly behind this effort. We are ready for our 2012 year. Our board just met and approved our plans and activity for 2012. Everyone is very much on board and frankly saying that we've got to get busier.

Goldman Sachs puts Alliance Films available on the market

As Wall Street starts to very carefully re-enter Hollywood, Goldman Sachs is cashing out. The organization is setting up available its two-thirds stake in Alliance Films, the Canadian finance and distribution operation which backed "Insidious," "The King's Speech" and "Shame." Investissement Quebec, the Quebec government's investment division which is the owner of the rest of the share, is selling its portion too, based on a person with understanding from the transaction. Bank of Montreal is handling the purchase. Purchase of the organization, that was first reported through the Financial Occasions, would come with Canadian along with other privileges to some library in excess of 11,000 films, in addition to Canadian distribution privileges for photos from Relativity, Lionsgate Entertainment, Focus Features, the Weinstein Company and CBS Films. Purchase would likewise incorporate privileges to produce Relativity's photos within the U.K. through Momentum. IQ is shifting its investment focus from film, based on sources with understanding of the organization, and it is turning its eye toward natural resource projects along with the development of advanced materials and technology. Goldman's causes of selling weren't immediately obvious, but experts near to the organization stated its decision didn't come like a surprise. As the economic crisis of 2008 saw full of stock exchange exodus in the entertainment biz, some banks and institutional traders have gradually began re-entering the entertainment space, or made the decision to go in the very first time. Plus some of individuals relative beginners - like SunTrust and OneWest Bank -- happen to be instrumental in a few of the biggest film company refinancings in the last 12 several weeks. SunTrust was among the principal banks involved with Legendary's $700 million credit facility both banks took part in New Regency's $500 million line of credit. Both transactions closed this past year. Others have found a restored supply of leverage using their film libraries. Miramax, for instance, could raise about $500 million from institutional traders, mainly because of its forecasted future digital certification contracts from the older game titles. Reviews of Alliance's purchase come just six several weeks after the organization acquired Walnut Pictures from Lionsgate for around $40 million. Alliance Films is just one of two major Canadian distribs -- another being Toronto-based eOne -- with procedures within the U.K. though Momentum as well as in The country through Aurum. Company first received partial government possession in 2008, once the Societe Generale p Financement purchased a 38.5% stake for $102 million, giving an investment arm a 51% from the voting shares. Goldman Sachs required a stake in Alliance Films in 2007. Alliance Films was formerly Movie Distribution, an earnings trust controlled by Alliance Atlantis Communications. EdgeStone and Goldman Sachs required over the organization following the relaxation of Alliance Atlantis was bought by CanWest Global that year. Alliance Films rejected to comment. Goldman Sachs and IQ didn't return demands for comment. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com