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.