SAG, AFTRA prexys make official push for merger

HowardReardonThe presidents of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have made their first official push for the proposed SAG-AFTRA merger.SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon sent a letter to members Sunday, touting the combo. SAG's board approved the deal Friday and AFTRA's followed Saturday.The letter featured the new "SAG AFTRA One Union" logo and said a pro-merger Web site would go live Friday. The missive arrived as the SAG Awards were about to take place at the Shrine Auditorium.The letter: Dear Member,This weekend, the SAG and AFTRA National Boards took a decisive step to strengthen our future by overwhelmingly endorsing a plan to merge Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. If members approve the merger, the new union will be called SAG-AFTRA.The vote of the unions' National Boards came after more than a year of focused effort to hear from members about their needs for stronger union representation and to develop a merger plan to meet those needs. With the enthusiastic approval of our boards, the decision now rests in the hands of AFTrA and SAG members.Merger referendum ballots are scheduled to be mailed on or about February 27th - but all members of both unions will have access to the complete merger documents within the next couple of days on the SAG and AFTRA websites. Full printed merger documents will also be mailed to each voter with the referendum ballot, which will be due for return on March 30th. This will give each member ample time to make a thoughtful and well-informed decision. We're also excited to announce that on Friday, February 3rd, we will launch a new joint website to provide members all the information they'll want to consider before casting their votes. The website will include complete merger details, FAQs, and a comprehensive calendar of events to alert members nationwide to informational meetings and other opportunities for learning about the plan. Watch your email later this week for details of the website launch.After more than a year of intensive work, we are extremely proud to bring you this historic opportunity. We also want to acknowledge the ceaseless dedication of the AFTRA and SAG members and staff who came together as the Group for One Union (G1) to produce this remarkable plan. We look forward to sharing all the details and answering any questions you may have. Finally, we are confident that SAG and AFTRA members will embrace this singular chance to harness the true power of unity, and that SAG-AFTRA will protect members and shape the entertainment and media industries for decades to come.In unity,Ken HowardSAG National PresidentRoberta ReardonAFTRA National President Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Alley Mills Will get Busted around the Bold and also the Beautiful

Alley Mills Add The Bold and also the Beautiful's Pam Douglas towards the listing of the country's unemployed. The bipolar spinster, performed with hilarity and heartbreak by veteran actress Alley Mills, will ultimately get caught at her latest plan - stealing designs from her sister Stephanie's fashion house, Forrester Masterpieces, and providing them with towards the competition. Their must-see confrontation (airing Jan. 30-31) finishes with Pam, the receptionist at Forrester, being fired by Stephanie and escorted in the building. TV Guide Magazine spoken with Mills to request the large question: Ok now what? TV Guide Magazine: What is going to occur to poor, pathetic Pam once she will get busted?Mills: This might take her to some very dark place. It never happened to her that she'd get caught. She does not have anybody left in her own existence. No buddies. No males. This really is bad. The shocking factor is the fact that Stephanie does not blow when she discovers Pam's the crook. She's disappointed and extremely hurt, as well as for someone as fragile as Pam that's devastating. [Laughs] A minimum of Stephanie does not throw Pam off a balcony. She has been recognized to handle issues that way! TV Guide Magazine: None of the might have happened if Pam had not become mad at Stephanie for disregarding her relationship with Stephen.Mills: Pam feels totally justified in stealing individuals designs. All she wanted ended up being to be validated by Stephanie. Pam finally found a guy and her sister wouldn't provide him the time. She never gave Pam any support. She never asked them over for lunch. Nothing. TV Guide Magazine: Hell-oooo! Stephen was Stephanie's arch enemy. What is did Pam expect? I really like your cleaning soap-opera amnesia. Mills: Stephanie must have attempted harder to simply accept Stephen. Finally that rare guy arrived who could love her sister and she or he did not care. That's all I am saying. Stephen and Pam were built with a romantic relationship going. These were speaking about going for a romantic visit to Fuji or something like that. [Laughs] They can had the literature. TV Guide Magazine: I suppose it counts for something which Pam did not sell the designs. She just gave them to Jackie and Nick. Mills: Though she ended up getting compensated in different ways. She got a few great kisses from Nick. And that is a great deal for Pam! She does not need cash. Betty Whitened left her with lots of money! TV Guide Magazine: Well, whether it's any consolation, Pam's crime is going to be forgotten, most likely earlier than later. Nothing lasts forever on B&B.Mills: It's correct. Betty Whitened explained they have requested her revisit the show despite the fact that her character is dead. I'm not sure how they may do this. She'll most likely be haunting Pam within the mirror. TV Guide Magazine: I really like how Pam's all pissed at Steph but does not appear in your thoughts that they had been utilized by Nick, who all of a sudden began coming onto her as some kind of sick reward for that thievery. Mills: Nobody was using anybody there. The truly amazing factor about Pam is the fact that she knows precisely what Nick's about. Their flirtation would be a lark. She only agreed to be getting fun. And that he really had fun together with her! He wasn't moving his eyes on and on, "Ugh! I must hug Pam." He really loved it. Pam is really a hoot to spend time with, therefore it wasn't such as the worst factor that ever happened to him. And what made the entire factor focus on-screen is the fact that Jack Wagner wasn't moving his eyes while he needed to hug me. He'd fun, too! And Pam likes Jackie because Jackie does not treat Pam as an idiot, that is what everybody at Forrester does. She's type of a tale there. TV Guide Magazine: You do not think it is creepy of Nick to become play-acting with someone who's manic-depressive?Mills: No! It's terrible will be able to connect with this. [Laughs] I suppose I am that desperate sometimes! Hey, should you have had a crush on someone and also you understood it might never exercise, both of you may still possess a fling anyway should you provided some kind of plan to your partner - like should you authored about the subject in TV Guide. TV Guide Magazine: What? You mean individuals will have sexual intercourse along with you should you talk about them in TV Guide? News in my experience. And, incidentally, what type of slut do you consider I'm? Mills: I am just saying you are able to justify plans such as this! Pam never was the victim. She's several occasions stated, "I am no fool" if this involves Nick. She understood what she was engaging in. TV Guide Magazine: Well, ultimately, I suppose her punishment might have been worse. What she did was illegal, no?Mills: Well, you cannot arrest her! [Laughs] Have you not ever encountered forgiveness? It simply appears so unfair even going to fire her. TV Guide Magazine: There is not a business in the usa that wouldn't oust her ass for stealing like this.Generators: There may certainly happen to be a much better solution than termination. TV Guide Magazine: For example...?Generators: Stephanie might have put Pam on probation. [Laughs] Or she might have put her lower within the basement with Thorne! Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Quentin Tarantino unveils his favourite films of 2011

Quentin Tarantino has revealed his favourite (and least favourite) films of 2011.The Quentin Tarantino Archives get their at work the director's rundown of year, which yields some surprising results.His #1 movie was Woodsy Allen's Evening amount of time in Paris. It is really an unforeseen choice, while not underserving: it absolutely was smart, sweet and pretty damn funny, having a couple of place-on portrayals of '20s symbols with the supporting cast.Elsewhere, his list mixes the mainstream while using offbeat (The Artist and Our Idiot Brother match tenth place!), and you'll find some shocks (The Three Musketeers? Surely an ironic joke...) which he appeared to become kind enough to supply lists of other films he loved, his favourite scripts, and also the worst films of year.Look at the lists entirely below:Quentin Tarantino's official Top 11 of 20111. Evening amount of time in Paris2. Rise In The Planet In The Apes3. Moneyball4. The Skin I Live In5. X-Males: First Class6. Youthful Adult7. Attack The Block8. Red-colored-colored State9. Warrior10. The Artist / Our Idiot Brother (tie)11. The Three MusketeersOthers considered in no particular order50/50BeginnersHugoThe Iron LadyCarnageGreen HornetGreen LanternCaptain AmericaThe DescendantsMy Week With MarilynFast FiveThe Tree Of LifeThe Hangover Part IIMission: Impossible - Ghost ProtocolThe BeaverContagionThe SitterWar HorseNice Try AwardDriveHannaDrive AngryReal SteelBest DirectorPedro AlmodovarBennett MillerWoody AllenJason ReitmanMichel HazanaviciusBest Original ScreenplayMidnight In ParisYoung AdultRed StateAttack The BlockOur Idiot BrotherBeginnersBest Modified ScreenplayMoneyballThe Skin I live InCarnageRise In The Planet In The ApesHugoX-Males: First ClassWorst FilmsSucker PunchPotiche (Trophy Wife)MiralInsidiousRampartStraw DogsParanormal Activity 3Meek's CutoffQuentin Tarantino's Django Unchained opens on 26 December 2012 (and that we are thinking about come in several our Top lists...)

Michael Patrick King: 2 Broke Women Is not Racist It's "Classy-Dirty"

Michael Patrick King desires to make something apparent: 2 Broke Women is not a racist show. Its the inappropriate jokes, they're just "classy-dirty," OK? The 2 Broke Women creator met with reporters at CBS' winter TV previews Wednesday, throughout they was asked for to safeguard the show's ethnic stereotypes and off-color humor, particularly in no time such as the figures with whom lower-on-their luck waitresses (Kat Dennings and Jesse Behrs) focus on a Brooklyn diner. "I have thought it was comic to think about everybody lower," King states. "In my opinion our show can be a large ballsy comedy, but it provides a bigger heart laptop or computer has balls. It's broad and brash and extremely current... The big story about race on our show is always that lots of are represented. We type of represent what NY used to be, that's presently still alive in [Brooklyn]." Han, the girls' Asian boss (Matthew Moy), Oleg, a sexually aggressive Ukrainian line prepare, (Jonathan Kite) and Earl, a laid-back Black cashier (Garrett Morris) are regular targets of jokes that focus on their ethnicities. King defends these figures. "In the event you discuss stereotypes, every character, when it's born, can be a stereotype. This show started with two stereotypes: a blonde together with a brunette. Hopefully if you've got the journey that everybody wish to dress yourself in a collection, that's time, you are in a position to shape the figures to ensure that they become rounded and a little more grounded." Convey more scoop inside your favorite shows inside our Winter TV preview The show also regularly trades in anatomy-based humor. (Someone inside the writers' room really loves saying the word "vagina.") Still, King states the comedy evolves from the good way. "I consider our jokes really 'classy-dirty,'" according to him. "They're high low-brow. In my opinion they're fun and complex and naughty but everybody likes an excellent naughty joke." Do you want 2 Broke Girls' naughty jokes? Hit should be genuine along with your ideas. 2 Broke Women airs Mondays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.

Fox's 'Chronicle' cues QR code blitz

Having its ticking clock and situated footage-style hooks, a clip for 20th Century Fox's "Chronicle" created plenty of internet buzz if the first demonstrated in October. Now, the studio is striving to develop on that interest throughout Sunday's opening round in the Nfl 2010 national football league 2010 nfl playoffs. Fox Network will air a five-second "billboard" clip from the QR code through the Atlanta Falcons-NY Leaders wild-card game. The code, which might be scanned on mobile items, links the customer to have an online clip in the Max Landis-composed film. "We're really searching toward the film, so finding an additional way to interract while using audience is certainly the goal,Inch Fox prexy of domestic theatrical marketing and chief marketing officer Oren Aviv told Variety. Aviv mentioned that the amount of social-media buzz created with the pic's trailer brought to careful analysis supply the film one more push on Sunday. Studio is expecting greater than Thirty Dollars million people to start to see the billboard. "Facebook mentioned they'd never observed anything appreciate it,In . Aviv mentioned, watching the internet networking site told the studio it saw about 15 million interactions across the movie. "When Facebook states 'Wow,' you listen." "Chronicle" is docu-style account of three Tigard teens who develop superpowers after being uncovered with a mysterious substance inside the forest. Pic also provides attracted attention for showing the talents of several fresh faces. Film marks the feature directorial debut of Josh Trank and stars relative beginners Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly and Dane DeHaan. Author Landis offered the project to Fox a year ago. Scribe also optioned spec "Good Time Gang" to Robin Schorr's RCR Pictures which is presently in the office around the Frankenstein work with Fox-based Davis Entertainment. "Chronicle" opens Feb. 3. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

'Hunger Games' Photos: New ('New') Photos Highlight Jennifer Lawrence, Woodsy Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth and Lenny Kravitz

Because 'The Hunger Games' is just one of the 2011 most long awaited releases, any scrap of news will get scooped up through the near-hysterical fanbase just like a breadcrumb tossed towards the floor by Peeta's parents. Knowing that, let us take a look at newer and more effective pictures from 'Hunger Games' that you have most likely seen online for days! Thanks to Lionsgate, and in some way pinging round the Internet now despite seeming ready availability since December, are new pictures of Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Woodsy Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Josh Hutcherson within the new film. Also, an incredible shot of Elizabeth Banks in her own Effie Trinket regalia. So! Not necessarily news, but who needs "news" being an excuse to look at photos from 'Hunger Games'? Thought so. 'The Hunger Games' Photos See All Moviefone Art galleries » [Photo: Lionsgate] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook