Artisans

In its first deal with an unaffiliated studio, Movielink, the online movie distributor owned by five major Hollywood film companies, is set to announce an agreement today with independent Artisan Entertainment Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Movielink is jointly owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros.

In a bewitching scenario for independent film distributor Artisan Entertainment, industry sources estimate that in the next seven years Hollywood's newest movie franchise, "The Blair Witch Project," and its sequels could generate $500 million in revenue and $150 million in profits for the privately held company. Artisan's investment in the pseudo-documentary that nobody else in Hollywood wanted will ultimately total around $30 million. That includes an acquisition price of $1.

Reflections showcases people of the county who have interesting life stories and offers them the opportunity to tell those stories in their own words. An immigrant with a trade that has taken him from Glasgow storefronts to Newport Beach master bathrooms--via New York City high-rises--Frank Heaney works for some of Orange County's wealthiest homeowners. The 47-year-old native of Scotland lays marble, granite and stone in homes from Three Arch Bay to La Habra.

Artisan Entertainment Inc., the independent distributor of motion pictures such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Last Emperor," filed to take the company public with a $140-million initial stock offering. The Santa Monica-based company did not say how many shares of common stock it plans to sell or for how much in the preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those details are expected in future filings.

After a brief 15-month tenure, Robert Cooper is relinquishing his dual posts as chief executive of Artisan Pictures and vice chairman of its parent, Artisan Entertainment, the company said. Cooper will relaunch his former movie and TV production company Landscape Pictures. The company will have a deal at AOL Time Warner Inc.'s New Line Cinema. The executive remains a shareholder of Artisan, which retains a financial position in more than a dozen projects Cooper will take with him.

Artisan Entertainment is acquiring the assets of Landscape Entertainment and installing the fledgling company's founder, Robert Cooper, as vice chairman and head of its movie and television production operations. As part of the deal, Landscape's Canadian shareholder, Bell Globemedia, will transfer its investment to Artisan in exchange for 20% of the parent company, best known for the surprise horror hit "The Blair Witch Project."

Why does Bilbo Baggins live in a round house? That's the question we posed to Dan Hennah, production designer for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," director Peter Jackson 's latest film from the library of J.R.R. Tolkein, which opened this weekend (and already grossed $13 million at Thursday midnight showings). PHOTOS: Architecture of 'The Hobbit' "We used round doors to be true to Tolkien's descriptions in the book and also we used his sketches," Hennah said by email.

The lower end of the U.S. wine market is a fairly stratified affair, with big players making wines for the masses in mass quantities sufficient to supply a huge national pipeline. But so often these wines have a cookie-cutter, concocted feel to them, or worse, they're guilty of being unspeakably drab. Let's state the obvious: Most cheap wine tastes cheap. Not for nothing has the category earned the brusquely dismissive moniker "plonk. " No one hates plonk more than winemakers, who, the same as everyone else in the world, want affordable wines to drink with their midweek meal, something simple, satisfying and authentic — wines to enjoy and not ponder.

Whether they advertise a concert, commemorate a local landmark or simply encourage you to "Keep Calm and Carry On," posters remain one of the most affordable ways to bring art into the home. Hand-silkscreened posters have become darlings of the modern craft world, taking their place at events such as Unique L.A. and the Renegade Craft Fair among the felt pillows, crocheted throws and letterpress stationery cranked out by a new generation of indie artisans. "An original painting is much more valuable because there is only one, but posters are a fantastic way to get great quality, handmade art at a reasonable price," said Bob Motown, co-owner of Two Rabbits Studios, which sells prints for as little as $10 online.

From the New Deal until the 1970s, liberalism in all its variants was the public philosophy of the United States. And what brought together a whole coalition of interests, classes and temperaments under the banners of liberalism was a shared belief in the idea, indeed the ideology of progress. Since the 1970s, with bewildering speed, liberalism has been rudely unseated from that position of hegemony.