Entertainment Industry

"We're fixing that." That's the refrain from Gerardo "Gerry" Lopez, who was installed last month as chief executive at AMC Entertainment Inc., about how the second-biggest movie theater chain in the country must adapt to keep pace with shifts in consumer habits. Lopez has a few opinions -- not all of them kind -- about the movie theater business, which hasn't radically changed the way it does business in decades.

Recession-fueled penny-pinching is driving consumers to rent more movies and buy fewer. New data released Thursday by the Digital Entertainment Group, an industry trade organization, showed that movie rental revenue rose 8% in the first half of the year -- a remarkable uptick for a business that many in Hollywood had thought peaked. At the same time, sales of DVDs have taken a shellacking, falling 13.5% for the period.

Can free parking in Los Angeles help to stem the migration of TV and film production to other cities and states? Probably not. But that most coveted of Los Angeles benefits was one of a series of recommendations adopted Wednesday by the L.A. City Council aimed at making it easier for producers to film locally and discouraging them from taking their business elsewhere. Among the recommendations are to consider a tax credit for building owners who make their properties available for filming and a refund of sales tax paid by production companies when at least 75% of the filming is done within the city.

Long before Hollywood felt comfortable expressing its politics, medicine and medical research were the entertainment industry's causes of choice. People who think that celebrity interest in medical science begins and ends with cosmetic surgery need to take a look at the names on the buildings at Cedars-Sinai: Steven Spielberg, George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Issues of control are bogging down a possible merger between two major Hollywood talent agencies. William Morris Agency and Endeavor have been in merger discussions for weeks, setting the stage for a new Hollywood powerhouse that would wield considerable clout in film, television, music and publishing.

Barry Diller, who warned last week at a media industry conference that the transition from old media to new media would be "bloody," is turning to Ben Silverman for help with triage.

Hollywood talent agencies pride themselves on placing their star clients into the biggest movies and TV shows. Now, add YouTube to the list. William Morris Agency, one of the largest talent firms, is in talks for a deal that would funnel its clients -- both actors and consumer brands -- into videos created for the Internet giant.

Commercial filming on the streets of Los Angles may be moving out of the doldrums, a possible early sign that there is a thaw in the nationwide economy as advertisers show more willingness to spend money. On-location shoots for commercials increased for the third consecutive week, according to FilmL.A. Inc., which handles film permits for the Los Angeles area. Commercial filming generated 102 production days last week (defined as a single crew's permission to film at a project at a single location during a 24-hour period)

NBC Universal's announcement Monday that Ben Silverman is leaving the network after his two-year tenure did little to reverse its prime-time fortunes was one of the least surprising stories to hit the television industry in some time. What was unexpected was who broke the news -- and how. At 5:09 a.m.

Whether it turns out that he died of heart disease, a cocktail of potent prescription drugs or just years of indulgence and excess, one verdict is inescapable: What really killed Michael Jackson was an overdose of showbiz values. Like so many child stars before him, from Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. to Tatum O'Neal and River Phoenix and Lindsay Lohan, Jackson never found himself a home in the real world.