Usa Films

Scott Greenstein is expected to head a combined specialty film division of USA Networks Inc. and Universal Pictures, according to sources familiar with the matter. Greenstein is chairman of USA Films, which won accolades for 2000's "Traffic" and last year's "Gosford Park," directed by Robert Altman, which has seven Oscar nominations. Greenstein will report to Universal Pictures Chairwoman Stacey Snider. Under the change, expected to be announced in the next month, Universal Focus and the U.S.

Nothing says easy, breezy Southern California like a palm tree - but in Fillmore, the Southern California icon has been unfronded. Eager for an infusion of Hollywood cash, the Ventura County agricultural town has taken down 26 queen palms, a tree that has lined downtown streets since 1940. Officials wanted to give film and TV producers a generic, small-town setting that could stand in for Iowa, Indiana or anywhere else in palm-free America. So one July night, a landscaper revved up his chain saws in the heart of the city's quaint downtown and, soon after, the Fillmore Film Commission - its slogan is "Film More in Fillmore" - announced the move in an email blast to location scouts.

While "Cast Away" and "What Women Want" remained America's top two-grossing pictures over the weekend, it was the surprisingly strong showing of "Traffic" that had Hollywood talking Monday. Steven Soderbergh's fast-paced drama about America's ongoing drug war grossed $15.5 million as the USA Films release expanded in its second weekend to 1,510 screens and a per-screen average of $10,262.

Scott Greenstein is expected to head a combined specialty film division of USA Networks Inc. and Universal Pictures, according to sources familiar with the matter. Greenstein is chairman of USA Films, which won accolades for 2000's "Traffic" and last year's "Gosford Park," directed by Robert Altman, which has seven Oscar nominations. Greenstein will report to Universal Pictures Chairwoman Stacey Snider. Under the change, expected to be announced in the next month, Universal Focus and the U.S.

Shares of some companies whose studios won Oscars traded higher Monday, although analysts downplayed the impact of the awards. The biggest winner, the epic "Gladiator," which won Oscars for best picture and best actor for star Russell Crowe, was produced by DreamWorks SKG and Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal (V). Universal also released "Erin Brockovich," for which Julia Roberts won best actress. The French utility and media group's American depositary receipts gained $1.

Universal Pictures is starting a division to handle specialty films, an increasingly lucrative business for studios that have found they can make sizable profits from independent movies, the Seagram Co. unit said Monday. The company named former Gramercy Pictures executive Claudia Gray and Paul Hardart, a strategic-planning executive with Universal, to run the unit. Gray was named executive vice president, Hardart senior vice president.

Watch this week to see if Tina Turner's farewell concert tour will be simply the best of 2000. As the year draws to a close, the music industry is turning its eye to the bottom-line winners and losers, and one of the key yardsticks is the annual Pollstar magazine ranking of top-grossing concert tours.

"Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair" promises to be controversial. It's the first TV movie (but not the last) to deal with the alleged clandestine relationship between the country's No. 1 sex symbol and the nation's attorney general. Keyed to premiere Wednesday on the 31st anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death, the $3.2-million movie is the most ambitious the USA network has released. It's not intended as a docudrama or, heaven forbid, the truth. Just the possibility of the truth.

When a Japanese producer of television commercials wanted to show that Kirin Beer is popular among Americans from San Francisco to the Mississippi River, he simply came to San Diego--and photographed the steep incline of B Street at 20th, and then filmed the paddle boat Showboat with Point Loma in the background.

Nothing says easy, breezy Southern California like a palm tree - but in Fillmore, the Southern California icon has been unfronded. Eager for an infusion of Hollywood cash, the Ventura County agricultural town has taken down 26 queen palms, a tree that has lined downtown streets since 1940. Officials wanted to give film and TV producers a generic, small-town setting that could stand in for Iowa, Indiana or anywhere else in palm-free America. So one July night, a landscaper revved up his chain saws in the heart of the city's quaint downtown and, soon after, the Fillmore Film Commission - its slogan is "Film More in Fillmore" - announced the move in an email blast to location scouts.

Shares of some companies whose studios won Oscars traded higher Monday, although analysts downplayed the impact of the awards. The biggest winner, the epic "Gladiator," which won Oscars for best picture and best actor for star Russell Crowe, was produced by DreamWorks SKG and Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal (V). Universal also released "Erin Brockovich," for which Julia Roberts won best actress. The French utility and media group's American depositary receipts gained $1.

While "Cast Away" and "What Women Want" remained America's top two-grossing pictures over the weekend, it was the surprisingly strong showing of "Traffic" that had Hollywood talking Monday. Steven Soderbergh's fast-paced drama about America's ongoing drug war grossed $15.5 million as the USA Films release expanded in its second weekend to 1,510 screens and a per-screen average of $10,262.

Watch this week to see if Tina Turner's farewell concert tour will be simply the best of 2000. As the year draws to a close, the music industry is turning its eye to the bottom-line winners and losers, and one of the key yardsticks is the annual Pollstar magazine ranking of top-grossing concert tours.

Universal Pictures is starting a division to handle specialty films, an increasingly lucrative business for studios that have found they can make sizable profits from independent movies, the Seagram Co. unit said Monday. The company named former Gramercy Pictures executive Claudia Gray and Paul Hardart, a strategic-planning executive with Universal, to run the unit. Gray was named executive vice president, Hardart senior vice president.

"Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair" promises to be controversial. It's the first TV movie (but not the last) to deal with the alleged clandestine relationship between the country's No. 1 sex symbol and the nation's attorney general. Keyed to premiere Wednesday on the 31st anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death, the $3.2-million movie is the most ambitious the USA network has released. It's not intended as a docudrama or, heaven forbid, the truth. Just the possibility of the truth.

When a Japanese producer of television commercials wanted to show that Kirin Beer is popular among Americans from San Francisco to the Mississippi River, he simply came to San Diego--and photographed the steep incline of B Street at 20th, and then filmed the paddle boat Showboat with Point Loma in the background.

As part of a reorganization of its specialty film business, Universal Studios said Thursday that it will acquire Good Machine, a highly successful producer of independent films, including Ang Lee's hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Good Machine principals David Linde and James Schamus, based in New York, would manage the new specialty film unit, to be called Focus, reporting to Universal Pictures chief Stacey Snider.

Technicolor in Camarillo, one of the world's largest processors of motion picture film, has acquired Consolidated Film Industries for $48 million in cash. CFI is a Hollywood-based film processor specializing in large-film formats and specialized services for a wide range of customers. The acquisition is part of Technicolor's plan to expand its global film services.