Violence Against Women in 2012 – When Will It End?
December, 31, 2012 6:49 am | Comments On #2012, democracy, India, Media, violence against women
Of all the critical issues that loomed over 2012 -- environmental change, gun violence, Middle Eastern chaos, gay marriage -- the one that is ushering out the year is what keeps coming back to me with a sense of dread: the status of women around the world.
We recoil at the murder-by-gang-rape of a young Indian woman in faraway New Delhi, which is sparking political protest in the streets of India. It is so far away, so distant from our everyday concerns. But the brutality of the crime leaves me speechless. It makes me wonder: Can India’s values be so different from our own?
The 23-year-old woman (her name has still not been released) who is a physiotherapy student was on her way home, accompanied by a male...
Read MoreNRA Wayne LaPierre's Tone-Deaf Performance: From a Parallel Universe
December, 21, 2012 10:12 am | Comments On #gun violence, Media, Movies, Newtown, nra, shootings, Television, Wayne LaPierre
Faced with a nation rising in anger against the prevalence of guns in American society, the head of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre chose on Friday to blame Hollywood and media companies for the violence that led to the deaths of 26 innocents in Newtown, Conn., last week.
It was an astounding performance, like watching a scene out of a drama in some parallel universe.
Also read: NRA Blames Films, Media, Video, Unarmed Schools for Massacres
Even as funeral preparations continue for the Newtown victims, LaPierre joined...
Read MoreHow They Made 'Les Misérables' Even Bigger for the Big Screen
December, 20, 2012 12:34 pm | Comments On #Awards, Debra Hayward, Les Miserables, Movies
Debra Hayward has been a top movie executive at Working Title for more than 20 years, but producing the Tom Hooper-directed "Les Misérables" made her a novice all over again.
After two decades of false starts and on-and-off development, the hugely ambitious movie version of the musical ran through months of rehearsal, then months of gruelling shooting with a star-studded cast, from Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway to Sacha Baron Cohen, to hundreds of extras.
Hayward (pictured above with "Les Miz's" original musical producer Cameron Mackintosh) spoke to Wrap editor Sharon Waxman from her home in England.
What were the unique...
Read MoreGordon Crawford Retires – Hollywood Loses a Great One
December, 19, 2012 12:38 pm | Comments On #Capital Global, Capital Research and Management, Gordon Crawford, investor, Lionsgate, Media, Movies, Television
Hollywood should take a moment to regret the retirement this week of Gordon Crawford of Capital Research and Management, one of the wisest, most influential and most successful investors in media and entertainment of the past several decades.
Crawford (pictured above with Rupert Murdoch and below with Peter Chernin) sent out a note to friends on Wednesday -- on which were copied a Who’s Who of leaders in entertainment and technology (no, I’m not sharing) -- titled “My Retirement,” in which he writes with typical understatement:
“This Friday, December 21, I head down the elevator for the last time at Capital. I have been blessed to spend 41 years...
Read MoreWhy Rupert Murdoch's iPad Paper, ‘The Daily,’ Failed
December, 03, 2012 4:46 pm | Comments On #digital media, Media, rupert murdoch, The DailyThe demise of Rupert Murdoch’s “The Daily” says as much about the unforgiving state of digital journalism as it does about the iPad-only news daily Murdoch launched less than two years ago.
"New times demand new journalism," Murdoch said in February 2011, upon The Daily’s launch.
So it does. It just doesn’t demand the kind of journalism done by The Daily: general news, updated once a day, offered on a single platform, with beautiful graphics, available by subscription only.
Also read: News Corp. Shutters The Daily
We’ll get back...
Read MoreFrancis Ford Coppola Returns to Paramount Lot, Home of ‘Godfather’ Series (Exclusive)
November, 29, 2012 11:08 am | Comments On #1970s, filmmaker, Francis Ford Coppola, Godfather, Movies, ParamountLegendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is moving back to his creative stomping ground of the 1970s, taking offices on the Paramount lot starting next year, TheWrap has learned.
“As of 2013, Francis Ford Coppola will open offices and work out of the Paramount lot. He and Paramount go way back, and he is thrilled to be back there,” said his publicist Leslee Dart in an exclusive statement to TheWrap.
An individual close to Coppola said he was looking to get “creative” and would be moving into 
the Lubitsch building on the lot. Studio chief Brad Grey welcomed an overture to bring Coppola back to the lot, the individual said.
Also read:...
Read MoreThe Secrets of an Awards-Season Influencer
November, 28, 2012 7:10 pm | Comments On #Awards, Movies, oscarsLisa Taback is on a roll.
After years toiling in the trenches of Oscar campaigns, the sought-after awards consultant has in the past two years helped The Weinstein Company secure 29 Oscar nominations and win back-to-back Best Picture Oscars -- the first for "The King’s Speech" and the second for that unlikely winner earlier this year, the black-and-white non-talkie "The Artist."
That track record, plus a reputation for quiet, unrelenting pursuit and savvy strategic moves, has cemented her status as the person to hire if you want to win an Oscar.
More Secret "Oscar Whisperers": 7 Oscar Campaign Managers You Should Know
“I know no tricks, I know no black magic,” she told TheWrap....
Read MoreWhat Will Peter Liguori Do With Tribune Once He's CEO?
November, 19, 2012 1:56 pm | Comments On #bankruptcy, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Media, peter liguori, tribuneWith the Tribune Company nearing the end of its interminable bankruptcy and Peter Liguori poised to become its new CEO, the question arises of what he will do with the reborn media company.
From what my sources tell me, most likely he will oversee much of its dismantling.
An insider close to Tribune leadership tells me that Liguori has for some time been designated as the CEO-in-waiting, reporting to Edgar Lee of the private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, the creditor who is now running the show.
They have a plan, I'm told. ”They’re going to liquidate as much as they can,” said this senior insider.
Also read: FCC Approves Tribune Co. Bid to Transfer Print/TV Ownership (Updated)
On Friday, the...
Read MoreTheWrap Wins Top Honors at 2012 National Entertainment Journalism Awards
November, 19, 2012 10:51 am | Comments On #2012 National Entertainment Journalism, eszterhas, gibson, Media, Movies, waxwordTheWrap won top awards at the 2012 National Entertainment Journalism Awards on Sunday, for best online news reporting for its coverage of the Mel Gibson-Joe Eszterhas controversy and for best entertainment column.
TheWrap won best news reporting for its coverage of screenwriter Eszterhas accusing the already-controversial Gibson of making anti-Semitic remarks and threatening violence against his ex-wife.
In recognizing the story titled “Mel Gibson Vs. Joe Eszterhas on Maccabee Movie” the judges commented: “Sharon Waxman's objective investigative piece on the Mel Gibson- Joe Eszterhas tiff over the Maccabee script earns her kudos for effective online reporting.”
Second prize went to Michael White &...
Read MoreFilmmaker Alex Gibney Accuses Pope: 'Sexual-Abuse Scandal Goes to the Top of the Vatican'
November, 16, 2012 1:55 pm | Comments On #Alex Gibney, catholic church, mea maxima culpa, Movies, pope, scandal, sexual abuseAlex Gibney is ready to take on the Pope in his new documentary, "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," which opens this weekend.
Gibney, who has taken on hot topics from lobbyist Jack Abramoff to biking champion Lance Armstrong to Enron, digs into a new aspect of the sexual-abuse scandal in which deaf children in Catholic boarding schools were preyed upon by pedophile priests.
One of those children, now grown, has sued the Pope. The film raises the tantalizing question of whether private individuals can sue the Vatican, which is a sovereign country.
"So you can understand the magnitude of this scandal, it’s a concerted systematic...
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Description
Sharon Waxman's take on life on the left coast, high culture, low culture and the business of entertainment and media.
Follow me on Twitter @sharonwaxman and follow TheWrap @thewrap!
Sharon is also the author of two books, Rebels on the Back Lot and Loot.
