Sharon Waxman, is the founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of TheWrap. She is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author, and was a Hollywood correspondent for The New York Times. Twitter: @sharonwaxman
Experience:
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12 Bids for Variety’s parent, Reed; Sale Expected in 3 Months
Variety’s parent company, Reed Business Information, has received 12 offers for the division of trade papers, believed to be valued at about $2 to $2.5 billion, the London Telegraph reports today. The bidders reportedly include McGraw Hill, the U.S. publisher, but as expected come largely from private equity buy-out firms including Advent, Quadrangle, a joint…
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Paula Wagner Whines; MGM Nears New Financing
Will MGM become a real studio again? The task keeps getting harder. When veteran Mary Parent came in five months ago to get the studio into gear and make movies other than James Bond, she faced a number of challenges, but none more delicate than dealing with the two elephants that were already in the…
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“Dark Knight” Rising in the History Books
Sunday update: "Tropic Thunder" finally took in an estimated $26 million, according to Media By Numbers. "Dark Knight" took in $16.79 million, and now has a cumulative $471.9 million in domestic gross, surpassing "Star Wars," as expected. I’m travelling and missing some of my blogging tools, but wanted to weigh in with the latest of…
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Journalists Reflect on Edwards, and Tabloids
Walter Shapiro, in Salon: "As a reporter covering my eighth presidential campaign, I am mostly interested in the journalistic lessons arising from my flawed character assessment of John Edwards. This was not a case of the Inside-the-Beltway Syndrome in which beloved Washington figures get every conceivable break from a sometimes gullible press corps. Edwards was…
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Programming Note
Watch for me on MSNBC tonight @ 9pm EST, talking to Dan Abrams about the John Edwards Affair.
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The Edwards Affair: The Law of the Tabloids
The National Enquirer has still more details of the John Edwards affair this week: Rielle was whisked away in a jet. The couple had met three times at the Beverly Hilton this year. "John Edwards is still lying," says an Enquirer source. As the pieces of this sordid tale continue to fall together, it is…
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Rafat Says I’m “Late to the Party”
I’m a little late posting this, but worse than that, Rafat Ali at Paidcontent.org has decided that I’m late to the Internet party, in a front-page story in Variety yesterday. I’m sure that he’s right. But you know what? We’re going to push ahead anyway. And Rafat, we’ll check back later on our timing.
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Introducing The Wrap News
Many of you know that I have been working on creating a new company to cover Hollywood. Marketwatch has the story today. Here is the press release we issued: THE WRAP NEWS CLOSES SEED ROUND Hollywood News and Information Network, Led by Sharon Waxman, Readies January 2009 Launch LOS ANGELES, CA, August 11, 2008 –…
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“Dark Knight” Sails Into #3 All-Time Spot
Final box office estimates put "The Dark Knight" in the number one spot for the weekend, with a $26 million haul. But that’s not the fun part. That number pushed the Warner Brothers film to a $441 million total so far in its domestic release, knocking "Shrek 2" out of its path to become the…
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Losses of the Bernies: Mac, young. Brillstein, old. Both missed.
Hollywood lost two Bernies in the past two days: one young, one old. One healthy, one ailing. Both broke new ground in the industry. Both losses are harsh. Bernie Mac, the charmingly self-deprecating family guy of "The Bernie Mac Show," died suddenly at 50 today in Chicago, from complications due to pneumonia, a publicist said.…
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Box Office Beat (EARLY!): Expected 20 Percent Drop due to Olympics, Dark Knight Holds Top Spot
Bad news for Hollywood: I’m hearing from studio sources that despite the huge interest in "The Dark Knight" and "Pineapple Express," the box office total is expected to drop 20 percent this week over last year because of viewer interest in the Olympics. Other news: In the neck and neck sweepstakes between the blockbuster thriller…
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Edwards Admits; New York Times Finally Writes
We knew it was coming, but we wondered: When? John Edwards has fessed up to an affair with Rielle Hunter, has admitted that he lied publicly, has agreed that he was indeed with her at the Beverly Hilton Hotel last month. He’s still holding out on claiming the child. And for some strange reason he…
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Recession Puts Moviegoing in Peril
A new study by a market research company called Interpret LLC suggests that the economic downturn may have a negative impact on moviegoing. This is interesting because past history suggests (and this summer’s robust box office seems to confirm) that when money is tight, folks still spend their money on inexpensive entertainment like going to…
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Pineapple Express: Thank You, Judd Apatow
I’ve only now recovered from the midnight screening of "Pineapple Express" on Wednesday. The hall was packed with teenagers, and the smell of weed wafted through the theater. I kept my expectations low. Years in Hollywood has taught me not to believe the trailers. And far too often I have showed up to comedies by…
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The Dailies – August 7, 2008
Ledger-gate: A bizarre DEA power grab?Fresh from a heavy-handed raid on a Culver City medical marijuana clinic, the DEA declines to pursue a criminal investigation of Heath Ledger’s accidental death, letting Mary-Kate Olsen off the hook from testifying. But why such an unprecedented inquiry in the first place? What happened to Tom Cruise’s career?Roger Friedman…