Thursday, January 19, 2012

'Machete' Producer Reveals Why Rick Perry Owes $2 Million!



This is absolutely worth reading for any filmmakers out there!





In his own words, Rick Schwartz recalls how the Texas governor went back on his word.


I am certainly not an expert on politics, and I'm learning the relative merits of our presidential candidates along with the rest of the nation. Forget about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's stances on taxes, immigration, abortion or health care. Set aside his decidedly odd debating technique, his immovable hair or whether he actually can win his party's nomination. There's one thing I simply can't ignore: Rick Perry owes me $2 million bucks.

It all started when we decided to make a movie together.


Perry attended the press conference for the state's newly revamped Texas Moving Image Incentive Program, announced at the very studio where we were to shoot our movie, Machete, with our director, Robert Rodriguez. For every dollar the cast and crew spent during our time in Austin — on personnel, hotels, transportation, restaurants — we would get back about 20 cents.

We meticulously followed the required process. The film commission read and approved the script, letting us know we had qualified for the rebate. Our film's accountants submitted the scrupulously tracked receipts of expenditures — a substantial amount of money that we had brought to Texas. The movie was released all over the world and performed well. Everyone was happy.

Three months after the movie came out, we received a letter from the film commission: We're keeping your money. They felt the film "portrayed Texans in a negative fashion." This heretofore unmentioned clause was a legal loophole for them not to pay us — something about protecting the gentle folks of Texas from slander. They could have called it what it is: good, old-fashioned censorship.


Sure, Machete is about a guy who runs around killing bad guys with, um, a machete. At one point, he rips a villain's small intestine out of his stomach and uses it to rappel out of a hospital window. It's not exactly a documentary on the issues affecting our nation's borders. But Gov. Perry deemed it damaging enough to his state's citizens that he withheld our money. It would be like Gov. Andrew Cuomo denying us a New York tax credit on Black Swan because he was concerned that all New Yorkers would be perceived as paranoid, bisexual ballerinas.

My investors and I lost millions of dollars. But the people who will lose most are the citizens of Texas. The state has incredibly competent crews, amazing resources and a very eclectic topography. Despite all that, nobody in their right mind is going to risk millions of dollars shooting in a state where the government can decide ex post facto not to honor its financial commitment based on arbitrary criteria. As of 2010, 42 states had some type of tax-incentive program. The competition is fierce for the entertainment industry's dollars.

By keeping our Machete money, Gov. Perry saved Texas a quick $2 million, but he cost the state much more. Before the new incentive program was enacted, there were about 50 film and television projects shot in Texas, spending a total of $155 million. In the past two years, those numbers have ballooned to nearly 250 productions resulting in 27,057 jobs and close to $250 million spent.

That's all about to fold like a bad hand of Texas Hold'em.

Rick Schwartz is an independent film producer whose credits include The Aviator and Malena. He keeps hoping Alec Baldwin will run for president.


This story first appeared in the Jan. 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Bloody Unique Blog: Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox vying for Elizabeth Taylor biopic

Bloody Unique Blog: Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox vying for Elizabeth Taylor biopic

Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox vying for Elizabeth Taylor biopic

Lohan at a Golden Globes after party 2012
Seriously. Elizabeth Taylor, in her day, was one of the best actors in the world. If you aren't aware then watch "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" or "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf".
This is a complete travesty. Megan Fox is an actor that should just stand there, look pretty and shut up. Lohan, well, she's had her moments, but we all know what a waste of oxygen she is. Maybe she will surprise, but playing Taylor in a biopic is not something I think will work. Not at all.

Read Below:



There's more than meets the eye to the Elizabeth Taylor biopic that was supposed to mark Lindsay Lohan's triumphant acting comeback.

"Transformers" star Megan Fox is also in talks for the lead role in Lifetime's "Liz and Dick," about the Hollywood icon's stormy relationship with Richard Burton.

"I've been talking to Lindsay Lohan directly, and with her reps, and have been in conversations with other actresses, including Megan Fox," the film's executive producer, Larry Thompson, told E! News.

"It's a very serious selection. It's like casting for Hollywood royalty."

Lohan hopes to clear up her legal status with a probation hearing Tuesday that would allow her to resume her career. Her troubles with the law already may have cost her the starring role in "Lovelace," about the famed porn star Linda Lovelace, a role that eventually went to Malin Akerman.

Fox — who not that long ago was considered one of Hollywood's hottest up-and-coming actresses, thanks largely to her work in “Transformers” — was left out of last summer's sequel "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" after she compared her director, Michael Bay, to Hitler.

via: NY Daily News

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wax It & get a Merkin from a Real Housewife?

Cindy Bishop (Real Housewives of New York) says that the new trend is Feathers and Fox Fur for your vagina.

This is a very expensive Merkin kids. $225 to have a hot pink patch of fox fur on your crotch. Or you can get some crazy colored bird feathers glued to your nether region for $195. Really? This is friggin stupid.

Cindy has created two new lines of luxury merkins ... which she's now selling at her NY waxing salon -- Completely Bare.

The first line is called the Foxy Bikini, in which the bikini line is waxed bare and replaced with a pubic wig made from real fox fur. They come in a variety of colors ... including traditional pink!


For those who desire a more festive flower -- Cindy also offers the Carnivale Bikini ... in which the pubic region is decorated with feathers in a variety of colors!


Via: TMZ

Honey Badger getting a TV Series?


The youtube video is Hilarious to me, but a whole series?  I don't know about this...  read below.


Canadian production company Six Eleven Media is developing a Honey Badger comedy, which will be pitched to networks later this month.

Honey Badger don’t care, but the hope is that TV networks will.

On the heels of Randall and "the crazy, nastya-- Honey Badger" videos’ 31 million-plus YouTube views, the viral sensation is being developed as an animation/live action comedy hybrid, titled Honey Badger U.

The project, which soon will be pitched to both broadcast and cable networks, will follow an animated Randall, who is the chief professor of life sciences at a dysfunctional university. His course will feature his trademark color-commentary on documentary footage of topics related to science and the animal kingdom while forming an unusual bond with his student, fellow professors and the University mascot, “Honey,” a “nastya--” honey badger.

Charles Bishop and Kirk Schenck, the pair behind six-month-old Canadian production company Six Eleven Media, will serve as executive producers, along with comedian/writer Harland Williams. Christopher Gordon, the creator of Randall’s Honey Badger, Bricken Entertainment’s Bradford Bricken and Principal Entertainment’s Danny Sherman as well as Josh Kesselman are also attached as producers.

“Six Eleven was developing a university-based animated comedy following a professor who thinks he knows more than he really does, and his students, who know even less. When Randall’s Honey Badger videos took off last year garnering tens of millions of avid followers around the world, it seemed natural to merge the two concepts,” said Schenck in a statement.

The team plans to begin pitching the project to networks later this month. If sold, Honey Badger U will continue a growing trend of TV projects conceived in the digital world, where they can develop an initial fan base. Last last year, G4 announced it would develop Epic Meal Time, adapted from the cult YouTube cooking show created by Harley Morenstein.

The sales process coincides with the publication of the book, Honey Badger Don’t Care: Randall’s Guide to Crazy, Nastya-- Animals, and two new iPhone Apps. One app will house a honey badger role-playing game, narrated by Randall; the other will feature Randall’s now famous lines and other gems.

Watch a Honey Badger clip below.


via: The Hollywood Reporter