Can Dwight Schrute and his proud family tradition carry the weight of a spinoff?

On Wednesday, Deadline.com began the rumor mill by announcing that NBC was considering an Office spinoff starring Dwight, Schrute farms, beets and the whole Schrute family. The show would be slated to begin sometime in midseason of 2013.

According to Deadline, the genesis of the spinoff started with actor Rainn Wilson and Office executive producer Paul Lieberstein (a.k.a Toby). A Deadline source is quoted as saying, “Paul and Rainn have been joking for years about Dwight’s life on the farm, his family and how ill-suited he is to run a B&B. A while ago, it started to feel like a show to them. NBC agreed, it’s been further developed to include multiple generations, many cousins and neighbors. At its base it will be about a family farm struggling to survive and a family trying to stay together.”

Considering the poor track history of TV spinoffs (think Joey, The Brady Brides, Baywatch Nights), the proposal may initially come as a bit of a surprise. In fact, can you name even one or two spinoffs that went on to become successful? However, The Office has been one of NBC’s great pickups. Winning an Emmy in 2006 for best comedy series, and still drawing more than 6 million viewers per week in its eighth season, The Office has become the staple brand of  NBC.

If the spinoff is indeed in the works, it could signal for this to be the final season of the network’s prime-time draw. With Rainn, hypothetically, leaving to start the spinoff, and Ed Helms, John Krasinksi and Mindy Kaling all unsigned for next season, this could be the end of NBC’s most successful show. Could the show possibly continue without Andy, Jim, Kelly and possibly others? Doubtful. And as critics have opined, it may be for the best. After Steve Carell’s departure, the remaining core characters, and an infused James Spader as Sabre CEO, have been unable to save the show’s ratings from declining.

TV shows rarely last as long as The Office. For every Friends (10 seasons) and Cheers (11) there are dozens of shows that barely make it to a third season (wishfully hoping Whitney falls into this category), let alone past the pilot. And for those that do enjoy a long running voyage, few end with their dignity and ratings still intact (see Smallville). So, whether or not the spinoff becomes a hit with the 18 -49 demographic that has sustained Jim, Pam and Dwight’s long run, perhaps it’s all for the best.

Technorati Tags: dwight, jim and pam, office, schrute, spinoff, television show, the office, tv

Written By: Sarah Clausen

For movie buffs, the start of the new year means one thing: Awards Season. Starting in January it seems like nearly every week there is another awards show being held. So what are some of the different types of awards can a film receive?

One of the first awards show of the season is the Golden Globe awards. This annual ceremony and dinner recognizes the year’s best domestic and foreign films and television shows. The first Golden Globes were given out in January 1944 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Since 1961 the awards show has been held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The 2012 Golden Globes were held on January 15.

The Golden Globes are held annually in January

Those interested in the directorial aspects of film should be aware of the Directors Guild of America Awards. These annual awards are given out by the Directors Guild of America to films with outstanding direction. And interesting note about the DGA Awards is that only six times since the awards’ inception in 1949 has the winner of the Award for Feature Film not won the Academy Award for Best Director. The 2012 DGA Awards will take place on January 28.

A similar award is the Producers Guild of America Awards. A new addition to the field, they were started in 1990 as the Golden Laurel Awards. The Producers Guild of America seeks to honor and recognize those who produce motion pictures and television. The PGA Awards also have a good track record of predicting which film will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The 2012 PGA Awards were held on January 21.

Of course, one would be remiss to not mention the culminating awards show of the season, the Academy Awards. Also known as the Oscars, these awards have been given out since 1929 by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The nominees are voted on by the members of AMPAS, with the nominations being made public in late January of each year. The 2012 Academy Awards will be held on February 26.

The Oscar is given out at the Academy Awards

This is just a small sampling of the myriad awards presentations held each year. Whatever awards show you follow, the most important question is: Did you favorite film win?

Technorati Tags: academy awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, golden globes, hollywood, movie, Producers Guild of America Awards

Who doesn’t love Dakota Fanning? We adore this young actress, who began her career when she was merely five years of age. She impresses us for having been the youngest person in history to be nominated (for her role in “I Am Sam”) for a Screen Actor’s Guild Award. We first got to know Dakota through a Tide detergent commercial, followed by appearances on famous television shows like ER and Ally McBeal. We were enthralled by her appearance in TomCats, and we haven’t stopped following her since…

Most recently, we spotted Dakota Fanning wearing a Lemon Sorbet watch by Fruitz, which manufactures fun, colorful and fashionable timepieces.

Fruitz currently offers three collections: Fruitz Classic, Sorbet and Happy Hour. The Sorbet collection differs from the other two in that watches in this collection have expandable stainless steel bracelets, as opposed to watches in the other collections with have silicon straps.

All Fruitz watches, including the Lemon Sorbet that Dakota loves, have natural frequency technology disks embedded in their case backs. These disks are infused with the same frequency at which the earth resonates, and claim to relax and calm wearers.

Looks like Dakota Fanning is pretty relaxed in her Fruits watch, don’t you think? Well, apparently her watch has her in good spirits; as she says, “I am so happy to have one!”

Technorati Tags: dakota fanning, fruits, watches

Californian movie sets like this are growing ever more scarce by the year

In 2003, California’s world share of studio films – or, in other words, the movies made by the six biggest studios – was at a healthy 66 percent; by 2008 it had plummeted to a meager 34 percent. To question how Hollywood has slowly become the least popular place to make movies, is to trace the roots back to 1998, when Canada first started to offer incentive tax breaks for producers and crews who were willing to conduct business outside of California. Since then, seven U.S. states, and 24 different countries have begun competing with grants, rebates, and tax credits promising to eliminate as much as 40 percent of the cost for shooting a film.

Product of Vancouver, Canada

The reason behind the madness is simple economics; when a monstrous production arrives in any location, there are instantly a few hundred new jobs that pop up out of thin air (which is especially fantastic when the given city doesn’t have the money to build factories). California, which is currently suffering from a hard budget crisis, has managed to get ten feature films shot on location in Los Angeles by using what modest incentive the golden state could muster.

Perhaps the city of L.A. should offer up free gas masks or parking spots to those who do decide to continue making movies in California.

Technorati Tags: california, canada, crews, hollywood, movie, producers

Rupert Murdock

In a February 2nd conference call with Rupert Murdock, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to New-York based News Corporation admitted that movies directed by James Cameron had a tendency to go over budget; but, his decision to hedge much of the risk for “Avatar” out to other investors has ended up with the media mogul making a very expensive investor’s mistake.

After all, once history’s highest-grossing film is released on DVD and pay-to-view television, it is projected to earn $350 million to $400 million for Murdock’s corporation. This sum alone is only 40 percent  of the 1 billion-dollar cut that Twentieth Century Fox and “Avatar” investors are expected to earn, an astounding total that equals News Corp.’s average quarterly operating profit from 2009. So, as it turns out, instead of getting the whole cake, Mr. Generous gave New York-based Dune Entertainment LLC a 40 percent cut, and London-based Ingenious Media Holdings PLC  the left overs.

But News Corp hasn’t made a public profit forecast for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” so analysts have been left to their own devices to estimate a profit margin. Projections go from a low of $380 million in a proposal by Soleil Securities’ Alan Gould, to a high of $737 million, as proposed by Anthony DiClemente, a Barclays analyst who also considered another $220 million dollars in distribution during his calculations.

The movie that will make billions...believe it, or not.

There’s no reason to doubt that Murdock is disappointed with his doubting James Cameron’s vision of Pandora, since Box Office Mojo reported that the film has generated a whopping $2.64 billion in worldwide ticket sales as of Sunday, March 14th.

Technorati Tags: Avatar, James Cameron, News Corporation, Rupert Murdock

The cover of the Novel

“Water for Elephants,” the 2006 bestselling novel by Sara Gruen, is the story of a certain veterinary student who one day decided to quit school and runaway to join the circus. When someone decided to turn it into a movie, they hired Jim Elyea‘s to make sure that the period in history, around 1931, was so flawlessly reproduced that prop briefcases held by the Cornell University students would look authentic when shooting begins in Santa Paula, California this May.

Jim Elyea, the co-owner of History for Hire, a prop house in North Hollywood, immediately sets to work skimming through the one 1931 sears catalogue that he has stored away in his 5,000-book collection. He is looking for the right design, and selects the most appropriate model from 400 vintage briefcases. Elyea wouldn’t have a problem identifying the guitar and amp used by Elvis’ guitarist, Scotty Moore, nor the kid of powder horn that was blown during the American Civil War. He’s keen to details, and never wrong about his history.

With his wife and business partner, Pam, Jim Elyea has managed to keep this 25-year-old company thriving in a part of Hollywood that has suffered tremendously over the past decade. Their secret? Avoiding debt and focusing their business on hard-to-find historical props. The couple admits that the price reflects the research that goes into their inventory, but Pam explains her philosophy behind their meticulous nature as such:

Jim Elyea, Co-Owner of History for Hire

“Richard Attenborough told us that people learn their history from the movies, so it’s important to get it right.”

Apparently, they took the famed British documentarist’s words quite seriously.

Technorati Tags: authentic, history, Jim Elyea, prop

Sarver on the Left, James on the Right

Jeffrey Sarver, a 38-year-old sergeant in the army’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal, claims that he was the model for the main character in the movie the Hurt Locker,  and has therefore introduced a multimillion-dollar lawsuit after failing to receive any credit for his efforts.

In the film, Jeffrey was depicted as Will James (played by Jeremy Renner), the extreme risk-taker soldier who continuously pushes his bomb-disposing buddies to take ever-increasing risks while they’re out in the field; however, Summit Entertainment, the film’s distributors, asserts that the character is entirely fictitious.

Sarver, now armed with the infamously tough-as-nails lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger – who had worked on such controversial cases as that of Jack Kevorkian (aka Doctor Death) – are adamantly pressing the belief that a soldier’s life has been stolen by Hollywood. They draw the attention of the jury to the fact that Mark Boal, the screenwriter, was also a journalist who had essentially followed Sarver and a few other soldiers around for a report he was doing for Playboy magazine. They also mention how some of Boal’s best lines, including the title, were down right stolen straight from the soldier’s mouth (so to speak); for example, the nickname for Will James’ character, “Blaster One,” was actually Sarver’s call signal in the field.

The Movie Marquee

But, in spite of the evidence, there is still some speculation regarding whether of nor this lawsuit is built on noble grounds, since some propose this as just another ploy by the opposition to prevent a nominee from winning an Oscar. Whatever happens next, hopefully the man who actually owns the hurt locker receives the credit that he deserves – be it the soldier – or the man who brought the story to the masses.

Technorati Tags: credit, Hurt Locker, Jeffrey Sarver, lawsuit

Alice In Wonderland Theatrical Poster

Hot Topic and Barnes & Noble are currently offering an entire section of Alice in Wonderland merchandise, and a crowd of fans are already planning on going to the theatre upon release of the movie; so, why is the United States worrying about boosting sales with an early DVD release? Not only does Europe dislike the idea, but some English theater chains  are actually looking to boycott the film because of this great American decision. The movie opens on March 5th, and now the controversy also includes the people in charge of the film, but not just those who don’t like how the new film doesn’t match the old book.

Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel, Alice in Wonderland, is a classic story that has been animated and filmed several times over. It’s the tale of a young girl’s accidental journey into a rather ridiculous world, where she encounters bizarre creatures and the crazy situations in which they thrive. As it stands, the story has found it’s way into another movie, and, as usual, this movie plot won’t match up with the book.

This time, Tim Burton will direct this most recent cinematic

The Red Queen owns the dragon that terrorizes wonderland

interpretation of the story, which acts as a sequel to the original journey. It follows a 19 year old Alice, and her return to the place called Wonderland. And since TIm Burton’s vision is very different from Lewis Carroll’s, many people are upset and disappointed; oh well, at least this version is in 3-D.

Technorati Tags: alice in wonderland, controversy, DVD, movie, release

The Messenger Movie Marquee

Woody Harrelson says that he’s a changed man from his portrayal of Captain Stone, a veteran officer who returns from combat and gets assigned to the notification service with a young sergeant, Ben Foster. The movie, aptly titled “The Messenger,” shows how Harrelson‘s character maintains stiff military discipline, while he attempts to mentor the young Foster, who struggles with the tumultuous emotions of the families as they learn of their dead children.

But this self-proclaimed hippie does’t appear as a very likely candidate for the role of a soldier. Perhaps that is why he found it necessary to travel to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and converse with wounded soldiers and true-life notifications officers. Many fans and staff members, including screenwriter Alessandro Camon, agreed that the role was rather divergent from who Harrelson actually is in real life. But, in the end, the experience has helped him separate the wars from the people who fight them, and he has come out of it with a new perspective on soldiers: they are just people, who don’t make very much money as they join a national effort out of a profound love for their country.

Thanks to this veteran’s artistic dedication, Harrelson has been nominated for an Oscar for his work as Captain Tony Stone in the film, “The Messenger.”

The Hippie from Maui, Woody Harrelson

Technorati Tags: messenger, movie, woody harrelson