Studios maneuver into cloud technology

Studio execs discussed the opportunites afforded by the further implementation of cloud technology as they attempt to pin down a digital media business model and styme piracy during the Hollywood IT Summit at Pepperdine University Friday."There is great opportunity to drive down costs and improve implementation of services," Sony CIO Steve Andujar said, adding the cloud is also rewritig the way studios create and deliver content.On the production side, filmmakers are often using 10s of petabytes worth of data as they mine the newest digital and 3D technologies, which in turn drives up data usage for consumer delivery and stokes advances in presentation."HD is the new standard definition and there are 4K displays you are seeing at CES that are going to begin to transition into the home," Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner Bros. technical operations noted in conversation with Variety's David Cohen. But the promises of the cloud should be undertaken with caution Paramount CIO Abe Wong said, considering tech innovations advance with lightening speed and the cloud systems are relatively new."You have to look at possible vendor lock-in and what happens with your data once it is [on the cloud]," he said.While the cloud offers anytime-anywhere access to studio content, Antonellis said there is a disconnect between the services and experience Warner Bros. wants to offer consumers and the ability of network infrastructure to support those innovations.The recent disagreements between Hollywood and Silicon Vally also came to the fore Friday, as studio execs lick their wounds from the SOPA/PIPA backlash."[Google's] no. 1 goal, as it should be, is to improve their relevance, their engine. They want to connect you with your result in the least amount of clicks...where there might be tensions have to do with results returned. If the results for a film pop up a piracy site first we are going to have a problem with that," Antonellis said.The recent media attention on Wikileaks and hacktavists org Anonymous, which have become a threat to the studios data and bottome by advocating total Internet freedom by any means necessary, might galvanize Hollywood's IT honchos to beef up their security."Things like Wikileaks have really changed the game. Just because it is on our side of the firewall does not mean it is safe" Leo Collins, a customer advisor to Oracle and the moderator of the studio CIO panel said. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

John Pollono Makes Garland Honours With 'Small Engine Repair'

John Pollono Makes Garland Honours With 'Small Engine Repair' By L'ensemble des Spindle March 1, 2012 John Pollono continues to be honing his abilities like a playwright and actor since he showed up in La ten years ago. This past year the brand new Hampshireraised Pollono obtained a vital and audience triumph together with his searing dark comedy, "Small Engine Repair," that was presented by Rogue Machine inside a world-premiere run starting in April 2011 at L.A.'s Theatre/Theater. Now it's gained Back Stage Garland Honours for that production, for Pollono's script, as well as for the 4-member ensemble cast, including him.This fortuitous news follows previous honors for Pollono's labor-of-love project. It netted Ovation Honours from LA Stage Alliance for play within an intimate theater, acting ensemble, and director (Andrew Block). Lately it obtained La Drama Experts Circle Honours nominations for production, Block's direction, and Pollono's script. Finally, it's received L.A. Weekly Theater Award nominations for production, direction (Block), ensemble, and playwriting.Pollono is within discussions for future productions in addition to a film adaptation. So how exactly does a blue-collar boy from the Colonial burg respond to this type of career breakthrough? "In my opinion I've discovered my voice with this particular play, that has been more effective than anything I have written," he states. "It isn't exactly autobiographical, but it is extremely personal for the reason that it's according to composites of my buddies and where I was raised."Occur a gritty machine shop in Nh, the play begins out like a male-connecting story having a slice-of-existence feel and lots of testosterone-billed bravado, la David Mamet. The humorous reunion of three 30-something childhood pals gets to be more intriguing when tensions arise, and also the narrative spins several surprises, resulting in a Hitchcock-worthy twist.Pollono thinks that because his earlier forays into writing had not attracted from his existence encounters, they didn't have dramatic potency and honesty. "I began out writing scripts about cowboys and detectives," he states. "After I was an British major in college, I began to consider it more seriously. I Quickly visited film school. After I moved to L.A., I began taking classes in a conservatory and doing moments. That is what kind of opened up me as much as our planet.InchAt school, Pollono met his then wife-to-be, Jennifer, plus they began Jabberwocky Theatre Company in 2004. "We did several one-act plays, and that i authored, like, 1 / 2 of them," Pollono states. "I Quickly was hooked I began writing much more. I authored a very bad novel along with a screenplayjust attempting to figure my stuff out. I eventually started to uncover that character-based dialoguesuch as in 'Small Engine Repair'is where I stand out." In 2006, when planning the premiere manufacture of his play "Lost and locatedInch in L.A., Pollono published an online notice for any director. One respondent was John Perrin Flynn, an experienced director-producer in theater and tv ("Fantasy Island") who was reactivating the love for theater following a finish of his series "Strong Medicine." The simpatico working relationship between Flynn and Pollono motivated the males to achieve tax-exempt status for Jabberwocky. Became a member of with a core of co-workers, the organization morphed in to the highly adventurous Rogue Machine, which opened up at L.A.'s Theatre/Theater in 2008. The organization has since gained critical acclaim and many theater honours.Pollono describes how "Small Engine Repair" increased from the late-evening series that his wife was creating at Rogue Machine: "That play was this type of lesson for me personally I'd something I needed to say with this particular play, and that i gave myself license to get it done provocatively. I felt it might help attract a far more daring crowd for the late-evening fare." Pollono, who required a job using the ensemble cast, was happy to realize that the piece resonated using the open-minded late-evening crowds. He notes, "Women associated with it with an even much deeper level than males did. Women got that there is sort of the feminist story underneath exactly what happening.InchDodgy Machine made the decision to maneuver the development in the late-evening slot and turn it into a primary-stage offering. Pollono was amazed at how effective it grew to become: "I understood the demographic audience I had been writing it for want it, however i did not expect the larger audience to embrace it so strongly, particularly the experts. Some everyone was returning three-four occasions and getting their buddies. It had been pleasing to possess women show up and say they were not delay incidentally a mans figures spoken." Some resonant the process of social-networking etiquette will also be elevated in the play, though such styles was not Pollono's first concern on paper it. "It had not been my intention to create a diatribe against the web,Inch states Pollono. "I simply desired to create thoughtful figures inside a scenario."What's next? While his recent focus continues to be on theater, Pollono is constantly on the pursue film and tv work. He states, "Theater will invariably take part in my existence and can always help to keep us a better author and actor. However I also love the larger canvas. The past couple of years, my mantra is to simply keep working together with individuals and doing stuff. I simply finished writing my first TV pilot, that we sent. This past year I began a very ambitious play that's way to avoid it of my safe place. It is a period piece that happens within the 1800s in Boston, and it is very theatrical. It's been probably the most difficult factor I have written, but I am adhering into it. I in addition have a handful of scripts that I am focusing on. There is a large amount of great possibilities available, and that i simply need to keep determining what's coming next." John Pollono Makes Garland Honours With 'Small Engine Repair' By L'ensemble des Spindle March 1, 2012 John Pollono continues to be honing his abilities like a playwright and actor since he showed up in La ten years ago. This past year the brand new Hampshireraised Pollono obtained a vital and audience triumph together with his searing dark comedy, "Small Engine Repair," that was presented by Rogue Machine inside a world-premiere run starting in April 2011 at L.A.'s Theatre/Theater. Now it's gained Back Stage Garland Honours for that production, for Pollono's script, but for the four-member ensemble cast, including him.This fortuitous news follows previous honors for Pollono's labor-of-love project. It netted Ovation Honours from LA Stage Alliance for play within an intimate theater, acting ensemble, and director (Andrew Block). Lately it obtained La Drama Experts Circle Honours nominations for production, Block's direction, and Pollono's script. Finally, it's received L.A. Weekly Theater Award nominations for production, direction (Block), ensemble, and playwriting.Pollono is within discussions for future productions in addition to a film adaptation. So how exactly does a blue-collar boy from the Colonial burg respond to this type of career breakthrough? "In my opinion I've discovered my voice with this particular play, that has been more effective than anything I have written," he states. "It isn't exactly autobiographical, but it is very personal for the reason that it's according to composites of my buddies and where I was raised."Occur a gritty machine shop in Nh, the play begins out like a male-connecting story having a slice-of-existence feel and lots of testosterone-billed bravado, la David Mamet. The humorous reunion of three 30-something childhood pals gets to be more intriguing when tensions arise, and also the narrative spins several surprises, resulting in a Hitchcock-worthy twist.Pollono thinks that because his earlier forays into writing had not attracted from his existence encounters, they didn't have dramatic potency and honesty. "I began out writing scripts about cowboys and detectives," he states. "After I was an British major attending college, I began to consider it more seriously. I Quickly visited film school. After I moved to L.A., I began taking classes in a conservatory and doing moments. That is what kind of opened up me as much as our planet.InchAt school, Pollono met his then wife-to-be, Jennifer, plus they began Jabberwocky Theatre Company in 2004. "We did several one-act plays, and that i authored, like, 1 / 2 of them," Pollono states. "I Quickly was hooked I began writing much more. I authored a very bad novel along with a screenplayjust attempting to figure my stuff out. I eventually started to uncover that character-based dialoguesuch as with 'Small Engine Repair'is where I stand out." In 2006, when planning the premiere manufacture of his play "Lost and locatedInch in L.A., Pollono published an online notice for any director. One respondent was John Perrin Flynn, an experienced director-producer in theater and tv ("Fantasy Island") who had been reactivating the love for theater following a finish of his series "Strong Medicine." The simpatico working relationship between Flynn and Pollono motivated the males to achieve tax-exempt status for Jabberwocky. Became a member of with a core of co-workers, the organization morphed in to the highly adventurous Rogue Machine, which opened up at L.A.'s Theatre/Theater in 2008. The organization has since gained critical acclaim and many theater honours.Pollono describes how "Small Engine Repair" increased from the late-evening series that his wife was creating at Rogue Machine: "That play was this type of lesson for me personally I'd something I needed to state with this particular play, and that i gave myself license to get it done provocatively. I felt it might help attract a far more daring crowd for that late-evening fare." Pollono, who required a job using the ensemble cast, was happy to realize that the piece resonated using the open-minded late-evening crowds. He notes, "Women associated with it with an even much deeper level than males did. Women got that there is kind of a feminist story underneath exactly what happening.InchDodgy Machine made the decision to maneuver the development in the late-evening slot and turn it into a primary-stage offering. Pollono was amazed at how effective it grew to become: "I understood the demographic audience I had been writing it for want it, however i did not expect the larger audience to embrace it so strongly, particularly the experts. Many people were returning three-four occasions and getting their buddies. It had been pleasing to possess women show up and say they were not delay incidentally a mans figures spoken." Some resonant the process of social-networking etiquette will also be elevated within the play, though such styles was not Pollono's first concern on paper it. "It had not been my intention to create a diatribe from the Internet," states Pollono. "I simply desired to create thoughtful figures inside a scenario."What's next? While his recent focus continues to be on theater, Pollono is constantly on the pursue film and tv work. He states, "Theater will invariably take part in my existence and can always help to keep us a better author and actor. However I also love the larger canvas. Yesteryear couple of years, my mantra is to simply keep working together with individuals and doing stuff. I simply finished writing my first TV pilot, that we sent. This past year I began a very ambitious play that's way to avoid it of my safe place. It is a period piece that happens within the 1800s in Boston, and it is very theatrical. It has been probably the most difficult factor I have written, but I am adhering into it. I in addition have a handful of scripts that I am focusing on. There's lots of great possibilities available, and that i simply need to keep determining what's coming next."

Sammy Davis Jr.'s Daughter Kindly Asks Twitter to Leave Billy Crystal Alone

I mean, of all the things bringing down that Oscar intro, Twitter jumped on this? "'I am 100 percent certain that my father is smiling. [...] Billy previously played my father when he was alive, and my father gave Billy his full blessing,' she continues, noting that Saturday Night Live gave the imitation 'legendary status.' [... Tracey] Davis, now 50, does however take issue with using the word 'blackface,' attributing the term born in the 1800s to describe white actors in makeup playing black characters, to early film stars such as Al Jolson, not Crystal, per se." [THR]

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck Welcome Their Third Child

Cheers to Jimmy Fallon for proving he's got the beat - comedically speaking. Want more Cheers & Jeers? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now! Saturday Night Live used to be TV's premiere late-night musical showcase, but after its recent run of off-key guests (Lana Del Rey, Karmin, Sleigh Bells), the skitcom's alum has... Read More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

FX sets June 28 launch for four series

FX has set June 28 for launches of its new series "Anger Management" and "Strangely Uplifting" as well as the return of comedies "Louie" and "Wilfred." "Anger Management" is a half-hour laffer starring Charlie Sheen, based on the feature starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Veteran TV writer Bruce Helford is showrunner. Cabler bought the show from producers Debmar-Mercury and Lionsgate under the same business model used for the Tyler Perry comedies that air on TBS. FX has ordered 10 episodes, and if they reach a sufficiently high ratings threshold, 90 more episodes will automatically be greenlit for production. For its June 28 debut, "Anger Management" will air back to back at 9 and 9:30 p.m. In the following weeks, a repeat will air at 9 o'clock and then a new episode will immediately follow. Helford will exec produce with Joe Roth, Mark Burg and Dave Caplan. At 10 and 10:30 p.m. each Thursday, FX will air season two of "Wilfred" and season three of "Louie," respectively. "Wilfred," a story of a twentysomething slacker who imagines he has a friendship with a neighbor's dog, was adapted from the Australian TV series and stars Elijah Wood and Jason Gann. The first season ranks as FX's most-watched freshman comedy, averaging 2.2 million viewers per episode and 3.8 million over cumulative airings. Show was adapted by David Zuckerman and is produced by FX Prods. "Louie," also produced by FX Prods., stars and comedian Louis C.K., who also writes and directs. In season two, the skein drew 1.4 million viewers and 2.6 million over a multi-run of episodes. FX has ordered 13 episodes for the new seasons of both "Wilfred" and "Louie." New to the latenight fray, the half-hour "Strangely Uplifting" will see comedian Russell Brand interacting with a live audience on topical events. The series was supposed to begin in spring but had to be moved to summer to accommodate Brand's film schedule. It will air weekly for six episodes. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Social TV Survey: Social Networks Are Leading to You To Definitely Watch More TV!

Nick Jonas may be popping in tonight to see a classic theater kid-switched-sitcom star, but it's Katharine McPhee's Karen who matures - and evolves a spine - when rehearsals for Marilyn: The Musical finally get showed up. "We'll see her enter her,In . states the triple-threat stunner, whose character will receive a considerably-needed lesson in working what she will get, because of some helpful fellow chorus people together with a kick-ass Adele tune. Discover More > Other Links From TVGuide.com American IdolSteven SpielbergKatharine McPheeNick JonasAdeleSmash

Gary Busey Files for Bankruptcy

Gary Busey Gary Busey has filed for bankruptcy, The Associated Press reports.The actor, known for his Academy Award-nominated performance in 1978's The Buddy Holly Story (and his hard living), has listed more than $500,000 in personal debts and less than $50,000 in assets.Cheers & Jeers: Wife Swapping with the "stars"Though he did not state a reason for Tuesday's filing in Los Angeles, his manager said that it will provide Busey a "new and clear path" to personal and career success.In early January, Busey, 67, appeared in an episode of ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap. He was on the second season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and the fourth season of Celebrity Apprentice, besides starring in the films Point Break and Lethal Weapon.