By Drew Grant 3/22 4:13pm

Viral Video

Video

Spring Break forever...until you stick a Q-tip in your ear. (THR)

The Girls of Spring Breakers: The Best Mashup of the Season?

You see, we put a question mark in the title because that way you will click through to find out whether The Hollywood Reporter‘s video combining scenes from Spring Breakers and HBO’s GIRLS is as great as we question it to be. But the truth is, you already know the answer. You’ve known it all along, deep down. This is obviously the best mashup you will be seeing for awhile. Honestly, they had us at “Spring Breakers meets Girls.” Enjoy. Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 7/10/12 7:15pm

off the record

tpe_straight

New York Times Public Editor’s Public Editor Is an Accidental Impostor

It’s safe to say that Matthew Callan, a 34-year-old book production editor, was no one’s go-to source for commentary when CNN anchor Anderson Cooper came out July 2. But in the Twitter tizzy to cover the breaking (if not surprising) news, at least two news outlets published a quip by Mr. Callan—only they attributed it to New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane.

Mr. Callan is the tweeter behind @TimesPublicEdit, a parody of Mr. Brisbane, whose handle is @thepubliceditor. Mr. Callan began the account in January, shortly after The Times published Mr. Brisbane now-infamous column, “Should the Times Be a Truth Vigilante?” asking if newspapers ought to fact-check all remarks made by newsmakers. Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 6/20/12 5:11pm

Annals of PR

Thanks to Sassy PR Department, CBS Battle Over Glass House Gets Interesting

In the wake of a judge’s ruling that ABC can go ahead with its voyeur reality show The Glass House despite its similarities to CBS’s Big Brother, CBS’s press department published a mock press release today announcing a new “ground-breaking and completely original new reality program”: Dancing on the Stars.

It states:

“This very creative enterprise will bring a new sense of energy and fun that’s totally unlike anything anywhere else, honest,” said a CBS spokesperson, who also revealed that the Company has been working with a secret team for several months on the creation of the series, which was completely developed by the people at CBS independent of any other programming on the air. “Given the current creative and legal environment in the reality programming business, we’re sure nobody will have any problem with this title or our upcoming half-hour comedy for primetime, POSTMODERN FAMILY.” Read More

By Drew Grant 4/03/12 4:29pm

Female Comedy

Lee Aronsohn's PMS attack (Getty Images)

Two and a Half Men Co-Creator Only Ironically Whining About ‘Labia Saturation’ in Comedy

Lee Aronsohn, showrunner, executive producer, and co-creator of Two and a Half Men, is nobly trying to take up the torch of blatant misogyny in the face of the crisis currently faced in comedy: women and their labia. As we all know, there has been a dearth recently of men yelling about how not funny women are ever since Christopher Hitchens passed away and Eddie Brill was fired from Letterman, but Mr. Aronsohn is obviously up to the challenge. (And should have extra time on his hands after his show dies.)

But Sunday while talking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, Mr. Aronsohn, who knows comedy when he sees it (which is why Two and a Half Men is the most critically lauded piece of humor writing around and is doing really well these days) just laid it all on the line re: his feelings about the comedic ability of ladies who talk about their gross, disgusting vaginas. He applauds them, but also thinks that it’s time to move on, you know? Read More

By Hunter Walker 11/30/11 9:50am

Hollywood Treatments

Illustration by Fred Harper.

The Tussle for Tinseltown: Hollywood Hellcats Throw Down Over Traffic, Influence

One weeknight late last month, TheWrap.com editor in chief Sharon Waxman sent an email to The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, Janice Min, shortly before 1 in the morning. Ms. Waxman asked Ms. Min if they could speak in person, privately, about how to improve the relationship between their publications. During the previous two days, Ms. Waxman had feuded with Ms. Min’s web editor, Joseph Kapsch, over a story on TheWrap that said Mr. Kapsch was considering leaving THR as part of an “editorial exodus” that saw three employees depart. Mr. Kapsch, who, as of this writing, remains employed at THR, blasted TheWrap, or, as he called it, “The Crap,” on Twitter and in a 600-word response he sent to the media blog FishbowlLA.

Prior to emailing Ms. Min, Ms. Waxman forwarded copies of Mr. Kapsch’s statements to two executives at THR’s parent company, Prometheus Global Media. She urged one to see how badly his employee was treating her. She told the other to watch his back.

“It’s kind of amusing, these blogger characters out here,” Ms. Min said, ever eager to remain above the fray. “They really enjoy ruminating and obsessing over what we do. It’s just part of the kooky Net landscape out here.”

Hollywood has always felt like a small town, but it may never have felt smaller than it does right now among the members of the city’s Hollywood press. For decades Daily Variety was the sector’s indisputed leader, the prime organ not only for scoops but for wild speculation, backroom smoke signals, trial balloons and brazen displays of wishful thinking as well. The Hollywood Reporter seemed content to take the number-two spot.

Then came Nikki. And Sharon. And Janice. And, never one to miss a party, Bonnie. Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 10/14/11 9:52am

Media Profiles

via NYPost.com

Former US Weekly Editor Janice Min Never Liked Celebrities; Always Liked Money

Back when Janice Min was editor of US Weekly, she seemed like a general in the celebrity-industrial complex’s war on culture.

Now that she’s editor of Prometheus’ glossy L.A. trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, she says she was always more of a mercenary.

“I found growing the business interesting, but I didn’t find the actual content interesting,” Read More