Ed Limato, Hollywood Talent Agent, Dead at 73
Hollywood talent agent Ed Limato—who represented stars such as Steve Martin, Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., and Denzel Washington during a 44 year career—died in his home today. He was 73 years old.
Cuts at McGraw-Hill & The Shakeup at Forbes
• McGraw-Hill, which announced recently that it's looking to get rid of BusinessWeek, has now announced plans to get rid of 550 employees. [WSJ]
• Jim Spanfeller, the president and CEO of Forbes.com, either decided to leave the company or was forced out, depending on who you talk to. [DF, NYT]
• As expected, the new…
The William Morris Assistants Lose Pay So the Endeavor Kids Won't Feel Bad
Toiling as an assistant within the smoldering bowels of newly-formed superagency William Morris Endeavor should, apparently, be its own reward. Because the $9.50 an hour the gig pays won't buy any other kind of reward.
Leonardo DiCaprio Just Can't Stop Kicking Supermodels to the Curb
Leo the Great dumped Bar Refaeli, Britney Spears is banging her agent at William Morris, Miley Cyrus dumped her boyfriend and is after Nick Jonas, Lauren Conrad's new novel will be horrendous, and David Carradine bought lots of sex toys.
Twitter, CNN, Fox News & Facebook
• How is Twitter going to make money? With a reality TV series, naturally. The show will involve "putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format," in case you were wondering. [Variety]
• The primetime lineups for next year "are chockablock with shows meant to make…
Google's Newspaper That Wasn't
Eric Schmidt now says Google thought about buying a newspaper but rejected the idea as "crossing the line" between technology and content. The real message for newspaper hacks: You're just not profitable. Compared with, say, TV and movies.
Ad Declines, Dowd In the Hot Seat & The New Newsweek
• Monthly mags continue to suffer: Ad pages have dropped by 23 percent on average, although the situation is particularly dire at Condé Nast. [NYP]
• Maureen Dowd landed in a bit of hot water after it was revealed she'd "borrowed" from blogger Josh Marshall for her op-ed column yesterday. She's since offered a…
Geffen's Bid, Palin's Book, A New NEA Chair
• Veteran theater producer Rocco Landesman has been nominated to be the next chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. [NYT]
• Why did David Geffen try to buy a stake in the New York Times? It wasn't because he thought he'd make money, that's for certain. [Newsweek]
• After taking some heat over a $75,000…
Assistant Sadness: The William Morris-Endeavor Merger
Two of the largest, most storied baby-eating factories talent agencies in the world are merging. But sometimes, in order to birth a monster, the assistants must suffer. We have a few firsthand accounts.
Marriage in Hollywood, A New Boss at USA Today
• William Morris and Endeavor have agreed to merge the two agencies. The new company will be called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, or WME, which should not be confused with WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment, although the testosterone and aggression levels are comparable. [WSJ, NYT]
• Is the New York Times…
Splits at the NYO and MySpace; Viacom's New Channel
• Chris DeWolfe is out as the CEO of News Corp.-owned MySpace. [CNN]
• More on Peter Kaplan's split from Jared Kushner's Observer, and the rumor Kaplan is now heading to Condé Nast Traveler. [NYT, WWD, DHD]
• ABC has renewed 12 series, including Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate…
Pulitzer Winners, New Books & New Talk Shows
• The 2009 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced today. [Pulitzer.org]
• It's been six years since the release of The Da Vinci Code, but Knopf says Dan Brown's latest, The Lost Symbol, will hit stores in September. [AP]
• Hollywood agencies Endeavor and William Morris appear to have cemented a merger, although an…
Comedy Central: America's No. 1 Cable News Network
• A new poll finds that one-third of Americans under 40 think The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are replacing "traditional" news outlets. [HP]
• Nickelodeon is asking kids to unplug their TVs and gadgets for a minute on Earth Day to signal "a commitment to helping the environment." Just a minute, though! Then…
The Stewart-Cramer Battle Rages On
• Jon Stewart ripped Jim Cramer apart once again on his show last night. And now Cramer is planning to appear on The Daily Show on Thursday. [Gawker]
• William Morris and Endeavor are said to be in merger talks. [NYT]
• Time Inc. chief Ann Moore says the company is thinking about turning Time.com and People.com…
Page Six Lies About Lie
Page Six is gloating this morning. Talent agency William Morris just sold its Beverly Hills headquarters for $143 million and the Post gossip section totally called it, even in the face of William Morris' heated denials. "We told you," brags Page Six. But here's the thing: It took three and a half years for Page Six's…
Britney Spears Does The Unthinkable: Looks Gorgeous, Laughs, And Dates A Normal Human Being
There’s nothing better than returning from a long weekend to discover not one but two incredibly positive stories about Britney Spears. Not only has the singer finally managed to make a public appearance looking downright hot, but she’s also begun dating a very eligible, scandal-free bachelor — William Morris agent…
Screenwriter Agency-Hopscotch For Visual Learners
Were you, like us, rendered an incapacitated, drooling mess after trying to slog through Variety's report on the agency-defection madness currently gripping the screenwriting trade? Perhaps you are simply a visual learner, in which case we've drafted for you a handy pictorial guide to the recent comings and goings…
Hollywood talent leery of stock-option deals, but agencies enthusiastic
Cash money, not equity, is what powers the entertainment industry. Especially when it comes to talent. In a possibly apocryphal but illustrative anecdote, legendary bluesman Albert King reportedly refused to leave the stage until he had cash in hand from the concert promoter, presumably because he'd been cheated out…
VC David Siminoff: "Hollywood people are not stupid"
Accel partner Jim Breyer and Venrock's David Siminoff plan to take money from Hollywood talent agency William Morris and AT&T to form a new fund, according to the New York Times. It will be financed with "tens of millions of dollars" and looks to invest as little as $250,000 in digital-media startups based in…
Freddie Prinze, Jr. Vs. Dave Wirtschafter
Despite having received a very public, strongly worded letter from Scary Hollywood Lawyer Bert Fields not too long ago, Page Six is stirring up some pretty entertaining shit with William Morris again. Who loves a feud? That's right: everyone.
