Spotlight on Regional Auditions

Regional Auditions Spotlight on Regional Auditions Make the most of your experience at a regional combined audition. By Mark Dundas Wood December 29, 2011 Attending a regional combined audition can be like playing the cymbals in an orchestra: You sit patiently in a stiff tuxedo, waiting for your big moment of crashing truth, and then, before you know it, it's over. Actors may plan several months for the big day, drive overnight to get there, and pay for a hotel room, and when their few seconds in the spotlight are over, they're left like Peggy Lee, wondering, "Is that all there is to a regional combined audition?"With any luck, the answer will be no, and your audition will be followed by several theaters and producers inviting you to their callbacks, which will offer you an array of choices for summer employment or even long-term gigs. But whether you're lucky or not, you'll want to get your time and money's worth from any combined audition event. To help with that goal, Back Stage spoke with audition administrators and a few veteran auditionees.Planning Ahead Selecting the audition or auditions you'll attend is the first step. Geographical proximity is obviously a big factor, but you may find that you'll need to travel farther to meet your needs. The websites of the various combined auditions and theater conferences will tell you what each one entails and which theaters will be sending representatives. For instance, if you're a college student, the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions in Memphis, Tenn., which cater to established professionals, might not be the best fit, whereas NY City's StrawHat Auditions, which offer many summer-only jobs for nonunion newcomers, could be just the ticket.Ryan MacConnell, a musical theater student at Ithaca College who auditioned last year at the New England Theatre Conference in Natick, Mass. (he also had a behind-the-scenes administrative job there), thinks attending multiple audition events may not make sense. Many theaters and producers, he says, are represented at both StrawHat and NETC, for example. If you're on a tight budget, you should choose the one that is most likely to bring you success.Once you know which theaters will be attending a combined audition, it's a good idea to learn what shows they'll be doing in the upcoming season and begin looking for trends, suggests Todd Zehrer, a 2011 graduate of Millikin University who recently moved to New York. Zehrer has attended both UPTA and the MidWest Theatre Auditions, which are held at Webster University in St. Louis. "I know that in the year coming up, 'Legally Blonde' is really popular," he says. "If you're the kind of person who's dead-on the right type for a show that's happening at a lot of different theaters, it might be smart to really market yourself for that show." List of 2012 Regional Combined Auditions Getting There Traveling to regional combined auditions can be expensive, especially if you're going alone. Rachel Swartz, now an MFA student at the University of Southern Mississippi, drove by herself from Ohio to NY for StrawHat. "I learned a very valuable lesson," she says. "Ohio girls don't belong driving in NY City. It was terrifying. I parked my car at the hotel and didn't take it out again until it was time to come home."Meg Maley, a senior at Baldwin-Wallace College, remembers a similarly "insane" trip from Ohio to NY for StrawHat. She and her classmates performed "Rent" on campus on Sunday evening, drove through the night to their Monday auditions, stayed in NY overnight, then drove back the next day in time for their Tuesday-night "Rent" curtain.That sort of madcap road trip may be one for the memory book, but it's probably not conducive to delivering your best audition. The stress of the drive had a negative effect on Swartz's StrawHat performance. "That was a bit of a flop for me," she recalls. If you have the time, you might want to combine business with pleasure by making the trip a mini-vacation. When Swartz traveled to Memphis for UPTA, the trek was much more relaxed. She arrived a couple of days ahead of time, visited the local zoo, and spent time resting before the auditions. "And it was kind of wonderful to have my car down there," she says.Traveling with other actorsassuming you're compatible, of coursecan make a long trip more enjoyable, even if you don't have time to stop and see the sights along the way. April J'Callahan Marshall, director of professional theater services for the Southeastern Theatre Conference, notes that SETC helps actors find both travel partners and roommates. If you're journeying a very long distance, you might consider flying at least part of the way.Once you reach your destination, you'll need a way to get aroundbut that doesn't necessarily mean renting a car. Peter Sargent, auditions coordinator for MWTA, says some hotels in St. Louis provide shuttle service to and from the Webster campus to accommodate auditionees. Staying There Some actors prefer to avoid hotel costs altogether. If you live relatively close to the event's host city, you can be a day tripper, but as MacConnell points out, callbacks can last late into the evening, and you may find that splurging on a room for the night will keep you (and your carpool mates) from getting restless or impatient as the hours tick by. If you have friends or relatives who live nearby, you can save money by staying with them. "Any trip to NY, you call your friends from the past," says Maley, noting that many Baldwin-Wallace alumni have relocated to the city and are willing to host former classmates.If you stay at a hotel, consider doubling, tripling, or quadrupling up. Swartz thinks it's "nonsense" to spend $300 per night on a room for one: "I've yet to go to a conference where, if I wasn't staying with my buddies, I didn't run into 15 that I could have stayed with." Such group adventures may have stressful moments, but when everyone cooperates, things can turn out well. "If you don't mind six girls getting ready in one bathroom," Swartz says, "it's a worthwhile experienceif for nothing else than the stories of being with five other actors in a hotel room at the most dreadful point in their year."According to Swartz, there are definite advantages to staying at the hotel where the auditions are being held: "It was so nice when, if I needed five extra headshots or I needed my tap shoes, they were there, rather than having to get across town and miss a callback that could be a potential job, because you needed something you didn't have. I tried lugging around a whole bag of dance shoes and music books and everything one year, and it was just a terrible mistake."Sometimes hotels will offer special deals. Joseph Juliano Jr., auditions chairperson for NETC, says Natick's Crowne Plaza Hotel, which hosts NETC's auditions, has provided meal vouchers to entice actors to lodge there. Similarly, says Sargent, MWTA works with hotels in St. Louis to keep costs low, while Webster University keeps its food service outlet open so attendees won't have to buy expensive meals elsewhere.Things to Do When a regional combined audition is held in conjunction with a theater conference, you may find all sorts of theater-related events that can augment the value of attending. According to Marshall, a vast number of enriching opportunities can be found at SETC's professional auditions, held in the spring and fall, including social events, master classes with renowned teachers, 300 workshops, and six theater festivals (featuring about 50 shows). Swartz, for instance, took a workshop on "Shakespeare and scrolls" in 2010, which demonstrated "a way of doing Shakespeare as it might have been done" originally, she says, "reading straight from the page."Some theater conferences keep their auditions separate from their other activities. Juliano explains that although NETC has considered creating one large event, it continues to hold its annual convention in November and its combined auditions in March, as the two tend to attract completely different attendees. But if actors are traveling a long distance for NETC's auditions, they can still find plenty of shows and other theater-related activities to enjoy in nearby Bostonor even use the trip as a chance to check out the theater scene in NY.Likewise, auditionees at other events can find things to do in those cities. While attending MWTA in 2010, Zehrer and his fellow actors saw a production of "Spring Awakening" at St. Louis' Fox Theatre. When in Memphis for UPTA, he attended a blues concert.People to See Another way to add value to your experience is by networking, both with theater representatives and with other actors. Networking was "the biggest benefit" of his attending last year's NETC auditions, says MacConnell, explaining that the layout of the audition area was especially conducive to mingling with others: "All these people are in this huge hallway together for hours, so you're just talking to everyone. Producers will walk in the halls and sometimes grab someone aside and talk to them or say, 'I remember seeing you last year. You've improved a lot.' "At the NETC auditions, MacConnell became acquainted with some students from Syracuse University and they spent time hanging out after callbacks. He later saw them again when he attended one of Syracuse's theater productions. "And then everybody requests each other on Facebook after that weekend," he adds. "It's like everyone goes nuts trying to figure out each other's connections. If you have to reach out, now you know those people, even if you're not the best of friends."When Swartz was offered a job with the outdoor historical drama "The Lost Colony" in Manteo, N.C., she remembered someone who had worked there. "I was able to call my friend Max that I met being No. 87 at UPTAs that year," she says. "So it's kind of neat. It's interesting to see where you end up running into these people, over and over and over again."Zehrer and Swartz say the hotel bar is a good place to interact, both with fellow actors and with theater reps. "All the casting directors seem to go down there afterwards," Swartz notes, "and they want to meet everybody that they saw for 90 seconds and talk to them there and get to know you on a more casual level, rather than just hearing 'your best 16.' I know for a fact that I've booked several jobs after just sitting down with a director for an hour or so and having a couple of drinks and just relaxing."Time to Keep Actors don't have much downtime on audition day. In fact, one of the most important skills that auditionees mention for enhancing your success at combined auditions is time management, especially when it comes to scheduling callbacks. If you're fortunate to get a number of them, Zehrer says, you may find yourself scrambling to attend them all. He has usually been able to schedule meetings with his top choices, but "you definitely have to prioritize and map out your route," he says.If you've done your research and kept track of who's who and which theaters will be producing which shows, then you should be able to sort out your options satisfactorily. Maley recalls that in preparing for callbacks, she kept a small notebook listing all the theaters represented at the event, their locations, the shows they were staging, and their payment policies. "It's sometimes hard to navigate when there are so many theaters there and so many people," she says. "If you kind of have an idea of where you fit in their seasons,it makes it easier for them, and for you." Spotlight on Regional Auditions Make the most of your experience at a regional combined audition. By Mark Dundas Wood December 29, 2011 Attending a regional combined audition can be like playing the cymbals in an orchestra: You sit patiently in a stiff tuxedo, waiting for your big moment of crashing truth, and then, before you know it, it's over. Actors may plan several months for the big day, drive overnight to get there, and pay for a hotel room, and when their few seconds in the spotlight are over, they're left like Peggy Lee, wondering, "Is that all there is to a regional combined audition?"With any luck, the answer will be no, and your audition will be followed by several theaters and producers inviting you to their callbacks, which will offer you an array of choices for summer employment or even long-term gigs. But whether you're lucky or not, you'll want to get your time and money's worth from any combined audition event. To help with that goal, Back Stage spoke with audition administrators and a few veteran auditionees.Planning Ahead Selecting the audition or auditions you'll attend is the first step. Geographical proximity is obviously a big factor, but you may find that you'll need to travel farther to meet your needs. The websites of the various combined auditions and theater conferences will tell you what each one entails and which theaters will be sending representatives. For instance, if you're a college student, the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions in Memphis, Tenn., which cater to established professionals, might not be the best fit, whereas NY City's StrawHat Auditions, which offer many summer-only jobs for nonunion newcomers, could be just the ticket.Ryan MacConnell, a musical theater student at Ithaca College who auditioned last year at the New England Theatre Conference in Natick, Mass. (he also had a behind-the-scenes administrative job there), thinks attending multiple audition events may not make sense. Many theaters and producers, he says, are represented at both StrawHat and NETC, for example. If you're on a tight budget, you should choose the one that is most likely to bring you success.Once you know which theaters will be attending a combined audition, it's a good idea to learn what shows they'll be doing in the upcoming season and begin looking for trends, suggests Todd Zehrer, a 2011 graduate of Millikin University who recently moved to NY. Zehrer has attended both UPTA and the MidWest Theatre Auditions, which are held at Webster University in St. Louis. "I know that in the year coming up, 'Legally Blonde' is really popular," he says. "If you're the kind of person who's dead-on the right type for a show that's happening at a lot of different theaters, it might be smart to really market yourself for that show."List of 2012 Regional Combined Auditions Getting There Traveling to regional combined auditions can be expensive, especially if you're going alone. Rachel Swartz, now an MFA student at the University of Southern Mississippi, drove by herself from Ohio to NY for StrawHat. "I learned a very valuable lesson," she says. "Ohio girls don't belong driving in NY City. It was terrifying. I parked my car at the hotel and didn't take it out again until it was time to come home."Meg Maley, a senior at Baldwin-Wallace College, remembers a similarly "insane" trip from Ohio to NY for StrawHat. She and her classmates performed "Rent" on campus on Sunday evening, drove through the night to their Monday auditions, stayed in NY overnight, then drove back the next day in time for their Tuesday-night "Rent" curtain.That sort of madcap road trip may be one for the memory book, but it's probably not conducive to delivering your best audition. The stress of the drive had a negative effect on Swartz's StrawHat performance. "That was a bit of a flop for me," she recalls. If you have the time, you might want to combine business with pleasure by making the trip a mini-vacation. When Swartz traveled to Memphis for UPTA, the trek was much more relaxed. She arrived a couple of days ahead of time, visited the local zoo, and spent time resting before the auditions. "And it was kind of wonderful to have my car down there," she says.Traveling with other actorsassuming you're compatible, of coursecan make a long trip more enjoyable, even if you don't have time to stop and see the sights along the way. April J'Callahan Marshall, director of professional theater services for the Southeastern Theatre Conference, notes that SETC helps actors find both travel partners and roommates. If you're journeying a very long distance, you might consider flying at least part of the way.Once you reach your destination, you'll need a way to get aroundbut that doesn't necessarily mean renting a car. Peter Sargent, auditions coordinator for MWTA, says some hotels in St. Louis provide shuttle service to and from the Webster campus to accommodate auditionees. Staying There Some actors prefer to avoid hotel costs altogether. If you live relatively close to the event's host city, you can be a day tripper, but as MacConnell points out, callbacks can last late into the evening, and you may find that splurging on a room for the night will keep you (and your carpool mates) from getting restless or impatient as the hours tick by. If you have friends or relatives who live nearby, you can save money by staying with them. "Any trip to NY, you call your friends from the past," says Maley, noting that many Baldwin-Wallace alumni have relocated to the city and are willing to host former classmates.If you stay at a hotel, consider doubling, tripling, or quadrupling up. Swartz thinks it's "nonsense" to spend $300 per night on a room for one: "I've yet to go to a conference where, if I wasn't staying with my buddies, I didn't run into 15 that I could have stayed with." Such group adventures may have stressful moments, but when everyone cooperates, things can turn out well. "If you don't mind six girls getting ready in one bathroom," Swartz says, "it's a worthwhile experienceif for nothing else than the stories of being with five other actors in a hotel room at the most dreadful point in their year."According to Swartz, there are definite advantages to staying at the hotel where the auditions are being held: "It was so nice when, if I needed five extra headshots or I needed my tap shoes, they were there, rather than having to get across town and miss a callback that could be a potential job, because you needed something you didn't have. I tried lugging around a whole bag of dance shoes and music books and everything one year, and it was just a terrible mistake."Sometimes hotels will offer special deals. Joseph Juliano Jr., auditions chairperson for NETC, says Natick's Crowne Plaza Hotel, which hosts NETC's auditions, has provided meal vouchers to entice actors to lodge there. Similarly, says Sargent, MWTA works with hotels in St. Louis to keep costs low, while Webster University keeps its food service outlet open so attendees won't have to buy expensive meals elsewhere.Things to Do When a regional combined audition is held in conjunction with a theater conference, you may find all sorts of theater-related events that can augment the value of attending. According to Marshall, a vast number of enriching opportunities can be found at SETC's professional auditions, held in the spring and fall, including social events, master classes with renowned teachers, 300 workshops, and six theater festivals (featuring about 50 shows). Swartz, for instance, took a workshop on "Shakespeare and scrolls" in 2010, which demonstrated "a way of doing Shakespeare as it might have been done" originally, she says, "reading straight from the page."Some theater conferences keep their auditions separate from their other activities. Juliano explains that although NETC has considered creating one large event, it continues to hold its annual convention in November and its combined auditions in March, as the two tend to attract completely different attendees. But if actors are traveling a long distance for NETC's auditions, they can still find plenty of shows and other theater-related activities to enjoy in nearby Bostonor even use the trip as a chance to check out the theater scene in NY.Likewise, auditionees at other events can find things to do in those cities. While attending MWTA in 2010, Zehrer and his fellow actors saw a production of "Spring Awakening" at St. Louis' Fox Theatre. When in Memphis for UPTA, he attended a blues concert.People to See Another way to add value to your experience is by networking, both with theater representatives and with other actors. Networking was "the biggest benefit" of his attending last year's NETC auditions, says MacConnell, explaining that the layout of the audition area was especially conducive to mingling with others: "All these people are in this huge hallway together for hours, so you're just talking to everyone. Producers will walk in the halls and sometimes grab someone aside and talk to them or say, 'I remember seeing you last year. You've improved a lot.' "At the NETC auditions, MacConnell became acquainted with some students from Syracuse University and they spent time hanging out after callbacks. He later saw them again when he attended one of Syracuse's theater productions. "And then everybody requests each other on Facebook after that weekend," he adds. "It's like everyone goes nuts trying to figure out each other's connections. If you have to reach out, now you know those people, even if you're not the best of friends."When Swartz was offered a job with the outdoor historical drama "The Lost Colony" in Manteo, N.C., she remembered someone who had worked there. "I was able to call my friend Max that I met being No. 87 at UPTAs that year," she says. "So it's kind of neat. It's interesting to see where you end up running into these people, over and over and over again."Zehrer and Swartz say the hotel bar is a good place to interact, both with fellow actors and with theater reps. "All the casting directors seem to go down there afterwards," Swartz notes, "and they want to meet everybody that they saw for 90 seconds and talk to them there and get to know you on a more casual level, rather than just hearing 'your best 16.' I know for a fact that I've booked several jobs after just sitting down with a director for an hour or so and having a couple of drinks and just relaxing."Time to Keep Actors don't have much downtime on audition day. In fact, one of the most important skills that auditionees mention for enhancing your success at combined auditions is time management, especially when it comes to scheduling callbacks. If you're fortunate to get a number of them, Zehrer says, you may find yourself scrambling to attend them all. He has usually been able to schedule meetings with his top choices, but "you definitely have to prioritize and map out your route," he says.If you've done your research and kept track of who's who and which theaters will be producing which shows, then you should be able to sort out your options satisfactorily. Maley recalls that in preparing for callbacks, she kept a small notebook listing all the theaters represented at the event, their locations, the shows they were staging, and their payment policies. "It's sometimes hard to navigate when there are so many theaters there and so many people," she says. "If you kind of have an idea of where you fit in their seasons,it makes it easier for them, and for you."

Animator Vincent Cafarelli dies

Vincent Cafarelli, a mainstay inside the NY animation industry more than six decades, died of natural causes in Brooklyn on 12 ,. 1. He was 81. Cafarelli began on the market in 1948 while still a teenager, being an assistant animator at Paramount's Famous Art galleries on characteristics including classic figures for instance Popeye, Little Audrey and Baby Huey. He eventually found behave as an animator-director at many of the primary art galleries in Manhattan including UPA, Gifford Animation, Stars and Stripes Prods. (where he directed and animated over 300 place ads) and Perpetual Movies. At the begining of sixties Cafarelli labored with Pablo Ferro on film graphics for Stanley Kubrick london, where they created game game titles for your 1964 Tulsi Dearden-directed feature "Lady of Hay," starring Sean Connery, among other projects. In NY at Animation Central after which at Kim & Gifford Studio, he animated r / c comics Bob and Ray in many ads for Piel's beer ads and actress Margaret Hamilton for nice Bread. Three Decades Ago, Cafarelli and Chocolate Kugel increased being the creative team at Buzzco Prods., they and Marilyn Kraemer produced Buzzco Affiliate marketers in 1985, with Cafarelli as leader/co-creative director. Cafarelli directed hundreds of spots for major ad campaigns and television special deals throughout his career, including some featuring famous figures such as the Berenstain Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Their output of ads aside, Cafarelli and Kugel produced, animated and director numerous independent shorts that won critical acclaim additionally to honours at film festivals including Annecy, Stuttgart, Rome, Rio and London. "KnitWits" opened up on opening evening in the 1997 NY Film Festival with Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm." Numerous their shorts will be in the film range of the Museum of recent Art. Vincent Ernest Cafarelli was produced in 1930 in Brooklyn and offered couple of years inside the Military from 1951-53, used in Fort Benning's graphics department. He's managed to get by his wife, Francisca a daughter and five grandchildren. A memorial service will probably be held on Jan. 6, with particulars being introduced later. Donations may be made to the Brooklyn Museum. Correspondence may be shipped to (and extra information received from) Chocolate Kugel, Buzzco Affiliate marketers, 33 Bleecker St., NY, NY 10012 or at 212-473-8800 or 917-309-5449. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Top 5 Favorite Christmas Movie Toys

A lot of classic Christmas movies have toys that everybody wants. That toy may not be also real, but that did not stop us from fantasizing that in some way Santa will bring us the gift that did not really exist. In order we open our presents about this Christmas morning, we have made a listing of a lot of our favorite Christmas movie toys. Turbo Guy The toy every youthful boy wanted gave Arnold Schwarzenegger among the worst last-minute holiday shopping encounters ever in "Jingle Completely," however it was totally worthwhile. Turbo Guy has exactly what an excellent action figure must have, but many importantly, he's a jet pack. Being the great father Arnie was (within this movie, a minimum of), Arnold faced served by Sinbad and drawn out all of the stops to be able to bring the awesome action figure home. Talk Boy Besides this Christmas toy allow it to be simple to record every word you hear who are around you, additionally, it has speed control, which could prove useful. Should you choose like Kevin McCallister in "Home Alone 2" did, you should use your Talk Boy to attain an area in the Plaza and among individuals little fridges you need to open having a key. Charge card? You first got it. The Nut Cracker The initial Christmas gift. He might not appear like anything special. All he might do throughout your day is crack open some nuts, but simply hold back until put forth sleep. You will be happy you've this person in your corner once the multiple-headed rat king turns up in your home. This is when the nut cracker is available in most handy. Remember that. Rugby Tiger In 1986, when Jim Henson created the main one-hour special, "The Christmas Toy," Rugby Tiger was the current to obtain. This plush tiger found themself inside a pickle one year afterwards he found his owner, Jamie. He was afraid he'd lose the romance and attention of his owner, so he devised an agenda to become the prize of Christmas again. Crafty and affectionate, a great combination. Red-colored Ryder BB Gun It must be stated. You'll most likely shoot your skills out if you achieve this toy for Christmas. All Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" wanted would be a BB gun, but his mother had her concerns about his eyes. Ultimately, Ralphie got his gun, although not without learning a lesson. He did not shot his eye out, but he earned kids all over the world be more careful using their peepers.

HBO renews 'Enlightened,' cancels comedy trio

HBO has renewed its low-rated but critically applauded comedy "Enlightened" while canceling half-hour laffers "Hung," "How to Make It in America" and "Bored to Death." The fate of the four comedies has weighed heavily on programming president Michael Lombardo. He, along with HBO co-president Richard Plepler, made the choice to ax the three shows, a rare housecleaning move for the pay cabler, in order to create more room on Sunday nights for a slew of incoming series the net has set to debut in 2012. Of the three shows that were canceled, "Hung" had the largest audience. Series, starring Thomas Jane as a well-endowed high school teacher who makes a living as a male prostitute, averaged 3.9 million viewers -- including multiple linear telecasts, DVR and On Demand usage -- in its third season. However, that was down 44% from the 6.9 million garnered during the second season. The skein was created by exec producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin. Other exec producers are Scott Stephens, Alexander Payne, Michael Rosenberg, Noreen Halpern and John Morayniss. Second-year series "How to Make It in America" and third-year skein "Bored to Death" drew an identical 2.3 million apiece, each down about 25% from their respective previous seasons. "How to Make It in America," about a pair of Manhattan twentysomethings looking to make their way in the fashion business, was created by Ian Edelman, who exec produced with Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, Julian Farino, Rob Weiss and Jill Soloway. "Bored to Death" was created by novelist Jonathan Ames, who exec produced with Sarah Condon, Stephanie Davis and Dave Becky. Series starred Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis. Ironically, of the four comedies whose future was on the line, "Enlightened" had the smallest audience. Only 1.5 million viewers tuned in to see the Laura Dern and Mike White exec produced series about a woman (Dern) who returns home from a treatment center to face a mind-numbing job in the corporate world. Through ratings were small, "Enlightened" is a favorite of many critics and has a passionate following. The series has a healthy Metacritic.com score, and it scored on the kudos front last week when both the show and Dern were nominated for Golden Globes. "This is a big deal for a show like us," White said last week after the nominations were announced. "It's cool for a show like 'Modern Family,' but for us it's a whole different thing." If not for HBO's incoming slate of new series, Lombardo and Plepler might have renewed one or two of the shows that were canceled. Net, however, is under a strict Sunday-only programming slate going forward -- with the exception of one or two smaller Friday shows; the strategy for 2012 is to not air original series on Mondays. The Monday programming experiment, which had been attempted previously with "Six Feet Under" and "Big Love" many seasons ago, looks to be shelved for awhile now. HBO tested "Enlightened" on Mondays during its first season with poor results. Among the new comedy series HBO has arriving in the new year are "Girls," created by and starring Lena Dunham; "Veep," with Julia Louis-Dreyfus; "Life's Too Short," with Ricky Gervais; and "Angry Boys," from "Summer Heights High" creator Chris Lilley. Also set to return is the third season of Danny McBride baseball laffer "Eastbound and Down." On the drama side, Jan. 29 marks the debut of the David Milch-Michael Mann horseracing drama "Luck." The Aaron Sorkin project starring Jeff Daniels, tentatively titled "Newsroom," is looking like a possible summer entry. Also arriving are the return seasons of "Game of Thrones," "Treme" and "Boardwalk Empire." Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Ridley Scott on 'Prometheus': There Will not Be Any Xenomorphs

As well as the 'Prometheus' plot thickens. Ridley Scott's first sci-fi flick in 3 decades may be loosely connected using the 'Alien' franchise, nevertheless the director wants you to definitely certainly obtain one factor apparent: There will not, under any conditions, be xenomorphs (the creature within the 'Alien' movies) in 'Prometheus.' Inside an interview with Filmophilia, Scott states his approaching movie will not feature the famous extra-terrestrials Sigourney Weaver fought against against off for any very long time. "No. Certainly not. They squashed it dry," confesses Scott. "[The xenomorph] did perfectly. He managed to get, he's now in Disneyland in Orlando, without any way am i held coming back there. How did he result in Disneyland? I saw him in Disneyland, Jesus!Inch Furthermore to 'Promtheus,' Ridley also spoken about why he's not attended the sci-fi in almost thirty years. In my opinion one reason why I have not attended science-fiction, even though I've frequently noodled around, considered it, searched for out story, searched for out material, is that you've a nice chastity for the original Alien. It's fairly pure. And ['Prometheus'] does really raise an array of other questions, if a person could, a being, may be as monstrously clever to create something such as we acquainted with the first one -- It's my job to figured it's a weapon, which i usually figured that [the ship inside the first 'Alien'] will be a company of weapons. Therefore, who's that, within that fit? That wasn't a skeleton, that was a suit. So when you open the suit, what can you obtain there? And why were they going, where were they going? You can examine the whole interview over on Filmophilia. 'Prometheus,' which stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba, hits theaters June 21, 2012. [via Filmophilia and JoBlo] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Britney Spears Debuts Engagement Ring At Magical Vegas Bash

First Published: December 17, 2011 6:30 PM EST Credit: WireImage LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Jason Trawick and Britney Spears celebrate their engagement at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on December 16, 2011Britney Spears and Jason Trawick jetted to Las Vegas on Friday to celebrate their engagement, as well as Jasons 40th birthday. The couple checked in at Planet Hollywood, where the I Wanna Go singer soon emerged from her suite for a congratulatory welcome on the hotels mezzanine wearing a short, nude Herve Leger dress, with her soon-to-be husband by her side. Brit and Jason then kicked off their evening with a dinner and sweet treats at Sugar Factory American Brasserie before heading to Chateau Nightclub, where the couple relaxed in their own VIP area and Britney posed for photos showing off her dazzling 3-carat Neil Lane sparkler. The pop princess seemed to thoroughly enjoy the Sin City festivities, Tweeting, Tonight was one of the most magical nights of my life early Saturday morning. Such an amazing time with my new fiance and our closest friends and family, she added. #Blessed. As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, on Friday, Jason confirmed to Access Hollywoods Billy Bush that he and Britney will soon be headed down the aisle. Yes, we are engaged, Jason told Billy on Friday. The 40-year-old added that he is over the moon, as [is] she. Jason revealed he popped the question in a very traditional manner (down one on knee), and added that Britneys sons, 6-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, 5, were on hand to witness the proposal. Jason initially began working with Britney as her TV manager (while the star was still married to Kevin Federline), a job he gave up in 2009 after their relationship became romantic. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sony, Warner join Grooveshark complaint

Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have joined Universal Music Group in a legal complaint against online music streaming service Grooveshark and parent company Escape Media. The amended complaint, filed Thursday in a NY district court, brings all three of the major label groups together in alleging that the site has "willfully infringed" upon the companies' copyrights. Grooveshark, a Florida-based streaming service that allows users to post their own music to the site for other users to stream, has heretofore argued its protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which exempts the company from damages for infringement perpetuated by users on its site, provided the infringing material in question is taken down upon request. The complaint, however, alleges that the site's owners knowingly profited from unlicensed music, and even that employees may have themselves personally engaged in posting unauthorized music. The complaint cites internal emails from Escape Media execs, including one in which a senior director claims to have "bet the company on the fact that it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission." The suit also quotes an anonymous comment posted on website Digital Music News, purportedly from a Grooveshark employee, describing practices that include bonuses for employees who upload certain amounts of music into the system. The original action filed by UMG last month was not the first legal complaint against the company. An earlier suit from EMI eventually lead to the label licensing its catalogue to the site, making them the only one of the then four major label groups to do so. (Indie label group Merlin has also agreed to licensing terms with the company.) Musicians such as King Crimson and Pink Floyd have also publicly complained of difficulty in getting their music taken down from the site. When reached for comment, Grooveshark provided the following statement: "We cannot comment on litigation we have not seen, but will aggressively defend our rights in court. ... We respect the intellectual property of all artists, and our strict policies are designed to ensure that our users only upload content to which they are entitled. This is a policy which we vigorously enforce within DMCA requirements." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Sirius XM CFO Discusses Outcomes of Cost Hike in 2012

NY - Before an expense increase next season, the initial within the organization's 10-year history, Sirius XM Radio CFO David Frear on Monday was asked for in regards to the customer impact he needs within the cost hike.our editor recommendsJohn Malone's Liberty Media Mulls Growing Its Stake in Sirius XM (Report)Liberty Media Professionals Keep Options for Starz, Sirius XM Open "If you raise prices, you're prone to suppress demand," he told the annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. "I'd expect that..we'd have lower conversion of latest vehicle sales to subs" and greater churn of self-paid out clients. But Sirius, which formerly mentioned it might boost the price of their most broadly used service package by $1.50 monthly, must "finish tabs on more clients, revenue and free earnings,Inch he added. "It's an optimistic factor for your business." Considering the fact that it's "easierInch to keep a person instead of convert a alternative, "we'll make an effort to retain every sub we've today," Frear vowed. More youthful crowd told traders that Sirius has began notifying clients in regards to the cost increases, highlighting that "we haven't up to now [had[ much response" or complaint calls. Think about the hikes begin working at different occasions for a number of clients, taking about 18 several days to use their way using the customers list, as well as, because so many clients pay by bank cards, lots of any potential cost shock can invariably come. Asked for about his company's longer-term prices strategy, the Sirius CFO mentioned that because most clients pay in advance, it requires roughly 18 several days for cost hikes to totally work themselves using the customers list. Consequently, "annual cost increases take time and effort,In . Frear mentioned. Consider Sirius hasn't elevated prices in the decade, "this could undergo, succeed with this particular subs, and then we'll consider future cost increases." Frear appeared to become asked for if John Malone's Liberty Media could increase its stake in Sirius to greater than fifty percent after it'll have an chance to do this in March. "I really don't know," Frear responded. "You'd have to request [Liberty Boss] Greg [Maffei]" who'll also come in the conference. Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Subjects Sirius XM Radio

Transgender Woman Sues Khloe Kardashian for Alleged Assault

Khloe Kardashian A transgender woman is suing Khloe Kardashian, claiming the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star assaulted her two years ago, People reports.In her filing, Chantal Spears, formerly Ronald Spears, says that Kardashian "violently" attacked her outside a Hollywood nightclub on Dec. 5, 2009, after she told Kardashian's husband, Lamar Odom, that he was too young to get married. "All of a sudden I get this big push from this girl," Spears told TMZ.Check out photos of Khloe KardashianSpears states in the papers that she required medical care and suffered from "severe mental anguish" after the incident. No one was arrested or cited then.Spears is seeking unspecified damages. Kardashian has yet to comment on the suit.

Stephen Lang Joins Pawn

Along with Nikki Reed and Sean FarisWhile we're unsure Stephen Lang truly loved chomping the scenery in Conan or whether he's really getting fun grumping up just like a sub-Colonel Quaritch-type colony leader on tv sci-fi show Terra Nova, we're a lot more pleased to determine him signing to the cast of indie crime drama Pawn.We first reported round the movie a couple of days ago, if the already featured Michael Chiklis (who's also creating the pic) and Forest Whitaker inside the tale from the hostage situation that starts to go to badly because the police types and mobsters deploying it just like a twisted chess game have terrible moves.The cast has skyrocketed in proportions, with Lang, Nikki Reed, Sean Faris, Marton Csokas, Jessica Szohr and Jonathan Bennett all jumping aboard.David An Answer, a cinematographer who done a few of the Saw franchise records, is onto direct, working in the script by Jay Anthony White-colored.Lang, meanwhile, will next be viewed in another crime pic, Officer Lower, and murder drama Dancehall.