Robertson Joins Code Name: Geronimo

She'll star in Jock Stockwell's thrillerWhen it comes to films depicting the death of Osama Bin Laden, Kathryn Bigelow's still-untitled action thriller has been receiving most of the attention. But there is another movie out there looking to cover similar territory: John Stockwell's Code Name: Geronimo, which has just set Kathleen Robertson to star. She'll be playing an eager CIA officer who is part of the team directing the operation that sent two teams of Navy SEALs into Pakistan to track down and kill the Al Qaeda leader.Stockwell, who is still best known for directing the likes of Blue Crush and Into The Blue, will be sticking more with sand than sea this time, as he's planning to start shooting today in New Mexico. He's working from a script by Kendall Lampkin.Robertson, meanwhile, has most recently been seen on US cable drama Boss, featuring alongside Kelsey Grammer. She's also co-written and starred in the indie thriller Gravity Pulls.

Street and Subway Performers Make Something Out of Nothing

Street and Subway Performers Make Something Out of Nothing By Simi Horwitz January 27, 2012 Photo by Mustafah Abdulaziz Fred Jones and Paul Marino perform a scene from "King Lear." Playing Gloucester in "King Lear," Fred Jones bellows, "I shall see winged vengeance overtake such children." Paul Marino as Cornwall responds in a towering rage, "See't shalt thou never. Fellow, hold him fast. Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot." Enacting an elaborate pantomime of gouging out Gloucester's eye, Marino cups in his palm a glossy white golf ball, adorned with dangling red elastic strips to simulate severed veins. He holds it up for all to see while Jones screams in anguish.The two actors are not on a stage but in a crowded subway car traveling between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Jones is on the floor, his back propped up against a floor-to-ceiling pole, and Marino hovers over him. Some riders look puzzled; others are grinning; still others pretend nothing is happening. Working the subterranean depths for a year, sometimes up to 20 hours a week, Marino and Jones, aka Popeye & Cloudy (the two detectives in "The French Connection"), will soon be taking their act to the subways of London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris. To date they boast seven Shakespearean scenes, an Abbott and Costello bit, and some original pieces. Each actor can play either role in a scene. On an average night they may collect several hundred dollars from appreciative riders, but money is secondary, as is the impulse to be "discovered." Indeed, busking is primarily an opportunity to act, they insist. "I've always been interested in site-specific theater as well as the blurring of the lines between reality and performance," says Jones. Marino's interest in busking dates back several years to when he was selling his paintings on the streets of Europe while his traveling companion, a unicyclist juggler, charmed the crowds and made money for his efforts. "I was brainstorming for a novel busking act that I could do," he recalls. "The want was there, and finally so was the need. I was making money by shoveling cars out of snow."Likewise for actor Kate Michaud, who found herself unemployed in the summer of 2010 and decided to take control of her destiny. Encouraged and inspired by street-performing musician friends, Michaud launched her own act featuring a series of monologues from such diverse sources as "The Taming of the Shrew," "Designing Women," and "Jurassic Park." Currently in "These Seven Sicknesses" at The Flea Theater, Michaud says busking in Central Park has been an emboldening and enjoyable experience.In contrast, actor Tim Intravia admits ambivalence about performing his "living statue" routine in midtown Manhattan. An immobilized figure clad in silver (sometimes gold), Intravia will self-animate from time to time, making robotic gestures while uttering weird grunts and creaking noises. He likes giving audiences "more than just a dinner and a gin and tonic," along with being his own boss and making his own hours. But in the end it's about survival, and in the last few years his take from onlookers has dropped 25 percent, he reports. Still, thanks to his "living statue" he's landed a manager, national TV commercials, and an award for best comedy for his show, "From Busk Till Dawn: The Life of a NY City Street Performer," which he performed at the United Solo Theatre Festival. He is now participating in Back Stage's Take 5 column.Pride or Shame? Though it is virtually impossible to know how many buskers are working the streets nationally, let alone internationally, some veteran performers suggest that in economic down times, competition for space, attention, and limited bucks grows stiffer. Many believe street performers proliferate in hard times and include seniors, students, hobbyists, and pan handlers along with the serious artists who may have other gigs."The street has also been a major venue for immigrant artists from Irving Berlin up," says puppeteerfolk singeractivist Stephen Baird, who runs Community Arts Advocates, a not-for-profit corporation that helps sustain buskers and the arts community in the Boston area. "In the '20s, 2,000 people got licenses to perform in the streets of NY."Many European cities have a tradition of street performingdating to the Middle Ages, when troubadours roamed the townsand to this day boast notable busker festivals that attract hundreds of performers and tourists each year. In the States busking does not enjoy the same history, though in periods of social upheaval artists claim the streets, says San Francisco actor Paul Baird, a train station clown and accordion player. Today NY, Boston, San Francisco, and Venice Beach, Calif., see their share of buskers.The acts have grown more sophisticated but continue to run the gamut: opera singers, contortionists, jugglers, clowns, mimes, drummers, break dancers, and even a saw player. Consider Natalia "Saw Lady" Paruz, who taught herself to play the saw after she was hit by a car and had to give up her dancing career. Performing in subway stations for 20 yearsleading to gigs at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Lincoln CenterParuz loves the acoustics and the crowds. "You have to be a people person," she says, comparing veteran performers with some newbies who busk only as a stepping stone to a more stable career. Some do it once, simply to film themselves performing in a public space. They think it's cool to have it on their rsums, she says.Michaud views busking as a great icebreaker and promotional tool at auditions. "It makes me stand out," she says. Others find it an admission of unemployment, if not a downright stigma. Actor Brian Richardson, who with baton in hand stands on a small box conducting an imaginary orchestra, says that as much as he loves the chance to perform, he's not sure he would tell anyone in the industry about it.Intravia suspects he has become far too identified with his silver-guy routine and blames himself for promoting it as much as he has. Now he emphasizes his straight acting gigs and may mention his street act in passing at auditions. Variety artist Brian Bielemeier, who has performed on streets around the globe, feels no shame. "I was born to be a street performer," he says. "I love creating something out of nothing and transforming the energy of a space. And it has allowed me to travel all over the world."Actor Margot Carr, who has worked the NY City parks as a mime, also talks about the private party gigs, promotional tours, and festivals she has landed thanks to busking. Her one reservation is asking for money. "That makes me feel guilty," she admits.Those Pesky Challenges Performing in a public space includes battling extraneous noise, extreme weather conditions, and plain old exhaustion. Michaud, for example, performs for four or five hours with barely a pause between her 45-minute sets. Similarly, Intravia may stand almost motionless for hours without taking a bathroom break or a drink of water if a crowd has gathered.Marino and Jones contend with lurching and rattling subway cars. They have no shortage of bruises and sprains, and both sport knee and elbow pads. Jones' shoulder was dislocated the night we saw him perform.Crowd size can be challenging as the two actors storm into and through train cars. "If a car is too full, we can quickly become obnoxious," Jones says. "There's a fine line between being cool and being obnoxious."Unlike theatergoers, subway riders are captive audiences and may not be in the mood for any show. "They have a mechanism for buskers and beggars by keeping their eyes down in their books and their headphones plugged into their ears," Marino points out. "You've got to get them to close their books, pull out their earphones, and step out of the way. When that happens, it's the tipping point and they've become your audience."The two specialize in acting that is bold, brazen, and often hilarious, especially if the scene is high tragedy. But that's deliberate and arguably inevitable given the setting, they say. Subtlety is no virtue in a jolting, screeching subway car. Jones feels he has nothing to lose and can therefore throw himself fully into what he is doing. Paradoxically, he is less concerned with his audience's response and more focused on his character than if he were on a stage, he says. By contrast, Marino is more aware of audience response in the subway and less concentrated on his character. For both the scenes are selected to grab attention, be entertaining, and have a dramatic arc. Something has to be revealed and concluded, adds Marino.Michaud says her monologues must be physical, family-friendly, and ideally humorous. Standup comic Jason Schneider, whose improbable act entails selling jokes for a buck a pop, has a ready bag of routines geared to different nationalities. Many of his audiences in Central Park are tourists. "If they're from Sweden, I can talk about world news or international figures," he says. "If they're from China, they usually don't have our cultural icons, so I'm more likely to tell a universal joke, although almost anybody can get a joke about Kim Kardashian." The Los Angelesbased guitar player and songwriter Ned Landin, who has been busking for decades, notes that technologyiPads, headphones, and myriad entertainment optionshas changed audiences and, by extension, his performance. He can no longer assume he'll break through their isolation and create attentive "theatergoers." Playing a set with a beginning, middle, and end has given way to performing background music, he says.Similarly, Baird remarks that visual stimulation is more important than ever in distracting audience members from their cell phones and iPods. He dons broad red-and-white striped overalls, a black hat with an orange flower, and a white mime face with a thick ring of black paint around his eyes that brings to mind a scary night creature.Harassment, Thievery, and Cops Interpersonal problems are not nearly as bad as one might expect. Squabbles between buskers vying over a lucrative spot may surface, but these are usually resolved amenably, especially among veterans who share an unwritten code of conduct. Marino and Jones have flipped coins with other performers eyeing the same subway car.At times, someone in the crowd will make a derisive remark or try to distract a performer; stealing of money and props is not unknown, but for the most part buskers, including women who perform by themselves, feel safe. Paruz says some of the roughest-looking street typesdruggies, alcoholics, and the homelesshave become her protective pals. Martina Fajkusova, a Czech-born fire spinner, who has performed with and without her boyfriend throughout the world, says she prefers busking alone: "Everyone is friendlier and more helpful."The big stumbling blocks are the cops, who, according to all those interviewed, regularly hassle street performers without justification. Buskers say they are expressing their First Amendment rights, not blocking traffic or annoying anyone. Most of the summonses that have been issued are thrown out of court, asserts Intravia, who describes one amused judge who joked about inviting the performer to entertain at his kid's party.Yogi Laseraka Kenneth Greenawaya Trinidadian-born yoga contortionist, finds nothing amusing about the hassling, insisting classism and racism play a part in the escalating police harassment he has experienced in NY City; at the time of the interview he was relocating to perform on the streets of London."I'm told to get a job," he says. "I've been doing this for 25 years and supporting my family on it. I entertain people and spread the love of yoga. This is how I make my living. I'm 48 years old. What am I supposed to do?"Back Onstage Other buskers find they have become fearless. "I'm more selective about what auditions I'll accept, and I feel free to speak up if I'm not treated well," Michaud says. Schneider notes he is now comfortable in front of all kinds of audiences and will take more risks in a club, knowing if he doesn't score he'll survive, at least emotionally.Though Marino and Jones envision expanding their subway act to include other actors, should they find themselves performing Shakespeare or any play onstage, it will be a piece of cake compared with subway acting. "Nothing will rattle me again," says Jones. When we leave them, he and Marino are eagerly waiting on the platform as the next train pulls in. Readying themselves, they're checking for cops and competing buskers who might board the train, assessing crowd size, and deciding impromptu what scene they'll do and who'll play which role."And if at the next station, everyone gets out and we're still performing, we'll finish the scene in an empty car," proclaims Marino.Spoken like a true actor. Street and Subway Performers Make Something Out of Nothing By Simi Horwitz January 27, 2012 Fred Jones and Paul Marino perform a scene from "King Lear." PHOTO CREDIT Mustafah Abdulaziz Playing Gloucester in "King Lear," Fred Jones bellows, "I shall see winged vengeance overtake such children." Paul Marino as Cornwall responds in a towering rage, "See't shalt thou never. Fellow, hold him fast. Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot." Enacting an elaborate pantomime of gouging out Gloucester's eye, Marino cups in his palm a glossy white golf ball, adorned with dangling red elastic strips to simulate severed veins. He holds it up for all to see while Jones screams in anguish.The two actors are not on a stage but in a crowded subway car traveling between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Jones is on the floor, his back propped up against a floor-to-ceiling pole, and Marino hovers over him. Some riders look puzzled; others are grinning; still others pretend nothing is happening. Working the subterranean depths for a year, sometimes up to 20 hours a week, Marino and Jones, aka Popeye & Cloudy (the two detectives in "The French Connection"), will soon be taking their act to the subways of London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris. To date they boast seven Shakespearean scenes, an Abbott and Costello bit, and some original pieces. Each actor can play either role in a scene. On an average night they may collect several hundred dollars from appreciative riders, but money is secondary, as is the impulse to be "discovered." Indeed, busking is primarily an opportunity to act, they insist. "I've always been interested in site-specific theater as well as the blurring of the lines between reality and performance," says Jones. Marino's interest in busking dates back several years to when he was selling his paintings on the streets of Europe while his traveling companion, a unicyclist juggler, charmed the crowds and made money for his efforts. "I was brainstorming for a novel busking act that I could do," he recalls. "The want was there, and finally so was the need. I was making money by shoveling cars out of snow."Likewise for actor Kate Michaud, who found herself unemployed in the summer of 2010 and decided to take control of her destiny. Encouraged and inspired by street-performing musician friends, Michaud launched her own act featuring a series of monologues from such diverse sources as "The Taming of the Shrew," "Designing Women," and "Jurassic Park." Currently in "These Seven Sicknesses" at The Flea Theater, Michaud says busking in Central Park has been an emboldening and enjoyable experience.In contrast, actor Tim Intravia admits ambivalence about performing his "living statue" routine in midtown Manhattan. An immobilized figure clad in silver (sometimes gold), Intravia will self-animate from time to time, making robotic gestures while uttering weird grunts and creaking noises. He likes giving audiences "more than just a dinner and a gin and tonic," along with being his own boss and making his own hours. But in the end it's about survival, and in the last few years his take from onlookers has dropped 25 percent, he reports. Still, thanks to his "living statue" he's landed a manager, national TV commercials, and an award for best comedy for his show, "From Busk Till Dawn: The Life of a NY City Street Performer," which he performed at the United Solo Theatre Festival. He is now participating in Back Stage's Take 5 column.Pride or Shame? Though it is virtually impossible to know how many buskers are working the streets nationally, let alone internationally, some veteran performers suggest that in economic down times, competition for space, attention, and limited bucks grows stiffer. Many believe street performers proliferate in hard times and include seniors, students, hobbyists, and pan handlers along with the serious artists who may have other gigs."The street has also been a major venue for immigrant artists from Irving Berlin up," says puppeteerfolk singeractivist Stephen Baird, who runs Community Arts Advocates, a not-for-profit corporation that helps sustain buskers and the arts community in the Boston area. "In the '20s, 2,000 people got licenses to perform in the streets of NY."Many European cities have a tradition of street performingdating to the Middle Ages, when troubadours roamed the townsand to this day boast notable busker festivals that attract hundreds of performers and tourists each year. In the States busking does not enjoy the same history, though in periods of social upheaval artists claim the streets, says San Francisco actor Paul Baird, a train station clown and accordion player. Today NY, Boston, San Francisco, and Venice Beach, Calif., see their share of buskers.The acts have grown more sophisticated but continue to run the gamut: opera singers, contortionists, jugglers, clowns, mimes, drummers, break dancers, and even a saw player. Consider Natalia "Saw Lady" Paruz, who taught herself to play the saw after she was hit by a car and had to give up her dancing career. Performing in subway stations for 20 yearsleading to gigs at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Lincoln CenterParuz loves the acoustics and the crowds. "You have to be a people person," she says, comparing veteran performers with some newbies who busk only as a stepping stone to a more stable career. Some do it once, simply to film themselves performing in a public space. They think it's cool to have it on their rsums, she says.Michaud views busking as a great icebreaker and promotional tool at auditions. "It makes me stand out," she says. Others find it an admission of unemployment, if not a downright stigma. Actor Brian Richardson, who with baton in hand stands on a small box conducting an imaginary orchestra, says that as much as he loves the chance to perform, he's not sure he would tell anyone in the industry about it.Intravia suspects he has become far too identified with his silver-guy routine and blames himself for promoting it as much as he has. Now he emphasizes his straight acting gigs and may mention his street act in passing at auditions. Variety artist Brian Bielemeier, who has performed on streets around the globe, feels no shame. "I was born to be a street performer," he says. "I love creating something out of nothing and transforming the energy of a space. And it has allowed me to travel all over the world."Actor Margot Carr, who has worked the NY City parks as a mime, also talks about the private party gigs, promotional tours, and festivals she has landed thanks to busking. Her one reservation is asking for money. "That makes me feel guilty," she admits.Those Pesky Challenges Performing in a public space includes battling extraneous noise, extreme weather conditions, and plain old exhaustion. Michaud, for example, performs for four or five hours with barely a pause between her 45-minute sets. Similarly, Intravia may stand almost motionless for hours without taking a bathroom break or a drink of water if a crowd has gathered.Marino and Jones contend with lurching and rattling subway cars. They have no shortage of bruises and sprains, and both sport knee and elbow pads. Jones' shoulder was dislocated the night we saw him perform.Crowd size can be challenging as the two actors storm into and through train cars. "If a car is too full, we can quickly become obnoxious," Jones says. "There's a fine line between being cool and being obnoxious."Unlike theatergoers, subway riders are captive audiences and may not be in the mood for any show. "They have a mechanism for buskers and beggars by keeping their eyes down in their books and their headphones plugged into their ears," Marino points out. "You've got to get them to close their books, pull out their earphones, and step out of the way. When that happens, it's the tipping point and they've become your audience."The two specialize in acting that is bold, brazen, and often hilarious, especially if the scene is high tragedy. But that's deliberate and arguably inevitable given the setting, they say. Subtlety is no virtue in a jolting, screeching subway car. Jones feels he has nothing to lose and can therefore throw himself fully into what he is doing. Paradoxically, he is less concerned with his audience's response and more focused on his character than if he were on a stage, he says. By contrast, Marino is more aware of audience response in the subway and less concentrated on his character. For both the scenes are selected to grab attention, be entertaining, and have a dramatic arc. Something has to be revealed and concluded, adds Marino.Michaud says her monologues must be physical, family-friendly, and ideally humorous. Standup comic Jason Schneider, whose improbable act entails selling jokes for a buck a pop, has a ready bag of routines geared to different nationalities. Many of his audiences in Central Park are tourists. "If they're from Sweden, I can talk about world news or international figures," he says. "If they're from China, they usually don't have our cultural icons, so I'm more likely to tell a universal joke, although almost anybody can get a joke about Kim Kardashian." The Los Angelesbased guitar player and songwriter Ned Landin, who has been busking for decades, notes that technologyiPads, headphones, and myriad entertainment optionshas changed audiences and, by extension, his performance. He can no longer assume he'll break through their isolation and create attentive "theatergoers." Playing a set with a beginning, middle, and end has given way to performing background music, he says.Similarly, Baird remarks that visual stimulation is more important than ever in distracting audience members from their cell phones and iPods. He dons broad red-and-white striped overalls, a black hat with an orange flower, and a white mime face with a thick ring of black paint around his eyes that brings to mind a scary night creature.Harassment, Thievery, and Cops Interpersonal problems are not nearly as bad as one might expect. Squabbles between buskers vying over a lucrative spot may surface, but these are usually resolved amenably, especially among veterans who share an unwritten code of conduct. Marino and Jones have flipped coins with other performers eyeing the same subway car.At times, someone in the crowd will make a derisive remark or try to distract a performer; stealing of money and props is not unknown, but for the most part buskers, including women who perform by themselves, feel safe. Paruz says some of the roughest-looking street typesdruggies, alcoholics, and the homelesshave become her protective pals. Martina Fajkusova, a Czech-born fire spinner, who has performed with and without her boyfriend throughout the world, says she prefers busking alone: "Everyone is friendlier and more helpful."The big stumbling blocks are the cops, who, according to all those interviewed, regularly hassle street performers without justification. Buskers say they are expressing their First Amendment rights, not blocking traffic or annoying anyone. Most of the summonses that have been issued are thrown out of court, asserts Intravia, who describes one amused judge who joked about inviting the performer to entertain at his kid's party.Yogi Laseraka Kenneth Greenawaya Trinidadian-born yoga contortionist, finds nothing amusing about the hassling, insisting classism and racism play a part in the escalating police harassment he has experienced in NY City; at the time of the interview he was relocating to perform on the streets of London."I'm told to get a job," he says. "I've been doing this for 25 years and supporting my family on it. I entertain people and spread the love of yoga. This is how I make my living. I'm 48 years old. What am I supposed to do?"Back Onstage Other buskers find they have become fearless. "I'm more selective about what auditions I'll accept, and I feel free to speak up if I'm not treated well," Michaud says. Schneider notes he is now comfortable in front of all kinds of audiences and will take more risks in a club, knowing if he doesn't score he'll survive, at least emotionally.Though Marino and Jones envision expanding their subway act to include other actors, should they find themselves performing Shakespeare or any play onstage, it will be a piece of cake compared with subway acting. "Nothing will rattle me again," says Jones. When we leave them, he and Marino are eagerly waiting on the platform as the next train pulls in. Readying themselves, they're checking for cops and competing buskers who might board the train, assessing crowd size, and deciding impromptu what scene they'll do and who'll play which role."And if at the next station, everyone gets out and we're still performing, we'll finish the scene in an empty car," proclaims Marino.Spoken like a true actor.

Flush Latin buyers look to NATPE

HBO is shopping drama 'Strike Back' at NATPE; teen and tween shows are expected to be particularly in demand.Miami, the gateway to Latin America, will once again host a wave of NATPE attendees from a region that has emerged relatively unscathed by the global economic crisis, posting dynamic economic growth and a predominantly young population that spells burgeoning programming needs from both general and pay TV markets in the territory. "Latin American broadcasters are seeking the attention of younger viewers and their families, so tween and teen content is in high demand," says Helen Jurado, VP of TV sales & distribution at BBC Worldwide Latin America, who recently sold a package of youth-targeted programs to HBO Latin America. "Everyone is going for the elusive 18-to-35 audience," she adds. The HBO package includes new BBC Worldwide tomboy skein "Sadie J," time-twisting adventure skein "Leonardo," drama skein "Strike Back" and music program "Later With Jools Holland." BBC Worldwide's extensive catalog of concerts is in high demand. Networks are also facing the fragmentation of their core middle- and upper-class audience, which is gravitating toward the Internet and mobile devices to get their entertainment fix. Viacom's youth-skewing Comedy Central is responding to this development by launching across all multimedia platforms in both Portuguese and Spanish in Latin America on Feb. 1. The network is set to reach an initial 10 million viewers through distribution deals with major cable carriers. Programming will include U.S. pics, skeins, standup comedy shows and local acquisitions such as "XHDerbez" and "Va de nuez en cuando" from Mexico's Televisa. Daily news shows "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" will be available only on Comedy Central Latin America's website, launched in November 2011, along with such Web skeins such as "The Spooky Show," which is slated to debut on the channel in the near future. More companies have been turning to local production in a region where domestic content remains king. "We will be on the lookout at NATPE for new series to acquire, and will be exploring new formats and sitcoms to remake in Mexico and Argentina by 2013," says Fernando Gaston, senior VP of creative, content and music at MTV/VH1/Comedy Central Latin America. "We'll also be seeking more telenovela co-production partners at NATPE," says Gaston, in keeping with MTV's aim to make at least one youth-targeted telenovela a year. MTV started original content production in 2009 with "Ninas mal," a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. "Popland," its first 100% MTV production, aired in the region last year. Sister web Nickelodeon Latin America has been churning out a slew of tween programs since 2003's "Skimo," its first foray into the field. The new slate includes season 2, set to debut Feb. 27, of hit telenovela "Grachi," which centers on a tween with magical powers. Nick is also producing "Julie and the Phantoms," the first skein it is making in Brazil, with a Spanish version debuting in March in Spanish-speaking Latin America. "The pre-tween demo of ages 7-9 are relatively underserved," says Tatiana Rodriguez, Nick Latin America's VP of programming and creative strategy. The network is allotting a regular 7 p.m. slot for its locally produced teen/tween programs, according to Rodriguez. Nick recently inked a development deal with Miami-based shingle Somos Prods., run by former Venevision Intl. execs Luis Villanueva and Jose Antonio Espinal. Nick Latin America will unveil the trailer of Somos' pilot "Once once, en mi cuadra nada cuadra" (Eleven, Eleven, Nothing Fits in My Block) at NATPE. The 80-episode teen skein will debut late 2102 on Nick Latin America, Villanueva says. Alex Marin, senior VP of distribution, Latin America, for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) notes an increased appetite for edgy telenovelas or teleseries (aka short telenovelas) among terrestrial broadcasters. "Rosario Tijeras," an SPT co-production with Colombian broadcaster RCN about a female hired assassin, was a ratings success across the region. SPT is now in pre-production on teleseries "La Prepago," which revolves around a woman leading a double life against a backdrop of politics, greed and ambition. SPT spearheaded the move to local production in the early 2000s when it remade its gameshows and sitcoms, such as "The Nanny" and "Mad About You," for local auds. It also created U.S.-style skeins such as "Los Simuladores" (The Pretenders), based on an Argentine skein, and "Los Caballeros las Prefieren Brutas" (Gentlemen Prefer Them Dumb) from the Colombian novel by Isabella Santo Domingo. "Demand is exceeding (supply) right now," says Marin. Companies offering local content are thriving. But a word of caution from the BBC's Jurado: "Local production is time-consuming, costly and offers no guarantees." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Electus nabs privileges to Spike TV trio

Electus has acquired worldwide distrib privileges for 3 Spike TV series prior to TV industry confab NATPE: "Switch Males," "American Digger" and "Vehicle Lot Cowboy," all unscripted skeins ariing around the guy-centric cabler (Electus also produces newcomer skein "Cowboy")."Switch Males" continues to be airing around the internet since March. of this past year "Digger" and "Cowboy" are positioned for March and April, correspondingly.The worldwide choices repetition exactly the sorts of pitches that NATPE's proceed to Miami is customized to facilitate. With several American cablers basing their worldwide offices in Miami, cablers happen to be visiting the conference since this past year looking for deals that expand into areas in South Usa, Guatemala, and Mexico. Contact Mike Thielman at mike.thielman@variety.com

Ad biz can get in game

Jon Kraft, Ross Levinsohn, John Sviolka and Jim Mollica appear onstage throughout Variety Entertainment Summit.A number of digital MVPs organised for just about any "technology all stars" panel at Variety's CES Entertainment Summit, through which they held forth on trends sweeping the media landscape within the Vegas show to Madison Avenue.Panelists agreed the 2010 CES was marked less having a breakthrough by anybody technology but incremental gains across a comprehensive base of items."There's nothing jumping through in the hardware perspective," mentioned Ross Levinsohn, executive V . p . of Yahoo Americas."It feels in my opinion such as this is really the tipping point year of video for individuals these items, from fully integrated plasmas towards the handheld device."A particular little bit of content headed for a lot of connected items is "Electric City," a collection Yahoo is co-creating with Tom Hanks via his company, Playtone, and Reliance Entertanment. Came Buckley, COO of Electus, credited "Electric" with raising the bar for digital content with techniques that will generate buzz among clients and entrepreneurs."It's a large statement for content designers and designers thinking about digital in the significant and efficient way,Inch mentioned Buckley. "For people as content companies, it's a large sea change."Another change Levinsohn noted is playing out among the CES participants. "The reason being much an advertising and marketing conference since it is a technology conference," he mentioned. "We're starting to determine a pendulum swing to individuals who spend billions and huge levels of dollars."Jon Kraft, COO of Ubermedia and co-founding father from the planet the planet pandora, thinks Madison Avenue is accelerating within the digital learning curve with techniques that will unlock more dollars. "Entrepreneurs are starting to understand it better, which will drive elevated trading."What's challenging media companies, according to John Sviokla, principal and innovation leader at PwC, is altering established techniques for performing business to enhance the details of techniques clients are consuming. "In my opinion we will probably go to a revolution inside the understanding of customer behavior," he predicted.Using the much content flooding across platforms, discovery is an additional key challenge. "Clients have grown to be forget about hostile but more limited with time,Inch mentioned Andrew Osis, leader/Boss of Poynt Corp. "They require the main one factor they require immediately."And video isn't the main game around, contended Jim Mollica, V . p . of online marketing at Nickelodeon Systems, stressed that from social media to videogames are encroaching. "We should have a look at competition beyond video," he mentioned.Added Chris Geddes, V . p . of mobile sales at Mobovivo, "I don't think the dust will settle, In my opinion we're in the perpetual condition of innovation and migration." Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

Van Halen Reunites For Intimate NYC Gig

First Published: January 6, 2012 11:50 AM EST Credit: WireImage Caption David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen perform at Cafe Wha? on January 5, 2012 in NY CityNY, N.Y. -- Theyll be playing arenas when they tour next month, but on Thursday night, a regrouped Van Halen provided thrills in a tiny club where a VIP crowd stood elbow to elbow as the storied band played some of their greatest hits including Jump and Panama. Welcome to Occupy Van Halen, ladies and gentleman! frontman David Lee Roth yelled just before the band launched into You Really Got Me, the first in an approximately hour-long, high energy set. The show was at the famed Caf Wha? in NYs West Village a club owned by Manny Roth, the uncle of Roth. David Lee Roth noted some of the greats that played in the club including Bob Dylan and told the crowd, Im more nervous about this gig than I would ever be in the Garden, referring to Madison Square Garden. The band will soon be playing the Garden and other venues like it, as they kick off a nationwide tour next month. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers start the tour in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 16, and will tour through June, hitting cities like Boston, Atlanta and Chicago. Theyll also be promoting a new album: The group announced Wednesday that theyll release A Different Kind of Truth on Feb. 7, the groups first album with Roth since their celebrated album 1984, released that same year. Van Halen has gone through plenty of changes since then. Roth left the band for a solo career and was replaced with Sammy Hagar in a messy breakup; he later returned to the band as Hagar exited in a split that had just as much discord. There would be more turmoil as bassist Michael Anthony was replaced a few years ago with Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of guitar great Eddie Van Halen. But it was all smiles on Wednesday, as father and son, along with Eddies brother and drummer Alex were all on hand as the reconstituted group played a warm-up of sorts before their nationwide tour, their first together in almost four years. This has been a really long time coming, Roth told the audience. The band hardly seemed rusty. Though his mic was weak, Roths voice wasnt, as his signature screech was in top form, as was Eddie Van Halens scorching guitar play on songs like Hot for Teacher and Dance the Night Away. Roth joked about the small size of the club: The last time I stood on a stage this low, I had to get the car home by midnight. Later, he talked about how he used to wander through the club as a kid, dreaming of a chance to play on its stage. It took us 50 years to get this gig. It was easier to get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame than to get this gig, he said. Roths uncle Manny, now 92, was in the audience, sitting next to John McEnroe, one of several luminaries in the crowd. Its come full circle, said a beaming David Lee Roth amid the audiences cheers. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.