Kaira Garrett To Co-Star In Claudia Lonows ABC Comedy Pilot

Everybody Loves Raymond alum Kaira Garrett is positioned to star opposite Sarah Chalke and Elizabeth Perkins in Claudia Lonows ABC comedy pilot The best way to Accept Your Mother And Father For Your Relaxation From The Existence. The multi-camera/hybrid comedy, from 20th TV and Imagine, concentrates on Polly (Chalke), a recently divorced single mom, who moves together with her eccentric mother Elaine (Perkins) and explosive, forever moving stepfather Max (Garrett). Max has a nightclub which is, as Polly puts it, the earth’s most amplified cancer survivor. This can be Garrett’s second pilot since the finish of Raymond, which acquired him 3 Emmy Honours. The last, ‘Till Dying, visited series, which continued Fox for 4 seasons.

Beeks named prexy of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group

The combined Lionsgate and Summit is laying off roughly 80 people -- about 12% of its workforce -- on Friday, the same day it named chief operating officer Steve Beeks prexy of the studio's Motion Picture Group and reupped him as COO in new long-term deal. The vast majority of the 80 employees from both companies were being informed today. Pink slips were expected as part of an ongoing integration of Lionsgate, which started the merger with about 500 employees, and Summit, which started with about 150. Much of the overlap was in the motion picture and home entertainment departments. Combined companies should wind up with around 575 employees, which means more exits are anticipated. However, those job losses should come more through attrition than layoffs. A Lionsgate spokesperson declined to comment on the departures. Beeks has been at Lionsgate for 14 years and his move and COO since 2007. In his capacity as co-chief operating Officer, Beeks will continue to report to Lionsgate chief executive Jon Feltheimer; in his new role in Motion Pictures he we will report to Lionsgate group co-chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. Beeks will be responsible for corporate operations and administrative matters for the combined company and will continue to play a key role in the company's strategic direction. He also has direct oversight of Lionsgate U.K. and the company's home entertainment operations, including packaged media, worldwide television distribution and digital media initiatives. Within the Motion Picture group, Beeks will focus on business, financial and planning decisions for the combined Lionsgate and Summit theatrical slates, including their home entertainment releases. New Motion Picture production prexy Erik Feig will spearhead creative decisions and continue to report directly to Friedman and Wachsberger. "Steve and Erik bring complementary strengths to our motion picture group," said Friedman and Wachsberger in a statement. "Steve's financial acumen and business leadership, coupled with Erik's creative prowess and incredible eye for films with global appeal, position our filmed entertainment operations for continued growth and industry leadership worldwide." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Hendler attached to Mardones' 'Brethren'

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Uruguayan thesp Daniel Hendler, who won a Berlin Silver Bear for "Lost Embrace," is attached to star in Chilean drama "Separated Brethren." "Brethren," which is the directorial debut of producer-turned-helmer Andres Mardones ("El Baile de la Victoria," "Rabia"), is one of four movies now set up at Sergio Gandara's Parox, a top Chilean TV production house. Hendler plays Daniel, a 33-year-old pastor dispatched to an evangelical church in Chile, which he attended as a child. His attempts at modernization, passion for the woman he always loved and consuming guilt all contribute to the impending tragedy. Penned by Francisco Ortega ("Se arrienda"), "Brethren" is skedded to roll winter 2013. Aiming to produce 36 hours of fiction this year -- mostly TV series like "El Reemplazante" -- Gandara is exploiting Chile's growing film-TV synergies. Gandara and former Endeavor agent-turned-producer Sergio Aguero are developing an English-language remake of the Parox-produced cult TV series "Gen Mishima" with vet showrunner Ken Sanzel ("Numbers," "The 2-2"), Gandara said at Mexico's Guadalajara festival. Gandara is also working on a movie spin-off of the dystopian thriller "Gen Maoa," written by "Mishima" scribe Enrique Videla. Gandara said, "Just making films in Chile is highly complex. TV production is larger scale and its budgets practically guaranteed, allowing companies to tackle film projects on a more industrial level." Parox is also putting up equity and services on Spaniard Isabel Aiguavives' "El Arbol magnetico," co-produced by Spain's Dos Treinta y Cinco, and on Italian Vincenzo Marra's fourth fiction feature "La Prima Luce." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Rankings: Idol Rules Survivor Hits Season High

Phillip Phillips, The American Idol Show The American Idol Show finalist Phillip Phillips received emergency treatment Thursday hrs prior to the Top 13 results show, TMZ reviews. Phillips, 21, reported intense discomfort in the abdomen before he was come to a physician. The reason for that discomfort remains unclear, but people near to the singer think it might be gall stones, based on TMZ. Satisfy the The American Idol Show runners up: Who had been in Hannah Montana? Who collects knives? A resource in the Georgia Pawn Shop where Phillips accustomed to work told the website the contestant was put in the hospital for the same symptom in The month of january. Almost exactly twelve months ago, Idol Season 10 finalist Casey Abrams was put in the hospital for severe stomach pains your day from the Top 13 results show and was instructed to miss the tape. Abrams, who wound up finishing sixth, seemed to be put in the hospital throughout the very best 24 round. A show repetition couldn't be arrived at for discuss Phillips' status.