Last year, procrastination got the best of me and by the time I got around to the annual pumpkin purchase on October 30th, the supermarkets were out of all but the most damaged pumpkins. I was left with no alternative than to deal with the local Pumpkin Patch Guy (a/k/a the Christmas Tree Lot Guy). Some might say I was merely on the wrong side of supply and demand.

Recent observation: on two separate deals, different reps at different agencies asked for a $25K set up bonus if their writer-client’s projects were independently produced. A set up bonus or “studio bump” is often negotiated in a writer’s option/purchase agreement if the producer successfully sets the project up at a major studio. The bonus is often negotiated as an advance against the

I recently called four actors about a potential gig on a television series. Only one of them got back to me. Four days later. By email. All of them, without exception, regularly complain to me about the lack of work in L.A.

Pickle Magazine , a film industry publication based in India about all things Bollywood and now, Hollywood, recently asked producer and sales agent, Ron Lavery to interview me and ten others for its American Film Market edition. After reading all eleven interviews, it’s clear that none of us agree on what the long term and short term effects will be on the film business given the latest seismic shocks (and those to come) to the overall global economy.

Back in the 80’s, MTV was cutting edge. To many of us growing up back then, music videos were as much a part of the soundtrack to our lives as the music itself. Inspired, my high school class produced its own music video; a lip syncing production of Devo’s We’re Through Being Cool which was seen by less than a thousand people at my school’s annual musical revue. [

By Andrew Wallenstein and Matthew Belloni Hollywood is coming down with the Twitter jitters. There’s a growing number of studio deals with new language aimed specifically at curbing usage of social-media outlets by actors, execs and other creatives. The goal:... ...Tags:

By Eriq Gardner Last year, we wrote about attorney Ravi Batra, who convinced the New York Supreme Court not to dismiss a "libel-in-fiction" defamation claim against the TV show "Law & Order" over a corrupt fictional character. Now comes word... ...Tags: Tags: Books Decisions Roundup Defamation Litigatio

By Eriq Gardner Hollywood studios got a huge win yesterday when Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction against the release of a technology produced by RealNetworks that lets consumers save copies of... ...Tags: Tags: Copyright Fair Use IP/Tech Litigatio

A bedrock principle of libel law is that truth is an absolute defense. If what you say about someone is true, the person cannot win a libel case against you, even if you defame them. The federal appeals court in Boston put a jackhammer to the bedrock this week. In Noonan v.

By Eriq Gardner RELATED: And the most-pirated film of 2009 is.... In 2008, pirates were obsessed with good vs. evil, making NBC's "Heroes" the most-pirated TV show of the year. This year, the buzz is that the show may be... ...Tags: