Prabhu will take up duty hike with us

There was a moment last November when Channel 4 ’s senior executives breathed a sigh of relief. Sat at the top table of Channel 4’s 40th birthday party, Chief Executive Alex Mahon was flanked by her friend Elisabeth Murdoch and doyens of UK broadcasting, including BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Carolyn McCall, ITV’s Chief Executive. They were raising a glass to a British success story in a rare public display of unity. On the same table was Thérèse Coffey, a senior government minister who had survived three prime ministers in the space of little more than three months. Her presence at the V&A Museum event bemused others, who believed the government only had hostile intentions for Channel 4 after sanctioning a sale of the broadcaster against its wishes. Things soon got weirder. Coffey turned to Mahon and asked if she could raise a glass to Channel 4. She then proceeded to surprise the room full of TV luminaries by serenading her hosts with a rendition of happy … [Read more...] about Channel 4: Inside The Doomed Sale Of A Crown Jewel Of British Television

Boris Johnson has revealed his weirdly specific new hobby: mastering the form of a cow. The former UK Prime Minister has told TalkTV , the Rupert Murdoch-backed British television channel, that he spends his days drawing cattle after resigning in scandal last year. In his first major TV interview since leaving office, Johnson sat down with his friend and colleague Nadine Dorries , the former UK Culture Secretary. “At the moment I’ve got a project, which is to master the form of the cow,” he told Friday Night with Nadine in an exchange that bordered on bizarre. Johnson continued: “Cows are actually far more difficult to draw than you think. How many toes on the front does a cow have? It’s two, and they’ve got a little thing on the heel. And what do you call that bit of the cow? I think it’s called the withers. What do you call the back of the knee of the cow? The hock. “They repay a lot of study. So, I’m filling a book now with cow. Pictures of parts of cows, … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson Says He Spends His Days Drawing Cows After Scandal Forced Him From Office

Lindsay Dougherty , the principal officer of Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 – and the top movie Teamster in the country – is urging her members to start saving money in case of a strike later this year by writers, actors or directors. The earliest a strike could happen, if it comes to that, is May 1, when the WGA ’s current film and TV contract expires. The SAG-AFTRA and DGA contracts both expire June 30. “As many of you are aware, we will see SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, and the WGA bargaining their master agreements this year,” she told her members in the current issue of News Reel , the local’s quarterly magazine. “I want to urge our members to be diligent and prepared by setting money aside in case any of these groups have delayed or contentious negotiations. “We have seen the effects on our members during the writers’ strike of 2007-2008, and we know that the changing landscape to our industry, and the issues industry workers face on the job, could threaten a work … [Read more...] about Lindsay Dougherty, Head of Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399, Urges Members To Save Up In Case Of A Strike By WGA, SAG-AFTRA or DGA

Journalists for the Los Angeles legal newspaper Daily Journal write today about a tabloid reporter in the early 1990s surreptitiously taping Anthony Pellicano — bugging the bugger, according to LAObserved — while the PI fed, watered and overall negotiated with the night-crawlers of the news biz. (Actually, that was reported extensively two years ago by local TV news station KCBS and its then reporter Drew Griffin, who used the news break to leap to CNN.) But the Daily Journal claims today that the recorded conversations with Pellicano suggest lawyer Bert Fields didn’t know about the PI’s methods. I, too, was shown some tape transcripts back in 2004 pertaining to this. When I couldn’t hear the recordings themselves — none of the 250 microcassettes were made available to me but they were to KCBS’s Griffin — I didn’t feel comfortable going with the story. At the time, I believed and still do that drawing any such a conclusion one way or the other re Fields/Pellicano from the … [Read more...] about Old, Old News: Pellicano/Tabloids

WGA members have voted unanimously to ratify a new contract with public broadcasting stations WGBH Boston and WNET New York. The pact also covers guild members employed at KCET Los Angeles, though it did not take part in the negotiations, and at numerous production companies that produce shows for WGBH and WNET. The new deal increases minimum pay rates, which are also the basis for residuals payments, by 2% retroactive to July 1, 2014, and 2.5% on July 1, 2015. The companies also have agreed to contribute an additional 0.5% to the Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan. In a statement, the WGA said it represents “the people who write some of the best-known and most compelling programs broadcast on public television, including Frontline , American Experience , Nova and American Masters . Most of the covered shows are produced by WGBH in Boston and WNET in New York.” The WGA remains on strike against several other public TV stations including KQED San … [Read more...] about WGA Members Ratify Public TV Contract

Getty There's been a lot of blame placed on the armorer on the set of "Rust" -- by both the public and law enforcement -- but her attorney says she did everything in her power to ensure everyone working on the project was safe. We had Jason Bowles , the attorney for Hannah Gutierrez - Reed on "TMZ Live" Friday who talked at length about his client's case ... and shared what he believes were some of the failures that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins . TMZ.com Bowles says Hannah asked assistant director, Dave Halls , to let her know when Alec Baldwin was going to handle the gun that fired the fatal shot so she could inspect it and give Baldwin proper instruction on how to handle the weapon. Bowles says Halls never gave Hannah a heads up, simply handing the gun over to Alec without following any sort of safety procedure. 'Rust' Armorer Distraught Directly After Shooting, Says Her Lawyer What's more -- … [Read more...] about ‘Rust’ Armorer was Stretched Thin, Tried to Ensure Gun Safety with Baldwin

Getty/Memphis Police Dept Preston Hemphill , the white Memphis police officer involved in the Tyre Nichols arrest who is heard on body cam footage wishing Tyre harm, has just been fired. The Memphis Police Department announced Hemphill's firing in a Friday news dump ... and he has not been criminally charged in connection with Tyre's death. Memphis Police Dept Hemphill was one of the first officers to confront Tyre during the fateful January. 7 traffic stop ... and he's alleged to have used his Taser on Tyre. Memphis Police Department Hemphill's body cam footage shows him chasing Nichols on foot ... and he's twice heard saying, "I hope they stomp his a**." As you know ... Tyre was later confronted by 5 Black cops, who used pepper spray and beat him so badly he complained of shortness of breath and ended up in a hospital, where 3 days later he died. The 5 Black officers ... Tadarrius Bean , Demetrius … [Read more...] about White Memphis Police Officer Involved in Tyre Nichols Arrest Fired