DGA: Minority TV helmers losing ground

Employment by minority directors in episodic TV dropped slightly last season, according to the DGA's just-released report on TV employment for women and minorities. The DGA's tally shows that white males directed 77% of all TV episodes that aired during the 2010-11 season, based on a survey of more than 170 scripted series. That's up from 75% in the 2009-10 season. Employment for white female directors held steady from season to season at 11%. But minority male and femme helmers saw slight declines, from 12% to 11% for minority males and from 2% to 1% for minority femmes. DGA officials said the stats indicate an urgent need for networks and studios to be more aggressive in fostering diversity behind the camera. "It's not enough to just give lip service to the idea of increasing diversity behind the camera," said Paris Barclay, the DGA's first VP and co-chair of its national diversity task force. "These programs are so far failing to live up to their promise. So we're going to take the discussion straight to the people on each show who make the hiring decisions." Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

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Letter from Toronto: Michael Winterbottom Takes Hardy to India with Trishna (and More)

Michael Winterbottom makes so many movies that some of them creep into festivals very quietly and, just as quietly, creep out, never to be seen again. That wasn’t the case with The Trip, which played here last year, a woolly exploration of middle-aged angst that featured Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon (as themselves) bickering and trading Sean Connery impersonations as they made their way through the English countryside. But two years before that, in 2008, Winterbottom brought a picture called Genova to the festival, a mildly engaging drama in which Colin Firth plays a father who moves his family to Italy after the death of their mother. The picture never got a U.S. release, fading like the worn face of a stone saint on a medieval church. I hope American audiences get to see Trishna, Winterbottom’s take on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles set in contemporary India. Freida Pinto is Trishna, the Tess character, who comes from an impoverished family living in a small village. Jay (Riz Ahmed), is her Angel/Alec (Hardy purists should be warned that the two characters have been condensed into one), a man who sweeps her away from her life of poverty, only to end up resenting and degrading her. Even if Winterbottom has taken what some might consider unforgivable liberties with the story, Trishna works: Winterbottom has a feel for the story’s landscape, including the hardscrabble beauty of the countryside, all yellow dust and scrubby trees. It’s both a place Trishna needs to escape from and it’s home — there’s no safety or freedom there, but it’s the only place she’s truly herself. Pinto gives a lovely performance here. No other role she’s been given — as the hero’s dream woman in Slumdog Millionaire, or as a Palestinian orphan girl in Julian Schnabel’s deeply disappointing Miral — has asked as much of her, and she greets the challenge boldly. In the barest terms of the plot, Trishna is a victim, a tragic heroine, but Pinto always lets you see the character’s immovable self-assurance shimmering beneath the surface — that’s the very thing that threatens her lover and tormentor, and brings about her downfall. In Winterbottom’s scenario, Jay’s sudden turn against Trishna isn’t believable or readable in movie terms — his love for her appears to be operated by a switch that turns off abruptly without cause or reason — but it makes sense in the grander scheme of the impossibility of love. The dialogue here is mostly improvised — this is a casual, hip-pocket approach to a revered classic — but Winterbottom keeps the story moving deftly. We might appreciate Winterbottom more if he worked less, but he’s unlike any other filmmaker on the landscape, trying something new just about every year. Some of it sticks and some of it doesn’t. But almost always, he gives us something worth looking at. This is my last morning in Toronto, and even though I’ve seen plenty here, the ghosts of all the films I’ve missed are already starting to haunt me. Then there are the ones I saw and simply didn’t have time to write about, like Malgorzata Szumowska’s Elles, in which Juliette Binoche plays an upper-class French journalist whose investigation of the lives of two young prostitutes triggers more awareness of the cracks in her own life. Szumowska can’t quite make the contrast work, but Binoche is typically wonderful here — her scenes with the young women are pure pleasure to watch. Also noteworthy is Urbanized (pictured above), the third documentary by Gary Hustwit, following Helvetica, a study of the much-used and much-loved typeface, and Objectified, which explores the design behind the objects we use everyday (like, for example, the MacBook I’m using right now). Full disclosure: Hustwit is a friend. But his fleet, concise documentary about urban planning and the lives of cities — you could call it an unspoken love letter to the spirit of Jane Jacobs — is the kind of picture that opens your eyes to all kinds of details that slip past us city dwellers every day. And with that, I bid Toronto adieu. I’ve had a terrific week, seeing movies and getting jacked on Coffee Crisps (which, next to English Kit-Kats, may be God’s perfect candy). I always miss this city and its festival when I leave, but I happily look forward to returning next year. And so until then, goodbye, Toronto.

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Executors To Give $30 Million To Jackson Heirs

FIRST PUBLISHED: September 13, 2011 9:06 PM EDT LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The executors of Michael Jacksons estate say they will distribute $30 million to the Jackson Family Trust for the benefit of the singers mother, his two children and charities under the terms of Jacksons will. The executors said in documents filed Tuesday that since Jacksons death in June 2009, the estate has generated more than $310 million, enabling them to pay off dozens of debtor claims and refinance loans at lower interest rates. They also disclosed that Katherine Jackson wants to sell the familys famous compound in Encino and find a new residence for her and the children. The family has been living in a temporary home in Calabasas while the Encino property was being refurbished. A hearing for a judges approval of the plan is set for Sept. 28. Copyright 2011 by Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Matt's Guide to the TV Week: Closer Finale, CW and NBC Premieres, and More

Sasha Alexander and Angie Harmon MONDAYIt's not quite time to say goodbye for good to TNT's signature hit The Closer, which will return in November with new episodes, then finish out its run with a batch of episodes next summer. Tonight's "summer finale" (9/8c) is a potentially pivotal one, as Brenda awaits a judge's decision about whether to drop the charges in the civil suit that has been hanging over her and the department all season. The shooting death of a deputy sheriff provides some distraction. ... The popular, but by comparison often inane, companion piece Rizzoli & Isles (10/9c) ends its summer run with the return of arch-fiend Charles Hoyt (the slithery Michael Massee), who says he has info on a jailhouse murder. Both will be back Nov. 28.Lots of other summer finales on tap, mostly in the reality realm, including ABC's insipid Bachelor Pad (8/7c), which somehow takes three entire hours to announce its winners, while also officially introducing recent dump-ee Ben Flajnik as the next Bachelor (due in January). ... As HGTV Design Star wraps (9/8c), either Meg or Karl will win their own show, depending on whose concept and pilot comes off best. Either would be a good fit.Want more fall TV news? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!Burning the metaphorical TV candle at both ends, CNN wunderkind Anderson Cooper tries daytime on for size, as Anderson (syndicated, check local listings) premieres with what the industry calls a "get" - an interview with the late Amy Winehouse's parents and boyfriend. ... On a less serious note, MTV launches a likeably irreverent new daytime game show, The Substitute (4:30/3:30c), in which comic Jon Gabrus takes over a classroom and pits the students against each other to answer trivia questions, with $5,000 and "extra credit" prizes at stake.What else is on? As an odd prelude to a week of premieres, the CW presents Gaga By Gaultier (8/7c), an interview special pairing designer Jean-Paul Gaultier with Lady Gaga in Paris. It's followed by a preview of the network's new and returning shows. ... Syfy stunt casting: It's a Caprica reunion on Warehouse 13 (9/8c) as Alessandra Torresani and Sasha Roiz (in a recurring role) guest. The former Cylon prototype plays a girl with violently destructive powers who turns to Claudia for help. Later, Star Trek: The Next Generation's Brent Spiner and Lost's Rebecca Mader show up on Alphas (10/9c). ... On ABC Family's The Lying Game (8/7c), not to be confused with Tuesday night's superior Ringer, it's homecoming, and Emma finds herself running for homecoming queen in twin Sutton's place. Is there anything that girl wasn't into? ... Bravo's ubiquitous Andy Cohen and Today's Natalie Morales co-host the 60th edition of The Miss Universe Pageant (9/8c) from Brazil.TUESDAYHere's how I described Sarah Michelle Gellar's return to TV, in the CW's Ringer (9/8c), in our Fall Preview issue: "The Buffy icon runs the gamut from scrappy underdog to glamorous ice queen in a twisted sister act that doubles as a juicy mystery. The complications keep mounting, putting the fan of deluxe romantic suspense through the what's-next wringer." Here's the set-up: Gellar plays long-estranged identical twins who reunite, and after the rich one suddenly vanishes, the poor one (an ex-stripper recovering alcoholic with a killer and the FBI on her tail) takes over her life, soon discovering the ritzy fast lane is just as deadly. More on this on Tuesday. An hour earlier, the fourth season of 90210 (8/7c) starts the brats on the road to life after high school. Haven't we been through this before.Your best bet for entertaining teen shenanigans is a new episode of MTV's delightfully raunchy Awkward (11:30/10:30c), built around Jenna's "Super Bittersweet Sixteen" birthday, which as usual brings new humiliation to our heroine's so-called life. We're still reeling from last week's calamity, when Jenna woke up to realize she'd made out (under many influences) with her BFF's boyfriend. Ouch.The night's highlight for history and celebrity buffs is undoubtedly ABC News' two-hour prime-time special Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words (9/8c), featuring newly released recordings the former first lady made shortly after JFK's death, reflecting on life in the White House and the tumultuous world events they faced. ... The highlight of the day for tabloid enthusiasts is Dr. Phil's two-part interview today and Wednesday (syndicated, check local listings) with George and Cindy Anthony, parents of the now-infamous Casey Anthony.What else is on? On a roll after last week's record-setting season opener, FX's Sons of Anarchy (10/9c) is at its best when confronting Jax's desire to leave the motorcycle club - prompting him to make a controversial deal with Clay that could tear SAMCRO apart - and at its worst in an action sequence that's preposterous even by this show's high-octane standards. ... NBC's Parenthood (10/9c) is back a week earlier than most network dramas, giving us time to catch up with Adam's jobless crisis among other subplots - some more satisfying than others (Sarah and Amber's mother-daughter clash on Sarah's 40th birthday being especially tiresome) - but there's a fun shout-out to another Jason Katims drama, and if Jason Ritter wants to stick around a while as the teacher still harboring a crush on Sarah, few will complain.WEDNESDAYHere are my Fall Preview takes on three new series premiering tonight.Two NBC comedies are getting a special launch at 10/9c, hoping for a boost from the two-hour finale of the relentlessly mediocre America's Got Talent (8/7c). (Next week, the comedies move to the earlier, and potentially deadly, hour of 8/7c.) First, and best, is Up All Night, featuring Christina Applegate and Will Arnett as exhausted new parents whose me-first lifestyles and bleep-worthy vocabularies aren't all that well suited for an infant. Maya Rudolph shines as Applegate's boss, whose character has been transformed since the original pilot into a neurotic daytime talk host, allowing the Saturday Night Live veteran to channel her delirious Oprah homage. My Fall Preview take from the earlier pilot (the new version's changes mostly involve the workplace and Rudolph's character): "This refreshingly grown-up twist on the comic anxieties of new parenthood is blessed with a fabulous cast - and what a treat to see Arnett drop the ironic detachment to play it real. Kudos to beefing up scene-stealer Rudolph's role. Baby, she's a hoot!"This is paired with Free Agents (10:30/9:30c) starring Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn as co-workers at a smarmy public-relations firm who engage in private relations, though they know they shouldn't. He's newly divorced, and her bedroom is a shrine to her dead fiancé. My Fall Preview take: "Toxic. The not-quite-romantic hero cries after sex. You may well cry after, or during, this anti-comedy about whiny, snappish neurotics sharing an unbearably smug workplace that's about as inviting as Chernobyl." NBC is re-airing both pilots on Thursday, Up at 8:30/7:30c (where it really ought to be airing in the fall) and Agents at 9:30/8:30c (which almost makes us miss Outsourced).And then there's the CW's H8R (as in, "hater"), a quasi-reality show in which host Mario Lopez aids the quasi-famous or infamous - like Snooki and the Kardashians - in ambushing their most virulent real-life detractors. You know, normal folk. The aim: to win them over, because wouldn't you know, these pop-culture punching bags aren't that bad. My take: "Hate to be a hater, but ... who am I kidding? The last thing TV needs is another insipid platform for overexposed celeb-reality 'stars' to reinforce their narcissism, this time at the expense of punk'd nobodies who were right to shun them in the first place. Pathetic."For those who've been following Damages on DirectTV this summer, the suspenseful wait is over, in a highly satisfying season finale (10.9c) that finds Patty and Ellen once again at odds in their conflicting desires to see justice done, while desperately trying to save the life of several pawns caught up in the murderous intrigues of corrupt defense contractor Howard Erickson (John Goodman) and his ruthless associate Jerry Boorman (Dylan Baker). The twists and reveals come at a furious pace, and one of the best is saved for the very end.What else is on? A big night for reality fans, as CBS' Survivor: South Pacific (8/7c) kicks off a 23rd season, bringing back two veteran players, "Coach" and Ozzy. It's a 90-minute premiere, followed by the 90-minute finale of summer time-waster Big Brother (9:30/8:30c). ... Familiar faces are also in order on an "all-star" season of the CW's America's Next Top Model (8/7c), the first cycle entirely populated by past contestants. ... Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts (10/9c) wallows in Willy Wonka nostalgia as cast members of the original movie (the Gene Wilder version) help judge the edible room the chef-testants create. ... USA Network's summer of hits comes to a close with the first-season finale of Necessary Roughness (10/9c), with Terrell Owens guest-starring as TK's greatest rival as the Hawks head into the playoffs. I'm wondering if in the future, this show might not be better off airing during the actual football season.THURSDAYMy Fall Preview take on the CW's The Secret Circle (9/8c): "Abracadabra, the CW has conjured a clone. Hold your applause. The magic is missing in this less-than-spellbinding brew of recycled supernatural teen angst, which so far lacks the self-aware wit and breakneck pacing of the fang-tastic Vampire Diaries. Hurry, witches, clone a Damon!" I understand the desire to create compatible companion pieces, but this generic saga of teenage witches (starring Life Unexpected's Britt Robertson and the TV Terminator's Thomas Dekker) is both too much and too little.In happier news, The Vampire Diaries (8/7c) begins its third season with Elena spending her 18th birthday fretting over Stefan's whereabouts, while Bad Stefan and the evil Klaus busy themselves tracking a werewolf played by David Gallagher, who's about as far as one can get from 7th Heaven territory.Looking for intentional laughs? FX obliges by pairing the seventh-season opener of cult fave It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (10/9c) with the first of several special original episodes of animated riot Archer (10:30/9:30c), which is my favorite FX comedy next to Louie. On Sunny, the gang gives an image makeover to the "pretty woman" Frank intends to make his prostitute bride. On Archer, Rip Riley (voice of Patrick Warburton) tries to bring our hapless secret agent back to ISIS. Good times.Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

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Abigail Breslin Is Virgin Mary

She's on for that indie comedyFirst murder, now sex... It appears that Abigail Breslin is searching to create her teenage motion picture years time that they well and truly breaks from the good girl mould. Her latest effort for the reason that direction? Signing onto Janet Schacter's indie comedy A Virgin Mary. Schacter authored and can direct the film, which finds Breslin as teen Mary, who constitutes a pact together with her best male friend (Carter Jenkins) that they may have sexual intercourse if they are both still virgins when they hit their 18th birthday celebrations. The happy couple is starring alongside Akeelah and also the Bee's Keke Palmer and Spy Kids veteran Daryl Sabara. Schacter aims to start shooting early the coming year. Before she reviews towards the set, Breslin will star in true crime indie The Category Project, which finds her among two siblings who finalise to off their abusive, booze-happy mother. She gets music drama Janie Johnson next out there for release, then an apearance within the sprawling acting ensemble of recent Year's Eve.

The Raid

An Alliance Films (in Canada) relieve a PT Merantau Films/Abc Films/Celluloid Bad dreams or nightmares presentation. (Worldwide sales: Celluloid Bad dreams or nightmares, Paris/La.) Produced by Ario Sagantoro. Executive producers, R. Maya Barack-Evans, Irwan D. Mussry, Nate Bolotin, Todd Brown. Directed, written, edited by Gareth Huw Evans.With: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim. Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Tegar Satrya, Ray Sahetapy.The best credits roll, listing figures for instance "Hole Drop Attacker" and "Machete Gang Member," only shows the quantity of mayhem in Gareth Huw Evans' "The Raid." Indeed, moviegoers may want the projectionist could replay a couple of from the spectacular sequences in this incredible and very violent cop-versus.-gangster fight-athon, in which a SWAT-like unit invades a 15-story building and requires to reach the very best, floor by floor, to produce lower the theif. While using genre with a better intensity, the Welsh-born Evans continues what he started previously Indonesia-set actioner "Merantau," but this pic will seal his cult status. As efficient becasue it is title signifies, "The Raid" supplies a continuous sequence of action getting a apparent and effective premise: If police can get through to the top floor, there's a chance to create lower major drug kingpin Tama (Ray Sahetapy). Further further complicating matters is the fact that many cops inside the unit are unskilled inside the model of intense urban combat needed here, which their corrupt boss, Lt. Wahyu (Pierre Gruno), may compromise the entire operation. That's about as much plot since the movie is worried with, or needs. Hard-ass cop Rama (Iko Uwais, "Merantau," in the star-making role) is sparkling neat and tenacious just like a bulldozer. Inside a couple of minutes of silently penetrating the building's interior (the end result increased by total silence about the soundtrack that otherwise provides huge punches of pure, sonic energy), Rama's males fit in with assault by Tama's smartly placed models, including prepubescent spotters and endless supplies of dudes with heavy machine guns. Tama observes everything about the large bank of monitors within the control room, aided by his callous henchmen Andi (Doni Alamsyah) and Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian). Tama may also be capable of deliver messages inside the building's PA system, to make sure that everyone can hear his message, "We've site site visitors." It's the signal for individuals-out war. The ensuing one hour half an hour are largely a hands-to-hands, fist-to-face, ft-to-groin fight, getting a few machetes and guns tossed in permanently measure. Pic handles to create the sensation of the kind of live-action ride, where Evans as conductor modulates a tight schedule up and lower of action, and alternates pace and volume, with selected interludes of story capture an individual's breath. It makes sense exhilarating for audiences open to the sheer visceral sensation in the physical experience, regardless of an individual's predilection toward fight photos. Still, there's ample close-up, flesh-ripping violence to produce even hardened audiences wince. The pic's combat style, silat, is certainly an Indonesian martial-arts form this can be a more brawling kind of fighting than more broadly known styles. Consider it the Nfl overpowering kung fu, but a good deal nastier, while using action getting wilder the flooring -- as well as the casualties in Rama's forces -- mount. You can neglect the story altogether inside the sheer hurry of Rama's fight up floor rather, audiences will question how a amazing fight that merely ended might be assigned. But it is, again and again. A five-minute fight which has flying, getting upset parts of the body particularly shows the elegance inside the fight choreography by Evans, Uwais and Ruhian. Greater than most martial-arts photos, "The Raid" recalls the dwelling from the movie musical, in which a simple story bridges the amounts and sequences. Ultimately, there's enough to one of the pic's side tales (including brothers and sisters on opposite sides in the fight) that, attracted together with righting the wrong of political corruption, allows products to complete about the considerably satisfying note. Moti D. Setyanto's terrific production design signifies within your building just like a perpetual maze, both up and lower and flat. It is not surprising the project needed two lensers (Matt Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono), since the camera frequently appears to disregard gravity in the pursuit to obtain fresh angles concerning the fight. Technically, the pic's in the league alone among Indonesian films. Following this pic's first Toronto screening, producers introduced the soundtrack will probably be entirely modified by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. Even though it will prove to add a commercial kick for the film, it'll appear curious thinking about the brilliant soundtrack displayed within the screening examined.Camera (color), Matt Flannery, Dimas Imam Subhono music, Fajar Yuskemal, Aria Prayogi production designer, Moti D. Setyanto costume designer, Upay Maryani appear (Dolby Digital), Suhadi Yuskemal, Prayogi, Bonar Abraham, Sandika Widjaja appear designers, Yuskemal, Prayogi re-recording mixers, Yuskemal, Aria Prayogi, Abraham, Widjaja, Jack Arthur Simanjuntak effects makeup, Jerry Octavianus stunt organizers, Yandi "Piranha" Sutisna, Eka "Piranha" Rahmadia, Esa W. Sie, Rama Ramadhan fighting styles choreographers, Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian action choreographer, Evans line producer, Daiwanne P. Ralie assistant company company directors, Dondy Adrian Senjaya, Mus Danang Danar Dono, Imam Dharmawan Santoso, Ginanti Rona Tembang Asri. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Evening time Madness), Sept. 8, 2011. (Also in Sitges, Pusan film festivals.) Running time: 101 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

The Graveyard of Death

A reporter from a small regional newspaper investigates a waste dump in which the military have been testing Infectious Diseases, it's not long before the Zombies are free and Killing, George phones the reporter to tell him about a blast seen from the closed off woods, the reporter who is not far from the woods investigates the military cover-up it's not long before the zombies and the military are trying the kill each other.