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REEL<br />
NEWS<br />
IN REVIEW<br />
Lawsuit Filed Against<br />
Weinstein Company<br />
The office of New York State Attorney<br />
General Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit<br />
against The Weinstein Co., alleging that<br />
company leadership enabled a “years-long<br />
gender-based hostile work environment, a<br />
pattern of quid-pro-quo sexual harassment,<br />
and routine misuse of corporate resources<br />
for unlawful ends.” In particular, wrote<br />
Schneiderman in a statement, the company<br />
failed to protect employees from “pervasive<br />
sexual harassment, intimidation and<br />
discrimination” at the hands of co-chairman<br />
Harvey Weinstein. The lawsuit calls for penalties<br />
of between $500 and $250,000 to be<br />
paid per violation to the state of New York,<br />
plus damages paid to victims and a voiding<br />
of any NDAs that would prohibit women<br />
from speaking out. TWC’s planned sale to<br />
an investor group is now on hold.<br />
Comcast May Bid<br />
for 20th Century Fox<br />
Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox,<br />
reported on in FJI’s January issue, isn’t a sure<br />
thing yet. According to the rumor mill, Comcast<br />
may make a new offer of their own. The<br />
conglomerate made a bid for Fox last year,<br />
only to be turned down in favor of Disney<br />
due to anti-trust concerns. Reports now<br />
indicate that Comcast may wait to see how<br />
the AT&T-Time Warner antitrust trial shakes<br />
out—it’s slated to begin on <strong>March</strong> 19—before<br />
potentially making another offer.<br />
Screen Gems<br />
Chief Steps Down<br />
Twenty-eight-year Sony executive Clint<br />
Culpepper has stepped down as the head<br />
of genre-oriented division Screen Gems.<br />
Since being kicked into gear by Culpepper in<br />
1998, Screen Gems has enjoyed successes<br />
with The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the<br />
Underworld and Resident Evil franchises. In<br />
the last several years, however, the label’s<br />
success rate has been shaky; Proud Mary, for<br />
one, failed to crack the $10 million mark<br />
earlier this year. Culpepper was replaced<br />
by Steve Bersch, head of Sony Pictures<br />
Worldwide Acquisitions.<br />
MoviePass Lowers<br />
Prices Again<br />
Last year, MoviePass made news<br />
when it lowered its price to $10 a<br />
month, offering subscribers the chance<br />
to see one movie a day for what in<br />
some markets is less than the price of<br />
one movie ticket. Now they’ve dropped<br />
their monthly price again, this time to<br />
$7.95 with a one-year subscription, with<br />
free access to streaming service Fandor<br />
sweetening the deal. According to Movie-<br />
Pass’ figures, the company is responsible<br />
for five percent of all movie tickets sold<br />
in the United States; though moviegoers<br />
pay MoviePass a flat monthly fee, in most<br />
cases MoviePass pays the entire price of<br />
the ticket to theatres.<br />
Vue Intl. to Expand<br />
Into Saudi Arabia<br />
Two months after Saudi Arabia announced<br />
that it would end its decadeslong<br />
ban on movie theatres, Vue International<br />
has leapt into the new market<br />
with plans for 30 cinemas there. Said Vue<br />
founder Tim Richards, “This is a huge<br />
moment in the history of global cinema<br />
development for the exhibition industry<br />
and we are honored to be partnering<br />
with such a well-regarded and prestigious<br />
operator [real estate group Abdulmohsin<br />
Al Hokair Holding]. We are delighted<br />
to have been chosen to lead in the development<br />
of world-class cinemas and the<br />
big-screen experience in Saudi Arabia.”<br />
Mark Gordon Joins<br />
Entertainment One<br />
Longtime producer Mark Gordon<br />
has joined Entertainment One as their<br />
president and chief content officer for<br />
film, television and digital. Entertainment<br />
One acquired 51 percent of The Mark<br />
Gordon Company in 2015; since then,<br />
the companies have partnered on Murder<br />
on the Orient Express, Molly’s Game and<br />
the upcoming The Nutcracker and the Four<br />
Realms, among other projects. Gordon<br />
will serve alongside Steve Bertram, appointed<br />
president, film, television, and<br />
digital. <br />
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New York, NY 10019<br />
Tele: (212) 493-4097<br />
Publisher/Editor<br />
Robert Sunshine<br />
President, <strong>Film</strong> Expo Group<br />
Andrew Sunshine<br />
Executive Editor<br />
Kevin Lally<br />
Associate Editor<br />
Rebecca Pahle<br />
Art Director<br />
Rex Roberts<br />
Senior Account Executive,<br />
Advertising & Sponsorships<br />
Robin Klamfoth<br />
Exhibition/Business Editor<br />
Andreas Fuchs<br />
Concessions Editor<br />
Larry Etter<br />
Far East Bureau<br />
Thomas Schmid<br />
CEO, <strong>Film</strong> Expo Group<br />
Theo Kingma<br />
FJI ONLINE<br />
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<strong>Film</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> International © <strong>2018</strong> by <strong>Film</strong><br />
Expo Group, LLC. No part of this publication<br />
may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval<br />
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any<br />
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,<br />
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permission of the publisher.<br />
6 FILMJOURNAL.COM / MARCH <strong>2018</strong><br />
003-006.indd 6<br />
2/12/18 4:31 PM
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