A new trend has begun to take hold in a category that's been mostly major-studio territory since its creation a decade ago. The animated-feature lineup is seeing more independent distributors finding their way into the Oscar race and enjoying real success in winning those coveted nominations. In fact, since the…

New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson, who was interviewed a week ago in London in connection with the BBC scandal involving sex abuse claims against former TV host Jimmy Savile, notified the paper’s staff in a memo today that conclusion of the investigation has been delayed. As a result Thompson, a former BBC director…

Listen to Episode 12 of our audio podcast “Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman“. This week, Deadline Executive Editor Lieberman and host David Bloom discuss why this quarter is looking very good for a number of companies: big exhibition companies are seeing their projections raised on what looks like very strong bo…

With original cast member Kim Delaney set to depart Lifetime’s Army Wives as it heads into its seventh season and Sally Pressman scaling back from a series regular to recurring, the veteran drama is adding three actresses as series regulars — Ashanti, Torrey DeVitto  (Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries) and Elle…

Brian Brooks is Managing Editor of MovieLine. New arrivals to the specialty market don’t include any marquee Oscar contenders compared to recent weeks. What we have is a hodgepodge of cross-genre fare. Abramorama’s Addicted To Fame takes a behind-the-scenes look at a film set with a troubled star. Magnet Releasing’s Un…

EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to directors on the movie Highlander, there can be only one. But it won’t be Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. The 28 Weeks Later helmer has exited Summit’s reboot of the film, which still has Ryan Reynolds poised to play the title character. I’m told that his exit is amicable, and that after a year of…

The release form suddenly provided this week by Innocence Of Muslims filmmaker Mark Basseley Youssef is a "forgery", lawyers for actress Cindy Lee Garcia said today — and they’ve got an expert who agrees with them. Of course, it might not matter because Judge Michael Fitzgerald today canceled a scheduled December 3rd…

Life was relatively quiet in the universe of Google-funded YouTube channels during the week that began on Thanksgiving and ended on November 28. The Onion — helped by a hilarious send-up of the TED Talks — led a group of just eight channels that gained views over the previous week. Not surprisingly, Hungry was among…

EXCLUSIVE: Vivek Tiwary, whose credits include producing Broadway musicals The Addams Family, American Idiot, The Producers and Young Frankenstein, has come aboard as exclusive producer to adapt Jimmy Gownley’s graphic novel series for TV and film. The one-time music industry exec plans to secure the involvement of…

Incoming president of CNN Worldwide Jeff Zucker has sent a memo to the staff, saying he sees “endless potential” for the network. Here’s the full memo, via a CNN staffer, first posted on Politico. Related: Jeff Zucker: CNN Must "Remain Editorially Independent” With Thursday's announcement behind us, I wanted to…

AMC, Fox TV Studios and The Killing developer/executive producer Veena Sud are putting the team back together in anticipation of a formal green light for a third season of the mystery series to air on AMC and Netflix. Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin, who served as co-executive producers in the first and second…

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime is turning another infamous real-life crime story into a TV movie with Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story. Matt Barr, Eric McCormack and Lolita Davidovich star in the project, inspired by the true story of Christopher Porco, who was convicted of killing his father and attempting to murder his…