It’s been a banner year for television production. During the 2010-11 development cycle, a record 169 shows developed pilots. Cable TV was cranking out two and half times as many pilots as the previous cycle. Normally that would be good news for the LA production world. Just six years ago, 82 percent of all pilots were shot in LA. According to a new report from the non-profit group FilmL.A., however, that number shrank to 51 percent this cycle. As a result, despite the banner year for TV production, less pilots were shot in LA than in 2004-05 cycle.

Read more

The Catalina Island Museum will unveil an exhibit in August about the year a young Marilyn Monroe spent on the island. Monroe was still known as Norma Jeane when when she moved to Catalina in 1943 as a teenage bride. Her husband Jim Dougherty, whom she married to escape life in foster care, was sent to the island by the merchant marines.

Many of the photos from the period will be familiar to Monroe fans — indeed, the photo to the right of Marilyn standing on Catalina’s Descanso Beach is often used by biographers to illustrate the terrible perm she was sporting when first discovered by modeling agents.

From the museum website:

“Before She Was Marilyn: Marilyn Monroe on Catalina Island” is the first major exhibition documenting the year Marilyn Monroe lived on Catalina Island. Although a brief period that is often ignored by historians, this candid and often disturbing exhibition brings to light documentary evidence and photographs that reveal the pivotal importance of this period in understanding the troubled psychology of a woman who would become an icon of popular culture.

Read more

Back in the 1980′s, Anton Fury purchased an envelope of negatives at a New Jersey garage sale. “I thought it was just some chick in a bikini,” Fury explained to the New York Post.

Upon closer inspection, Fury realized it was two chicks in bikinis — namely, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The pictures are estimated to be from 1950. Monroe would have been just 24 years old.

Fury is currently working with Los Angeles art dealer David Streets in Los Angeles to learn as much as they can about the photos — including who the photographer might be. Fury would like to sell the images, but copyright law is an issue, as someone with legal claims to the photos might come forward.

CNN has a slideshow of the photos Fury has made public.

The white halter dress that blew over Marilyn Monroe‘s head in The Seven Year Itch is being offered for sale by none other than actress Debbie Reynolds. The dress is part of an extensive collection of Hollywood memorabilia, which Reynolds originally intended to turn into a museum. But after numerous false starts, the museum dream fell through, and now the 79-year-old is selling off her treasures in a Beverly Hills auction on June 18.

“Basically, what Debbie has is what’s left of Hollywood,” Profiles in History auction house president Joe Maddalena tells the New York Post.

The pending sale of Monroe’s famous white dress has moved a number of Hollywood history enthusiasts to start a campaign to rescue the garment from a life of obscurity in a private collection. The SAVE-THE-DRESS Project is attempting to raise funds to acquire the dress so that it can be placed on permanent, public display.

It’s no secret that Hollywood can be a bit careless with its own history, but this one shocked even us cynics. Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc. are selling Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, maybe cause the Harry Potter franchise didn’t make them enough money or something. The buyers are Elie Samaha and Don Kushner, a couple of film producers who, rumor has it, have some frightening plans for the historical Hollywood landmark.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Several Hollywood sources said they had heard that the new owners are considering turning the theater, which has 1,152 seats, into a nightclub. It’s worth noting that Samaha has interests in two historic Hollywood Boulevard movie theaters that have recently been transformed into nightlife venues: the Fox Theatre and Vogue Theatre.

Read more

Another egg in the face for news aggregators.

On Monday, the Daily Mail reported that the last company in the world still making typewriters was shutting down. They weren’t the first to report the story, and appear to have simply been regurgitating a week-old article by India’s Business Standard. The story was incorrect — there are still several companies in the world manufacturing typewriters — but that didn’t stop several major news outlets from running with it. USA Today, Huffington Post, PC Magazine, CBS News, and more reported on the death of the typewriter, all without bothering to fact-check.

Some of these media outlets haven’t even bothered to issue a correction. This is what happens when accuracy takes a back seat to page hits.

Hat tip Romenesko.

We know it’s April 1st and this could be a joke – but we’re buying it anyway. Michael Walker compares the Huffington Post blogger pay dispute with the Comedy Store strike of 1979.

Like Huffington, Shore insisted that the Comedy Store was a showcase where comedians could get exposure that would lead to paying gigs elsewhere — talent agents and bookers for “The Tonight Show” were in regular attendance, she pointed out. The comedians were unmoved; without them, they argued, there would be no customers. But Shore was adamant. “The Comedy Store is a workshop,” she said, “and in that environment the comics don’t deserve to get paid.”

First off – Huffington Post’s main bloggers get paid by the organizations they work for. That’s a big chunk of the now free bloggers. Can’t say that for the Comedy Store.

Read more

Good's Hollywood Office

Yesterday, we broke the news about how Good is launching its own in-house advertising company to complement its media operations. Well, that isn’t all that folks are up to over there. During a lengthy visit to Good‘s offices last week, we spoke with LA-editor Alissa Walker and Mark Barker--who was just hired to manage yet another new company endeavor called “Good Local.”

Unlike a traditional media rollout, with a total reliance on editorial content, Good Local will combine reporting, event planning, social activism and philanthropy. “Good‘s mission has become more action-oriented,” says Walker. “We don’t just want to bring attention to problems through reporting. We want to actively encourage our community to become part of the solution.”

Read more

At age 85, Joseph Sargent is the first ever Distinguished-Filmmaker-in-Residence at Malibu’s Pepperdine University. Among his many duties will be teaching a Master Class, crafting a new MFA degree in media production, judging events, and mentoring advanced students on their thesis projects.

Sargent began making movies in 1936, at age 11, when his father gifted him with an 8mm camera. Nine Emmy nominations, eight DGA Award nods and four Emmys later, Sargent – a longtime Malibu resident – is the perfect guy to guide Pepperdine arts students to new heights.

Part of the challenge in Hollywood is not just managing the career highs but also weathering the professional lows. Sargent can certainly speak to the latter thanks to 1987′s Jaws: The Revenge. The movie earned him two Razzie nominations and famously prevented star Michael Caine from attending the Oscars that year.

Read more

After nearly imploding in Los Angeles last month, getting arrested for fighting with his daughter, “golden-voiced” Ted Williams is back in LA, living in a sober house for voice actors. Williams was on the CBS Early show this morning to talk about his recent struggles and about his quick exit from a Dr. Phil sponsored rehab stay.