Rock The (Academy) Vote: We knew low turnout among youth was a problem, but we had no idea young people’s apathy toward lame award shows with predictable winners was something in need of fixing. And we really couldn’t have predicted, as Scott Collins does, that somehow Sacha Baron Cohen is the man to draw the kinds of tattooed and pierced crowds that not even Jon Stewart or Chris Rock could summon.

Is Justin Gay? Maybe. But it doesn’t matter. Right?

In D Net: Apparently the LAT’s new commitment to latimes.com involves dumping 37 uninteresting photos of celebrities at sporting events into a Web-only photo gallery. Yawn.

Variety

Scott Rudin has offered one of his former development guys, Craig Perry, a first-look deal, thus gaining an opportunity to “generate mainstream comedies and family films.” Perry produced the American Pie and Final Destination movies.

Sidney Sheldon, the prolific author and producer, has died. During his extensive career he wrote several Broadway musicals, screenplays and televisions series, in addition to a multitude of novels. His television career included producer of The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Hart to Hart, in addition to a number of his novels produced as made-for TV movies including Rage of Angels, Bloodline and Memories of Midnight. His career awards included a Tony for Best Musical: Redhead in 1959, an Oscar for his original screenplay of The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer starring Cary Grant, two WGA awards for Easter Parade and Annie Get Your Gun, and an Emmy for I Dream of Jeannie.

Hollywood Reporter

Television is the new feature, according to a CBS development exec. Pilot orders are running towards nighttimee soaps and high-cncept dramas, while the networks are avoiding open-ended serials–Lost being the only hit out of the current crop. Big name directors, like Spike Lee, Brett Ratner, Guy Ritchie, and Barry Sonnenfeld are directing pilots.

The Police will perform at the Grammys in February. Sting had hinted at this during the TCAs, where he was promoting his PBS project, a collection of 16th-century classical music called Songs From the Labyrinth, as the 30th anniversary of the band was approaching. THe group will open the show on CBS.

The Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club blog is basically an on-line club for the pressmen (and women) of the paper. It’s folksy, with postings of jokes, recommendations for lunch spots, and the occasional criticism of what’s in the paper.

But check out Ed Padgett’s post about the flow of information within the company:

If your wondering why I post messages from the movers and shakers at the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Company, its for the benefit of my fellow employees that do not have access to company emails.

and check this out:

The Spring Street Project requested input from Los Angeles Times Employees, yet, if you did not have an internal email address, you could not submit your ideas. We were given an email address to submit our ideas three days before the project ended, but by that time, the workers in the pressroom knew our input was not wanted.

Considering what lousy ideas the paper has had in the past, you’d think the editors would be begging for ideas–from all over. FBLA is going to be pissed if this guy catches any flack for his blog.

Food & Wine is pretending that they didn’t spaz yesterday by posting a spoiler interview with the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef. From the site:

Yesterday, an intrepid reality tv fan found a Top Chef story on Food & Wine’s server. Food & Wine prepared profiles of both Top Chef finalists in advance of the last episode so that we had a story on the winner ready to publish immediately after the season finale.

How intrepid must one be to type in their url? There’s no Wayback Machine involved here. And as FBLA knows full well, glossy magazines regularly assign two stories to cover all contingencies: Presidental races, Best Picture Oscars, you name it.

Eater LA thinks for a minute that it could be a fiendishly brilliant plan:

F&W did the whole leak thing on purpose to see how rabid everyone would get over a supposed spoiler and watched as the fan base spun itself into a tizzy before the finale.

But it’s not, and we all know it.

John Waters, in what must be an example of publicity gone wrong, as agreed to answer questions at Nerve.com. From the site:

Send us your questions as feedback to this post or email them to scanner@nerve.com–please leave your first name, age, and location-and we’ll pick the best questions to ask Waters on Friday. You’re welcome to reach back into the murky depths of his career, but be sure to ask about his new CD, A Date With John Waters.

What’s to ask about the CD? Is there a secret surprise inside? If you need help with a question cheat sheets abound.

FBLA is proud to introduce our newest endeavor: getting LA’s quotable noteables to answer a bunch of silly questions. First up: Ken Levine. (Levine had the best line about the recent SAG awards: “Wouldn’t it have been great a few years ago if Castaway had won for best Cast in a motion picture?”)

1. What newspapers do you read?

The LA TIMES, NY TIMES (on Sunday), CHICAGO TRIBUNE TV section, LA WEEKLY when I need a massage.

2. Which ones do you move your lips to while reading? NY POST

3. Which Web sites are on your favorites bookmark? Los Angeles Radio People, Defamer, Hoffmania

4. Where do you get your car washed?
Who actually knows the name of their car wash? It’s on Sepulveda somewhere. They do an okay job and I can buy Steve Hall inspirational piano CD’s and pine tree air fresheners in their gift shop.

5. Do you know your dentist’s first name? No because he doesn’t say his name in the credit dentist ad.

6. Do you believe newspapers are going to die? If so, when?
No. I believe their online offshoots will take a greater importance but people want to hold a newspaper.

Read more

BermanBraun: Gail Berman, who resigned this month as president of Paramount Pictures, is teaming up with another ex-exec, outsted head of Yahoo Inc.’s media group Lloyd Braun, to produce TV programs, movies and shortform shows.

Almost Famous: Fawning sentences like this one “The leggy singer with the cascade of brown hair knocked her hips from side to side theatrically,” really should be reserved for an empty profile of an A-lister. Not for an American Idol also-ran.

Straight Face: In testimony in the Scooter Libby hearings, Ari Fleischer confirms that he spent the entirety of his tenure as White House press secretary being a douchebag. To wit: “It was like a lot of things that I said to the press. It had no impact.”

The New York Times announced today Dean Baquet has been named Washington bureau chief effective March 5. Baquet rejoins the newspaper after seven years at the Los Angeles Times, including the last two years as editor. Philip Taubman, who turns over the reins of the Washington bureau to Mr. Baquet, has been promoted to associate editor. Taubman will also do special reporting on national security.

FBLA thinks Tribune was short-sighted to let Baquet leave Los Angeles. Baquet, on the other hand, will miss real Mexican food.

Variety:

Kiss has launched a comic book company. The first title, Kiss 4K, will debut at the Wizard World convention in Los Angeles in March. The second title is expected to be Kiss Girls, which features four teenagers who

talk about shopping and are about as dysfunctional as anyone until something happens to them and they get to wear the Kiss makeup and look good doing it.

That’s a super-feat right there.

Former business opponents, Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun have formed a new multimedia production company, BermanBraun, a TV-focused production company with strong film and Internet components. But since Grey and Bob Iger don’t get along, and Berman is unlikely to make deals with Brad Grey and Paramount, look for this shop to end up at FOX, NBC-Uni or CBS.

Hollywod Reporter

ABC has cast Donny Osmond to host its newest reality series, The Great American Dream Vote. Eight deserving victims plead with audience to make their dream come true. Winner gets dream–loser gets Mormon underwear.

Ray Richmond doubts the efficacy of rehab for Isaiah Washington. Silly man, look what it’s done for Lindsay Lohan!

LA Observed quotes Romensko today with an item about former LAT Editor Dean Baquet’s speculated return to the NYT.

Bill Keller just says, “Stay tuned. I didn’t want him to go in the first place.”

Of course, all this is being reported on blogs, of which Keller says: “I’ve dialed back on my consumption” and “distinguish between the serious stuff and the not-serious stuff. I don’t let it get to me.”

So, there’s that.