Following his chronicling of 2012 film awards season via The Frontrunners, Fandango chief correspondent Dave Karger is down in Austin with the site’s senior director of PR Harry Medved and editor-in-chief Chuck Walton to officially launch his new Web series, Weekend Ticket. The program will debut on the site March 14 and feature SXSW interviews with Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Olivia Wilde, Paul Walker, Josh Duhamel and Paul Rudd (or, as Andy Samberg so hilariously referred to Rudd during the Spirit Awards, Paul “Reeud”).

Karger hinted when we spoke with him not long ago that he would be making use of the formidable Nate Silver-like predictive data gathered from the site’s ticket buyers. Sure enough, Weekend Ticket will be sourcing a new weekly indicator also unveiled at SXSW:

“Fanticipation” ranks fan excitement around upcoming and current movies based on Fandango’s proprietary data collected from its online and mobile traffic, the social media engagement of its fans and its advance ticket sales…

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At any given moment, there is typically one must-read Tinseltown feature article gracing one of the marquee east coast glossy monthly magazines. The latest item to claim that distinction can be found in the May issue of GQ and, as of this morning, on the publication’s website.

David Kushner’s “The Man Who Hacked Hollywood” offers a fascinating and detailed look at how an unassuming 290-pound Florida resident cracked the email accounts of top celebs, filmmakers and producers. In doing so, Chris Chaney was able to access all kinds of info besides nude pictures like the bathroom self-portrait taken by Scarlett Johansson:

After hacking the account of one producer, Chaney saw the entire filmmaking process, from start to finish. The producer was working on In Time, a film starring Justin Timberlake, Olivia Wilde, and Amanda Seyfried. Chaney breezed through copies of the script, set in a dystopian future where people die at age 26 unless they can afford to buy another day.

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The demented PR streak that courses through the halls of Chicago-based website Mr. Skin has struck again. Whether you love or hate movie nudity, there’s no denying the skill of this gang when it comes to continually re-pitching their successful, Hollywood-derived enterprise.

The website’s latest promotion is an online derby styled after a standard college hoops tournament. That’s right; in honor of NCAA March Madness, these catalogers of mainstream movie naughty bits have drawn up their very own version of a hardwood contest. Per today’s press release:

Sixty-four of our most skinful celebrities have been seeded from 1-16 in four divisions, each formed around a different upper body size. All Stars like Olivia Wilde; Beauties like Zooey Deschanel; Celebs like Amanda Seyfried; and Dilettantes like Kate Upton and Christina Hendricks.

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Actor-turned-musician Jeff Bridges has an album coming out in August, and he was good enough to share a few tracks Tuesday night at the Troubadour. FishbowlLA managed to score an invite to the private concert, and arrived just in time to hear Quincy Jones introduce Bridges as “my baby brother.”

Bridges proved as charming and affable on stage as he is on screen, and his country-folk ditties were a hit with the crowd. The Bridges family was in attendance, and the highlight of the night had Jeff singing “The Man in Me” to his wife Sue. Pierce Brosnan and album producer T Bone Burnett were spotted in the crowd, and standing just behind us were actors Ryan Reynolds and Olivia Wilde, looking cozy.

After the show we chatted with Rachel Reynolds of KCRW and rock critic Laura Ferreiro, both of whom confessed to being uncharacteristically starstruck. “I think he’s the world’s most likeable guy,” said Reynolds. Agreed.

Even though the press releases section for LA’s Environmental Media Association website is woefully out of date, with the most recent item dating back to 2006, we’ve got some good material for an update. The group’s president Debbie Levin (pictured) has just been anointed “Hollywood’s conscience” by London’s The Observer newspaper.

In its Sunday January 16th Eco Power list of 20 individuals the newspaper feels will be setting 2011′s global environmental agenda, reporter Lucy Siegle taps a number of Yanks including New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Orleans rebuilding actor Brad Pitt. Levin took over the reins of the EMA five years ago and knows exactly who she wants to plop in the seats of those red carpet Priuses and Volts:

Levin has her sights trained on young Hollywood: A-listers under 35… EMA events now feature young starlets such as Rosario Dawson, Amy Smart and Olivia Wilde talking about sustainable solutions and EMA programs, including the 16 organic gardens it runs around Los Angeles. Levin’s plans are for more projects, more stars and more green chatter. “We never stop. While you sleep we’re greening the world!” she says.

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