This weekend, the “H” in William H. Macy will stand for not just “Hall” but also “Hearst.” That’s because the Oscar-nominated actor does a very capable job as narrator of the feature documentary Citizen Hearst, opening Thursday at Laemmle movie theaters in Beverly Hills (Music Hall), Pasadena (Playhouse 7), Encino (Town Center) and Claremont (Claremont 5).

After highlighting the life exploits of William Randolph Hearst, the movie really hits its stride once it gets to the post-World War II era and success of magazines like Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. It’s fun to hear interview subjects recall how Helen Gurley Brown‘s stewardship hit town “like a thunder clap.” Here for example is a recollection in the film from Kate White, Cosmo editor-in-chief from 1998 to 2012:

“Helen’s first cover is still an inspiration to me, it’s so sexy. The woman, a blonde, buxom. The little hint of Brigitte Bardot… One of my favorite all-time [first cover] lines is, ‘THE NEW PILL THAT PROMISES TO MAKE WOMEN MORE RESPONSIVE.’”

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Following a splashy private screening at Hearst headquarters in New York City and a public world premiere earlier this month at the Hamptons International Film Festival, feature documentary Citizen Hearst has come home to roost. Commissioned by Hearst and narrated by actor William H. Macy, the film will debut in San Francisco tonight at a Legion of Honor event sponsored by the Chronicle.

The movie was co-produced and directed by Leslie Iwerks, who previously took a look at another west coast media giant in The Pixar Story. The parade of on-screen interviews includes Oprah Winfrey, Dan Rather, Mark Burnett, Walt Disney Company chairman Bob Iger and a number of William Randolph Hearst descendants.

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The American Film Market, which each year represents the diamonds and the dregs of the film business worldwide, opened its doors for a week at the Santa Monica Loews Beach Hotel on Wednesday with dozens of scurrying international sales reps, low-brow producers and a few dozen media.

The studios usually steer clear of AFM week, leaving it to what some have termed the subcutaneous elements of the film business to ravage about for deals.

This year, market honchos were loving the outlook for the market.

“It should be a great market,” said one buyer, who didn’t want to be named. “There are dozens of great films here this week. How about that phenomenal Walken film?”

The unknown buyer was referring to “The Maiden Heist,” which premieres in Santa Monica starring (Christopher) Walken, Morgan Freeman and William H. Macy and produced by Bob Yari’s The Yari Film Group.

Other premieres expected this week include “The Killing Room” with Tim Hutton, Chloe Sevigny, Nick Cannon and Peter Stormare; and “Powder Blue,” starring Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Kris Kristofferson, Ray Liotta and Patrick Swayze.

More than 500 other films, including 102 world premieres and 375 market premieres will be screened during the market, which stretches to Nov. 12.

Second Life avatars are striking, too. Kiwini Oe alerted us to their presence.

Nikki Finke’s got some hot news about a naughty, naughty showrunner, but banned any speculation by commenters. He was ratted out by an assistant which is a strategy that could so easily backfire.

And Finke’s site will host video shorts by bold-faced names such as Paul Haggis, Rod Lurie, William H. Macy and Sean Penn and many more.

ABC is set to run some webisodes of Lost. Was the network saving these for the “deleted scenes” feature of the DVD?

Alex Epstein is looking for someone to work for free.

Barbara Hall runs a TV quotes quiz.

Ken Levine lacerates more holiday films.

Some woman in Minneapolis finds the silver lining of the strike cloud.

Nora Ephron posts about cooking, but she’s sure been quiet about the strike. A commenter smacks her for talking trash about Mom.