Warner Bros. will open Spike Jonze's love story “Her,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, on Nov. 20 in limited release in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto with other cities to follow.

Variety has received seven nominations from the Los Angeles Press Club for its 55th SoCal Journalism Awards. The awards recognize L.A.-area journos and publications as well as excellence in new and emerging media. Variety scribes landed nominations in four categories. Rachel Abrams — Entertainment Journalist Brian Lowry — Columnist (“Why TV Channels Won’t Sustain Gun... Read more »

SAG-AFTRA is praising a federal appellate court decision on Tuesday that may bolster performers’ ability to control the use of their likenesses and images. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said that Ryan Hart, a former star quarterback at Rutgers University, could again pursue his case against Electronic Arts, in which he alleged that the... Read more »

Docu helmer's technique blends flashes of melodrama with such naturalistic choices as shooting on location and working mostly with non-actors, resulting in a challenging fiction/nonfiction hybrid that’s stylistically neither fish nor fowl.

Microsoft has scored a touchdown. The company announced a deal with the NFL, worth around $400 million over the next five years, to develop technology that will make watching football more interactive for fans who use the Xbox One videogame console and other Microsoft devices that feature Xbox Live. Partnership is the latest digital step... Read more »

The Zac Efron-Seth Rogen comedy “Townies" has provided a boost to Los Angeles film production at a time when feature shooting has been moderate.

Joely Richardson has joined the cast of Universal’s “Endless Love” starring Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde. Bruce Greenwood also stars with Shana Feste helming the pic. Scott Stuber and Pamela Abdy of Bluegrass Films and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage from Fake Empire will produce. Tracy Falco and J. Miles Dale will executive produce. It’s... Read more »

You can put away the fogey jokes, because CBS has climbed to the top of Demo Mountain. With as many of the top scripted series among adults 18-49 as its three rivals combined, the Eye has captured the season that ends tonight in primetime’s most important demo — its first such triumph in 21 years.... Read more »

Variety will fete Katie Bayne, prexy of North America Brands for Coca-Cola North America Group, with the Entertainment Branding Impact Award at its advertising summit on June 6 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Even though it covers overly familiar territory, 'Epic' is nonetheless executed with professionalism.

Shares in Sony Corp. jumped more than 9% in early Tokyo trading on Wednesday after a Japanese paper reported that the Sony board will consider a proposal from major shareholder Daniel Loeb’s Third Point to spin off parts of its entertainment businesses. The Japanese publication Nikkei reported that Sony’s board is considering evaluating the proposal... Read more »

By the time Alex Gibney started chronicling the story of Julian Assange and Wikileaks in “We Steal Secrets” — which debuts May 24 via Focus World — the charismatic hacker’s personality had already changed.

On paper, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" seems to break the laws of network television.

The broadcast networks are hard-pressed to define what it is that keeps them on top of the heap as cable and new technologies chip away at their foundations. Yet the annual upfront ritual only reinforces the unique role — and specific challenges — the Big 4 face in the media landscape.

Once it became clear that Bruce Rosenblum would leave his perch as Warner Bros. TV Group chief after being passed over the for the top job at the studio, a window of opportunity opened for CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

The Big Four hear the footsteps of cable and have responded with an especially aggressive programming strategy for next season.

With a show based on its popular videogame franchise “Halo” in the works from Steven Spielberg, Nancy Tellem is starting to put her first slate of shows together that she wants to launch on Microsoft’s Xbox Live platform. While no other titles have yet been revealed, the former CBS exec wants to get the first... Read more »

Mary McCormack is set to star in the indie “The Compound” from director Rachel Goldenberg. McCormack’s supporting cast includes William Mapother, Riki Lindholme, Jack Falahee and Haley Lu Richardson. Story follows two star-crossed teens on a polygamist compound who fight their families’ religious tradition to be together. Nancy Leopardi and Ross Kohn are producing. Production... Read more »

Marianne Gambelli spent years trying to sell ads on NBC to sundry advertisers. Now she has moved to the other side of the haggling table. Independent ad-buying shop Horizon Media said it had hired Gambelli, who until recently was head of ad sales for the NBC broadcast network, as its executive veep and chief investment officer.... Read more »

Barry Levinson has come on board to direct an untitled love story, set in Shanghai and Leningrad, with Shanghai Film Group financing and Mike Medavoy, Rafaella De Laurentiis and Edward McGurn producing. Production will start in February in Shanghai with Shanghai Film Group fully financing the project, with a budget in the $40 million to... Read more »