UPDATE: Mark Pedowitz Takes Stand In Desperate Housewives Trial

Freelance writerDominic Pattenis a Deadline contributor UPDATE, 4 PM:Mark Pedowitz says Marc Cherry never discussed financial ramifications or Nicollette Sheridan’s alleged “unprofessional behavior” when the Desperate Housewives executive producer asked the then-ABC Studios president for permission to kill off the Edie Britt character in May 2008. Contradicting testimony from Cherry that money and Sheridan’s professionalism were reasons for getting rid of the Britt character, Pedowitz did confirm today that he gave Cherry studio permission in a small meeting on May 22, 2008, to get rid of the character. “They were seeking permission from the studio to kill off the character,” Pedowitz said. Pedowitz, who left ABC Studios in January 2009, said Cherry told him the character was to be killed off because “there were no more stories to tell.” Later, Pedowitz told the jury, under questioning from defense attorney Adam Levin, that he had rejected an earlier attempt by Cherry to kill off the Britt character in season 3 of the series but he approved killing her off in season 5 because “the character in my mind had run its course.” Pedowitz also testified this afternoon that in a later meeting that same day, then-ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson “blessed” the decision to kill off the Britt character. Pedowitz said that in the meeting with McPherson, Cherry and others, there were “ongoing conversations” about if the Britt character was to leave the series, “sooner or later.” Pedowitz said that both he and McPherson wanted it to happen “later, “preferablyin May,” around the time of the season finale. Pedowitzacknowledgedthat Sheridan was not informed of the decision for many months. “The delay in telling her was because we hadn’t determined when we were” going to kill off the Britt character. “By the time they did,” Pedowitz, who is currently the president of the CW, said “I was no longer in that position.” Sheridan was informed on February 10, 2009 that her character was to be written off of the show. Earlier in his testimony, Pedowitz emphasized his anger that he only found out about the alleged Sept. 24, 2008, hand-hitting incident between Cherry and Sheridan a month after it occurred from a story in the National Enquirer.Pedowitz declined, citing attorney-clientprivilege, to reveal what he discussed on the phone with ABC Studios business affairs lawyer Howard Davine about the incident shortly after reading the Enquirer story. However, the former ABC Studiospresidentdid say he ordered a meeting and an HR investigation into the matter the next day. Pedowitz added that he received “an oral report” in early November 2009 from human resources executive Lynne Volk about the investigation ABC HR subsequently conducted on the incident. Volk told Pedowitz that allegations that Sheridan was hit hard on the head were “baseless.” Volk, who is scheduled as a witness in the trial, never informed Pedowitz the former ABC Studios exec says, of an email she received on Sept. 24, 2008 about an incident from Desperate Housewives line producer George Perkins. Pedowitz concluded his testimony this afternoon and Cherry resumed his testimony at 4 PM today and will be on the stand first thing tomorrow morning. UPDATE, 3 PM:Pedowitz said he “was not pleased” to first hear about the alleged on-set incident between Cherry and Sheridan from the National Enquirer. “That would be an understatement,” testified the former ABC Studios president and current president at The CW, who took the stand this afternoon in Sheridan’s $6 million wrongful termination and battery case. Pedowitz, who said his role on Desperate Housewives during his time at ABC was to “oversee the creative, the business and the production for the studio,” is a pivotal witness as his testimony is expected to confirm Cherry’s contention that the decision was made in May 2008 to kill off Sheridan’s character on the hit series. Sheridan claims she was forced off the show because of the September 2008 altercation. Pedowitz, who answered plaintiffs lawyers’ questions in a concise, clipped manner, was seen earlier in the day in the halls shaking hands and laughing with Cherry and his lawyers. His testimony is expected to take the rest of today, with Cherry expected to take the stand afterward. PREVIOUS, 11:49 AM: Nicollette Sheridan‘s longtime entertainment lawyer Neil Meyer testified this morning that the actress”was afraid she’d lose her job” the day after Desperate Housewives creator/executive producer Marc Cherry allegedly struck her in the head onset in September 2008because Cherry “was a vindictive man”. Meyer said today on the stand in Sheridan’s wrongful termination and battery trial that the actress “was extremely upset” by the incident, and that Meyer told ABC business affairs executive Howard Davine soon after that “he needed to know” what had happened between Cherry and Sheridan. Davine told Meyer he would look into it, the lawyer testified. “Nicollette was concerned about this behavior,” he said he told Davine in a phone conversation, “and if this could happen to her, it could happen to other people.”Judge Elizabeth Allen White ruled last year that examples of other alleged abusive behavior by Cherry can’t be brought up in court by Sheridan or her co-counsels. “We weren’t looking to ABC/Disney to do anything,” Meyer also told the court, “because Nicollette was concerned about retaliation. Marc Cherry had apologized, and she was prepared to put her head down and go back to work”. An official ABC human resources investigation into the incident was launched after a story in the National Enquirer was published in early October 2008. The investigation, which never questioned Sheridan or Cherry directly, concluded in early December of that year stating Sheridan “was not mistreated”. During his testimony today, Meyer said he had not been successful in finding Sheridan either an agent or a job in the past two years; Sheridan was informed by Cherry on February 10, 2009, that her character was being eliminated.Earlier in the trial, Sheridan testified that she worked recently on a Hallmark movie and a CBS pilot. Former ABC executive Mark Pedowitz, now president at The CW, is expected to take the stand later today, with Cherry to continue his testimony after Pedowitz. (Photo: Getty Images)

Niche Box Office: The Performers Along With A Separation Money In Oscar Wins

UPDATE, 5:32 PM PST: Oscar clearly demonstrated lucrative for that Weinstein Company and The new sony Pictures Classics. Best Language champion A Separation added 160 locations in the first publish-Oscar weekend outing, grossing over $a million for that Farsi-language feature, calculating over $4 1000. Best Picture champion The Artist, meanwhile averaged $2,171 from 1,756 theaters, up in the previous week’s 966 locations. The large box office story obviously was Universal’s The Lorax. The studio’s niche division Focus Features also folded out a title of their own, Being Flynn, at four theaters having a moderate $11,386 average. Also debuting a few days ago were Paladin’s Boy at two location, grossing $45,000 – arriving using the greatest per screen average from the game titles we’re presently confirming – and Zeitgeist’s The Salt Of The World also in 2 theaters, consuming $21,000. Fox Searchlight’s The Descendants, which won Best Modified Script finally weekend’s Academy awards, dropped 195 theaters from a week ago, grossing over $1.3 million from 694 theaters. The film directed by Alexander Payne has cumed nearly $80.5 million. 1. Being Flynn (Focus Features) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $45K, Per Screen Average $11,386 2. Boy (Paladin) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $23K, Per Screen Average $11,695 3. Last Days Here (Sundance Chooses) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $3K 4. The Salt Of Existence (Zeitgeist) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $21K, Per Screen Average $10,500 5. The Forgiveness Of Bloodstream (Sundance Chooses) Week 2 [6 Theaters] Weekend $19,200, Per Screen Average $3,200, Cume $50K 6. Bullhead (Drafthouse Films) Week 3 [17 Theaters] Weekend $17K, Per Screen Average $1,045, Cume $118K 7. Undefeated (The Weinstein Company) Week 3 [13 Theaters] Weekend $84K, Per Screen Average $6,485, Cume $166K 8. In Darkness (The new sony Classics) Week 4 [25 Theaters] Weekend $93K Per Screen Average$3,752, Cume$297K 9. Rampart (Millennium Entertainment) Week 4 [52 Theaters] Weekend $117, Per Screen Average $2,253, Cume $537K 10. W.E. (The Weinstein Company) Week 5 [19 Theaters] Weekend $42K, Per Screen Average $2,213, Cume $326K 11. Coriolanus (The Weinstein Company) Week 7 [14 Theaters] Weekend $37K, Per Screen Average $2,685, Cume $410K 12. Crazy Equine (Zipporah) Week 7 [10 Theaters] Weekend $12K, Per Screen Average $1,256, Cume $90K 13. We Have To Discuss Kevin (Oscilloscope) Week 8 [40 Theaters] Weekend $132K, Per Screen Average $3,300, Cume $817K 14. Pina (Sundance Chooses) Week 10 [64 Theaters] Weekend $153,600, Per Screen Average $2,400, Cume $2.8M 15. A Separation (The new sony Classics) Week 10 [243 Theaters] U.S. weekend $1M Per Screen Average $4,122, Cume $3.7M 16. Iron Lady (The Weinstein Company) Week 10 [511 Theaters] Weekend $900K, Per Screen Average $1,761, Cume $27M 17. The Artist (Weinstein) Week 15 [1,756 theaters] Friday $938K, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.8M, Cume $37M 18. A Harmful Method (The new sony Classics) Week 15 [38 Theaters] U.S. weekend $52K Per Screen Average $1,386, Cume $4.1M 19. My Week With Marilyn (The Weinstein Company) Week 15 [120 Theaters] Weekend $133K, Per Screen Average $1,108, Cume $14.3M 20. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 16 [694 Theaters] Weekend $1.3M, Per Screen Average $1,967, Cume $80M

Exclusive 'John Carter' Clip Seeks Out Solutions

Taylor Kitsch's MTV First appearance didn't just yield several memorable zingers and sports assaults against host Josh Horowitz furthermore, it presented fans getting a totally new clip from "John Carter," in theaters next Friday (March 9). Inside our exclusive have a look at "Carter," the titular Civil War veteran was already knee-deep around on Mars or Barsoom, as it is termed as with the natives. Carter is seeking solutions together with a sometime ago where you can Earth, not necessarily because order. He might get what he's trying to find, too if Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) want to trust him, that's. Have a look below and reveal what you consider inside the comments and also on Twitter!

Swedish helmer created 'Safe' haven

Denzel Washington and director Daniel Espinosa on the set of Safe House. If director Daniel Espinosa had his way, Hollywood's studio culture would embrace a kinder, gentler approach to filmmaking. Universal's "Safe House," the Swedish helmer's first American feature, which took in $40 million domestically over the weekend, had its share of bumps and snags during production, but Espinosa resisted pressure to address the problems by getting rid of people. Bookings & Signings "I saw that a lot of Americans' first knee-jerk reaction to conflict is to fire somebody," he said. "I don't do that. I don't fire people, and I don't allow people to get fired on my sets." Espinosa comes from the European school, where most pics burn through far less coin than the reported $80 million spent on "Safe House," with its roster of name actors, led by Denzel Washington. "In Sweden, if we fired somebody we wouldn't have the money to hire anybody else," says the Chilean-born director. "When you work on smaller budgets, you have to get along. I try to create more of a family structure (on the set). Firing people causes a very anxious workplace, which isn't good for creativity." By protecting his crew, Espinosa said he was able to build the kind of loyalty that saw "Safe House" through some pretty rough patches. "It's nice when you're shooting and the producer says we need to shut down now because we don't have any more money for this day, and your d.p. and your crew say, 'We'll do it for free.' Then you know you've won them over." "Safe House" underwent drastic changes before shooting. The film, in which the capture of a rogue agent (Washington) sets off a chain of internecine destruction within the CIA, is set and was shot in Cape Town -- but was originally scripted for Rio de Janeiro. "Four months before we were going to start shooting in Rio, they had uprisings and riots in the favelas," said Espinosa. It was the fall of 2010 and "we didn't know how much security we'd need so we couldn't go there." The helmer and his team scouted several other locations, including Hong Kong and Australia. They needed a place "with the same socioeconomic structure as Rio, with very poor communities living next door to the middle and upper classes, a city that can be a character in the movie." Shooting on a soundstage or using greenscreen was not an option, Espinosa said. "I told them if we can't find (shantytowns like the) favelas, I don't want to shoot there. I wanted the city to affect my characters, and that can't happen if you're in a studio." Cape Town, with its teeming townships, proved the ideal location. They used 35mm film for the 75-day shoot. Espinosa hopes to make more U.S. studio pictures, but he also intends to continue protecting his crews from the whims of producers. "I'll get fired before anybody else," he said. "I do this because I love the work and the people I work with. Worst-case scenario: I'll go back to Sweden and hang out with my buddies." WME signed d.p. Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist"), co-repping him with Salite Cymbler of France's Cinelite agency. WME also hired agent Holly Jeter, who brings on board d.p. John Bailey ("Big Miracle"), production designer Lilly Kilvert ("Gray Man") and producer Ginger Sledge ("Bernie"). Montana Artists signed first AD Dan "Laz" Lazarovits ("The Frozen Ground"), production designer Alan Bainee ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), d.p. Cameron Duncan ("Southland") and costume designer Kim Wilcox ("Nobody Walks"). Agency booked co-producer Darren Demetre on Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring," UPM Buddy Enright on Mikael Hafstrom's "The Tomb," d.p. John Rutland on Eduardo Sanchez's "Exists," production designer Ricky Eyres on Kazuaki Kiriya's "The Last Knight," and editors Michelle Tesoro on HBO's "Luck" and Jonathan Schwartz on Showtime's "The Big C." Contact Peter Caranicas at peter.caranicas@variety.com

Alan Ball To Step Lower As True Bloodstream Showrunner

If Cinemax’s hit vampire drama True Bloodstream would go to a sixth season, it will likely be without its mastermind Alan Ball in the helm. Cinemax and Ball just confirmed ongoing speculation that Ball could leave the series full-time following the approaching fifth season. He has to a general cope with Cinemax and, additionally to True Bloodstream, also executive produces new series Banshee for brother or sister Cinemax. Listed here are claims from Cinemax and Ball: Cinemax: “When we extended our multi-year overall cope with Alan Ball in This summer 2011, we always intended when we proceeded to True Bloods sixth season that Alan would have a supervisory role around the series and never function as the day-to-day showrunner. When we go to season six, the show will stay within the very capable hands from the gifted team of authors and producers who've been using the show for several years. This is actually the most effective world for Cinemax and Alan Ball. Alan will stay available as executive producer to see and recommend True Bloodstream and he'll be liberated to develop new shows for Cinemax and Cinemax. Banshee, which Alan can serve as executive producer, may be the first internally series for Cinemax and it is likely to begin production this spring.” Alan Ball: “True Bloodstream continues to be, and will still be, a highlight of not just my career but my existence. Due to the great cast, authors, producers and crew, with whom I've been lucky enough to get work these past 5 years, I understand I possibly could take a step back and also the show continues to thrive when i anticipate new and exciting endeavors.”

Movieline Livetweets the 2012 Academy Awards (Plus: Complete Winners List!)

Hollywood's biggest (and possibly most anticlimactic) night is upon us, which can only mean one thing: Movieline's third annual Oscar Livetweet Extravaganza! Join yours truly, West Coast editor Jen Yamato, Chief Critic Stephanie Zacharek and an estimable panel of Movieline associates and readers as we parse the Academy Awards to within an inch of their glamorous lives. The fun begins on the red carpet at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the Oscarcast proper commencing at 8:30 p.m ET/5:30 p.m. PT. And in any case, keep abreast of this year's Oscar class with our comprehensive list of winners - updated in progress after the jump. [ADVISORY 8 p.m. ET: The CoverItLive/Twitter interface is buggy for the time being; we're working on a solution! Thanks for your patience!] BEST PICTURE: TBA BEST DIRECTOR: TBA BEST ACTRESS: TBA BEST ACTOR: TBA BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: TBA BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: TBA BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: TBA BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: TBA BEST ANIMATED FILM FEATURE: TBA BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FEATURE: TBA BEST ART DIRECTION: TBA BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: TBA BEST COSTUME DESIGN: TBA BEST FILM EDITING: TBA BEST MAKEUP: TBA BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: TBA BEST ORIGINAL SONG: TBA BEST SOUND EDITING: TBA BEST SOUND MIXING: TBA BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: TBA BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: TBA BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: TBA BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: TBA BEST ANIMATED SHORT: TBA Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Pilot Season: Lost's Emilie p Ravin Moves to Americana

Paul Deen Paula Deen, the butter full, continues to spread her Southern style on tv... but possibly less thick. After revealing that they has Diabetes type 2 in The month of january, Deen is able to move ahead and promote her slightly less fatty cuisine. Just pricier her to get rid of that tub of butter completely. "I'm who I'm. But what I'll be doing is providing up lighter versions of my quality recipes," the meals Network star told The Connected Press in the South Beach Wine and Food Festival on Friday. "I'll possess a larger platform now, trying to behave for everyone. However, you know, I am Southern by roots. I had been trained [to prepare] by my grandmother and absolutely nothing I'm able to do would change that." Paula Deen: I've Diabetes type 2 Deen stands by her on-air cooking style, but clarifies that she'll likewise incorporate more healthy quality recipes in to the mix to attract more and more people. The prepare makes another alterations in her personal existence, including walking on the treadmill, giving up smoking and eliminating sweet tea. Deen received backlash in The month of january when she revealed she'd known about her diabetes for 3 years prior but had ongoing to advertise her butter- and body fat-laden quality recipes. "It required me 20 a long time out and fully stand up and say, 'Hey, my name's Paula and I am agoraphobic,'" she stated. "I had been so ashamed, so embarrassed. To [reveal my diabetes] in 2-and-a-half years, I believed it was very good.Inch She also received critique for benefiting on her behalf diagnosis by becoming the compensated representative for Novo Nordisk's drug Victoza an internet-based program, Diabetes inside a New Light. Deen shrugged them back, however, and stated, "It's the clear way of the planet. It is the American way. However I am going for a part of that compensation and passing on to the [American] Diabetes Association." Anthony Bourdain's celebrity chef smackdown: Paula Deen's food sucks At that time she revealed her diabetes, fellow food TV personality Anthony Bourdain was very vocal about his disapproval, telling Eater.com, "Whenever your signature dish is hamburger among a doughnut, and you have been happily selling these items knowing all along that you have Diabetes type 2 ... It's in bad taste if little else." "I believe a couple of those who have use of a TV camera and ink type of desired to hate on me for decreasing with something," she told the AP. "However I so don't be concerned about this.Inch Can you watch Paula Deen's new cooking show?