Disney taps Andrew Bernstein

Wally Disney Galleries has drawn on Andrew Bernstein as Vice president, global publicity.Within the role, the first kind Miramax professional will particularly oversee the PR campaigns for Disney's Pixar and Wally Disney Animation Galleries game titles, in addition to "The Muppets" and Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie."Bernstein joins Ryan Stankevich, who handles Disney and Marvel's live-action photos, and Stephanie Kluft, who runs DreamWorks. The trio are accountable to Michelle Sewell, senior Vice president of global publicity. Bernstein most lately went L.A. publicity for Miramax Films, focusing on the PR and honours campaigns for such films as "The Full," "No Country For Old Males," "The Diving Bell and also the Butterfly" and "Doubt." Before that, he spent seven years at MGM, throughout that the studio launched "Hannibal," "Legally Blonde 2," "Barbershop," "No Man's Land" and "P Lovely."His resume includes stints at New Line Cinema and Rogers & Cowan. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Conan The Barbarian Scripter Answers: Whats It Like To Flop At The Box Office?

Sean Hood is one of thefour credited screenwriters on the remake ofConan The Barbarian released last weekend to dismal grosses. Today he writes on the Internet Q&A site Quora about “What’s it like to have your film flop at the box office? Don’t they know how bad it is before it comes out?”: When you work “above the line” on a movie (writer, director, actor, producer, etc.) watching it flop at the box office is devastating. I had such an experience during the opening weekend of Conan the Barbarian 3D. A movie’s opening day is analogous to a political election night. Although I’ve never worked in politics, I remember having similar feelings of disappointment and disillusionment when my candidate lost a presidential bid, so I imagine that working as a speechwriter or a fundraiser for the losing campaign would feel about the same as working on an unsuccessful film. One joins a movie production, the same way one might join a campaign, years before the actual release/election, and in the beginning one is filled with hope, enthusiasm and belief. I joined the Conan team, having loved the character in comic books and the stories of Robert E. Howard, filled with the same kind of raw energy and drive that one needs in politics. Any film production, like a long grueling campaign over months and years, is filled with crisis, compromise, exhaustion, conflict, elation, and blind faith that if one just works harder, the results will turn out all right in the end. During that process whatever anger, frustration, or disagreement you have with the candidate/film you keep to yourself. Privately you may oppose various decisions, strategies, or compromises; you may learn things about the candidate that cloud your resolve and shake your confidence, but you soldier on, committed to the end. You rationalize it along the way by imagining that the struggle will be worth it when the candidate wins. A few months before release, “tracking numbers” play the role in movies that polls play in politics. It’s easy to get caught up in this excitement, like a college volunteer handing out fliers for Howard Dean. (Months before Conan was released many close to the production believed it would open like last year’s The Expendables.) As the release date approaches and thetracking numbers start to fall, you start adjusting expectations, but always with a kind of desperate optimism. “I don’t believe the polls,” say the smiling candidates. You hope that advertising and word of mouth will improve the numbers, and even as the numbers get tighter and the omens get darker, you keep telling yourself that things will turn around, that your guy will surprise the experts and pollsters. You stay optimistic. You begin selectively ignoring bad news and highlighting the good. You make the best of it. You believe. In the days before the release, you get all sorts of enthusiastic congratulations from friends and family. Everyone seems to believe it will go well, and everyone has something positive to say, so you allow yourself to get swept up in it. You tell yourself to just enjoy the process. That whether you succeed or fail, win or lose, it will be fine. You pretend to be Zen. You adopt detachment, and ironic humor, while secretly praying for a miracle. The Friday night of the release is like the Tuesday night of an election. “Exit polls” are taken of people leaving the theater, and estimated box office numbers start leaking out in the afternoon, like early ballot returns. You are glued to your computer, clicking wildly over websites, chatting nonstop with peers, and calling anyone and everyone to find out what they’ve heard. Have any numbers come back yet? That’s when your stomach starts to drop. By about 9 PM its clear when your “candidate” has lost by a startlingly wide margin, more than you or even the most pessimistic political observers could have predicted. With a movie its much the same: trade[s] call the weekend winners and losers based on projections. That’s when the reality of the loss sinks in, and you don’t sleep the rest of the night. For the next couple of days, you walk in a daze, and your friends and family offer kind words, but mostly avoid the subject. Since you had planned (ardently believed, despite it all) that success would propel you to new appointments and opportunities, you find yourself at a loss about what to do next. It can all seem very grim. You make light of it, of course. You joke and shrug. But the blow to your ego and reputation can’t be brushed off. Reviewers, even when they were positive, mocked Conan The Barbarian for its lack of story, lack of characterization, and lack of wit. This doesn’t speak well of the screenwriting – and any filmmaker who tells you s/he “doesn’t read reviews” just doesn’t want to admit how much they sting. Unfortunately, the work I do as a script doctor is hard to defend if the movie flops. I know that those who have read my Conan shooting script agree that much of the work I did on story and character never made it to screen. I myself know that given the difficulties of rewriting a script in the middle of production, I made vast improvements on the draft that came before me. But its still much like doing great work on a losing campaign. All anyone in the general public knows, all anyone in the industry remembers, is the flop. A loss is a loss. But one thought this morning has lightened my mood: My father is a retired trumpet player. I remember, when I was a boy, watching him spend months preparing for an audition with a famous philharmonic. Trumpet positions in major orchestras only become available once every few years. Hundreds of world class players will fly in to try out for these positions from all over the world. I remember my dad coming home from this competition, one that he desperately wanted to win, one that he desperately needed to win because work was so hard to come by. Out of hundreds of candidates and days of auditions and callbacks, my father came in… second. It was devastating for him. He looked completely numb. To come that close and lose tore out his heart. But the next morning, at 6:00 AM, the same way he had done every morning since the age of 12, he did his mouthpiece drills. He did his warm ups. He practiced his usual routines, the same ones he tells his students they need to play every single day. He didn’t take the morning off. He just went on. He was and is a trumpet player and that’s what trumpet players do, come success or failure. Less than a year later, he went on to win a position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he played for three decades. Good thing he kept practicing. So with my father’s example in mind, here I sit, coffee cup steaming in its mug and dog asleep at my feet, starting my work for the day, revising yet another script, working out yet another pitch, thinking of the future (the next project, the next election) because I’m a screenwriter, and that’s just what screenwriters do. In the words of Ed Wood, “My next one will be BETTER!”

Katie Couric Talk Show Is Going To Be Known as 'Katie' (Photo)

The title of Katie Couric's new ABC talk show is Katie. Key art for that program hit the net Monday using the tagline, "The Chance Starts September sixth." Katie premieres on ABC in fall 2012 and it is a part of Couric's overall cope with the network that enables her to anchor special offers, lead interviews and take part in special occasions coverage across ABC's dayparts. Particulars on Couric's new syndicated talker are now being held carefully towards the vest but Disney/ABC Television Group leader Anne Sweeney told The Hollywood Reporter in June the show could be "topical" and "capture the zeitgeist of the items individuals are speaking about." She ongoing, "It will likely be serious sometimes, clearly informative and fun. Really, a combination of things hopefully individuals will want to consider. It will not be considered a news show, but we'll be speaking concerning the news and problems that I believe people worry about, be it bullying or even the effect technology is wearing our children. "It may be an account of the navy seal after Osama Bin Laden continues to be wiped out it could discuss women within the military and a few of the stresses they experience of reentry using their families. Couric started her news career at ABC in 1979 like a desk assistant. ABC Katie Couric Anne Sweeney

Capsules ((Capsulas))

An Anver Films presentation in co-production with Toy & Butterfly Prods. Created by Veronica Riedel. Executive producers, Riedel, Edgar Hernandez, Simon Junker. Directed, compiled by Veronica Riedel.With: Carolina Cuervo, Giacomo Buonafina, Sebastian Gereda, Jose Penalonso, Jairon Salguero, Marylena Jerez, Sofia Arevalo, Atli Scoenbeck, Luis Sanchez, Samuel Osorio.Just a little wealthy boy in Guatemala City endures an very active day in Veronica Riedel's risible drama "Capsules." Among the couple of features to leave the small but growing Guatemala film community, pic tries to express a boy's secret longing to reunite together with his lengthy-lost father, along with the narrow distance between your country's haves and also have-nots, particularly when the haves are drug sellers. But crude staging, rickety pacing and telenovela-quality acting undermine the project, that will tour strictly Latino fests. Apparently more fortunate than a lot of his mates, schoolboy Fonsi (Sebastian Gereda) likes making paintball videos and hearing rap, but he's encircled by vipers. To his left is his mother's drug-dealing b.f. Simon (Jose Penalonso), who helps make the lad swallow capsules of heroin to smuggle in to the U.S., in which the household is headed. To his right is several bad youths brought by Nena (Sofia Arevalo, inside a ridiculous evil-bitch-from-hell perf). His lengthy-absent father, Giaco (Giacomo Buonafina), handles to obtain Fonsi from the criminals for many time.Digital camera (color, widescreen, HD), Roberto Correa editor, Domingo Lemus music, David P Gandarias production designer, Fernando Galvez costume designer, Sofia Lantan. Examined on DVD, La, August. 15, 2011. (In La Latino, New You are able to Latino film festivals.) Running time: 102 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Hot Trailer: 'Machine Gun Preacher'

Relativity Media is up with a trailer for Machine Gun Preacher, the Marc Forster-directed drama that's based on the true story of Sam Childers, a rough guy who changed his life and found purpose in establishing a haven for Sudanese children. Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon star in the film that will be released Sept. 23.

Caregiver

When Paige Hopkins begins working at a halfway house for degenerate teenage girls, she believes that her syrupy sweet disposition is just what the girls need to find their path to redemption. But these hardened street girls show Paige that she couldn't be more out of place. So Paige quickly adapts to their ways - which includes beatings, torture and even murder - all delivered with a smile. Gradually, it becomes clear that she may be more troubled than any of her charges.

'The Big Lebowski' Reunion: Live Stream

Here's a scenario: There's a 'Big Lebowski' cast reunion going down at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom to celebrate the release of the cult comedy on Blu-ray and all your favorite actors from the movie will be there -- John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, John Turturro and the Dude himself, Jeff Bridges. Problem is, you don't have tickets. That's where Moviefone comes in. We have a simple solution: a 100 percent free live stream of the entire event, kicking off at 6:30PM ET. This reporter will also be Tweeting live from the scene, so make sure to follow @moviefone for quotes from the cast and other Lebowski-related observations. You can also spend your time entering our 'Big Lebowski' contest where we will be giving away copies of the film on Blu-ray (click here to enter). But first on tonight's itinerary: an interview with the man who inspired the Dude, Jeff Dowd. That will be followed by a cast Q&A at 8:00PM featuring Bridges, Goodman, Buscemi, Moore, Turturro and T Bone Burnett, who helped select the music for the film. So sit back, pour yourself a White Russian, caress your bowling ball and tune in here for all the Lebowski cast reunion news and updates you can stomach. *Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Charlie Sheen Withdraws Lawsuit Against Capri Anderson

Charlie Sheen Charlie Sheen has withdrawn his lawsuit against Capri Anderson, the adult film star whom he claimed tried to extort him after their encounter at the Plaza Hotel last fall, The Associated Press reports.Charlie Sheen countersues Capri Anderson, claims extortionAnderson had sued Sheen, claiming he choked her on that raucous night, during which he allegedly caused $7,000 worth of damage and was later hospitalized. Sheen countersued, accusing Anderson of extortion and claiming that she had stolen a $165,000 watch that night and then locked herself in the bathroom. Each has denied the other's claims.Report: Two and a Half Men to kill Charlie Sheen's characterThe case was dismissed without prejudice, which means the actor could re-file.

Daniel Craig Is 'More Excited' About 'Bond 23' Than 'Casino Royale'

There are many rumors swirling around the upcoming "Bond 23" production, but if Daniel Craig is certain about one thing, it's that Sam Mendes is the right person to direct the movie. Recently the "Bond" leading man sat down with his "Cowboys & Aliens" director, Jon Favreau, for an interview, and conversation steered towards the next untitled installment in the "007" franchise. Each of the "Bond" films Craig has been a part of have had different directors -- Martin Campbell for "Casino Royale" and Marc Forster for "Quantum of Solace" -- so Favreau asked the actor what he thought of Mendes "classing up the franchise." In a nutshell? "I think it's kind of a great choice," Craig said. He added, "I think Sam has a fervor and energy to really direct a 'Bond' movie with a capital 'B.' He's just completely feet-first thrown himself into it. He's read every book, and soaked up everything about it." A lot of aspects of the movie are up in the air, from Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem's rumored involvement to who will end up being cast as the Bond girl(s) in this flick. "Bond 23" is slated for a November 9, 2012 release date so it still has plenty of time to iron those issues out, but Craig said none of that is stopping him from being most excited for this "Bond" movie. "I've read the script the other day, and I'm more excited about this than I was about 'Casino [Royale]' because we've kind of got a classic 'Bond' movie, plus lots of other things," Craig said. We guess we'll have to wait until 2012 to find out what those "other things" are, but for now we'll look forward to at least having Judi Dench back as M in this movie. Are you looking forward to seeing what Sam Mendes will do with the "Bond" franchise? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

First Clip from T&A-Free Shark Night 3D Teases T&A

With a name like Shark Night 3D — and a trailer that highlights bikini-clad co-eds and shark attacks — you would be right to assume that the upcoming David R. Ellis-directed film would be packed to the gills with boobs and blood. As the director told Movieline at Comic-Con, however, it’s not. “This movie is just a really smart, well-written movie with great character arcs, great twists, without having to have gratuitous nudity or language. Jaws was PG-13. The Birds. All those really great horror films.” Fair points, David! Though you might want to tell the marketing department, since the first clip from Shark Night teases gratuitous nudity and some shark-related ultra-violence. To be fair, that scene is clear homage to Chrissie’s death in Jaws — right down to the shark POV from beneath the sea. Though for the perspective Shark Night audience member — one weaned on the blood-splattered T&A in Piranha 3D last summer — will that reference go unnoticed? Also, how does a shark that big hang out in water that shallow? Just sayin’. [via Shock Till You Drop]