The Business

The special-effects gurus known as the Brothers Strause made Skyline for a thrifty $10 million. They wanted to prove themselves as directors to the studios but found out they'd rather make their own films. Plus, we go behind closed doors to where deals are made at the American Film Market. We spend a day shadowing the head of the international sales and distribution company IM Global and track their landmark deal on Walking with Dinosaurs.

The Hobbit movies have suffered a cursed road to the screen marked by studio financing problems, the loss of director Guillermo del Toro and a fire at a New Zealand studio. But nothing generated so much public anger and government attention as when the actors tried to unionize and Warner Bros threatened to move the $500 million production out of New Zealand. Jonathan Handel, contributing editor to the Hollywood Reporter, breaks down the high drama and big dollars involved. Plus, young filmmaker Lena Dunham, who wowed people with her little personal movie, Tiny Furniture, is the hottest new thing in Hollywood...

We hear from Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum on the challenge of making a sequel to the 2009 break-out hit. This time with studio backing from Paramount, the producers had to find a way to make the follow-up true to the ethos of its micro-budget original. Plus, producer of Toy Story 3, Darla K. Anderson -- the lone woman in Pixar's famed brain trust. She weighs in on gender dynamics at this successful studio and in the movie business as a whole while addressing the controversy over Pixar firing its first female director.

Gary Calamar, music supervisor of hit TV shows (True Blood, Dexter, House and Six Feet Under) on choosing the right songs to convey a mood and brand a show.  Gareth Edwards on working guerrilla-style and doing his own effects to make his sci-fi thriller Monsters on the cheap.

Since 2005, Franklin Leonard, creator and keeper of The Black List, has kept Hollywood on pins and needles every December awaiting this compilation of the most loved unproduced screenplays making the rounds in town. Plus, Darlene Hunt -- creator and executive producer of Showtime's The Big C, starring Laura Linney -- started out as an actress but hit it big as a writer. 

Celebrated director Stephen Frears (The Grifters, High Fidelity, The Queen) talks about his new movie Tamara Drewe and his comfort level working in the independent film world. After two failed attempts at Hollywood studio movies, the indie director says he retreated to a more sensible place, away from the large budgets that had a paralyzing effect on him.  Then we meet Dan Bern and Mike Viola, the Lennon-McCartney of mock rock movie songs, including those sung by the fictitious rock stars in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to The Greek.

Kyle Killen created the Fox drama, Lone Star, which was recently canceled after just two airings.  While that television dream didn't exactly work out as planned, his film career is hanging in limbo. He wrote the much lauded screenplay for the movie The Beaver, which was due out this year. Killen talks about how this screenplay turned his life around and how the casting of Gibson may have affected the possibility of it's release.

"Jumped the Shark" may be the most famous thing Fred Fox, Jr. has ever written and in a way he didn't even write it-- not that phrase exactly.  Fox is the Happy Days writer behind the now infamous episode that inspired the iconic catchphrase 'jumped the shark.' Fox discusses writing the episode and its aftermath, and answers the question, "Why water skiis?" Then we go to the West Coast Documentary and Reality Conference, where eager producers and willing television executives engage in speed pitching.

Premieres, parties and press junkets at the Toronto International Film Festival. Kim Masters goes insides a junket to interview Conviction director Tony Goldwyn about working a festival. Then its off to an industry party where Nigel Cole, director of Made in Dagenham, compares this year's TIFF to two years ago when he was promoting a film that was jeopardized by financial troubles. Plus, the original title for Cole's latest film and why it changed.

Director Ken Kwapis's latest TV project is the new NBC series Outsourced, which premieres September 23. The show follows an American running a call center in Mumbai, and has been accused of stereotyping the Indian characters. Kwapis discusses these accusations and the nature of provocative comedies. He also talks about directing the pilot episodes of The Bernie Mac Show, The Larry Sanders Show and American version of The Office, and on working with show-runners and talent to create the tone and template for these beloved shows.