The Business

Battlefield Earth recently won the Razzie for being the "worst picture of the decade."  The two credited screenwriters on that film -- J.D. Shapiro and Corey Mandell — say, "Don't blame us!"  We find out how their careers survived writing one of the most notorious movies ever.  (This program was originally broadcast on April 19, 2010. Today's show features an all new Hollywood banter.)

The documentary The Tillman Story was given a controversial R rating for language by the Motion Picture Association of America. We talk with filmmaker Amir Bar Lev about his failed effort to challenge that rating in an appeal. Then we hear from Joan Graves, head of the MPAA's rating's board, about their reasoning on this and other questionable ratings.

Veteran television producer Winnie Holzman and Savannah Dooley go from being mother and daughter to writing partners. They run the ABC Family dramedy Huge, which is set in a weight-loss camp for teens.  While Holzman is an old hand at TV this is the first project by 25-year-old Dooley. Because of her inexperience the network paired her with her mom. Matt Holzman, Executive Producer of The Business, talks with the mother-daughter team about making Huge a family affair, their particular writing-partner fights, and nepotism in Hollywood.

Behind every filmmaker stands an assistant. The former assistant to Phillip Noyce, director of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, read scripts for four years until finally finding his latest project, Salt.  Bea Sequeira talks about being a script reader and working in the shadows as an assistant.  Then Warner Bros' Michael Tritter gives us the back story on the stealth marketing campaign for Inception.  

In 1976 Star Wars was the first movie presented at Comic-Con. Now the four-day event, with about 125,000 attendees, is a huge marketing bonanza -- not just for comic-book movies, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and animation but practically any movie or TV show loosely connected to this fan base. We hear what the people at this year's Comic-Con think about Hollywood and speak with long-time studio "genre consultant" Jeff Walker, who's lived the geek dream, working for and with the studios on movies' publicity campaigns.  

Producer Dean Zanuck, goes out on his own, independent of his Oscar-winning producer father and of studio financing to make his new indie movie, Get Low.  He talks about being the third-generation in the family business of show business and of living up to his grandfather and father's legacy. Then filmmaker Robert Bella's efforts to bring his movie , Colin Fitz Lives, back from oblivion...

This week on The Business, it's Reality-palooza! Three producers of big unscripted hits -- Intervention, Top Chef and The Hills -- talk about the reality of reality television. They reveal the keys to casting, the dilemma of who really "writes" these shows, what soft-scripted mean and how important authenticity really is in reality TV.

Rona Barrett, who brought Hollywood gossip and entertainment industry news to TV, discusses show business -- then and now.  Then, with all this bad star behavior out there -- from Mel Gibson to Roman Polanski to Charlie Sheen -- we ask Dean Valentine, former head of UPN and Walt Disney Television, where Hollywood draws the line in a business that's all about the bottom line.

We look at the decision in the Celador versus Disney case. What was at issue? How will the decision awarding Celador a $270 million payout affect business in Hollywood? Then, Lance Daly directed a couple of 11-year-olds with no acting experience in his new movie Kisses. The Irish filmmaker wanted kids who were gritty and tough, but the very reason they're so affecting in the film made them a challenge to direct.

Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg talks about being a brand in Hollywood, and we look at how those with even tenuous links to the series earn fame and fortune. Also, Australian Mark Lewis, known for his humorous indie films on going 3-D with Cane Toads: The Conquest otherwise known as Ava-Toad.