Kevin Smith Plans to Ditch Hollywood, Redefine 'Indie'

Kevin Smith has a plan to bypass what he sees as a messed-up Hollywood studio system that ineffectively spends a vulgar amount on advertising dollars, mostly on films that aren't very good. He harped on the point -- and made headlines -- with a recent spot on the 'WTF with Marc Maron' podcast, citing his job helming 'Cop Out' as a majorly unsatisfactory experience in the big-budget world.

Let's face it: Smith is at his most vocal when he's been wronged. And nobody, according to Smith, has wronged him more than the mainstream film industry which turned him from indie maverick to, well, the director of 'Cop Out.'

Now the 40-year-old director is making the biggest, funniest stink he can, all the while proselytizing at Sundance, on Twitter and in the press that he's ready to bypass the Hollywood filmmaking and distributing style altogether.

Vulture reported that Smith practically stole the show at Sundance, pulling off fake protests, setting up elaborate hoaxes and delivering profanity-laced speeches, all to show how Hollywood's movie-making business model is irrevocably broken. In light of the dysfunction he sees, Smith has vowed to break the bond between filmmaker and film industry. You might ask yourself how exactly Smith expects to make movies without any studio support. The answer is an ambitious self-distribution plan the director dubs Indie 2.0.

Smith is betting he can successfully take his new film 'Red State' on the road, plotting a 15-date national tour set to feature Q&A sessions with Smith. People will plop down roughly $50 a ticket for the special screenings. In lieu of a traditional marketing campaign, Smith plans to rely on his legions of fans to stir up national attention and widespread interest in the movie.

Smith predicts he'll earn back about $1.5 million of the film's $4 million budget, according to Fast Company. Once he's shown the success of this DIY business model, Smith plans to deal directly with exhibitors to ensure a national release on Oct. 19, the 17th anniversary of his debut, 'Clerks,' hitting screens.

Early on Jan. 25, Smith dove into one of his frequent tweet-a-thons, promising to chronicle his efforts to distribute 'Red State' himself. "During the next 10 months," tweeted Smith, "we're gonna educate you on what everything costs, what we earn, what we get to keep, the costs of posters, toilet paper -- the Harvey Boys will open the books & let you follow along with good ol', simple too [sic] understand, real world arithmetic. We'll show you all the money that's coming in on one of those thermometer graphics, with the $4 million total we're aiming to hit long before the October 19th general release."

Smith has already demonstrated that to the best self-branders/fan-collectors/buzz-creators go the spoils. In his mind, movies are just another of his ventures that work by the same strength in numbers -- see: 1.7 million Twitter followers -- premise. It doesn't matter, really, if those numbers are page views, Facebook friends or podcast listeners. Empowered by the numbers he pulls in and their growing value in a digital society, Smith told the crowd at the Sundance premiere of 'Red State' that he'd be putting the movie out himself without "spending a f***ing dime on marketing."

In the past, Smith has also shown interest in using his SModcast network as a way to allow fans to fund his future projects, as well as to finance the next Kevin Smith, still living in his mom's basement somewhere. While "crowd-funding" has become a buzz word in the music industry, it hasn't generated as much talk within the indie film world. Smith would like to change all that, as he blogged last

February:
Our plan is to put anything we make into a fund that would, in turn, finance other (cost-sensible) flicks fans want to see. And from that? Build a People's Studio. Simply have any interested/frustrated/desperate party put their script on our website, open for all to read, during a "pilot season" of sorts. Script that gets the most votes, gets the loot. That flick gets made and sold, all the loot goes back into fund for next round. If there's enough loot from 'RED STATE' sale to do so, idea would be to fund two low budget flicks a year. Ultimate dream: Indie Movement, v.3.

Smith has said he plans to direct only two more films: hockey flick 'Hit Somebody' and a third 'Clerks.' After all, why deal with Harvey Weinstein when you can become Harvey Weinstein?

No Marriage Plans for George Clooney

Wedding bells won’t be in George Clooney’s future for now.

The star appeared with his father Nick Clooney on Piers Morgan's CNN talk show Friday night, People reported. During the interview, Nick spoke about his own 51 year-marriage to George’s mom.

That prompted George to remark: "I hate to blow your whole news story, but I was married. Yeah, so I've proven how good I was at it, and I just. ... I'm allowed one."

George, 48, was previously married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993. She’s now married to "Mad Men" actor John Slattery. Meanwhile, Clooney is dating Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis.

During the Morgan interview, Clooney addressed the notion of him venturing into politics, as reported by Usmagazine.com. He recently was in the Sudan as part of a call for diplomacy.

"Honestly, my job is as good as they get," he said. "I think that I am best suited as an advocate for issues and I look to people who are far smarter and far better at this than I am to lead."

‘True Blood’s’ Joe Manganiello Dishes On His Wedding Plans

Awwww… this super-stacked werewolf has heart!

“True Blood’s” resident werewolf hunk Joe Manganiello is opening up about planning his wedding to fiancee Audra Marie – and the star is ready to mix business with pleasure on the big day.

“The [‘True Blood’] cast will be invited to the wedding,” Joe told People at the Producer’s Guild Awards in Beverly Hills on Saturday night. “I love them. They’re like my family.

“We’re close to settling on a date and a location,” he continued. “Once we get that locked in, the rest will kind of snowball.”

Joe, who was recently made a series regular on the hit HBO show, credits the vampire series with making his romantic dreams a reality.

“The first thing I did with my first check as a season regular is get together with my friend who is a jewelry designer and we co-designed an engagement ring,” he told the mag. “And then my now-fiancée and I went on our trip to Italy and got engaged.”

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, the 6’5” actor was added to the People’s 2010 Sexiest Man Alive club in November and was thrilled to share the news with the two leading ladies in his life.

“I told Audra and the first thing she said was, ‘Don’t forget, I wash your underwear,’” Joe laughed while recounting to AccessHollywood.com how he broke the news to his lady love in November. “Then she gave me a big hug and told me how proud of me she was.”

Also pleased with the honor? Joe’s mother!

“I said, ‘Go get People magazine this week.’” Joe said of how he broke the news to Mama Manganiello, back in his hometown of Pittsburgh. “She said ‘What for?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, it’s the Sexiest Man Alive issue.’ And she screamed ‘Oh my God! You’re the Sexiest Man Alive?!’ And I went ‘No, no… I’m one of the guys.’”

Mike Leach Plans to Appeal

A Texas appeals court threw out former coach Mike Leach's breach of contract claim against Texas Tech on Friday, though it said he could still pursue non-monetary claims against the school over his controversial 2009 firing.

Leach did not immediately respond to a text message and couldn't be reached by phone.

"We won," Texas Tech attorney Dicky Grigg said. "The court has held that he has no monetary claims against the school."

University attorneys had argued that Leach could not sue the school because Texas Tech is a state entity with sovereign immunity, meaning it can only be sued with permission from the state Legislature or a waiver based on a defendant's conduct.

A trial court ruling went against the school, but the latest decision from the 7th Court of Appeals upheld Texas Tech's assertion of immunity.

Leach's attorney, Paul Dobrowski, said he plans to appeal the issue to the Texas Supreme Court. He said the ruling noted that the state's highest court "is unclear regarding waiver of sovereign immunity" through conduct.

"In essence, the doctrine permits state institutions such as Texas Tech to deny a man's written contractual rights and steal his hard-earned labor while paying nothing," Dobrowski said. "That is not fair and not what Texas and its citizens stand for."

The school fired Leach on Dec. 30, 2009, two days after suspending him amid allegations he mistreated a player with a concussion. Leach has denied mistreating Adam James, the son of former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Craig James, and has said he suspects an $800,000 bonus he was due Dec. 31 was the reason he was fired.

The appeals court ruling allows Leach to try to show Texas Tech's reasons for firing him were wrong, but without monetary relief.

The appeals court also reinstated one of Leach's claims. The two sides will return to court to determine whether Texas Tech's allegations were "proper" against Leach in the Adam James situation, Dobrowski said.

"We're asking them to declare that they were not" proper, he said. "Mike's going to be thrilled that he has a chance to clear his name."

The ruling gives state District Judge William C. Sowder, the trial court judge in the case, jurisdiction to determine if Leach received his due process, Grigg said.

"We're confident he did receive due process," he said. "And no matter what he's not entitled to any monetary claims."

Attorneys on both sides have swapped accusations for months over the firing, with the highly successful coach claiming among other things that school leaders were persuaded in part by Craig James to fire him. Leache's attorney has said he can't get a job because of the firing and at one point accused Texas Tech of smearing Leach by releasing video footage of the coach in the locker room using profane language.

In Friday's ruling, the three-judge panel wrote that Leach needed "good faith belief" that his lawsuit constituted making a report to an appropriate law enforcement authority, a requirement of the Texas Whistleblower Act.

Leach, who has a law degree, claimed that the university violated the whistleblower act by firing him after he filed his lawsuit.

The appeals court disagreed and suggested the argument shouldn't have been made.

Leach, the judges wrote, had the "savvy and intelligence" to field a Division I football team and keep current with NCAA rules along with several attorneys so he wasn't "left alone to sojourn" through a legal maze.

"Given this, we arrive at but one conclusion," the panel said. "In short, no evidence exists enabling us to conclude that Leach satisfied the objective prong of a good faith belief."

In a separate case, Leach has also sued ESPN Inc. and a public relations firm, accusing them of libel and slander after he was fired. The lawsuit seeks undisclosed damages and retractions from ESPN and the PR firm.

Leach, who is living in Key West, Fla., spent this season working as a game analyst for CBS College Sports. He also hosts a sports talk radio show on Sirius.

Eminem Plans a Return to the Big Screen, But Can He Forge a Successful Acting Career?

Nine years after his electrifying performance in the semi-autobiographical '8 Mile,' Eminem is planning his return to film in the upcoming thriller 'Random Acts of Violence.'

The reclusive rapper, whose 2010 album 'Recovery' was the best-selling album of the year, continues to work his way back into the national consciousness with a series of upcoming film roles. In addition to 'Violence,' the rapper is currently in production on the 3-D horror film 'Shady Talez' and the boxing-themed drama 'Southpaw.'

But as fans of both hip-hop and film know, the confluence of emcees and movies is not always the best fit. For every Mos Def in 'The Woodsman,' there's DMX in 'Cradle 2 the Grave.' For every Ludacris in 'Crash,' there's, well, Ludacris in 'Fred Claus.'

"I think it's a good role for Eminem," says Jake Paine, editor-in-chief of influential hip-hop website HipHopDX.com. "But I think we're all skeptical about 'rapper movies.' Still, Eminem, more than almost anybody in the last 10 years, has the potential to follow in the Fresh Prince [Will Smith] or Marky Mark's [Mark Wahlberg] ascent to legitimate acting."

Smith and Wahlberg have long solidified their presences in Hollywood and shed -- or matured, depending on your point of view -- their former careers. But both had all but retired from hip-hop when their acting careers began. (Smith would later reboot his musical career as a solo artist in 1997, but only after firmly establishing his acting career.) Juggling music and acting simultaneously is a much more difficult endeavor.

"I thought it was about time," admits Mecca, editor-at-large of hip-hop magazine The Source. "It's all he needed to complete a successful return. The script and storyline seem strong and expanding his resume with films is a great look."

According to Vulture, 'Random Acts of Violence' began as the cinematic equivalent to 'Grand Theft Auto,' the ultraviolent video game that emerged as one of the decade's most popular games. But 20th Century Fox shifted tone and brought in 'Californication' director David Von Ancken, who ditched the cars and created "a thriller more akin to 'The Town' or 'The Departed.'" The rapper will play an ex-con torn between his past partners in crime and the FBI agents hoping he'll wear a wire to bring them down.

Family of Pace Player Plans $120M Suit

The parents of a college football player who was shot dead in his car by police announced Tuesday that they plan a $120 million lawsuit against the suburban towns whose officers were involved.

They also have decided to cooperate with the grand jury investigating the case.

Family lawyer Michael Sussman said the lawsuit over the death of Danroy Henry Jr. would probably be filed in federal court this spring against the town of Mount Pleasant and the village of Pleasantville, just north of New York City. A notice of claim, required before suing, was filed Tuesday in each jurisdiction, he said.

Telephone calls to Pleasantville Administrator Patti Dwyer and Mount Pleasant Supervisor Joan Maybury were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Henry, a 20-year-old Pace University student, was killed Oct. 17 after officers fired at his car as he drove through the parking lot of a shopping center in the New York City suburb Thornwood, near the Pace campus. Police had been called to a disturbance that spilled out of a bar in the shopping center.

Witness accounts of the shooting have differed sharply, and a Westchester County grand jury is investigating. Police have said that Henry sped away and hit Pleasantville Officer Aaron Hess, who has acknowledged shooting at Henry through Henry's windshield. A Mount Pleasant officer also fired at the car.

Sussman has alleged that Hess committed murder, but Hess' lawyer said he was thrown onto the hood of the car by the impact and had no alternative but to shoot.

Autopsy results revealed that Henry had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit for driving. Sussman has disputed that finding.

The notice of claim alleges that the municipalities were negligent in hiring and training officers and the officers were negligent in their use of deadly force.

Amateur video of the aftermath of the shooting reveals "absolute mayhem," Sussman said. There was "an obvious lack of supervision ... that relates to a lack of training," he said.

The $120 million figure in the notice of claim, he said, reflects "the family's valuation to the extent they can give any monetary valuation" of their son's worth.

Henry's father, Danroy Henry, has been asked to testify before the grand jury and has agreed, Sussman said.

"He has things to say" about his son's nature and character, the lawyer said.

Sussman said he and other lawyers in the case met last month with then-Gov. David Paterson to seek a special prosecutor. But the governor felt the Westchester County grand jury investigation would be "a serious enough pursuit of justice," Sussman said.

Sussman has said he doubts the ability of the Westchester district attorney's office to impartially lead the investigation. But on Tuesday he encouraged "all people with knowledge of the situation" to cooperate with the grand jury.