ABC orders drama quartet

ABC added four dramas to the pilot slate, such as the latest from "Desperate Average women" creator Marc Cherry. Cherry's "Devious Service personnel," among three pick-ups from ABC Galleries, is definitely an adaptation of the Mexican format centered on four amibitious Beverly Hillsides service personnel. Sabrina Wind will even professional produce. Also originating from ABC Galleries are "Zero Hour," which Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Serta McDermott will professional produce with author Paul Scheuring ("Prison Break"), and "Penoza," composed by Melissa Rosenberg ("Twilight," "Dexter") with Endemol Galleries, Alon Aranya and Howard Klein professional creating. 'Zero" informs the storyline of the natural skeptic who will get roped right into a massive conspiracy, while "Penoza" adjusts a Nederlander format around the widow of the assassinated criminal who's pulled into his role in a crime syndicate. The main one outsider pick for ABC on Tuesday was "Gotham," written and professional created by Michael Eco-friendly ("Nobleman") together with his manager Erwin Stoff through twentieth century Fox Television. "Gotham" focuses on a lady cop who finds out a formerly unseen magical world within NY City. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

NTV wins Japan's 2011 TV ratings crown

TOKYO -- Nippon Television Network, one of Japan's five commercial networks, won the ratings crown last year. NTV came top in all three major categories -- primetime (7 p.m.-11 p.m.), Golden Time (7 p.m.-10 p.m.) and all-day (6 a.m.-midnight), beating arch-rival Fuji TV for the triple crown for the first time in eight years. A big factor in NTV's ratings success was "I'm Mita, Your Housekeeper," a drama about a deadpan but canny housemaid, played by Nanako Matsushima, who heals a dysfunctional family through mental jujitsu. The final episode of the series garnered a sky-high 40 rating on Dec. 23 -- equivalent to a top sporting event such as a World Cup soccer match involving the home team. NTV prexy Yoshio Okubo was non-committal when asked about the prospect of a "Mita" sequel or spin-off pic at a presser announcing the ratings results, saying, "We'd like to but it's a question as whether we can make it a reality." The network also got off to a fast start this year, beating the competition in all ratings categories in January. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

New Clip From Guy On The Ledge

Obtain a peek at the precarious thrillerIt's comforting to understand, with a few films, that guess what happens you are getting. Because this exclusive clip from Guy On The Ledge shows, Asger Leth's film truly does have a guy (Mike Worthington) on the ledge, encircled by people trying to puzzle out exactly what the bloody heck he's doing there.The title aside, this is just one of individuals thrillers which is more fun the less you understand it, because the plot originates into something rather unpredicted (this clip is comparatively spoiler-free, don't be concerned). We let you know that Erectile dysfunction Burns and Anthony Mackie play cops, that ElizabethBanks is really a hostage negotiator introduced directly into talk Worthington lower, which Jamie Bell is Worthington's brother, who's as much as something over the way.Guy OnA Ledge has gone out within the UKon Feb 3 so don't jump until then!

John Reid joins Live Nation Europe

Live Nation Entertainment's Live Nation Europe division has hired former Warner Music Intl. Boss-vice chairman John Reid as leader of concerts. Reid involves Live Nation after 11 years at WMI, where he helmed global marketing for functions like Madonna, Michael Buble and Bruno Mars. He ankled the business in November carrying out a major restructuring of the global management (Daily Variety, November. 10). He was formerly prexy of Island Def Jam Records U.S., chairman-Boss of Polygram Canada and worldwide marketing director at London Records. At the beginning of his career, he would be a painter and tour manager, coping with functions such as the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. Live Nation Europe Boss Simon Lewis mentioned of Reid in the statement: "His pedigree talks alone, which he's certainly an greatly valuable talent to own around after we still develop our business across Europe. John will probably be pivotal in broadening our touring artist portfolio and strengthening our show marketing capabilities after we mind into that which you be ready to be another strong year." Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Michelle Williams Talks Golden Globe Win

First Published: January 16, 2012 10:13 AM EST Credit: AFP/Getty Images Caption Michelle Williams poses with the trophy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for My Week with Marilyn at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly HillsBEV -- Michelle Williams took home the Golden Globe for her portrayal of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe an honor that her 6-year-old daughter Matilda helped her acheive. I was learning how to be in [Marilyn] I was getting there and one of the ways that I practiced her was in the princesses in the bedtime stories, the actress told Access Hollywoods Billy Bush, when asked of her process for nailing down Marilyns voice while reading to her daughter. [My princesses] all had a kind of breathy quality, she explained. During her acceptance speech on Sunday night, Michelle thanked Matilda whom she had with the late Heath Ledger saying her bravery and exuberance is the example that I take with me in my work and in my life. I consider myself a mother first and an actress second, she said on the Globes stage. I want to say thank you [to Matilda] for sending me off to this job every day with a hug and a kiss. As for her best winglady and former Dawsons Creek co-star, Busy Philipps, the Golden Globe winner was happy to have her friend by her side on the big night. She is [fun.] Shes the best date, Michelle added. Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mehandjiyska to mind Global Screen

BERLIN -- Sonia Mehandjiyska, former Vice president worldwide sales at U.S.-based Echo Bridge Ing., is joining the recently-created worldwide distrib Global Screen, the brand new partnership between Bavaria Media and Telepool. Mehandjiyska, who begins February. 1, will handle theatrical and television world sales and report straight to Global Screen CEOs Rolf Moser and Thomas Weymar. Mehandjiyska, who had been born in Bulgaria and was raised in Cuba and Mexico, started her career at Gibraltar Intl. in La in 2003, before becoming director of worldwide sales at MRG Corporation. (Lightning Ing., Mainline Delivering) in Santa Monica. In '09, she became a member of the London office of Echo Bridge Ing. as Vice president worldwide sales. "With Mrs. Mehandjiyska, we've guaranteed an experienced and experienced hands with this crucial position," Weymar stated. "She's been in your own home in theatrical and television distribution for a long time, talks six languages and can decisively bolster our market position together with her worldwide background leadership capabilities." Because the new worldwide arm of pubcaster ARD-controlled sales and distribution models Telepool and Bavaria Media, Global Screen holds privileges to among the biggest film libraries in Europe. Additionally towards the Bavaria Film group catalog, Bavaria Media has output handles pubcasters WDR and SWR. Telepool handles TV and theatrical distribution for pubwebs BR, MDR, Swiss Radio and television (SRF), and ARD production unit Degeto, in addition to leading commercial funnel RTL. Both firms in addition have a number of output and distribution handles worldwide and domestic partners. Global Screen can make its debut in the Berlinale's European Film Market the following month. Contact Erectile dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

'Artist' soundtrack points up temp tiff

'The Artist'Kim Novak's ad in the Jan. 9 edition of Daily Variety, saying she felt "violated" by the use of music from "Vertigo" in "The Artist," generated dozens of stories and even more blogosphere entries, many focused on her incendiary rhetoric (especially her opening line, "I want to report a rape").Mostly lost in the discussion was a bigger issue: When is the inclusion of pre-existing music appropriate in a new film? And how pervasive -- and artistically questionable -- is the whole temp-track process that led to the controversy?In the Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," which has racked up kudos and is a strong Oscar-race contender, director Michel Hazanavicius departs from composer Ludovic Bource's original score during the film's climactic scene, as despondent actor George (Jean Dujardin) is about to attempt suicide. For six minutes and 20 seconds, we hear Bernard Herrmann's music for an equally climactic scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film, when detective Scottie (James Stewart) transforms Judy (Novak) into the image of his lost love and they kiss passionately.Hazanavicius did what many directors have done before him: License the "temp" music he liked so much in that scene. Famous instances include Stanley Kubrick's all-classical "2001: A Space Odyssey"; Oliver Stone's use of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" in "Platoon"; Ridley Scott's needle-drops of Jerry Goldsmith's "Freud" and a Howard Hanson symphony in "Alien"; and more recently Tom Hooper's use of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony during the finale of "The King's Speech."Bource wrote music that was designed to replace the Herrmann. His cue, titled "My Suicide," is on the soundtrack album. But Hazanavicius has said in interviews that he preferred the "Vertigo" music, and chose to license a 1992 re-recording of it.The Academy music branch had ruled that Bource's score (80 minutes of original music) remains eligible for Oscar consideration despite the prominent presence of the "Vertigo" excerpt.Virtually every film is now temped, composers say, pretty much from the time editing begins. As composer Alan Silvestri ("Captain America") notes, with his tongue only slightly in cheek, "The temp track is like a hammer. In the hands of a skilled artist, it's an instrument for great beauty; in the hands of a homicidal maniac, it's an instrument of death."The temp often serves as a guide for the director, helping him find the right rhythm, tone or mood. But, as Silvestri points out, "music is, for many people, a mysterious thing. For a non-musical filmmaker, a temp score brings something unknown into the known, and it allows the filmmaker to retain a level of control that they might not have if they were relying on the composer to bring that voice."And if they've been living with temp music in that cut for weeks or even months before the composer comes onboard, the composer may have a difficult time prying his director away from it."You're really restricting the artistry of the composer," says former music editor Daniel Carlin, now chair of the film-scoring program at Boston's Berklee College of Music. "The evolution of film music has been altered tremendously by temp scores, because composers are forced to remain close to what's already been written. They don't have the innovative freedom to go off into a new direction."Herrmann thought using existing music in films was "vulgar," reports his biographer, Steven C. Smith. "It's hard to imagine him being anything but furious about his 'Vertigo' music being heard in another movie, even if the intention was partly an homage."Novak would like "Vertigo" to remain intact and not see or hear pieces of it in other films. But the reality is that film music is a commodity that can be licensed and placed in other visual media: "Vertigo" music was tracked into FX's "American Horror Story" last fall; the "Cheers" theme is now being used to sell State Farm Insurance.Temp tracks are here to stay. As Silvestri says, "That genie will not be put back in the bottle." It's up to the director to choose, wisely and carefully, to avoid the kind of brouhaha that "The Artist" has seen. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com