Latest in Ken Ziffren

Bryan Lourd stepped out Wednesday from behind the CAA curtain to express hope for both a post-COVID-19 return of movies and the theater-going experience, and an agreement with the WGA over the contentious practice of packaging – if the guild will pick up the phone. "I fully expect that at some point in the near…

CAA’s Bryan Lourd will take over as the keynote speaker for the 44th Annual UCLA Entertainment Symposium Wednesday, replacing Bob Greenblatt, the former Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment. In a virtual sit-down interview with powerhouse attorney Ken Ziffren, the uberagency Managing Partner and Co-Chairman will now…

In a decision that may prove prophetic for Frank Darabont and CAA's long-fought $300 million The Walking Dead profit-participation battle against AMC, the cabler just won a major victory that could prove a death knell to Robert Kirkman and other executive producers’ own legal actions against it. After a delay of…

The second day of Robert Kirkman's mini-trial over profits from The Walking Dead started with fireworks over who knew what and when – and not over the millions of dollars the creator of the long-running and highly successful zombie apocalypse series claims AMC swindled out of him and other executive producers. On a…

When the zombie apocalypse does come, downtown Los Angeles may or may not be an epicenter of societal breakdown. But it sure felt like it today as the first of several The Walking Dead profit-participation trials that kicked off in the City of Angels. "If AMC Networks paid 100% of the production of The Walking Dead…

EXCLUSIVE: Seems Hollywood's top legal mandarin has hit a raw nerve with the re-election seeking head of the WGA West and the latter wants the former to stay in his lane. "Ken Ziffren is an experienced lawyer, which means there are some things he should know and some things he fully understands that he can’t know,"…

"Seeing the handwriting on the wall, two days ago the WGA dismissed without prejudice its state court case against the four agencies and simultaneously filed a counterclaim to the suit that was brought against three of the agencies for antitrust violations on the part of the guild," Ken Ziffren said Wednesday as he…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Lionsgate co-COO and Motion Picture Group co-president Steve Beeks and former Fox Division president Mike Dunn have launched Elemental Content And Solutions, a new short form production and distribution company that will be a fulcrum for funding and creating live action and animated series, told in…

The Association of Film Commissioners International has picked Rajiv Dalal for the newly created role of President, it was announced today at the group's 41st Annual Cineposium here in L.A. The new direction at the top of the AFCI also saw ex-British Film Commission exec Jess Conoplia appointed to the also the newly…

The major Hollywood studios’ flirtation with Premium VOD and their talks with exhibitors has been akin to “tip-toeing up to the edge of the ocean water, and tip-toeing back” Los Angeles film czar Ken Ziffren said today at his ninth annual state of the entertainment industry address before the Beverly Hills Bar…

EXCLUSIVE: Six years ago, the TV Academy was brought to the brink as negotiations with the major broadcast networks for a new Primetime Emmys deal dragged on for more than eight months, only closing 4½ months before the 2011 telecast. The TV Academy traditionally starts conversations for a new network contract when…

"Eventually I would imagine, I'm speaking as an observer, the studios will need to find their own platforms and create our own direct-to-consumer opportunities," said 2oth Century Fox film boss Stacey Snider today at a UCLA confab about where the movie industry is headed. "It's a vital conversation to be having, and…