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…

Changes in how movies get to movie fans won’t come anytime soon and not in one solid package, a trio of Hollywood insiders said today. "It's the innovator's dilemma," Benjamin Mogil, Stifel Nicolaus’ Managing Director Equity Research, Media and Entertainment, told LA Film Czar Ken Ziffren today during UCLA Law…

Like so many established members of the Los Angeles legal community, Hollywood heavyweights Patricia Glaser, Marty Singer and Ken Ziffren have their own connections to the infamous O.J. Simpson criminal trial. Perhaps most significantly among the power trio, Glaser was at one of the very first meetings Robert Shapiro…

EXCLUSIVE: If you’re talking Hollywood power lawyers, there are few mightier than Patricia Glaser, Martin Singer and Ken Ziffren. With a combined 130 years of Tinseltown practice between them, they have represented studios, networks, agencies, Oscar and Emmy winners, participated in game-changing cases (hello, Conan O…

"The advertisers are getting fewer eyeballs and paying more for those eyeballs," powerhouse Hollywood attorney and L.A. Film Czar Ken Ziffren said today of the state of TV and the vast and fast changes the industry is undergoing. "We're in a situation where mobile will predominate," he added at UCLA's 40th annual…

Fifty years after he graduated, the former editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review has given back – to the tune of $5 million. A longtime supporter of his old stomping grounds, Hollywood powerhouse attorney, Senior Adviser to L.A. Mayor's Office of Motion Picture and TV Production and 1965 grad Ken Ziffren has given…

A day after exiting his post at Los Angeles’ Office of Motion Picture and Television Production, Rajiv Dalal has thrown his hat into the political ring. California state politics to be specific. The former Time Warner executive today declared as a candidate for a seat in the 43rd California Assembly District, which…

EXCLUSIVE: With eyes and cameras all over the world focused on the Oscars this weekend, Eric Garcetti is set today to formally announce the next steps City Hall is going to take to curb runaway production and keep filming in Hollywood. As Deadline readers will know from my interview last week with Film Czar Ken Ziffren…

EXCLUSIVE: Today the board of the California Film Commission will vote on draft regulations for how the state's now-greatly expanded tax incentive program will be administered. With a system based on qualified wages and potential bonus points for economic drivers like VFX, the vote comes just over a year to the day…