Oz's Cordell Jigsaw, Zapruder's merge

SYDNEY -- Australian mid-size production companies Cordell Jigsaw and Zapruder's Other Films have merged to create the country's biggest privately owned producer. Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder will be one of the most prolific providers of local skeins with 14 shows on air, including "The Gruen Transfer," pubcaster ABC's highest-rated show, and "Mega Truckers," a hit for paybox A&E Australia. The merger gives the company the heft it needs to take on rival production giants. "How do you compete with companies like Shine, owned by News Corp., Endemol, owned by Mediaset or Fremantle, owned by RTL?... That's who we're competing with and that's without their format books and relying only on our own ideas," said Cordell Jigsaw's Nick Murray. The answer was to band together so they have stronger cross-pollination of development ideas, more easily retain staff and have a positive knock-on effect for international distribution, per Andrew Denton, topper of Zapruder's Other Films. Cordell Jigsaw launched a distrib arm last year and now, with local hit documentary series "Go Back to Where You Came From" and the rights of "The Gruen Transfer" recently returning to Zapruder's, it has a strong slate. "What we have is a really interesting catalog of finished shows and formats that we'll be taking out to market at MipTV in April for the first time," Murray said. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Live Nation tallies rev, earnings gains

Live Nation Entertainment released a 6.3% increase in revenue together with a 20.7% grow in modified operating earnings for your fiscal year ended 12 ,. 31, the business reported Thursday. Within the fourth fiscal quarter -- typically a somewhat slow period for your concert biz -- revenue dropped 4.2% and modified operating earnings slowed down lower by 10.7%. In the last fiscal year, LNE's revenue rose to $5.38 billion, up from $5.06 billion this season. Modified operating earnings rose to nearly $438 million from $362.8 million the prior year. Modified earnings within the company's concert business elevated nearly 97% this season, to $30.3 million from $15.4 million the last fiscal year. Ticketing rose 17.6% to $272.millions of, up from $231.3 million this season. The Artist Nation management division rose a slim 1.5% to $47.2 million, from $46.5 million the this past year. Q4 concert revenue declined 12.1% to $694.4 million, while ticketing revenue elevated 6% to $323.4 million. Despite flattening fourth-quarter revenue and earnings, LNE leader-Boss Michael Rapino mentioned in the statement, "The concert customers are away and off to a great come from 2012, driven having a solid early choice of artists and healthy ticketing demand. We're feeling the has stable and expect the overall market atmosphere being much the same this season, while using fans' desire for our products mitigating any ongoing economic uncertainty." The business also introduced Thursday it had been entering japan market while using formation of Live Nation Japan, a partnership with Tokyo, japan, japan promotion firm Creativeman. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Italo film org backs Marco Mueller for Rome post

Former Venice Film Festival topper Marco Mueller is being backed by Italy's motion picture association Anica to head the Rome Film Festival in a significant move that aims to break a protracted political deadlock over his appointment.Mueller has been in the running for the Rome post since December when his Lido contract was not renewed due to a power clash with Venice Biennale prexy Paolo Baratta.Mueller, who had a strong eight-year run as the Lido leader, is considered by many in the Italo industry the best candidate to redefine the 6-year-old Eternal City Extravaganza and turn it into an industry asset complementary to -- rather than in competition with -- Venice.But Mueller has run into complicated political crossfire and firm opposition from current Rome prexy Gian Luigi Rondi, whose contract expires in June. Rondi, a 91-year-old film critic and eminence grise, wants Piera Detassis, whose mandate as Rome's artistic director expired in January, to remain on board. The impasse has been going on for weeks.In a statement Anica said it was "worried" about the Rome fest's "extreme precariousness," which at this point undermines its existence."The only fair solution left, even though it is being reached in the worse possible way, is for Marco Mueller to be appointed artistic director," Anica said.The country's main film industry urged the fest's board members to show "sense of responsibility" in supporting Mueller and vowed to guarantee his political "autonomy."It is not clear when a decision might be reached. Mueller, meanwhile, is at the Berlin Film Festival. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com

Mark Thompson Admits 'BBC Got It Wrong' on Older Women

LONDON - The BBC has pledged to put more older women into prominent on-screen roles, after admitting it had a case to answer about the lack of female presenters.In an article in the "Daily Mail," BBC director general Mark Thompsonwrote that the BBC had too few female presenters - especially in senior news and current affairs roles. He said the BBC would have to begin changing the culture internally."Let's not mince words - those who say the BBC has a case to answer about the way it treats its older women are right," he wrote in the paper."There are manifestly too few older women broadcasters on the BBC," he admitted. He went on to argue that the BBC nonetheless has a plethora of senior women in management and executive roles.Thompson went on to say that the issue went industry-wide and that on British television and media in general, "older women are chiefly notable by their absence."But he pledged that as a national broadcaster funded by the public, "the BBC is in a different class from everyone else" and would have to improve.The BBC has faces a barrage of complaints in recent years about popular senior women being taken off screen. Newsreader Moira Stewart, "Strictly Come Dancing"judge Arlene Phillipsand "Countryfile"presenter Miriam O'Reillyare just some examples.O'Reilly took the BBC to an employment tribunal, accusing it of age-discrimination. Thompson said the case had been a "wake-up call." The Hollywood Reporter

AFTRA fund trustees say merger difficult

Trustees from the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds have joined in to the debate over merging the Screen Stars Guild and also the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists. The trustees, inside a statement released Thursday, have put cold water on the lately introduced "feasibility review" about merging the AFTRA plan using the SAG pension and health plans. SAG and AFTRA had revealed the feasibility review -- an accumulation of attorneys' opinions that there are no legal impediment to merging the individually operated plans -- included in this week's unveiling from the particulars of the suggested SAG and AFTRA merger. Merger backers are fighting that mixing SAG and AFTRA can make it simpler to mix the plans like a foundation solving the issue that entertainers face for making contributions towards the separate plans after which not meeting the income qualifications. But AFTRA plan trustees stated they've nothing related to the feasibility review -- while acknowledging the review's legal opinions incorporated one from co-counsel towards the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds, Jani Rachelson. "The board of trustees from the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds wishes to really make it absolutely obvious the opinions expressed within this 'Feasibility Review' by no means represent the opinion of AFTRA H&R's board of trustees," the trustees stated. "The board of trustees didn't request or authorize this opinion of Fund co-counsel coupled with no prior understanding of the letter before reading through the posting around the websites." The AFTRA plan trustees also cautioned that mixing the SAG and AFTRA plans will be a major challenge. "Although there's without doubt that plan mergers are legally allowable in appropriate conditions, the merger of pension and health funds as large and divergent because the AFTRA and SAG plans boosts complex and different financial, legal and benefit issues which could simply be addressed via a comprehensive analysis carried out through the funds," the AFTRA trustees stated. "No position continues to be, or is going to be, taken through the AFTRA Health & Retirement Funds Trustees or its co-counsel until such time like a comprehensive feasibility study is carried out." SAG and AFTRA will mail out ballots February. 27 to 120,000 SAG people and 70,000 AFTRA people, having a tabulation date of March 30. To become approved, the merger must receive a minimum of 60% from the votes from each union. The unions' review of the "feasibility study" noted that hundreds of multiemployer pensions have merged during the last two-and-a-half decades, and there's no legal obstacle to merging the SAG and AFTRA pension and health plans. Additionally, it stated multiemployer plan mergers don't pose any elevated chance of lack of benefits. The summary also stated, "Mergers are typical and advantageous simply because they strengthen the financial lower making it through plan, reduce administrative expenses and enable employees to target their covered work under just one benefit structure." The controversy over whether SAG's and AFTRA's pension and health plans ought to be merged grew to become a significant problem in 2003. For the reason that contest, 58% of SAG voters backed the proposal -- under 2,000 votes lacking meeting the 60% requirement. For the reason that contest, the SAG management trustees on the merger study committee stated they couldn't support merger. "In the end take no position around the internal union problem of bringing together subscriptions, we all do function as fiduciaries from the SAG-Producer Pension and Health Plans and, as a result, possess a responsibility to SAG plans participants," the management trustees stated in 2003. "These legal duties, that are borne equally by both Producer and Union Trustees, prevent us from supporting a merger from the SAG and AFTRA plans when the merger isn't within the needs of SAG participants." At that time, SAG leader Melissa Gilbert and AFTRA leader John Connolly assaulted the trustees as meddling in union politics and declared, "We all know we can not depend on companies to consider good interests." The management trustees refused the accusations their comments were motivated with a need to derail the suggested SAG-AFTRA consolidation. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

VIDEO: Might Be Pressure Strong With VW's New Super Bowl Ad?

Volkswagen Your entire day has turned up. VW's much over-blown Super Bowl commercial remains released, to ensure that as "The Bark Side" teaser ad guaranteed, it requires dogs and also the Exorcist. Super Bowl XLVI: The Leaders and Patriots face off in epic rematch See the preview of "Your Pet Strikes Back," the NY Times' Media Coder blog reviews runs about a minute and 16 seconds, because the actual game day commercial will simply run for just one minute. Although it's good to look for the Cantina aliens, hear that legendary music and discover the jerk to last year's "PressureInch commercial, that entire Alien section just feels added on, not always part of the dog and Beetle story. Is Volkswagen stretching the homage here? The ad may have throughout Sunday's Super Bowl, airing live at 6/5c on NBC. What can you think about "Your Pet Strikes Back"? Share your comments below.

Mia Wasikowska Does The Double

Jesse Eisenberg confirmedCast your mind back to last August, when it was reported that Jesse Eisenberg would be teaming up with Submarine director Richard Ayoade for his next film, inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Double. Well, we're sliding that news from the "Rumour" to the "Confirmed" section of our big news tracker board, as he's now locked in, with Mia Wasikowska on to co-star.The film won't be a direct adaptation of the novella, but it will plough a similar furrow: a mundane man (Eisenberg) driven to near breakdown status when his doppleganger shows up in his life. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ayoade is promising something funny, frightening and dream-like, a reflection on loneliness and our need to be loved.He co-wrote the film with Avi Korine (who hatched the original idea) and is set to shoot in Blighty sometime in the spring or summer this year. Film4 is throwing in some of the funding, and the producers are looking to drum up sales at this month's European Film Market in Berlin.Wasikowska will next be seen in Stoker and John Hillcoat's Wettest County, while Eisenberg is at work on magician heist pic Now You See Me. And Ayoade has recently stepped back in front of the camera, having just shot action comedy Neighborhood Watch alongside Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill.