Mike Bartlett

Brian Jordan Alvarez

YouTube star Brian Jordan Alvarez has signed with CAA for representation.

He’s best known as the creator and star of the popular YouTube show “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo,” which was named IndieWire’s best web series of 2016, was nominated for a 2016 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award for breakthrough series — short form, and has resulted in a deal with Lionsgate to adapt the program for TV.

He is also the co-star of the digital series “Stupid Idiots,” which is being developed for TV with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.

On the TV front, Alvarez has been on The CW’s “Jane the Virgin” and will recur on Epix’s upcoming comedy “Get Shorty.” He is also currently in post-production on his debut digital feature, “Everything Is Free.”

He was recently named one of Variety‘s “10 Comics to Watch” for 2017 and is managed by Shepard Smith and Sean Elliott of Authentic Talent, Literary Management, and Dean Bahat of Ziffren Brittenham LLP.

(Will) Speck and (Josh) Gordon

Will Speck and Josh Gordon met at NYU film School and immediately bonded over a love for the same movies and a vague sense that the world was out to get them. They decided to work together.

Types Of Stories

Reports will end up being an inseparable aspect of our life. Web-based learning works well at standardizing training for triage experience of authorized nurses, relating to an assessment published in the January problem of the Journal of Crisis Nursing. Solution: Confident Self-Affirmations, Self-Chat can perform miracles in reprogramming your views and mindset. Read More

I used to know Brett Kavanaugh pretty well. And, when I think of Brett now, in the midst of his hearings for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, all I can think of is the old “Aesop’s Fables” adage: “A man is known by the company he keeps.”

And that’s why I want to tell any senator who cares about our democracy: Vote no.

Twenty years ago, when I was a conservative movement stalwart, I got to know Brett Kavanaugh both professionally and personally.

Brett actually makes a cameo appearance in my memoir of my time in the GOP, “Blinded By The Right.” I describe him at a party full of zealous young conservatives gathered to watch President Bill Clinton’s 1998 State of the Union address — just weeks after the story of his affair with a White House intern had broken. When the TV camera panned to Hillary Clinton, I saw Brett — at the time a key lieutenant of Ken Starr, the independent counsel investigating various Clinton scandals — mouth the word “bitch.”

But there’s a lot more to know about Kavanaugh than just his Pavlovian response to Hillary’s image. Brett and I were part of a close circle of cold, cynical and ambitious hard-right operatives being groomed by GOP elders for much bigger roles in politics, government and media. And it’s those controversial associations that should give members of the Senate and the American public serious pause.

Call it Kavanaugh’s cabal: There was his colleague on the Starr investigation, Alex Azar, now the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Mark Paoletta is now chief counsel to Vice President Mike Pence; House anti-Clinton gumshoe Barbara Comstock is now a Republican member of Congress. Future Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson were there with Ann Coulter, now a best-selling author, and internet provocateur Matt Drudge.

At one time or another, each of them partied at my Georgetown townhouse amid much booze and a thick air of cigar smoke.

In a rough division of labor, Kavanaugh played the role of lawyer — one of the sharp young minds recruited by the Federalist Society to infiltrate the federal judiciary with true believers. Through that network, Kavanaugh was mentored by D.C. Appeals Court Judge Laurence Silberman, known among his colleagues for planting leaks in the press for partisan advantage.

When, as I came to know, Kavanaugh took on the role of designated leaker to the press of sensitive information from Starr’s operation, we all laughed that Larry had taught him well. (Of course, that sort of political opportunism by a prosecutor is at best unethical, if not illegal.)

Another compatriot was George Conway (now Kellyanne’s husband), who led a secretive group of right-wing lawyers — we called them “the elves” — who worked behind the scenes directing the litigation team of Paula Jones, who had sued Clinton for sexual harassment. I knew then that information was flowing quietly from the Jones team via Conway to Starr’s office — and also that Conway’s go-to man was none other than Brett Kavanaugh.

That critical flow of inside information allowed Starr, in effect, to set a perjury trap for Clinton, laying the foundation for a crazed national political crisis and an unjust impeachment over a consensual affair.

But the cabal’s godfather was Ted Olson, the then-future solicitor general for George W. Bush and now a sainted figure of the GOP establishment (and of some liberals for his role in legalizing same-sex marriage). Olson had a largely hidden role as a consigliere to the “Arkansas Project” — a multi-million dollar dirt-digging operation on the Clintons, funded by the eccentric right-wing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife and run through The American Spectator magazine, where I worked at the time.

Both Ted and Brett had what one could only be called an unhealthy obsession with the Clintons — especially Hillary. While Ted was pushing through the Arkansas Project conspiracy theories claiming that Clinton White House lawyer and Hillary friend Vincent Foster was murdered (he committed suicide), Brett was costing taxpayers millions by pedaling the same garbage at Starr’s office.

A detailed analysis of Kavanaugh’s own notes from the Starr Investigation reveals he was cherry-picking random bits of information from the Starr investigation — as well as the multiple previous investigations — attempting vainly to legitimize wild right-wing conspiracies. For years he chased down each one of them without regard to the emotional cost to Foster’s family and friends, or even common decency.

Kavanaugh was not a dispassionate finder of fact but rather an engineer of a political smear campaign. And after decades of that, he expects people to believe he’s changed his stripes.

Like millions of Americans this week, I tuned into Kavanaugh’s hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee with great interest. In his opening statement and subsequent testimony, Kavanaugh presented himself as a “neutral and impartial arbiter” of the law. Judges, he said, were not players but akin to umpires — objectively calling balls and strikes. Again and again, he stressed his “independence” from partisan political influences.

But I don’t need to see any documents to tell you who Kavanaugh is — because I’ve known him for years. And I’ll leave it to all the lawyers to parse Kavanaugh’s views on everything from privacy rights to gun rights. But I can promise you that any pretense of simply being a fair arbiter of the constitutionality of any policy regardless of politics is simply a pretense. He made up his mind nearly a generation ago — and, if he’s confirmed, he’ll have nearly two generations to impose it upon the rest of us.

Original article: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/i-knew-brett-kavanaugh-during-his-years-republican-operative-don-ncna907391?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma

Fox Searchlight Launches TV Division; David Greenbaum, Matthew Greenfield Upped To Production Presidents For Film, TV  |  Deadline  |  April 11, 2018
Capitalizing on its staggering Oscar season success, Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula are branching into the television business. They’ve launched Searchlight Television, making the company a 360-degree hub for creative talent and broadening the variety of projects produced under the Searchlight banner. David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield have been promoted to Presidents of Production for Film and Television. They add Searchlight Television to their current responsibilities including all aspects of production for the company. They are rising stars who were in high demand after the Oscar success of THE SHAPE OF WATER and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI.

This move indicates how highly regarded Searchlight is, and how it will figure into future plans when and if Disney completes its acquisition of Fox. Sources said that the intention is to lend the Searchlight taste maker brand to a number of series projects, some of which will be serviced to the Hulu streaming platform, of which Disney will be majority owner after the merger and is envisioned as the streaming landing place for adult-themed fare. Others expected that the new Disney streaming platform will also be a viable potential landing platform for the output. The studio has been looking for executives and staffing up. Those production executives will continue report to Greenfield and Greenbaum.

Searchlight Television will produce original material as well as utilize the studio’s rich library of feature films for adaptation in broadcast television, cable and streaming with forays into scripted series, limited series, documentaries and more, the company said in confirming the new company to Deadline.

Said Gilula and Utley, “At such an exciting moment for the company, we feel it is the perfect time to provide new avenues for visionary and innovative talent as well as to recognize the contributions of David and Matthew.”

Said Stacey Snider, Chairman and CEO, Twentieth Century Fox Film, “The relationships that the Searchlight team forges with talent are deep and abiding. It only makes sense to extend these relationships into television so Searchlight can continue to tell great stories on every platform.”

Said Peter Rice, President, 21st Century Fox, and Chairman and CEO, Fox Networks Group, “At such an exciting time for storytelling, all the Fox channels and studios are thrilled to be collaborating with Searchlight as it expands its unique brand of groundbreaking excellence into television.”

Said Greenfield and Greenbaum, “Searchlight has always been dedicated to bringing the unique stories of passionate creators to audiences worldwide. This evolution allows us to expand upon that mission, and provides our talent new opportunities to tell their stories in the widest variety of creative outlets, all the while maintaining the safe haven and dedicated creative approach that is Searchlight’s hallmark.”

In the Fox portfolio, Searchlight Television will join another production division focused on premium fare for cable and streaming networks, including Hulu, Fox 21 TV Studios, which is part of 20th Century Fox Television. Fox in the past also had two cable/streaming production units, Fox 21 and Fox TV Studios, which merged in 2014.

Greenbaum has been a senior executive at Fox Searchlight for eight years and Greenfield for 11. They shepherded the Best Picture winner THE SHAPE OF WATER with director Guillermo del Toro, the Martin McDonagh-directed THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI which won Oscars for Fran McDormand and Sam Rockwell, as well as FSL’s current Wes Anderson pic ISLE OF DOGS. Their past projects include Alexander Payne’s THE DESCENDANTS, Jean-Marc Vallee’s WILD, Nicole Holofcener’s ENOUGH SAID and Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris’ BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Upcoming are the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed THE FAVOURITE with Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman; Melissa McCarthy-starrer CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME, and David Lowery’s OLD MAN AND THE GUN with Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek; and BEAST OF THE SOUTHERN WILD-helmer Benh Zeitlin’s Wendy.

A Silver Lake gas station that has long operated as an auto repair shop could be enshrined as a historic monument by the city. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)

Some Angelenos hail it as a rare survivor from a bygone era, a slice of Silver Lake history.

Others deride it as a dilapidated gas station.

Now the city is weighing whether to make it a historic monument — a move that could complicate plans to build new apartments on Silver Lake Boulevard.

The debate over whether to preserve the Silver Lake Texaco Service Station is the latest and starkest example of the competing pressures to save the past and build for the future in Los Angeles. It has infuriated groups who urge the city to construct more housing, who question whether the cause of historic preservation is being abused.

“We need tons of new homes in L.A. This neighborhood would be a great place for that. And suddenly this mediocre-at-best property is up to be a monument?” said Mark Vallianatos, policy director for Abundant Housing L.A., dubbing the building “a junky old gas station.”

When Los Angeles embarked on a sweeping survey of its neighborhoods to check for historic structures and sites, however, it deemed the old building an “excellent example of an automobile service station from the 1940s” — and one of the few that remained from its era.

The steel-frame structure, built in 1941 as a Texaco service station, has been operating as an automotive repair shop for decades. Old Volvos crowd the fenced lot around the long-standing building, which sits alongside a cafe and a sushi restaurant on a casually cool stretch of Silver Lake Boulevard.

Architect and owner William Hefner, who bought the site years before the historic survey, has submitted plans to redevelop the Silver Lake site with 14 apartments perched above ground-floor retail. Weeks after the owner sought a demolition permit, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell asked the city to look into enshrining the old station as a monument.

At a June hearing, an O’Farrell aide said the councilman did not have a position on whether it should become a monument, but wanted to make sure that structures like it were properly assessed before demolition. Some Silver Lake residents have backed the idea of protecting it.

“You don’t have many surviving examples like that in L.A.,” said Carol Cetrone, president of the Silver Lake Heritage Trust, citing “the integrity of that steel building.”

Silver Lake resident Toby Hemingway, who owns a menswear shop nearby, called it “a kind of building we don’t see anymore.”

“It’s a nice example of the history of the neighborhood — and one of the last things left,” Hemingway said.

Hefner and his representatives argued against the move, bringing forward an expert who called it an ordinary, utilitarian structure stripped of its old signage and gas pumps.

The Cultural Heritage Commission disagreed, deeming the building a prime example of its Streamline Moderne architectural style and a reflection of Southern California history, and voted 3 to 1 to recommend making it a historic monument. The final decision will be made by the City Council.

Historic buildings can still be altered or even torn down under Los Angeles city rules, said principal city planner Ken Bernstein, who heads its Office of Historic Resources. But the rules allow additional review before that happens, permitting “a public discussion and an airing of alternatives,” Bernstein said.

Even if the building becomes a monument, Cetrone said, “they could build something around it or above it. They can do things that incorporate the building into their new construction.”

But groups that advocate for more housing development have questioned whether trying to save the gas station is merely a pretext to thwart new construction. Vallianatos said that even if alterations or a tear-down are technically possible, delays can drive up costs and sink a project.

If the gas station was such a treasure, critics asked, why didn’t anyone move to preserve it before someone had set out plans for new apartments?

For some, it only added insult to injury that the building was a gas station.

“Half of California is on fire because of climate change,” said Victoria Fierce, co-executive director of the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund. “Our planet is literally burning down and you’re proposing a monument to car culture — which got us here in the first place.”

Her Bay Area-based group warned the city that enshrining the Silver Lake Texaco Service Station as a historic monument could have “legal consequences,” pointing to a state law that restricts how local governments can turn down housing that meets zoning rules. That law was beefed up by a trio of state measures last year, making it easier for people to challenge such decisions.

If a proposed project fits the zoning, “there shouldn’t be these surprises coming out of the woodwork,” said Fierce, whose group has successfully prodded other cities to approve housing.

Paavo Monkkonen, a UCLA associate professor of urban planning and public policy, said clashes over historic preservation and development are nothing new, but groups that want cities to build more housing — broadly known as YIMBYs, for “yes in my backyard” — have become increasingly vocal when such disputes arise.

In the past, Monkkonen said, “a lot of this stuff happened without anyone questioning it.”

Cetrone said she could understand suspicion of the timing of the Silver Lake Texaco Service Station nomination, but that the plan was truly about saving a piece of history.

Trudi G. Sandmeier, director of graduate programs in heritage conservation at the USC School of Architecture, said that in many cases, historic nominations come late because “we don’t realize that there’s a threat until the threat is happening.” Part of the goal of the citywide survey that identified the Silver Lake site was to flag possible monuments before they were in jeopardy, but “it’s probably unrealistic to expect that it will eliminate all eleventh-hour nominations,” Bernstein said.

Los Angeles has already given the nod to old gas stations in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Hollywood, where a historic structure now houses a drive-through Starbucks. Sandmeier said she had not scrutinized the Silver Lake gas station, but in general, “just because it’s a gas station doesn’t mean it’s less significant than any other piece of our built environment.”

A council committee hearing that had been scheduled last week on the Silver Lake site was postponed. O’Farrell spokesman Tony Arranaga said they had sought more time to work with the owner on “solutions for the structure.”

Although O’Farrell has not taken a position on making it a monument, Arranaga said the councilman would like to see the longtime structure preserved and reused there or at another location. Hefner, the owner, did not respond to messages seeking comment.