David Westin resigning as news head at Disneys ABC

NEW YORK | Tue Sep 7, 2010 2:56am EDT

NEW YORK Reuters - ABC News President David Westin said on Monday he was resigning after 13 years, according to a memo he sent to employees that was released on the networks website.

"Ive always admired those few who know when its time to move on. This is the right time for me," said Westin, who added he would remain in his post through the end of the year.

The New York Times quoted an ABC staff member as saying the decision was tied partly to a long-standing conflict between Westin and ABC management, including parent Walt Disney Co, over the news divisions financial situation.

The staff member was quoted as saying that managers at ABC and Disney had pressed Westin to increase profits at the news division and were unhappy with his efforts to reach that goal.

A senior ABC executive quoted by the Times said financial issues relating to news costs did not figure in Westins resignation.

Earlier this year, ABC News revamped its operations and said it would offer voluntary separation packages to all full-time, U.S.-based, non-union, non-contract employees. A source familiar with the situation said ABC News hoped to reduce staff by 300 to 400 people, out of a total staff of about 1,500.

Competitors CBS Corp and General Electrics NBC have also cut their news divisions amid weak demand for advertising.

In his statement, Westin said, "Over the last nine months, weve put in place new anchors on all of our programs. At the same time, we went through a very difficult transformation made necessary by changes in our business and its economics.

"I am confident ABC News is better positioned for the future than it has been at any time since I came here in March of 1997."

Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Eric Beech

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Danielle Staub leaving Real Housewives AP

LOS ANGELES Bravo is cleaning house.

The network announced Monday that Danielle Staub, the firestarter on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," would not be returning to the show. Throughout the tumultuous second season, Staub enraged Caroline Manzo, her sister-in-law Jacqueline Laurita and family friend Teresa Giudice, though Staub seemed to make amends at the end of Mondays reunion episode.

"The reunion was Danielles last appearance on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," said Andy Cohen, Bravos senior vice president of original programming and development who also hosts "The Real Housewives" reunion shows. "We thought the hugs were a great way to end two seasons of bitterness between the women."

Its the latest in a series of "Real Housewives" departures. Sarcastic chef Bethenny Frankel, who starred earlier this year in the spin-off "Bethenny Getting Married?" about her nuptials and pregnancy, told Us Weekly magazine last week that she did not want to return for the New York editions fourth outing because last season was "scary and painful."

"Do I expect her to be holding an apple at the beginning of the show? Probably not," said Cohen. "Shes had great success with her own show. On the flip side, I do hope to see her in the Housewives universe in some way."

Last month, energetic entrepreneur Lisa Wu Hartwell was also officially revealed to not be among the Atlanta ladies third season, premiering Oct. 4. Cohen said its because she "moved far, far, far outside of Atlanta." NeNe Lekes, Kim Zolciak, Sheree Whitfield and Kandi Burruss will instead be joined by model Cynthia Bailey and lawyer Phaedra Parks.

"This is a fairly smooth transition," said Cohen, "though I cant say Phaedra is NeNes favorite from the get-go."

Lynne Curtain, the spacy mother of two rowdy teenage daughters introduced at the beginning of Orange Countys fourth season, posted on her Facebook profile last month that she would not be returning to the show. Cohen wouldnt comment on the most recent cast changes with the Orange County entourage because the sixth season is currently in production.

Its a hefty amount of turnover for the Bravo franchise. Only brash original housewife Vicki Gunvalson remains on the Orange County edition, while the New York, Atlanta and New Jersey chapters have all experienced cast changes. "The Real Housewives of D.C.," starring alleged White House partycrasher Michaele Salahi, is currently airing its first season.

Cohen said when he seeks out new "Real Housewives, he looks for independent, strong, attractive and wealthy women who are typically mothers that are married, divorced or engaged. He said new cast members should have a connection to the existing "Real Housewives." Atlanta additions Parks and Bailey, for example, were friends of Burruss and Lekes.

While several women are moving on from the 4-year-old franchise, an entirely new group of "Real Housewives" in Beverly Hills are preparing for their close-up , debuting Oct. 14. Cohen promised a return to over-the-top opulence and a family dynamic similar to the New Jersey series with a pair sisters who happen to be connected to the Hilton family.

The Beverly Hills cast includes: Adrienne Maloof, whose family owns the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas; Camille Grammer, ex-wife of "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer; Lisa Vanderpump, a transplanted British restaurateur; Taylor Armstrong, wife of venture capitalist Russell Armstrong and Kim and Kyle Richards, former child stars and aunts of Paris Hilton.

"Theres big, big, big drama and big, big, big tension," said Cohen. "They all live near each other, and its amazing. Youll see what it means to be someones neighbor in Beverly Hills. You have to walk a mile to get to your next door neighbors house. Adrienne and Lisa live across the street from each other. Ive never seen wealth on that scale."

Bravo is constantly searching for new cast members, both in existing and potential locales, according to Cohen. That means interviewing and filming test footage of possible "Real Housewives" with their friends and families. Cohen said the network has attempted to wrangle a Texas edition for the past two years but "never hit it" with the right group of women.

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Bravo is owned by General Electric Co.s NBC cable unit.

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Online:

http://www.bravotv.com

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ABC News president David Westin steps down AP

NEW YORK ABC News President David Westin, the longest-reigning network news division chief, with more than 13 tumultuous years on the job, told his staff Monday that he is resigning and will leave by the end of the year.

Westin has presided over anchor changes at three of ABCs top news programs over the past year. Under pressure from his corporate bosses to save money during a dispiriting time in the news business, he also oversaw a cut of 25 percent in ABC News staff in the past few years.

Westin, who just turned 58, said he wanted to pursue other opportunities but agreed to stay on through a transition to a successor.

"Ive always admired those few who know when its time to move on," Westin wrote in a staff memo that was given to The Associated Press by a staffer. "This is the right time for me."

Westins successor will be appointed soon, Disney-ABC Media Networks co-chairwoman Anne Sweeney said.

Westin, a corporate lawyer with little background in the news business, was regarded with suspicion by many at ABC when he took over in March 1997 from television legend Roone Arledge. But he stuck it out through some difficult moments, including the sudden cancer death of anchor Peter Jennings and the severe wounding of successor Bob Woodruff in an Iraq bombing.

ABC has remained a solid second in the ratings behind NBC News for its evening and morning newscasts, and "Nightline" made a strong transition from charter anchor Ted Koppel.

Within the past year, Westin has appointed Diane Sawyer to replace Charles Gibson as anchor of the signature "World News" broadcast, moved George Stephanopoulos from Washington to New York to co-host "Good Morning America" with Robin Roberts and hired Christiane Amanpour from CNN to lead the Sunday morning "This Week" political talk show.

His signature achievement may have been convincing Sawyer and Gibson to co-host "Good Morning America" a decade ago, saving the profitable morning show at a time it was in real trouble in the ratings.

Westin was praised for his guidance during the difficult period surrounding Jennings death. He tried to experiment with the anchor team of Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas, but that lasted less than a month before Woodruff was seriously hurt. Gibson eventually took over the broadcast.

Westins most embarrassing moment came in 2000, when the network sent actor Leonardo DiCaprio, instead of a journalist, to interview President Bill Clinton about global warming. He was occasionally criticized for a deliberate decision-making style that left some of his broadcasts going through lengthy periods with substitute hosts.

He is a particular champion of Stephanopoulos, who has grown comfortable as a journalist when some questioned whether he could make the switch from politics. He also has promoted the investigative work of Brian Ross.

While Arledge built up a stable of stars at ABC News during a period of growth in the news industry, Westin had the opposite job, guiding a division at a time of retrenchment in the news business as the three big broadcast networks saw their roles change with the growth of cable news. NBC had a financial advantage with the affiliation of cable news networks CNBC and MSNBC, while ABC did not have a regular cable outlet.

"We went through a very difficult transformation made necessary by changes in our business and its economics," Westin wrote.

Sweeney, in an ABC staff memo that also was given to the AP by an employee, said Westin was a "tireless advocate" for ABC News through "some of the most seismic industry, and divisional, changes imaginable."

"While it will be sad to see David leave," she wrote, "his desire to pursue other professional endeavors is understandable, and commendable."

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Aussie teen war drama set to explode worldwide

By Megan Lehmann

Mon Sep 6, 2010 9:49pm EDT

SYDNEY Hollywood Reporter - Australia may finally have a homegrown blockbuster on its hands with the terrifically engaging "Tomorrow, When the War Began," an action-packed war film for and about teenagers.

Based on the first in a series of best-selling novels by Aussie John Marsden, about a band of teens forged into guerrilla warriors after a military invasion of Australia, this charged adaptation is going after the lucrative "Twilight" demographic with both guns blazing.

The film, a Paramount release Down Under, opened at No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand, and its potent mix of heroics and hormones suggests a triumphant march onto the international stage. Franchise possibilities are solid.

Former soap star Caitlin Stasey steps up with a strong performance as 17-year-old farm girl Ellie, who rounds up a group of six friends for a carefree camping trip in an isolated idyll the locals ironically call "Hell."

They return to their homes in the fictional town of Wirrawee to find pets starved, power lines cut and -- horror of horrors -- no cell-phone service. During their absence, a foreign army has invaded the country, occupied their town and turned the local show ground into a prison camp.

With eyes fixed firmly on a mainstream audience, the film carefully avoids any political subtext by referring to the enemy as a "coalition" of unnamed forces, although the invaders have an Asian profile. The action is ignited as the schoolmates adjust to their newly upended world, shouldering guns and fighting for survival before forming a guerrilla resistance unit.

Sydney-raised scribe Stuart Beattie, here making his directorial debut, knows his way around a big-budget movie, having scripted Michael Manns "Collateral" and contributed to the screenplays for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. The estimated $25 million budget, one of the largest attached to an independent Australian film, is modest by Hollywood standards. But Beattie milks maximum bang for buck, hurtling through a series of shoot-outs, car chases and explosions at a breakneck pace, while never losing sight of the human element that made Marsdens books so beloved.

Bolstering the war-time pyrotechnics is a universal coming-of-age story, with satisfying dollops of romance, drama and easy humor, and a standout performance from Deniz Akdeniz as goofball-turned-warrior, Homer. The young adult protagonists are treated seriously and, beyond some awkward line readings and necessarily melodramatic teen dialogue, strong character development lends an occasionally far-fetched storyline emotional believability. What could have become a risible "Rambo" meets "The Breakfast Club" mash up -- or worse, a clone of the jingoistic Brat Pack B-movie "Red Dawn" -- emerges as a solid entertainment with sequels in its future.

Dramatic lensing by Ben Nott "Daybreakers" fronts a polished technical package, with special effects and some tricky stunt work expertly handled.

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Disgruntled director Godard to skip Oscar honor

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