Saturday, 20th Sept 2008....Ahmadinejad & Israel....

Stardom: A Perilous Profession

The job of managing talent has become almost as chancy as managing money.

At least money managers have a good excuse.

The whole economy is tanking, so they can say, “Don’t blame me if your money has disappeared.”

Talent managers and agents don’t have such an easy out.

Consider three names: Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor.

Those are the actors most frequently cited by insiders as talent destined for stardom who somehow got marginalized along the way.

“The business has become ever more unforgiving,” one talent agent told me the other day.

“Just like a new movie can die in one weekend, so can a new career.”

If the undertow is strong, some actors are defying it.

Robert Downey Jr. has gone from unemployable to superstar in two years.

Josh Brolin is hot again thanks to the efforts of the Coen Brothers and now Oliver Stone (unless playing George W. Bush erases Brolin’s popularity rating).

Membership in the Judd Apatow fraternity has kept Seth Rogen working harder than anyone else in town (he even gets the girl in “Zack and Mira Make a Porno”)

.Agents and managers confide that these are very dicey times, however, and the old rules are tumbling.

“Who would imagine a moment when Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise would be on the studios’ “maybe” lists?”

asks one young talent agent.

The new Gibson movie “Edge of Darkness” is being privately financed through the good offices of Graham King, and Cruise is still trying to redefine his career as a mogul-star through United Artists.

All this presents great opportunities for newcomers and has-beens.

Mickey Rourke made such a hit in “The Wrestler” at the Toronto Film Festival that offers are pouring in again.

A young agent named David Unger at ICM hung in there with him for seven years, undeterred by the actor’s alleged “has-been” status.

But comebacks are getting tougher these days.

The gifted Jude Law struck out badly two years ago when five (count’em, five) Jude films poured out, including the deadly remake of “Alfie.”

Colin Farrell, who’s a delightful character and a favorite with the fan magazines, has been locked in a series of cinematic non-events such as “In Bruges.”

Then there’s McGregor, another talented actor, who seems determined to remain a character actor, not a leading man.

His recent films: “Cassandra’s Dream” (which also starred Farrell) and “Miss Potter” did a combined $4 million domestically.

Is it the actor or the movie?

It only takes one “Iron Man” to reignite a career.

But a couple of turkeys can kill one.

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

......Duke Ellington.....

LBN-THE INSIDE STORY:

The every charming Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured above, in his off-duty gear) said yesterday that "the Jewish state would not survive in any form."

He also dismissed allegations that his country is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, the hard-line leader smirked at the notion of a "Greater" Israel that would include occupied Palestinian territories.

The Iranian president repeated his previous anti-Israel comments, calling the Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War II a "fake" and saying that Israel is perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinian people.

LBN-SNAP:

Pamela Anderson, 41 year old mother of two.....

LBN-BOOK NEWS:

***The September 22 issue of The New Yorker features two poems

by Bob Dylan:

17 and 22.

These poems will be published in November in a new book, Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric:

The Lost Manuscript, with text by Bob Dylan and photographs by Barry Feinstein.

Beatles-Cirque DVD Set for Oct. 21 Release; Trailers Posted Online

A feature-length documentary on the Beatles-Cirque du Soleil show will be released on DVD on Oct. 21.

"All Together Now" will be sold exclusively at Best Buy and at the Love Boutique at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

In addition, Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil will partner with the Bigger Picture to distribute the documentary in digital theaters across the U.S. beginning Oct. 20.

Documentary details the story behind the partnership between the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of the stage production "Love," which I gave a mixed review to when it opened despite loving the mashups in the music.

Pic received its U.S. premiere at the Silverdocs Festival in Washington D.C.

watch the trailer here : http://www.beatles.com/core/love/documentary/clips/

Metallica To Open At No. 1 As 'Death' Sells 490,000

One weekend, nearly half a million sold.

Those are the results for Metallica's "Death Magnetic," which Warner Bros. released Friday.

In three days the album sold 490,000 copies in the U.S., Billboard reported, quoting stats from Nielsen SoundScan.

Album was released on a Friday to accommodate a worldwide release date.

Metallica's last studio effort, "St. Anger," which sold 418,000 copies in its first sales period, which was also shorter than usual

Metallica's biggest week ever came in 1996 when "Load" sold 680,000 copies in its first stanza.

***William Morris agent Marc Provissiero has angled the agency to form his own management/production shingle.

Provissiero Entertainment will open its doors Monday.

Provissiero, who has spent the past decade as an agent, has already signed several of his clients for his new company, including Liz Astrof ("Kath & Kim") and Victor Nelli ("Ugly Betty").

Tuesday, 15th Sept, Malaysia Day

RELIGULOUS
BILL MAHER

Even in Toronto where people are polite.

Yet everywhere I go at this year’s Toronto Fest, folks seem surprisingly happy.

Many pictures are playing well and the boo birds are few and far between.

And no one is happier than that professional curmudgeon, Bill Maher.

His new doc, "Religulous," got a standing ovation this weekend and, even better, there were protestors outside the theater (that’s good news to Maher and his director, Larry Charles).

Even better news was the Republican convention.

Sarah Palin and company underscored the link between faith and politics.

To Maher that demonstrated the relevance of his movie “You don’t have to make fun of religion,” he told me.

“Religion makes fun of itself.

It is the elephant in the room.”

Maher and Charles traveled the world to make their doc.

They put on a phony title, “A Spiritual Journey.”

The various pastors and religious potentates being interviewed were not told that the interviewer would be Maher.

When he appeared on camera some blinked – but went on with the show anyway.

Just about every religion was zapped during the doc – especially the Mormons and Scientologists (“Mormonologists” Maher calls them).

Maher and Charles occasionally were thrown off the property, even barred from the front of the Jefferson Memorial.

And both concede that their movie will offend many – especially the zealots.

“The reality is, most people who talk about the Bible have never read it,” Maher says.

Maher has read it.

Raised a Catholic, he took a course on the Bible at Cornell and studied it carefully to prep for his movie.

He emerged a convinced Doubter and believes many Americans remain “on the fence” about religious issues, despite the Republican rhetoric.

“Even though creationism is creeping back into the schools, I believe Americans are a sensible people, and will resist the extremists,” he says.

“Folks must face up to the reality that anyone who is religious is an extremist.

That’s why they believe in this magical nonsense that comprises religious dogma.”

Larry Charles, who brought Borat to the world, is persuaded that audiences will see the entertainment value of Religulous, a movie that delivers an abundance of laughs in addition to its hard-nosed message.

“I think this movie captures lightning in a bottle,” he says.

The audience in Toronto seemed to demonstrate that he was right.

***Paul McCartney is playing at Israel's 60th anniversary, and it's making Islamic folks all hot under the hijab.

A militant Muslim leader is threatening the ex-Beatle with a suicide bombing if he doesn't cancel his September 25 gig in Tel Aviv, according to the Sunday Express.

Omar Bakri, a preacher, says, "He will not be safe there.

The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for them."

Website Alert: Music that moves, motivates and grooves http://www.songsandsoundtracks.com/.

BRITNEY

September 15, 2008 , 10:10 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Fresh off winning three top awards at last weekend's MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears has confirmed she will release a new album before year's end.

"Circus" is due Dec. 2 via Jive; the first single is "Womanizer," produced by the Outsyders.

Among the other contributors are Dr. Luke, who wrote and produced the title cut, Danja, Guy Sigsworth, Max Martin and Bloodshy & Avant.

The album's release coincides with Spears' 27th birthday.

Last month, Spears told OK Magazine of the new album, "I think it is more urban," adding that she'd been writing everyday on a piano in her living room.

"Circus" is the follow-up to last year's "Blackout," which has sold 894,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The project was largely overshadowed by Spears' tabloid-fodder personal life and her disastrous performance of the single "Gimme More" during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Madonna /Obama-Tues, 26 Aug 2008

No Recession for Superstar Paydays

Agents tell me they’ve never had a tougher time negotiating paydays for their top stars.

Upfront salaries are shrinking along with percentage slices on the back end.

Before working up too much empathy for the superstar fraternity, I thought it would be helpful to take one more look at Forbes’ the Celebrity 100

its annual listings of “the world’s most powerful celebrities” as ranked by power and pay.

Forbes estimates annual incomes of stars in various categories and chooses not to disclose research techniques or sources’.

Nonetheless its breakdowns yield yearly surprises as well as question marks.

Absent from the top of the money list this year are the likes of Tom Cruise ($13 million) and Brad Pitt ($20 million) – they either had a bad year or were secretive about their take-home pay.

Nonetheless, there are all sorts of surprise additions:

I knew 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) had a good year at $150 million, but did Pharrell Williams really pull in $20 million?

Miley Cyrus scored big this year ($25 million), but did Daniel Radcliffe also haul in $25 million for Pottering around and yanking off his shorts in Equus?

I thought actresses like Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow devoted too much time to art movies to become big-time earners, but Paltrow pulled in $25 million according to Forbes;

Knightley, $32 million.In the actor category, Bruce Willis got his act together well enough to make $41 million this year, which still paled next to Will Smith’s $80 million.

Even Howie Mandel dealt himself in for $14 million.

Just to get the sordid details out of the way, the top five earners across all categories consist of J.K. Rowling at $300 million

(and she just writes!), Oprah at $275 million, Curtis Jackson at $150 million (he’s still 50 Cent?)

Jerry Bruckheimer at $145 million and Ste-ven Spielberg at $130 million.

At the bottom of each category are the let’s-not-feel-sorry-for-them losers like Amy Adams ($14.5 million), Vanessa Hudgens ($3.2 million),

Marg Helgenberger ($6 million, which helps support her husband, SAG ball-breaker Alan Rosenberg), Daria Werbowy ($3.8 million Cavalli model) and Anthony Bourdain ($1.5 million chef on the Travel Channel).

I have no idea if these numbers are reasonably accurate, but I think all of these folks deserve our applause.

In a recession year, they had to hustle for their money.

Anthony Bourdain even roasted a warthog rectum for his viewers.

And then ate it.

That’s earning your pay.

Madonna Likens John McCain to Nazi in On-stage Montage

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Barack Obama compared to Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon by Madonna

By Matthew B. Zeidman

CARDIFF, Wales (Hollywood Today)

8/25/08 –

Saturday was the first performance of Madonna’s highly anticipated “Sticky and Sweet” tour, and the Michigan-born entertainer wasted no time in stirring up controversy.

According to the Associated Press, a video montage was played during the show, preceding a photograph of Republican presidential candidate John McCain with images of destruction,

global warming, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and anti-Western president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe.

Not limiting the Welsh audience to her opinion on only one White House hopeful, Madonna played a more favorable montage later on, AP reported,

this time following pictures of John Lennon, Al Gore and Mahatma Gandhi with McCain’s Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

Madonna hasn’t been afraid to step on toes before, having received heavy criticism during 2006’s Confessions tour from various Christian leaders for performing the song “Live to Tell” while suspended from a cross.

Also during that tour, Madonna substituted curse-laden lyrics during her performance of “I Love New York” to insult President Bush.

During Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour in 1990, Pope John Paul II urged Catholics not to buy tickets because of the interspersing of Catholic and sexual themes, and her 1989 music video for “Like a Prayer,”

which featured her dancing in front of burning crosses and experiencing stigmata, caused Pepsi to pull a commercial featuring Madonna and the song after just a few airings.

Though Madonna was raised Catholic, she has been an ardent follower of Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, for several years.

Fellow pop star Britney Spears studied the religion after befriending Madonna, but declared in mid-2006 that she had discontinued her involvement with Kabbalah to focus on raising her first son, Sean Preston.

monday, 18th Aug 2008

LBN-COMMENTARY By PETER BART:

Shortly after Tom Cruise was anointed (with Paula Wagner) as the new czar of UA, I encountered him at a party.

After I congratulated him on his new venture, Cruise said, "You ran UA once, didn't you?"

"Yes, I ran it for 20 minutes.

The trouble is, UA's a ghost, not a company." I said.

Cruise smiled his ultra-cool smile and replied, "I'm hoping for 25."

He was being modest, I realized.

There were good portents surrounding his deal, which was orchestrated by Bert Fields, his attorney, and Harry Sloan, chief of MGM.

There was a $500 million pool available to finance production.

There was a firm commitment of support from the persuasive Sloan.

So Cruise in the end got his 25 minutes and now he'll go back to being a movie star.

Wagner will go back to producing.

And UA will go back to being a ghost.

LBN-SEE IT....

Geek Fantasy Come True....

LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:

***Record producer Jerry Wexler has died at age 91.

Ed Christman, N.Y.

Music industry legend Jerry Wexler, who kick-started his career as a Billboard journalist in the late 1940s and went on to cultivate the careers of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin while a partner at Atlantic Records, has died at the age of 91 at his home in Siesta Key, Fla.

Wexler was born on Jan. 10, 1917, into a Jewish family in the Bronx.

After graduating from the school now known as Kansas State University and spending a stint in the Army, he was hired in 1947 at BMI, writing continuity copy for radio stations and plugging the organization's songs.

Later that year a friend recommended him to Billboard, where he was hired with a starting pay of $75 a week.

At Billboard, Wexler invented the term "rhythm & blues" to replace the name "race records," which was then the name of the chart tracking such music.

He stayed at Billboard until 1951, when he went to work for Big Three, the music publishing arm of MGM Records.

The following year, Atlantic Records tried to recruit him, but Wexler said he would only join if he was made a partner, and nothing happened.

A year later, when co-founder Herb Abramson joined the Army, Atlantic came back with another offer and this time agreed to take him in as a partner.

Atlantic had already established itself as an up-and-coming R&B label thanks to hits from artists like Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, Stick McGhee and the Clovers, with the just-signed Ray Charles waiting in the wings.

If Atlantic founders Abramson and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun led the way into exploring rhythm and blues, it would be Wexler who ultimately led the label deep into Southern soul.

In 1965, he signed a distribution deal for Memphis-based Satellite Records, which was putting out songs by Carla Thomas.

That label would later become known as Stax.

Before long, Stax began a golden era of hits from Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd and William Bell, among others.

Before long, Wexler had begun using FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., as a home base for sessions.

"More than any other locale or individual, Muscle Shoals changed my life -- musically and every which way," Wexler wrote in his 1994 autobiography, "Rhythm & the Blues: A Life in American Music.

"The first artist he brought to Muscle Shoals was Aretha Franklin, whose 1967 debut, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," redefined soul music.

As the '60s wore on, Wexler grew more involved with producing and much less with running Atlantic, although he was still closely involved in signing Led Zeppelin, the J. Geils Band and Donnie Hathaway.

He left Atlantic for good in 1975, but resurfaced two years later returned as VP of A&R for Warner Bros. Records.

In his autobiography, Wexler says that with the help of Karen Berg, they signed the B-52's, Dire Straits and Gang Of Four.

During the latter half of the 1970s, Wexler produced Etta James' "Deep in the Night," Bob Dylan's Christian album, "Slow Train Coming," Kim Carnes "Sailin'" and Dire Straits "Communique," among others.

Later in life, Wexler was involved with "The Wiz" soundtrack, the Dylan album "Saved" and recordings by a young George Michael, Bill Vera, Lou Ann Barton and Kenny Drew Jr.

Funeral details have yet to be announced.

LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:

***Eddy W. Hartenstein, a former head of DirecTV, will become publisher of The Los Angeles Times, the newspaper reported.

Friday, 15th August 2008

LBN-THINK AGAIN...

LBN-BOOK NEWS:

***Lead singer for Aerosmith Steven Tyler's memoir, promising coverage of "his early music career and influences, his legendary partnership with Joe Perry,

the meteoric rise, fall, and rise of Aerosmith over the last three decades, their music, his epic romantic life, his relationship with his four children (including actress Liv Tyler),

life on the road and in the spotlight, the economics of the rock star business --

and all the sex, drugs, and rock and roll a reader could ask for," sold to Ecco, at auction,

reportedly for over $2 million (Crain's NY), by Lisa Queen at the Queen Literary Agency (world).

The band as a whole told their story in the 2003 book Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith.

***Author of the bestselling Purpose-Driven Life Rick Warren's THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS, based on a holiday message he delivered to 38,000 Christmas attendees at Saddleback Church,

which he calls "the clearest presentation of the Good News I've ever written,"

also sharing the 50-year-old Warren family tradition of having a Birthday party for Jesus, sold to Denny Boultinghouse at Howard Books, for publication in October 2008.

***Under a new deal with the Gotham Group, Simon & Schuster is seeking projects with multimedia potential.

LBN-COMMENTARY By GAIL COLLINS:

The idea that appearance is valued more than performance is one of those painful facts of life that people always hate to be reminded of.

LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:

***Tom Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner said Wednesday she will leave her job as chief executive of United Artists to produce projects independently.

Wagner will continue to co-own the studio with Cruise and "be attached to UA's most exciting film properties," UA and its parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. added in a joint statement.

Cruise and Wagner were brought in to head UA in November 2006.

***Sid Ganis has been re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The Academy's Board of Governors voted Ganis a fourth term as topper on Tuesday night.

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

All of the clocks in the movie Pulp Fiction are stuck on 4:20.

*** The only fruit with seeds on the outside are strawberries.

*** Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

*** Bob Dylan's real name is Robert Zimmerman.

*** Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.

RGM 400 MILLION

RGM hatches $400 million prod'n fund


Written by Michael Fleming

Tuesday, 05 August 2008

Singapore-based management and production company RGM Entertainment has set up a fund that will spend up to $400 million to fully back a handful of English-language features and TV productions over four years.

Money comes from a combination of debt provided by Oceana Media Finance, plus coin from RGM itself and institutional investors from Singapore.

The 25-year-old RGM, run by chairman Robyn Gardiner and CEO Devesh Chetty, started in Australia but moved to Singapore four years ago to better tap Pacific Rim talent and coin.

The management company reps some 300 clients, including Cate Blanchett.

The funding deal reflects RGM's growing ambition in production, following its assistance in financing the upcoming Jan De Bont-directed "Point Break 2" and "Winged Creatures," a drama that stars Forest Whitaker and Kate Beckinsale.

Gardiner and Chetty planned to meet with Hollywood studios and agencies this week.

They aim to firm up at least two film projects in the $15 million-$40 million range to finance over the next year, with the goal of financing four pictures per year.

Some of the projects will involve RGM clients, such as an India-based film that is in the formative stages and was hatched by Blanchett as a star vehicle.

Others will just be projects that have North American distribution and the potential to play in the global marketplace.

"My background is in finance and production, and Robyn's is in talent management, and we see this as a natural progression," Chetty said.

"We share clients with all of the major agencies and will turn to them for help in finding great material,

with the only requirement that we want to have North American theatrical distribution to protect our downside."

Paradigm's Motion Picture Finance Group represented RGM in the funding deal.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

All rights reserved.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008

Jenna Jameson's Nude PETA Ad Addresses the Issue of Too Much Sex!

Check out behind the scenes footage of Jenna's photo shoot.

Rumors are swirling that adult film icon Jenna Jameson might be pregnant.

Whether this is true or not, one thing is for sure:

Jenna knows the importance of birth control—animal birth control (ABC), that is.

That's why Jenna posed nude alongside the tagline "Sometimes Too Much Sex Can Be a Bad Thing" in PETA's latest ABC ad.

Every year, nearly 7 million dogs and cats are abandoned at animal shelters in the U.S., and the shelters are forced to euthanize almost half of these animals for lack of good homes.

The good news is that you can help as Jenna has—and you don't even have to take your clothes off!

It's as easy as ABC: animal birth control.

What is animal birth control?

It means always spaying or neutering your companion animals and never buying from a breeder or pet store.

If everyone took these small steps, we could put an end to the companion animal overpopulation crisis.

"Until dogs and cats can go on the pill or wear condoms, we need to help them practice safe sex—by spaying and neutering," says Jenna.

"Millions of homeless animals are turned in to shelters every year because there simply aren’t enough good homes for them all.

The answer is as easy as ABC: Animal Birth Control, which means get your Fido or Fluffy fixed!"

Paying Respects

Filed under: R.I.P.

If you are in Chicago…

A large public memorial will be held for recently deceased comedian Bernie Mac, this Saturday, August 16th, at the 10,000-seat House of Hope church at 752 E. 114th St. in Chi town.

Donations in Mac's honor may also be sent to

The Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis

40 E. 9th St., Suite 601

Chicago, IL 60605.

No Recession for Superstar Paydays

Agents tell me they’ve never had a tougher time negotiating paydays for their top stars.

Upfront salaries are shrinking along with percentage slices on the back end.

Before working up too much empathy for the superstar fraternity, I thought it would be helpful to take one more look at Forbes’ the Celebrity 100, its annual listings of “the world’s most powerful celebrities” as ranked by power and pay.

Forbes estimates annual incomes of stars in various categories and chooses not to disclose research techniques or sources’.

Nonetheless its breakdowns yield yearly surprises as well as question marks.

Absent from the top of the money list this year are the likes of Tom Cruise ($13 million) and Brad Pitt ($20 million) – they either had a bad year or were secretive about their take-home pay.

Nonetheless, there are all sorts of surprise additions:

I knew 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) had a good year at $150 million, but did Pharrell Williams really pull in $20 million?

Miley Cyrus scored big this year ($25 million), but did Daniel Radcliffe also haul in $25 million for Pottering around and yanking off his shorts in Equus?

I thought actresses like Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow devoted too much time to art movies to become big-time earners, but Paltrow pulled in $25 million according to Forbes;

Knightley, $32 million.

In the actor category, Bruce Willis got his act together well enough to make $41 million this year, which still paled next to Will Smith’s $80 million.

Even Howie Mandel dealt himself in for $14 million.

Just to get the sordid details out of the way, the top five earners across all categories consist of J.K. Rowling at $300 million (and she just writes!),

Oprah at $275 million, Curtis Jackson at $150 million (he’s still 50 Cent?) Jerry Bruckheimer at $145 million and Ste-ven Spielberg at $130 million.

At the bottom of each category are the let’s-not-feel-sorry-for-them losers like Amy Adams ($14.5 million), Vanessa Hudgens ($3.2 million),

Marg Helgenberger ($6 million, which helps support her husband, SAG ball-breaker Alan Rosenberg), Daria Werbowy ($3.8 million Cavalli model) and Anthony Bourdain ($1.5 million chef on the Travel Channel).

I have no idea if these numbers are reasonably accurate, but I think all of these folks deserve our applause.

In a recession year, they had to hustle for their money.

Anthony Bourdain even roasted a warthog rectum for his viewers.

And then ate it.

That’s earning your pay.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE:

Israel is just one of the 23 foreign countries with daily LBN E-Lert readers.

LBN-NOTICED:

***Jennifer Aniston, without beau John Mayer, checking out Lili Haydn's performance at the Friends of El Faro event at Boulevard 3 in Hollywood with Leslie Bibb, Josh Duhamel and Molly Simms.***Music attorney John Branca having lunch alone yesterday at Piccolo Paradiso on Beverly Drive.

***A very pregnant Ashlee Simpson and hubby Pete Wentz at the Boost Mobile BBQ party in Malibu sipping Snapple Antioxidant water.

***Michael Kors and the cast of "Gossip Girl" at Capitale in NYC on the Bowery filming a fashion-show scene.

***A high-wattage mix of showbiz talent, execs, agents and managers packed UCLA's Royce Hall on Monday evening to remember Bernie Brillstein as a friend, mentor and industry icon.

Emcee Martin Short set a light but loving tone at the outset of the tribute to the pioneering manager and producer, who died Thursday at age 77.

***BE AN LBN CORRESPONDENT Send your celebrity sightings to LBNElert@TimeWire.net