David Bergstein Sues His Former Attorney

Film financier David Bergstein today sued his former attorney Teri Zimon for $50M, claiming she shared confidential information and aided his creditors in bankruptcy proceedings while working for him. Bernstein claims that Zimon teamed with another of his former attorneys, Susan Tregub, toprovidecreditors with confidential data, leak negative stories about Bergstein to the media and encourage creditors to initiate involuntary bankruptcy proceedings against him. Bergstein’s suit claims that Zimon was aiding his creditors from mid-2009 through January 2010, while in his employ from December 2008 through March 2010. The suit was filed in L.A. Superior Court.

Zoe Saldana claims 'Dominion'

Saldana"Avatar" star Zoe Saldana, whose action pic "Colombiana" opens today, is placed to topline and convey Paramount's supernatural thriller "Dominion." Dean McCreary and Chester Hastings emerged using the pitch, which focuses on a lady who's half-human, half-angel. Saldana will produce with Robbie Brenner ("Machine Gun Preacher"). Scribes formerly co-authored the thriller "You are My Angel," that is presently in development at 4 Horsemen Films. Duo also co-authored the video clip "Fanboy," a comedy in regards to a video store worker who's the earth's greatest Mike Raimi fan. Saldana lately wrapped the indie "What,Inch by which she stars opposite Bradley Cooper. Thesp will even reprise the role of Uhura in Par's "Star Trek" follow up. Saldana is repped by ICM and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

'Dexter's' Julia Stiles States Murder Moments Were Remarkably Enjoyable

Showtime's "Dexter" is 3-for-4 if this involves scoring Emmy nominations for guest star inside a drama series. Jimmy Smits acquired a nom for his portrayal of Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado in season three, and John Lithgow required home the statuette this past year for his portrayal from the chilling Trinity Killer. This year, Julia Stiles boarded the series in regards to a Miami serial killer-with-a-cause as Lumen, a broken rape victim free of abduction by Dexter (Michael C. Hall). Stiles states she read lots of literature to effectively take part in the victim, whom Dexter ultimately transforms right into a revenge killer.The Hollywood Reporter: Just how much are you aware about Lumen or her story arc whenever you required the role? Julia Stiles: I really understood hardly any. I met with producer John Goldwyn, and that he provided the broad strokes by what the arc from the character could be. Used to do request basically would finish up killing anybody, and that he stated yes. At that time, I made the decision to get it done. He explained that after you meet her the very first time, she has been wronged. I had been interested in how she'd turn on. The revenge some of it is exactly what intrigued me.THR: The truth that Lumen ultimately reached kill someone is exactly what sealed the offer that you should go ahead and take part? Stiles: Yes, the concept that she wasn't only the victim. I had been really excited by the concept that she'd engage in Dexter's secret existence, instead of about the outdoors from it like many of the other figures.THR: How familiar had you been using the series in front of your audition? Stiles: I had been a large fan. I'd seen season four with John Lithgow, and that is what got me hooked. I Quickly returned and viewed right from the start.THR: Following Lithgow's Emmy-winning turn two seasons ago, have you feel particular pressure to provide another award-winning guest arc? Stiles: Absolutely! My one hesitation was that his footwear are large ones to fill. My savior is the fact that I am a girl which my character was quite different from his. I a minimum of encouraged myself with this idea. Basically thought an excessive amount of about how exactly great he was and just how much the group of followers really taken care of immediately his work, I could have been paralyzed. I attempted to pay attention to the variations.THR: That which was probably the most challenging facet of playing a victim-switched-revenge killer like Lumen? Stiles: I never think about myself being an actor who takes work home together, however i was surprised, especially toward the finish of year -- around episode 10 -- when a few of the particulars of the items Lumen had experienced grew to become really harrowing, and that i began to understand it was affecting me outdoors of labor. One scene particularly, in episode 10, once the detectives have discovered Dvd disks showing what is happening towards the sufferers -- it had been really dark. It managed to get harder that i can sleep. THR: What have you find out about yourself playing Lumen? Stiles: I had been amazed at just how much I loved the kill moments and also the sacredness of these. As keen on the show, I felt very fortunate to take part in them.THR: How have you get ready for the role? Stiles: Similarly, it had been hard to prepare because I could not see a lot of where it had been going whenever we first began the growing season. The particulars of the items she'd experienced were vital in my experience exactly what she'd experienced prior to the attack and abduction was irrelevant because she grew to become someone different. I met using the authors a great deal and grilled them for particulars by what she'd experienced -- the physical connection with her trauma -- because that will affect her behavior when you initially meet her. I just read a great deal about trauma sufferers and rape sufferers, however for me, which was very intellectual, and that i wanted so that it is more visceral and emotional. I needed to use my imagination a great deal, which was pretty harrowing. I needed to complete the smoothness justice, when it comes to a realistic look at how she was affected and also to justify her revenge later.THR: Was there whatever you introduced for the reason that the authors integrated into the script? Stiles: There is lots of discussion later because the relationship between Dexter and Lumen grew to become more intimate. The greatest question was whether Lumen was ready for just about any kind of closeness having a guy.THR: Had you been surprised that Lumen made it? Stiles: Not just was I truly surprised that they made it, however i was surprised that they wound up distancing herself from Dexter. The tradition on the program is when you get too near to Dexter, they have to kill you.THR: Could Lumen ever return? Stiles: I've no clue, only because I'm not sure if it seems sensible for that show. It's from my hands. So we'll see. THR: It is possible to scene that sticks out most whenever you consider your "Dexter" experience? Stiles: Within the kill room, when she first reaches place the knife in. Which was really special. There is additionally a nice moment of collaboration in which the set designers had set up pictures of all of the other sufferers about the wall, and that i remember telling the director which i felt like it was vital that Lumen acknowledge another women and state that it had been on their behalf, too. We did another shot of this, also it wound up within the final edit, that we really was pleased about. It is a great illustration of how collaborative the show is and such a nice atmosphere it's to operate in. The Hollywood Reporter

The Lying Game

Alexandra Chando plays identical twins Sutton Mercer and Emma Becker in "The Lying Game." Filmed in Austin, Texas by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Executive producers, Charles Pratt Jr., Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo; line producer, Carol Trussell; associate producer, Dieter Ismagil; director, Mark Piznarski; writer, Pratt.Emma Becker/ Sutton Mercer - Alexandra Chando Ted Mercer - Andy Buckley Kristen Mercer - Helen Slater Ethan Whitehorse - Blair Redford Nisha Randall - Sharon Pierre-Louis Charlotte "Char" Chamberlin - Kirsten Prout Madeline "Mads" Rybak - Alice Greczyn Laurel Mercer - Allie GoninoIt wouldn't be honest to pretend "The Lying Game" does anything to advance or deviate from ABC Family's trusty teen soap playbook. Taking its cues from the cabler's sudsy mystery success "Pretty Little Liars" (both shows are based on books by Young Adult author Sara Shepard), "Lying's" premise of rich girl-poor girl twins who swap lives to escape their secrets has eerie parallels with the CW's higher-profile upcoming series "Ringer." But "Lying" has a full month to hook viewers before "Ringer" bows, leaving more immediate competition to come from anxiety over the start of a new school year. While the series doesn't feature a noble-minded hook like summer hit "Switched at Birth," for example, which features deaf actors in prominent roles, it nevertheless fits snugly into a lineup pitched squarely at a young female demo. Alexandra Chando ("As the World Turns") does double duty as plucky foster kid Emma Becker and glamorous identical twin Sutton Mercer, who live vastly different lives in separate cities, but are already scheming together via Skype when the show opens. Without letting anyone in on their secret, the girls formulate a plan to track down their birth parents -- Sutton heads to Los Angeles to play chief detective, while Emma takes her place in Arizona's lap of luxury so no one's the wiser. The pilot episode subsequently tracks Emma adjusting to her new family, as mom (Helen Slater), dad (Andy Buckley) and a hostile little sister (Allie Gonino) show various levels of suspicion about Sutton's sudden change in behavior, if not appearance. Then there's the drama of Sutton's active high-school social life, including the key members of her "Mean Girls"-esque clique (Kirsten Prout, Alice Greczyn), her arch-rival (Sharon Pierre-Louis) and dueling love interests (only one of whom, a brooding mystery man played by "Switched at Birth's" Blair Redford, is a full-fledged regular). It's a lot for one girl to deal with, but viewers will navigate the familiar waters just fine. The intent doesn't appear to be to challenge audiences with convoluted mystery, but instead leave them curious about the twins' background, and even more intrigued to discover what happens next in the various relationships. Although Chando has some fun with the mild variations in her dual role, "Lying Game" is the kind of series where actors are judged by their dreaminess, and actresses by their relatability (or, in some cases, hate-ability), which is best for all involved. As the only adults in the cast, Buckley (a recurring suit on "The Office") and Slater (the erstwhile "Supergirl") register as afterthoughts, at least for now. Former "Heroes" co-star Adrian Pasdar begins a major recurring role in episode two. Executive producers boast credits ranging from "Desperate Housewives" to "Gossip Girl" to ABC Family's "The Nine Lives of Chloe King," suggesting they know this territory well. And if the target audience can endure tortured dialogue like, "A lie's a lie, but if the reasons are reasonable, then maybe you can forgive the lie," then, truth be told, "Lying" might stay in the game for awhile.Camera, Crescenzo G. P. Notarile; production designer, Philip Toolin; editor, Henk Van Eeghen; music, Brian Adler; casting, Wendy O'Brien, Jo Edna Boldin. 60 MIN. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Groovy! Mike Myers Signs On For Austin Powers 4

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- This sort of thing is our bag, baby! Mike Myers is set to bring Austin Powers back to the big screen for a fourth installment of the 60s spy-spoof movies, Hit Fix reports. Details of the proposed plot have yet to be revealed and its unclear whether director Jay Roach (who helmed the first three blockbuster comedies) will return for Austin Powers 4, according to the website. Myers, 48, first introduced audiences to his hilarious snaggle-toothed Powers character in 1997s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, which reportedly grossed over $67 million worldwide. The 1999 follow-up, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, took in over $310 million, and the most recent installment, Austin Powers in Goldmember in 2002, reportedly earned $296 million. In addition to Myers newly-announced film project, the Saturday Night Live alum will soon become a first-time father. The funnyman and his wife, Kelly Tisdale, are expecting a child. The couple quietly wed in New York in 2010 and kept their nuptials a secret until March. Myers and Tisdale began dating in 2006, after the actor split from Robin Ruzan after 12 years together. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Laughed behind: Single-cam's ascendancy continues

Single-cam laffers such as '30 Rock' have attracted film stars to TV. 'Glee' runs about as far afield of a traditional multicam sitcom as any comedy nominee could. Of the six Emmy nominees for comedy series this year, only one, "The Big Bang Theory," is a multicamera sitcom. The others -- "Modern Family," "The Office," "Parks and Recreation," "30 Rock" and "Glee" -- are shot single-camera.Showrunners past and present agree single-camera and multicamera have equal potential for laughs, but the Emmy nominees are symptomatic of a pendulum swing -- but it's unlikely the pendulum is going to swing back. The current single-camera trend is opening the door for ambitious yet mainstream TV comedy, creating new conventions future showrunners can later defy.Multicamera was initially popularized because it broke with tradition. "You look at the '60s, and most of your hit comedies are 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' 'Get Smart' and 'The Andy Griffith Show,' " says Ken Levine, who worked as a writer and director on "MASH," "Cheers," "Frasier," "The Simpsons" and many others. "The '70s (in response) became a very multicamera-focused decade."And the '80s. And the '90s. Soon, for every "Seinfeld" or "Cheers," there were, roughly, a bajillion multicamera sitcoms that didn't measure up. Networks were beginning to rely on the plug-and-play formula: Fat guy is to hot wife as meat is to potatoes."There's a rhythm you fall into with setup-punchline-laugh, setup-punchline-laugh -- it's inherent in the form," says "Modern Family" exec producer Steve Levitan, creator of "Just Shoot Me" and "Back to You." "You hit the jokes pretty hard. And I'm in a mode where even on a well-written multicam, I'm finding the laughtrack incredibly annoying."Audiences -- maybe because of reality TV, maybe because of YouTube and the Internet -- are longing for things that feel more authentic and real," he adds.Single-camera lends itself to authenticity. It's less like theater and more like film, employing closeups and sometimes documentary-style interviews to convey comedy at an intimate level. Actors play to the camera, not the studio audience.Jokes can work at a purely visual level, too. Edits and closeups can elicit laughs simply for how they're shot, and changes in locale are shown, not merely talked about. "You can do a more subtle portrayal of human behavior," says "30 Rock" exec producer and star Tina Fey. "It's inherently a little more presentational than the multicamera format. You can get inside characters' heads."And because these shows have so many moving parts, "They've allowed executives to stop ruining things," said fellow "30 Rock"-er Robert Carlock during a panel at the Just for Laughs festival.Execs were fearful of the form from the start. "If you ask a lot of network execs, they'll tell you that for a lot of years, single-camera meant not as funny," Levitan says. "It was a little more dry or clever, but it didn't necessarily mean big laughs. But at the end of the day, a show fails and succeeds based on its characters. If 'Modern Family' were a multicam, I'd like to think it would still work."The subsequent groundswell of single-camera comedies carried with it an unexpected perk: film stars. Alec Baldwin, Rob Lowe and Elijah Wood have all found their way to single-camera comedies, and the talent pool keeps on growing."You can get fancier actors in single-cam because it's more like movies," Fey says. (In drama, too: "Good luck to Bryan Cranston in finding a feature role as good as he has on 'Breaking Bad,' " Levine says.)Television is becoming a place where actors and storytellers can practice their craft uninhibited. "The cream is rising to the top," Levine says -- it just so happens the cream nowadays is shot with one camera.Levine can't help but reflect on the past. " 'Everybody Loves Raymond' went out of its way to be absolutely old-fashioned, and that show will be in syndication for another 50 years," he says. "Whereas 'Community,' a show that's very hip, I wonder, when you look back in 10 years, if it's going to look like a timepiece."So sure, there are great multicamera comedies and there are great single-camera comedies. But when Levine talks about the future, he discusses more experimentation: 15-minute joke-a-thons like "Childrens Hospital," bold comedic video-logues like "Louie." The camera itself becomes a vehicle for comedy in single-camera, and the industry seems reluctant to give back the keys.ROAD TO THE EMMYS: COMEDYLaughed behind | Old toon comedies remain Emmy-freshThe nominees Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Media Stocks Hammered Again As Traders Concentrate On Economic Worries

Let's begin again. Stock marketplaces at mid-day have quit nearly all yesterday's gains following a Fed'spledge to maintain rates of interest low -- and media companies are now being hammered. The Dow JonesU.S. media index is -4.7% as the Dow Johnson Industrial Average is -4.1%. Similarlythe S&P media index is off 5.5% as the S&P 500 is -3.8% and NASDAQ's media shares are -4.8 versus. the entire exchange that is -3.3%. Here's how industry titans are faring at mid-day: Disney (-10.7%),CBS (-5.2%), The new sony (-5.1%), Time Warner (-4.5%), Comcast (-3.8%), and Viacom (-3%). The greatest loser is Westwood One (-12%).Others lower a minimum of 6% include America online, The Brand New You are able to Occasions, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, LIN TV, Live Nation, Gannett, E.W. Scripps, Time Warner Cable, and Rovi. The only real company on our watch list that's in plus territory is Lionsgate, up 2% after confirming an income within the quarter that led to June.

VIDEO: The Epic Michael Bay 360 Degree Shot Supercut You've Been Waiting For

One of the more famous staples of Michael Bay’s visual vocabulary is, without a doubt, the 360-degree spinning shot, in which the camera circles actors as they stare meaningfully into the distance — one of the most instantly recognizable directorial flourishes around (also see: J.J. Abrams and those damn lens flares). Within, marvel at the signature circular hero shot in a supercut edit piecing together said shot for a minute and a half of Michael Bay epicness. Now, fair warning: The supercut pieced together by the folks at Screen Junkies isn’t quite as complete as it could be; there’s an awful lot of Bad Boys and no The Unborn, which Bay produced, and which I distinctly remember having a Bay-esque Odette Yustman 360-degree shot. And the obligatory ScarJo in The Island shot isn’t technically a spinning shot, but whatevs. Somewhere out there are the makings of a truly epic Michael Bay spinning shot supercut for us completists, and until that hits the web I’ll make do with watching Bay brilliantly make the world literally revolve around the characters in his films. As it does around him in real life, of course. Michael Bay Epic Spinning Shot Supercut [Screen Junkies]

'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes': Easter Eggs You'll Go Bananas For!

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," out in theaters today, promises a full-scale reboot to one of the most classic science fiction film franchises of all time. But it's not without some winks and nods to the past. Indeed, there's plenty of old school material for longtime "Apes" fans to go bananas over. Click the video below and read on for five Easter Eggs from the latest "Apes" adventure! Lost In Space! The original "Planet of the Apes" tells the story of an astronaut crew that crash lands on a world dominated by highly evolved apes. That's not the plot here, but perhaps it'll serve as a launch point for a sequel based on two separate shout-outs to the original film's story. Seeking Liberty Anyone who's even somewhat familiar with the "Apes" franchise can remember the iconic visual of the Statue of Liberty from the original films. We won't spoil the moment for you, but the creators of "Rise" definitely had fun playing with that powerful iconography in their new movie. My Two Apes Motion capture master Andy Serkis plays Caesar in "Rise," but he's not the only ape running around this reboot. Two of Caesar's closest chimp pals are Maurice and Buck, both of whom are named after actors Maurice Evans and Buck Kartalian from the previous "Apes" films. Yet another nice nod to the past! Charlston Rises Speaking of the original "Apes" cast, even Charlton Heston gets a "Rise" out of the new movie, but his appearance is incredibly brief. If you blink, or if you change the channel (hint hint), you'll miss it. Damn Dirty Quotes It wouldn't be a damn dirty "Apes" movie without a damn dirty shout-out to one of the franchise's most classic lines. As far as who gets to say that choice piece of dialogue, you'll just have to see the movie to find out! Let us know which Easter Eggs you found in the comments section and on Twitter!

'Dark Knight Rises' Set Photos Give First Good Look at Tom Hardy as Bane

We've only caught a brief glimpse of Tom Hardy as villain Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises' teaser trailer, but Just Jared has uploaded fan photos showing Hardy in costume on the Pittsburgh set. At Comic-Con to promote his new film 'Warrior,' Hardy told MTV he was not allowed to talk about the film, but did admit, "'The Dark Knight Rises' looks like it's going to be an awesome, awesome movie...I saw the trailer myself and I am very excited, too." Pittsburgh fans have also shot video of the revamped Batmobile (now in desert camo instead of black). Check them out after the jump. [via Just Jared, CinemaBlend]