The real life inspirations for powerful oligarch Logan Roy and his dysfunctional family on Succession are well-documented. Roy and his right wing media empire Waystar Royco are very clearly based on Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp imprint. Neither HBO nor Succession creator Jesse Armstrong made much of an effort to hide that early on.
In fact, the seed for the idea that would eventually bloom into the beloved four-season drama began when Armstrong sought to tell the real life story of the Murdoch family’s malevolent influence on the world. In the book Succession: The Complete Scripts, Armstrong fleshes out what that story would have been like.
“The original idea, a faux-documentary laying out Rupert Murdoch’s business secrets, with them delivered straight to camera, evolved as I worked into a sort of TV play, set at the media owner’s 80th birthday party. Channel 4 were supportive,...
In fact, the seed for the idea that would eventually bloom into the beloved four-season drama began when Armstrong sought to tell the real life story of the Murdoch family’s malevolent influence on the world. In the book Succession: The Complete Scripts, Armstrong fleshes out what that story would have been like.
“The original idea, a faux-documentary laying out Rupert Murdoch’s business secrets, with them delivered straight to camera, evolved as I worked into a sort of TV play, set at the media owner’s 80th birthday party. Channel 4 were supportive,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Ahead of the season 4 premiere of “Succession”, Brian Cox reveals the elaborate backstory he’s imagined for his character Logan Roy. He also opens up about how living his childhood in poverty has stayed with him throughout his life.
Before Cox, 76, became an established actor, he and his family “were left destitute,” after his father died when Cox was just eight years old, the Scottish actor shares in his cover story for Town & Country’s March 2023 Og issue, on newsstands February 28.
Read More: Brian Cox Reveals Logan Roy Was Almost Killed Off In Season 1 Of ‘Succession’
Brian Cox — Photo by Marc Hom
When his father passed away, he left behind a bank account with “the princely sum” of 10 pounds in it. Meanwhile, his mother, who worked as a spinner in Dundee’s vast jute mills, grieved while suffering a sequence of nervous breakdowns.
“Being plunged into poverty affects me to this day,...
Before Cox, 76, became an established actor, he and his family “were left destitute,” after his father died when Cox was just eight years old, the Scottish actor shares in his cover story for Town & Country’s March 2023 Og issue, on newsstands February 28.
Read More: Brian Cox Reveals Logan Roy Was Almost Killed Off In Season 1 Of ‘Succession’
Brian Cox — Photo by Marc Hom
When his father passed away, he left behind a bank account with “the princely sum” of 10 pounds in it. Meanwhile, his mother, who worked as a spinner in Dundee’s vast jute mills, grieved while suffering a sequence of nervous breakdowns.
“Being plunged into poverty affects me to this day,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Melissa Romualdi
- ET Canada
HBO is embracing a very specific niche at the moment: TV series about dysfunctional elite families on the verge of tearing themselves apart because they're too power-hungry to truly understand the realities of their actions. While "House of the Dragon" is upholding that mantle, "Succession" is gearing up for a triumphant return, with its fourth season currently in production. Coming off four Emmy wins, the hype for the Roy family is getting hard to ignore. So much like his onscreen alter ego, Brian Cox is stealing the spotlight to hit us with some harsh truths. According to Logan Roy himself, the upcoming season of "Succession" could potentially be its last. While chatting with The Times (via IndieWire), Cox said:
"I don't know [if there will be a fifth season]. No one's had their contracts renewed. Who knows how long it will go on?"
This isn't the first time we've had to confront the possibility of "Succession" ending sooner than expected.
"I don't know [if there will be a fifth season]. No one's had their contracts renewed. Who knows how long it will go on?"
This isn't the first time we've had to confront the possibility of "Succession" ending sooner than expected.
- 9/14/2022
- by Shania Russell
- Slash Film
Just like Logan Roy, “Succession” star Brian Cox doesn’t acknowledge the competition.
After “Succession” won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Emmys, actor Cox revealed he has no idea how long the series will go on for after Season 4.
“I don’t know [if there will be a fifth season]. No one’s had their contracts renewed,” Cox told The Times. “Who knows how long it will go on?”
And Cox called out fellow finance drama series, Showtime’s “Billions,” for seeming to drag on.
“We don’t want it to overstay its welcome, like ‘Billions,'” Cox dished. “That’s past its sell-by date. That will not happen with our show.”
“Billions” was renewed for a seventh season, the first sans lead star Damian Lewis. Meanwhile, the “Succession” team has remained coy as to whether the saga of Waystar Royco will continue for much longer.
Writer and executive producer Georgia Pritchett previously revealed to The Times...
After “Succession” won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Emmys, actor Cox revealed he has no idea how long the series will go on for after Season 4.
“I don’t know [if there will be a fifth season]. No one’s had their contracts renewed,” Cox told The Times. “Who knows how long it will go on?”
And Cox called out fellow finance drama series, Showtime’s “Billions,” for seeming to drag on.
“We don’t want it to overstay its welcome, like ‘Billions,'” Cox dished. “That’s past its sell-by date. That will not happen with our show.”
“Billions” was renewed for a seventh season, the first sans lead star Damian Lewis. Meanwhile, the “Succession” team has remained coy as to whether the saga of Waystar Royco will continue for much longer.
Writer and executive producer Georgia Pritchett previously revealed to The Times...
- 9/13/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“Succession” is officially named the best drama series of the year.
The hit HBO show, which previously won the title in 2020, took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Emmy Awards on September 12. The series also was recognized for outstanding casting at the Creative Arts Emmys last week.
“Succession” follows the cutthroat campaign to take over fictional media conglomerate Waystar Royco, run by aging patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). His children, played by Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, and Alan Ruck, are making moves for the sale of Waystar Royco to benefit themselves. Other family members and employees, portrayed by Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfayden, and J. Smith-Cameron, also angle for a piece of the multi-billion dollar brand.
Prior to the 2022 Emmys, “Succession” has previously won 10 Emmy Awards and has been nominated a total of 48 times. The series this year beat out “Better Call Saul,” “Euphoria,” “Ozark,” “Severance,...
The hit HBO show, which previously won the title in 2020, took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Emmy Awards on September 12. The series also was recognized for outstanding casting at the Creative Arts Emmys last week.
“Succession” follows the cutthroat campaign to take over fictional media conglomerate Waystar Royco, run by aging patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). His children, played by Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, and Alan Ruck, are making moves for the sale of Waystar Royco to benefit themselves. Other family members and employees, portrayed by Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfayden, and J. Smith-Cameron, also angle for a piece of the multi-billion dollar brand.
Prior to the 2022 Emmys, “Succession” has previously won 10 Emmy Awards and has been nominated a total of 48 times. The series this year beat out “Better Call Saul,” “Euphoria,” “Ozark,” “Severance,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
Brian Cox entertained attendees of the Edinburgh TV Festival on its third and final day on Friday with stories from throughout his career, while emphasizing that he couldn’t share much detail about Succession at a time when fans are eagerly anticipating season 4.
“The Gestapo-element of HBO are present,” Cox said, “because they don’t want me to talk about Succession.” He told people not to ask about the hit show, which last year was renewed for season 4, before divulging some behind-the-scenes insights and thoughts on his character in the hit series, media mogul and patriarch Logan Roy.
The Emmy- and two-time Olivier Award-winning star said Succession creator Jesse Armstrong was “an absolute genius,” but the actors often get scripts only two days before shooting. “Getting a script is like getting gold,” he said, quipping: “I like to learn the lines.”
He has...
Brian Cox entertained attendees of the Edinburgh TV Festival on its third and final day on Friday with stories from throughout his career, while emphasizing that he couldn’t share much detail about Succession at a time when fans are eagerly anticipating season 4.
“The Gestapo-element of HBO are present,” Cox said, “because they don’t want me to talk about Succession.” He told people not to ask about the hit show, which last year was renewed for season 4, before divulging some behind-the-scenes insights and thoughts on his character in the hit series, media mogul and patriarch Logan Roy.
The Emmy- and two-time Olivier Award-winning star said Succession creator Jesse Armstrong was “an absolute genius,” but the actors often get scripts only two days before shooting. “Getting a script is like getting gold,” he said, quipping: “I like to learn the lines.”
He has...
- 8/26/2022
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Brian Cox says his on-screen alter ego Logan Roy, the misanthropic media mogul at the heart of HBO hit “Succession,” would not be a fan in real life.
“Logan would hate me,” said Cox during an in-person conversation at the Edinburgh TV Festival in Scotland. “If Logan met me he’d say ‘I wish that Brian Cox would just shut the fuck up.’”
Despite Logan’s flaws, however, Cox says of the character: “I love him.”
“What I love about Logan, he’s self-made. Unlike all those other guys, Trump, Murdoch, Conrad Black, he did it all himself.”
Digging deeper into the character, he adds: “His curse is he loves his children. If he didn’t love his children life would be a lot easier for him.”
Cox also reflected on the similarities – or lack-thereof – between himself and Roy, saying: “He’s the antithesis of who I am. The one...
“Logan would hate me,” said Cox during an in-person conversation at the Edinburgh TV Festival in Scotland. “If Logan met me he’d say ‘I wish that Brian Cox would just shut the fuck up.’”
Despite Logan’s flaws, however, Cox says of the character: “I love him.”
“What I love about Logan, he’s self-made. Unlike all those other guys, Trump, Murdoch, Conrad Black, he did it all himself.”
Digging deeper into the character, he adds: “His curse is he loves his children. If he didn’t love his children life would be a lot easier for him.”
Cox also reflected on the similarities – or lack-thereof – between himself and Roy, saying: “He’s the antithesis of who I am. The one...
- 8/26/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Richard Siklos, a former exec at Netflix and Time Warner, has joined UTA as chief communications officer.
Beginning on Monday, Siklos will report to CEO Jeremy Zimmer.
Siklos departed Netflix last fall. During his four-year run at the company, its global subscriber base more than doubled and its market value soared. New original series like Bridgerton and Squid Game also arrived as the company faced a handful of new streaming rivals.
From 2010 to 2017, Siklos was a communications exec at Time Warner. Prior to that, he was a prominent journalist covering the media business for The New York Times, Fortune and Business Week, as well as London’s Sunday Telegraph and The Times of London.
“Richard brings a wealth of strategic, operational and creative leadership and experience to UTA,” Zimmer said in the official announcement of the hire. “He will be a great partner across the company, helping tell our story,...
Beginning on Monday, Siklos will report to CEO Jeremy Zimmer.
Siklos departed Netflix last fall. During his four-year run at the company, its global subscriber base more than doubled and its market value soared. New original series like Bridgerton and Squid Game also arrived as the company faced a handful of new streaming rivals.
From 2010 to 2017, Siklos was a communications exec at Time Warner. Prior to that, he was a prominent journalist covering the media business for The New York Times, Fortune and Business Week, as well as London’s Sunday Telegraph and The Times of London.
“Richard brings a wealth of strategic, operational and creative leadership and experience to UTA,” Zimmer said in the official announcement of the hire. “He will be a great partner across the company, helping tell our story,...
- 3/1/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Netflix VP of communications Richard Siklos, a key public-facing figure for the streaming giant since 2017, has just announced his departure, Deadline has learned.
It isn’t clear what Siklos’s next step will be, but after serving in a senior role at Netflix, on top of a seven-year stint as a communications exec at Time Warner, he has more than a few options. Before crossing the Rubicon, Siklos was a well-established journalist known for his coverage of the media business at top-shelf publications like Fortune, The New York Times and Business Week.
Rachel Whetstone, who became chief communications officer at Netflix in 2018, described Siklos as a “skilled communicator” in a statement provided to Deadline. He “strengthened our reputation during a tremendous time of growth, and built a world-class team,” she continued. “He has been a valued and trusted advisor to many across Netflix and we wish him the best.
It isn’t clear what Siklos’s next step will be, but after serving in a senior role at Netflix, on top of a seven-year stint as a communications exec at Time Warner, he has more than a few options. Before crossing the Rubicon, Siklos was a well-established journalist known for his coverage of the media business at top-shelf publications like Fortune, The New York Times and Business Week.
Rachel Whetstone, who became chief communications officer at Netflix in 2018, described Siklos as a “skilled communicator” in a statement provided to Deadline. He “strengthened our reputation during a tremendous time of growth, and built a world-class team,” she continued. “He has been a valued and trusted advisor to many across Netflix and we wish him the best.
- 9/24/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
It is a truth universally recognized that Succession, the darkly funny HBO drama about a media-dynasty family eating their own, was a slow starter. And the early feint of introducing the series’ most recognizable face in the form of Brian Cox, supporting actor extraordinaire, only to have him lapse into a coma by the end of the pilot did not exactly inspire a tune-in-next-week fervor. Luckily, the sidelining move was temporary. Once the first season found its footing, you could see the show improving exponentially episode by episode; the finale...
- 8/19/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Though Donald Trump has found ways to subvert most of them, when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution they made sure to include several checks to the president’s power. In regard to pardons, however, the president’s authority is all but absolute. “The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment,” reads Article II. This means Trump can hand a “Get Out of Jail Free” card to literally anyone convicted of a federal crime, so long as...
- 5/16/2019
- by Ryan Bort
- Rollingstone.com
Former media mogul Conrad Black has been granted a full pardon by President Donald Trump for his prior conviction on counts of fraud and obstruction of justice, for which he spent more than three years in prison.
Black, a Trump supporter who wrote the fawning biography Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other in 2018, once controlled Hollinger International, which at one point was the world’s third-largest English language newspaper company. Hollinger was the publisher of The Daily Telegraph (UK), Chicago Sun-Times (Us), and The Jerusalem Post (Israel), as well as hundreds of smaller community newspapers.
But a complicated corporate controversy over some of the company’s assets saw Black found guilty in a Chicago court of diverting funds for personal benefit from money due to Hollinger International, as well as obstruction of justice.
He served nearly 42 months in Florida prison and was fined $125,000 as a result of the convictions.
Black, a Trump supporter who wrote the fawning biography Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other in 2018, once controlled Hollinger International, which at one point was the world’s third-largest English language newspaper company. Hollinger was the publisher of The Daily Telegraph (UK), Chicago Sun-Times (Us), and The Jerusalem Post (Israel), as well as hundreds of smaller community newspapers.
But a complicated corporate controversy over some of the company’s assets saw Black found guilty in a Chicago court of diverting funds for personal benefit from money due to Hollinger International, as well as obstruction of justice.
He served nearly 42 months in Florida prison and was fined $125,000 as a result of the convictions.
- 5/16/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Sumner Redstone seized control of Viacom in a hostile takeover in 1987. He then made sure that no other corporate raider could take it from him, dividing the company’s stock into voting and nonvoting shares.
Thirty years later, Redstone’s absolute control is under threat not from an external foe but from within. CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves voted with 10 other board members last week to strip parent company National Amusements, now run by Shari Redstone, of its control over CBS.
The audacious move — if it succeeds — would mark a revolution in corporate history. Delaware law holds a controller’s power to be almost sacrosanct. Moonves contends that Redstone has abused her power to such an extent that she has essentially forfeited it.
“These are the kinds of things that set precedents,” said David Larcker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “What will the courts allow...
Thirty years later, Redstone’s absolute control is under threat not from an external foe but from within. CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves voted with 10 other board members last week to strip parent company National Amusements, now run by Shari Redstone, of its control over CBS.
The audacious move — if it succeeds — would mark a revolution in corporate history. Delaware law holds a controller’s power to be almost sacrosanct. Moonves contends that Redstone has abused her power to such an extent that she has essentially forfeited it.
“These are the kinds of things that set precedents,” said David Larcker, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “What will the courts allow...
- 5/22/2018
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The spectacle of a corporate board openly revolting against the company’s controlling shareholder is rare, but not unprecedented.
CBS’ independent directors this week sought a restraining order against Shari Redstone, who controls the company through the National Amusements holding company. The network’s legal argument hinges on a case involving a Canadian media mogul who ran amuck as CEO of one of the world’s largest newspaper publishing groups.
The media baron, Conrad Black, was accused of egregious behavior — including fraud, racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering and epic self-dealing. Three members of the Hollinger International board moved to oust Black as CEO, who owned 30% of the company’s equity but was able to control more than 70% of its voting interests.
CBS cites the case as a legal precedent for taking action against Redstone,...
CBS’ independent directors this week sought a restraining order against Shari Redstone, who controls the company through the National Amusements holding company. The network’s legal argument hinges on a case involving a Canadian media mogul who ran amuck as CEO of one of the world’s largest newspaper publishing groups.
The media baron, Conrad Black, was accused of egregious behavior — including fraud, racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering and epic self-dealing. Three members of the Hollinger International board moved to oust Black as CEO, who owned 30% of the company’s equity but was able to control more than 70% of its voting interests.
CBS cites the case as a legal precedent for taking action against Redstone,...
- 5/15/2018
- by Dawn C. Chmielewski
- Deadline Film + TV
After 25 years, Jeremy Paxman is quitting BBC Two's Newsnight.
No longer will we see politicians quaking in their boots, producers being slammed live on TV and awkward chats with rappers.
To mark the end of an era from quite possibly Britain's greatest news broadcaster of the last two decades, Digital Spy has rounded up just some of the classic moments of Paxo on Newsnight.
1. Paxman/Rascal
Possibly the sign of things to come in terms of Newsnight incorporating surprising guests and skits (see Cookie Monster and 'Thriller'). Paxman took part in a rather bizarre interview with Dizzee Rascal following Barack Obama's presidential victory in 2008. When asking Dizzee he believed in political parties in Britain, the rapper replied: "Yeah, they exist, I believe in them. But I don't know if I care," adding: "If you believe, you can achieve, innit." The awkward silences after Dizzee's points are also classic.
No longer will we see politicians quaking in their boots, producers being slammed live on TV and awkward chats with rappers.
To mark the end of an era from quite possibly Britain's greatest news broadcaster of the last two decades, Digital Spy has rounded up just some of the classic moments of Paxo on Newsnight.
1. Paxman/Rascal
Possibly the sign of things to come in terms of Newsnight incorporating surprising guests and skits (see Cookie Monster and 'Thriller'). Paxman took part in a rather bizarre interview with Dizzee Rascal following Barack Obama's presidential victory in 2008. When asking Dizzee he believed in political parties in Britain, the rapper replied: "Yeah, they exist, I believe in them. But I don't know if I care," adding: "If you believe, you can achieve, innit." The awkward silences after Dizzee's points are also classic.
- 5/1/2014
- Digital Spy
When it was confirmed that The It Crowd would bow out with a special episode instead of a full series, I felt a bit cheated - and I suspect I wasn't the only one. But on the strength of tonight's one-off grand finale, I'm pleased to report that I was wrong.
We've been away from Reynholm Industries for a couple of years - at least in real time - but it's very much as you were in the basement as 'The Last Byte' gets started.
Roy's still trying to impress ladies up on the seventh floor (or, to quote a typically deadpan Moss, 'He's cock-a-hoop over this sheila'). As for Moss, he's starting up his own little broadcasting empire with YouTube webisodes about board games, and Jen's gently mothering and mentoring the pair as per usual to try and keep them out of trouble.
It's reassuring how quickly the central trio of Chris O'Dowd,...
We've been away from Reynholm Industries for a couple of years - at least in real time - but it's very much as you were in the basement as 'The Last Byte' gets started.
Roy's still trying to impress ladies up on the seventh floor (or, to quote a typically deadpan Moss, 'He's cock-a-hoop over this sheila'). As for Moss, he's starting up his own little broadcasting empire with YouTube webisodes about board games, and Jen's gently mothering and mentoring the pair as per usual to try and keep them out of trouble.
It's reassuring how quickly the central trio of Chris O'Dowd,...
- 9/27/2013
- Digital Spy
Super rich and super bad – here's five of cinema's most conniving wealthy folk. Who else belongs on the list?
In these times of austerity, the rich have never been less popular, but the world of film has thrown up countless examples of millionaires that make Fred Goodwin and Conrad Black seem like pretty decent guys.
From serial killers to crime bosses via evil geniuses, here's a list of the five top evil millionaires. Beware: some of these clips contain extreme violence and adult content.
1. Patrick Bateman – American Psycho
Before he was known for playing a certain heroic billionaire, Christian Bale breathed life into the cold, ruthless and completely insane Patrick Bateman. By day he's a narcissistic yuppie disgusted by himself and his shallow friends, and by night he vents his frustration by hacking people to pieces in his swanky open plan apartment to corny 80s pop music.
Reading on mobile?...
In these times of austerity, the rich have never been less popular, but the world of film has thrown up countless examples of millionaires that make Fred Goodwin and Conrad Black seem like pretty decent guys.
From serial killers to crime bosses via evil geniuses, here's a list of the five top evil millionaires. Beware: some of these clips contain extreme violence and adult content.
1. Patrick Bateman – American Psycho
Before he was known for playing a certain heroic billionaire, Christian Bale breathed life into the cold, ruthless and completely insane Patrick Bateman. By day he's a narcissistic yuppie disgusted by himself and his shallow friends, and by night he vents his frustration by hacking people to pieces in his swanky open plan apartment to corny 80s pop music.
Reading on mobile?...
- 7/31/2013
- by Guardian readers
- The Guardian - Film News
Roger Ebert, who died on Thursday, was more than just a legendary film critic. He was also a newspaperman who loved the journalism industry, and fiercely criticized those he thought were sullying it.
Ebert got his first newspaper job when he was sixteen, working for a local paper in Illinois
"To be hired as a real writer at a real newspaper was such good fortune that I could barely sleep," he wrote in his 2011 memoir, "Life Itself."
When Ebert went to college, he worked on the newspaper there, the Daily Illini. But it was his nearly 50-year tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times that would make him an icon. Ebert started as a general writer before being offered the film critic's job relatively out of the blue. In "Life Itself," he wrote about the atmosphere of the Sun-Times in those early days:
The city room was a noisy place to work.
Ebert got his first newspaper job when he was sixteen, working for a local paper in Illinois
"To be hired as a real writer at a real newspaper was such good fortune that I could barely sleep," he wrote in his 2011 memoir, "Life Itself."
When Ebert went to college, he worked on the newspaper there, the Daily Illini. But it was his nearly 50-year tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times that would make him an icon. Ebert started as a general writer before being offered the film critic's job relatively out of the blue. In "Life Itself," he wrote about the atmosphere of the Sun-Times in those early days:
The city room was a noisy place to work.
- 4/4/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International chairman convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007, has been denied a request to void that guilty verdict after he claimed his trial was unfair because government action prevented him from hiring the defense lawyers he wanted, Bloomberg reported. Black said that when federal agents seized about $9 million in proceeds from the sale of a Manhattan apartment, they left him without enough cash to hire Brendan V. Sullivan and Gregory Craig, then both of the Washington, D.C.-based Williams & Connolly Llp, Bloomberg...
- 2/20/2013
- by Alexander C. Kaufman
- The Wrap
Toronto – Fallen Canadian media mogul Conrad Black takes aim at Hollywood and the CIA in the promotional video for his upcoming weekly TV talk show. "Hollywood has done as much as anybody to coarsen and diminish America’s prestige in the world, and to dumb down public taste in the United States and beyond the United States," Black says at one point in the video obtained by the Globe and Mail newspaper and being shopped this week to international buyers at Natpe Miami. Black, who was freed from a Florida prison in May 2012 after serving time for fraud
read more...
read more...
- 1/29/2013
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Toronto – It turns out those combative British TV news interviews last fall by fallen Canadian media mogul Conrad Black were just a warm-up. Black, who was freed from a Florida prison in May 2012 after serving time for fraud and obstruction of justice charges, is to co-host a weekly Canadian TV show produced by Moses Znaimer’s ZoomerMedia. The talk show is slated for 26 episodes to air on Vision TV in Canada from March 2013. Story: Mark Cuban: Live TV Remains the Most Important Platform The Canadian talker, being shopped to international buyers at Napte in Miami
read more...
read more...
- 1/28/2013
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Former newspaper tycoon Conrad Black attacked Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday, calling the News Corporation chairman a "psychopath" and comparing him to Joseph Stalin. The former owner of the Daily Telegraph in Britain and the Chicago Sun-Times, who spent 37 months in a U.S. prison for fraud, said the media magnate -- a longtime business adversary -- was an "astonishingly cold man." "He's a psychopath ... like Stalin, except that he doesn't kill people," Black told the Telegraph. "I'm not suggesting he's a homicidal psychopath -- he just severs people out of his...
- 10/23/2012
- by Alexander C. Kaufman
- The Wrap
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 21, 2012
Price: DVD $29.99
Studio: Zeitgeist
Margaret Atwood consults her notes in Payback.
Margaret Atwood’s 2008 best-selling book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is the basis for the 2012 documentary Payback, which looks at the concept of “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic.
Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) interweaves a group of stories about debtor/creditor relationships: two families in a years-long Albanian blood feud; the Bp oil spill vs. the Gulf Coast; mistreated Florida tomato farm workers and their bosses; and imprisoned media mogul Conrad Black and the U.S. justice system.
The film also features commentary by academic/activist Raj Patel, former Un High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and Atwood herself.
The unrated Payback received a limited rollout to U.S. theaters in April, 2012. It received only fair reviews, though it appears...
Price: DVD $29.99
Studio: Zeitgeist
Margaret Atwood consults her notes in Payback.
Margaret Atwood’s 2008 best-selling book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is the basis for the 2012 documentary Payback, which looks at the concept of “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic.
Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) interweaves a group of stories about debtor/creditor relationships: two families in a years-long Albanian blood feud; the Bp oil spill vs. the Gulf Coast; mistreated Florida tomato farm workers and their bosses; and imprisoned media mogul Conrad Black and the U.S. justice system.
The film also features commentary by academic/activist Raj Patel, former Un High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and Atwood herself.
The unrated Payback received a limited rollout to U.S. theaters in April, 2012. It received only fair reviews, though it appears...
- 8/15/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
What is the essence of debt, and what is debt that doesn't have a monetary solution? Canadian essayist, novelist, activist, and general "ist" Margaret Atwood pontificates on the complex nature of this kind of liability in "Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth," a non-fiction book and the springboard for Jennifer Baichwal's concisely titled"Payback." Atwood's deconstruction of the idea is incredibly deep, at times both frightening and amusing; Baichwal attempts to translate her lecture into a documentary/video essay and succeeds in creating something original that still retains the strength of the author's voice. The director manages to look at what various people owe to each other, from small-scale (what convicts owe to both their victims and society) to all-encompassing (how we, as humans, are beholden to our planet) debt.
Those who have seen "The Forgiveness Of Blood" (and not to digress, but if you haven't,...
Those who have seen "The Forgiveness Of Blood" (and not to digress, but if you haven't,...
- 4/27/2012
- by Christopher Bell
- The Playlist
Jennifer Baichwal is an accomplished Canadian filmmaker whose ever-searching documentaries have taken up such diverse subjects as photography (The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia), literary biography (Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles), the metaphysics of lightning strikes (Act of God), and the devastating underside of mass Western consumption (Manufactured Landscapes). In her latest film, Payback, loosely based on the prolific Booker Prize–winning author Margaret Atwood’s book-length study of debt as a structuring principle of life, language, and contemporary culture (the subtitle for her tome is The Shadow Side of Wealth), Baichwal investigates the disparate ways in which the idea of indebtedness has come to define everything from blood feuds to labor practices, prison terms to environmental clean-up efforts.
What does it mean to say we “owe” someone? How are debts created? Under what conditions do we seek justice or retribution, or attempt...
What does it mean to say we “owe” someone? How are debts created? Under what conditions do we seek justice or retribution, or attempt...
- 4/27/2012
- by Damon Smith
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
London — He gets colonic irrigations, Botox injections and vitamin drips, and insists on black toilet paper in his home.
A revealing new biography offers intimate – some might say too intimate – details about Simon Cowell, along with a portrait of the entertainment mogul's savvy business side.
"Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell" is written by British journalist and biographer Tom Bower, whose previous subjects include former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, jailed media mogul Conrad Black and ex-Harrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed.
His latest portrait of power centers on the tanned and brush-cut Cowell, 52, who has gained fame in both Britain and North America as producer and an acerbic judge on TV talent shows including "The X Factor" and "America's Got Talent."
Bower says he became fascinated by the story of a middle-aged music producer who struck gold by turning the old-fashioned talent contest into a slick 21st-century phenomenon...
A revealing new biography offers intimate – some might say too intimate – details about Simon Cowell, along with a portrait of the entertainment mogul's savvy business side.
"Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell" is written by British journalist and biographer Tom Bower, whose previous subjects include former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, jailed media mogul Conrad Black and ex-Harrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed.
His latest portrait of power centers on the tanned and brush-cut Cowell, 52, who has gained fame in both Britain and North America as producer and an acerbic judge on TV talent shows including "The X Factor" and "America's Got Talent."
Bower says he became fascinated by the story of a middle-aged music producer who struck gold by turning the old-fashioned talent contest into a slick 21st-century phenomenon...
- 4/21/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Payback
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal
Written by Margaret Atwood (book) and Jennifer Baichwal (adaptation)
Canada, 2012
Movies inspired on books are a dime a dozen, with almost every week there being something released in theatres which is based on some of sort of novel. Very often, whenever the source material happens to be much beloved, the ire of the film goers curious about of cinematic translation is felt shortly after the opening weekend. It also seems second nature to readers and movie goers: love the book but loath the film. Of course, in the majority of cases, said films are based on fiction literature. An entirely different sort of adaptation is required when the source material is an essay and documentary form, which is precisely the challenge director Jennifer Baichwal faced when translating Margaret Atwood’s intellectual exploration of the notion of debt from the page to the screen.
Baiwchawl film...
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal
Written by Margaret Atwood (book) and Jennifer Baichwal (adaptation)
Canada, 2012
Movies inspired on books are a dime a dozen, with almost every week there being something released in theatres which is based on some of sort of novel. Very often, whenever the source material happens to be much beloved, the ire of the film goers curious about of cinematic translation is felt shortly after the opening weekend. It also seems second nature to readers and movie goers: love the book but loath the film. Of course, in the majority of cases, said films are based on fiction literature. An entirely different sort of adaptation is required when the source material is an essay and documentary form, which is precisely the challenge director Jennifer Baichwal faced when translating Margaret Atwood’s intellectual exploration of the notion of debt from the page to the screen.
Baiwchawl film...
- 3/14/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
From girlish flirt to monstrous sociopath, the former Pm has been variously interpreted on screen
"I don't really see her as a villain," says Meryl Streep. "People are driven by what they think is right [and] certainty is just so attractive in people … It's so nice not to have to listen … Unfortunately, it leads to fanaticism." Streep, I should point out, is not talking about her forthcoming performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd's portrait of the former Pm in the run-up to the Falklands war. She is in fact discussing Eleanor Shaw, the fearsome politician, mother and all-round nut-job she played in the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Even so, you could do worse than check out this interview for an inkling of how she may approach her latest role. "There were," she says, "very specific public personalities that I was inspired by in creating this character.
"I don't really see her as a villain," says Meryl Streep. "People are driven by what they think is right [and] certainty is just so attractive in people … It's so nice not to have to listen … Unfortunately, it leads to fanaticism." Streep, I should point out, is not talking about her forthcoming performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd's portrait of the former Pm in the run-up to the Falklands war. She is in fact discussing Eleanor Shaw, the fearsome politician, mother and all-round nut-job she played in the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Even so, you could do worse than check out this interview for an inkling of how she may approach her latest role. "There were," she says, "very specific public personalities that I was inspired by in creating this character.
- 2/10/2011
- by Ben Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
Toronto – Canadian media baron Conrad Black on Friday lost a legal battle to overturn convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice in a Chicago courtroom.
The U.S. appeals court gave no reasons for its decision to uphold a lower court decision in September to retain the two convictions, while throwing out two other fraud convictions.
Black's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, said the former media magnate will next appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Black is currently out on bail after spending two years of a six-and-a-half jail term in a Florida prison for four 2007 convictions stemming from the sale of Hollinger International newspapers, including the 2000 sale of 13 major Canadian newspapers to then Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications for $3.04 billion.
If Black is unsuccessful with the U.S. Supreme Court, he could resentencing on the two other 2007 convictions for obstruction of justice and fraud that were upheld in September.
The U.S. appeals court gave no reasons for its decision to uphold a lower court decision in September to retain the two convictions, while throwing out two other fraud convictions.
Black's lawyer, Miguel Estrada, said the former media magnate will next appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Black is currently out on bail after spending two years of a six-and-a-half jail term in a Florida prison for four 2007 convictions stemming from the sale of Hollinger International newspapers, including the 2000 sale of 13 major Canadian newspapers to then Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications for $3.04 billion.
If Black is unsuccessful with the U.S. Supreme Court, he could resentencing on the two other 2007 convictions for obstruction of justice and fraud that were upheld in September.
- 12/17/2010
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Toronto -- Fallen Canadian media baron Conrad Black on Friday scored a partial legal victory that could keep him from returning to the pokey.
A Chicago appeals court threw out two fraud convictions that sent Black to jail for six and a half-years.
At the same time, Black, now out on bail, faces resentencing on two other 2007 convictions for obstruction of justice and fraud that the Chicago court upheld.
Toronto-based Black was released from prison in Florida two months ago to await the appeals court decision on the mail fraud and obstruction of justice convictions in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court redefinition of an "honest services" statute on which he was convicted.
Black's original convictions stemmed from the sale of Hollinger International newspapers as far back as 1988, and included the 2000 sale of 13 major Canadian newspapers to Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications for $3.04 billion.
In 2003, U.S. authorities...
A Chicago appeals court threw out two fraud convictions that sent Black to jail for six and a half-years.
At the same time, Black, now out on bail, faces resentencing on two other 2007 convictions for obstruction of justice and fraud that the Chicago court upheld.
Toronto-based Black was released from prison in Florida two months ago to await the appeals court decision on the mail fraud and obstruction of justice convictions in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court redefinition of an "honest services" statute on which he was convicted.
Black's original convictions stemmed from the sale of Hollinger International newspapers as far back as 1988, and included the 2000 sale of 13 major Canadian newspapers to Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications for $3.04 billion.
In 2003, U.S. authorities...
- 10/29/2010
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Though a lesser artist than the more politically astute and genuinely socialist John Sayles, Oliver Stone is one of the few committed men of the left working in mainstream American cinema. A couple of years back he gave the kid gloves treatment to Fidel Castro in a couple of documentaries, and in this far-too-short movie he travels around Latin America interviewing seven democratically elected leftwing leaders: Venezuela's Hugo Chávez (who gets the lion's share of the running time), Bolivia's Evo Morales, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner (along with her husband, former president Néstor Kirchner), Brazil's Lula da Silva, Cuba's Raúl Castro, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, a liberation theologian and former bishop.
Stone looks like a benign version of Conrad Black, and his superficial movie is a healthy corrective to the coverage of Latin America in most of the North American media, especially the toxic bile spewed out by Fox News.
Stone looks like a benign version of Conrad Black, and his superficial movie is a healthy corrective to the coverage of Latin America in most of the North American media, especially the toxic bile spewed out by Fox News.
- 7/31/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Conrad Black is out of jail. He’s back in Palm Beach, out on bail—paid for by his friend and fellow conservative Roger Hertog—because the Supreme Court has ruled that he, along with other various abominated businessmen (including former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling), was convicted under a way-too-vague law. Black, who ran one of the world’s largest and most influential newspaper empires (the Telegraph in London, the Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun-Times), has no assets and faces many civil suits; even the Palm Beach house, which he once owned, is only being loaned to him for a few nights by its present owner. If I were a novel-writing sort, I would consider Black as a worthy character—not because of his fall, but because, even at 65 (in a sense, because he is only 65), he is bound to start again. Now Black is not a sympathetic figure (he and I have,...
- 7/26/2010
- Vanity Fair
Disgraced media mogul Conrad Black was released from prison on an unsecured two-million-dollar bond as he appealed his 2007 fraud conviction.Us District Judge Amy St. Eve agreed to Black's release on bond at a hearing with the proviso that he not leave the country until further notice, and ordered him to appear in court Friday to review the conditions of his release.Black, 65, has served more than two years of a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He is appealing his conviction for fraud on the basis of a Supreme Court ruling in his favor last month.Black was spending the night at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida after his release from a federal penitentiary in Coleman, Florida. But it was unclear how long he would be able to stay in the home due to financial troubles, and his lawyers were working to obtain permission for him to travel to Toronto."...
- 7/21/2010
- Filmicafe
On Monday, a Chicago appeals court granted bail to felled publishing giant Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International chairman who, in 2007, was convicted of defrauding Hollinger of $6.1 million and sentenced to 78 months in prison. However, the corruption law through which he—and, for example, Enron C.E.O. Jeff Skilling—was convicted was recently mitigated. According to The Guardian, to convict Black, “prosecutors used a law that allows for conviction if business leaders are found to have robbed investors of ‘honest services’. But twin decisions written by the supreme court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg rule that this law should only be applied to incidents of bribery and kickback schemes.”...
- 7/21/2010
- Vanity Fair
Many of the guests celebrating the publication of Vicky Ward's "The Devil's Casino," about the fall of Lehman Brothers, wondered why the author's handsome husband, Matthew Doull, wasn't in the Grill Room at the Four Seasons Wednesday night. Others looked at the left hand of the glamorous Vanity Fair writer, who was swathed in a stunning Marchesa gown, and noticed she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. But Ward's closest friends knew what had happened -- after 15 years of marriage and twin 7-year-old boys, the couple has split up. Doull moved a few weeks ago into the vacant apartment of Ward's friend Plum Sykes.
- 4/9/2010
- NYPost.com
By Sharon Waxman
Details continue to emerge about the impending sale of The Hollywood Reporter and other Nielsen titles including Billboard, Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek.
Now the Financial Times is reporting that, indeed, Lachlan Murdoch is involved in the deal as reported earlier.
I keep hearing this deal is all but done. Lachlan's investment group, Illyria, is teaming up with Pluribus Capital Management, "a new entity that includes James Finkelstein, the Us publisher of The Hill and Who’s Who, Matthew Doull, a nephew of Conrad Black and former publisher of Wired, and George Gr...
Details continue to emerge about the impending sale of The Hollywood Reporter and other Nielsen titles including Billboard, Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek.
Now the Financial Times is reporting that, indeed, Lachlan Murdoch is involved in the deal as reported earlier.
I keep hearing this deal is all but done. Lachlan's investment group, Illyria, is teaming up with Pluribus Capital Management, "a new entity that includes James Finkelstein, the Us publisher of The Hill and Who’s Who, Matthew Doull, a nephew of Conrad Black and former publisher of Wired, and George Gr...
- 11/30/2009
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Conrad Black's wife has launched a scathing attack on Henry Kissinger, charging that the former Secretary of State heartlessly abandoned her disgraced press-baron hubby during Conrad's trial for fraud and obstruction of justice. Writing in Maclean's magazine, Barbara Amiel, whose husband put Kissinger on his board of directors at Hollinger International, fumes: "We knew the rats had left the ship, taking with them the last shreds of their integrity: directors like Henry Kissinger, who had sworn eternal loyalty . . ." She accuses Kissinger and others of...
- 8/3/2008
- NYPost.com
TORONTO -- Former Canadian press baron Conrad Black was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in U.S. federal prison for obstruction of justice and mail fraud.
The fall of Canada's biggest newspaper publisher culminated in a Chicago courtroom, where judge Amy St. Eve sent Black to prison for his role in stealing $6.1 million from shareholders in U.S.-based publisher Hollinger International.
Black faced up to 24 years in prison. St. Eve opted instead for sentencing guidelines of six to eight years before finally settled on a term of 78 months.
Black also was fined $125,000 and ordered to forfeit $6.1 million to represent the proceeds of his crime. He is expected to appeal the conviction.
In July, Black and three other former Hollinger executives were found guilty of mail fraud for receiving noncompete payments after the sale of newspaper titles, money the jury concluded should have gone to Hollinger shareholders.
The three co-defendants -- Peter Atkinson, Jack Boultbee and Mark Kipnis -- also were to be sentenced Monday.
The fall of Canada's biggest newspaper publisher culminated in a Chicago courtroom, where judge Amy St. Eve sent Black to prison for his role in stealing $6.1 million from shareholders in U.S.-based publisher Hollinger International.
Black faced up to 24 years in prison. St. Eve opted instead for sentencing guidelines of six to eight years before finally settled on a term of 78 months.
Black also was fined $125,000 and ordered to forfeit $6.1 million to represent the proceeds of his crime. He is expected to appeal the conviction.
In July, Black and three other former Hollinger executives were found guilty of mail fraud for receiving noncompete payments after the sale of newspaper titles, money the jury concluded should have gone to Hollinger shareholders.
The three co-defendants -- Peter Atkinson, Jack Boultbee and Mark Kipnis -- also were to be sentenced Monday.
- 12/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday named Chicago Sun-Times publisher John Cruickshank head of its nationwide news-gathering operations, replacing the outgoing Tony Burman.
Cruickshank, a veteran Canadian print journalist who joined the Chicago Sun-Times Media Group in 2000, will take the newly created title of publisher of CBC News.
His appointment follows Burman's July exit as editor-in-chief of CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld. It also comes as the public broadcasters' news-gathering division leaps into the multiplatform age.
Giving Cruickshank the publisher title is aimed at putting the public broadcaster's news-gathering operations, whether at CBC Television, CBC Radio or CBC News Online, firmly in his control.
Cruickshank's tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times coincided with former Canadian media baron Conrad Black's time as CEO of parent Hollinger International. In 2003, Black was forced to leave his post at Hollinger International and, in July, he was found guilty in a Chicago courtroom of obstruction and fraud charges.
Cruickshank, a veteran Canadian print journalist who joined the Chicago Sun-Times Media Group in 2000, will take the newly created title of publisher of CBC News.
His appointment follows Burman's July exit as editor-in-chief of CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld. It also comes as the public broadcasters' news-gathering division leaps into the multiplatform age.
Giving Cruickshank the publisher title is aimed at putting the public broadcaster's news-gathering operations, whether at CBC Television, CBC Radio or CBC News Online, firmly in his control.
Cruickshank's tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times coincided with former Canadian media baron Conrad Black's time as CEO of parent Hollinger International. In 2003, Black was forced to leave his post at Hollinger International and, in July, he was found guilty in a Chicago courtroom of obstruction and fraud charges.
- 9/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Fallen Canadian media baron Conrad Black is facing hard time after being convicted Friday on mail fraud and obstruction of justice charges stemming from past business deals.
Toronto-based Black, who also is a British noble, faces up to 35 years in a U.S. prison after a Chicago federal jury convicted him and three former business associates for pocketing about $60 million in "noncompete" payments diverted from shareholders of Hollinger International, the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspaper titles, which they formerly ran.
Black was found guilty on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, which alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.
The federal jury found Black not guilty on nine other counts, including racketeering.
The three other Hollinger International executives -- John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson, and Chicago-based attorney Mark Kipnis -- also were found guilty of wire fraud and similarly face jail time.
Toronto-based Black, who also is a British noble, faces up to 35 years in a U.S. prison after a Chicago federal jury convicted him and three former business associates for pocketing about $60 million in "noncompete" payments diverted from shareholders of Hollinger International, the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspaper titles, which they formerly ran.
Black was found guilty on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, which alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.
The federal jury found Black not guilty on nine other counts, including racketeering.
The three other Hollinger International executives -- John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson, and Chicago-based attorney Mark Kipnis -- also were found guilty of wire fraud and similarly face jail time.
- 7/14/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Former Hollinger International boss David Radler on Sunday agreed to pay $63.4 million to settle a lawsuit with the Sun-Times Media Group, just hours before testimony started in the Chicago trial of fallen Canadian media mogul Conrad Black.
Vancouver-based Radler, who settled all claims over backdated stock options with Sun-Times, formerly known as Hollinger International, will be the star witness for U.S. prosecutors in the fraud and racketeering trial of Black, which got under way Monday.
Black and three other former executives at Hollinger International are facing U.S. federal charges that they illegally pocketed about $80 million in noncompete payments that were diverted away from company shareholders.
Radler, Black's longtime lieutenant, paid $28.7 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to settle allegations of wrongdoing in the downfall of Hollinger International, the newspaper group Radler and Black built and ran together.
The roughly $90 million in SEC and Hollinger International settlements this past weekend are seen as attempts by U.S.
Vancouver-based Radler, who settled all claims over backdated stock options with Sun-Times, formerly known as Hollinger International, will be the star witness for U.S. prosecutors in the fraud and racketeering trial of Black, which got under way Monday.
Black and three other former executives at Hollinger International are facing U.S. federal charges that they illegally pocketed about $80 million in noncompete payments that were diverted away from company shareholders.
Radler, Black's longtime lieutenant, paid $28.7 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to settle allegations of wrongdoing in the downfall of Hollinger International, the newspaper group Radler and Black built and ran together.
The roughly $90 million in SEC and Hollinger International settlements this past weekend are seen as attempts by U.S.
- 3/20/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- The Canadian media promises blanket coverage as Canadian media baron Conrad Black goes on trial Wednesday in the Chicago Federal Court on charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering.
The CTV national TV network is timing the launch of new nightly TV magazine show "The Verdict" to the trial's start and Toronto Life, a monthy magazine, is said to be preparing a Web site that will follow every nuance of the trial.
Black, the flamboyant owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and Britain's Daily Telegraph newspapers before his media empire began unravelling in 2003, faces an eight-count indictment for conspiring with former business associates to divert $83 million from his former Hollinger International newspaper groups for his personal use.
Those funds were allegedly received from the buyers of Hollinger newspaper titles. Among the possible witnesses in the Black trial will be Leonard Asper, CEO of CanWest Global Communications Corp., who bought a slew of Canadian newspaper titles from Hollinger in 2000.
The CTV national TV network is timing the launch of new nightly TV magazine show "The Verdict" to the trial's start and Toronto Life, a monthy magazine, is said to be preparing a Web site that will follow every nuance of the trial.
Black, the flamboyant owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and Britain's Daily Telegraph newspapers before his media empire began unravelling in 2003, faces an eight-count indictment for conspiring with former business associates to divert $83 million from his former Hollinger International newspaper groups for his personal use.
Those funds were allegedly received from the buyers of Hollinger newspaper titles. Among the possible witnesses in the Black trial will be Leonard Asper, CEO of CanWest Global Communications Corp., who bought a slew of Canadian newspaper titles from Hollinger in 2000.
- 3/14/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian broadcaster CTV will next week launch "The Verdict", a homegrown legal talk show, just as deposed Canadian media baron Conrad Black goes on trial on criminal fraud, racketeering and corruption charges in a Chicago courtroom.
Paula Todd, a former lawyer-turned-broadcaster, will anchor "The Verdict" on CTV Newsnet, CTV's headline news channel.
Todd joined CTV in February after working at rival broadcaster TVOntario, where she hosted "Person to Person" and "Studio 2".
Modelled on the U.S. legal eagle shows hosted by Greta Van Susteren and Nancy Grace, "The Verdict" will bow just as jury selection begins to try Black and former business associates for diverting $83 million from the former Hollinger International newspaper group for his personal use.
The eight-count indictment against Black was laid two years ago by Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. On Tuesday, Fitzgerald secured convictions for perjury and obstructing justice against Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
Paula Todd, a former lawyer-turned-broadcaster, will anchor "The Verdict" on CTV Newsnet, CTV's headline news channel.
Todd joined CTV in February after working at rival broadcaster TVOntario, where she hosted "Person to Person" and "Studio 2".
Modelled on the U.S. legal eagle shows hosted by Greta Van Susteren and Nancy Grace, "The Verdict" will bow just as jury selection begins to try Black and former business associates for diverting $83 million from the former Hollinger International newspaper group for his personal use.
The eight-count indictment against Black was laid two years ago by Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. On Tuesday, Fitzgerald secured convictions for perjury and obstructing justice against Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
TORONTO -- Discredited Canadian media baron Conrad Black is expected to surrender to U.S. authorities Nov. 30 after he was a no-show Tuesday at his scheduled arraignment in Chicago on eight fraud-related charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The eight-day delay follows a phone call Monday night from Black's lead lawyer, Eddie Greenspan, to the U.S. Attorney's Office to say that his client needed more time to secure U.S. legal representation, assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kent said Tuesday at a news conference in Chicago. Black and his wife, Barbara Ameil, attended a gala dinner last week in Toronto, two days before the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago charged him and three other former executives of Hollinger International Inc. with bilking the Chicago-based newspaper publishing company of $84 million in shareholder funds.
- 11/22/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Disgraced Canadian media baron Conrad Black on Thursday was charged with fraud by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. The 11-count indictment charges Black and three former executives at newspaper publisher Hollinger International Inc. with two "alleged fraud schemes." It follows an August guilty plea to mail fraud by longtime Black business partner David Radler. That plea was part of a deal with U.S. criminal investigators. In its latest indictment, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service charged Black, John Boultbee and Peter Atkinson, both former executive vps of Hollinger International, and Mark Kipnis, former corporate counsel at the Chicago-based newspaper publisher, with allegedly swindling millions of dollars from Hollinger International, the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, among other newspapers.
- 11/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- U.S. federal prosecutors have opened a criminal probe into embattled Canadian press baron Conrad Black and longtime business associate David Radler. In the first hint of a criminal investigation, Chicago-based federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on Monday filed court papers that pointed to an investigation into Black and Radler over their stewardship of Hollinger International Inc., the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other international newpapers. The latest news surrounding Hollinger International comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursues civil fraud charges against Black and Radler, accusing them of using their newspaper assets as "their personal piggy bank."...
- 3/24/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian broadcasters on Thursday announced their new homegrown dramas for the 2005-2006 season, with pubcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and rival commercial broadcaster CTV unveiling separate telefilms about embattled Canadian press baron Conrad Black. The CBC ordered 127 original hours of fictional fare in all, including Conrad Black, a telefilm based on a recent biography by George Toombs. Separately, CTV -- Canada's top-rated private broadcaster -- said it had ordered Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story, a rags-to-riches biopic based on a biography by Richard Siklos.
TORONTO -- Canadian press baron Conrad Black on Tuesday was accused of overstating circulation figures at the Chicago Sun-Times and The Jerusalem Post, prompting expensive rebates to advertisers. The allegations of circulation inflation were contained in the results of an internal review by Chicago Sun-Times publisher Hollinger International Inc. into its operations under Black and Hollinger chief operating officer David Radler until their ouster late last year. Last month, Hollinger Inc. in a separate filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Black and Radler used the U.S.-based newspaper publishing company as a "piggy bank" from which more than $400 million was taken to pay for private jets, club memberships and other personal luxuries.
- 10/6/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian press baron Conrad Black was accused Tuesday of treating Chicago Sun-Times publisher Hollinger International as a "piggy bank" from which more than $400 million was taken to pay for private jets, club memberships and other personal luxuries. Those allegations were contained in a 40-page report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by a special committee probing financial improprieties at Hollinger International Inc., which was controlled by Black and Hollinger chief operating officer David Radler until their ouster late last year. "Behind a constant stream of bombast regarding their accomplishments as self-described proprietors, Black and Radler made it their business to line their pockets at the expense of Hollinger almost every day, in almost every way they could devise," the report says.
- 8/31/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian press baron Conrad Black was accused Tuesday of treating Chicago Sun-Times publisher Hollinger International as a "piggy bank" from which more than $400 million was taken to pay for private jets, club memberships and other personal luxuries. Those allegations were contained in a 40-page report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by a special committee probing financial improprieties at Hollinger International Inc., which was controlled by Black and Hollinger chief operating officer David Radler until their ouster late last year. "Behind a constant stream of bombast regarding their accomplishments as self-described proprietors, Black and Radler made it their business to line their pockets at the expense of Hollinger almost every day, in almost every way they could devise," the report says.
- 8/31/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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