The Chapter 11 filing doesn't affect the production arm of of Yari Film Group, which was responsible for Crash and has another two putative Oscar contenders this fall in What Doesn't Kill You and Nothing But the Truth. The latter film opens under the cloud this Friday, a week after a court order requiring the reorganization; to Yari's credit, he said he has no plans to cut jobs or benefits, though he does, alas, still intend to make the Jennifer Lopez romcom The Governess.

The Yari library, for what it's worth, is expected to get a close inspection in the months going forward. Tip to creditors: Keep The Illusionist, set Winter Passing on fire, sell the rest for parts. And if you can somehow wrangle YFG's rights to the languishing Joe Carnahan adaptation of Killing Pablo? Maybe shuffle them over to Miramax or Fox Searchlight? You'd make a lot of people's days.

• Bob Yari crashes into Chapter 11 [Variety]

Story centers on a professional thief who, in order to pull off a major bank heist, poses as a nanny to the three unruly children of a wealthy widower. When she starts to fall for the kids and their father, she must decide if she can give up her past for a chance to start over.

Playing the help has seemed to work for J-Lo in the past, with her highest-grossing entry Maid in Manhattan sure to inform Governess's delicate balance between sass and servitude. Failing that (and with a SAG waiver in place, its the audience, not the encroaching labor woes, that would kill it), Lopez has a back-up ready with Governess co-screenwriter Don Roos, who has already attached her for his own comedy Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. All of which can only mean one thing, naturally: Madre's will be back to its old Pasadena-institution self by New Year's. We can't wait.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]

• Jennifer Lopez to star in 'Governess' [Variety]

· The week started with ex-Miramax/present Film Department topper Mark Gill declaring at length to LA Film Festival attendees that, "Yes, The Sky Really is Falling":

The marginally good news is it won't hit the ground everywhere. The strongest of the strong will survive and in fact prosper. But it will feel like we just survived a medieval plague. The carnage and the stench will be overwhelming.

Of course, it's fashionable to bitch in the independent film world. It's what we do. We brood. We wear black. We drink too much coffee, followed by too much alcohol. And we bemoan a future devoid of real culture, homogenized to death by unfeeling conglomerates, and increasingly determined by ADD-addled 14-year-olds with nothing but internet porn and Grand Theft Auto on the brain.

Gill tried to end on a positive note ("If you really want to make movies—even after all the unvarnished bad news I've dumped on you today—then by all means do it"), but by then the place looked like Jonestown. By most accounts around the festival this week, it still does.

· Production on Nailed shut down for the fourth time as David Bergstein's Capitol Films once again failed to meet payroll on the set.

· Capitol's sister company, ThinkFilm, is on the defensive against director Alex Gibney, who initiated a lawsuit to reclaim his Oscar-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. They hate each other — in public.

· Variety's resident indie coroner Anne Thompson counts off more dumb money in various stages of decompostion, including Philippe Martinez, Sidney Kimmel and Crash financier Bob Yari.

· Edgy horror and foreign-fare distributor Tartan Films shut its doors permanently on Thursday.

· Toby Emmerich has downgraded from a Mercedes to a Lexus hybrid. Indeed, repent — the end is near.

[Photo Credit: IndieWIRE]

The films will go out through Entertainment One, a distribution upstart operating in the long shadow of the Canadian monolith Alliance Films. First up is the Mischa Barton/Bruce Willis flailer Assassination of a High School President, followed by Kate Beckinsale's turn as a Judith Miller-esque reporter in Nothing But the Truth. Yari also has the much-anticipated adaptation of Killing Pablo forthcoming, directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Javier Bardem as the mythic drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. (His own Yari Film Releasing will distribute in the US.) Canadian sources close to Defamer denied the rumor of a clause requiring an honorary Genie Award being added at the last minute, however, thus vexing Yari's trophy-case aspirations until at least 2011.

• Yari strikes output deal with Entertainment One [Variety]

"Mr. Yari's legal representatives have indicated his intention to continue pressing his cause at a higher level," he wrote, referring to the case as a "petulant, nonsensical lawsuit." "So we assume that we can look forward to spending many additional thousands of dollars pointlessly a year or so down the road."

As a matter of course, Hollywood generally sublimates conflict beneath a patina of glitter and avoidance, but Mr. Davis sent a message in breathtakingly direct fashion. "We are not in any sense a vindictive organization," his note continues, "but neither are we schmucks: please let Mr. Yari know that for the next half-dozen years or so, unless he personally is a nominee, his Oscar night plans should not include the Governors Ball."

To make sure that his warning is heeded by those who might think to challenge the Academy's credit decisions with future petulant and nonsensical legal actions, Davis will renew his threats at this year's Governors Ball gala, briefly interrupting the festivities to announce over the public address system, "Good evening, Friends of Oscar! Are you enjoying our delicious food? Take a minute to savor what you're chewing. If you ever—EVER—try to make us look like schmucks, that will be the last fucking mouthful of our free sushi you ever taste. Enjoy the rest of your evening!"

• Deciding Eligibility for Oscar [NY Times]

"I was not invited to the premiere," Shulman confirmed to Page Six. "I went as Paul Giamatti's date."

"When I saw [Yari], I said hello. He didn't say anything, but let's put it this way - if looks could kill . . . and they didn't give me a wristband to get in the VIP section of the after-party."

Not that Schulman minded. We hear she joined the cast at Norton's pad on East 10th Street for a super-exclusive after-party - to which Yari was not invited.

"It's just an unfortunate and unnecessary situation," she said. "I still haven't been paid for 'Crash' or 'The Illusionist.' "

Oh, those two! The petty antics continued deep into the night, until Schulman stopped answering her cellphone, finally tired of having the private cast after-party interrupted by a series of calls from "Blocked Caller ID" consisting of nothing more than the sound of a toilet flushing and a man giggling uncontrollably.

• CRASH OF WILLS AT FLICK DEBUT [Page Six]