Columbia Pictures announced today that they are acquiring the first look rights for film adaptation to the Sunday Styles Modern Love column. That astoundingly marks the second development deal Modern Love has inked lately. Earlier, HBO announced plans to develop a series about a fictional editor of the column.

Variety reports that since signing a representation deal with ICM, the Times has closed "north of 20 option deals for film or TV projects, including the recent sale to Lifetime and Sony TV of the article At an Age for Music and Dreams, Real Life Intrudes."

That story told of a young violinist in Ohio, struggling to find the means to pursue her symphony dreams.

Among some of the other recently optioned journalismisms:

• This Strange Thing Called Prom: The story of teenage Senagalese immigrants in Brooklyn going to the prom.
• The story of a 12 year old food critic who cons his way into swanky restaurants.
• Mystery on 5th Avenue: About an uptown apartment that doubles as some kind of Da Vinci Code-like puzzle for kids to climb around and solve.

Sensing a pattern? After all this talk about internets, and opening up the media conversation and aggregating vs. reporting, it all comes down to what people want is quirky kids' stories. A few dozen of those a year, feeding directly via ICM into the Hollywood machinery and the Times will be able to shut down those printing presses once and for all and give everybody bonuses to boot! Throw in a couple wacky contemporary romance ideas and the whole Times building can take the day off to go yacht shopping.

However, looking at the Times homepage today, it seems like there's a more than a few reporters on the beat who don't want to be millionaires. Everywhere you look you see, "Pope Sets Plan for Disaffected Anglicans to Join Catholics" and "Hopes Fade for Comprehensive Climate Treaty." Sorry to break the news to John Broder and Rachel Donadio, but that is not what we call entertainment.

Follow the jump for the official all-clear, plus a brief anthology of survivor stories from the front.

——-Original Message——-
From: xxxx
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 1:29 PM
To: xxxx
Subject: MGM Tower Threat

Please be advised that the police department didn't find anything problematic so there is no longer a cause for concern. Please return to work. Thank you for your cooperation.

And now, word from the displaced:

[E]verything seems ok. Icm is done cat calling caa assists across the street I guess cause they're returning now. Le sigh. Back to work. Just another crazy thing to happen in century city I'd hate to see what's next.

Friend of mine just had lunch next to evacuees —they said the receptionist who took the call couldn't tell whether it was a young boy or young girl.

The all clear came in @1:30, nothing found, and a slightly passive aggressive "please return to work right the fuck now" (w/me adding "the fuck") on the auto recording — threat was called into a something called a "christianson glaser" (not sp correctly) — and there's a guy playing ragtime on the grand piano in the bldg lobby. Literally writing this, most work I've done today.

Follow the jump for the full memo, and best wishes to those affected in Century City. Developing...

——— Forwarded Message
From: xxxx
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 10:30:25 -0700
To: xxxx
Conversation: Building Evacuation
Subject: Building Evacuation

Please be advised that another tenant in the MGM Tower has received a bomb threat. The Los Angeles Police Department has been notified and is on site. Although the threat indicated that the device would be activated at noon, nothing has been verified at this time, as a precaution we have decided to evacuate the building between 11am and 2pm. You will be evacuated by the Floor Warden’s two floors at a time.

Please call the MGM Hotline for an all-clear prior to returning to the MGM Tower at 2:00 pm, the number is [redacted].

Primarily through new ventures that not only go around the studios, but around traditional distribution entirely. While the networks and studios all have subsidiaries producing content strictly for online distribution, the talent contracts are still typical pay-as-you-go deals (and meager at that). Agencies have been most enthusiastic about new busines models — probably because they're already realizing efficiencies in terms of talent discovery using the Internet, which allows them to get around scouts and managers and reach new faces easily and cheaply.

A number of agencies have begun embracing new models. 60frames, an online video startup, took $3.5 million in venture funding and was incubated by the United Talent Agency. Creative Artists Agency is assembling a $200 million venture fund with partner Draper Fisher Jurvetson. International Creative Management is reportedly talking to Qualcomm about raising their own cash. And William Morris has helped back a $500 million SPAC to fund M&A deals, with Ashton Kutcher serving on the board. The draw for the agencies is the ability to own a piece of the company that distributes work from their own talent stables.

The only problem is, that gives them a conflict of interest when negotiating with the studios. Why pitch deals to the studio for the standard 10 percent cut when in-house deals would result in agency fees and back-end profits? And no one knows how this will shake out for talent. As LivePlanet producer Sean Bailey pointed out to reporter Laura M. Holson, "People in Silicon Valley too want their pound of flesh."

(Photo by Getty/Sharon Dominick)

After bundling talent for Spielberg projects including Close Encounters of the Third Kind to E.T., McElwaine returned to the studio front office in 1981, guiding Columbia Pictures to an Oscar win for Gandhi and blockbusters like Ghostbusters and The Karate Kid. His final stint at ICM ran from 1988 to 1998, when he took up production roles once again at Trilogy Entertainment and Morgan Creek.

Over at Deadline Hollywood Daily yesterday, Nikki Finke offered a fine obit remembering the "charming, martini-drinking, storytelling Irishman" whose career intersected with everyone from Elvis Presley to Joe Eszterhas — the latter of whose infamous "Eszterhas memo" surfaced after the screenwriter recounted Michael Ovitz's threats should he leave CAA to re-sign with McElwaine at ICM. Oh, the good old days. This Guy will be missed.

• Agent Guy McElwaine dies at 71 [Variety]