We noted back in April that Rozhetskin, a lawyer/telecom baron in a not-too-distant former life, went missing after traveling to his home in Latvia. Blood matching his DNA was found, but neither Rozhetskin nor his plane were; while making plenty of friends in Hollywood, he'd apparently made even more enemies in the suspect Russian oligarchy. No biggie, Eisner decided after two years of talks:

Irwin Russell, the Eisner family's lawyer and a former Disney board member, vetted Rozhetskin and gave his okay. On January 18, 2006, Eric and Rozhetskin formed L&E Productions and started looking for projects.

Things for Rozhetskin quickly deteriorated. In June, IPOC International Growth Fund, a Bermuda-based investment firm, accused him of defrauding it of millions in a cell-phone deal. Rozhetskin retaliated in September 2006, filing a lawsuit in New York federal court. He claimed that IPOC was actually a money-laundering vehicle for Leonid Reiman, then Russia's telecommunications minister. He also claimed that Reiman had threatened his life and strong-armed Russian prosecutors into opening the criminal investigation. Less than a month after Rozhetskin filed the suit, Russian prosecutors charged him with fraud and placed him on the country's wanted list.

Under those circumstances, it's still anyone's guess how or why Rozhetskin wound up in Latvia while supposedly en route to Thailand. Meanwhile, Rozhetzkin's fantastic, model-clutching Flickr stream has been yanked ("Leonid Rozhetskin is no longer active on Flickr," visitors are eerily told; his still-active MySpace page was last updated two weeks before his disappearance). Portfolio reports that Eisner has closed his L&E Productions Web site, is working a Bill Graham biopic and may yet find his father among his investors. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too.

• Who's Your Daddy? [Portfolio]

Rozhetskin had sworn enemies all over the former Soviet bloc, where he was named in 2006 as part of an international money laundering scheme aimed at Russian telecoms. He had long been an outsider (and US citizen) fiercely critical of Russian ex-president Vladimir Putin's regime, which kept him a target in exile but not necessarily out of the public eye (if his Flickr stream is any indication). He left a meandering network of personal blogs and a MySpace page last updated March 19 in his wake as well, with most devoted to the trajectory of his partnership with Eric Eisner in L+E Productions — which struck gold two months ago at Sundance when Focus Features bought its first offering, the Steve Coogan/Catherine Keener comedy Hamlet 2, for a festival-high $10 million.

The Post mentions Rozhetskin was en route to Phuket, Thailand when he went missing; his wife and son are under watch in London. Our best wishes are with them and Eisner, but the odds here are more than a little sobering.

[Photos via Leonid Rozhetskin's Flickr]

• Movie Murder Mystery [NYP]

As we wrote here earlier today, the WGA constitution lays out a few timelines for when the strike could be called off. One permissible timeline would have a ratification vote completed by Wednesday.

In light of that option, many members have contacted U.H. privately or posted comments stating the importance of having time to digest the deal points and make up their minds in a responsible way. Keenly aware that there are pilots, tv shows, movies, jobs and a popular ceremony hanging in the balance, they are not asking for weeks, but rather days. When weighed against the three-year life of this contract (or possibly twenty-year life, if DVDs are any indication) 72 hours seems a very reasonable request.

WGA presidents Patric Verrone and Michael Winship have stated that no action will be taken until some consensus emerges among the membership. We have faith that they will do that. When they say they will let the membership decide, we take them at their word.

Should it become clear on Saturday night that the memberships in New York and LA need a day or two to digest the deal points, we think they will respect that. Likewise, if it's clear that the majority of members strongly supports the contract, we could be back at work on Monday.

Do with this information what you will: the optimistic might want to hit Party Plus to stock up on plastic champagne flutes for their late Saturday night Let's Get Back To Work! bacchanals, while the more resolutely suspicious could head to CostCo to hoard the canned peaches, enormous bottles of Ketel One and pallets of Ramen noodles that will get them through the six strike-ravaged months that follow the discovery of a secret "the studios reserve the right to demand a full refund of all internet-derived payments should the next The Office webisode fail to draw 500 million hits" clause the studios have quietly inserted into the contract. Should you opt for the party route, please make sure Mr. Eisner receives an invitation; it's the least you can do to repay him for finally bringing this thing to an end.

• Getting Ready for Saturday Night [United Hollywood]

And then there's the person advancing the project: Mark Welte, a San Francisco-based copywriter whose achievements, if you can call them that, include naming Nokia's ill-fated N-Gage handheld videogame player. Welte offered me a finder's fee, which I'm afraid I must decline: I'll take my payment in publishing this post and learning what becomes of this odd quest. Welte's email:

Dear Mr. Thomas,

As you're at the epicenter of what makes life in Silicon Valley somuch fun—i.e. the people—I wonder if I might enlist a smidge of truly insightful help from you.

I'm an adopted San Franciscan, working in advertising, making a transition into the film business. My partners in LA and I have a slate of films, offers to finance, two options and three original properties, and a true team of talent, and we're ready to start making movies. We have a unique investment plan for a prospective cash-flowing-partner, one in which our deep-pocketed partner's funds are well protected by government-backed tax breaks and similar vehicles, and we're looking for $4.5MM to get the ball rolling (about a tenth of the money is for development, and the remainder is for a portion of the production, thereby earning us leverage for the back end participation.)

Surely someone in your position knows of some mad money character or two in the Valley who has an interest in Hollywood, and would love to see their name on the big screen as an Executive Producer. If you can be of any assistance in our search, it would be greatly appreciated, and we would reward you with a finder's fee if such a cash flowing partner could be signed.

We're interested in individuals or a small group of investors, only. I have a business plan to share with interested parties. The first film is an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author James B. Stewart's book, Disney War: it's about Michael Eisner.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Mark Welte
Hainan Productions

• Studio chief scorecard [LAT]
• Previously: Angry Hollywood Ex-Wives On The Warpath! [Defamer]

We'd completely forgotten that our favorite former Disney CEO had a cute little chat show over on CNBC (we'll have to do some research and figure out if we get that channel), until a helpful tipster forwarded us this clip from an upcoming episode of Conversations with Michael Eisner, reminding us of all the fun we've been missing out on by excluding it from our TiVo season pass list. We have no idea about what other delights are in store for us if we tune in on Monday night, but we imagine nothing that happens can top burgeoning trading card mogul Eisner and old buddy John sharing a laugh—and a stick of decades-old gum—over the actor's Barbarino rookie card. Don't eat it, Michael! It tastes like the 70s!

• Michael Eisner Samples 25-Year-Old Gum w/ John Travolta [YouTube]
• Conversations with Michael Eisner [CNBC]

There were no surprises in last night's debut episode of "Conversations with Michael Eisner." Every choice quote was previewed by David Carr in Monday's New York Times. Eisner seemed to give CNBC his best shot by selecting familiar guests, but the graphic packaging and cheesy voiceover made an otherwise smart dialogue feel like an informercial or advertorial.

The set, designed by Frank Gehry, was cold and metallic, reminiscent of the interior bow of a ship. What's the point of taping at Rockefeller Plaza if your set looks like a nuclear bunker?

Eisner's first guest, Martha Stewart, appeared constrained as she sat on the other side of a long, large table likely formed by the melding of some precious virgin wood. "This is definitely one lady who knows how to make lemonade from lemons," Eisner said upfront. As Stewart and Eisner agreed on the merits of micromanagement and strategies of synergy, I found myself distracted by the ever-present but useless ticker at the bottom of the screen displaying global weather forecasts (62/38 in Raleigh, 47/35 in London, 45/35 in Frankfurt). That has to go. Eisner told Stewart her "brand extension" is "awesome" while Stewart revealed that she strives for "excellence," not perfection.

The conversation turned gossipy as they shared opinions of Hillary Clinton. "I think she very clearly can be the candidate to be the next president," Eisner said. Stewart believes people "misunderstand Hillary and her stability," which "helped keep the American government stable."

Stewart allowed herself the opportunity to hit back at Donald Trump for his shots at her reality television failure. "This guy goes berserk," Eisner said. "Excellent description," Stewart responded. "I am a creative person. I would not want to be the second apprentice." She would have preferred to do "The Entrepreneur" and feels deceived by NBC.

Stewart talked about being friendly to her fellow inmates during her prison stint. "You certainly want to have people on your side," she said. "I made their days brighter." Eisner, though, shared that he finds it difficult to think when there is "no divider in the john." Too much information.

Eisner then sat down with Bran Ferren —"part innovator, part scientist." Ferren designed the Tower of Terror as Disney's "head of technology" under Eisner. On the design requirements of the free- fall ride, Ferren noted, "If you only kill one tenth of one percent of [your customers], it's not good for business."

Eisner pressed the bearded Ferren on the future of the United States. Ferren, who is developing a car that can avoid accidents and is working with government intelligence agencies, is concerned that research and development along with design and innovation are "rapidly disappearing." He predicted nanotechnology will be able to
clean arteries or provide permanent connections to the Internet to answer questions at any moment.

The final conversation was with Sir Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony. There were no hard-hitting or unconventional questions about business, for better or for worse. Eisner played the Charlie Rose role surprisingly well, though with the same tendency to talk over his guests. Stringer said the Japanese executives in the company "sort of expect me to say something mildly idiotic."

Asked Eisner, "How do you compete against the iPod? Do you make a better technology or a better commercial?" Stringer replied, "That's very clever," then talked about the need to upgrade Sony's software to better compete: the merging of content, software, and technology is the challenge.

And there goes the hour. Is there hope for this show? The jury is out. At the conclusion, Eisner teased his upcoming interview with Regis Philbin, who harbors some beef about the cancellation of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Regis is no Martha and he's definitely not in Ferren's league. Hopefully Eisner won't succumb to the
ratings race for empty chitchat. At least get Tina Brown pronto.

• Eisner interviews Stewart [CNBC TV on MSNBC.com]

On the Disney takeover of Pixar, it seems you weren't really keen to go ahead with it when you were Disney CEO. I don't think there's anything about this acquisition that you can find me being quoted about. I really feel that it would be inappropriate. Bob Iger is CEO of the company, the board chose to make that deal, and I support it.

So there's no smoke?
Well, there's smoke, but I'm not going to tell you where the smoke's leading.

What do you mean by that?
Nothing.

One place the smoke is definitely not leading is the secret Steve Jobs Effigy Wing of Eisner's mansion, where dozens of charred likenesses of the Pixar chief quietly smolder, commemorating his now-irrelevant feud with Jobs. Several renegade, mercenary Imagineers are hard at work on easily flammable representations of Bob Iger, whose role in destroying Eisner's cherished pissing-match legacy will be celebrated by a new round of ceremonial scorchings.

• The Upside of Ego [Newsweek]
• Previously: Michael Eisner Mulls The Future [Defamer]]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=153641&view=rss&microfeed=true · Michael Eisner finally finds some meaning for his post-Disney existence, signing up to host a bi-monthly CNBC talk show, the aptly named Conversations with Michael Eisner. The network says the show "will focus on the importance of creativity and innovation in all pursuits, from business to politics to entertainment," but with an eye toward "wistfully reminiscing about Eisner's days as the most powerful man in Hollywood, which I—excuse us—he totally was." [Variety]
  · Rosie O'Donnell is producing a sketch comedy show for MTV network Logo. Think Saturday Night Live, but you know, gay. And probably funnier. OK, maybe not. [THR]
  · Relieved to have big bully Monday Night Football out of the way, Two and a Half Men beats up on the premiere of Emily's Reasons Why Not, which we predict (as we must) will be gone by early February. [Variety]
  · EuroSlump '05: European movie ticket sales were down in 2005, though revenue still increased a bit. Who can we invade to halt the slide? [THR]
  · The TV Academy may change its rules to define its comedy category to include only traditional sitcoms, leaving "dramedies" (and please, for the love of God, don't use the term "comerama") like Boston Legal and Desperate Housewives to get hammered in the drama contest by Lost at the Emmys. [Variety]
  
  
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=147749&view=rss&microfeed=true Aimless, drifting retiree Michael Eisner's severance contract might forbid him from poaching his favorite Disney cast members until 2007, but it can't stop the ambitious mogul from hooking up with that most coveted of entrepreneurial partners, the anonymous Craigslist poster with big ideas:

  Michael Eisner - I have your next gig!
  If anyone can hook me up with Michael Eisner, that would be great. I havev the next multi-media film/toy/toothpaste mega-franchise, and he is the man to make it happen. This is non-sexual in nature, so don't think the wrong things.

  I am serious - this is the type of thing that they will want to make toothpaste and also toothbrushes out of.

  For your connection, you will be compensated monetarily. If you are reading this yourself, Mr. Eisner, you yourself will get the finders fee. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I am serious.

  What's Eisner got to lose by taking a chance on somebody with mysterious (but promising) multimedia-and-dental-care-tie-in dreams? When Walt scribbled up that skinny, steamboat-piloting mouse, people laughed, but decades later that cartoon rodent made Eisner rich enough to buy himself a midsize chain of Pacific islands.

  • Michael Eisner - I have your next gig! [Craigslist]
  • Previously: Michael Eisner Mulls The Future [Defamer]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=140513&view=rss&microfeed=true The LAT reports that retired Disney CEO Michael Eisner has had some informal, "Hey, at an unspecified date in the future, maybe you and I can get together and build a rival media company once my lawyers are satisfied that a court will find such future partnerships don't violate my severance deal" chats with a couple of his former lieutenants, but still hasn't made up his mind about his much-chattered-about next step. So why can't the set-up-for-untold- generations former mogul just fill his infinity pool with hundred dollar bills, pull up a deck chair, and watch as the crisp bills flutter placidly over the edge and out of sight? Because retirement is, like, totally boring:

  Eisner has said publicly that he plans to stick to what he knows best: "the nitty-gritty of the creative process." Golf holds no interest. Neither does lounging by the beach.

  
  Not surprisingly, in recent weeks Eisner has asked his retired friends what they do all day, confiding in one that after working out and reading the paper in the morning, he's at a loss for how to spend his time.

  Control-freak, empire-building habits die hard, and with hundreds of millions of dollars practically begging to be dumped into a new media venture, it's just too painful to contemplate spending his twilight years slathered in sunscreen on his section of Malibu beach, reading the trades, and waiting for the Reaper to tickle him behind the Mickey ears.

  • Eisner Gives Clues to Next Move [LAT]
  • Previously: Disney In Transition: What Will Eisner Do? [Defamer]
  • Inside The Lame Duck Executive: The Twilight Of Michael Eisner [Defamer]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=140446&view=rss&microfeed=true · "They've given me complete freedom," said lead-handed Crash director/screenwriter Paul Haggis, in reference to a pilot he's doing for NBC. Have more frightening words ever been spoken?
  · This Dr. Phil clip made us taste bile, not chuckle, so officially we're still waiting The Showbiz Show to deliver its first laugh. There, we said it.
  · Somewhere on the Fox lot, a series of high fives are being exchanged, as the network dominated the Parents Television Council's list of worst shows for primetime family viewing with The War at Home, Family Guy, American Dad, The OC, That 70s Show, and Arrested Development all meriting inclusion. Celebratory Fox News Cafe theme menu to follow—the I'm Terrified My Daughter Is Dating A Black Guy War at Home meatloaf is going to be delicious.
  · We really hate to see Ari Emanuel confused. Maybe he shouldn't think so hard about politics and just take a little cat nap whenever he gets the urge to blog.
  · Also, will someone help Michael Eisner find a job? It breaks our heart to think he's sitting around feeling unfulfilled, but we can't say we didn't see this coming.
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=132063&view=rss&microfeed=true An SEC filing reveals that Michael Eisner has resigned his seat on Disney's board of directors and "no longer provides any services" for the company, seemingly killing our crazy hope that he'd one day serve us a piping-hot churro outside the Haunted Mansion. Our Mouse ears are limp with grief, etc etc. The filing also discloses details of new CEO Bob Iger's compensation package; after paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in salary and bonuses to Eisner over his two decade tenure, it looks like the company wants Iger to earn his coming fuck-you money:

  Iger, whom Eisner endorsed as his replacement, will be paid a base annual salary of $2 million during his five-year contract and will be eligible for a performance-based bonus of at least $7.25 million a year. He also will be eligible for as much as $8 million a year in "equity-based long-term incentive awards" to be determined by the board of directors.

  Iger also will receive a one-time grant of 500,000 shares of Disney stock that will begin vesting in 2008 — but only if the stock outperforms the Standard & Poor's 500 index and if Iger meets other, unspecified goals set by the board's compensation committee.

  Corporate compensation experts said Iger's deal meant that if he didn't perform, he wouldn't get paid the big bucks.

  Given the scrutiny that executive compensation deals have recently undergone, the hurdles that Iger must clear to earn his performance-based bonuses are formidable. For example, to collect his first $10 million dollar award, on the day of his six-month review, Iger must ride Space Mountain three times with his eyes closed—and here's the clincher—without crying "in the manner of a five year-old girl." He's never going to see that money.

  • Eisner Makes an Early Exit at Disney [LAT]
  • Previously: Michael Eisner Has Left The Kingdom [Defamer]
  • Bob Iger Kills Muppets [Defamer]
  • Disney In Transition: What Will Eisner Do? [Defamer]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=129788&view=rss&microfeed=true On Friday, Michael Eisner officially stepped down as Head Mouse in Charge of the Walt Disney Company, ending his roughly two decades astride the Magic Kingdom. A Defamer spy stood in the sweltering heat to listen to Eisner's final address to his "cast members," filing this report:

  Just a few morsels from [Friday's] studio send-off of Michael Eisner where the biggest Mouseketeer of them all bid the Disney cast members a fond farewell. Grinning through his clenched jaw, tongue firmly planted between gums and cheek, Eisner took the podium in front of the Disney Commissary to say a few parting words—evidently the man's presence conveniently conjured up the heats of hell as no fewer than three hundred Mouse employees gathered (standing room only mind-you) underneath the insufferable rays of the Valley sun.

  Nevertheless, while fending off heat stroke, employees were graced with a few "good 'ole time" stories from Eisner's tenure. 1-Being forced to taste-test the food at a Disney World Restaurant that he likened to dog crap. 2. Cruising New York City in a Mouse Limousine where Frank G. Wells was solicited by a prostitute, and he was appropriately offended that she didn't offer him the same services. Oh- and he went on to refer to the homeless person who urinated on the tire of the aforementioned limo as an "animal." Eisner: a humanitarian until the bitter end. He continued to make a few comments about how tomorrow he would be able to say "what he really thought" of people within the House of Mouse, but today, he was gracious for everyone's drive and effort and magic during his 21 years. He concluded after what I felt was an all-too-long applause from the onlookers and then exited behind the Roy Disney building - but not before flashing what could not be mistaken as the Richard Nixon peace-pose, which drew its fair share of laughter.

  We hope that new CEO Bob Iger can figure out some way to utilize his predecessor without compromising his own authority, mostly because Eisner's going to find it hard to find another workplace (one that doesn't involve quarter-powered personal video booths, at least) where it's considered cute to show up in nothing but red shorts, white gloves, and a pair of oversized mouse ears.

  Elsewhere: Reporter Kim Masters pens a farewell note to Eisner at Slate, and the LAT gives the highlights of Eisner's good-bye e-mail to his former subjects.

  • Disney In Transition: What Will Eisner Do? [Defamer]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=128826&view=rss&microfeed=true Just two days away from officially stepping down as CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner is seeking a new, reduced role within the company, and, more importantly, an office in which to spend time wistfully staring out the window while listening to the hypnotic clack-clack of his favorite desk toy, remembering the good old days. From the LAT:

  His exact role with Disney in the future remains unclear. Publicly, Eisner has said only that he expects to remain in the entertainment field. Behind the scenes, however, he is seeking continuing ties to the company. [...]

  Eisner had considered moving into the vacant office of Roy E. Disney, a former dissident director who quit in a dispute with the CEO and later led a shareholder revolt that resulted in Eisner being stripped of his chairmanship title.

  That office had once been occupied by Roy's uncle, Walt, as well as by Eisner himself.

  Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha acknowledged that Eisner had considered keeping an office on the company's Burbank lot but chose not to do so. She would not say where an office might be found for the ex-CEO.

  If new CEO Bob Iger can't find a place to harmlessly stash his predecessor (i.e., he can't find a good excuse to fire the guy who runs the churro cart outside the Haunted Mansion), Eisner will have to accept the fate of all retired Disney Supreme Leaders: being cryogenically frozen while awaiting eventual installation in the Epcot Center's planned Hall Of Executives exhibit.

  • Eisner Looks Back and Ahead [LAT]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=128015&view=rss&microfeed=true · David Geffen called off talks for NBC Universal to buy DreamWorks, stepping away from the table when NBC Uni reduced their offer "on the 1-yard line," noting partner Steven Spielberg's supposedly "ambivalent" attitude about the deal. Who will buy the Geffen-Spielberg lovechild? [dramatic organ music] Will Geffen's ploy to negotiate in the trades pay off? [somewhat louder, dramatic organic music] Stay tuned! [Variety]
  · Why We Love Hollywood, Part Thirty-Five: Benderspink and New Line come up with the idea for the comedy Boob Job during a company lunch, when a NL exec "told a really funny story about a guy whose wife had gotten implants and it ruined the guy's life," With that kind of thoughtful storycraft, there is no way this movie can possibly fail. [THR]
  · Giddy from signing Family Guy showrunner David Goodman to a two-year development deal, 20th Century Fox TV president Gary Newman lets down his guard and describes Goodman as "a fantastic piece of manpower." Wow. That must've been some hot, closed-door negotiation. [Variety]
  · Judging from her premiere Nielsens, fictional Commander in Chief president Geena Davis is easily more popular than George W. [THR]
  · Says Var about Michael Eisner's final public address as head of Disney: "Call Michael Eisner the anti-Cher: While most aging icons' farewell tours are loud, frenzied and never-ending, the Walt Disney CEO seems determined to go out like a lamb." The anti-Cher? This pretty much kills Eisner's post-Disney plan to make a living doing campy cameos on Will & Grace. [Variety]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=127986&view=rss&microfeed=true This Sunday's LA Times Magazine went foraging through the detritus currently "circling the pop-culture drain" at the area's 99 Cent stores, and while trying to discern the connection that made Queen Amidala and body wash seems like a match made in retail tie-in heaven, discovered a quiet indictment of the twilight of Michael Eisner's tenure at Disney:

  Eisner-Era Collectibles
  Items: "Jungle 2 Jungle: A Junior Novel," by Nancy Krulik; "George of the Jungle" movie scrapbook; "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" reusable sticker book; "The Country Bears: The Junior Novelization"; "Lion King 2: Simba's Pride" Pez dispenser; Energizer "The Lion King" collectible squeeze lights (Timon and Pumbaa)
  
  So who brought down Eisner? Was it Steve Jobs, Roy Disney, the Weinsteins? Ignore the men. Follow the merchandise. Consider these items. Separately, they're all half-remembered pieces of schlock. Together, they're a stinging indictment of a corporate leader's decidedly mixed record, whether he was adapting French movies for American audiences ("Jungle 2 Jungle"), devaluing the catalog of hits by doing another direct-to-video knockoff ("Simba's Pride") or green-lighting a big-budget film based on country music-playing bears ("The Country Bears"). This isn't merchandise. It's bomb debris. The whole power struggle at Disney might have been avoided if Roy Disney had simply held an emergency shareholders meeting at the local 99 Cents Only Store. Michael Eisner would have left quickly and quietly after that.

  Among the other obsolescent pop-personages currently occupying the shelf-space of despair at the discount store: David Hasselhoff (a DVD, not the actor himself...yet), various boy bands, Anna Kournikova, the Spice Girls, and the Barbi Twins. That sounds the VIP list of a Hollywood club the night after Lindsay Lohan and various That 70s Show stars decide the place across the street is way hotter.

  • The 99-Cent Archeologist [LAT]
  ]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=118558&view=rss&microfeed=true