Composer Jack Hayes dies at 92

Jack J. Hayes, an Oscar-nominated composer and orchestrator who done a lot more than 200 films throughout a Hollywood career that spanned six decades, died of natural causes Wednesday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He was 92.Hayes' behind-the-moments abilities like a fast, meticulous and highly trained orchestrator for such top composers as Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Randy Newman, Quincy Johnson, Marvin Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach stored him sought after for many years. His last credits were on Michael Giacchino's "Star Trek" and "Up."Hayes was Oscar-nominated two times, for adapting the musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in 1964 as well as for adding to Jones' score for "The Colour Crimson" in 1985. Hayes loved a lengthy partnership with fellow orchestrator Leo Shuken from the nineteen fifties. Together they orchestrated numerous landmark films including "The Magnificent Seven" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" for Bernstein, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Times of Wine and Roses" for Mancini, "The Finest Story Ever Told" and "Airport terminal" for Alfred Newman, "In Cold Bloodstream" for Johnson, and "Casino Royale" and "Butch Cassidy and also the Sundance Kid" for Bacharach.Hayes and Shuken also composed TV scores, including such Westerns as "Riverboat," "Wagon Train," "The Virginian" and "Gunsmoke." After Shuken's dying in 1976, Hayes ongoing solo, orchestrating scores for Randy Newman including "Ragtime" and "NaturalInch for John Morris including "High Anxiety" and "The Elephant Guy" as well as for Bob Cobert the television miniseries "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance." Hayes' solo TV-creating credits incorporated "Quincy M.E.," "Laverne and Shirley" and "Salvage 1." He also worked with with Tom Scott about the film score for "Go ForwardInch and composed plans for performers including Jesse O'Connor, Gem Bailey and Barbra Streisand.An unwell Bernard Herrmann enlisted Hayes to conduct his final score, "Taxi Driver," at the end of 1975. Giacchino employed him as orchestrator on almost all his films beginning with "The Incredibles" in 2004.Hayes was created in Bay Area in 1919. He attended Bay Area Condition College and, later, the La Conservatory of Music. Initially a trumpet player, he soon started organizing for radio's "Fibber McGee and Molly" as well as for bandleaders including Will Osborne. He later together with as bandleader for comics Abbott & Costello with cowboy performers Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.He composed several classical works and worked with with jazz drummer Louis Bellson on numerous jazz and orchestral pieces.Hayes was honored through the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and also the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC), in 2009, for his lengthy career in films and TV.Children incorporate a daughter along with a boy a sister and three grandchildren. A memorial service is going to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, at St. Anastasia Catholic Chapel, 7390 West Manchester Avenue, La. Donations might be designed to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Oz-China cooperative org bows

SYDNEY -- The Australia-China Screen Alliance, which aims to assist both nations setup co-productions with one another easier, released in the Australian Intl. Movie Convention on Tuesday. It is the creation of producer Mario Andreacchio, that has labored extensively in the area, and also the Screen Producers Assn. of Australia."ACSA will even function as a meeting place and project exchange between authors and producers, company directors, crew and bankers," Andreacchio stated.Move may come as Vietnamese-born Aussie helmer Pauline Chan's "33 Postcards," the 2nd Australia-China co-production, is out on 8,000 screens in China, the biggest opening to have an Aussie film in the united states.Picture, starring Guy Pearce, world preemed in the Sydney Film Festival in June, attended with a Chinese delegation headed by Zhejiang Hengdian Film Prods. topper Liu Zhijiang.Pic is really a Titan View (around australia)-Zhejiang Hengdian discharge of a Portal Pictures and Zhejiang Film production.It focuses on a Chinese orphan who comes to Sydney to uncover her Aussie sponsor does time for murder. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Sugarland's Stage Manager Made Split Second Decision That Saved Band From Collapse

Sugarland's stage manager Hellen Rollens made a split-second decision to hold the band back from taking the stage at the Indiana State Fair on Saturay because of bad weather -- and it may have saved their lives.our editor recommendsSugarland Concert Stage Collapse: Musicians React to the TragedyIndiana State Fair Reopens After Sugarland Stage Collapse The band's manager, Gail Gellman, said some people thought it was safe to go on-stage, but Rollens acted on her instinct and kept them off. Seconds later, 60 to 70 mph wind gusts knocked over the stage, killing four people and sending 48 to the hospital. Another person died overnight in the hospital. As they heard the stage crashing, Sugerland's Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush and their crew fell to the floor and tried to take cover under a wall because they were afraid the stage was falling on them. "There was no running out anywhere," Gellman told the Associated Press on Monday. "No one knew what happened. It was just the moment when your eyes get big." The group met up at their tour bus later. "As a tour manager, it's super important to understand what the weather conditions are when you play outside. We've always talked about not putting the band on during wind, lightning or heavy rain," said Gellman. "Everybody was standing in a prayer circle getting ready to go onstage, and Hellen, as she was walking down the ramp, the stage fell. So her decision to hold them for literally a minute saved every band member and crew's life," she added. Gellman has watched Nettles struggle with the news of the accident. "There are moments I can see great clarity in her eyes, and there are moments I can see her tears well up so much that I just don't know what to do," Gellman told the AP. "She's just processing and wants to encourage people to be together, to support each other." Bush returned to his Georgia home to spend time with his children after the accident. Gellman thinks the the stage fell because of the weather, not because of of a structural issue. Indiana officials are still investigating. "I would pose the same question to every band that goes out there, Keith Urban, Kenny [Chesney]. We all tour during the summer. We all play outside. We're all cognizant and very aware of what we hang and what we do," she said. "We have restrictions and requirements [from every venue] and we stand by every single one of them." The set for Sugarland's "Incredible Machine" tour was destroyed when the stage collapsed. They had to cancel a Sunday show at the Iowa State Fair, but are "hoping and preparing" to play a scheduled stop in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday. Related Topics Sugarland

MTV Video Music Awards: Britney Spears Tribute Confirmed; Amy Winehouse Homage In Works (Video)

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images A tribute to Britney Spears will be a part of this year's MTV Video Music Awards and the show's producers are discussing a way to salute Amy Winehouse as well. STORY: Bruno Mars Set to Perform at MTV Video Music Awards "Britney will be at the show and we'll be paying tribute to her," VMA executive producer Amy Doyle told Billboard, confirming speculation that has grown since a Spears promo for the show began airing. "She was having an incredible year and she is so beloved by the MTV audience that we started to think what could we do that would be a different experience (from years past)," said Doyle, the executive vice president of Music and Talent for MTV. "Obviously everything from her choreography to her fashion to her videos will be (covered). We said 'let's challenge ourselves to do something unique'." STORY: Adele's 21 Notches Most Weeks at No. 1 Since 2000 In addition to the Spears tribute, VMA producers are "talking about acknowledging" Winehouse, who died July 23 in London "We had a great history with Amy," Doyle said, mentioning a performance she did for the network's "45th at Night" show in 2007. "She was very near and dear to us." This year's VMAs will be broadcast from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on Aug. 28. The network hopes to announce a host in the near future and Doyle suggested that the show would continue the recent trend of bringing in newer talent as hosts. Chelsea Handler handled last year's telecast, Russell Brand the year before. Get More: 2011 VMA, Music Britney Spears Video Music Awards Amy Winehouse

Bachir Lazhar

A Les Films Christal release and presentation of a Microscope production, in association with Seville Pictures. (International sales: Films Distribution, Paris.) Produced by Luc Dery, Kim McCraw. Directed, written by Philippe Falardeau, based on the play "Bashir Lazhar" by Evelyne de la Cheneliere.With: Fellag, Sophie Nelisse, Emilien Neron, Danielle Proulx, Brigitte Poupart, Louis Champagne, Jules Philip, Francine Ruel, Sophie Sanscartier, Seddik Benslimane, Marie-Eve Beauregard, Louis-David Leblanc, Vincent Millard, Evelyne de la Cheneliere. (French, Arabic, English dialogue)An Algerian immigrant faces a steep learning curve when he's hired as a substitute teacher in Montreal in "Bachir Lazhar," the most polished and mainstream effort yet from Quebec scribe-helmer Philippe Falardeau ("Congorama"). Though set mainly indoors, this adaptation of Evelyne de la Cheneliere's eponymous monodrama is neatly opened up cinematically, with some of the primary-school kids and fellow educators skillfully fleshed out. Quietly intelligent and respectable, much like its protag, pic has clear crowdpleaser appeal in the arthouse arena, as evidenced by its recent Locarno audience award win. Sales prospects look healthy. Though named after its protag, pic opens with a schoolyard sequence involving impressionable pupil Simon (Emilien Neron) and his classmate Alice (Sophie Nelisse), who catch a glimpse of their teacher, who has just hanged herself in their classroom. Fast forward to a couple of days later, when the prim school director (Danielle Proulx) -- in a move that reeks as much of desperation as of common sense -- hires Bachir Lazhar (Fellag), who has offered his services as a substitute teacher after reading about the tragedy in the papers. A recent arrival from Algeria, Lazhar comes armed with a resume that includes years of experience teaching in Algiers. But clearly, the upright yet soft-spoken man has a lot of adjusting to do, as the kids are still shaken by the death of their teacher, and the curriculum and mores of Francophone Canada are different from those in the Maghreb. While the film explores issues of immigration, integration, education, responsibility and the greater good, its own lessons are not entirely clear-cut. Though some auds might fault the pic for taking the easy way out, it's actually refreshing for a drama about education to look at different sides of an issue without necessarily imposing a moral high ground. Indeed, "Bachir Lazhar" is never as straightforward as it might at first appear, as suggested by d.p. Ronald Plante's ever-so-slightly unsteady widescreen images. It's apparent Lazhar is a fish out of the water, as he's the school's only male teacher, speaks French but not Quebec French, and is not aware of the latest developments in North-American pedagogy. It also emerges, in a plot strand that could have used some clearer parallels to amplify the drama, that Lazhar, too, is trying to get over a personal tragedy. Little Simon has become withdrawn and sulky since his teacher's suicide and is occasionally pestered by Alice. Their personal crises, though not the main focus, are well developed in relatively little screentime, and gains dramatic heft from the fact Lazhar is directly responsible for the pupils' well-being. Treatment is typical of Falardeau's naturally flowing adaptation, much like the bigscreen version of "Incendies," also produced by Canuck outfit Microscope. After working with young thesps in "It's Not Me, I Swear!," Falardeau again demonstrates a deft touch with child performers, while mono-monikered Algerian thesp Fellag ("Top Floor, Left Wing") turns in a dignified performance that nonetheless feels just a smidgen too safe. Supporting cast is tip-top, while playwright de la Cheneliere makes a brief cameo appearance as Alice's mother. Below-the-line contributions are also solid, with the work of editor (and occasional helmer) Stephane Lafleur especially praiseworthy for its subtle cumulative force. English-language press kit refers to pic as "Monsieur Lazhar," though the onscreen title was simply "Bachir Lazhar."Camera (color, widescreen, HD), Ronald Plante; editor, Stephane Lafleur; music, Martin Leon; production designer, Emmanuel Frechette; costume designer, Francesca Chamberland; sound (Dolby SRD), Pierre Bertrand, Mathieu Beaudin, Sylvain Bellemare, Bernard Gariepy Strobl; line producer, Claude Paiement; assistant director, Carole Doucet; casting, Nathalie Boutrie, Emanuelle Beaugrand-Champagne, Constance Demontoy. Reviewed at Locarno Film Festival (Piazza Grande), Aug. 7, 2011. (Also in Toronto Film Festival -- Special Presentations.) Running time: 94 MIN. Contact Boyd van Hoeij at news@variety.com

CAA Signs 'Entourage's Doug Ellin

EXCLUSIVE: Entourage creator/executive producer Doug Ellin has signed with CAA, that will also represent his company Fly the Coop Entertainment. He'd been at WME for any very long time. Ellin, whose Cinemax comedy Entourage is wrapping its eight-season run, is within wealthy overall deal in the pay cable network. He's now preparing his new Cinemax pilot, the ensemble comedy 40 starring Erectile dysfunction Burns and Michael Rapaport. Before creating Entourage, Ellin labored in features, most particularly writing and pointing the 1998 movie Kissing an idiot.

Actress Hind Rostom dies at 82

Actress Hind Rostom, a star in the golden era of Egyptian cinema, has died in Cairo. She was 82.Egypt's MENA condition news agency stated Rostom died Monday of heart disease in a Cairo hospital soon after being accepted with chest pains.Together with her blond hair and appearance, Rostom frequently performed the sultry seductress, and she or he rapidly rose being among Egypt's best-known stars.She won popular popularity of her 1958 film "Cairo Station," concerning the city's underclass as well as their struggles to outlive. She starred inside it with Youssef Chahine, among Egypt's most famous movie company directors.Among various other well-known films were "Love Rumor" and "Struggle about the Earth" with Omar Sharif -- the nation's most celebrated actor.Born in Alexandria, Rostom defied her conservative upbringing to stake out work in film. She was named by fans the Lana Turner from the Arabs and "the full of seduction" of Egyptian cinema.She quit acting in 1979 because, she stated, she wanted the folks to consider her like a beautiful superstar.Her last public appearance came after Egypt's popular uprising in The month of january that forced Leader Mubarak to step lower.Rostom was married two times. She's made it by her second husband along with a daughter. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Another Arrest In News Of The World Scandal

One can now officially field a soccer team with arrested current or former News of the World employees who have come under scrutiny in the now-shuttered newspaper's phone-hacking scandal. Today, former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, who essentially controlled the budgets at the paper during his tenure there from 1987-2009, was picked up on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept communications and corruption allegations, according to a police statement. The move comes as part of two probes into the News Corp-owned paper -- dubbed Operation Weeting (focused on the phone-hacking investigation) and Operation Elveden (focused on potential bribery of police officials by News of the World employees). According to the Financial Times, investigators say that Kuttner's purse-strings extended to Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective who was jailed for phone-hacking in 2007.