NBC Reporter Shriver Goes Hollywood With Film Idea : Television: She has done several stories on Hollywood, but the network says potential conflict is not a ‘pressing issue.’

In a move that further blurs the line between TV news and entertainment, NBC reporter Maria Shriver has retained super-agent Michael Ovitz to sell a movie project she’s developed.

The movie, which Shriver declines to detail but describes as a “sentimental comedy,” is based on an idea she conceived. Ivan Reitman, the director of “Ghostbusters,” is said to be interested in directing. The project is now under review at Universal Pictures.

Shriver is a longtime NBC News correspondent who has done several Hollywood stories, including a recent profile on Michael Douglas, a client of Creative Artists Agency. Ovitz is chairman of CAA.

She has longstanding ties to influential entertainment and political circles as the wife of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a third-generation member of the Kennedy clan.

In recent months, however, she has stopped reporting on the entertainment business and has instead focused her attention on “theme-oriented” shows, with specials on “Privacy and the Press” and a 30th anniversary look at the Cuban missile crisis.

Shriver’s move, first reported on Tuesday in the Hollywood trade publication, Daily Variety, raises concerns about the growing coziness of TV news and entertainment. Big time anchors are increasingly hailed as celebrities: Connie Chung and Katie Couric have popped up as guests on “Murphy Brown.” Moreover, fundamental changes in television economics have led to the spread of low-cost tabloid shows such as “Hard Copy,” which routinely recreate events under the guise of news.

The Shriver deal also highlights potential conflicts of interest in Hollywood, where reporters who cover the business are regularly approached about developing their stories into movies or TV programs. Most news organizations have strict rules against reporters participating in the beats they cover.

But Shriver denied any conflict of interest. “I am not an entertainment reporter,” she said. “That’s not my beat. I do specials. Coming from the family that I come from, I watch my elbow, my eyelashes, up and down.”

Shriver said the idea for her project came up at a dinner party she attended with Ovitz. The agent, whom Shriver described as a friend, agreed to help sell the project.

“There is no deal yet, and this movie may never get made. Nothing has been signed,” she said.

A spokeswoman for NBC News said the network has a general policy about being sensitive to conflicts of interest, “but no one here sees this as a pressing issue at this time.”

Shriver said she did not clear the project with NBC News beforehand but would take a leave of absence if it turned out to be a conflict of interest.

Shriver would not elaborate on her idea, although she denied a report in Daily Variety that it centers around a fictional family similar to her own.