ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

TV & MOVIES

Outfest Lineup: More than 220 films and videos are slated for Outfest ‘99: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, July 8-19 at venues including the Directors Guild, Laemmle’s Sunset 5 and the Egyptian Theatre. New to this year’s festival will be a French film program sponsored by the French Government Tourist Office, and “Summit ‘99,” a weekend gathering of gay film and video programmers from around the world. In addition, “Outfest Under the Stars,” a John Anson Ford Amphitheatre program that sold out its one night last year, has been expanded to four nights. The theme of this year’s Outfest is “Welcome Home,” which organizers said represents the event’s “primary goal--creating an environment where filmmakers, audiences and the entertainment industry can come together and feel welcome.”

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KCET’s ‘Excellent’ Outlook: KCET-TV has set a projected budget of $49.3 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1--an increase of more than $6 million from the current year. Declaring that “the health of the station is excellent” after two rounds of staff layoffs, President and General Manager Al Jerome said Thursday that the increased budget will help KCET pull off “a good year in national production”--although the new programs won’t actually air on PBS until the following fiscal year. One of these is “PBS Hollywood Television,” a series of four original 90-minute studio dramas slated to premiere in fall 2000. With a commitment of $1.8 million from PBS and the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, the station has formed a team of seven entertainment industry executives to work with major studios and talent agencies in developing the series creatively and financially. KCET will also produce a four-hour documentary, “Chasing the Sun,” on the history of commercial aviation, and a series of six Latin music specials for pledge drives, the first of which will be ready in August 2000.

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Venetian Blaze: Actors Lauren Bacall, Dennis Hopper, Dean Stockwell and others escaped unharmed early Thursday when a fire struck the Venetian villa in which they were staying while filming a movie called “The Venice Project.” A film spokeswoman said that the 4:30 a.m. blaze, which began in the mansion’s library and was believed to have been caused by a short-circuit in a lamp, was discovered by Stockwell, who then awoke his fellow actors and filmmakers. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within a half-hour.

STAGE

Geffen Lineup: The Geffen Playhouse will present Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” on the play’s 100th anniversary in October, the L.A. premiere of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer-winning “Wit” in January and Jon Robin Baitz’s movie industry comedy “Mizlansky/Zilinsky” in March. Two slots in the theater’s season remain unfilled.

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‘Hughie’ Rush: A limited number of $12 public rush tickets to Al Pacino’s sold-out June 19-July 25 staging of Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” at the Mark Taper Forum will be available through a daily lottery system. Those interested should show up no earlier than 5:30 p.m. for 6 p.m. drawings for evening tickets or noon for 12:30 p.m. drawings for matinees. No rush tickets will be available on June 27, Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees or after July 18.

QUICK TAKES

In ceremonies attended by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, VH1’s Save the Music Foundation and Time Warner Cable on Thursday donated $1 million worth of musical instruments to New York’s public schools, the Save the Music program’s biggest single donation to date. . . . Jane Robelot, a host of CBS’ “This Morning” since 1996, is leaving the program after today’s broadcast. She’ll be replaced for a month by Thalia Assuras, the program’s current news reader. As announced last month, Bryant Gumbel will begin hosting the low-rated show in November. . . . Jennifer Lopez has been added to KIIS-FM’s Wild Wango Tango lineup Saturday at Dodger Stadium. The sold-out concert, featuring Will Smith, Ricky Martin, Britney Spears and others, will be broadcast live over the Internet at https://www.audiohighway.com, beginning at 2 p.m. . . . Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon for KROQ-FM’s seventh annual Weenie Roast concert featuring Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others, June 19 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. . . . “Movie Stars,” a comedy starring Harry Hamlin and Jennifer Grant, will premiere on the WB network on July 11 at 9 p.m. before moving the next night to its regular Monday, 9 p.m. time slot. . . . UCLA’s film students have voted “Election” director and co-writer Alexander Payne as filmmaker of the year. He receives the award tonight at the School of Theatre, Film and Television Festival ’99. . . . Pamela Anderson Lee chats online today at 2 p.m. at https://www.excite.com. . . . “Cruel Intentions” co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who are expecting a child together, were married Saturday in Charleston, S.C.