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

MOVIES

Blockbuster Award: Jerry Bruckheimer has been selected to receive the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in Motion Pictures from the Producers Guild of America, PGA President Thom Mount and Executive Director Vance Van Petten announced Friday. Bruckheimer--whose credits include “American Gigolo,” “Flash-dance,” the first two “Beverly Hills Cop” comedies, “Crimson Tide,” “Enemy of the State,” “The Rock” and “Top Gun”--will receive the tribute at the Golden Laurel Awards March 2 in Century City. “Jerry reinvented the ‘blockbuster’ film and has literally set every box-office record worldwide,” Mount said. Bruckheimer’s box-office, video and recording receipts total more than $11 billion.

POP/ROCK

Sting Won’t Bite: Double-Grammy winner Sting, addressing a Rock the Vote event in Los Angeles this week honoring him for his activism, said that he will not be joining in any kind of cultural boycott against Austria’s new right-wing Freedom Party, led by Jorge Haider. “To create a cultural boycott of Austria would, in my opinion, have a negative effect,” said Sting, who has two sold-out shows booked in Austria in June. “To destroy the forum within which we do our work would seem to be particularly shortsighted, because after you’ve made your dramatic gesture of not showing up, you have successfully limited your means of transmitting your ideas, you have no forum to express them in, you render yourself useless in the long term. But most importantly, you effectively abandon like-minded people within the community. . . . We must not abandon the idealism and the courage of young people within Austria to effect positive change.”

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Spears-mint Gum: The critics who called teen queen Britney Spears a bubble-gum act were more right than they knew. The pop singer, a Grammy nominee for best new artist, will lend her name to a new brand of the chewy confection that will be sold to publicize her upcoming tour (including July dates at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl) and raise money for charity. Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum, which is shaped and packaged like a compact disc, is scheduled to hit stores next month.

TELEVISION

Departures and Renewals: No one will make it official yet, but sources say NBC is finally closing “Veronica’s Closet”--the low-rated third-year sitcom starring Kirstie Alley. Co-star Kathy Najimy has already said she won’t return to the show, which was recently pulled from the prime-time lineup. Both the network and production company declined comment. . . . The WB has renewed the Tuesday night tandem of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff show, “Angel,” through next season. Negotiations continue regarding an extension of “Buffy” beyond 2001, when its production company, 20th Century Fox Television, will be free to shop the program to other networks. . . . Arsenio Hall, who plays Sammo Hung’s sidekick in CBS’ “Martial Law,” is finishing out the season and will not be back next year.

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Univision Not United: Employees of the Fresno affiliate of the Spanish-language television network Univision took their case symbolically to the network’s president this week. On Thursday, KFTV news anchor Fermin Chavez and several colleagues, two weeks into a hunger strike over a contract dispute, attended Fresno’s Valley Business Conference 2000, where Univision CEO Henry Cisneros was delivering a speech. The group stood in silence wearing green T-shirts that read “Unionvision.” The hunger strike began Feb. 18 in an effort to jump-start contract negotiations that started in August. Mainly, the group seeks salary parity with English-language colleagues in Fresno. KFTV management said it continues to negotiate in good faith with Local 51 of the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians.

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Kids’ Choice Nominations: Nominations for Nickelodeon’s 13th annual Kids’ Choice Awards were announced Friday. Topping the list, with four nominations each, were actor Will Smith, recognized for both his acting and musical achievements on “Wild Wild West,” and the movies “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Toy Story 2.” Winners will be announced at the Hollywood Bowl April 15.

QUICK TAKES

Ricky Martin will return to Southern California during a newly announced leg of his highly successful international tour. The pop star will perform at the Arrowhead Pond on July 20, following a July 17 show at the San Diego Arena. Tickets go on sale March 5. . . . Actress Kate Winslet, 24, is pregnant with her first child, spokeswoman Catherine Olim said Friday. The “Titanic” star wed 26-year-old British director Jim Threapleton in November 1998. . . . Public radio jazz station KLON-FM (88.5) begins its annual winter pledge drive this weekend, concluding March 12. . . . Barry White, who on Wednesday won the first two Grammys of his three-decade career, says he’ll remain bitter “ till the day I die” about a past snub from the music industry’s premier awards. The 55-year-old singer skipped the Grammy ceremony as he has every year since 1974, when he was nominated for best new artist but watched Bette Midler walk off with the trophy. “I should have got it,” White said Thursday. “I was the best new artist.”