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

TELEVISION

Gays Protest Title of ‘Nightline’ Series

The title of “Nightline’s” five-part series on gays and lesbians in America, due to air in the fall, has come under fire. According to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, nothing about sexuality is “A Matter of Choice?”--the question mark notwithstanding.

“Sexual orientation is not a lightbulb which can be switched on and off,” GLAAD news media director Cathy Renna told The Times. “It’s a very complex, intrinsic part of a person’s nature. The title mars what could be an extremely groundbreaking piece of journalism and gets it off on the wrong foot.”

“Nightline” executive producer Tom Bettag said, “We knew we’d be touching a nerve. Still, it’s not just a snappy title but the issue that permeates the entire series and most affects people’s attitudes.

“Someone who thinks sexuality is a matter of choice rather than glandular is far more likely to be homophobic,” he continued. “Having experienced discrimination and hate crimes, the gay community has a right to be concerned. Still, I hope it will reserve judgment and--based on Ted Koppel’s track record--trust us to handle things delicately.”

Olbermann Returns to the Small Screen

Keith Olbermann will be back on television for five days next week, guest-hosting for Jeff Greenfield’s CNN program “Greenfield at Large.”

And the sports anchor-talk show host continues to field job offers. The love-him-or-hate-him personality, who was let go by Fox Sports Net in May, says he will choose within two weeks from among a dozen active job prospects--local to national, news to sports--in radio and TV. In addition, he will likely write a syndicated newspaper sports column, starting Jan. 1, he says.

“Greenfield at Large” airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m.

MOVIES

Chinese American Files Suit Against Sony

A unit still photographer for the thriller “The Glass House” sued Sony Pictures Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. Wednesday, alleging that she was fired because she is a Chinese American woman.

Linda R. Chen said that she got a job on the movie on May 15, 2000--expecting to be employed for three months. During the shoot, she charges, she received “disparate treatment,” which caused her to waive overtime, receive no reimbursement for equipment rentals, and have her paychecks withheld.

The film’s star, Diane Lane, plays a character addicted to drugs and was reluctant to subject herself to “unflattering” stills, the complaint maintains. To get adequate publicity photos, Chen scheduled a special photo shoot, scheduled for July 24 last year. She brought two coolers of beer--a common way of thanking the crew, the photographer says.

The following day, she was fired for bringing alcohol to the set, a subsequent letter from Columbia explained. According to Chen, the studio also accused her of telling the actress she’d release the unflattering stills to the media if she didn’t agree to the shoot. The reason she was really dismissed was her “race and sex,” Chen says.

A Columbia spokesperson told The Times Thursday that the studio has yet to be served--and, in any case, refuses to comment on pending litigation.

THE ARTS

Throwing His Weight Behind Barenboim

Zubin Mehta, music director of the Israel Philharmonic, has vowed to challenge an Israeli call to boycott fellow conductor Daniel Barenboim.

An Israeli parliamentary committee called for the move Tuesday after Barenboim played the music of Richard Wagner--Hitler’s favorite composer--at a prestigious Israeli arts festival in early July.

“Daniel was a visitor and it was his right in a democracy to do [this],” Mehta told the Boston Herald, speaking from Tel Aviv. “Besides, he spoke to the public first. The majority wanted to hear it and it should have ended there.”

Finalists Announced for Caltrans Project

California state officials have released a list of three teams that will compete for the design of a new $140-million, 600,000-square-foot Caltrans office building in downtown Los Angeles. The teams are the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and developer Jim Thomas, Los Angeles-based Thom Mayne with Urban Partners, and the Spanish architect Mirralles Tagliabue Studio with Kohl developers.

The list is the result of an aggressive effort to attract world-renowned architects to design a number of downtown civic buildings. The teams have three months to develop conceptual designs before a final selection is made in November.

The building will occupy an entire city block between 1st and 2nd streets and Main and Los Angeles streets downtown. Groundbreaking is scheduled for sometime in 2002, and officials hope they can complete the building by 2004.

Quick Takes

Actress Katharine Hepburn was discharged from Hartford Hospital on Thursday. The 94-year-old actress was admitted July 18 for a urinary tract infection.... ExxonMobil has renewed its sponsorship of “Masterpiece Theatre” through 2006.