Morning Report - News from Aug. 16, 2002

ENTERTAINMENT

‘This American Life’ Makes Movie Deal

If there’s one thing Hollywood never seems to have enough of, it’s good ideas for movies and television shows.

So, in a novel move, Warner Bros. Pictures has signed a first-look, two-year deal with “This American Life,” the weekly Chicago-based public radio show hosted by Ira Glass that delves into many popular issues of the day in unconventional ways.

The deal, inked with Glass and his producing partner, Julie Snyder, gives the studio rights to all previous episodes of the show as well as shows produced over the next two years. The program has broadcast more than 200 episodes and more than 600 stories to date.

Warner Bros. will not have any editorial control over the radio program’s content.

At first glance, “American Life’s” quirky material seems at odds with the studio’s typical mainstream fare. But Glass says the fit is a good one.

“We’ve got all these stories and no money, and [the studio] has all this money and is always looking for stories,” he said Thursday. “It’s almost surprising it took this long.”

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THE ARTS

Politicians Promoting Cell Phone Limits

City councilmen in New York and Toronto say they’ll introduce measures to prohibit people from speaking on cell phones in theaters, museums and libraries, except in emergencies.

Under the plan put forth by New York City Councilman Philip Reed, violators would be fined up to $50. Toronto City Councillor Kyle Rae said he’ll introduce a similar proposal there in September.

“Public performances offer audiences a welcome escape from the rigors and gadgets of everyday life,” Reed said, “while ringing cell phones and loud, one-sided conversations offer only headaches.”

According to the Toronto Star, the topic is a heated one. Last month, Ottawa decided not to allow jamming devices in places such as theaters, restaurants and hospitals. And Toronto Deputy Mayor Case Ootes contends that banning the use of cell phones in indoor performance spaces constitutes “unnecessary government interference.”

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Isozaki’s Design Unpopular in Florence

One art critic called it a seven-story bed frame that would freak out visitors as they departed from the museum, while others have compared it to a bus-stop shelter. Writing on the front page of a Milan newspaper, director Franco Zeffirelli proclaimed it an “insult for all the civilized world.”

The subject in question: a new canopy-style entrance to be built at the rear of Florence’s famed Uffizi art gallery, designed by the renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. By freeing up galleries now used as corridors, the multimillion-dollar project is expected to provide additional exhibition space for artworks kept in storage.

Government lawyers are investigating whether Isozaki, who won the assignment in an international competition, can be forced to change his design--and whether the architect can sue for breach of contract if the project is scrapped.

Florence’s superintendent of art and architecture, Domenic Valentino, hoped to assuage critics by asking Isozaki to reduce the height of the canopy. But Tuscany’s top art official, Antonino Paolucci, favors the original design. “Thanks to the fighting over the Uffizi exit, that ancient cliche that sees Italians as undependable is having a glaring, international confirmation,” he said.

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Coining an Image

of the Golden State

The quarters jingling in your wallet or pocket have, for the past four years, had states represented on the back. Each state is being honored in the order it ratified the Constitution and joined the Union--and, in January 2005, it’s California’s turn.

To come up with a lasting image for the nation’s currency, the state is inviting design proposals from anyone who wants to submit one.

This “will give California artists the chance to depict all the vibrancy and energy--past and future--that makes our state the global center of creativity,” said Barry Hessenius, director of the California Arts Council. Ideas should be mailed between Sept. 9 and Nov. 9 on official forms obtained at www.governor. ca.gov.

A committee selected by Gov. Gray Davis will choose 20 semifinalist designs, from which Davis will select the five finalists in January. Two months later, he’ll submit the entries to the U.S. Mint, which will determine a winner.

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QUICK TAKES

Michael J. Fox is writing and executive producing a TV pilot for ABC about a retired professional hockey player who finds himself spending more time with his family--a situation familiar to the actor who left “Spin City” because of his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Touchstone TV and DreamWorks TV are producing the project.... The Ahmanson Theatre production of the Tony-nominated “Morning’s at Seven,” directed by Daniel Sullivan, will feature Frances Sternhagen, Piper Laurie, Buck Henry, Elizabeth Franz, Julie Hagerty, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mary Louise Wilson and William Biff McGuire. The show will run from Dec. 11 through Jan. 26.