A Look Ahead
DILLER: Barry Diller speaks at CS First Boston media conference saying that USA Networks is in talks for a joint venture or sale of its TV station group and is looking for a deal by year's end. He's said joint venture before, but never sale.
SUNDANCE: The competition lineup of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival will cover "a spectrum that is broader than it has ever been," per fest topper Geoffrey Gilmore. World's most prominent festival devoted to American independent cinema will unspool in Park City, Utah, Jan. 18-28.
SAG: Leaders of SAG and AFTRA meet with CEOs for studios and networks in an informal session to explore early negotiations for the unions' film-TV contract, which expires June 30.
AFI: The American Film Institute announced Monday that it is celebrating 21st century films with an annual Top 10 list. AFI Movies of the Year -- the 10 most outstanding films of 2000 -- will be announced Jan. 9 .
NEUROTRASH: Neurotrash.com licenses its Web comedy short "Shalom" to Carsey-Werner's ABC strip "Dot Comedy."
ARTISTDIRECT: ArtistDirect buys back $10 million in stock to avoid being delisted on the Nasdaq.
BERLIN AWARD: Kirk Douglas will receive a lifetime achievement award and retrospective at 51st annual Berlin film fest.
KENNEDY HONORS: Five titans of showbiz from the worlds of acting, opera, dance and rock and roll were awarded the Kennedy Center Honors this week, one of the entertainment industry's most prestigious accolades.
UMG and U: Kathy Nelson, formerly Disney's film music prexy, was named to a newly created post as president of film music at Universal Music Group and Universal Pictures.
YUPI: Miami-based Spanish-lingo Yupi Internet has announced the launch of a kiddie site, Yupinitos.com.
BUSINESS
VIVENDI / SEAGRAM: Shareholders in Vivendi and Seagram are due to vote today on the $34 billion three-way merger with Canal Plus, designed to create on of the world's biggest media groups.
PPV: An annual survey of the pay-per-view industry shows that movies and adult TV are thriving, whereas events are down.
OXYGEN: Oxygen Media said Monday it had received an additional investment of $100 million from Vulcan Ventures, the investment company controlled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and one of Oxygen's early backers.
PRODUCTION UP: Production at public sites in Los Angeles jumps in November due to stockpiling for next year's anticipated strikes.
WORLD NEWS
FOREIGN BO: Overseas box office report.
GERMAN KIDVID: German kidvidder EM.TV has shocked the industry by downgrading earnings for the year by a massive 90% and announcing it will sell key assets.
FRANCE TPS: Television Par Satellite, (TPS) France's second digital satellite platform, will have 1 million subscribers by the end of the year, but it won't break even until 2002 the company said Monday.
REVIEWS
MUSIC: BB Mak; Seven Deadly Sins; Jill Scott
LEGIT: Glad to Be Unhappy; Veil Plays
