Showbiz people briefs
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Seth Meyers and Richard Belzer joined about 300 protesters outside Viacom's Times Square offices for the first major New York City WGA picket line of 2008 Wednesday.
Writers walking the picket line on an unusually warm winter day reiterated that they were committed to the strike for the long haul despite mounting financial pressures.
The picket line stood in contrast to the much smaller groups of writers that have been protesting outside the New York City studios where "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" are taped.
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who shot to fame with his Oscar-nominated fast-food study "Super Size Me," has signed a production deal with Fox Television Studios.
Under the two-year pact, he will develop nonscripted and scripted programming for television and digital platforms. The deal marks Spurlock's foray into scripted series, something he will embark upon after the end of the writers strike.
Spurlock's latest directorial effort, the documentary "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" will premiere at this month's Sundance Film Festival and is slated to be released in the spring by the Weinstein Co. Spurlock also created, executive produces and hosts FX's documentary series "30 Days," which tackles provocative social issues.
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TV One, the network that targets black viewers, is launching a stand-up comedy series hosted by Tony Rock, brother of Chris Rock and former cast member on the sitcom "All of Us."
"The Funny Spot," a weekly, hour-long series filmed at the Comedy Union in Los Angeles, debuts on January 19.
Comics set to perform on the show include "Last Comic Standing" finalists Geoff Brown, Corey Holcomb and Retha Jones.
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael Showalter has been hired to direct "Night of the Living Dorks," a remake of the German horror-comedy.
Described as "Revenge of the Nerds" meets "Shaun of the Dead," the Warner Independent Pictures comedy revolves around three not-so-cool school friends who decide to try an old voodoo ritual. When they later die in a car crash, they find themselves reborn as zombies and try to take advantage of their new lifestyle.
Showalter wrote, directed and starred in 2005's "The Baxter," which also starred Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Williams and Paul Rudd.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
