(9/21/02, 10 a.m. ET) -- Courtney Love announced on Friday's (September 20) Howard Stern radio morning show that her lawsuits are now behind her. The former leader of Hole said she'd come to an agreement with the surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl, now of Foo Fighters, and Krist Novoselic over how the band's recordings, name, and images will be released and marketed.
She told the radio host that "an album will be out by Christmas," referring to an upcoming greatest hits release which will include a previously unreleased track.
Love also told Stern her legal battle against Universal Music Group, which resulted in back-and-forth lawsuits, has been settled "for a lot of money." Love added that she would have put her own album out before the end of the year, but added, "it would be stupid to compete with Kurt," referring to her late husband, Nirvana singer, guitarist, and songwriter Kurt Cobain.
Universal has no comment on Love's statements, though she also said the completed deal will be announced shortly.
Love was scheduled to host 24 hours of MTV2 over the weekend, attempting to educate viewers on her perspective of rock history through videos and comments. On the Stern program, she also evaluated a record made by adult-film actress Houston. -- Darryl Morden, Los Angeles
Sept 21 2002
For 24 straight hours, the rock diva will be in control of the music network. She'll play the videos she likes, invite her friends over for an on-camera jab fest and do whatever else she pleases, the network said Monday.
"MTV2 has always been home to a variety of artists," said David Cohn, MTV2 general manager. "So much so, we wanted to let them move in, and we are thrilled to give Courtney the first set of keys."
This is the first time the network has relinquished control to an artist for a day, representatives said.
Love won't even need to stay awake the entire 24 hours; an MTV spokesman says when she sleeps, the network will probably show snippets of her dozing.
The former lead singer of Hole will take over the MTV studios in Times Square for "24 Hours of Love" at 8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday.
Sept 19 2002
By ANITA M. BUSCH, Times Staff Writer
Columbia Pictures' thriller "Trapped," which centers on the abduction of an 8-year-old girl, has proved too close to real life for the studio's comfort. The movie bows this weekend, only days after a jury recommended the death sentence for David Westerfield in the murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, culminating what seemed like an endless summer of child kidnappings and murders.
In response to the news environment, the studio did an about-face on its initial ad campaign and adopted an unusual marketing strategy to open a film: imposing a media blackout and keeping its stars off the normal promotional circuit.
Billed as a thriller, "Trapped" stars Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love as kidnappers of an 8-year-old asthmatic girl and Charlize Theron as the mother who defies the FBI and tries to save her daughter's life.
The film was directed by Luis Mandoki, whose track record includes "Angel Eyes" and "Message in a Bottle," which received tepid reviews and were not standouts at the box office.
Concerns over the quality of the film could be an issue. Its only audiences so far have been made up of film buyers for the nation's theater chains.
In an effort to throttle any chance of negative reviews or news reports, nervous studio executives kept film critics and media from seeing the film before its release. There was no press junket for "Trapped," and the studio asked its actors not to talk about the film.
"We didn't want Jay Leno looking at Kevin Bacon and saying, 'What the hell were you thinking in making a film like this right now?' " said one studio insider.
Even as books on the topic, such as Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones," remain popular, and television dramas continue to embrace the theme, the movie studio remains steadfast in its silent treatment, declining to comment for this story, and lobbying principals involved in "Trapped" to keep quiet.
Columbia also restricted its ad spending to television and print, forgoing other media such as outdoor and radio.
Usually when a studio adopts such a strategy, it's a sure sign that the movie is a dud.
However, the response was not so dour from theater film buyers who saw the film in an exhibitor screening Sept. 6. "It was an intense thriller with a really great payoff. It was a quality film," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.
The film is opening on 2,000-plus screens. Also coming out this weekend are Warner Bros.' sci-fi action movie "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever," which debuts on roughly 2,500 screens; Fox Searchlight's "The Banger Sisters" on 2,700 screens; and Paramount Pictures/Miramax Films' period drama "The Four Feathers," on 1,800.
"I hope this doesn't set a precedent," said Peter Rainer, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics. "If they start shutting down the media entirely because of a sensitive subject matter, they will presumably do it with other films. Usually the reason to keep the media out is that the film doesn't live up to expectations. If the name of the game is cutting your losses, you may feel that you have less to lose keeping it from journalists than opening it up for scrutiny."
Exhibitors who saw the film were critical of the first 30 minutes, calling it "very intense." One noted that, as a parent, it was "disturbing" for him to watch.
And therein lies the problem.
When the initial trailer for "Trapped" appeared in mid-May, the kidnapping theme was a central component. It had four clips of the little girl and direct statements from the abductors such as "Your daughter was kidnapped three hours ago," "You're never going to see your kid again" and "I'm the one who decides whether she lives or dies." It ended with Theron's character pointing a gun and saying, "Give me back my daughter, you son-of-a ... "
As the release date approached, though, television commercials for "Trapped"--based on "24 Hours," the bestselling book by Greg Iles--did not include scenes with the little girl. Menacing statements from kidnappers were excised. The commercial now sells the thriller aspect of the film and only implies an abduction, with Theron screaming into the phone "bring her back" at the end of the ad. A new TV ad for the film that broke this week includes mention of a kidnapping but once again leaves out shots of the little girl.
The print campaign for "Trapped" has no mention of an abduction. Instead, ad copy reads: "It was the perfect crime until she refused to be the perfect victim," referring to Theron's character.
"It's really a parent-empowerment movie," said one person involved in the production of the film. "The woman is the hero. It's like 'Ransom.' "
In fact, early on in the "Trapped" campaign, Columbia's marketing team was using a marketing strategy similar to that for "Ransom."
"Ransom," which starred Mel Gibson and was directed by Ron Howard, was one of the most high-profile films ever made about a child kidnapping. The film, released in 1996, was able to rise above its sensitive subject matter and gross an estimated $308.9 million worldwide. Advertising for the picture featured Gibson turning the tables on the kidnappers, refusing to pay the ransom for his son and yelling into the phone, "Give me back my son."
Unlike "Trapped," "Ransom" had an actor who was coming off of several take-charge roles such as the "Lethal Weapon" franchise. Theron previously starred in "The Cider House Rules" and "Sweet November," among other movies.
"We looked at it as an empowerment vehicle for the regular man, but you can only do that with the right actors," said "Ransom" producer Brian Grazer. "You are looking at a guy with a ton of power. You can only do that with Mel or with one or two other people. I wouldn't do that with 99.9% of the actors out there."
But when "Ransom" opened, the news environment was very different. The seemingly logical step to take would be to postpone "Trapped" until the media maelstrom subsides.
"We can't do that. One problem is that no one knows when this will all die down, ... at least, that's what the studio is telling us," said one source who was involved in the production of the film.
"It always gives you pause when a movie mirrors a real event," said Dergarabedian.
Several studios faced that problem after Sept. 11. The same studio, Columbia Pictures, debated whether to release the war drama "Black Hawk Down." After meetings with filmmakers, the studio decided to release the film as planned.
Release dates for a number of other pictures, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Collateral Damage" and Disney's "Big Trouble," were delayed until this year because of terrorist themes.
In this instance, if Columbia shelved "Trapped," it would have to shoulder interest costs on a $30-million production budget. Postponing the film would also prolong the return on its investment for German financing partner Senator Films, which has been under pressure as a result of the shaky German economy.
When Columbia originally scheduled the film for release, the public was not being pummeled by regular news stories about child abductions. Historically, the date proved to be the best time to release to an older female audience, according to one person involved in the film. A thriller such as "Trapped" usually pulls in an older female audience, and according to tracking numbers "Trapped" is, indeed, skewing toward that demographic.
"Trapped" is now facing competition this weekend from two other films angling for its key female demographic: "The Banger Sisters," starring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, and "The Four Feathers," with Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson.
"If Columbia moved the date on 'Trapped,' they would have had to deal with the press on why they moved the date," said one marketing head at a competing studio. "They obviously don't want to do that."
This is not the first time that real-life events have intruded on the marketing of Hollywood films. After the beating of Rodney G. King in 1991, Universal Pictures postponed the release of its film "Looters" and changed its title, while the producers of the 20th Century Fox release "Unlawful Entry" reedited a scene in which a white police officer beat a black burglar with a baton.
The controversy surrounding director Adrian Lyne's big-screen adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" in 1997 worsened when the film's debut overseas coincided with pedophilia scandals in France and Belgium.
"To begin with, there was no disguising the subject matter," said Joel Michaels, one of the producers on the film. "Lolita" is about an older man's sexual obsession with an adolescent girl. In addition to the cases in Europe, recalled Michaels, "It was also not so long after the JonBenet Ramsey case. It was not good for the movie. We suffered the consequences. It added to the difficulty in getting the film released in North America."
Because of the sensitivity of the subject matter and in an environment still rife with news reports on the Ramsey case, it was hard to land a U.S. distributor.
Then came the Columbine high school shootings in 1999. Immediately after the tragedy, politicians began blaming Hollywood studios and record companies for marketing violent movies and music to America's youth; other high school shootings in the months that followed kept the issue high in the public consciousness.
One of the films affected by Columbine was Dimension Films' "Killing Mrs. Tingle," a yarn about three high school students who decide to kill their teacher.
Miramax Films' Dimension reacted swiftly and changed the title to "Teaching Mrs. Tingle."
Whether audiences will embrace "Trapped" remains to be seen. Pre-opening tracking numbers from research screenings are low. "Columbia has a big problem," said one former marketing president. "They know this is a losing situation. By minimizing the buys and obscuring their message and then on top of it keeping the media away from it, they are hoping to bypass any negative reviews and slip the film in before anyone knows what hit them.
"Sony has had such a big year, they don't need the controversy. They don't need the money so they cut their losses. Regardless of whether the picture is just a dog ... in the end, they'll win because at least they'll have the perception of looking socially responsible." By Sue Zeidler
Sources familiar with talks said the case is likely to be resolved, rendering a trial unlikely.
Officials for Universal Music, the world's biggest record company and a unit of Vivendi Universal, declined comment. Love's attorney, Barry Cappello, also declined comment.
The case's roots date back to December 1999 when Love, the widow of Nirvana's late bandleader Kurt Cobain, decided to stop recording for Geffen, a unit of Universal Music.
Last year, Geffen/Universal Music sued Love, seeking millions of dollars in damages for five undelivered albums. Love countersued, also in 2001, claiming she was cheated out of substantial royalties.
Universal's complaint and Love's cross-complaint will be tried together if the case goes to trial. A trial date of Sept 3 was set Tuesday.
If Love were to reach a deal, it would be the second high-profile member of a pop artist coalition challenging record industry practices to quietly settle a dispute that had thrust them into the vanguard of the activist movement.
In June, Grammy-winning trio Dixie Chicks -- also members of the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC) made up of Don Henley, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow and several others -- settled a suit with Sony Corp ( news - web sites)'s Sony Music Entertainment, 10 months after accusing their record label of "systematic thievery."
Love is also part of the group, which staged a series of fund-raising concerts on the eve of the Grammy Awards last February, but suffered a big setback last week when a state senator withdrew a controversial bill he had authored on behalf of the artists.
ANOTHER LOVE SUIT
In a separate bitter dispute in Seattle, Love is suing the remaining members of Cobain's grunge band Nirvana over ownership of the group's recordings and songs in the case worth millions of dollars in royalties.
Irish superstar Bono of the group U2 has been asked to testify for Love, while the band's former band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic questioned Courtney's mental stability in court papers filed this year.
Love recently submitted a written settlement proposal, but Nirvana's lawyer, Kelly Corr, on Tuesday said he told Love's lawyers upon receipt of the proposal that he considered it "one-sided and unreasonable."
"Krist and Dave would like to settle this case if possible because they'd like to get the music out to fans," he said.
A hearing on a motion to dismiss Love's suit is set for Aug. 30. If denied, the case is set to go to trial Sept. 30.
Love's lawyer in that case, O. Yale Lewis, was not immediately available for comment.
NEWS - Bono & Michael Stipe On Courtney Love's Potential Witness List
07/12/2002
<7/12/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- U2's Bono and R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe are on a potential witness list for Courtney Love in her current legal battle with Dave Grohl and Krist Noveselic over the control of Nirvana music, merchandising, and marketing.
According to a spokesperson for Love, Bono and Stipe are among the people that she's talked to about Nirvana-related issues. Bono reportedly once offered advice to the late Kurt Cobain on coping with rock stardom and celebrity fame, but was turned away at the time, which Love reportedly regrets. In addition, Stipe and Cobain were talking about collaborating just prior to Cobain's suicide.
The spokesperson did add that Love and her representatives are working to avoid a trial situation where celebrities, friends, and associates would have to be called to testify. Love is also engaged in a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and has been working in the studio on material for a new album.
In April, Bono appeared as a character witness for R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, who was charged with being drunk and disorderly on a British Airways flight. Taking the oath under his given name of Paul David Hewson, he testified on Buck's behalf. Buck was cleared of the charges.
-- Darryl Morden, Los Angeles
October 30, 2001 Love Rocks LA
"It's doubtful whether she has ever sounded this vital or important at any other point in her career," raved NME after Courtney claimed the stage her own for the first time in two years. Love played back-to-back shows at Ventura Theatre followed by a night at the Hollywood Bowl.
In Ventura, Courtney weaved the new ("Life Despite God," "All the Drugs"), the old ("Malibu," "20 Years in the Dakota") and the brilliantly borrowed (The Lyres' "Help You Ann," The Vertebrats' "Left in the Dark") into a two-hour set that nailed the sound of Zeppelin meets Sixties punk. (SOURCE HOLEMUSIC.COM)
Courtney VS Universal
October 6, 2001
Courtney Scores Major Victory Against Universal The latest in Love's series of blows to the fraudulent label system occurred last week when a California Supreme Court judge ruled that her most damaging claims against Universal could go to trial.
"This is a historic case: no artist has ever gone this far in litigation and no record company has ever faced charges as serious as these," said Love's attorney.
A jury will now be allowed to hear evidence on the ten most damaging claims of Love's complaint, including the California 7-year-law which prohibits any employer from enforcing a personal services contract after 7 years. Others involve breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
"The record companies' accounting practices will finally be exposed," said Love. "Their royalty system will be seen for the fraud it is."
Courtney has received an outpouring of support from a number of artists from all different musical genres who are watching the case closely.
"The major labels' balls have been placed squarely on the chopping block. Their corrupt practices are in danger of becoming just a horrible memory. All thanks to you," wrote one musician supporter. "I can't even begin to thank you enough."
When she wins, hundreds of artists will follow her lead, and the music industry will be changed forever.
Courtney says she's pleased to see her persistence paying off.
"Industry lawyers and managers told me over and over again that this case would never get to trial and that no court would rule on these problems that everyone agrees cripple growth in the music business. I'm glad that Išve been able to stick it out and that these issues are finally coming to light."
Love's attorney notes that this will be the first time a major label has had to explain their business practices to a jury.
"And I can't imagine they'll be pleased with the result." (SOURCE WWW.HOLEMUSIC.COM)