The Sony Hack (Gets WikiLeaked)

Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal has apologized for racially insensitive remarks made by her and producer Scott Rudin about President Obama in a series of stolen emails that were published online Thursday.

“The content of my emails were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am,” she said in a statement, adding that “although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended.”

Buzzfeed published a story late Thursday containing personal emails in which Pascal and “The Social Network” producer Scott Rudin joked about Obama’s favorite movies, suggesting he would prefer those about African Americans.

“Would he like to finance some movies,” responded Rudin, when Pascal sought his advice on what she should say to the President at a Hollywood fundraiser.

“I doubt it. Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?” said Pascal, with Rudin replying “12 YEARS.”

“Or the butler. Or think like a man?” continued Pascal, who is a major donor for the Democratic party and President Obama.

“Ride-along. I bet he likes Kevin Hart,” said Rudin.

Rudin apologized two hours earlier for the comments Thursday in a piece on Deadline, calling them “thoughtless and insensitive — and not funny at all.”

Pascal’s other published email exchanges with producers and other Sony executives include derisive remarks about top talent such as Kevin Hart, Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler.

Though Sony Pictures had known for months that North Korea was not pleased with the subject of its upcoming film “The Interview,” it wasn’t until late November that mayhem broke out, as executives received an ominous threat asking for money three days before employees’ computers went down. It was just the beginning of an attack unprecedented in corporate history.

North Korea promises “decisive and merciless countermeasure” if “the U.S. administration tacitly approves or supports” the Dec. 25 release of Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy “The Interview,” about a plot to kill Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Nov. 24
Sony’s computer and email systems are paralyzed after skulls and ominous messages appear on employees’ computer screens. The studio is nearly brought to a halt over Thanksgiving week.

Nov. 29
At least five unreleased Sony movies including “Annie,” “Fury” and “Still Alice” appear on file-sharing sites. Sony investigates evidence, including the fact that some tactics employed in the hack are similar to those linked to North Korea. Speculation grows that the takedown could be related to “The Interview.”

Dec. 1
Email and some critical business systems are restored at the studio, while the FBI investigates. Information leaks begin, with Fusion.net posting salary data for top executives including Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal.

Dec. 2
Other studios examine their security measures as a North Korean official advises people to “wait and see” if the nation is behind the leaks. More information is released, including employees’ Social Security numbers. Lynton and Pascal tell staff they are “deeply saddened” that confidential data may be exposed.

Dec. 4
Budget and salary information for “The Interview” stars and talent, including Seth Rogen and James Franco, comes to light. A North Korean diplomat denies his government is behind the attacks.

Dec. 5
The crisis reaches a new level as the hackers send emails threatening employees, and say they plan to “eradicate” all of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Profitability calculations for Sony films such as “This Is the End” are released.

Dec. 6
North Korea’s state news agency reports the country’s National Defense Commission says it is not behind the attacks. However, it calls the hacking “a righteous deed” that may have been carried out by its supporters.

Dec. 7
Media reports link the attack to DarkSeoul, a group with suspected ties to North Korea said to have carried out the attack through computers in Bangkok.

Dec. 8
A new letter from the Guardians of Peace implies Sony should stop the release of “The Interview,” and threatens the privacy of executives. Lynton tells staffers that the FBI will brief employees on the attack on Dec. 10, while new documents released reveal more confidential information on stars, such as Brad Pitt. Meanwhile, an email three days before the initial attack surfaces, sent to Amy Pascal and other top executives, asking for payment in broken English.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Geez! Sony is going to need major PR help after this is all over. The Sony people at the top involved in this will probably step down soon saying they're "retiring" or some shit like that.

This story first appeared in the Oct. 10 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.


FILM STAR
How bad is the decline in actor salaries over the past decade? Despite the huge sums still being raked in by such superstars as Robert Downey Jr. (his $75 million comes from his 7 percent, first-dollar slice of Iron Man 3, as well as his $12 million HTC endorsement deal) and Sandra Bullock (a 15 percent, first-dollar deal on Gravity and about $10 million more for her summer hit The Heat), most actors are feeling a definite squeeze, especially those in the middle.
"If you're [a big star], you're getting well paid," says one top agent, "but the middle level has been cut out." Sometimes with a hacksaw. Leonardo DiCaprio made $25 million (including bonuses) for The Wolf of Wall Street, while co-star Jonah Hill got paid $60,000. Granted, that's an extreme example — Hill offered to do the part for scale (and got an Oscar nomination for his trouble).

But studio cost-cutting has meant that mid-level stars are being nickel-and-dimed in ways that would have been unheard of in the gilded '90s (i.e., Marvel Studios' reportedly offering Mickey Rourke a mere $250,000 to star opposite Downey in Iron Man 2). Before breaking out the violins, though, remember that even mid-level stars are far better off than most other actors. According to the most recent SAG statistics, the average member earns $52,000 a year, while the vast majority take home less than $1,000 a year from acting jobs.


AGENT $200K-$10M
Like everyone in Hollywood, the talent agencies have been tightening their belts. "Your biggest concern used to be, 'Would I get a $100,000 bonus or a $200,000 bonus?' " recalls one veteran agent wistfully. "Ha! Things have changed." Those bonuses still happen, they just require a hot client (or five). CAA generally pays more than WME, UTA, Gersh, ICM and Paradigm, yet salaries increasingly are tied to what an agent brings in. And an agency will overpay to lure a top agent (and his clients). Generally speaking, though, starting agents can expect to earn $50,000 to $65,000; more senior agents make around $200,000; partners make $400,000 to $700,000; and board members — like CAA's Bryan Lourd and WME's Patrick Whitesell and Ari Emanuel — can earn as much as $10 million. In rare circumstances, bonuses based on client earnings can turn mid-level agents into $1 million-a-year employees. In short, top talent breeds top salaries. Tracey Jacobs at UTA is said to be earning upward of $9 million — and she reps Johnny Depp.

AGENT'S ASSISTANT $10-$13 AN HOUR
At most agencies, you start in the mailroom, hope an assistant's desk opens up, then dream of ascending the assistant ladder so you can be on the receiving end of middle-of-the-night email rants from top agents. At CAA, though — where Richard Lovett has five assistants and Kevin Huvane has four — you start as an assistant and move up to the mailroom agent-training program.


ANIMAL ACTOR $5K-$108K
Crystal the monkey earned $108,000 in 2012 for appearing in nine episodes of NBC's Animal Practice. That's more than most of the below-the-line talent featured in this story and twice as much as the average actor, who earns $52,000, according to SAG-AFRTA. But most animals work for peanuts: The day rate for a dog or cat in Hollywood is $400, with most earning $5,000 to $10,000 a year.


CINEMATOGRAPHER
$5K-$30K A WEEK
Top directors of photography, of which there are probably about 10 to 15 in the industry, can command $25,000 to $30,000 a week on movies that shoot up to 12 weeks — maybe even a little more, according to insiders. That select circle of top cinematographers would include 11-time Oscar nominee Roger Deakins, Gravity Academy Award winner Emmanuel Lubezki and Martin Scorsese's frequent collaborator Robert Richardson. On a big-budget studio movie — say, $80 million or more — an experienced cinematographer can expect to earn $10,000 to $20,000 a week. On a low-budget indie fare, DPs often take home $2,000 to $5,000 a week. On TV productions, the range is $5,000 to $8,000 a week.


FILM DIRECTOR $250K-$20M A PICTURE
"The middle range doesn't exist anymore," one studio executive says of the current financial landscape for feature film directors. "Either you're paying for a modern master, or you're paying a lot less. The days of paying $3 million or $4 million, knowing they're just doing the job, that doesn't exist."
The going rate for modern masters? Between $7 million and $10 million for auteurs like Paul Greengrass and Ridley Scott, more if the film is considered a tentpole. Christopher Nolan is said to have made $20 million against 20 percent of gross for Interstellar. Backend is otherwise rare these days for the non-A-list.
On the other end of the scale, emerging directors can expect $250,000 to $500,000 for their first big studio feature, but there are exceptions (one European auteur was said to have recently have been paid $1 million for his first Hollywood blockbuster).


TV DIRECTOR $25K-$42K AN EPISODE
TV directors, of course, are an entirely different species, and get paid in a different way. The base DGA rate is $25,145 for a half-hour episode and $42,701 for an hour. But unlike writers, directors sometimes helm all 22 episodes of a season — it's just too much work. But some big-name pilot directors (David Nutter, Jason Winer and Pam Fryman) get an executive producer credit and a stake in the show, which is how Bryan Singer is said to have made tens of millions for directing the pilot of House M.D.


ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER $2M-$6M 
Maybe more, if you're Skip Brittenham, who is rumored to take home $10 million a year. After a practice builds up, a lawyer can receive 30 percent of what the firm earns from his or her clients. With a big enough list, that easily can add up to millions. But even first-year attorneys can do OK, earning $135,000 to $165,000 (enough to pay off law school).

EXTRA $148 A DAY
But there's a "bump" of $50 a day for wearing a hairpiece, or if you're working in challenging conditions (rain, smoke). There's also overtime — a full day of pay for every hour after 16 hours — which has been known to happen on movie sets.


GAME SHOW HOST $1M-$10M
Quiz masters make between $25,000 a week (for a syndicated show) to upward of $75,000 a week (for a primetime program). Unless, of course, you're Alex Trebek, Jeopardy!'s 30-year host — in which case you take home the $10 million-a-year jackpot.


LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST $3M-$30M
Late night's recent round of musical chairs hasn't changed the pay all that much — unless you're Stephen Colbert, said to be in line to earn a bit more as David Letterman's replacement on CBS than the $15 million a year he gets from Comedy Central. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart remains the top earner at $25 million to $30 million a year. Jimmy Fallon is said to be making a little less annually than Jay Leno's$15 million for hosting The Tonight Show (and a lot less than the $25 million Leno made before he took a pay cut). And Seth Meyers barely can afford an applause sign at $3 million.


MANAGER $250K-$300K
Bonuses are the name of the game in the management business. They're tied to commissions — one big client can be worth millions. Starting managers make $50,000 to $60,000 and are expected to bring in two to three times their pay in commissions. Top partners can pull in seven figures. And unlike agents, managers can produce projects, bringing in additional fees.


NETWORK TV PRESIDENT $2M-$3M
The usual base salary for running the entertainment division of a major broadcast network is $2 million, but a $3 million base is not unheard of. And bonuses can double that salary. Still, says one former network president: "It's not like these are jobs people lust after — they're too hard. The really fun jobs are running cable networks, a job like head of programming at AMC, because you have more opportunity to be creative."


PORN STAR $120K
That's what an "average" porn star makes in a year, according to Joanne Cachapero of the Free Speech Coalition, the closest thing adult film has to a guild. Big-name female performers — what Cachapero calls "top flight" — can earn $200,000 or more (men, for once, earn less, though they tend to have longer careers). But there's a limit to even the most successful porn star's earning power. "Unlike mainstream performers," says Cachapero, "adult performers have less opportunity to diversify revenue by adding streams like merchandising and endorsements."


STUDIO CHIEF $5M-$15M
Your average studio chief — think Alan Horn, Brad Grey and Amy Pascal — earns a base salary of about $5 million. But bonuses and other sweeteners (structured on box office and production output, among other factors) usually amount to two to three times that payday. Plus, the job comes with the best perks in Hollywood, from private jet rides to 24-hour assistants.

PRODUCER
$250K-$2M
The number of producers whose fees top $2 million — such aces as Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Rudin, Brian Grazer and Neal H. Moritz — can be counted on two hands (plus maybe a foot). Moritz now tops the list, surpassing Bruckheimer with his rich Fast & Furious 7 deal. Rudin is said to have a quote of $2.5 million against 7.5 percent of first-dollar gross. But one dealmaker says no one is earning true first-dollar gross as in the old days. Instead, "everybody reduces before a film is greenlit and agrees to be part of a cash-break pool." The PGA does not share average producer salaries, but a newbie typically earns $250,000, while a hot actor making a foray into producing earns $500,000 to $750,000 with some backend. Established actors with successful producing track records can take home considerably more — like Adam Sandler, who earned $5 million to produce Grown Ups 2 (not nearly as much as the $20 million he received to star in the film).

PUBLICIST $27K-$400K
Unlike agents, managers and lawyers, PR reps typically are paid a monthly fee, not a percentage of income. That makes a big difference. A partner at a large firm makes $200,000 to $300,000, though some of the bigger flaks are rumored to pull in nearly $400,000. Publicists with A-list clients earn $100,000 to $150,000 (though fees vary depending on how many clients are "on," or paying monthly fees), while midlevel reps (five to seven years of experience) take home $50,000 to $80,000. The entry-level flack at the red carpet and premiere parties who can't find your name on her clipboard makes $27,000 to $35,000.


STUNT PERSON $50K-$1M
How much would you charge to jump a motorcycle over a wall and into a swimming pool? How about driving a semi tractor-trailer 65 miles an hour off a ramp and 30 feet into the air? Tom McComas, 44, who has done all that and much more as a stuntman in The Dark Knight and Mission: Impossible movies, earns about a half-million dollars a year, and some make even more. Yuen Woo-Ping, who worked on the Matrix films and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was said to have earned $1 million annually at his peak. But those are exceptions — most risk their necks for far less.


The AFTRA rate for stunt work is $889 a day. That's about $50,000 a film, assuming one works every day during a three-month shoot. And work, by the way, is getting harder to come by in L.A. thanks to productions moving to Louisiana, Georgia and other low-cost states, where local stunt workers grab most of the jobs. "I was in the top 1 percent, making $250,000 a year," says a Hollywood stuntwoman who has doubled for Linda Hamilton and Jamie Lee Curtis. "But in the last two years, that has gone down by $100,000." She estimates the average working stunt person makes only $50,000 to $100,000 a year.
That's barely enough to cover a daredevil's insurance premiums, let alone pay the bills when he or she takes the inevitable spill. "I was doubling Jim Carrey in Yes Man, on the back of a scooter on Sunset Boulevard with the girl doubling Zooey Deschanel," recalls McComas. "A car that was supposed to slide by us hit us at 50 miles per hour. She shattered her pelvis; I jumped, flipped in the air and herniated a couple of disks." He was out of work for eight months. "When you're hurt, you show up the next day and you're fired. Basically we're blue-collar workers who punch the clock. I went from $10,000 a week to $900 a week on disability. The bottom line for a stuntman is: Don't get hurt."

COMMERCIAL VOICE ACTOR $3K-$1M AN AD
You can do it on bad hair days, and it pays great. More and more top stars are lending their voice to TV and radio commercials. Robert Downey Jr. for Nissan, Morgan Freeman for Visa, Jon Hamm for Mercedes, Tim Allen for Michigan Tourism, Kevin Spacey for Honda, Lisa Kudrow for Yoplait, Queen Latifah for Pizza Hut ... the list goes on and on. "The trend in terms of celebrities doing voiceover has been distinctly upward," says Jeff Danis, president of DPN Talent, an agency that specializes in commercial voiceover work. Big names like Freeman and Allen can command more than $1 million for an ad, which usually requires only a day's work.
But major stars account for only about 20 percent of the voices you hear in commercials. The other 80 percent — non-celebrity voice actors — don't make nearly that kind of dough. Typically, they'll earn scale, which works out to about $3,000 to $5,000 an ad.

TV STARS $150K-$1M AN EPISODE
It used to be when movie stars did a TV show, it was seen as slumming. Now it's considered moving on up. Just this summer, Oscar winner Halle Berry debuted on CBS' Extant, and this fall Katherine Heigl stars on NBC's State of Affairs, while Tea Leoni plays a better-dressed version of Hillary Clinton on CBS' Madam Secretary. Each of these actresses is being paid $150,000 an episode, the going rate for luring big-screen names to TV (for a 22-episode season, it adds up to $3.3 million). That's a far cry from the $15,000 to $25,000 per episode an unknown actor is offered for a series regular role. But established TV actors with virtually no big-screen experience can do very well. Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting now will make $1 million an episode on The Big Bang Theory (up from $350,000). Then there's Mark Harmon, who makes north of $500,000 per episode of NCIS, and Ashton Kutcher, who earns $750,000 per episode of Two and a Half Men — or about $34,000 a minute. With paychecks like that, who needs a film career?


PRIVATE CHEF $75K-$200K
Michelin-starred private chefs obviously can make more — but there are other ingredients in the salary recipe, like whether the client requires odd-hour meals or has a special diet. According to Christian Paier, owner of L.A.-based Private Chefs Inc., pairing a chef with a star or industry client can be as challenging as matchmaking: "Some of these clients spend more time with their chef than with their spouse — they travel with their chef wherever they go. It's a very intimate thing."


SHOWRUNNER $30K-$100K AN EPISODE
At 22 episodes a season, that adds up to $660,000 to $2.2 million a year. A select few creator-runners make considerably more, like Matthew Weiner (who got $30 million for the last three years of Mad Men).


REALITY STAR: PRACTICALLY NOTHING-$200K AN EPISODE
Sure, if you're a member of the Duck Dynasty clan — or a Kardashian — you can make millions (like Kourtney and Kim's reported $40 million, three-year deal with E!, or the Robertson family's more than $200,000 an episode deal with A&E for Dynasty). Even D-list celebs who go on Wife Swap can make decent money: $10,000 to $20,000 an episode. But for the vast majority of reality show performers — unfamous Bachelor contestants and other run-of-the mill reality hopefuls — jury duty pays better. You're given a minimal stipend to compensate for missed wages, and that's pretty much it. The real money in reality comes from parlaying your TV profile into something larger, the way Housewives star Bethenny Frankel managed to land that $100 million Skinnygirl deal in 2011. Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino spun six seasons on MTV's Jersey Shore into $9 million from endorsements of products including vitamins, clothing, jewelry and sunglasses. Those deals are rare these days, but on a more modest scale, hot-ish reality stars can pick up an easy $5,000 to $10,000 just for showing up for paid "appearances" at bars and nightclubs.

FILM WRITER $100K-$1M A DRAFT
Feature film writers' incomes continue to slide. According to the WGA West, screenwriters in Hollywood earned a combined total of $331 million last year, down nearly 25 percent from 2009. But some of them are doing pretty well. A screenwriter who sells a draft to a major studio can earn about $100,000, and a hot writer can score $1 million or more. Super scribes such as Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Simon Kinberg pull in as much as $5 million annually in writers' fees (more when you add in residuals and producing earnings), while other top screenwriters earn closer to $2 million.
TV WRITER $3K-$6K A WEEK
In a gloomy Hollywood climate, the WGA says things are looking relatively bright for TV writers, who took in a combined total of $668.5 million last year, down just 6.2 percent from 2012. And TV residuals are booming: Last year, WGA members received $233.7 million in TV residuals, up 55 percent since 2012. Most staff writers work on 20-week contracts, at a rate of about $3,800 a week, though more senior writers earn about $6,000 a week. But the real money is in writing an entire episode on one's own. That pays $24,788 a script, and considerably more if you create your own series (see "Showrunner").
•••
BELOW THE LINE: The A to Z of Industry Pay
ANIMATION DIRECTOR $200K
ART DIRECTOR $134K
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR $101K
AWARDS SHOW PRODUCER $300K
BEST BOY $92K
BODY DOUBLE $33K
BOOM MIC OPERATOR $87K
CHAUFFEUR $56K
CAMERA OPERATOR $96K
CARPENTER $61K
COSTUME DEPT. SUPERVISOR $91K
COSTUMER $79K
CRAFT SERVICES FOREPERSON $74K
DOG HANDLER $54K
DIALECT COACH $125K
EDITOR $95K
FIRE SAFETY ADVISER $73K
FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR $192K
FOLEY ARTIST $88K
GAFFER $59K
GARDENER (STUDIO) $50K
GRIP $102K
HAIRSTYLIST $77K
HAIRSTYLIST TRAINEE $66K
LIGHTING TECHNICIAN (ENTRY-LEVEL) $53K
LOCATION MANAGER $112K
MECHANIC $59K
MAKEUP ARTIST $100K
MODEL BUILDER $68K
MUSIC MIXER $111K
NOVELIZATION WRITER $12,500 per book
PAYROLL ACCOUNTANT $66K
PERSONAL ASSISTANT FOR A CELEBRITY $80K
PROJECTIONIST (STUDIO) $72K
PROP MASTER $59K
PUBLICIST (STUDIO) $93K
SCENIC ARTIST $81K
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR $62K
SCULPTOR $75K
SET DECORATOR $104K
SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR $88K
TEACHER (ON-SET) $88K
TRAILER EDITOR $81K
WIGMAKER, CLASS 1 $59K
WIGMAKER, CLASS 2 $69K
WILD ANIMAL TRAINER $75K

ForeverBlu wrote:Pascal said Aaron Sorkin is a broke ass.

ForeverBlu wrote:Really?

They also talked shit about Clooney.

ForeverBlu wrote:Pascal said Aaron Sorkin is a broke ass.

ForeverBlu wrote:They also talked shit about Clooney.

Aaron Sorkin and others in Hollywood have begun to come forward to voice support for Amy Pascal, the embattled co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who been subjected to a series of embarrassing revelations as a result of the Nov. 24 cyber-attack on the Culver City studio.

Sorkin wrote The Social Network, which Sony released in 2010 and also Jobs, the upcoming film about the Apple co-founder, which was at the center of heated email exchanges between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin.

In the wake of the disclosures, in which Pascal and Rudin traded racially insensitive emails about President Barack Obama, Sorkin told The Hollywood Reporter, "Amy knows more than a lot of people what it's like to battle stereotypes. She's a woman at a large corporation who worked her way from assistant to the chairman's office. No one in the world feels worse than she does right now, and the thing about Amy's character is that it's not because she was caught, it's because she did it. Amy would rather cut off her own hand than intentionally hurt someone."

Sources say George Clooney and CAA partner Bryan Lourd have privately expressed their support for Pascal.

Leonardo DiCaprio Called ‘Despicable’ in New Sony Emails

It’s widely known that Leonardo DiCaprio was originally supposed to play Steve Jobs in the upcoming movie from Aaron Sorkin. What isn’t common knowledge: how Amy Pascal and the film’s producer took the news.

“Horrible behavior,” producer Mark Gordon wrote. “Actually despicable,” Pascal corrected him.

According to the Daily Beast, Gordon had asked the Sony Pictures co-chairman whether DiCaprio’s decision to pull out of the Apple biopic was based on money or not.

Pascal replied “the latter.”

Also lambasted in the stolen emails were Willow and Jaden Smith.

Sony declined to comment on this story.

It’s the latest fallout from a paralyzing cyber-attack against Sony Pictures in recent weeks that has seen employee information, personal emails and unreleased movies hit the Web.

In the new emails published on Saturday, head of TriStar productions Tom Rothman sent a message to Pascal on November 18 following the release of Willow and Jaden Smith’s now-infamous T Magazine interview. “1. Read this,” the email, which forwarded a link, read. “2. they r home schooled: don’t let this family date your movies!!!”

Meanwhile, exchanges between Pascal and Gosling’s talent manager Ilene Feldman had a much different tone.

“Ryan absolutely loved you,” Feldman wrote on October 3. “Said it was like speed dating because he was late after hitting every wrong gate on the lot. Not it should turn to marriage. He really wants to do something with you.”

Pascal then looked into what project Gosling was interested in pursuing, which is allegedly Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” femme-reboot.

“There is one make [male] part paul is planning. How insane would that be… He also wants jennifer [Lawrence] and Emma [Stone],” she later wrote to Hannah Minghella, the other co-president of production at Columbia.

Other exchanges show that Sony also pursued “the Notebook” actor for “Sinister Six” and “Jobs.”

Another email chain contained an apology from George Clooney to Pascal about his lack of confidence in “The Monuments Men.”

Her reassurance to the Oscar-winner: box office is “the best revenge.”

Pascal then looked into what project Gosling was interested in pursuing, which is allegedly Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” femme-reboot.

“There is one make [male] part paul is planning. How insane would that be… He also wants jennifer [Lawrence] and Emma [Stone],” she later wrote to Hannah Minghella, the other co-president of production at Columbia.

Gamma626 wrote:Can they just pull the fucking Interview already?  And fire everyone at the top of sony?

Gamma626 wrote:Scrubbing their logos apparently wasn't worth it.  Maybe if we get some new people in charge, this will have been worth it.

Who the fuck thought it was a good idea in the first place though, honestly.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Fuck that bitch! Jolie is a hundred times better human being than her.

WyldeMan wrote:By this point the hackers have still only released a few hundrerd gigs of data and while that is a lot, they did steal 100 terrabytes. Which means there virtually limitless documentation still on the way with the hackers now promising a "Christmas Present" which they're claiming will do the most damage to Sony's business of all.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

I'm actually worried now as to how far this will hurt the company. As long as this all remains within Sony Pictures Entertainment, I'm fine. I don't want this to spread to the gaming side over at Sony Network Entertainment and all things PlayStation related.

Rusty Cunt wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:

I'm actually worried now as to how far this will hurt the company. As long as this all remains within Sony Pictures Entertainment, I'm fine. I don't want this to spread to the gaming side over at Sony Network Entertainment and all things PlayStation related.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony is fielding offers to get SPE off their hands.

Rusty Cunt wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if Sony is fielding offers to get SPE off their hands.

WyldeMan wrote:

Rusty Cunt wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if Sony is fielding offers to get SPE off their hands.

By the time these documents are done being released, if they're as catastrophic as the hackers promise, Sony is going to be broken up and sold by division.

UltimateMarvel wrote:That's what worries me. That would have ramifications to SNE too. It was hacked just last week but they managed to resolve it quickly. As a consumer, I fear of what's coming.

You gotta ask yourself though, how the hell did this get so out of control so fast? You dig this much into any company, you'd probably find just as much dirt.

joey con carne wrote:Was there any breach on the PSN network?

joey con carne wrote:I really just want to see them release all 100 terabytes so I can watch Sony's movie studios crumble. This is pretty exciting to read while it all unfolds.

Hackers offer to spare some Sony employees from stolen data leaks

The hacker group that calls itself GOP or "Guardians of Peace" doesn't seem to have any plans to stop dumping information pilfered from its hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment to the press. But now they might be offering some Sony employees a way out if they contact the hackers.

In the latest data dump that was sent to reporters, which happened on Sunday, the hackers included what appears to be a merciful message to Sony employees.

"We have a plan to release emails and privacy of the Sony Pictures employees," the message reads. "If you don't want your privacy to be released, tell us your name and business title to take off your data."

That's about as conciliatory as the hackers' message gets, however. In the past few weeks, the hacking collective has leaked controversial email correspondence between Sony executives, as well as financial documents and the personal information of celebrities.

"The sooner SPE accept our demands, the better, of course," the post reads. "The farther time goes by, the worse state SPE will be put into and we will have Sony go bankrupt in the end."

The Guardians of the Peace's demands remain unclear. It's been widely speculated that the hackers want Sony to pull the release of The Interview, a comedy that dramatizes an assassination attempt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. There hasn't been a ton of evidence to support a North Korean link, however.

The hackers continue to threaten to release more stolen data, this time as a "Christmas gift."

"We are preparing for you a Christmas gift," the latest message reads. "The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state."

The post then provides a list of emails to contact for those want in on the "gift."

For its part, Sony has demanded that the media stop publishing information about its stolen data. Many publications, including Mashable, have published private conversations and information about the company from the leaks.

joey con carne wrote:That's disappointing. But I hope Sony takes the "we don't negotiate with terrorists (hacxkz0rz)" kind of stance. Don't let them push you around, Sony. Take your beating with dignity.

WyldeMan wrote:

joey con carne wrote:That's disappointing. But I hope Sony takes the "we don't negotiate with terrorists (hacxkz0rz)" kind of stance. Don't let them push you around, Sony. Take your beating with dignity.

I'm hoping its a ploy and any Sony Exec who responds gets their shit dumped too. That's how I'd do it.

More hacked Sony emails have been released, and while they don’t get much juicier than Scott Rudin calling Dame St. Angie a “minimally-talented spoiled brat” (I wonder what he calls her off the record? My money is on “Jon Voight’s dumb vampire-looking daughter“), they do reveal that Amal Clooney’s actor husband George was a sad panda after he read all the bad reviews of his film The Monuments Men. According to Page Six, one of the recent leaks was an email George sent to Amy Pascal with the subject line “It’s getting worse“. In it, he cries to Amy that the reviews for the film he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in were so bad, he was losing precious beauty sleep:

“I need some protection from all the reviews. Let’s just make it a hit. I haven’t slept in 30 hours. And it’s 7 am.”

I hope the second Amy got that email, she rushed over to his house with a Costco-sized tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and a DVD copy of One Fine Day to cheer him up. Poor Georgie – some people didn’t like his movie! I think that’s the rich celebrity equivalent of not being asked to the prom. Amy did email George back, explaining that would “get revenge” by making money off the film, and George responded in true George Clooney style:


“I adore you Amy. You are literally the only person running a studio that loves film. I fear I’ve let you all down. Not my intention. I apologize. I’ve just lost touch… Who knew? Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

joey con carne wrote:These emails need to keep coming. This is amazing. What a fucking crybaby. Boo hoo asshole. At one point I was unemployed for like a year and a half. Man, fuck you, Clooney. You live such a hard life.

What was the bigger blow to Angelina Jolie last week? The Sony email leaks or the fact that she didn’t get nominated for a Golden Globe when Jennifer Aniston did? Just some perspective now on the Sony emails – we all know now what Scott Rudin thinks of her and that even though he claimed he’d have no problem telling her to f-ck off over Cleopatra himself, he kinda tried to bully Amy Pascal into doing it for him. That was in February.

What’s getting very little publicity however is what happened 6 months later, after Maleficent was a big ass deal. Turns out, though Rudin wasn’t involved in any of the Cleopatra emails that followed, Pascal was still trying to make it happen. Which means the Jolie was still working it. And it seemed to have some momentum. Because the Sony email leaks reveal that both Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were both interested.
Here’s a message to Amy Pascal on behalf of Coppola:

And here’s a message about Martin Scorsese from just a month ago, in November. Note that in addition to Scorsese considering it, Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio were also mentioned as possibilities to co-star with Angelina.

So even though Scott Rudin wasn’t feeling it, somehow the Jolie was able to go from David Fincher to Martin Scorsese with a bonus of DDL and Leo…? That’s not a position of weakness. A month ago. Given the fallout now though, both Cleopatra AND the Jobs movie are probably low priorities for everyone.

For some reason, this information – about Scorsese and DDL and Leo – hasn’t been making headlines. And I’m not sure why. To me, it’s just as insightful as the rest of it.

Also insightful…

Brad Pitt “wigging out” over Fury. In August he screened a cut of the film and was so unhappy he was threatening not to promote it:

Later on, Brad wrote back to Amy Pascal, having watched it again “in a calm state” – his words.

I have some issues here with his use of the word “egregious”. Maybe he was trying to say “aggrieved”? The “Cynthia” being referred to here is his manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante. So Brad Pitt was so pissed about Fury he supposedly told his manager he would refuse press obligations over it?

Again, these messages aren’t getting the traction that the previous ones have, even though they’re just as fascinating (at least to me).

Another day, another report on the now infamous "Sony Hack." The Business Insider is now reporting that Sony was considering a possible crossover between the long dormant Zorro, who was last seen on screen in 2005 with Antonio Banderas (Puss In Boots) playing the titular character, and 2012's Django Unchained, which starred Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) in the lead role. In an e-mail dated September 28th sent from Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal to the Academy Award-winning director Quentin Tarantino, she discusses her interest in a possible crossover. Read the e-mail below: 

HELLO AMY P HERE... HOW ARE YOU? I WANNA TALK ABOUT DJANGO/ZORRO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE IT ... ALSO I STILL WANNA DO THE DION BROTHERS AND JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T GET TO BE A PART OF HATEFUL DOESN'T MEAN IM EVER GONNA STOP WANTING TO WORK WITH YOU (AND HARVEY) BEST ALWAYS...AMY

Tarantino was fairly enthusiasic about the possible crossover and responded by saying "D/Z could be really fun!" He also expressed interest in The Dion Brothers as well as another unmentioned Sony film: The Baby Blue Marine. 

This is not the first time a crossover between the two properties has been mentioned. A crossover comic series written by Tarantino was released in November by DC Comics & Dynamite Entertainment. It served as a sequel of sorts to the hit 2012 film.