Netflix Q4 net income beats estimates

Netflix is bullish on the prospects for its new U.K. service Netflix shares surged in after-hours trading after its fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company said Wednesday that its worldwide net income was down 13% to $41 million in the fourth quarter from $47 million the year before but revenue surged 47% to $876 million. Netflix, whose subscriber numbers are studied like a bible, added 220,000 domestic streaming subscribers in the quarter, ending the year with 21.67 million subs. International streaming added 380,000 subs to 1.86 million. But domestic DVD, the company's root biz, lost 2.76 million subs from the third quarter to the fourth, ending the year with 11.17 million. That business has been eroding rapidly as people increasingly utiize Netflix's streaming service rather than its disc-by-mail offerings. Despite that dip, it appears the company added subs overall quarter to quarter, reporting an increase of 610,000 subs to 24.4 million. That's something it failed to do in the 2011 third quarter, when it lost subscribers for the first time in its history after several badly presented pricing and reconfiguration initiatives angered some customers. That caused Netflix shares, which once traded at more than $300, to slump last fall. But after some backtracking and many mea culpas, founder-CEO Reed Hastings and his team said they've moved on and have been busy inking content deals in the U.S. and U.K. where Netflix launched Jan. 9. Earlier Wednesday it announced a deal with specialty distributor Dogwoof for documentaries like "Bobby Fischer Against the World," "Gasland" and "Page One: Inside the NY Times." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Sundance Exclusive Clip: 'For A Good Time, Call' Lauren Miller For Dating Advice

For a good time, check out the Sundance Film Festival release of "For A Good Time, Call," the new comedy from co-writers Lauren Miller and Katie Anne Naylon. Miller stars in director Jamie Travis' feature as a woman forced to move in with her worst enemy from college, Katie (Ari Graynor), when her personal life falls into a rut. The two find some very unexpected common ground in the form of a telecommuting gig that has a lot more to do with moaning than talking. The movie premiered to big laughs and high praise at Sundance on Sunday (January 22), and to keep the "Good" momentum going, we've got an exclusive clip for your viewing pleasure! The clip features Lauren giving Katie a master class in "rape prevention." We won't spoil the whole thing for you, but here's one tip: if you don't have any mace handy, a huge-ass bottle of bug spray will do the trick.

Bingham Ray dies at 57

RayBingham Ray, who championed indie films throughout his career as co-founding father of October Films and prexy of U . s . Artists and was lately named professional director from the Bay Area Film Society, died Monday in Provo, Utah, after having suffered two strokes a week ago. He was 57.Ray have been attending the Arthouse Convergence symposium near Park City as he experienced the very first stroke and was put in the hospital in Park City. He experienced another stroke and was moved to Provo, where he died. After 30 years within the indie film biz that ended having a three-year stint being an professional at Sydney Kimmel Entertainment, Ray had lately segued towards the festival and academic world, becoming a programming consultant towards the Film Society of Lincoln subsequently Center, consultant to Snagfilms and adjunct professor at NYU. He was named professional director from the org that runs the Bay Area Intl. Film Fest in November, following the dying of SFFS director Graham Leggat. The fest happens yearly in April. "The board of company directors and staff from the Film Society are stunned and deeply saddened through the untimely dying in our executive director Bingham Ray. We in the Film Society and also the entire film community have forfeit way too early a dynamic and visionary impact player that has assisted shape the independent film niche for decades in a lot of important and valuable ways," stated Pat McBaine, Bay Area Film Society board leader. The Bay Area Film Society's annual Sundance party continues to be cancelled.In 1991, Ray and Shaun Lipsky co-founded October Films, that was probably the most influential indie distribs through the the nineteen nineties until its purchase to USA Systems in 1999. At October, he acquired films including Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies," Lars von Trier's "Smashing the Waves" and Jim Jarmusch's "Lost Highway." The business's films won two Academy awards. In 2001, he was named prexy of MGM subsid U . s . Artists, where he acquired and created films including Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," which won the feature doc Oscar, "Hotel Rwanda" and "Ghost World." He left UA in 2004.In 2007 he became a member of La-based Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, where he offered leader of Kimmel Distribution and leader of creative matters. He supervised marketing and distribution plans for that original "Dying in a Funeral," "Speak with Me," "Lars and also the Real Girl" and "Synecdoche, N.Y." and was accountable for the expansion and manufacture of the remake of "Dying in a Funeral," in addition to supervisory the introduction of a seven-film production slate.Ray started his career almost 30 years ago as manager-programmer from the Bleecker Street Cinema, then labored like a booker for U . s . Artists, NYer Films, the Samuel Goldwyn Co. and Avenue Entertainment. One of the game titles he done were determining game titles from the flourishing era of independent film including "Sid and Nancy," "Prick Your Ears," "Pharmacy Cowboy," "Hope and Glory," "Sweetie" and "At Night, My Sweet." He offered like a jury member for that Sundance, Rotterdam and Edinburgh film festivals and also the Film Independent Spirit Honours and it has lectured on film production and development in the City College of NY's Graduate Film School and Columbia additionally to NYU.Ray is made it by his wife Nancy King, three children and 2 siblings. Contact Pat Saperstein at pat.saperstein@variety.com

PGA noms talk turkey over breakfast

Even the most proven Hollywood producers have to work hard to overcome their own skepticism as they shepherd their movies towards finish line.Letty Aronson, speaking at Saturday's Producers Guild of America awards nominees breakfast, recalled her doubts when Woody Allen told his longtime producing partner and sister about doing "Midnight in Paris," which became his biggest box office grosser."I said to Woody, 'Who's going to come to see this film?" she noted. The event, sponsored by Variety, took place at the Landmark Theater in West Los Angeles, half a day before the PGA's award of its Darryl F. Zanuck award for top feature. Steven Spielberg ("War Horse") and Brad Pitt ("Moneyball") provided star power with Spielberg admitting he decided to adapt the play after spouse Kate Capshaw had seen a performance. "My wife said, 'You've got to do this," said Spielberg, provoking a big laugh from the crowd of more than 300.Pitt allowed he's still learning the ropes of dealing with producing challenges. He recalled that he had asked Sony chief Amy Pascal for a second chance after she pulled the plug in 2009 a few days before the start of shooting due to concerns about Steven Soderbergh's script."I've never played that card but I felt I had a responsibility to the people who had done all the work on it so far," Pitt noted. "I had a few sleepless nights." Pitt also gave credit to Pascal for staying with the project, saying, "Amy doubled down when the odds were telling her to get out."Graham King, nominated for Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," admitted that the 3D pic was the most challenging of the more than 20 features he's produced. "It was the 3D, Sacha (Baron Cohen), the kids," he added. "Bridesmaids" producer Barry Mendel admitted that director Paul Feig shot a massive amount of footage -- 1.2 million feet -- in order to be assured that the comedy was captured. "We kept finding that the humor is so elusive so we shot everything three different ways," he added. "I think that you need great editing for comedies."Cean Chaffin conceded that she found shooting "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" particularly nerve-wracking since Steven Zaillian's script wasn't yet completed. "Thank God it was Zaillian," she added.In many cases, panel members said, timing's crucial. "Ides of March" producer Grant Heslov recalled that he and George Clooney had originally set up their adaptation of the stage play when Barack Obama was running."We didn't think that a very cynical look at politics would play well at the point when Obama had been elected," he noted. "About a year went by and we said maybe we can do this."With Warner Bros. no longer backing the project, Clooney and Heslov headed to the American Film Market to raise funds for "Ides," which wound up with a $12.5 million budget. "George would spin the plates and I would occasionally interject a joke," Heslov said."The Artist" producer Thomas Langmann offered high praise for helmer Michel Hazanavicius, citing the advice of his father, filmmaker Claude Berri. "He said there were three answers -- the director, the director, the director," he noted. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Fringe's Joshua Jackson: Peter Throws a Hail Mary Pass by Contacting Walternate

Joshua Jackson It's the moment Fringe fans have been waiting for since Peter was transported to the alternate timeline: a Walternate and Peter showdown.Stranded in a reality where Walter (John Noble) rejects him, Olivia (Anna Torv) has feelings for another man and no one truly believes he's a Bishop, Peter (Joshua Jackson) will turn to the only other man who knows how the machine works, which Peter believes may be the key to returning to his own timeline.Exclusive: Michael Massee tapped as Fringe's best bad guy"It's sort of a Hail Mary pass on Peter's part," Jackson says of seeking Walternate's help. "He has a real, deep sense that he's in the wrong place and he needs to get home by any means necessary. Walternate is the very last person that he would ever go to, so it shows the level of desperation that he has to try and ask that man to help him."Turning to the man who could possibly be sending a new form of deadly shapeshifters to our universe is not the only complication Peter will endure in crossing to the alternate universe, especially considering this timeline's Elizabeth Bishop (Orla Brady), Peter's mother, is still alive. "When he sees his mother, there's so much that is wrapped up in that relationship with his mom and the guilt over the loss of his original mom," he says.Mega Buzz: Get scoop on the return of FringeWhether the machine will simply transport Peter back to his timeline, or erase this new one altogether remains to be seen, but Jackson isn't as eager as some fans may be to get back to the original reality."We've spent many, many, many, many episodes with this group of people so I'm not sure that it's satisfying to just leave them," he says. "If we just pulled the rip cord on this new group of people and went to our old people, a significant amount of the audience would be like, 'Well, why did I get so invested in these people?' I don't know how they're going to resolve it and we haven't got to that place in the story yet, but that seems, to me, like that's going to be the crisis of the season."Fringe returns Friday at 9/8c on Fox.

Dawn Olivieri Credits Her Fellow Actors for 'House of Lies'

Dawn Olivieri Credits Her Fellow Actors for 'House of Lies' By Simi Horwitz January 12, 2012 Dawn Olivieri says there was a time when a wonderful role and story were enough to draw her to a project. Those elements continue to be essential, but working with a stellar cast is a prerequisite as well. "There is only so much you can do if you're pulling weight and there's nobody there to play off of," she notes. "You can't have those beautiful moments with new actors who are so worried about everything else but the moment. With the stellar actors I'm working with now, there's so much more that can blossom."The actors she's referring to include Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell, Glynn Turman, Ben Schwartz, and Josh Lawson, who are co-starring in Showtime's new series "House of Lies." The raunchy, dark comedy recounts the nasty shenanigans of a hot management consulting firm, headed by a delightful sleaze played by Cheadle. Olivieri is his ex-wife and business competitor, who's at the top of her game in the boardroom and totally messed up in every other aspect of her life."The show pushes the envelope and people's comfort level, but for me, Dawn, the script is more truthful than most of those I've read and worked on," she continues. "But the acting challenges are the same. You try to do what you have in front of you and then dive into that black hole that you're usually covering up.""House of Lies" represents a major career step for Olivieri, though she credits the cult NBC series "Heroes" with putting her on the map. Playing Lydia, the tattooed woman, from 2009 to 2010, she gained an international audience. Still, she can't bear to look at herself in that show now."I came to the role with an idea of who Lydia was, but I didn't fuse myDawn'sidiosyncrasies into the character, which would have brought her to life," she says. "I created the beautiful shell of a human being. Since that time I've learned to take the importance off the outer shell and go deeper inside the character."Olivieri landed the role after responding to a breakdown seeking pretty girls who were willing to audition in a bikini. That was precisely the kind of casting call Olivieri would not usually consider, she says with a laugh. But since it was summer, and not much was happening in her career, she decided to give it a shot. Lydia was not yet developed and had no dialogue; the audition consisted of reading scenes from previous seasons written for other characters. A callback followed, and she booked the role. "I guess the bikini paid off," she notes. "Maybe we shouldn't prejudge auditions."Olivieri says frankly that sometimes she nails a part, and other times her auditions stink. "I have the mentality that sometimes a role is just meant for someone else," she says. "If you're supposed to get a part, the light will shine on you. And if not, nothing you do is going to help."Nonetheless, she advocates preparation and analysis but has given up sticking to the dialogue verbatim. "You have to figure out what's important and keep the main points, though I will swing a little outside the box," she says. "It affords me the freedom to find out who the character is, and it's been a positive technique for me. I'm not saying everyone should change words, but if you can do it with confidence, you may nail it."A Model Career Born in St. Petersburg, Fla., and raised in Seminole, Olivieri performed in school plays as a youngster but never conceived of acting as a career. Though she landed a modeling contract that brought her to Milan when she was in high school, she had her sights set on becoming a veterinarian. She then earned a full academic scholarship to the University of South Florida, where she majored in chemistry. Ultimately, however, Olivieri found school suffocating, dropped out, and launched a modeling career in New York and Miami. "It was not glamorous at all," she recalls. "I was what you call a workhorse or showroom model, meaning I modeled designers' new collections for buyers who would then decide what they wanted to order."After struggling for six years, Olivieri reviewed her options. "I wanted to find something I was passionate about, something with the possibility of upward movement, and I wanted freedom," she says. "I need to be outside living life, not stuck in an office. I figured I could either be out selling condos in Miami, or I could move to L.A. and chase after that elusive actor's job. I knew no one who had done it, but I knew there were actresses who had modeled, and I thought I could do it too."She drove across the country to L.A. and jumped right into the fray, starting with extensive Internet research into acting classes. Finding the right teacher was a matter of trial and error, and after several false starts she clicked with Lesly Kahn, with whom she studied for four years. "From her I learned the technique of comedy and the license to allow myself to be funny," she says.Seeking representation was frustrating, but Olivieri remained undaunted because she was familiar with rejection from her modeling days and had overcome the experience. "You need to cultivate your talent, and then it'll blossom," she says. "You need to keep negativity out of your ecosystem." Indeed, Olivieri believes all actors should come up with a list of activities outside acting that are truly enjoyable, boost well-being, and ward off reliance on casting directors for self-worth. Further, she contends that if she brings a good mood into an audition, it's intoxicating for CDs.As for the future, Olivieri is optimistic, looking forward to horseback riding in New Zealand, enjoying quirky exchanges with local cashiers, and appearing in a sci-fi flick with elves and wizards and princes who push the boundaries of reality. Even if none of that happens, she's feeling pretty heady right now."Six years ago, I knew nobody," she says. "Today Don Cheadle thanks me for my work. That blows my mind."Outtakes Appeared in such high-profile shows as "How I Met Your Mother," "Cold Case," "Entourage," "True Blood," and "The Vampire Diaries"Is the voice of Pepper Potts in the new "Avengers" animated seriesPlayed the bassoon with her high school band Dawn Olivieri Credits Her Fellow Actors for 'House of Lies' By Simi Horwitz January 12, 2012 Dawn Olivieri says there was a time when a wonderful role and story were enough to draw her to a project. Those elements continue to be essential, but working with a stellar cast is a prerequisite as well. "There is only so much you can do if you're pulling weight and there's nobody there to play off of," she notes. "You can't have those beautiful moments with new actors who are so worried about everything else but the moment. With the stellar actors I'm working with now, there's so much more that can blossom."The actors she's referring to include Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell, Glynn Turman, Ben Schwartz, and Josh Lawson, who are co-starring in Showtime's new series "House of Lies." The raunchy, dark comedy recounts the nasty shenanigans of a hot management consulting firm, headed by a delightful sleaze played by Cheadle. Olivieri is his ex-wife and business competitor, who's at the top of her game in the boardroom and totally messed up in every other aspect of her life."The show pushes the envelope and people's comfort level, but for me, Dawn, the script is more truthful than most of those I've read and worked on," she continues. "But the acting challenges are the same. You try to do what you have in front of you and then dive into that black hole that you're usually covering up.""House of Lies" represents a major career step for Olivieri, though she credits the cult NBC series "Heroes" with putting her on the map. Playing Lydia, the tattooed woman, from 2009 to 2010, she gained an international audience. Still, she can't bear to look at herself in that show now."I came to the role with an idea of who Lydia was, but I didn't fuse myDawn'sidiosyncrasies into the character, which would have brought her to life," she says. "I created the beautiful shell of a human being. Since that time I've learned to take the importance off the outer shell and go deeper inside the character."Olivieri landed the role after responding to a breakdown seeking pretty girls who were willing to audition in a bikini. That was precisely the kind of casting call Olivieri would not usually consider, she says with a laugh. But since it was summer, and not much was happening in her career, she decided to give it a shot. Lydia was not yet developed and had no dialogue; the audition consisted of reading scenes from previous seasons written for other characters. A callback followed, and she booked the role. "I guess the bikini paid off," she notes. "Maybe we shouldn't prejudge auditions."Olivieri says frankly that sometimes she nails a part, and other times her auditions stink. "I have the mentality that sometimes a role is just meant for someone else," she says. "If you're supposed to get a part, the light will shine on you. And if not, nothing you do is going to help."Nonetheless, she advocates preparation and analysis but has given up sticking to the dialogue verbatim. "You have to figure out what's important and keep the main points, though I will swing a little outside the box," she says. "It affords me the freedom to find out who the character is, and it's been a positive technique for me. I'm not saying everyone should change words, but if you can do it with confidence, you may nail it."A Model Career Born in St. Petersburg, Fla., and raised in Seminole, Olivieri performed in school plays as a youngster but never conceived of acting as a career. Though she landed a modeling contract that brought her to Milan when she was in high school, she had her sights set on becoming a veterinarian. She then earned a full academic scholarship to the University of South Florida, where she majored in chemistry. Ultimately, however, Olivieri found school suffocating, dropped out, and launched a modeling career in NY and Miami. "It was not glamorous at all," she recalls. "I was what you call a workhorse or showroom model, meaning I modeled designers' new collections for buyers who would then decide what they wanted to order."After struggling for six years, Olivieri reviewed her options. "I wanted to find something I was passionate about, something with the possibility of upward movement, and I wanted freedom," she says. "I need to be outside living life, not stuck in an office. I figured I could either be out selling condos in Miami, or I could move to L.A. and chase after that elusive actor's job. I knew no one who had done it, but I knew there were actresses who had modeled, and I thought I could do it too."She drove across the country to L.A. and jumped right into the fray, starting with extensive Internet research into acting classes. Finding the right teacher was a matter of trial and error, and after several false starts she clicked with Lesly Kahn, with whom she studied for four years. "From her I learned the technique of comedy and the license to allow myself to be funny," she says.Seeking representation was frustrating, but Olivieri remained undaunted because she was familiar with rejection from her modeling days and had overcome the experience. "You need to cultivate your talent, and then it'll blossom," she says. "You need to keep negativity out of your ecosystem." Indeed, Olivieri believes all actors should come up with a list of activities outside acting that are truly enjoyable, boost well-being, and ward off reliance on casting directors for self-worth. Further, she contends that if she brings a good mood into an audition, it's intoxicating for CDs.As for the future, Olivieri is optimistic, looking forward to horseback riding in New Zealand, enjoying quirky exchanges with local cashiers, and appearing in a sci-fi flick with elves and wizards and princes who push the boundaries of reality. Even if none of that happens, she's feeling pretty heady right now."Six years ago, I knew nobody," she says. "Today Don Cheadle thanks me for my work. That blows my mind."Outtakes Appeared in such high-profile shows as "How I Met Your Mother," "Cold Case," "Entourage," "True Blood," and "The Vampire Diaries"Is the voice of Pepper Potts in the new "Avengers" animated seriesPlayed the bassoon with her high school band