Hollywood Digest

FILMMAKERS BRINGING IT BACK HOME TO HOLLYWOOD

Daily Variety reported Monday that a combination of factors -- including homeland security jitters -- is putting the brakes on runaway film and TV production.

According to the report, the threat of war is making Hollywood stars nervous about traveling to foreign locations. Variety said other factors that are making runaway production less attractive to producers include a more aggressive approach by Los Angeles to luring production back to Hollywood, and decisions by officials in other states to entice filmmakers to keep their productions within U.S. borders.

The paper also said Canada -- which has been a major beneficiary of runaway production -- shot itself in the foot by eliminating a 1998 tax shelter that played a major role in making Canadian shoots such an attractive proposition for bottom-line conscious producers.

"The loss of the shelter is making producers think twice about coming to Canada," said Elizabeth McDonald, president of the Canadian Film and TV Production Association.

Kathleen Milnes, vice president of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. -- which issues permits to studios for location filming in Los Angeles -- told Variety business is picking up in Hollywood.

"We are busier than we have been in a long time," said Milnes. "Companies are coming to us earlier."

DIRECTORS GUILD ANNOUNCE DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES

The list of nominees for the Directors Guild of America documentary award has very little in common with the list of Oscar nominees for best documentary.

The DGA nominees are Chuck Braverman ("Bottom of the Ninth"); Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender ("Prisoner of Paradise"); Rob Fruchtman and Rebecca Cammisa ("Sister Helen"); Tasha Oldham ("The Smith Family") and Leah Mahan ("Sweet Old Song, P.O.V.").

"Prisoner of Paradise" is the only title on the list that was nominated for the documentary Oscar when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees last Tuesday. The other Oscar nominees are "Bowling for Columbine," "Daughter from Danang," "Spellbound" and "Winged Migration."

Michael Moore's name is conspicuously absent from the DGA list. In addition to the Oscar nomination, Moore's gun-culture documentary "Bowling for Columbine" also earned a Writers Guild of America nomination for best original screenplay.

The DGA will present its 55th annual awards on March 1 in Los Angeles.

TRIPLE HONORS FOR SAM MENDES

Sam Mendes made history Friday, becoming the first person ever to win three Olivier Awards -- the British equivalent of the Tony Awards -- in a single year.

The Oscar-winning director of "American Beauty" won for best director for "Uncle Vanya" and best revival for "Twelfth Night." He also won a special prize for his 10 years as artistic director of Covent Garden's Donmar Warehouse, where both productions were first presented last fall.

Simon Russell Beale won his third Olivier, taking home the best actor award for his performance in the title role of "Uncle Vanya."

"Vincent in Brixton" won for best play, and its star -- Clare Higgins -- won for best actress.

"Our House" -- with a score based on the music of the British pop group Madness -- won for best musical. Alex Jennings and Joanna Riding won for best actor and actress in a musical for their performances as Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle in the revival of "My Fair Lady."

STARS LINE UP FOR OSCARS

Oscars telecast producer Gil Cates has announced that Meg Ryan will serve as a presenter at the 75th Anniversary Academy Awards.

It will be the second Oscar show appearance for the star of "Sleepless in Seattle," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Kate & Leopold." Ryan returns to U.S. movie theaters in April in "Against the Ropes," in which she stars as real-life boxing coach Jackie Kallen.

The 75th Academy Awards will be presented on March 23 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

HASKELL WEXLER JOINS ACADEMY BOARD

Haskell Wexler has been elected to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Conrad Hall on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors.

Hall -- who won cinematography Oscars for "American Beauty" (1999) and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" -- died of cancer in January. He was 76.

Hall is nominated for an Oscar this year for "Road to Perdition."

Wexler -- who won cinematography Oscars for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) and "Bound for Glory" (1976) -- will serve in Hall's former seat until the June, when the academy will hold its annual board elections. Wexler previously served as an academy governor for three consecutive three-year terms from 1991-2000.