HanWay taps Stead for finance role

LONDON -- Brit sales outfit HanWay Films has hired David Stead as finance director in the organization. Stead's principal focus would be to manage HanWay's development in to a finance-focused sales business in a position to eco-friendly-lighting production. The professional has labored on television biz for 18 years, most recently at Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment where he'd financial responsibility for projects including David and Victoria Beckham, Claudia Schiffer and Andy Murray. More youthful crowd had sole responsibility for your financial analysis and planning of "The The American Idol Show ShowInch and "And That Means You Think You'll Be Able To Dance." Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

TLC greenlights new fashion series

TLC has greenlit eight instances of a brand new fashion series, professional created by Stacy London of "More To Put on." The untitled series will concentrate on husband-and-wife business proprietors Lisa and Jim Dolan, who manage a plus-size clothing store, and the expertise of the clients who patronize it. Scott Shatsky will even professional produce with London and Julie Merson for Super Lengthy Play. BBC Worldwide Prods. is creating. London has co-located "More To Put on" on TLC since 2003. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com

Frank Cooper dies at 99

Talent agent Frank Cooper, who discovered Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shoreline, place the first quizshow on radio and would be a pioneer in TV packaging, died of natural causes on Jan. 19, four several weeks lacking his 100th birthday, in Encino, Calif. The Sept. 11, 1943, problem of Billboard asserted that the 'forgotten man' within the "large Sinatra-Dorsey-MCA-GAC deal is Frank Cooper, who's basically the swooner's personal manager. Cooper is credited as the first guy to determine large money options in Sinatra and thrown his first theater dates which began the astonishing success story." Cooper released the Frank Cooper Affiliates Agency in 1945. Younger crowd symbolized sports icon Joe DiMaggio and acquired gigs for heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis offered "Strike It Wealthy" to CBS, thus obtaining the first quizshow around the radio grew to become an innovator in television development and packaging using the first dramatic series, "Guy Against Crime," which starred Rob Bellamy and started airing on CBS in 1949 labored carefully with Erectile dysfunction Sullivan was active in the development of "Dirty Harry" with author Dale Wasserman, put "Guy of los angeles Mancha" to the Broadway stage and symbolized author-producer Janet Polson, author Leslie Waller, in addition to Clifford Irving's books and flicks. Cooper was created in Harlem. At age 10, after losing his father, Cooper needed to seek try to help his family. He knocked on doorways at work structures until he won employment because the messenger to Frederick Schenck, among the founders of twentieth century Fox. Shortly after that, Cooper grew to become the private stenographer to William Paley. By 19 he was being employed as William Morris' secretary in the William Morris Agency soon he was a real estate agent themself. Eventually, to help his career, he gone to live in La. Cooper would be a substantial donor to organizations such as the Cleveland Clinic, the U.S. Olympic Committee and also the Jewish Federation. His contributions also assisted render the Skirball Cultural Center in La a real possibility. Cooper is made it by his wife of nearly 75 years, Sylvia, an expert artist two sons, Shaun and Martin daughter Pamela, a theatrical talent manager and Broadway producer six grandchildren and a trio of-grandchildren. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

The X Factor Runners up Astro and Chris Rene Score Record Deals

Astro, Chris Rene Despite their failure to win the $5 million recording contract, The X Factor participants John "Astro" Bradley and Chris Rene are cashing in.Both artists have inked handles Epic Records, according to separate reviews by Entertainment Weekly and MTV.The pairing isn't exactly an unpredicted one: Epic Chairman L.A. Reid was their X Factor mentor.See the relaxation of current day newsAstro, 15, handled to obtain for the final four round the singing competition, just before being told to visit home. Chris Rene, 29, was selected off rigtht after Astro.Before Astro was signed to Epic, he spoke to us about his large plans money for hard times. See the interview:

Grey's Anatomy Star Jessica Capshaw Expecting Third Baby

Jessica Capshaw Jessica Capshaw is pregnant with her third child, the Grey's Anatomy star tweeted Tuesday. "It is with profound happiness and sheer delight that @Christopher_Gav and I can say that another sweet Gavigan baby is on the way!" Grey's Anatomy star Jessica Capshaw welcomes baby girl Capshaw, the daughter of actress Kate Capshaw, and her husband, Christopher Gavigan, already have a 4-year-old son, Luke, and a 1-year-old daughter, Eva Augusta. They couple married in 2004. No word yet on whether this pregnancy will affect production on Grey's, but the series has rarely skipped a beat during the pregnancies of its other series stars, including Ellen Pompeo, Sarah Drew, Chandra Wilson, Chyler Leigh and even Capshaw during her previous pregnancy.

New images from Mad Max: Fury Road

Upcoming Mad Max reboot Fury Road has been languishing in development hell for some time now, but finally, it's looking as though George Miller's labour of love is up and running in earnest.Having initially been scheduled to begin filming in the Australian outback in 2011, the project was delayed when adverse weather conditions ruined the dusty, desert-like conditions Miller was looking for.Not to be put off, Miller has now relocated the project to Africa, with cameras set to begin rolling in Namibia in April. Tom Hardy and Charlize are still thought to be in place as the two leads, but perhaps more excitingly, the first images of the film's vehicles have arrived online.Pleasingly, they look every bit as badass as the souped-up battle-wagons of the original movie series. We particularly like the skull effect on the front grill of the vehicle with the snow-plough attachment...Miller is still planning Mad Max: Fury Road as the first movie in a trilogy, so lets hope he can get this one in the can with no further interruptions. Otherwise he'll be six feet under before the third one ever sees the light of day...

Fox Sports and Dodgers reach settlement

Fox Sports and the Los Angeles Dodgers have settled their legal differences, enabling Fox to retain exclusive cable rights to the Dodgers for the remaining two seasons of their contract and removing the final impediment to the sale of the baseball franchise.The settlement comes 2 1/2 weeks after Fox earned a favorable ruling from a U.S. District Court, overturning a federal bankruptcy court decision that would have accelerated the sale of the Dodgers' post-2013 cable rights.''We are pleased that these matters between our two organizations have been resolved,'' Fox said in a statement. ''We were never in favor of litigation, but it was imperative that we protect our exclusive media rights. Under the terms of the settlement, Fox's media rights remain in place and we look forward to working with new ownership on future television rights discussions.''Fox will now have an exclusive window to negotiate for a rights extension with the Dodgers through Nov. 30, well past the sale of the team by Dodger owner Frank McCourt that has a stipulated April 30 deadline. ''This agreement is a significant step towards a successful sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers,'' the bankrupt baseball team said in its statement. ''It resolves all of the parties' differences relating to the telecast rights agreement with Fox. This consensual resolution of all disputes between the debtors and Fox will enable the sale of the Dodgers to proceed forward, free of any uncertainty relating to the various issues under dispute, with the continued objective of maximizing value for the debtors and their estates.''Given the extreme rise in sports rights valuations, those of the Dodgers are expected to go for $150 million to $200 million per year on average over 20 years. The new owners can lock up a deal with Fox before next winter, or they can wait things out and try to create a bidding war between Fox and Time Warner Cable. Both media companies have a pressing need for the Dodgers in the wake of Time Warner Cable nabbing the rights to the Los Angeles Lakers from Fox, effective next NBA season, to create new dedicated English- and Spanish-language cable sports networks. That being said, Tuesday's settlement might increase speculation that Time Warner Cable itself will try to purchase the Dodgers, though whether they want to burden themselves with the high cost of operating the franchise remains to be seen. Fox has said categorically it is not interested in reacquiring the Dodgers, which it sold to the McCourt family eight years ago this month.The Los Angeles Times reported that Fox has retained the right to challenge the sale of any portion of the team to Time Warner Cable, per a provision in the current Fox-Dodgers rights agreement that was designed to ward off another network creating or co-creating a rival Dodger cable channel. That could lead to another legal skirmish down the road, this one between the media giants, centered on whether Time Warner Cable's new networks fit that definition. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com