The Producers Guild of America’s list of best motion picture producer nominees of 2011 include some of the year’s most talked about films. Yesterday, the PGA released the names of the nominees for the Producer of the Year Award in theatrical motion pictures, animated theatrical motion pictures, and in long-form television. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were releaved by the Guild last month.

Here are the nominees for The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

THE ARTIST
Producer: Thomas Langmann

BRIDESMAIDS
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

THE DESCENDANTS
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin

THE HELP
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

HUGO
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

THE IDES OF MARCH
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

MONEYBALL
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt

WAR HORSE
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

Also, Steven Spielberg will received a special honor — the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures. All 2012 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced later this month, on January 21, during a gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

More of the nominees and selected award winners  here on the PGA website.

“Jadoo”  by writer/director, Amit Gupta, has a deal and is now on the really fast track.  That’s a great start to the new year for one filmmaker.  Done Deal Pro reports Gupta is repped by Abram Nalibotsky over at Gersh.

Based on Gupta’s family experience, the story revolves around  two feuding twin brother chefs who set up rival restaurants across from each other, leaving it up to a daughter, 20 years later, to try to bring them back together to cook her wedding feast.

AIR productions greenlighted the comedy feature and Nikki Parrot of Tigerlily Films is co-producing. The cameras are set to roll on “Jadoo” in March, according to Variety.

One of the most debated and scrutinized lists in the entertainment industry came out today.  The Black List is a collection of unproduced screenplays that for whatever reason rated as a “like” or “favorite” by a number of film executives. This year, 300 of them reportedly sent in suggestions to film executive, Franklin Leonard ,who started compiling The Black List back in 2004. Since then, scripts have been plucked from this list and whizzed into production, turning the lucky screenwriters into hot scribes. To many, that’s better than any award or trophy.

Over on deadline.com, there’s the full Black List followed by some interesting comments, as well as breakdowns by agencies and management firms.

To make the list, a script had to receive six votes. Here are the top three screenplays on The Black List for 2011.

THE IMITATION GAME by Graham Moore  (133 votes)

The story of British WWII cryptographer Alan Turing, who cracked the German Enigma code and later poisoned himself after being criminally prosecuted for being a homosexual.

AGENCY:  CAA
AGENT: JP Evans, Jacqueline Sacerio
MANAGEMENT:  The Safran Company
MANAGER:  Tom Drumm
FINANCIER:  Warner Brothers
PRODUCER: Ido Ostrowsky, Nora Grossman

WHEN THE STREET LIGHTS GO ON by Chris Hutton, Eddie O’Keefe (84 votes)

In the early 1980s, a town suffers through the aftermath of a brutal murder of a high school girl and a teacher.

AGENCY: WME
AGENT: Simon Faber, Sarah Self
MANAGEMENT: Tariq Merhab Management
MANAGER: Tariq Merhab
PRODUCER: Imagine Entertainment

CHEWIEby Evan Susser, Van Robichaux (59 votes)

A satirical behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars through the eyes of Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca.

AGENCY:  WME
AGENT: Mike Esola
MANAGEMENT: Industry Entertainment
MANAGER: Jess Rosenthal

The rest of The Black List here.

It’s a rainy Monday in Burbank and more showers, with the possibility of some hail, in the forecast through the evening and tonight. Also, this is a cold storm with the high in B-town only expected to reach into the 50s. And there’s a chance of another wet system later on in the week.

All this stormy weather prompted Burbank officials to put out an announcement this afternoon about free sandbags for residents and businesses. The sandbags are available empty or filled — 25 per person. Proof of business or residency required.

Sandbags can be picked up at the Public Works Field Service Yard 124 South Lake Street between Olive and Verdugo Avenues. Normal hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., but could be extended during emergency situations.  For more information: (818) 238-3800.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank Recycle Center 500 South Flower Street Burbank

After heated debate at its meeting Tuesday, December 6, the Burbank City Council voted to assign the operating agreement for the controversial  Burbank Recycle Center to Burrtec Waste Industries. The vote was 4-1 with Councilman, Dr. David Gordon, strongly opposing the arrangement.

The operation of the Burbank Recycle Center has been under scrutiny for some time and most recently when city officials decided to drop private contractor, Burbank  Recycling, Inc (BRI).  BRI is facing allegations from the state for allegedly cashing in out-of-state beverage containers under the California recycling plan. It was BRI that requested Burrtec take over it’s contract with the Burbank Recycle Center – that produced a lot of questions and suspicions among some Burbankers.

The council majority appeared to be swayed by the staff report, which suggested it would be cheaper to hook up with Burrtec rather than to go out for bids. Hopefully, the council’s decision will improve public confidence in the Burbank Recycle Center and not make a bad situation worse.

Anti-Walmart protesters plan new action

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Stop Walmart in Burbank protesters out front of the site of a planned Walmart at 1301 North victory Place in Burbank October 19, 2011

The “Stop Walmart in Burbank” group is gearing up for an appearance at the city council meeting next Tuesday, December 13.  Walmart moving into Burbank is pretty much a done deal. However, this group is still determined to make city officials “… feel the pressure…” from “… their constituents…” who are against the giant retailer opening a store in the Empire Center.

Wind storm clean-up: It’s a wrap

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- A pile of tree limbs on East Providencia Avenue in Burbank December 1, 2011

The clean-up following last week’s powerful wind storm was a huge effort. Cheers for residents, Burbank city crews, and Burbank PD.

Some of the 2012 Writers Guild of America, West & East, Awards nominees are out today. On the list, nominations for outstanding achievement in television, news, radio, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2011 season.

TELEVISION NOMINEES

DRAMA SERIES

Boardwalk Empire, Written by Bathsheba Doran, Dave Flebotte, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki, Itamar Moses, Margaret Nagle, Terence Winter; HBO

Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC

Game of Thrones, Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, George R.R. Martin, D.B. Weiss; HBO

The Good Wife, Written by Courtney Kemp Agboh, Meredith Averill, Corinne Brinkerhoff, Leonard Dick, Keith Eisner, Karen Hall, Ted Humphrey, Michelle King, Robert King, Steve Lichtman, Matthew Montoya, Julia Wolfe; CBS

Homeland, Written by Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Gideon Raff, Meredith Stiehm; Showtime

COMEDY SERIES

30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Hannibal Buress, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tina Fey, Jon Haller, Matt Hubbard, Colleen McGuinness, Dylan Morgan, John Riggi, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Written by Alec Berg, Larry David, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer; HBO

Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K.; FX

Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Elaine Ko, Carol Leifer, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O’Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Brad Walsh, Ilana Wernick, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC

Parks & Recreation, Written by Greg Daniels, Katie Dippold, Daniel J. Goor, Norm Hiscock, Emily Kapnek, Dave King, Greg Levine, Aisha Muharrar, Chelsea Peretti, Amy Poehler, Brian Rowe, Michael Schur, Mike Scully, Emily Spivey, Alan Yang, Harris Wittels; NBC

NEW SERIES

Episodes, Written by David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik; Showtime

Game of Thrones, Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, George R.R. Martin, D.B. Weiss; HBO

Homeland, Written by Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Gideon Raff, Meredith Stiehm; Showtime

The Killing, Written by Linda Burstyn, Jeremy Doner, Soo Hugh, Dan Nowak, Nic Pizzolatto, Dawn Prestwich, Veena Sud, Nicole Yorkin, Aaron Zelman; AMC

New Girl, Written by Nick Adams, Rachel Axler, Brett Baer, Donick Cary, Dave Finkel, Berkley Johnson, Josh Malmuth, Elizabeth Meriwether, J.J. Philbin, Joe Port, Luvh Rakhe, Joe Wiseman; Fox

The complete list here on the WGAW website. 

The winners will be revealed at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards ceremony on Sunday, February 19, 2012. In keeping with tradition, the ceremony will be held simultaneously in Los Angeles and New York.

The reboot of local news, video, and features website, Burbanknbeyond.com is  out to shake up the Media City and grab a bigger chunk of the online audience. There is probably more Burbank news, sports, and events on BurbanknBeyond than any other website. Now B-and-B is even better.

The new look of Burbanknbeyond debuted a few weeks ago with numerous upgrades, better organization of stories, and a much more readable front page. Executive Editor and driving force behind the site, Craig Sherwood, says more tweaks and improvements are on the way.

Here’s a Q&A with Sherwood about the site, where it started and where he wants to take it.

1. BurbanknBeyond has a dramatic new look, what are some of the major changes and why did you feel they were necessary?

When I started BurbankNBeyond back in April of 2010, I had a limited amount of experience as a website designer.  My goal at that time was to try and provide Burbank with a daily news source since all there existed was a twice weekly newspaper with a limited website and a bi-weekly paper with no web presence.  I found after about a year that the idea was working, but the website I had created was not able to keep up with or reflect the constant changes and updates.  I looked around at different media outlets and found most used a WordPress template, so I decided to go in that direction.  I taught the media department at Crespi High School for nine years and had some extremely talented students who went on to college and studied web design, so I turned to Matthew Majcher and started working out the new design.  What I was looking for was a fast paced layout, but something that would also archive past stories so that they were easy to find.  I thought it was very important to incorporate social media so people could interact as well as having areas where people could leave comments.  I had to also incorporate our videos since we are the only full content Burbank media outlet that offers video which hopefully makes us unique.  Bottom line was we had to redesign if we wanted to be a player.

2. In terms of readership, BurbanknBeyond has seen considerable growth, right?

Our growth has been amazing once the word started spreading.  I have the site hosted with Go Daddy and they send out a daily report of hits and locations.  In July of 2010 we were at about 5,000 hits a day and by July, 2011 we were averaging about 20,000 a day.  Once we launched the new design, we are now averaging about 35,000 a day with 3 different days we have exceeded 50,000.  What is interesting is that about 60% are from Burbank, 20% from Glendale and North Hollywood/Toluca Lake, and the rest all over the United States.

3. Is it part of your plan to actively challenge The Burbank Leader for the position as the main local news source in Burbank?

I would love to challenge the Burbank Leader as the main news source for Burbank but it is just not possible, yet.  Let’s face it, the Leader is part of the L.A. Times, and as much as Leader people will deny it, they do have resources from the Times that go into their local coverage.

 At what we do, I think my staff does beat the Leader for daily news, since we are all located and live in Burbank.  We know the City and the people.

I am also currently working to find some more people who can write a City Hall beat, school beat, and a couple of other areas that I have ideas about but can’t discuss because if I do it will give someone else that idea.  Right now I know most people come to us first when there is a big accident or fire or big event in the City, once I can get the editorial content daily I know that we will be a player.  I know the issues and the stories that people in Burbank want to know about, I just don’t have the resources to get the information out yet.  There are 100′s of untold stories in this city.  Hopefully things will start changing with this new design.

4. If there is something else you would like to add, go ahead.

I think the news business has no idea what the future holds.  Everyone is convinced that on-line is the future yet trying to find the revenue that will support it is tricky.  With that said, I think local news will always be the key and people will always seek out what is going on in their neighborhood that affect their daily lives.

Hopefully this new design will attract advertisers and once that happens I have no doubt that BurbankNBeyond will become the first choice for people in Burbank.

###

Craig Sherwood writes a column for BurbanknBeyond, “Thoughts From The Bullpen.” You can check it out here.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- The future site of a Walmart 1301 North Victory Place in the Empire Center Burbank

 Burbank is getting a Walmart with dirt cheap prices, questionable labor practices, and the retailer’s notorious Black Friday culture. Last month at the Empire Center, the future home of Burbank’s Walmart, the giant retailer held a promotional event boasting about the benefits its store will bring to the community. However, Burbank residents must realize that the retailer’s massive advertising campaigns, concerned mainly with profits, are going to attract some of those crazed Black Friday shoppers to the new Walmart in B-town.

Violence erupted at several Walmarts across the country yesterday and Thanksgiving night. One of the ugliest incidents occurred at the store in Porter Ranch. In a Los Angeles Times report, witnesses described a scene of chaos, mayhem, and a pepper spray attack by a woman police say was “competitive shopping.” 

The discount king did not release an official comment about the violence, but in a Times’ article Walmart spokesman, Greg Rossiter, referred to it as “… a few unfortunate incidents.” A brush-off to a Black Friday company culture that has fueled violence, which has resulted in injuries and one tragic death.

Three years ago, in an exclusive report, I wrote about this Black Friday culture and the first hand experiences of a former Walmart employee. In part 1, the ex-employee described how he was almost trampled by out of control Black Friday shoppers and in part 2, he recounts a disturbing incident where an announcement by a Walmart manager sent an anxious Black Friday crowd into a frenzy.

By the way, did you hear Bloomingdale’s is opening a store in nearby Glendale? And Burbank is getting a Walmart — wonderful.

Now that we’ve stuffed ourselves with the Thanksgiving fixings, it’s off to the stores and malls to stuff shopping bags with deals and bargains. Wait, not so fast. Black Friday may not really be the day to get the best prices for your holiday items and gifts.

A study conducted from mid-November to mid-December 2010 by Consumer Reports and Decide.com discovered “… the lowest prices of the season on the included items were not on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, the day following the Thanksgiving weekend. For example, more than a quarter of the recommended TVs and cameras were at least 5 per cent cheaper between Cyber Monday and December 13 than they were earlier, including during the Black Friday weekend.”

“There’s no doubt you can score some incredible bargains by getting up extra early or staying up past your bedtime to take in the midnight madness sales,” says Consumer Reports’ senior editor and shopping expert Tod Marks in a PR Newswire release. “But retailing trends suggest that the opportunity to score a great deal won’t end this weekend. So there’s no need to panic.”

So shop if you must today — but buy only if you think it’s truly a great deal.

Movie fans turned out in a big way for the latest in the “Twlight” film series this weekend, which debuted with an estimated $139 million. ”The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,” the first part of the final and fourth installment of the romantic fantasy, captured the number one spot at the box office and is now the top movie in the country.

In “Breaking Dawn” young lovers, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) marry, but things get complicate really quick when Bella becomes pregnant and the vampire baby she’s carrying threatens her life. The film is based on the final book of the blockbuster series by Stephenie Meyers. Melissa Rosenberg, who wrote the screenplay for the previous films, is the writer of this script as well.

Another new flick the animated sequel, “Happy Feet Two,” danced into second with an okay $22 million debut. In third the fantasy drama, “Immortals,” with around $12.2 million, followed closely by the Adam Sandler comedy, “Jack and Jill,” with $12 million. Rounding out the top five, the animated feature, “Puss in Boots,” earned about $10  million.