Talks stall between actors, studios

Major Hollywood studios said yesterday they were not willing to accept demands for what they called huge pay raises sought by the Screen Actors Guild in contract talks. In a statement posted on its website, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said after 13 days of talks, significant gaps remain between the two sides. The alliance of major studios and networks also blamed the problems on the guild's insistence on doubling fees for DVD sales and demands for "huge increases in compensation and benefits." The actors contract is set to expire June 30. Both sides have said they want to avoid a replay of the 100-day writers' strike that shut down TV production. (AP)

A giant helium-filled pig didn't drift off to hog heaven after it was released into the night sky during Roger Waters's performance at the Coachella music festival. It's been found - in pieces. Two couples found tattered halves of the inflatable swine in their yards, a few miles from festival grounds in the Southern California desert. Concert organizers had offered a $10,000 reward for the pig's return. "That's definitely our pig," producer Bill Fold said after pieces of the plastic carcass were examined. (AP)

A judge yesterday tossed out a lawsuit by a television writer who claimed Jennifer Lopez had a hand in stealing his idea for a new series. Writer Jack Bunick claimed in a lawsuit in US District Court in Manhattan that a television series "South Beach" that debuted in January 2006 was too similar to a plot he described in 1999 for a pilot episode of a show that would have been called "South Beach Miami." The lawsuit named Lopez, UPN, CBS Television, and others as defendants. (AP)

Breaking with standards widely followed by the mainstream news media, the celebrity website TMZ posted a story yesterday identifying a 14-year-old who's a movie star's son and an alleged sex crime victim, and it ran the boy's picture. The story said that the boy was in a relationship with a 22-year-old woman, and police have opened an investigation. Almost all news organizations refrain from identifying sex crime victims, let alone showing their picture, because of the stigma often attached to it, said Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute. (AP)

David Blaine set a world record yesterday for breath-holding - 17 minutes and 4 seconds - fulfilling what he said was "a lifelong dream." The feat was broadcast live during "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The studio audience cheered as divers pulled the 35-year-old magician from a water-filled sphere 8 feet in diameter. Less than two years ago, Blaine went into convulsions during a similar attempt. The previous record was 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10 by Switzerland's Peter Colat. (AP)

"Obviously, it's not a part that you turn down." - Ian McKellen, confirming that he will portray the wizard Gandalf again, in the film adaptation of "The Hobbit"