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Exec Shuffle: Kim Roth to succeed exec as president -- Jim Whitaker, the longtime president of motion picture production for Imagine Entertainment, is stepping down from his post to focus on a directing career that begins with 'Project Rebirth,' a 9/11 documentary he began working on six months after the World Trade Center attack.

Film News: McG to direct fast-tracked Disney project -- Justin Marks has come on board to rewrite Disney's redo of '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo.'

The legendary actor talks about his new film, his experiences with the fans and future projects.

TV News: Comedies, dramas get networks' go-ahead -- ABC continues to load up on comedy pilots, giving greenlights to six more projects Wednesday. CBS, meanwhile, added three more drama projects, from scribes Shawn Ryan, Pam Veasey and Margaret Nagle, to its roster.

Film News: 'Runway' guru teams up with Robin Roberts -- Take 'Good Morning America' and 'Project Runway,' add some Entertainment Weekly, and you've got the hosts of the red-carpet arrivals show at the Oscars.

The Samsung BD-P1500 plays Blu-ray Discs at full 1080p/60 or 1080p/24 resolution, provides bitstream output for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD via its HDMI 1.3a output, and is playback compatible with DVDs, most recordable DVD formats, CDs, and CD-Rs/RWs. Another bonus is that DVDs are upscaled up to 1080p via the HDMI output. The BD-P1500 adheres to Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) specs, and is firmware upgradable via internet download. For a closeup look at the BD-P1500, check out my photo gallery.

Woody Allen's recent sojourn in Spain was widely seen as the most productive move the director had made in decades - recharging his batteries and resulting in rave reviews for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and an Oscar nomination for its star, Penélope Cruz. Now it emerges that Allen is to capitalise on this succcess in typically perverse fashion. He has announced that he is returning to London.The UK capital was the setting for three of Allen's least successful pictures. The mediocre Match Point (2005) was followed by the still-unreleased-in-the-UK Scoop and the ignominious Cassandra's Dream. Now Allen is poised to return to the scene of the cinematic crimes after allegedly falling out with local authorities in Spain. Variety reports that the as-yet-untitled next project will shoot in London this summer and will star Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins.So far there are no other details for the production, which will most likely follow Whatever Works, a dark comedy about a botched suicide attem

Film Festivals: Economic crisis squeezes mid-budget projects -- As the first snowflakes fell toward the end of what had been an unusually mild Berlinale, departing film execs were taking some reassurance in the knowledge that at a time of global financial turmoil, the right projects were still generating healthy interest from buyers.

Famous fashionista Tim Gunn will join ABC's official red carpet coverage of this year's Academy Awards. Joining Tim during the 30-minute live red carpet show will be Robin Roberts, anchor for ABC's "Good Morning America," and Jess Cagle, managing editor of Entertainment Weekly. The trio will interview celebrities and talk fashion and film during the pre-Oscar program. Gunn, who stars in the fashion reality show "Project Runway," is also chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne Inc.

Film News: Comedy centers on marriage counselor -- Brit helmer Richard Loncraine, whose Renee Zellweger starrer "My One and Only" unspools in competition in Berlin, is sticking to romantic comedy for his next project.