Former Survivor Producer Talks From Prison: I Did not Kill My Spouse

Bill Pullman Bill Pullman is playing the leader - again. The Independence Day actor, who lately starred in Torchwood: Miracle Day, will portray the Leader from the U . s . States in NBC's 1600 Penn pilot. The comedy focuses on probably the most regular family on the planet - who so happen to reside in the Whitened House. Pilot Season: Obtain the scoop! As formerly introduced, Brittany Snow will have the oldest daughter, Becca, while Book of Mormon's Josh Gad will have Skip, her gregarious and clumsy older brother. Gad will even write and executive-make the pilot with Modern Family's Jason Winer.

Scribes feel piracy's bite

Christopher Keyser has already faced one big disappointment in the first five months of his tenure as the 30th president of the Writers Guild of America West -- last month's stalling of Hollywood anti-piracy legislation on Capitol Hill."Piracy's a very real issue for our members because it takes money right out of our pockets," he notes. "Unfortunately, the industry lost control of what had been a very populist message when it became more about censorship."It's unusual for the guild to find itself on the opposing side of a censorship debate, but because piracy is such a bread-and-butter issue to members, Keyser said it's clear the industry will have to regroup but continue the fight against copyright-infringing activity. As the guild prepares to honor some of its leading lights at Sunday's Writers Guild Awards, Keyser says he's acutely aware of how tough economic times have taken a toll on members who aren't marquee names. "It's a tough time for all middle-class people," he says. "The real issue for us is how to get through what continues to be a very difficult economic period." For that reason, he came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement early in his tenure -- during the first week of October -- and pledged that the WGA West would continue to be vocal on issues that impact writers and reach out directly to politicians via its political action committee. Keyser says the board's already laying the groundwork for negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on a successor deal to the current master contract, which expires in May 2014. He was part of the board during the last negotiations cycle when the guild quietly reached a deal in early 2011 -- a sharp contrast to the previous round of negotiations, which featured a 100-day strike in 2007-08. WGA East president Michael Winship, who's in his third term, asserts that the outreach to members is well under way. "When you're getting ready for a negotiating cycle, you need to know about your constituents' concerns -- such as parity in cable with the broadcast networks and late pay," Winship says. Keyser's not venturing any kind of prediction as to how the negotiations might go when they start, noting that the key is to set bargaining priorities as a result of "consistent communication" with the membership. Both Keyser and Winship remain optimistic for expanding guild jurisdiction. The WGA East has scored some successes in organizing non-fiction cable TV at Atlas, Lion, ITV and Optimem. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Clerks and Comic Superheroes Collide in Kevin Smith's Comic Book Men

Comic Book Men It took 41 years, but Kevin Smith is finally proving his parents wrong. "They always said, 'Your friends are idiots. You can't sit around and goof off with your friends.' I was like, 'Yeah we can,'" Smith tells TVGuide.com of his new AMC reality series, Comic Book Men, starring his childhood friends-turned-comic book store employees Bryan Johnson, Walt Flanagan, Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen. AMC green-lights Kevin Smith unscripted series Comic Book Men (Sunday, 10/9c) is best described as Pawn Stars plus Clerks multiplied by comic books: one part docu-series about the crazy clerks, quirky customers and collectibles at Smith's Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic book store in Red Bank, N.J., and one part talk show, where the guys gather together - no confessional needed - to discuss the store's newest and coolest acquisitions and beyond. And unlike those other Garden State-set reality series, the fist-pumping is kept to a minimum and the closest viewers will get to on-air drama is a bidding war at the Collingwood Flea Market. "It's not about real life," Smith says. "The store is where they go to f---ing escape real life and the live the fantasy of childhood." If a chatter-heavy reality show like Comic Book Men is an unlikely addition to the reality genre, then Smith is happily its oddball ringleader. The foul-mouthed indie filmmaker, best known for movies like Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma, has stepped out from behind the camera and into the limelight in recent years. He's released four books, fills venues across the country for his infamous Q&A sessions and oversees his own SModcast network of 13 regular podcasts, which includes "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!", featuring many of the stars of Comic Book Men. "I'm there to set you up and bring you in to the world, but you're in safe hands with the boys," he says of the show, which he developed, executive-produces and co-stars in. Watch videos of Kevin Smith Although Smith happily owns up to reality TV indulgences like Oxygen's Snapped and Tori and Dean, he never saw himself returning to the small screen after ABC turned Sundance sensation Clerks into an animated series and canceled after two episodes in 2000. "The cartoon was such a bad experience," he says. However, when Smith was approached by a producer about doing something for AMC he couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with his favorite channel. "You don't want to be the one show that comes on like, "Oh, that's where AMC went wrong - with Kevin f---ing Smith," he says. Following the smash success of comic book series-turned-TV show The Walking Dead, AMC wanted a companion show that would keep the geeks glued after the zombies had gone off the air. Smith pitched the show and when AMC wanted to see and hear more, he decided to film the pilot presentation in his own store with the store's four main employees (all from the "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!" podcast). The show was supposed to then find a different store and different cast for the series, but AMC thought otherwise. "[My producer] went, 'Dude, you're out of your mind. That's the show," Smith recalls. Kevin Smith to share his askew view with new talk show Aside from The Walking Dead's after show, Talking Dead, Comic Book Men represents one of AMC's first forays into reality television. "They're on a real hot streak, and they've figured out how to do reality with our show where I can hold my head up," he says. AMC also matched Smith's less-is-more belief when it came to marketing Comic Book Men. He famously brought his 2010 indie horror flick Red State to Sundance to auction the movie off, only to sell the distribution rights to himself in what was seen as a slap in the face to film studios. In the case of Comic Book Men, Smith is happy to promote the show himself (his more than 1.9 million Twitter followers could help) rather than see AMC shell out big bucks for billboards. "It's almost like a mid-90's Miramax sensibility," he says, referencing the film studio that helped bring indie films, like his own debut Clerks, into the mainstream. "AMC was really frugal in making the show," he says. "They're happy with a very small number. America has to really hate my f---ing friends in order for this not to work." Comic Book Men's debut comes as Smith is undergoing a major career renovation. He says his next film will be his last and and hopes to focus on his Q&As and podcasts full-time - ironic for the man known to millions simply as "Silent Bob." Smith is even shopping a daily Chelsea Handler-esque entertainment news talk show called Tonightly, which he would co-host. "The older you get, you wind up doing sh-- you never in a million years you imagined you would. I never thought I would get to a point where I don't want to make film anymore. Life changes," he says. "TV answered my view in a weird way this year and I wasn't pursuing it. It just happened." Comic Book Men premieres Sunday at 10/9c on AMC.

First trailer for Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Just yesterday, we were given a look at the first poster for Steve Carell end-of-worlder Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, and now the film's first trailer has been released online.Seeking A Friend stars Carell as a man whose wife leaves him just as the apocalypse rears its ugly head.Desperate to make a meaningful connection before everybody dies, he enlists his neighbour (Keira Knightley) to help him find his childhood sweetheart. With asteroid Matilda set to destroy Earth in just three weeks, it's going to be a bit of a breakneck mission.Check out the trailer below...Firmly ensconced in the 'indie drama' genre, Seeking A Friend looks like a cosy little character-based chuckler set against an epic backdrop.Carell's no stranger to playing men gripped by midlife crises. He excelled at it in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and Crazy Stupid Love, and looks to be just as good here.Not a stretch by any means, but scenes like the spot-on piss-take of corporate restaurants (Friendies!) promises some acerbic laughs along the way.There are also some great cameos from Patton Oswalt (Young Adult) and Melanie Lynskey, the latter sporting a truly terrifying wig and dress combo.Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World hits US screens on 22 June 2012, with a UK release date yet to be confirmed.

Pilot Season: Alexandra Breckenridge, Michael Landes Join NBC's Save Me

Alexandra Breckenridge, Michael Landes Alexandra Breckenridge and Michael Landes has joined the NBC pilot Save Me, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Deadline first reported the news. Pilot Season: Anne Heche lands leading role in NBC's Save Me The comedy stars Men in Trees alum Anne Heche as Beth Harper, a woman who starts to believe that she is channeling God after she has an accident. Landes (Lois and Clark) will play Beth's husband, Tom, a manager at an upscale hotel. Breckenridge (American Horror Story) will play Carly, a laid-off high school guidance counselor who words as a concierge at Tom's hotel - and also serves as his therapist and lover. Heche will serve as a producer on the project, which is executive-produced by John Scott Shepherd, Neal Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Scott Winant.

WB sets rewrite of 'Jetsons' script

Warner Bros. has tapped "Chewie" scribes Van Robichaux and Evan Susser to rewrite its bigscreen version of TV toon "The Jetsons." Donald De Line and Denise Di Novi are producing the live-action feature, which the latter has been developing for more than a decade with a number of different writers. Most recently, Adam F. Goldberg had been penning the screenplay. Storyline will center around the Hanna-Barbera show, which revolved around the life and times of George, Jane, Judy and Elroy Jetson. The TV series first aired in primetime in 1962 as Hanna-Barbera's Space Age counterpart to "The Flintstones." This isn't the first time a studio has brought the popular TV skein to the big screen. Universal released a "Jetsons" pic in 1990, directed by Joseph Barbera, co-founder of the Hanna-Barbera company and one of the creators of the original series from 1962. WME and Untitled Entertainment rep both scribes. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Sean Lennon named animation fest a.d.

West Coast preems of "A Monster in Paris" and docu "Adventures in Plymptoons" are among the highlights of the third annual Los Angeles Animation Film Festival next month.Sean Lennon has been tapped artistic director of the fest and will host screenings of films he has chosen, including "Akira" and "Fantastic Planet," which will feature a live score.Fest runs from March 7-11 at the Regent Showcase in Hollywood.The fest will also honor animator Bill Plympton for his contributions to the animation biz and will screen docu "Adventures in Plymptoons" as well as Plympton's first feature, "The Tune."Other pics screening at the event "The Iron Giant," with members of its cast and crew; a revival of Matt Stone and Trey Parker's "Team America: World Police"; and a 10th anni showing of the original "Shrek."For a more information, go to www.laafest.com. Contact Terry Flores at terry.flores@variety.com