Feature film activity in Los Angeles continued to grow at a brisk pace, with on-location shoots for movies once again posting double-digit increases.

Filming for features generated 189 production days for the week ended Sunday, up 66% from the same time a year earlier, according to recently-released data from FilmL.A. Inc., which handles permits for film shoots on streets and noncertified soundstages in the city and unincorporated areas of the county.

Feature film activity was virtually flat in the first half of this year but has steadily grown in recent months. The category is up about 60% so far in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, according to FilmL.A. data.

The surge in feature filming last week led to an overall 6% increase in production days across all categories.

Projects fueling the increase range from obscure independent features to star-packed studio movies including “The Dark Knight Rises,” the upcoming Batman sequel that recently moved production from Pittsburgh; “Savages,” an Oliver Stone directed movie starring John Travolta about pot growers who battle the Mexican mafia; and “End of Watch,” a crime drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena and Anna Kendrick.

Activity is expected to remain strong as two other high-profile movies get underway: “Argo,” about the Iranian hostage crisis, starring and directed by Ben Affleck; and “The Gangster Squad,” a star-packed period drama with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone about the Los Angeles Police Department’s anti-mafia unit in the 1940s and 1950s.

Both films received approval for state film tax credits under a program whose future is being debated in Sacramento. The state Senate is expected to vote next week on a bill to extend the credits beyond 2012, though it’s unclear whether the final bill would extend the $100 million in annual funding for five years or just one.

In other sectors, television production, which has been nearly flat so far this quarter, generated 337 production days last week, down 11% from a year earlier. Filming for commercials accounted for 139 production days, up 4%.

This week’s scheduled film shoots include those for the Judd Apatow comedy “This is Forty,” which will film downtown; "Savages," which will be in Studio City; and the CBS TV show “The Mentalist,” which is taking its crew to Palmdale.

Meanwhile, the reality TV series “Pit Bulls and Parolees” will set up in Castaic, in northern L.A. County.

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-- Richard Verrier 

Photo: Christian Bale as Batman in a scene from "The Dark Knight." Follow-up "The Dark Knight Rises" is currently filming in L.A. Credit: AP/Warner Bros.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has agreed to sell all of his holdings in Lions Gate Entertainment, ending his bitter, three-year-long battle to take over the film and television studio and oust its management.

The Santa Monica company best known for Tyler Perry pictures, "Mad Men" and the upcoming "Hunger Games" announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with Icahn and his son Brett, who works in the billionaire corporate raider's New York investment firm. The Icahns will sell 44.2 million shares, representing virtually all of their 33.2% stake in the company. In exchange, both parties are dropping all of their outstanding litigation against each other.

The agreement marks a significant victory for Lions Gate chief executive Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns, who have been fending off Icahn's attempts to gain control of the company and replace them since 2008.

The company's largest shareholder has frequently criticized their spending on films and overhead and unsuccessful attempts to acquire or merge with other studios.

A person familiar with Icahn's thinking who was not authorized to speak publicly said the investor concluded that with the stock trading at more than $7 per share, it would be too costly to continue increasing his stake in an attempt to gain control of Lions Gate. In the past, Icahn has offered as much at $7.50 per share to buy out all of the company's outstanding stock in an unsuccessful series of bids to take control.

Lions Gate's stock closed Tuesday at $7.52 -- 7% more than Icahn has agreed to accept. However, it would be impossible for Icahn to sell his huge holdings on the public market at the stock's current trading price.

At Lions Gate's annual meeting last year, Icahn ran a slate of five board of director nominees to represent his interests and opposed those of management. None of his nominees was elected. In recent weeks the investor has bought more Lions Gate stock, raising speculation that he could cause more trouble at the company's upcoming annual meeting on Sept. 13.

Under the agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Icahn agreed to abstain from voting his shares for board nominees at the meeting.

Mark Rachesky, Lions Gate's second-largest shareholder with a 29% stake, has agreed to acquire 11 million shares. That will bring his holdings up to 37%, making him the company's largest shareholder.

Lions Gate itself will acquire the same number of shares.

The company has 35 business days to find a buyer for Icahn's remaining 22.1 million shares. Its other large shareholders, including Gordon Crawford and John Kornitzer, are likely candidates.

Meanwhile, Lions Gate will drop a pending lawsuit against Icahn in New York, while Icahn will not pursue further appeals in lawsuits he has lost against the studio in New York and British Columbia, Canada.

Icahn will retain 1.2 million shares in Lions Gate for tax purposes.

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-- Ben Fritz

Top photo: Carl Icahn. Credit: Mark Lennihan / Associated Press. Bottom photo: Lions Gate Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer, left, and Vice Chairman Michael Burns at the company's annual meeting in December 2010. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times.

Embattled Internet giant Yahoo plans to launch a series of original programs this fall as it seeks to better capitalize on its sizable audience.

Yahoo will debut eight short-form series, starting Oct. 3, which feature such actresses as Judy Greer ("Love & Other Drugs") and Niecy Nash ("Reno 911") and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me"). 

Forthcoming programs include Spurlock's "The Failure Club," a documentary series about conquering the fear of failure; "Let's Talk About Love," a weekly relationship show hosted by Nash, and "Ultimate Proposal," which depicts unusual marriage proposals -- including a prospective groom arriving via parachute -- hosted by "All My Children's" Cameron Mathison.

These new Web series are an extension of Yahoo Executive Vice President Ross Levinsohn's strategy to  bring more premium entertainment to the Internet portal, which is already among the top online destinations in the U.S., attracting about 178 million monthly visitors, according to measurement firm comScore.  

Yahoo has already gained traction with original programming. The company claims its "Prime Time in No Time," a daily video recap of the previous night's prime-time network shows, is among the Web's most viewed original series.

Yahoo also has expressed interest in acquiring Internet television service Hulu, which is owned by News Corp., Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal, the Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners. Preliminary bids for Hulu were submitted earlier this month.

Yahoo's original content play was first reported by the industry trade publication Variety.

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-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: Morgan Spurlock. Credit: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times.

MoviePass Inc., the New York company that angered theater chains in June over its planned roll-out of an  all-you-can-watch movie plan for $50, isn't going away.

The company, backed by AOL Ventures, on Tuesday announced plans to roll out its service across the country on a limited, invitation-only basis. Only this time, instead of partnering with MovieTickets.com, MoviePass has formed a partnership with Hollywood Movie Money, which provides promotional movie tickets to theaters across the country.

The announcement is likely to create more friction with exhibitors, many of whom have grown increasingly uneasy  about the heavy marketing of low price-tickets through discount services like Groupon, LivingSocial and MoviePass. The concern is that such promotions could hurt their business by encouraging moviegoers to wait for a bargain before trekking to the multiplex.

AMC and other theater chains blasted MoviePass when it was first announced in June, saying they had been blindsided by the program and wouldn't honor it.  But Ron Randolph-Wall, chief executive of Quantum Rewards, which operates MoviePass, anticipated a better reaction this time. "Because MoviePass will be paying theaters the full price of admission using the Hollywood Movie Money system, the theater industry benefits as well as the fans," Wall said in a statement.

No word yet from AMC and other exhibitors on MoviePass' latest incarnation.

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-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Ticket clerk Eric Michaels sells tickets to patrons at the booth at AMC Universal Citywalk Stadium 19 theaters in Universal City on Wednesday. Credit: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times.

After the coffee. Before buying a new coffee maker. No, I'm not joking.

The Skinny: The end of August is when Hollywood tends to grind to a halt, which is why this week's editions of The Morning Fix will seem lighter than usual. Tuesday's stories include a debate over cheap seat sales for movie theaters, more drama for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. and MTV's Video Music Awards, still going strong.

No cheap seats! These days you can find deals on just about anything -- airfare, hotels, ballgames, you name it. But a new service called MoviePass that wants to offer discounts on movie tickets is meeting resistance from theater owners, who fear having their seats devalued. "I just don't want third parties setting our ticket prices," Ted Mundorff, chief executive of Landmark Theatres, the chain co-owned by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, told the Los Angeles Times. "We want to run our own business."

Day in court. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son James, who is deputy chief operating officer of the media giant, may have to appear in England's High Court to testify about the phone hacking scandal at the now-closed News of the World tabloid that has rocked the entire company. Unlike the Parliament hearing, this time the two are to answer questions under oath. The latest from The Telegraph.

Odd couple. General Electric Co. is the kind of company one might expect to see running away if filmmaker Morgan Spurlock came calling. Instead, General Electric is providing financial backing to a trio of documentary makers including Spurlock, the director of “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” and "Super Size Me." More on the partnership from the New York Times.

Big show. The MTV Video Music Awards still pack a punch. Sunday's show drew a record 12.4 million viewers. The show did that without having a big-name celebrity host or big stunts, unless you count Lady Gaga's new look, which was a combination of Ralph Macchio's Pony Boy character from "The Outsiders" and Andrew Dice Clay. Details on the ratings from Bloomberg.

Here comes Yahoo ... again! Web portal Yahoo, which has tried in the past to make a big splash in Hollywood, is going to launch a slate of original shows this fall. Most of the shows will be unscripted lifestyle fare. More on its plans from Variety.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: DreamWorks Animation has formed a partnership with Youku.com, which is China's version of YouTube. An arcane but crucial piece of copyright law may get a new look. Spike's show "Bar Rescue" is getting some buzz.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. Feel the love. Twitter.com/JBFlint

An arcane but critical copyright law is under attack by a key government agency.

The U.S. Copyright Office, which advises Congress on copyright issues, is proposing that lawmakers phase out the cable and satellite statutory licenses in the Copyright Act, calling it "an artifact of an earlier era." 

The so-called compulsory license, established in 1976, allows cable and satellite operators to distribute broadcast television signals in return for paying a one-size-fits-all copyright fee to the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT). The CRT then distributes the fees to copyright holders such as Hollywood studios and sports leagues and local television stations. Each year, the CRT collects tens of millions of dollars in fees that it distributes to rights holders.

Instead, the Copyright Office wants Congress to change the law and require distributors to negotiate with content rights holders on an individual basis.

While programmers and sports leagues may cheer such a move, it will be met with tremendous resistance from both the cable and satellite industries. This is not the first time that the Copyright Office has pitched gutting the compulsory license, but Washington insiders think it is highly unlikely Congress would act on the recommendation.

Some broadcasters are also against a change to rules because they already pay for the rights to sub-license content they get from Hollywood and sports leagues and they won't want to give that up. Cable will resist because it is easier and potentially cheaper for them to pay one fee to the CRT than to negotiate with each rights holder.

First to go, if the Copyright Office gets its wish, would be the distant signal portion of the act.

For example, if a Los Angeles TV station is carried by a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) outside the Southern California area, that MVPD pays a fee to the CRT. If the distant signal portion of the act was gone, the MVPD would go to the individual suppliers of the programing to negotiate an agreement, a much more costly and tedious process.

One company watching this closely will be Tribune, the parent of the Los Angeles Times and owner of WGN, a local TV station that is carried nationally by MVPDs and hence would be most affected by any change to the distant signal part of the act.

The Copyright Office suggested that after the Distant Signal rules were gutted, Congress could then consider how to gradually eliminate the local rules.

-- Joe Flint

 
DreamWorks Animation has become the second Hollywood studio to enter into a distribution agreement with China's top online video site, Youku.com.

Youku said Monday that it had signed a deal with the Glendale-based animation studio to distribute the "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China, marking the first time that DreamWorks releases have been made available in that country through the Internet.

Both of the previously released "Kung Fu Panda" films, which were hugely popular in China, will be immediately available on Youku's premium on-demand service for less than $1. The movies will subsequently be available for free viewing on Youku's Hollywood Movie Channel.

The deal comes two months after Warner Bros. reached an agreement with Youku to stream 450 of the studio's movies, including the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" series with Chinese subtitles, on its website for a charge of 46 cents to 77 cents.

To compete against rampant piracy, Youku makes its content cheaper than bootleg DVDs, which cost about $1.50 in China.

"As technology matures and Chinese internet users increasingly turn to the Web for entertainment, Youku has been able to expand on the traditional movie release road map through agreements for studio films such as 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2,'" said Victor Koo, chairman and chief executive of Youku. "Both titles have a proven track record of success with Chinese audiences."

The "Kung Fu Panda" pictures, which feature scenery and landscapes inspired by traditional Chinese art and architecture, scored big at the box office in China. "Kung Fu Panda" was the No. 1 movie in China in 2008, while the sequel has grossed more than $92 million.

"Youku is an innovative company with extraordinary reach in China, and we are thrilled that the "Kung Fu Panda" features will now be offered through their platform, which presents high-quality content to consumers online," said Kelley Avery, head of worldwide franchise strategy and distribution for DreamWorks Animation. 

Meanwhile, in another sign of China's allure to Hollywood, Beverly Hills-based RealD announced that will partner with Beijing SAGA Luxury Cinema Management Co. to equip the Chinese theater chain with 3-D technology. The RealD agreement will add 100 3-D-capable auditoriums, the partners said. SAGA said it plans to install RealD 3-D technology in up to 20 theatres around the country within three years.

In November, RealD announced a deal with Wanda Cinema, China's largest theater operator, to add up to 500 3-D screens in the country.

Earlier this month, production companies Relativity and Legendary East also announced new ventures in China to co-finance and release movies.

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-- Richard Verrier

Photo: The martial arts action hero Po, played by Jack Black, in "Kung Fu Panda 2." Credit: DreamWorks Animation

After the coffee. Before getting myself one of those bright red CNN windbreakers!

The Skinny: I have made a giant technological leap forward with the purchase of a TV with Wi-Fi. Yes, I have a 40-inch HDTV with Google built-in to scream at while watching "Reliable Sources." If I can master this at my advanced age, I can retire. While I do that, here are your headlines. Hurricane Irene battered the box office and reminded us that the only thing we have to fear is fear-spreading TV news anchors. Also, Sony TV is making its mark and the hacking scandal at News Corp. has cost it some business.

Goodnight, Irene. Hurricane Irene came and went without doing nearly the amount of damage that had been predicted. Although the storm was lethal, the paranoia and hype that the media -- particularly cable television -- stirred up was extreme. No one is saying Irene wasn't a story; it's the wall-to-wall fear-driven coverage that is an issue. Cable anchors seemed at times almost disappointed that the storm was not New York City's version of Katrina. Analysis from the Associated Press and Daily Beast. Also praise from Capital New York for how New York 1, the Big Apple's local cable channel (which Los Angeles needs a version of) handled the story and the New York Times gets all lovey-dovey with the Weather Channel.

Rained out. Hurricane Irene kept people on the East Coast inside and in front of the TV, which means they weren't going out and spending money on movies. "The Help" stayed at the top of the box office, but new releases "Our Idiot Brother," "Colombiana," and "Afraid of the Dark" stumbled. Ticket sales were down almost 25% compared with the same weekend last year as a few chains including AMC and Clearview shut their doors as the storm clouds gathered. Box office analysis from the Los Angeles Times, Variety and Movie City News.

Breaking into prime time. Sony's television unit is an independent studio, meaning that its parent company doesn't own a broadcast network or lots of cable channels. That should make getting new shows on the air a challenge, but somehow the studio has high-profile programs coming on this fall including ABC's "Pan Am" and "Charlie's Angels." The New York Times looks at how Sony has made a mark for itself.

You've got to know when to fold them. Paramount is planning to remake the James Caan classic "The Gambler" with Leo DiCaprio starring and Martin Scorsese directing. That was news to the film's original writer James Toback who shares with Deadline Hollywood his outrage at not even being given a courtesy call and recounts how the original came together.

Class dismissed. News Corp. has been trying to make a big push into the education business, even hiring former New York City schools chief Joel Klein to oversee the effort. But the company suffered a big blow when New York rejected an almost $30-million contract with a News Corp. unit. The decision to kill the deal was directly tied to News Corp.'s ethics scandal in Britain that led to the closure of its News of the World tabloid. The New York Daily News has the details.

Friends of Obama. The folks at Comcast have been very generous to President Obama's reelection fund. Employees of the nation's largest cable company and NBCUniversal's parent have given more to the Obama Victory Fund than any other organization's workers. Also on the list: Sony, News Corp., Disney and Time Warner as well as talent agency CAA. More from Open Secrets.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Randy Lewis on the MTV Awards. Mary McNamara offers some advice to Oprah Winfrey on programming her network.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. The Wrap put me on their top-ten Twitter curmudgeon list! Twitter.com/JBFlint

Americans haven't been too taken with Jim Carrey lately.

The 49-year-old comedian this week posted a somewhat creepy video message to actress Emma Stone, revealing his desire to have "chubby little freckle-faced kids" with the 22-year-old. The clip quickly went viral in the American media, though Carrey later said the video was a joke.

Early this summer, nobody was laughing at 20th Century Fox when the actor's latest film, "Mr. Popper's Penguins," underperformed at the domestic box office. The film, based on a 1930s children's book, opened to a lackluster $18.4 million and has since collected a total of $67 million in the U.S. and Canada. Fox spent about $68 million to make the movie, according to one person connected to the production, though the studio insisted the cost was actually $57 million.

Fortunately for Fox, however, the movie is doing far better business abroad. This weekend, "Mr. Popper's Penguins" crossed the $100-million mark overseas to total $101.3 million so far. The movie is still playing in 23 foreign markets, performing best in Britain and Belgium. It will open in South Korea in September.

Still, "Mr. Popper's Penguins" is far from Carrey's biggest international hit. "The Mask," the 1994 comedy that propelled the actor to worldwide fame, took in $231.6 million abroad, and 2003's "Bruce Almighty" raked in $241.8 million overseas.

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--Amy Kaufman

twitter.com/AmyKinLA

Photo: Jim Carrey stars in "Mr. Popper's Penguins." Credit: 20th Century Fox

Hurricane Irene significantly dampened movie attendance this weekend, but "The Help" still managed to stay afloat.

After opening behind "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" upon its debut earlier this month, the buzzworthy film has now managed to claim the No. 1 spot at the box office two times in a row. In the movie's third weekend of release, the adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's popular novel grossed an additional $14.3 million, according to an estimate from distributor Walt Disney Studios. The film's current total now stands at an impressive $96.6 million.

But it was a dim weekend at the the box office overall, as bad weather plagued the East Coast. Because of Irene this was one of the slowest moviegoing weekends this year, with ticket sales down roughly 23% compared with the same weekend in 2010. About a thousand movie theaters closed their doors at some point this weekend in response to the storm -- leaving three new movies struggling to do business. "Colombiana," an action flick starring Zoe Saldana, fared best, bringing in a soft $10.3 million. The horror film "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" could only scare up a lackluster $8.7 million, while the R-rated comedy "Our Idiot Brother" didn't have much to laugh about with $6.6 million in ticket sales.

As of Saturday evening, AMC had closed all its theaters in New York, Virginia, Philadelphia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, according to the company's website. Clearview Cinemas shut down all of its 57 locations between New York and Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday. Regal Cinemas also closed its doors a number of cities. Cinemark, the nation's third-largest theater chain, did not have any of its cinema hours affected by the hurricane.

Of the three new films that opened this weekend, "Colombiana" received the worst critical reviews, garnering a lowly 34% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, the movie about an assassin attempting to avenge her parents' murders was given a better average grade by audiences than either of the weekend's other two debuts -- an A-, according to market research firm CinemaScore. While action films traditionally attract a younger male audience, older females were the ones most interested in seeing "Colombiana." The crowd that showed up to see the movie was 57% female, and 65% over the age of 25.

The movie was financed by EuropaCorp. -- the French movie studio co-founded by Luc Besson, who wrote and produced the movie -- but is being distributed in the U.S. and Latin America by Sony.

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" played well with younger females, as well as African Americans and Latinos, according to its distributor Film District. The Bob Berney-headed company acquired the movie -- made years ago for $25 million by the then-Walt Disney Co.-owned Miramax Films label -- when the specialty film division was closed in 2009.

But even after the weather clears up, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" may have trouble luring in moviegoers. The film, produced and written by Guillermo del Toro about a young girl who learns terrifying creatures are living in her house, was given a dismal average grade of C- by those who saw it.

That was only slightly worse than the C+ grade "Our Idiot Brother" received from audiences. The film appealed mostly to an older crowd, as 70% of the audience was over the age of 25.

The movie, in which Paul Rudd plays a slacker whose sisters try to help him right himself, was financed by the production company Big Beach Entertainment for $5 million. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and January, where it was later acquired by the Weinstein Co. and supermarket mogul Ron Burkle for about $6 million.

[Updated at 12:44 p.m. Aug. 28: None of last weekend's four new releases held up well during their second weekend in theaters. Of that group, the fourth "Spy Kids" movie saw the smallest dip in ticket sales -- off 51% -- but that's still a higher-than-average drop for a family film. It was "Conan the Barbarian" that had the steepest drop, with business for the big-budget action film falling 69% this weekend.

Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, with international grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com: