'The Help' tops NAACP Honours

The cast of ''The Help'' walked away most abundant in kudos in the 43rd NAACP Image Honours Friday evening, taking home the very best prize for outstanding movie and nabbing outstanding actress and supporting actress honors for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer correspondingly. Edging out co-stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Cicely Tyson, Octavia Spencer felt the Atlas-patterned Image Award statuette was a particularly apt trophy. ''Wow exactly what a beautiful award. It sometimes does seem like we've the load around the globe on our shoulders.'' Salim Akil required home the pointing award for ''Jumping the Broom'' and Anne Peacock got a writing award for ''The First Grader'' throughout the kudocast located by Sanaa Latham and Anthony Mackie. Around the men's side ''Jumping the Broom'' demonstrated fruitful for co-stars Laz Alonso and Mike Epps who walked away with best actor and finest supporting actor trophies correspondingly. George Lucas was honored using the NAACP Vanguard Award for creating understanding of social and racial issues. ''Tyler Perry's House f Payne'' won outstanding comedy series while Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Trecee Ellis Ross paired as much as collect the very best actor and actress kudos for any comedy series correspondingly. ''Law and Order: Special Sufferers Unit'' won for any drama series and LL Awesome J and Regina King required home and actress inside a drama. The NAACP Image Honours honors outstanding achievement by people of color in film, television, music and literature in addition to individuals who promote social justice through creative endeavor. Kudocast was broadcast Friday on NBC. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Eric Roth: 2012 Screen Laurel honoree

Roth'Extremely Noisy & Incredibly Close''Forrest Gump'Though loss and also the temporal character of existence are recurring styles in Eric Roth's writing, Roth has proven he isn't going anywhere. His 40-year career includes celebrated films like "Forrest Gump," "The Curious Situation of Benjamin Button," which year's "Very Noisy & Incredibly Close."Roth does not feel he's worth the WGA's 2012 Laurel Award for Screen, but uncle and frequent collaborator ("Ali" and "The Insider") Michael Mann disagrees, stating the complex subjects Roth takes up."They are amazing subjects to defend myself against. Only other authors know how much difficulty, nobody does. It's like high diving within the Olympic games -- whether it's a 3.6 high dive that counts for over a 1. dive -- and just your peers understand how difficult it's to complete 'The Good Shepherd' or 'Extremely Noisy.' "Roth's body of labor will quickly incorporate a sci-fi film for Warner Bros., that they calls, "my very own flight of fancy." But he concedes there's one legendary film he wishes he would have written."I'd an chance to possibly write 'Cuckoo's Nest.' If only I could've done that."It appears writing is not Roth's only passion. Mann employed Roth to see on his Cinemax skein "Luck" about equine racing because when Mann states, "Eric stays much more time in the track than anybody is aware of.Inch WGA Honours 2012Truth elbows out gags Good timing for WGA prexyHonoreesKress & McDuffie Eric Roth Tate Taylor Patric Verrone Zwick & Herskovitz Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

New image of Jaden Smith in After Earth

A glut of on-set images have recently emerged from the Costa Rican shoot of M Night Shyamalan's After Earth, but up until now, they've mainly featured Will Smith and son Jaden lounging about in their civvies.However, a new image has now been released featuring Jaden Smith in his full costume, and it's starting to give us some idea of the kind of visual aesthetic we can expect from the film.Set some thousand years in the future, After Earth tells the story of a young boy and his estranged father attempting to navigate a desolate and dangerous Earth when their ship crashes and maroons them.That's about as much as we know plot-wise, but this new image reveals that our heroes will be sporting some sort of second-skin, presumably designed to help them survive this newly inhospitable Earth.Co-starring Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman, After Earth is slated to open in the UK on 7 June 2013. Will this be the film that kick-starts Shyamalan's career? Put it this way, it can't be any worse than The Last Airbender...

China fish story hooks Canada firm

'Back to the Sea,' is co-produced by Vancouver's IndustryWorks, with animation done in China. Vancouver-based indie production company IndustryWorks' president Evan Tylor never expected to be co-producing an animated feature, let alone one with China. But when he was presented with the opportunity to jump onboard "Back to the Sea," which was already in production, he jumped at the opportunity. Being in business with China opens up an enormous, rapidly growing market share and access to financing. And while China has a limit of only 20 foreign pics a year that are allowed to be released theatrically, pics with a Chinese production company involved are considered domestic, and are exempt from this limitation. "This woke me up to a whole other possibility," Tylor says of IndustryWorks' first co-production with China, via partnerships with Glory & Dream Digital Animation and the Jiangsu Broadcast Co., the second-largest broadcaster in China. Helmed by Glory & Dream co-founder Thom Lu, "Back to the Sea" follows Kevin, an adventurous young flying fish from the NY Harbor who is captured by a fishing ship and delivered directly to the fish tank of a restaurant in NY's Chinatown. There, he meets a quiet Chinese boy who has the same longing for excitement and adventure as his finned friend. The two embark on a quest to return Kevin back to the sea. The voice cast includes Christian Slater, Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Tom Kenny ("SpongeBob SquarePants"). Pic opened wide across Canada in 2D and 3D on Jan. 27. There are plans ultimately to release the film on a wider scale in the U.S. Jiangsu will distribute and broadcast the dubbed version in China. Although the pic (budgeted at $8 million-$10 million) already had funding from Jiangsu, producers were keen to get a North American company involved in order to help breech that market. As a partner, IndustryWorks oversaw completion of deliverables, post-production, distribution, marketing, and agreements with SAG to complete casting, hooking up Slater and Currey. In return, they now own international ancillary rights outside China. Tylor believes the pic can find an audience within the North American market as well as China, due to its cross-cultural storyline. "They created a story that's very Western," Tylor says. Lu admits that Glory & Dream considered the market when plotting the pic. "We think NY Chinatown has the perfect combination of Eastern and Western culture," he says, "this background will not be too Chinese for North American audiences and also not too American for Chinese audiences." As the Chinese creative industry continues to grow and aim at branching out into the world market, Lu sees more co-productions with Canada and/or the U.S. "From the artistic side, North America makes the best animated films in the world and it sets the standard," he says. "Audiences are already used to this standard, so it will help us learn the rules of the North American market sooner." Since the animation industry in China is just getting started, there is a lack of professional talent and everything is compressed, Lu says. "If you look at our credits as they roll, you will see the names repeating over and over." Although the actual animation for "Back to the Sea" was done in China, by working with North American partners like IndieWorks, Trigger Music, Technicolor, and a recognizable voice cast, Lu hopes the Chinese animation industry can learn by association at the same time it finds a new export market. In many ways, Vancouver seems to be a natural fit for China-Canada co-productions. It is home to a large Chinese population and has extensive existing businesses ties to China. Several official visits from Chinese delegations to British Columbia over the past few years have targeted collaboration. The China Canada Script Competition was unveiled at the 2011 Whistler Film Festival in December. The initiative is spearheaded by Telefilm Canada and China Film Group, China's largest and most influential state-run film enterprise, and the sole importer of foreign films. "Iron Road" (2009), was the first co-produced Canada-China film in 22 years under a treaty established in the 1960s. Since then, there have been miniseries' such as "Marco Polo" and "Son of the Dragon," several features and documentaries, as well as a number of feature film projects currently being developed. And although IndustryWorks doesn't have anything in the pipeline just yet, it is already exploring future opportunities to co-produce with China. "Culturally they were very eager, very accommodating, respectful, and extremely polite to work with -- I have rarely if ever come across that in North American markets," he says with a laugh, "It was a nice change." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Drew Barrymore On Her Fiance: Hes A Wonderful Man

First Published: January 21, 2012 10:39 AM EST Credit: Universal Pictures Caption The Final 45: Drew Barrymore Stars In Big Miracle (January 18, 2012) LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Drew Barrymore spent Friday morning in Los Angeles promoting her film, inspired by a true story, Big Miracle, in which she sets out to save a family of whales trapped by ice, but it was another kind of ice that caught Access Hollywoods Shaun Robinson by surprise the actress engagement ring. Hes a wonderful man, Drew said of her fianc, Will Kopelman, as Shaun admired her ring. He bought her a flashlight to put on it, Drews Big Miracle co-star John Krasinski who plays a news reporter in the film chimed in, referencing the sparkling qualities of Drews diamond. Its very sweet. Practical. Drew got engaged over the holidays while she and Will were in Sun Valley, Idaho. He is a very romantic and creative person, Drew told Shaun of Will. Hes wonderful. Drew said she loves the stability of her relationship with Will, something she opened up about in the February issue of InStyle magazine. Its funny, when I was younger, I used to say Id hate a flat linethat I want the ups and downs, the rollercoaster. But Im actually really enjoying the flat line, she told the mag. When asked about her quote, Drew expanded on her original thoughts, telling Shaun that she loves how her life has turned out. I think that you want so much sort of craziness and excitement when youre younger and then its actually just being with friends and family and having that quiet weekend together that is just the most ideal way to spend your time, she said. Totally, John chimed in with a smile. And he called and asked my permission first (laughs) Hes really sweet. Also sweet is Drew and Johns film, which allowed the actress to play a whale advocate who tangles with multiple governments on an emotional journey to save three whales. I like going to work and having to cry. I like having to go to work and be strong or feisty, and I got to do so many things as this amazing woman Drew said of her character, Rachel. I got to fight for something I completely love and believe in. And the story, in general, motivated the actress as well. I just loved the story. I like family oriented movies, I like if theres something for children, but I like if theres something for adults too, and this is environmental, and its political, and its heartfelt, and its emotional, she said. Its uplifting. I dont have a sad umbrella over my head. I want to see things that are inspiring. Big Miracle hits theaters on February 3. Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Watercooler: When Idol Attacks

Amy Brunfield So American Idol is back. Yay.Maybe it's the lingering X Factor hangover, or the fact that The Voice does the early rounds so much better by limiting the tryouts to worthy talent, but Idol's overwrought and too-long auditions are just played. Seriously, for every wacky wannabe or über-confident ear-screecher during last night's opener, we got barely a passable possibility for the finals and a bunch of reasons to just wait for the performance shows.Sure, the judges are still fun and there is a certain joy in thinking (hoping) that a rejected contestant will go full-blown freak on Seacrest out in the hall, yet that's still not enough to make up for two-to-four hours a week of clearly staged scenarios like that "joy hopping" 28-year-old sales associate or the 15-year-old who just happened to have a former Major League pitcher for a father. And don't even get us started on the Tennessee "hippsie." Like we didn't know she was going through to Hollywood after being subjected to a fully produced backstory about her tent-dwelling life on what appeared to be the set of Deliverance. Please. Been there, done the whole homeless sob story...and it was called Season 7's Josiah.Still, the show will do killer ratings and we'll all watch with sick fascination and silent shame as one after another prepackaged cliché parades past the judges table, finally falling into an exhausted heap come Hollywood Week. Idol owns us and we just need to accept it. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go warm up our texting thumbs, because those elimination episodes will be here faster than Steven Tyler can say something lascivious to an under-aged hopeful.Did you watch Idol last night, or are you done with this one?Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

AMC extends 'Walking Dead' order

AMC has extended its third-season order for ''The Walking Dead'' from 13 episodes to 16, citing its strength domestically and internationally. The cabler also said that series ''Mad Men'' and ''The Killing'' will each have two-hour season premieres a week apart, on March 25 and April 1 respectively. Meanwhile, sister network Sundance Channel renewed ''Iconclasts'' for a sixth season and ''All on the Line with Joe Zee'' for a third season, and also announced that ''Top of the Lake,'' the seven-part miniseries that reunites ''The Piano'' director Jane Campion with Oscar-winner Holly Hunter, will begin production in New Zealand on Feb. 7. Elisabeth Moss co-stars. Speaking at the Television Critics Assn. press tour Saturday in Pasadena, AMC senior veep of programming, production and digital content Joel Stillerman touted AMC's journey from two original series annually to nine (including three unscripted series) in two years' time. However, Stillerman was also contrite about polarized reaction to the loose ends left at the finale of the first season of ''The Killing'' last year. ''I want you to know that we learned a lot from your response to season one,'' Stillerman said. ''We heard you, and we clearly didn't sufficiently manage expectations.'' Stillerman said that after considering a number of options, the resolution of the Rosie Larsen murder set up in the series premiere would be revealed at the end of season two (as it was in the program's Danish forerunner), then added, ''Be nice,'' when the assembled media chuckled. The fifth season of ''Mad Men,'' which hasn't aired a new episode since 2010 because of protracted contract negotiations last year, will launch its first-ever two-hour episode at 9 p.m. before settling into its 10 p.m. slot the following week after the second season of ''The Killing'' unfolds with its own two-hour effort. ''Killing'' will normally air at 9 p.m. ''The Walking Dead'' is returning with a new episode Feb. 12, followed by the premiere of unscripted series ''Comic Book Men,'' exec produced by Kevin Smith. ''Walking Dead'' has the highest 18-49 rating of any basic cable drama ever and performs well on pay-TV for Fox International Channels' international markets. AMC added it will premiere unscripted series ''The Pitch'' in season two and ''JJK Security'' in the third quarter. Season five of scripted series ''Breaking Bad'' will bow in quarter three, and the next seasons of''The Walking Dead'' and ''Hell on Wheels'' in quarter four. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com