The Business

In 1976 Star Wars was the first movie presented at Comic-Con. Now the four-day event, with about 125,000 attendees, is a huge marketing bonanza -- not just for comic-book movies, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and animation but practically any movie or TV show loosely connected to this fan base. We hear what the people at this year's Comic-Con think about Hollywood and speak with long-time studio "genre consultant" Jeff Walker, who's lived the geek dream, working for and with the studios on movies' publicity campaigns.

Producer Dean Zanuck, goes out on his own, independent of his

This week on The Business, it's Reality-palooza! Three producers of big unscripted hits -- Intervention, Top Chef and The Hills -- talk about the reality of reality television. They reveal the keys to casting, the dilemma of who really "writes" these shows, what soft-scripted mean and how important authenticity really is in reality TV.

Rona Barrett, who brought Hollywood gossip and entertainment industry news to TV, discusses show business -- then and now.  Then, with all this bad star behavior out there -- from Mel Gibson to Roman Polanski to Charlie Sheen -- we ask Dean Valentine, former head of UPN and Walt Disney Television, where Hollywood draws the line in a business that's all about the bottom line.

We look at the decision in the Celador versus Disney case. What was at issue? How will the decision awarding Celador a $270 million payout affect business in Hollywood? Then, Lance Daly directed a couple of 11-year-olds with no acting experience in his new movie Kisses. The Irish filmmaker wanted kids who were gritty and tough, but the very reason they're so affecting in the film made them a challenge to direct.

Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg talks about being a brand in Hollywood, and we look at how those with even tenuous links to the series earn fame and fortune. Also, Australian Mark Lewis, known for his humorous indie films

As the HBO series Entourage begins its seventh season, we find out what goes on inside a real-life entourage with Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis Presley's famed "Memphis Mafia." Like the fictional entourage, Elvis' inner circle of homeboys lived with "The King" and accompanied him everywhere as he negotiated life in the entertainment business.

What happens when indie filmmakers accustomed to shooting on a micro-budget with unknown actors and DV cameras get to work with stars and millions of studio dollars to spend?  Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass talk about hiding from their own crew, negotiating with Fox Searchlight execs and staying true to their Mumblecore ethos while making Cyrus.

Joan Rivers may be best known for her off-color humor, working the red carpet, and her love of plastic surgery.  But in the new documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern reveal a woman who is an amazingly resilient industry pro, so committed to work that she won't let up even at the age of 77.

If a TV show isn't getting good ratings it goes "on the bubble."  So how do the writers cope with the threat of cancellation hanging over their heads, and what happens when the bubble pops? We talk with two TV producers Liz Heldens and Scott Rosenbaum, who know life on the bubble all too well.