iTunes Heads to More of Asia
Apple launched the iTunes store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan as well as Brunei, Cambodia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam the online outfit said Wednesday. In addition to local and international music offerings, customers will also be able to rent or purchase movies, of course. The major studios should be happy with iTunes' new reach.
Winners Unveiled at World's Oldest LGBT Film Festival
San Francisco's Frameline Film Festival awarded its Juried Outstanding First Feature to Facing Mirrors by Negar Azarbeyjani while Outstanding Documentary went to The Invisible Men by Yariv Mozer. Thom Fitzgerald's Cloudburst took Best Feature Film in the Audience Award category, while Call Me Kuchu by  Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall took Best Documentary Film. Best short in the category went to Mitsuyo Miyazaki's Tsuyako. For more winners and descriptions, see the Frameline website.
Michael Stevens Named Chair of DGA Awards
Michael Stevens will serve as the chair of the 65th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards Dinner taking place at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles on February 2, 2013. Stevens is an Emmy Award-winning producer, director and writer of more than 30 prime-time event and concert specials.
CBGB Film Festival Locks Slate
The CBGB movie is being made but for those who need more, there's the CBGB Film Festival. The world premiere of The Rise and Fall of The Clash is on tap as well as debuts of Bob and the Monster about Bob Forrest as well as What Did you Expect? The Archers of Loaf live at Cat's Cradle/. The festival takes place at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York July 5 - 8. See the site for more details.
Around the 'net…
BAFTA Appoints John Willis its Chairman
Willis replaces Tim Corrie as head of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Willis is head of production company Mentorn Media and a 30 year-member of BAFTA, winning a BAFTA award for Best Factual Program in 1976 for Johnny Go Home, Deadline reports.
Scarlett Johansson Hacker Must Pony up $66K to Actress
Computer hacker Christopher Chaney of Jacksonville, FL circulated nude photos of Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera after breaking into the email accounts of their mutual stylist. He received a 71 month prison sentence from federal prosecutors and ordered to pay $150K to his victims including $66,179.46 to Johansson, $7,500 to Aguilera and $76,767.35 to The Secret Life of an American Teenager actress Renee Olstead, Vanity Fair reports.
Whoopi Goldberg Opens Kickstarter Campaign
The View talk show host is hoping to raise $65K on the crowd-funding site for her documentary on stand-up comedian Moms Mabley who rose to national prominence in the '60s. Indiewire speaks with Goldberg.
Court OKs Hayden Christensen Lawsuit
Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen and his brother Tove have been given the go-ahead to pursue a lawsuit against USA Networks an appeals court said Tuesday. The pair along with Forest Park Pictures claim the network's show Royal Pains, about a doctor who makes house-calls to the rich and famous in the Hamptons is eerily similar to a pitch they made in 2005 about a doctor who makes house calls in Malibu, California, Reuters reports.