Nikke Finke - Dread and Obsession

Aug 2014: New York Times article on Nikki Finke and her (possible) future:

"The journalist Nikki Finke has long struck fear into the hearts of Hollywood executives and entertainers, publishing a blend of vitriol and scoops on her blog Deadline Hollywood.

In recent weeks, though, she had gone silent in the face of a legal dispute with the company that bought Deadline, Penske Media Corporation. It looked as if her career as a chronicler of Hollywood might be over. But now, a book deal and possible return to journalism are in the works.

...Ms. Finke has also nearly completed a nonfiction book on Hollywood that will be published by Simon & Schuster, its president, Jonathan Karp, said in an email. Mr. Karp, who said he was editing the book himself, declined to provide details about its contents and said a publication date had not been set."

It is said that Hollywood bosses are afraid of Nikke Finke. If there is something in the air, she is finding it out before they do, and she reports it on her blog Deadline Hollywood. Her ability to deliver "inside information" is so formidable that an army of eyes around Los Angeles watch what she writes with a combination of obsession and fear.

Anyway, that's the legend. The actual fact is that Finke delivers a consistently well-written, funny and thoughtful blog that takes apart the craziness of Hollywood and puts it back together in something like a recognizable shape.

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This isn't to discount her wit or her ability to land some hard verbal blows. During the 2009 Academy Awards, I read her live comments (online) about events that were unfolding onscreen, and a lot of what she said was either withering or hilariously contemptuous. She works in a town where biting the hand that feeds you isn't necessarily unknown (Billy Wilder, for example); nonetheless she seems to keep rising into more and more prominence as one of the chief founts of truth in a place where lies get a great deal more currency.

A New York Times profile written by David Carr gives an outline of her talent:

"In the three years since she started Deadline Hollywood Daily, a daily blog about the entertainment business, her combination of old-school skills — she is a relentless reporter — and new-media immediacy has made her a must-click look into the ragingly insecure id of Hollywood.

Among movie executives, the stories of Ms. Finke’s aggressiveness are legion, but they remain mostly unspoken because people fear being the target of one of her withering takedowns.

“I’d prefer not to ever deal with her,” said a senior communications executive at a studio who declined to be identified. Many others declined comment saying, variously, “she gave me a nervous breakdown,” “she terrifies me,” and “there’s no percentage in me saying anything to you about Nikki no matter what it is.”

But they all read her. In a town where people often secretly hope for the worst, Ms. Finke delivers wish fulfillment. During the recent merger of the William Morris and Endeavor agencies, she ridiculed William Morris executives to the point of distraction. She has published network schedules before many people at the network knew what was on them."

Finke did an interview at iwantmedia.com, and in response to a question about her relationship with trade media giants Variety and Hollywood Reporter, she said:

"They're led around the nose by the studios and networks who constantly advertise in their pages and online and expect very favorable coverage in return. The trades criticize no one in Hollywood. Every movie or TV show is a hit to them. They publish nothing without Big Media's consent. It's a mutant strain of journalism."

Summary: Finke has the most interesting writing coming out of Los Angeles since the passing of Cathy Seipp in 2007.

Original Page 2008 | Updated Aug 29, 2014

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