THE PURPOSE OF THE TRADEVINE IS TO ENCOURAGE THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY TO READ THEIR TRADES: VARIETY, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, BACK STAGE, ETC. ENJOY LEARNING ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY.

EACH FRIDAY, THE TRADEVINE SEEKS OUT A FEW OF THE INFORMATIVE TRADE ARTICLES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. VISIT THE TRADE, ITSELF, FOR THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.

Hi everybody, I’m Mary Jo Gruber of the Actors Reporter and welcome to the TradeVine. Danika Quinn is on assignment this week. The holidays are approaching and the TradeVine show is decked out with good cheer and great advice–from the trades! Where else can you find the full array of tinsel town information? Here at the TradeVine, our goal is to help you stay informed and to keep up with some of the entertainment news you may have missed in the Trades, such as The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, and Backstage.

The Hollywood Reporter, December 9th – “Radio’s All-Christmas Music Makeover,” by Paul Bond. Ratings double with yuletide format as more stations make the lucrative switch. More and more radio channels are switching their formats to all Christmas, all the time, a consistent winner for radio even during the brutal 2008-2009 revenue downturn. If a radio station does this consistently, year after year, it becomes an ‘upfront’ for advertisers looking to get holiday-minded customers in the final 30 days of Christmas. Not all are receptive to the Christmas swap. Switching from hip-hop or hard rock may alienate the audience, although adult contemporary, oldies and country listeners adjust better to the Christmas format.

Daily Variety, Monday, December 5th – “Hulu home for laffer. Sony strikes deal for ‘Community,’ by Andrew Wallenstein. Hulu has struck a deal with Sony Pictures Television to bring all three seasons of “Community” to all its subscription service. The pact will make Hulu Plus a home for next-day access to current episodes from the third season effective immediately, as well as the exclusive home to the complete library of past seasons of the series. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But, I’ll bet it cost a lot of money. It’s pretty amazing now. Our producer, Pepper Jay, loves the new show, “Once Upon A Time.” However, she missed an episode over the holidays and found that on Hulu, she could see the entire missed episode for free. Hulu seems to be a very cool place to visit.

Back Stage, December 1st-7th – In a series called ‘Great Performances of 2011 in Film,’ the editorial by the Back Stage staff is all about the film “The Help” and talks about the women of “Help” that worked together to bring a bestseller to life. The film, directed by Tate Taylor, centers on African-American maids in 1960s Mississippi who decide to tell their stories to an ambitious young journalist. Heading the cast are Viola Davis, in her first lead film role, as quiet domestic Aibileen Clark, and Emma Stone as Skeeter, the writer who tells the women’s stories. Viola Davis was a fan of the book and thought that Kathryn really humanized these women who in history have never been given a voice. As soon as she read it, she said that this has got to be made into a movie, and I’ve got to option it, and I’ve got to play Aibileen. Then she found out that Tate Taylor had the option and from then on it just went from having mutual friends to finding out that he already had her in mind for the role. “The Help” is definitely a film of which a group of fine actors have assembled to bring the words of Kathryn Stockett’s bestseller to life.

Well, that’s it for the TradeVine this week. I’m Mary Jo Gruber. Thank you very much for watching. And remember, You heard it through the Tradevine!

The TradeVine is a show on Actors Reporter, a site on the Actors Podcast Network, a Pepper Jay Production.