Special Coverage Pop Culture Classics (The EW 1000)Sound BitesSummer TVBox Office Game
Page 2 of 4

REEL DEALS Katie Holmes has signed to star with Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt in ''Pieces of April.'' Written by Peter Hedges (''What's Eating Gilbert Grape''), who will make his directing debut, the film will tell the story of an alienated young woman who must reconcile with her dying mother. Shooting begins in April....

When Kate Hudson shoots the romantic comedy ''How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' in June, it looks like the guy will be Matthew McConaughey. He'd play a womanizer who bets his pals that he can stay in a relationship for more than 10 days, only to take up with a woman (Hudson) who tries to dump him. Danny DeVito is directing.

SOUND BITES On the eve of the Grammys, some of pop's biggest names staged four simultaneous concerts in Los Angeles to raise money for lobbying efforts to change record industry practices they say are unfavorable to musicians. Organized by the Recording Artists Coalition, last night's benefits featured Billy Joel, , Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, No Doubt, , Courtney Love, Stevie Nicks, Beck, and Trisha Yearwood. The RAC has launched a campaign to pass a new California bill into law that would repeal the record industry's exemption to the seven-year limit that governs all other entertainment contracts that artists in California sign. Artists complain that the contracts, as well as industry accounting practices, keep them in virtual indentured servitude for indefinite lengths of time until they record a large number of albums.

In a counterprotest yesterday, a new lobbying group called the California Music Coalition protested the bill. The group, made up of the major labels, independent labels, and music-dependent small businesses like limousine services and CD packagers, defended the existing contract provision, saying that it can take years for record labels to recoup investments even on top-selling artists, and that the new law would force the record business to leave California and would cost the state 27,000 jobs.


Page 2 of 4