When Michael Douglas signed a recent production deal with Universal Pictures, it promised more major releases from the actor. But he'll also be dabbling in the low-budget world: Douglas just signed a deal to bring his smaller projects to Universal's independent-film subsidiary, October Films. His first indie movie set for production, ''One Night at McCool's,'' shows three men's accounts of a bad date with the same woman. He'll only produce this one, but he'll also act in his next Universal film, ''Still Life,'' with Meryl Streep.

Get another hyphen for Brandy: The singer-actress has added the word ''producer'' to her title. Her family's production company, Norwood Entertainment Group, was signed by Columbia TriStar TV to develop series and TV movies. The first project, ABC's telefilm ''Double Platinum,'' stars Diana Ross as a famous pop star who tries to reconcile with the rising-star daughter (Brandy) whom she gave up as a baby. Norwood is also developing a TV movie for Brandy's singing and acting brother, Ray J.

What's next for Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin after the lackluster slither of ''Godzilla''? The Revolutionary War drama ''Patriot.'' Emmerich will direct and Devlin will produce, but unlike for their last films, ''Godzilla,'' ''Independence Day,'' and ''Stargate,'' they won't write the screenplay. That credit will go to Richard Rodat, who scripted ''Saving Private Ryan.''

Bob Saget, master of the pratfall narration in ''America's Funniest Home Videos,'' will be returning to ABC next season. He is developing a new sitcom with Marshall Herskovitz -- who cocreated ''thirtysomething'' and ''My So-Called Life'' -- that won't be quite as family-friendly as his last series. Anyone who's ever seen Saget's very non-TGIF stand-up act (profanity and private parts usually play a key role) knows that a guy getting hit in the groin with a football is usually the cleanest his sense of humor gets.