Syfy's 'Caprica' hits the film festival circuit

FCC gets ready for quadrennial review of media ownership rules

It's not exactly an invitation to the Emmy Awards or the Allen & Co. conference, but moguls nonetheless will be checking their mailboxes over the next few weeks to see if the Federal Communications Commission wants them to participate in a series of workshops and offer their input as the regulatory agency begins its 2010 review of its media ownership rules.

Mind you, a review does not necessarily mean change. The FCC conducts these reviews every four years to "determine whether any of such rules are necessary in the public interest as the result of competition."

We're pretty sure the broadcast industry will come up with a few ideas on the subject, particularly when it comes to rules regarding ownership of both television and newspapers in the same market as well as the number of stations one company can own both locally and nationally.

The cable industry has already won a big battle with the FCC when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with Comcast Corp. and against the agency over just how much of the nation's TV homes one cable company should be allowed to serve. The court tossed the FCC's rules that no cable company can serve more than 30% of the nation's TV marketplace. The Commission could either appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court or try and craft a new benchmark.

On the cable programming front, one of the more closely watched debates may be over the so-called program access rules, which are currently under attack by the industry in the courts. In a nutshell, the rules prohibit cable operators like Comcast and Cablevision that also own programming from refusing to sell their content to competing distributors such as satellite television or Verizon Fios. Those rules are currently set to expire in 2010, but could be extended by the FCC.

The workshops are set to start in November and will also seek input from the public and advocacy groups. Cynical observers don't expect the media industry to get much in the way of regulatory relief from the FCC.

In other words, cracked one industry executive, the agency may have those rules barring television and newspaper ownership in the same city long after there are any newspapers left. Fortunately, the FCC granted a waiver to our parent, Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5.

Oh, and if you don't get an invite don't worry, you'll get a chance to have a say down the road.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Credit: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
Syfy's 'Caprica' hits the film festival circuit

"Caprica," a new drama from Syfy, will make the film-festival rounds before it debuts on Jan. 22.

The two-hour "Caprica" pilot, which was written by Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon and directed by "Friday Night Lights" veteran Jeffrey Reiner, will be screened at the San Diego Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival this fall.

Dates for the screenings are as follows:

San Diego Film Festival, Sept. 26 Woodstock Film Festival, Oct. 2 and Oct. 4Austin Film Festival, Oct. 24 (there will be a screening as wellas panel discussions from Reiner and star Esai Morales) 

"Caprica" is a prequel series that takes place five decades before the events of "Battlestar Galactica." It follows two rival families, the Adamas and the Greystones, and no previous "Battlestar" knowledge is required to watch the new show. "This ...standalone series will feature the passion, intrigue,political backbiting, and family conflict in an omnipotent society thatis at the height of its blind power and glory…and, unknowingly, on thebrink of its fall," according to a description from Syfy. 

My review of the "Caprica" pilot, which is already out on DVD, is here.

Moore talks a bit about the project, which also stars Paula Malcolmson, Eric Stoltz and Polly Walker as powerful members of Caprican society, in this video. 

Patton Oswalt, James Marsters and "FNL" alumni Scott Porter have all been cast in recurring guest roles on "Caprica," which also has several "BSG" alumni on its writing and production staffs. (To see what various "Battlestar" alumni are up to -- and some of them have written and directed "Caprica" episodes -- look at this story.)

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