Keck's Exclusives: NBC Announces All-Star Fall Into Line For Betty White's 90th Birthday Party

Betty Whitened 90 years is really a large deal, and NBC has arranged a remarkable roster of talent to assist America's sweetheart, Betty Whitened, celebrate her special milestone. One of the famous faces who definitely are attending in the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown La for that tape: Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett, William Shatner and Hugh Jackman, plus current people from the NBC family including Jay Leno, Amy Poehler and Joel McHale. Betty's former co-stars in the Mary Tyler Moore Show may also be available, with Erectile dysfunction Asner, Valerie Harper and Gavin MacLeod all RSVPing yes. (One glaring omission: MTM Show alum Cloris Leachman.) Also search for a unique tribute from Betty's current TV Land family, Hot in Cleveland ladies Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves. Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl will air Monday, The month of january 16 (8/9c) on NBC, then a sneak preview of Betty's all-new hidden-camera reality series Betty White's Off Their Rockers. The special includes musical performances and surprise looks, with Whitened using the stage toshare some reminiscences and provide because of individuals who've arrived at recognition her. Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now! Per NBC, Cloris Leachman was indeed asked to Betty's gala, even though Cloris greatly desired to participate, an earlier commitment prevents her attendance.

Promote named chairman of Verve Music

Veteran producer and music professional David Promote continues to be named chairman of Universal Music Group's Verve Group. Located in L.A., Promote will are accountable to UMG chairman-Boss Lucian Grainge. Promote will mind creative procedures from the unit, having a concentrate on signing new talent and developing Verve's roster of adult and pop functions. Verve's creative team includes senior VPs of the&R Jay Landers and Jaymes Promote, producer-engineer Jochem van der Saag and Vice president of the&R Dahlia Ambach Caplin. A 16-time Grammy champion, three-time Oscar nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe honoree, Promote has labored like a producer, songwriter and arranger with Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Cher, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, among many more. Among his productions may be the top-selling soundtrack for "The Bodyguard." He formerly operated Warner Bros.' boutique imprint 143 Records, where he signed the Corrs. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Mt. Olympus isn't for redheads

William H. Macy, Dax Shepard, Matthew Morrison and Kristen Bell fundraise for UNICEF .Sean Penn honours Mike Medavoy .Changed right into a romantic winter wonderland, the Beverly Wilshire was the website from the UNICEF ball Thursday evening.In the introduction of Irena, Nick and Mike Medavoy, Sean Penn known as out a couple of of his fellow presenters."I only say this each time I arrived at this stuff, however the timing is a touch bassackwards," Penn stated of providing honours, "simply because they should do this stuff before they serve the alcohol. However in this situation Personally i think liberated because Dennis Quaid and Brooklyn Decker is going to be up here soon and they are sauced."Mike Medavoy shared his excitement at finding the Danny Kaye Award. "He was much like me, a redhead," he started. "For all of us, this group, unless of course you are residing in Ireland or unless of course you realize Greek history by which redheads were tossed from Mt. Olympus once they were born, is really a select few.InchLionel Richie carried out for any crowd that incorporated Quincy Johnson, Megan Mullally, Kate Walsh, Matthew Morrison, Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

It's the perfect time for brand new deals

Even Wall Street might have an excessive amount of a positive thing. Traders are pleading large media to prevent using mountain tops of money to purchase back stock and rather outside, hurry up and perform some deals -- otherwise pay bigger returns. Time Warner has obliged, investing in another bid for Nederlander TV giant Endemol on Monday, this time around all in cash following the first mixed cash-and-stock offer was declined. There has been only two major deals this season: News Corp.'s purchase of Shine Group and Scripps' acquisition of UKTV. However the five greatest media companies -- TW, News Corp., Wally Disney, Viacom and CBS -- will buy $15.5 billion worth that belongs to them shares in fiscal 2012, predicted Evercore Partners' Alan Gould. That's up from an believed $12.5 billion this season and reps a significant chunk from the combined companies' circa $200 billion in market capital. Management buys up stock when company honchos think it's cheap or underrated. When the shares have previously rallied, if they are overvalued or heading lower, that isn't so great. Repurchases assume "CEOs are superior to other people" at knowing in which the stocks are heading, Gould stated. Buybacks, actually, "have the possibility to eliminate investor value if shares are bought above intrinsic value, the best risk poor an uncertain macro atmosphere," authored Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital inside a note to clients. The U.S. economy continues to be shaky, battered by worries in Europe and both at home and with little visibility to promote or anything else. DiClemente wants media congloms to create proper purchases -- of worldwide assets particularly. Companies get access to cheap financing, the dollar gets more powerful, and purchasing new assets could boost sluggish revenue growth. "It's really no secret the media sector includes a dubious record if this involves M&A," DiClemente acknowledged. However the disastrous America online-Time Warner, Viacom-CBS and Vivendi-Universal deals happened about ten years ago. The analyst stated you're ready to get in the overall game. Repurchasing stock reduces the amount of shares outstanding and boosts earnings per share. DiClemente noted that management compensation may also be associated with earnings per share. Also, since traders generally like stock buybacks, a company's share cost usually increases when the first is introduced. This is a boon for executives who hold plenty of investment. Media investor Chris Dixon stated a course of standard stock buybacks that monitors the marketplace and may begin to make the most of dips may be beneficial. However it turns into a problem when they're "used as excuse because of not following through when companies are reluctant to purchase new endeavors." If there is nothing around to purchase, congloms could purchase their current companies. "That 'there's money around and little else related to it'" is not a great motivation for purchasing back stock, Dixon stated. Another primary method to return cash to stockholders is thru returns, which are not "accretive" to earnings per share but do give traders back some money regularly. Experts today would rather dividend hikes to more buybacks. Most media companies also have elevated their returns. But buybacks have faster a lot more rapidly. DiClemente noted that last year, returns composed 67% of total capital returns, however in 2011, only an believed 15% is going to be from returns -- versus. 85% from share repurchases. Returns can leave management with less versatility, however. When you raise a payout it's difficult to work without traders creating a stink and also the stock going for a hit. Viacom Boss Philippe Dauman stated a week ago in a media conference that Viacom would return $20 billion to investors within the next 5 years -- a mixture of buybacks and dividend obligations he did not bust out. DiClemente figures Viacom may have bought back 11% of their market cap in 2012, in the top end from the group. Under its existing program, it's approved to purchase back around 28%. Share buyback programs, which construct the quantity of stock management is approved to buy on the with time, are approved with a company's board of company directors. Disney acquired $5 billion price of stock in fiscal 2011. CBS a week ago introduced one more $1.5 billion buyback on the top of their ongoing program to which it acquired $850 million in shares this season by Sept. 30. News Corp. is purchasing back $5 billion -- a few of the cash that's a slave to following the conglom threw in the towel its bid for BSkyB. Time Warner, that has the greatest dividend yield within the group, acquired $3.7 billion available this season with the finish of October within $5 billion program. Time Warner Cable introduced a $4 billion shares repurchase recently. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Boston crix fete 'The Artist'

BOSTON -- Each year without any dominant films, the Boston Society of Film Experts offered up their most eclectic slate of those who win in a long time.InchThe Artist," required best picture, while "Drive" was reported for the best supporting actor for Albert Brooks' awesome but vicious gangster. Both films were tied for the best utilization of music within the film. "Moneyball" was the only real other multiple champion with Kaira Pitt winning best actor and Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin discussing the script honors.Past champion Martin Scorsese was named best director for "Hugo," as the acting honours were broadly scattered. Michelle Williams's turn as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" won best actress. The Society went lowbrow for the best supporting actress, giving Melissa McCarthy for "Bridesmaids." Roman Polanski's "Carnage" -- starring Jodie Promote, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet -- was reported for the best ensemble."The Tree of Existence" won for cinematography for d.p. Emmanuel Lubezki. "Rango" won for the best animated film, the only real film to become selected in one ballot, while "Project Nim" was named best documentary and "Incendies" was named best language film.The award for the best new filmmaker, named for that late critic David Brudnoy, was handed to Sean Durkin for "Martha Marcy May Marlene." The Boston crix provide sometimes cool options which year wasn't any exception, because they gave the very best editing kudo to "The Time,Inch the twenty-four hour art installation by Christian Marclay which uses film clips showing watches and clocks from various movies and television shows to undergo a complete day.Honours is going to be passed out February. 4. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Edgar Ramirez, 'Star Trek 2' Villain? 'Carlos' Star Latest Frontrunner

That was fast. Less than 48 hours after it was revealed that Benicio Del Toro was out as the main villain in 'Star Trek 2,' Variety reports that J.J. Abrams has turned his focus on Edgar Ramirez. The 'Carlos' star may or may not play Khan in the 'Trek' sequel, due in May of 2013. Per Variety, Ramirez is the new frontrunner, with Jordi Molla ('Bad Boys 2,' 'Blow') in the mix as well. The 34-year-old actor will reportedly test for the role over Skype (technology!) and a decision could be made by Abrams as soon as the weekend. Despite the fact that Khan Noonien Singh was not Hispanic in the 'Star Trek' universe, the villain is forever connected to Mexican-born actor Ricardo Montalban. Ramirez (who was born in Venezuela) and Molla (who was born in Spain) lead one to believe that the rumors and rumblings of Khan being the 'Star Trek' villain are true. Either way -- developing! Stay tuned to see what happens with this one. [via Variety] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Chris Columbus Finds Jesus

Anne Rice's undertake him, anyway...No, we do not imply that Christopher Columbus finds the face area of Jesus inside a cake or even the seed products of the tomato: he's assisting to produce an adaptation of Anne Rice's tome Christ The The almighty: From Egypt.Cyrus Nowrasteh, who last made The Stoning Of Soraya M, is onto co-write and direct the film after Grain contacted him about dealing with the task. It had been a fast leap after that to Columbus, who decided to make the pic via his 1492 Pictures company.The plot follows a seven-year-old Jesus departing Egypt to come back the place to find Nazareth, where he finds out who his father is really which his existence includes a slightly different future to that particular of his buddies."This film has got the potential to become a motion picture classic, an image which will attract any age, all across the globe,Inch Columbus stated inside a statement acquired by Variety. "I'm proud to participate this incredible production." Considering the fact that Christmas is nearly here, it might appear that filmmakers along with other creative types are becoming ideas within their tights: additionally, there are Seth Grahame-Cruz working up a script according to his book Unholy Evening, which re-imagines another chunk from the youthful JC's existence.Columbus has not directed a movie themself since 2010's Percy Jackson, but he's been busy like a producer, backing he likes from the Help. He's also got an abundance of projects on the run, having a remake of Troll Hunter and many other novel adaptations such as the Cypress House and Charles Yu' How You Can Live Securely Inside A Science Imaginary World, that was introduced just a few days ago.

Brinkley Vows To Quickly Pay back $531k Back Taxes

First Released: December 5, 2011 7:49 PM EST Credit: Getty Images NY, N.Y. -- Caption Christie Brinkley attends the premiere from the Ides of March in the Ziegfeld Theater in NY City on October 5, 2011 Christie Brinkley vows spend immediately pay back the $531,000 she owes at the spine taxes. NYs Daily News lately reported the Irs has filed a tax lien from the supermodel. Brinkley states inside a statement the lien was a direct result a mistake and promises it will likely be compensated entirely by Wednesday. Brinkley states she regrets not having to pay more focus on her accounting. She states shes concentrated on her parents, who coping serious health problems. The 57-year-old Brinkley was married to Billy Joel and made an appearance in the Uptown Girl video. She made her Broadway debut this season playing Roxie Hart within the musical Chicago. She states she views herself lucky to possess been employed since she was 17 years of age. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A Genuine-Existence Walter Whitened? Boston Professor Charged with Managing a Meth Lab

Bryan Cranston Breaking Bad's plot echoed inside a situation looked into by suburban Boston government bodies. Irina Kristy, a 74-year-old college professor, and her 29-year-old boy happen to be charged with managing a meth lab from their home in Somerville, about 500 ft from City Hall, based on the Boston Globe. They face charges of distribution of meth, conspiracy to violate the drug law and drug breach inside a school zone. Watch full instances of Breaking Bad within our Movie Guide Around the AMC series, Walter Whitened, performed by three-time Emmy champion Bryan Cranston, is really a senior high school chemistry teacher who starts to prepare then sell meth after he's identified with cancer. Kristy, that has trained math in excess of two decades at two different Boston-area colleges, is going to be arraigned 12 ,. 21. Her boy, that has already pleaded guilty towards the charges, arrives in court on 12 ,. 20.

Content demand produces cyber-putting in a bid war

The interest in content online streaming services has produced a potentially lucrative situation for Hollywood galleries searching to monetize libraries with digital dollars. However for customers, the flurry of dealmaking surrounding films and television shows is creating confusion over who is the owner of what they need to look at.That wasn't the initial plan.It had lengthy been believed that galleries would blanket most services wonderful their game titles, letting this content take advantage of each service's growth, instead of betting around the individual gamers that galleries thought would survive and shunning others. However when Netflix began ponying up considerable gold coin to lock lower exclusive content, galleries began siding using the greatest bidder. Pay cablers like Cinemax, Epix and Starz see their very own streaming-content applications in an effort to keep their customers happy and remaining put, and in an effort to secure films and television shows for an extended run and from other platforms.Cablers have reason to bother with sub retention: Pay TV homes rejected by about 366,000 throughout the 2nd quarter of 2011 (and continued to be flat within the third quarter), based on IHS Screen Digest, with increased deficits expected in 2012, experts say.By 2015, nearly 12 million U.S. homes will get Television shows and films from online services as opposed to a traditional pay TV provider, up from 2.5 million houses in the finish of 2010, based on research firm SNL Kagan.Netflix and it is rivals might have to start spending more income for content, though.Without its Starz deal, Netflix no more has Disney and The new sony movies, and can have DreamWorks Animation's characters -- like "Puss in Boots" and 'Shrek" -- beginning in 2013, via a pricey new exclusive deal.As Hollywood brokers more digital deals, submissions are cluttering screens -- from Televisions with built-in Online connections to pills to mobile phones -- in addition to videogame consoles along with other set-top boxes.Websites too have become more fashionable for content delivery, with galleries progressively embracing Facebook to provide up film rental fees -- Blockbuster can also be planning to provide up its films as rental fees around the social networking the coming year, while Warner Bros. acquired Flixster to stream movies and promote cloud-based service UltraViolet.Meanwhile, Amazon . com.com, Walmart's Vudu and finest Buy's CinemaNow, amongst others, are walking as much as contend with Apple's iTunes, still the dominant seller and renter of films and television shows and pushing money game titles through its iCloud. Expect more competition once Redbox begins streaming films through its website.Consequently, you will find a lot more than 100,000 full-length Television shows and films available on the web at a moment, based on SNL Kagan and Nielsen.All that has forced hardware makers to think about new methods to make finding programming simpler -- a particularly important problem as each streaming service begins searching much more like the others, along with the same content.One response is to show to search engines like google like Microsoft's Bing, for instance, to rapidly identify all the platforms that provide a particular film, Television show or project that has an actress. Microsoft's Xbox 360 360 vidgame console may have this feature, that will without doubt be considered a primary speaking point at CES the following month.Consequently, customers may finish up winning as services supply cheaper subscription packages to draw in more clients.Vudu, which formerly only enabled people to stream films they leased or bought from the site, has become allowing them to download the game titles for later viewing on a number of products. And Finest Buy merged with Apple to include its Insider technology, featured in the second-generation of Apple Core processors, to CinemaNow, which can make more HD versions of films available with the service because of its enhanced copyright protection.Nobody in Hollywood is anticipated to complain -- a minimum of less lengthy his or her terms keep getting good attractive. CONTENT COMPETITION Warms UPWalmart's VuduTitles: 16,000-plus over 1,900 obtainable in HDPrice: Rental fees vary from $.99 to $5.99. Rental fees of films still in theaters or perhaps in premium VOD window: $4.99 to $24.99. Television show episodes to possess cost $1.99-$2.99. For full seasons: $16.99-$43.99.Film partners: Virtually all of the galleries FirstLook Galleries, Kino and Magnolia PicturesTV Partners: Bravo, BBC America, Comedy Central, Discovery Communications, MTV, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, NBC, Oxygen, Showtime, Spike TV, Starz Entertainment, Syfy, TLC, USA Network Best Buy's CinemanowTitles: 6,000-plus movies and television shows to download to possess, over 3,000 films to rentPrice: Download to rent: $2.99 to $3.99 download to help keep: $9.95 to $19.99.Film partners: twentieth century Fox, Warner Bros., Apple (that will provide more HD game titles).NetflixTitles: 17,000-plus*Cost: Base cost to stream movies and receive them by mail is $16 $8 for Netflix Instant streaming $8 for disc-by-mailFilm partners: DreamWorks Animation, Fox, Lionsgate, Miramax, MGM, Open Road, Vital, Relativity Media, Universal, Warner Bros.TV Partners: ABC Galleries, ABC Family, AMC, the CW, Discovery, Disney Funnel, Fox, Lionsgate, Media Privileges Capital and BBC's "House of Cards," NBCUniversal, SonyHulu PlusTitles: 45,670 includes 2,520 moviesPrice: $7.99 monthly to gain access to mostly Television shows.Movie partners: Qualifying criterion Collection, Miramax FilmsTV Partners: ABC, BBC, Fox, NBC, The CW, A&E, Bravo, VH1, Comedy Central, E! Entertainment, Forex, History, MTV, Spike, Univision, USA NetworkAmazon Prime Instant VideoTitles: 13,000 by early 2012Price: $79 a yearFilm partners: Universal, The new sony, Warner Bros., Magnolia Pictures, IFC Films, Strand Delivering, Music Box Films, Film Movement, Reel MediaTV Partners: The new sony, BBC, PBS, National Geographic, Egami Media, Vivendi Entertainment, New Video Group, Fred Rogers Company, Sesame Workshop, CBS, NBCUniversal*analyst estimate Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com

Magic Johnson to Bid to Buy Los Angeles Dodgers

This article appears in the Dec. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.our editor recommendsThe Making of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse'From 'The Artist' to 'War Horse,' 23 Awards Contenders That Prominently Feature Animals (Photos)'War Horse': Newest Trailer Heavy on Orchestration, Heartstring Pulling (Video)'War Horse' Star Jeremy Irvine to Play Young Colin Firth in 'The Railway Man' (Exclusive)Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson: The Titans Behind 'The Adventures of Tintin' In October 2010, Steven Spielberg fell in a hole. "I was walking in a trench with my viewfinder and the crew following me, and all of a sudden I disappeared," recalls the director of the time when he was shooting War Horse just outside London. "It was a hole dug for explosive charges, and a storm had washed away the warning cones and filled it up. I was totally under ice water. I threw my hands over my head, and two big grips pulled me out." Now, 13 months after wrapping his World War I epic, Spielberg can laugh about "the murder hole." But that was only one of the challenges involved in bringing his movie to the screen, along with fighting freezing weather, dealing with an army of 5,800 extras and about 300 horses, and turning to filmmaker Peter Jackson for crucial wartime artifacts from his private collection -- all within a 63-day shoot and with an exceptionally tight $70 million budget ($65 million after tax breaks). PHOTOS: The Making of 'War Horse' Spielberg first heard about War Horse in the summer of 2009. That's when his longtime producer Kathleen Kennedy mentioned the West End adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel, which centers on a British horse named Joey that we follow from birth through four years of war. During that time, he is enlisted by the army, captured by Germans and hidden by French farmers, all while being trailed by Albert, the young Englishman who raised him. When Kennedy spoke of the project, Spielberg was on the scoring stage for The Adventures of Tintin. Having finished 31 days of motion-capture work, he was in a yearlong holding pattern until animation was completed and he could return to the film. To his surprise, he discovered that the book's movie rights had not been optioned, so Kennedy flew to England, where she had breakfast with Morpurgo, then hired Billy Elliot scribe Lee Hall to craft an initial draft. COVER STORY: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson -- The Titans Behind 'Tintin' "What was irresistible for me had nothing to do with global war," says Spielberg. "It was how Joey linked disparate characters together and the length to which Albert went to find him." After working briefly with Hall, Spielberg moved on to a second writer, Four Weddings and a Funeral's Richard Curtis, in an attempt to bring the screenplay closer to the book. Curtis was nervous: He'd met Spielberg only once before, at France's César Awards in 1995, when the presenter declared Spielberg's Schindler's List a masterpiece and said, "If any other film wins, it will be a disgrace to the honor of France" -- only for Four Weddings to pick up the best foreign film trophy. PHOTOS: Steven Spielberg on Set But Spielberg was more interested in the new picture, and he was clear it should focus on the horse -- like the novel, the movie was to be told from the horse's point of view -- rather than intercutting that story with the boy's. Curtis became convinced this would work when he read the book aloud to his 14-year-old daughter while she was in bed, awaiting an operation. "I found it hard to read the last 10 pages to her because they were so emotional," he recalls, declining to say more about the operation. "I thought immediately, 'If it works in the book, we can do it in the film.' " PHOTOS: 'The Adventures of Tintin' Now he moved fast, whipping through more than a dozen drafts in three months while conducting two-hour telephone conversations with Spielberg. On one occasion, he had to hide in a hospital medicine cabinet while discussing the script, "surrounded by syringes and pills, because I couldn't talk in my daughter's room." As he wrote, a research team plowed through troves of artifacts at England's Imperial War Museum, frequently copying photos that would be used to stage scenes. Spielberg was fascinated by their discoveries. "I was not prepared for how many millions of horses perished during the Great War -- it was over 4 million," he says. "And it wasn't all in close combat; a lot was just through malnutrition and mistreatment. But don't forget that the Humane Society was born out of the First World War, and it was a huge turning point in technological warfare that supplanted the horse once and forever." PHOTOS: 23 Awards Contenders Featuring Animals In addition to the material his researchers found, Spielberg drew on an unexpected source: his Tintin producer Jackson, who collects war memorabilia. "He's even got about 15 working biplanes, which we didn't need," marvels Spielberg. "He sent about three cargo containers to the U.K., free of charge. He pretty much lent me his entire World War I collection." As all of that fell into place, a critical matter loomed: finding the right actor to play Albert, who ages from 15 to 21. "I looked for months and months," says Spielberg. "I was running out of hope, then Jeremy Irvine came in toward the last third of the casting process." There was one snag: The 20-year-old Irvine's most extensive acting experience had been playing a tree in the chorus of the Royal Shakespeare Company. "I had a couple of months of going in to audition two or three times a week, sometimes doing videotape and knowing it would be shown to Steven," he says. "It was quite intense." Weeks after his first audition, adds Irvine: "I got a call at about 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., saying, 'Can you meet Steven for tea in a hotel in London tomorrow morning?' I did what any actor would do: I freaked out." He won the role regardless, and shooting commenced Aug. 6, 2010, in Dartmoor, in the south of England. Production designer Rick Carter had searched for British locations that would be convincing, such as the bucolic farm where Joey's story begins and the no-man's-land where the war is fought. A crew of 750 worked ferociously so each location would be ready when filming took place. Operations revolved around seven locales, ranging from the untamed moors of Dartmoor to a derelict airfield in Surrey, England (where land could be dug up to look like a battlefield) to the Duke of Wellington's storied estate west of London. Each had its share of difficulties. In Dartmoor, a nature preserve, the land couldn't be touched. "We had to put down netting and bring the dirt in and plant what looked like rocks and dig into that," says Carter. The appalling weather created some "nail-biting situations," he adds. Right before the shoot, a terrific storm blew away part of a thatched roof on Albert's farmhouse -- in actuality, made of Styrofoam. "We had to have a crew repaint it every day because it was falling apart," Carter notes. For one shot, in which men and horses emerge like ghosts from a field of reeds, the plants were moved from another part of the country and set in place individually. "There was a marsh somewhere in the south of London still in bloom; we went there and paid a farmer to cut his whole field down, then we put the reeds in Styrofoam." Even the 250 yards of trenches Carter dug, which might seem a simple task but involved laying down an infrastructure to keep them in place and allow tracking shots, required six weeks of preparation alone. "It was like a construction site, with 20 Caterpillars running around," he says. Creating clothing for the men who would inhabit those locations was no easier. "[Costume supervisor] Dave Crossman would trawl through eBay, seeing what we could get -- the hardware and the insignias," says costume designer Joanna Johnston, a longtime Spielberg collaborator. Beyond the beauty of the uniforms, she was surprised at the real-life parallels she discovered with the movie. "The great-grandfather of a girl who worked with us was a milkman whose horse was taken during the war -- and amazingly, the horse made it back," she says. As far as the present horses were concerned, Kennedy brought one huge advantage: Having produced 2003's Seabiscuit, she knew the ins and outs of working with equines. "That was one of the biggest departments on the film, with 200 to 300 people," she says of the animal unit. "You'd sometimes have as many as 180 to 280 horses in a scene. You'd have groomers and drivers to haul the horses and the feed, people to set up portable barns, vets and everyone else who handled the tack and the horses' makeup." Fourteen horses in all played Joey, the most prominent being one named Finder, which had starred in Seabiscuit. "We had bought horses for Seabiscuit, then we sold them -- and Bobby Lovgren, our lead trainer, bought Finder," says Kennedy. "He turned out to be one of the best horses Bobby had ever worked with, so he brought Finder with him to England." Except for one notable shot in which the horse stumbles and falls into a trench, most of the work was done without CGI effects. That added pressure to the shoot, as did the ever-changing British weather. "It was unbelievably rainy and cold," says Kennedy. "Even when you had your wellies on, sometimes you'd just take a step and one would be left stuck in the mud. It was freezing and raining, but then there would be these amazing skies and the whole crew would stop and gaze out at the landscape because it was so beautiful." Moments like these vanished during the hardest part of filming, when the trench warfare took place. "As soon as your big woolen uniform gets wet, the weight is unbelievable," says Irvine, "and you'd be running across no-man's-land, right through the mud and dirt. There were sequences where explosions would take place next to me and three or four stuntmen would fly through the air -- and then there'd be other scenes where you're just soaking wet. I got trench foot [a medical condition contracted through lengthy contact with dampness]. The soldiers used to get it all the time. And then there were the rats." Several dozen rodents were released into the trenches with the actors, much to their horror. But the rats were even more of a nightmare for the producers. "When you put mud on a rat, it immediately starts to clean itself. We could never keep them covered in mud," says Kennedy with a laugh. Shooting wrapped Oct. 27, 2010, following five days of studio work. Audiences will see the finished movie when Disney releases it domestically on Christmas Day through its distribution pact with DreamWorks, which financed the film through its partnership with Reliance Entertainment. (The picture unfurls internationally starting Dec. 26 in Australia.) The U.S. opening comes four days after the Dec. 21 North American release of Tintin, which already has proved an international blockbuster. In some ways, War Horse is more important for DreamWorks -- Tintin, a joint venture between Sony and Paramount, wasn't financed by the company. The former's success is critical for the studio, which has had some recent disappointments along with one megahit, The Help. Spielberg says he'll cherish the memories of making the film -- the tenderness of working with the horses, the miracle of the sunsets and the chance to bring history to life -- despite all the obstacles he encountered. "The thing about filming is, [almost] everything goes wrong," he says. "It's using the parts that go right in the finished film that counts." PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse' Related Topics Steven Spielberg International Kathleen Kennedy War Horse Awards Season Preview