Time Warner

Warner Bros. executive honored MEDIA CITY CENTER -- Virginia Tweedy, vice president of business affairs for Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., recently received an Andrew Heiskell Community Service Award from the studio's parent company, AOL Time Warner Inc. After Tweedy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, she began fund-raising for Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and speaking to educate the public about detecting...

Virginia Tweedy, vice president of business affairs from Warner Bros. Pictures, will present a $3,000 check for the Personal Appearance Rehabilitation Center at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center on Monday. The donation ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the hospital, 501 S. Buena Vista St. Tweedy is donating $3,000 of the $5,000 she received from the Andrew Heiskell Community Service Award granted from Warner Bros.' parent company, AOL Time Warner.

AOL Time Warner settles lawsuit BURBANK -- AOL Time Warner Inc. agreed Wednesday to pay $143,700 to 17 employees at its Burbank facility who alleged they were discriminated against. The settlement, which was announced in an e-mail statement from the U.S. Department of Labor, came after a review of the media company by Labor Department officials. The amount of the settlement represents back pay and interest for the 17 female and minority workers, news reports said.

Matt Johnston recently founded Workway, a Burbank-based staffing firm specializing in serving the financial industry, to provide temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire employees. The company identifies highly qualified potential employees through an extensive screening process of interviewing, skills testing and reference checking. Within the financial industry, Workway fills staffing positions that include loan processors, bank tellers, escrow officers and accountants. Workway employs 45 full-time staff and has 150 customers in Burbank and several other cities and including Irvine, Oak Park, Ill.; Phoenix; Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Las Vegas.

Warner Bros. and Redbox are about to re-ignite a battle over how long consumers have to wait to rent DVDs. The Time Warner Inc.-owned studio is instituting a new policy that all DVD rental outlets must wait 56 days from the time the disc goes on sale at retail outlets Wal-Mart and Best Buy until consumers can rent them, according to people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. That's double the current 28-day "window. " A spokesman for Warner Bros.' home entertainment division declined to comment.

Overseas box office receipts and DVD sales are good as company as reaches out to Asian markets.MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- On the eve of the release of one of the Walt Disney Co.'s most anticipated films, the company's chief financial officer painted a rosy picture on Thursday of where the company is headed with film and television content and opening of new overseas markets. Speaking at the Credit Suisse First Boston 2005 Global Media Week conference in New York, Tom Staggs pointed to "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" -- released on Friday -- as the type of film franchise the Burbank-based entertainment company will focus on that can generate additional products.

Burbank chamber to host mixer MEDIA DISTRICT WEST -- The Burbank Chamber of Commerce will host a membership mixer Thursday at the Safari Inn. Members and nonmembers are invited to mix and mingle with neighbors and busi- nesses to discuss local issues and network from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Parking and registration is at The Anabelle Hotel, 2011 W. Olive Ave, while the mixer is at Safari Inn, 1911 W. Olive Ave. ...

NBC announced a shake-up in its Burbank executive ranks, according to reports. Katherine Pope, an executive at NBC Universal Television Studio, was named executive vice president of NBC Entertainment, the chief deputy to Entertainment President Kevin Reilly. Pope will be in charge of NBC's new series development. Another studio executive, Jeff Ingold, was named head of NBC's comedy development. NBC said that Michael Thorn was leaving. Roles for Ghen Maynard, Reilly's previous second in command, and comedy development chief Cheryl Dolins have not been determined.

Fire and police personnel collected more than $30,000 on Wednesday for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast area. Burbank firefighters and police officers and representatives of the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles gathered in the courtyard area outside the AMC Theaters for more than two hours collecting donations placed inside firefighters' boots. "We had everything from handfuls of pennies to very large checks," Fire Department Capt.

BURBANK — Walt Disney is one of six major Hollywood studios that will now show anti-smoking ads before youth-related DVDs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 11 met with the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the studios to announce the use of anti-smoking commercials. The ads will appear before movies rated G, PG and PG-13 DVDs that contain scenes with tobacco use, said Judi Ketcik, vice president of communications of the Entertainment Industry Foundation.