Any Filmmakers Available Need $50,000? Try Louisiana

Whether it's adequate for Werner Herzog, Tony Scott and also the reigning Sundance Grand Jury Prize champion, then by God, it is good enough for you personally: "Executive Director Gregory Kallenberg introduced today the inaugural Louisiana Film Prize, having a grand prize of $50,000. The Louisiana Film Prize contest and festival invites filmmakers from around the globe to produce and offer a brief film under one condition it should be shot within the Shreveport-Bossier area." Best of luck! Write when you get work! [LAfilmprize.com]

Jim Henson to create BBC puppet show

LONDON -- The BBC is working with the Jim Henson Company to create a weekend U.K. TV show fronted by a new puppet who will interview celebs in a chat show-style format. A pilot episode of the show, whose working title is "No Strings Attached," is being prepared in cahoots with the shingle best known for the Muppets. If greenlit show will be produced in-house by the BBC's entertainment department in the U.K. with puppets supplied by Henson. The BBC's executive editor for entertainment, Karl Warner, told local media he had "high hopes" for the project. He added: "The idea is that it would be very firmly anchored in the world of the chat show, but based around a new character created by the Henson Company. "The Muppets were a massive phenomenon and nobody seems to have been developing anything in this area for a long time. "The Henson Company has shown us some puppets, and their versatility is very exciting, but we are still only in talks at the moment." A series could bow next year on the corp.'s U.K. flagship web, BBC1. Meanwhile Disney, which bought the rights to the Muppets' characters in 2004, is working on a sequel to "The Muppets" after the return of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and friends went on to earn more than $154.8 million at the worldwide box office. James Bobin, who helmed "The Muppets," and co-writer Nicholas Stoller, will write the script for the sequel. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com