How Lehman's Bankruptcy, Merrill's Sale Will Affect Hollywood

How Lehman's Bankruptcy, Merrill's Sale Will Affect Hollywood

Don't bother trying to call anyone important in Hollywood on the phone this morning because showbiz bigwigs will be huddling with their business managers and brokers and bankers to figure out what to do with their personal portfolios during Monday's stock market bloodbath. By 3 AM PT, when I went to sleep, the Dow Jones futures were already down 340 points, the S&P 500 futures down 40 points, and the NASDAQ futures down 50 points. That's butt ugly. So many studio and network types have seen their stock options stay underwater for years, rendering that past perk all but meaningless, that they've depended on their personal holdings as much as on their salary and bonus to build net worth. Ergo today's certain panic. (And I hope there's a special hell reserved for short-sellers, and eventually a perp walk.)

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