From KCRW in Santa Monica, I'm Claude Bratessor Ackner, and this is The Business.

So you still want to do the show business, and you think that you got what it takes?

I mean, you really got a rap and be all at.

If you care yourself for the breaks, check it out.

This week on the business, what happens when a studio executive comes out from behind his desk to direct a major motion picture?

We'll talk to Kent Alterman,

formerly New Line Cinema's executive VP of Production,

and now the director of semi-pro.

Plus, we say goodbye to HDDVD.

But first, it's the Hollywood News Caravan.

Go nowhere, it's the business from NPR.

Music caravan. Go nowhere. It's the business from NPR. Will there be an actor's strike? God, we hope not. But the posturing of the leadership of the

Screen Actors Guild is not heartening. Instead of

sitting down to the negotiating table, as some big-name stars have suggested, the Guild has been

busy offering interim agreements with indie production companies so they can finish their films

in the event of a strike. There seems to be a de facto strike anyway. Due to the possibility

of a walkout, everybody's holding back on making any film they can't finish by the time the contract is up on June 30th.

Meanwhile, you've read the book, Now See the Movie, is a familiar refrain in Hollywood marketing.

But the way things are going, you might just want to grab some milk duds and listen to an audiobook instead.

According to a new study by the Motion Picture Association of America released last week,

the average cost of producing and marketing a studio picture leapt 6.3% to almost $107 million last year.

Who paid for that?

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