Nikki Finka veteran entertainment journalist who founded Limit In 2006 and helping his growth into a major player among Hollywood dealers, he passed away Sunday morning in Boca Raton, Florida after a long-term illness. She was 68 years old.
The famously reclusive Finke founded her site as Deadline Hollywood Daily, the 24/7 online version of her long-running “Deadline Hollywood” print column for Los Angeles Weekly. She posted first-hand accounts of how she saw the entertainment business and wasn’t bothered by dressing up her biggest players. Her scathing and scathing posts often advocated fouls and infractions as she saw fit—making her a hero to many assistants and less, while irritating many in the C-Wings who were accustomed to nothing less than praise.
Though, they were always taking her calls.
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Finke’s style of never letting go of prisoners angered many of the top showbiz players and delighted others. She often scored huge exclusives, and when it was confirmed by the communication or publicist teams, Finke would update her story with her signature “TOLDJA!”
Among Finke’s most famous – or infamous – assignments was her “live snore” From Hollywood award shows including Academy Awards, Emmys and Golden Globes. She has applied warning signs to many of those live blogs, including, “Come for the ridiculous…stay for the vandalism” and “Not for the easily offended or ridiculously gullible.” In fact, no exec, star, product, or topic was safe at the time – or in any other post on Deadline.
“At her best, Nikki Finke has embodied the spirit of journalism, never afraid to tell hard truths with categorical style and an ambiguous spark. It has been the Bold and real.” “It wasn’t easy with Nikki, but she will always be one of the most unforgettable people of my life. “
A native of Long Island, New York, Finky’s professional journalism career before deadline has occupied positions around the world with some of the most powerful and influential media outlets: as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press in Moscow and London, NEWSWEEK Correspondent in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles Times Clerk on staff covers entertainment and features. She was a West Coast editor and columnist in Hollywood first in New York Observer and then New York Magazine. She has also hosted a radio show about the entertainment industry on Public Radio in Southern California.
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I joined Los Angeles Weekly As a columnist for Deadline Hollywood in 2002, he writes about business, politics, media culture, and the entertainment industry. Finke launched Deadline’s Hollywood Daily in March 2006 as a faster way to report breaking entertainment news from her weekly newspaper column and purchased the domain name for $14.
Dow Jones MarketWatch described Fink as a Hollywood ‘must read’ Los Angeles The magazine said it was “essential reading for those who follow the industry, and New York Observer Finke dubbed it “Media Mensch of the Year”.
Finke – and thus Deadline – has been cemented into the Hollywood media consciousness due to her extensive and countless magazine coverage about the writers’ strike of 2007-08.
After Deadline Hollywood was purchased in 2009 by Penske’s PMC (then known as Mail.com Media Corporation), Finke became its chief editor and general manager. Deadline will go on to become the official source for breaking news and in-house analysis/commentary in the industry. PMC continued to control all three major trade publications in Hollywood: Deadline, Variety, and THR.
In 2010, Finke ranked No. 79 of Forbes List of the most powerful women in the world.
In the same year, I ordered HBO tilde Pilot starring Diane Keaton As a reclusive Hollywood blogger like Finke – designed, written and developed Without Finke’s knowledge or participation. It also starred Elliott Page and Jason Patrick, and was co-created by Bill Condon, who co-wrote the script and directed the pilot. He also produced it alongside Alan Powell, Alexa Jung, and John Hoffman. The pilot had a rock production and post-production marred by creative differences, and HBO has finally passed it in early 2011.
On occasion, Fink has been hanging out with founder and president of PMC Penske, leaving Deadline in 2013.
In 2015, Finke launches HollywoodDementia.coma site dedicated to Hollywood fairy tales (read excerpt over here). entered in A production deal at first sight with HBO material from the site.
From 2011 to 21, she served as a judge in the Mirror Awards competition, which celebrates excellence in media industry reporting. Syracuse University was honored by the SI Newhouse School of Public Communication.
Finke, a Wellesley College alumnus, has been a longtime benefactor of the school and has spoken to its students over the years.
She is survived by her sister, Terry Fink-Dreyfus. son-in-law of James Dreyfus; and two nieces, Sarah Greenhill and Diana Leighton.
Anniversary services will be private.
“Lifelong beer expert. General travel enthusiast. Social media buff. Zombie maven. Communicator.”