AP, NEW YORK: A rapper once signed to a Jay-Z-run label admitted Wednesday to playing a role in a deadly stabbing in an apartment building lobby.
Tru Life, born Robert Rosado, pleaded guilty to gang assault in a June 2009 attack that killed Christopher Guerrero and wounded another man, Jason Gray. The rapper's brother Marcus Rosado pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the attack, which police said spiraled out of an argument at a nightclub.
The 34-year-old rapper's plea deal calls for eight years in prison. His 39-year-old brother is expected to get 10 years at their sentencing, set for March 15.
Through their lawyers, the brothers expressed sorrow for what they called a tragic incident.
"They wish to express their deepest sympathies to the Guerrero family, and it is their hope that by accepting responsibility, they can bring some measure of closure to the family," said the attorneys, Alan M. Abramson and Joel S. Cohen.
The Rosados chased Guerrero and Gray into the lobby, where Guerrero was stabbed in the abdomen and Gray suffered a cut that sliced an artery, according to court documents. They got outside and collapsed on the ground, court documents said.
A product of Manhattan's Lower East Side who made a name for himself on mixtapes, Tru Life secured a spot in Jay-Z's stable of rappers in a scene chronicled in a 2005 New York Times profile of Jay-Z's life as then-head of Def Jam Records.
"Everybody can get a record deal, but you can't buy a star, you can't buy charisma, and I got that," Tru Life told the rap superstar-turned-record executive.
Tru Life was soon being groomed to be a linchpin of Roc-La Familia, a Latin-oriented arm of Roc-A-Fella Records, a label Jay-Z co-founded.
But Tru Life also became known for feuds with other rappers, including duo Mobb Deep and Harlem-based rapper Jim Jones.
Tru Life no longer has a recording deal, Abramson said.
Vietnam matriarch, now 92, spread piano culture
AP, HANOI, Vietnam: Time was running out, and it wasn't safe to stay. Sixty upright pianos had to be moved from Hanoi's music conservatory to a village in the countryside where students could practice without the constant threat of American bombers.
The pianos were hauled by train to neighboring Bac Giang province, dragged another 13 kilometers (8 miles) on carts pulled by cattle and water buffalo, and finally hand-carried by villagers into flimsy huts with dirt floors. Thai Thi Lien, a founder of the music school and an accomplished Western-trained pianist, was charged with making sure the war and a lack of sheet music did not stop the best players from being sent abroad for advanced classical training.
Today, looking at a tattered black-and-white photo sitting atop the grand piano in her living room, the 92-year-old sees herself as a smiling young beauty surrounded by three grinning children. The image is a reminder of that hasty journey in 1965 to seek refuge during the Vietnam War.
Thanks in part to Madame Lien, as she's known, a lasting appreciation for classical music was woven into Vietnam's culture. So much so, that the country's first professional concert hall is now being built in honor of this music matriarch.
____
In the village with no running water or electricity, Vietnam's soggy air and pounding rains ate away at the pianos' wooden frames, while hungry rats burrowed inside, nibbling felt off the hammers for their nests. There weren't enough keyboards to go around, and students were forced to take turns practicing around the clock.
Dang Thai Son was just 7 years old at the time. Despite having Madame Lien as both his mother and teacher, he was forced to compete against all the much-older students for his chance to touch the keys just 30 minutes each day.
Some of the school's 400 students learning various instruments were taught in mud-wall bunkers, but there was no room underground for all the uprights. Pianists instead banged out Beethoven in the open until being forced to take cover when screaming air raid sirens warned of approaching American B-52 bombers. Some students, determined not to lose their precious turn, terrified villagers by refusing to stop playing despite the danger. The village, however, was never hit.
"It's dark, it's humid and it's dangerous. There's a lot of snakes and frogs and all kinds of insects," Son said, laughing at the memory. "When the parents weren't there, we would go out and just watched how they are fighting each other. Bravo!"
With his older sister already a skilled pianist and his brother playing cello, Son said his parents discouraged him from taking up an instrument at first, arguing that the family already had enough musicians. But the young boy was drawn to the keyboard and soon found that music flowed easily from somewhere deep inside.
He remembers his mother lovingly coaching him to play the romantic ballads of her favorite composer, Chopin. The emerald green rice fields, the moon and the jungle somehow touched him during those early years.
"Today, the relationship between professor and student can sometimes be a business relationship," Son said, perched next to his mom in Hanoi, where the family reunited this month for the Lunar New Year, or Tet. "But at that time in the village, it's like a big family and we shared everything — we shared the pain, we shared also the joy — and it's really such a human relationship that is quite different."
___
Madame Lien still looks more the part of a socialite than a jungle-dwelling nationalist. Even at 92, her eyebrows are carefully trimmed into tiny crescents, her nails manicured with a clear shellac and her short, thin hair dyed dark, with small pearls adorning her ears.
Her eyes snap as she speaks quickly in English laden with a French accent, complaining that her hearing isn't so great anymore. She laughs and apologizes for not being able to easily decipher an American accent, instead offering to speak in Vietnamese, Russian, Polish or even, perhaps, a little Czech.
She has lived a life of luxury. She began studying piano at age 4 as the daughter of Vietnam's first Western-trained engineer, a man who allowed his children to speak only French in the former southern city of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. She rubbed shoulders with the likes of Pablo Picasso and other pro-Communist figures in Paris, and later became Vietnam's first woman to graduate with an overseas music degree from the Prague Conservatory, in what was then Czechoslovakia.
But she has also faced her share of hardships as a nationalist married to a revolutionary who fought alongside the country's founding president, Ho Chi Minh, to liberate Vietnam from French colonialism.
"My journey from Prague back to Vietnam was long and a very hard journey," she said, remembering how blisters bubbled all over her feet as she carried her 22-month-old daughter in 1951. "We had to walk with my baby 110 kilometers (68 miles) at night to the North Vietnamese government in the jungle where they were based. It took about three weeks."
She spent the next three months being fully indoctrinated at a re-education camp, the place where she first met Ho Chi Minh and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect of Vietnam's military campaigns against the French and later the Americans. She later gave birth to a son while living in the bush, just six months after losing her husband to a bout with tuberculosis.
"It was very difficult," she said, her eyes staring at the floor of her upscale lakeside apartment. "I don't want to remember this time."
It was also the only period in her life when she was separated from the piano. She was forced to wait until 1954 before she could again find comfort playing Chopin. She was sent to Beijing to record revolutionary music, lullabies and folk songs to help motivate Ho Chi Minh's ragtag Communist army to keep fighting after it overtook the French at the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu, ultimately leading to Vietnam's independence.
"When I first saw a piano again, I was very happy," she said. "I played all night."
____
Madame Lien returned to Vietnam determined to start a proper music school in Hanoi. She married another revolutionary, who was also a passionate poet, and they had Son before enduring the start of another long war, this time with the Americans.
They moved the entire school to the countryside — including all the upright pianos — twice, after returning to Hanoi for a period when things seemed calmer. But that window was short-lived prior to the devastating Christmas bombings in December 1972 when American B-52s pounded the city over 12 days.
"We Vietnamese, we are not afraid to die," she said. "It is why we won the war."
In 1980, just five years after the Vietnam War ended with north and south reunified by the Communists, Madame Lien traveled to Warsaw alongside 22-year-old Son to translate for him during an international Chopin piano competition.
Son said it was remarkable that the regime ever allowed him to study in Moscow after being discovered in the village by a visiting Soviet piano teacher. After all, his father had switched loyalties during the war, becoming an anti-communist dissident unpopular with Hanoi's leaders.
But not even Vietnam's extreme distrust of the West could stop Son from becoming the first Asian to win the prestigious contest in Poland. The results were shocking to many at the time, but Son's career path was set. And his mother has remained by his side — the two have only been separated for a brief period.
Son, now 53, remains Vietnam's only international artist, performing concerts globally with world-renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma. He is now recognized as one of the world's great Chopin interpreters.
In Vietnam, Son is more like a rock star. Young people born a generation after the war know his face and his music. They approach him on the street and shake his hand or pose with him while friends snap photos on mobile phones.
Madame Lien remains in the background and laughs at the notion that she still teaches her youngest son.
"Oh no, now he's my master!" she says, giggling, as Son interrupts: "We play for each other!"
She spends about half the year in Montreal, Canada, where she lives with Son and can speak her native French. The rest of the time she's in Hanoi with her daughter, Tran Thu Ha, who graduated with a doctorate from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and later took over as head of Vietnam's National Academy of Music.
Her other son, Tran Thanh Binh, the cellist who also lives in the capital, went on to become one of the country's most sought-after architects. He designed the new 800-seat concert hall in his mother's honor. It's expected to open sometime this fall.
The matriarch performed her last solo concert just five years ago — when she was 87 — inside Hanoi's elegant French colonial opera house. And her legacy lives on, with about 1,800 students now enrolled at the music school where some 200 lecturers teach.
Even today, as her tiny wrinkled fingers dance gracefully over the keys of the grand piano, the room is filled with the beautiful sound she's creating — her version of a Chopin etude, born from a long life touched by war and great peace.
And she's not finished yet. Her 6-year-old granddaughter is her newest student.
The pianos were hauled by train to neighboring Bac Giang province, dragged another 13 kilometers (8 miles) on carts pulled by cattle and water buffalo, and finally hand-carried by villagers into flimsy huts with dirt floors. Thai Thi Lien, a founder of the music school and an accomplished Western-trained pianist, was charged with making sure the war and a lack of sheet music did not stop the best players from being sent abroad for advanced classical training.
Today, looking at a tattered black-and-white photo sitting atop the grand piano in her living room, the 92-year-old sees herself as a smiling young beauty surrounded by three grinning children. The image is a reminder of that hasty journey in 1965 to seek refuge during the Vietnam War.
Thanks in part to Madame Lien, as she's known, a lasting appreciation for classical music was woven into Vietnam's culture. So much so, that the country's first professional concert hall is now being built in honor of this music matriarch.
____
In the village with no running water or electricity, Vietnam's soggy air and pounding rains ate away at the pianos' wooden frames, while hungry rats burrowed inside, nibbling felt off the hammers for their nests. There weren't enough keyboards to go around, and students were forced to take turns practicing around the clock.
Dang Thai Son was just 7 years old at the time. Despite having Madame Lien as both his mother and teacher, he was forced to compete against all the much-older students for his chance to touch the keys just 30 minutes each day.
Some of the school's 400 students learning various instruments were taught in mud-wall bunkers, but there was no room underground for all the uprights. Pianists instead banged out Beethoven in the open until being forced to take cover when screaming air raid sirens warned of approaching American B-52 bombers. Some students, determined not to lose their precious turn, terrified villagers by refusing to stop playing despite the danger. The village, however, was never hit.
"It's dark, it's humid and it's dangerous. There's a lot of snakes and frogs and all kinds of insects," Son said, laughing at the memory. "When the parents weren't there, we would go out and just watched how they are fighting each other. Bravo!"
With his older sister already a skilled pianist and his brother playing cello, Son said his parents discouraged him from taking up an instrument at first, arguing that the family already had enough musicians. But the young boy was drawn to the keyboard and soon found that music flowed easily from somewhere deep inside.
He remembers his mother lovingly coaching him to play the romantic ballads of her favorite composer, Chopin. The emerald green rice fields, the moon and the jungle somehow touched him during those early years.
"Today, the relationship between professor and student can sometimes be a business relationship," Son said, perched next to his mom in Hanoi, where the family reunited this month for the Lunar New Year, or Tet. "But at that time in the village, it's like a big family and we shared everything — we shared the pain, we shared also the joy — and it's really such a human relationship that is quite different."
___
Madame Lien still looks more the part of a socialite than a jungle-dwelling nationalist. Even at 92, her eyebrows are carefully trimmed into tiny crescents, her nails manicured with a clear shellac and her short, thin hair dyed dark, with small pearls adorning her ears.
Her eyes snap as she speaks quickly in English laden with a French accent, complaining that her hearing isn't so great anymore. She laughs and apologizes for not being able to easily decipher an American accent, instead offering to speak in Vietnamese, Russian, Polish or even, perhaps, a little Czech.
She has lived a life of luxury. She began studying piano at age 4 as the daughter of Vietnam's first Western-trained engineer, a man who allowed his children to speak only French in the former southern city of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. She rubbed shoulders with the likes of Pablo Picasso and other pro-Communist figures in Paris, and later became Vietnam's first woman to graduate with an overseas music degree from the Prague Conservatory, in what was then Czechoslovakia.
But she has also faced her share of hardships as a nationalist married to a revolutionary who fought alongside the country's founding president, Ho Chi Minh, to liberate Vietnam from French colonialism.
"My journey from Prague back to Vietnam was long and a very hard journey," she said, remembering how blisters bubbled all over her feet as she carried her 22-month-old daughter in 1951. "We had to walk with my baby 110 kilometers (68 miles) at night to the North Vietnamese government in the jungle where they were based. It took about three weeks."
She spent the next three months being fully indoctrinated at a re-education camp, the place where she first met Ho Chi Minh and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect of Vietnam's military campaigns against the French and later the Americans. She later gave birth to a son while living in the bush, just six months after losing her husband to a bout with tuberculosis.
"It was very difficult," she said, her eyes staring at the floor of her upscale lakeside apartment. "I don't want to remember this time."
It was also the only period in her life when she was separated from the piano. She was forced to wait until 1954 before she could again find comfort playing Chopin. She was sent to Beijing to record revolutionary music, lullabies and folk songs to help motivate Ho Chi Minh's ragtag Communist army to keep fighting after it overtook the French at the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu, ultimately leading to Vietnam's independence.
"When I first saw a piano again, I was very happy," she said. "I played all night."
____
Madame Lien returned to Vietnam determined to start a proper music school in Hanoi. She married another revolutionary, who was also a passionate poet, and they had Son before enduring the start of another long war, this time with the Americans.
They moved the entire school to the countryside — including all the upright pianos — twice, after returning to Hanoi for a period when things seemed calmer. But that window was short-lived prior to the devastating Christmas bombings in December 1972 when American B-52s pounded the city over 12 days.
"We Vietnamese, we are not afraid to die," she said. "It is why we won the war."
In 1980, just five years after the Vietnam War ended with north and south reunified by the Communists, Madame Lien traveled to Warsaw alongside 22-year-old Son to translate for him during an international Chopin piano competition.
Son said it was remarkable that the regime ever allowed him to study in Moscow after being discovered in the village by a visiting Soviet piano teacher. After all, his father had switched loyalties during the war, becoming an anti-communist dissident unpopular with Hanoi's leaders.
But not even Vietnam's extreme distrust of the West could stop Son from becoming the first Asian to win the prestigious contest in Poland. The results were shocking to many at the time, but Son's career path was set. And his mother has remained by his side — the two have only been separated for a brief period.
Son, now 53, remains Vietnam's only international artist, performing concerts globally with world-renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma. He is now recognized as one of the world's great Chopin interpreters.
In Vietnam, Son is more like a rock star. Young people born a generation after the war know his face and his music. They approach him on the street and shake his hand or pose with him while friends snap photos on mobile phones.
Madame Lien remains in the background and laughs at the notion that she still teaches her youngest son.
"Oh no, now he's my master!" she says, giggling, as Son interrupts: "We play for each other!"
She spends about half the year in Montreal, Canada, where she lives with Son and can speak her native French. The rest of the time she's in Hanoi with her daughter, Tran Thu Ha, who graduated with a doctorate from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and later took over as head of Vietnam's National Academy of Music.
Her other son, Tran Thanh Binh, the cellist who also lives in the capital, went on to become one of the country's most sought-after architects. He designed the new 800-seat concert hall in his mother's honor. It's expected to open sometime this fall.
The matriarch performed her last solo concert just five years ago — when she was 87 — inside Hanoi's elegant French colonial opera house. And her legacy lives on, with about 1,800 students now enrolled at the music school where some 200 lecturers teach.
Even today, as her tiny wrinkled fingers dance gracefully over the keys of the grand piano, the room is filled with the beautiful sound she's creating — her version of a Chopin etude, born from a long life touched by war and great peace.
And she's not finished yet. Her 6-year-old granddaughter is her newest student.
Review: `Of Gods and Men' is martyrdom masterpiece
AP, Monastic life is anything but tedious in Xavier Beauvois' masterful drama "Of Gods and Men," based on the real-life tragedy of seven French monks abducted and beheaded during Algeria's civil war in 1996.
The film is largely built of ordinary tasks and everyday moments: monks tending their crops, treating Muslim villagers at the monastery clinic, caring for their beehives and taking the honey they produce to market, sharing simple meals, and, of course, chanting in devotion during Mass.
Underlying all this is a tangible, terrible tension. These good Christians know there are forces — both in the besieged government and among terrorists who want to bring it down — that no longer want them there. And the atrocities happening all around them — Croatian construction workers whose throats are slit, young women shot dead because they were not wearing veils — make it unbearably clear to the monks that their lives are in danger each day they choose to stay.
Martyrdom is not something for which any of these unassuming, very frightened men signed up. Their crises of faith range from virtually none at all (one or two unflinchingly say at the outset that it's their duty to God and humanity to remain at their posts) to quivering terror (some monks confess at the start they want to flee to safety).
What follows is a truly glorious story of brotherhood, no matter what you think of the monks' faith, servility or judgment, or their choice to sequester themselves in celibacy in the first place. These are men battling to validate the place they have made for themselves in this life, and watching that struggle, foreign though it is to those of us in the secular world, is fascinating.
Written by Beauvois and Etienne Comar, the mostly French-language film is filled with melodic, joyous invocations as the monks sing praise to God and pursue somber, lyrical discourses as they debate their plight and ask heaven for guidance.
Lambert Wilson as head monk Christian and Michael Lonsdale as monk-physician Luc lead a cast that is, without overstatement, divine. The filmmakers chose a range of faces with wonderful expressiveness, the actors revealing tortured souls and soaring spirits, sometimes in the same instant, without saying a word.
The monks don't speak their minds often, but when they do, the actors infuse their utterances with bottomless grace and humility yet very human dread and doubt. These are not saints or angels but men who fear death as much as the next guy.
To the Muslims living nearby, though, the monks are saints, providing medical services and counsel without the slightest preaching of their own faith. The monks are utterly unbiased: Scared as they are when terrorists turn up, the monks will as readily treat a rebel's gunshot wound as a local child's skin condition.
Beauvois is deliberately hazy about the circumstances of the monks' deaths, which were blamed on a radical group, though some observers have suggested the Algerian military was involved.
The story is less about specific enemies and more about the denial of enmity — the certitude that devotion is devotion, which should not waver when circumstances are troubling or threatening.
The film won the second-place prize at last May's Cannes Film Festival and was France's entry for the foreign-language honor at the Academy Awards. It's a sin against "Of Gods and Men" that it did not make the list of nine Oscar finalists, let alone take one of the five nominations.
But you can help Hollywood atone: Go see this rapturous movie.
"Of Gods and Men," a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated PG-13 for a momentary scene of startling wartime violence, some disturbing images and brief language. Running time: 122 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.
___
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G — General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG — Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG-13 — Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R — Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
NC-17 — No one under 17 admitted.
The film is largely built of ordinary tasks and everyday moments: monks tending their crops, treating Muslim villagers at the monastery clinic, caring for their beehives and taking the honey they produce to market, sharing simple meals, and, of course, chanting in devotion during Mass.
Underlying all this is a tangible, terrible tension. These good Christians know there are forces — both in the besieged government and among terrorists who want to bring it down — that no longer want them there. And the atrocities happening all around them — Croatian construction workers whose throats are slit, young women shot dead because they were not wearing veils — make it unbearably clear to the monks that their lives are in danger each day they choose to stay.
Martyrdom is not something for which any of these unassuming, very frightened men signed up. Their crises of faith range from virtually none at all (one or two unflinchingly say at the outset that it's their duty to God and humanity to remain at their posts) to quivering terror (some monks confess at the start they want to flee to safety).
What follows is a truly glorious story of brotherhood, no matter what you think of the monks' faith, servility or judgment, or their choice to sequester themselves in celibacy in the first place. These are men battling to validate the place they have made for themselves in this life, and watching that struggle, foreign though it is to those of us in the secular world, is fascinating.
Written by Beauvois and Etienne Comar, the mostly French-language film is filled with melodic, joyous invocations as the monks sing praise to God and pursue somber, lyrical discourses as they debate their plight and ask heaven for guidance.
Lambert Wilson as head monk Christian and Michael Lonsdale as monk-physician Luc lead a cast that is, without overstatement, divine. The filmmakers chose a range of faces with wonderful expressiveness, the actors revealing tortured souls and soaring spirits, sometimes in the same instant, without saying a word.
The monks don't speak their minds often, but when they do, the actors infuse their utterances with bottomless grace and humility yet very human dread and doubt. These are not saints or angels but men who fear death as much as the next guy.
To the Muslims living nearby, though, the monks are saints, providing medical services and counsel without the slightest preaching of their own faith. The monks are utterly unbiased: Scared as they are when terrorists turn up, the monks will as readily treat a rebel's gunshot wound as a local child's skin condition.
Beauvois is deliberately hazy about the circumstances of the monks' deaths, which were blamed on a radical group, though some observers have suggested the Algerian military was involved.
The story is less about specific enemies and more about the denial of enmity — the certitude that devotion is devotion, which should not waver when circumstances are troubling or threatening.
The film won the second-place prize at last May's Cannes Film Festival and was France's entry for the foreign-language honor at the Academy Awards. It's a sin against "Of Gods and Men" that it did not make the list of nine Oscar finalists, let alone take one of the five nominations.
But you can help Hollywood atone: Go see this rapturous movie.
"Of Gods and Men," a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated PG-13 for a momentary scene of startling wartime violence, some disturbing images and brief language. Running time: 122 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.
___
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G — General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG — Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG-13 — Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R — Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
NC-17 — No one under 17 admitted.
3D helps drive global box office to $31.8 billion
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: The global box office hit a record $31.8 billion in 2010, growing 8 percent from the year before on the strength of 3D ticket sales and a hot Asia-Pacific market, a Hollywood industry group said on Wednesday.
But U.S. and Canadian movie ticket revenues were flat at $10.6 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents major U.S. film studios in government and business affairs.
The Asia-Pacific region saw the most growth in ticket sales with a 21 percent hike, and China accounted for a sizable chunk of that increase, the MPAA said.
"Despite a weak economy, shifting business models and the ongoing impact of digital theft, we had another record year at the global box office driven by growth outside the U.S. and Canada," Bob Pisano, president and interim CEO of the MPAA, said in a statement.
While the U.S. and Canada was flat, that market also benefited from consumers' taste for 3D films, as one in three people saw a 3D film in 2010, the MPAA said.
Movies in 3D made up 21 percent of U.S. and Canada ticket sales, accounting for a total of $2.2 billion.
In a negative sign for the industry, the total number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada declined 5 percent to 1.34 billion, the MPAA said. In an ironic twist, the total number of moviegoers was actually up slightly, but those people going to movies saw fewer films.
The average ticket price for the U.S. and Canada climbed to $7.89 from $7.50 the year before, which made for flat box office revenues despite the decline in attendance.
But U.S. and Canadian movie ticket revenues were flat at $10.6 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents major U.S. film studios in government and business affairs.
The Asia-Pacific region saw the most growth in ticket sales with a 21 percent hike, and China accounted for a sizable chunk of that increase, the MPAA said.
"Despite a weak economy, shifting business models and the ongoing impact of digital theft, we had another record year at the global box office driven by growth outside the U.S. and Canada," Bob Pisano, president and interim CEO of the MPAA, said in a statement.
While the U.S. and Canada was flat, that market also benefited from consumers' taste for 3D films, as one in three people saw a 3D film in 2010, the MPAA said.
Movies in 3D made up 21 percent of U.S. and Canada ticket sales, accounting for a total of $2.2 billion.
In a negative sign for the industry, the total number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada declined 5 percent to 1.34 billion, the MPAA said. In an ironic twist, the total number of moviegoers was actually up slightly, but those people going to movies saw fewer films.
The average ticket price for the U.S. and Canada climbed to $7.89 from $7.50 the year before, which made for flat box office revenues despite the decline in attendance.
Pinewood to help build TV, film studios in DomRep
AP, SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: The owner of the British-based movie studios where Harry Potter and James Bond films are made said Wednesday that it will build a new facility in the Dominican Republic.
Pinewood Shepperton Plc said it is partnering with Indomina Group to build new movie and television studios next year under a venture called Pinewood Indomina Studios.
Indomina is managed by Dominican sugar giant Vicini and will be responsible for financing the project, which will be built on a 35-acre (14-hectare) site in San Pedro de Macoris, east of the capital of Santo Domingo.
Pinewood said it will receive annual fees for its sales and management services.
It is unclear how much the project will cost. A Vicini spokesman did not immediately return calls for comment.
The studio will feature a 53,800-square-foot (5,000-square-meter) sound stage along with an eight-acre (three-hectare) water-effects facility that calls for an exterior water tank and a fully equipped diving and marine department.
Pinewood Shepperton Plc said it is partnering with Indomina Group to build new movie and television studios next year under a venture called Pinewood Indomina Studios.
Indomina is managed by Dominican sugar giant Vicini and will be responsible for financing the project, which will be built on a 35-acre (14-hectare) site in San Pedro de Macoris, east of the capital of Santo Domingo.
Pinewood said it will receive annual fees for its sales and management services.
It is unclear how much the project will cost. A Vicini spokesman did not immediately return calls for comment.
The studio will feature a 53,800-square-foot (5,000-square-meter) sound stage along with an eight-acre (three-hectare) water-effects facility that calls for an exterior water tank and a fully equipped diving and marine department.
Oscar is golden, but film business shows some tarnish
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Oscar week is upon Hollywood and the champagne is flowing freely at numerous parties celebrating the world's top movie honors, but when the film industry wakes up with a hangover from Sunday's awards, it faces a cold reality.
Digital technologies are rapidly changing the way movies are delivered to consumers. DVD sales are continuing their multi-year decline with no end in sight. Theater attendance is off a whopping 23 percent so far in 2011 compared to the same point one year ago. And not even 3D is saving it, anymore.
Financial and analysts say movie makers and distributors need to keep up with rapidly changing consumer behavior in an era when entertainment is cheap and readily available on the Internet. Many in Hollywood agree, and are working to change. But profitable new ways of doing business have been slow to come, and the consequence could be an industry on the decline in much the same way as music industry was in the 2000s.
"The trends that we see today are similar in many ways, although I don't think we're the same as the music industry," said Mitch Singer, chief technology officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of Sony Corp. "Revenues are declining, people are finding other ways to access our content," he said.
Attendance at U.S. and Canada theaters so far this year is down to 173 million tickets sold compared to 225 million for the same time period in 2010 -- a decrease of 23 percent, according to tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office.
There are bright spots for the movie industry, especially internationally. The Motion Picture Association of America on Wednesday said global box office receipts in 2010 hit $31.8 billion, an increase of 8 percent from the year before.
The Asia Pacific region saw the most growth with a 21 percent uptick. But the trade group acknowledged U.S. and Canada box office results were flat in 2010, at $10.6 billion.
Worse, consumers bought only $10 billion in home video entertainment products in 2010, compared to $14 billion in 2004 when the DVD market was booming, reports IHS Screen Digest.
'ARE STUDIOS DEAD?'
Jeffrey Korchek, vice president of legal and business affairs at Mattel Inc, recently wrote an opinion piece for The Huffington Post titled "Are Studios Dead?" in which he argued movies are becoming low-value commodities because companies such as Netflix and Coinstar's Redbox make renting so cheap.
Redbox rents movies for $1 a day at kiosks, a price studios grumble about, and Netflix, with some 20 million subscribers, lets consumers stream all the movies they want for $7.99. Amazon.com this week rolled out a streaming movie service for customers who pay $79 a year for free shipping on other items.
Overall spending in home entertainment rentals has declined to $6.3 billion last year from $8.6 billion in 2001, according to IHS Screen Digest.
"Where is the movie business' Steve Jobs, the person who knows what people want to see before they do, knows that giving content away for free on the Internet isn't such a good idea and who creates excitement, brand loyalty and an enduring corporate culture?" Korchek wrote.
But if there is no single superhero leading the industry, the studios are taking some steps to secure the future.
They have invested in 3D and looked at ways consumers can receive movies in homes faster, as well as created systems for selling digital copies of films directly to customers.
There are now 8,455 screens with 3D technology in the United States, accounting for over 20 percent of all screens, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
Thanks in part to higher ticket prices of $3 or more, 3D movies could account for 30 percent of box office results in 2011, said Eric Wold, an analyst with Merriman Curham Ford.
But already there are signs of weakening in the 3D market, and Matthew Lieberman, a director in PricewaterhouseCoopers' entertainment division, said consumers are becoming more thoughtful in choosing which films they want to see in 3D.
"The ability to maintain that price premium is definitely a point of concern," Lieberman said.
Elsewhere, several Hollywood studios this year will roll out a system called Ultraviolet, which will allow consumers to register a movie purchased online so they can stream the film through laptops, Blu-ray players and any future device.
"We anticipate a lot of consumers signing up for Ultraviolet," said Sony's Singer, who oversees Ultraviolet. He added that the overall market for digital downloads of movies and TV shows could grow to $480 million this year.
But compared to the billions of dollars Hollywood is accustomed to raking in from movies, that figure looks far less than golden -- the color of an Oscar.
Digital technologies are rapidly changing the way movies are delivered to consumers. DVD sales are continuing their multi-year decline with no end in sight. Theater attendance is off a whopping 23 percent so far in 2011 compared to the same point one year ago. And not even 3D is saving it, anymore.
Financial and analysts say movie makers and distributors need to keep up with rapidly changing consumer behavior in an era when entertainment is cheap and readily available on the Internet. Many in Hollywood agree, and are working to change. But profitable new ways of doing business have been slow to come, and the consequence could be an industry on the decline in much the same way as music industry was in the 2000s.
"The trends that we see today are similar in many ways, although I don't think we're the same as the music industry," said Mitch Singer, chief technology officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of Sony Corp. "Revenues are declining, people are finding other ways to access our content," he said.
Attendance at U.S. and Canada theaters so far this year is down to 173 million tickets sold compared to 225 million for the same time period in 2010 -- a decrease of 23 percent, according to tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office.
There are bright spots for the movie industry, especially internationally. The Motion Picture Association of America on Wednesday said global box office receipts in 2010 hit $31.8 billion, an increase of 8 percent from the year before.
The Asia Pacific region saw the most growth with a 21 percent uptick. But the trade group acknowledged U.S. and Canada box office results were flat in 2010, at $10.6 billion.
Worse, consumers bought only $10 billion in home video entertainment products in 2010, compared to $14 billion in 2004 when the DVD market was booming, reports IHS Screen Digest.
'ARE STUDIOS DEAD?'
Jeffrey Korchek, vice president of legal and business affairs at Mattel Inc, recently wrote an opinion piece for The Huffington Post titled "Are Studios Dead?" in which he argued movies are becoming low-value commodities because companies such as Netflix and Coinstar's Redbox make renting so cheap.
Redbox rents movies for $1 a day at kiosks, a price studios grumble about, and Netflix, with some 20 million subscribers, lets consumers stream all the movies they want for $7.99. Amazon.com this week rolled out a streaming movie service for customers who pay $79 a year for free shipping on other items.
Overall spending in home entertainment rentals has declined to $6.3 billion last year from $8.6 billion in 2001, according to IHS Screen Digest.
"Where is the movie business' Steve Jobs, the person who knows what people want to see before they do, knows that giving content away for free on the Internet isn't such a good idea and who creates excitement, brand loyalty and an enduring corporate culture?" Korchek wrote.
But if there is no single superhero leading the industry, the studios are taking some steps to secure the future.
They have invested in 3D and looked at ways consumers can receive movies in homes faster, as well as created systems for selling digital copies of films directly to customers.
There are now 8,455 screens with 3D technology in the United States, accounting for over 20 percent of all screens, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.
Thanks in part to higher ticket prices of $3 or more, 3D movies could account for 30 percent of box office results in 2011, said Eric Wold, an analyst with Merriman Curham Ford.
But already there are signs of weakening in the 3D market, and Matthew Lieberman, a director in PricewaterhouseCoopers' entertainment division, said consumers are becoming more thoughtful in choosing which films they want to see in 3D.
"The ability to maintain that price premium is definitely a point of concern," Lieberman said.
Elsewhere, several Hollywood studios this year will roll out a system called Ultraviolet, which will allow consumers to register a movie purchased online so they can stream the film through laptops, Blu-ray players and any future device.
"We anticipate a lot of consumers signing up for Ultraviolet," said Sony's Singer, who oversees Ultraviolet. He added that the overall market for digital downloads of movies and TV shows could grow to $480 million this year.
But compared to the billions of dollars Hollywood is accustomed to raking in from movies, that figure looks far less than golden -- the color of an Oscar.
Clooney says women, drugs rule him out of politics
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Actor George Clooney will play a flawed presidential candidate in his latest movie, but he has again rejected the notion of running for politics in real life.
"I didn't live my life the right way for politics, you know," the Oscar-winning actor told Newsweek magazine in a cover story about his humanitarian work in Sudan.
"I f**ked too many chicks and did too many drugs, and that's the truth," said Clooney, who has twice been declared People magazine's sexiest man alive.
Clooney, 49, said a smart political campaigner would "start from the beginning by saying, 'I did it all. I drank the bong water. Now let's talk about issues' That's gonna be my campaign slogan: 'I drank the bong water.'?"
Clooney, who won an Oscar in 2006 for his supporting role in "Syriana", gave a similar rejoinder in 2007 to suggestions that he should run for the U.S. Senate against Republican Mitch McConnell.
Clooney, a political liberal, was named a United Nations messenger of peace in 2008 for his efforts to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
He told Newsweek his job in the region was to "amplify the voice of the guy who lives here and is worried about his wife and children being slaughtered".
"And if he finds me and asks, 'You got a big megaphone?' and I say 'Yes.' 'You got a decent-size mountain to yell it from?'. 'Yeah, I got a pretty-good sized mountain.' 'Will you do me a favor and yell it?' And I go 'Absolutely.'"
Clooney is currently working on the movie "The Ides of March" about an idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate who gets a crash course in dirty politics. Clooney will direct and star in the film, and he co-wrote the screenplay.
"I didn't live my life the right way for politics, you know," the Oscar-winning actor told Newsweek magazine in a cover story about his humanitarian work in Sudan.
"I f**ked too many chicks and did too many drugs, and that's the truth," said Clooney, who has twice been declared People magazine's sexiest man alive.
Clooney, 49, said a smart political campaigner would "start from the beginning by saying, 'I did it all. I drank the bong water. Now let's talk about issues' That's gonna be my campaign slogan: 'I drank the bong water.'?"
Clooney, who won an Oscar in 2006 for his supporting role in "Syriana", gave a similar rejoinder in 2007 to suggestions that he should run for the U.S. Senate against Republican Mitch McConnell.
Clooney, a political liberal, was named a United Nations messenger of peace in 2008 for his efforts to draw international attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
He told Newsweek his job in the region was to "amplify the voice of the guy who lives here and is worried about his wife and children being slaughtered".
"And if he finds me and asks, 'You got a big megaphone?' and I say 'Yes.' 'You got a decent-size mountain to yell it from?'. 'Yeah, I got a pretty-good sized mountain.' 'Will you do me a favor and yell it?' And I go 'Absolutely.'"
Clooney is currently working on the movie "The Ides of March" about an idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate who gets a crash course in dirty politics. Clooney will direct and star in the film, and he co-wrote the screenplay.
"Last Lions" film humanizes fate of African lions
Reuters, NEW YORK: Filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert are somewhat famous in the small world of wildlife documentaries, and to those outside it, lead a romantic life filming wild animals against an enchanting African landscape.
But the topic of their new film, "The Last Lions," which recently opened in the United States, is anything but ideal.
The cold statistic that drew the husband and wife team to their latest story -- set in the lush wetlands of Botswana's Okavango Delta -- speaks for itself. In the last 50 years, African lions have plummeted in numbers from 450,000 to between 20,000 and 50,000, conservation groups say.
"These numbers are in desperate, desperate decline," said Dereck Joubert. "So we are going have to do something about these lions now or else we are going to have to face their extinction."
Statistics aside, "The Last Lions," is no dry documentary. Breathtakingly shot and narrated by actor Jeremy Irons, the Jouberts illustrate their point through the emotional, suspenseful tale of one lion, Ma di Tau, as she battles to keep her family alive, hunting buffalo five times her size.
"We wanted to bring this to an audience in a big theatric venue, on a big screen, so that people could engage with lions," Dereck Joubert said.
"Last Lions" has been compared to the Oscar-winning "March of the Penguins," which humanized a tale of Antarctic Emperor penguins on their annual trek to a breeding ground where they share protective duties over eggs and hatchlings.
In Africa, over the course of two years, the Jouberts lived among the lions on Duba Island, an isolated strip of land in the Okavango Delta surrounded by flood waters. They shot 100 hours of footage, beginning each day at 4 a.m.
EDGE OF DANGER
Dangers included driving each morning in a vehicle with no doors or windshields through crocodile-infested waters before waiting up to 16 hours a day in 130-degree Fahrenheit heat (54 degrees Celsius) and mosquito-heavy conditions for the lions to spring to action.
"We've had lions charge right up to us and try and attack us, and it's usually because of something else. It's usually because a hunter has wounded this animal or a poacher has laid a snare. You can do your best but every now and again, things go wrong," said Beverly Joubert.
The Jouberts, who work alone in the field, say more perilous than the lions, have been elephants, the subject of some of their previous films and several attacks.
"We are sort of on the edge of danger all the time," Dereck said calmly, explaining they created a scale of 1 to 10 to assess each situation and the chance of dying. "There is something going on every single day...there are quite a few nine-and-a-halfs."
Mechanical mishaps are also risky, such as their jeep getting stuck in crocodile-infested waters or an attempt to land a small plane that goes awry when it is greeted by a herd of giraffes and flips over.
"Those are the situations that are often more trying than working with the lions, purely because we understand the lions," Beverly said.
The documentary has drawn critical acclaim with the New York Times calling it, "One of the most urgent and certainly among the most beautifully shot documentaries to hit the big screen in recent memory."
But the Jouberts aren't as interested in praise as much as change. "The draw is definitely to protect the wilderness and to the animals, to stop the poaching, to stop the safari hunting and stop the trade on all the animals," said Beverly.
National Geographic has announced that it will donate all profits from the film to a conservation effort known as the Big Cats initiative. Information can be found at thelastlions.com.
But the topic of their new film, "The Last Lions," which recently opened in the United States, is anything but ideal.
The cold statistic that drew the husband and wife team to their latest story -- set in the lush wetlands of Botswana's Okavango Delta -- speaks for itself. In the last 50 years, African lions have plummeted in numbers from 450,000 to between 20,000 and 50,000, conservation groups say.
"These numbers are in desperate, desperate decline," said Dereck Joubert. "So we are going have to do something about these lions now or else we are going to have to face their extinction."
Statistics aside, "The Last Lions," is no dry documentary. Breathtakingly shot and narrated by actor Jeremy Irons, the Jouberts illustrate their point through the emotional, suspenseful tale of one lion, Ma di Tau, as she battles to keep her family alive, hunting buffalo five times her size.
"We wanted to bring this to an audience in a big theatric venue, on a big screen, so that people could engage with lions," Dereck Joubert said.
"Last Lions" has been compared to the Oscar-winning "March of the Penguins," which humanized a tale of Antarctic Emperor penguins on their annual trek to a breeding ground where they share protective duties over eggs and hatchlings.
In Africa, over the course of two years, the Jouberts lived among the lions on Duba Island, an isolated strip of land in the Okavango Delta surrounded by flood waters. They shot 100 hours of footage, beginning each day at 4 a.m.
EDGE OF DANGER
Dangers included driving each morning in a vehicle with no doors or windshields through crocodile-infested waters before waiting up to 16 hours a day in 130-degree Fahrenheit heat (54 degrees Celsius) and mosquito-heavy conditions for the lions to spring to action.
"We've had lions charge right up to us and try and attack us, and it's usually because of something else. It's usually because a hunter has wounded this animal or a poacher has laid a snare. You can do your best but every now and again, things go wrong," said Beverly Joubert.
The Jouberts, who work alone in the field, say more perilous than the lions, have been elephants, the subject of some of their previous films and several attacks.
"We are sort of on the edge of danger all the time," Dereck said calmly, explaining they created a scale of 1 to 10 to assess each situation and the chance of dying. "There is something going on every single day...there are quite a few nine-and-a-halfs."
Mechanical mishaps are also risky, such as their jeep getting stuck in crocodile-infested waters or an attempt to land a small plane that goes awry when it is greeted by a herd of giraffes and flips over.
"Those are the situations that are often more trying than working with the lions, purely because we understand the lions," Beverly said.
The documentary has drawn critical acclaim with the New York Times calling it, "One of the most urgent and certainly among the most beautifully shot documentaries to hit the big screen in recent memory."
But the Jouberts aren't as interested in praise as much as change. "The draw is definitely to protect the wilderness and to the animals, to stop the poaching, to stop the safari hunting and stop the trade on all the animals," said Beverly.
National Geographic has announced that it will donate all profits from the film to a conservation effort known as the Big Cats initiative. Information can be found at thelastlions.com.
Top 20 Concert Tours
AP, The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS
1. (1) Roger Waters; $2,405,617; $127.28.
2. (2) Usher; $991,952; $73.83.
3. (3) Michael Buble; $893,445; $84.35.
4. (4) Justin Bieber; $712,551; $52.91.
5. (5) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $598,262; $47.73.
6. (6) Andre Rieu; $546,104; $77.16.
7. (7) Brad Paisley; $539,596; $59.19.
8. (8) Rain — A Tribute To The Beatles; $430,739; $75.86.
9. (9) Ozzy Osbourne; $409,013; $57.29.
10. (10) Carrie Underwood; $402,712; $49.21.
11. (11) Furthur; $399,819; $50.11.
12. (12) Dane Cook; $273,656; $53.49.
13. (13) Jeff Dunham; $261,343; $46.44.
14. (14) So You Think You Can Dance; $238,795; $51.64.
15. (15) Bob Dylan; $188,473; $48.61.
16. (16) Lady Antebellum; $159,744; $37.52.
17. (19) Bill Gaither & Friends Homecoming; $138,119; $37.84.
18. (20) B.B. King; $135,905; $72.62.
19. (21) Mannheim Steamroller; $131,651; $54.51.
20. (New) Winter Jam / Newsboys; $122,627; $10.00.
TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS
1. (1) Roger Waters; $2,405,617; $127.28.
2. (2) Usher; $991,952; $73.83.
3. (3) Michael Buble; $893,445; $84.35.
4. (4) Justin Bieber; $712,551; $52.91.
5. (5) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $598,262; $47.73.
6. (6) Andre Rieu; $546,104; $77.16.
7. (7) Brad Paisley; $539,596; $59.19.
8. (8) Rain — A Tribute To The Beatles; $430,739; $75.86.
9. (9) Ozzy Osbourne; $409,013; $57.29.
10. (10) Carrie Underwood; $402,712; $49.21.
11. (11) Furthur; $399,819; $50.11.
12. (12) Dane Cook; $273,656; $53.49.
13. (13) Jeff Dunham; $261,343; $46.44.
14. (14) So You Think You Can Dance; $238,795; $51.64.
15. (15) Bob Dylan; $188,473; $48.61.
16. (16) Lady Antebellum; $159,744; $37.52.
17. (19) Bill Gaither & Friends Homecoming; $138,119; $37.84.
18. (20) B.B. King; $135,905; $72.62.
19. (21) Mannheim Steamroller; $131,651; $54.51.
20. (New) Winter Jam / Newsboys; $122,627; $10.00.
O'Donnell mulls 'Dancing With the Stars' invite
AP, WILMINGTON, Del: Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell says she's been invited to be a contestant on TV's "Dancing with the Stars." But the losing Senate candidate from Delaware isn't sure she should accept, saying she has two left feet and a book about politics to complete.
The conservative Republican, who lost to a Democrat amid controversy over past statements about youthful dabbling in witchcraft, is soliciting opinions on her Facebook page.
O'Donnell says her initial reaction was to say "no" to the show, but others are encouraging her to accept. O'Donnell writes she's flattered, but a 2-year-old nephew has more rhythm than she does.
A program representative said Tuesday it has no comment on casting speculation, adding a new cast will be announced next week.
The conservative Republican, who lost to a Democrat amid controversy over past statements about youthful dabbling in witchcraft, is soliciting opinions on her Facebook page.
O'Donnell says her initial reaction was to say "no" to the show, but others are encouraging her to accept. O'Donnell writes she's flattered, but a 2-year-old nephew has more rhythm than she does.
A program representative said Tuesday it has no comment on casting speculation, adding a new cast will be announced next week.
'Live!' tracks every step of a run across America
AP, NEW YORK: Friday morning, Dean Karnazes will strike out for New York from his native California. His plan: to run the whole route.
His coast-to-coast pilgrimage calls for Karnazes to be on the run, rain or shine, as much as 14 hours daily covering an average of 50 miles to 60 miles.
He'll be under the watchful eye of "Live! With Regis and Kelly," which invited him to make this odyssey and will track his progress every step of the way. After nearly 3,000 miles on the road, he will arrive around May 11 in Manhattan, where he will cross the finish line at the "Live!" studio to be welcomed on the air by co-hosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa.
"This is without a doubt the most intense endeavor I've ever undertaken," said the 48-year-old Karnazes, whose list of endurance derring-do includes this breathtaking achievement: 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states. (Whereupon, after completing the last one, the New York City Marathon, he headed back toward his San Francisco home, running 1,300 miles until, feeling homesick for his wife and two children, he hopped a flight from Missouri.)
Karnazes will leave Disneyland during Friday's "Live!" telecast (check local listings for this syndicated show), with Ripa and some 200 other well-wishers seeing him off from the Magic Kingdom.
Then his road trip shifts into overdrive.
"You'd think all he needs is a station wagon to follow him with a bunch of protein bars," said "Live!" executive producer Michael Gelman. "It's really a lot bigger than that."
The itinerary includes Arizona and New Mexico, then up to the heartland traversing Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, then southeast to the nation's capital, then New York-bound. Mostly sticking to two- or four-lane highways, he will pass through 17 states and the District of Columbia.
To do it, he'll be clad in a North Face shoe called the Sentinel Boa that features a tightening system free of pesky laces. He expects to pound through as many as 12 pairs.
Meanwhile, along for the ride will be a dozen-member entourage in two accompanying tour buses — one for Karnazes' trainer and support team as well as his own home base, the other carrying the production crew that will transmit his travels to the world.
"Almost every day we're going to see at least some of Dean," said Gelman. "Then, once a week, usually Fridays, we'll do a full sort of recap."
The show will pack a variety of high-tech gear to power the TV remotes and social media — including a blog Karnazes will be posting.
"We plan to document this entire journey," said Gelman. "We're a live show, and this is going to be a live, real-time drama. We're really going to cover it."
"Live!" first collaborated with Karnazes a couple of years ago when he ran for 48 hours on a treadmill in the show's studio.
Not only a mega-marathoner, he's also a fitness advocate and author whose latest book, "Run! 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss," will be out next week.
"I'm not saying to people, 'Hey, you got to go run two marathons a day,'" he explained from his home recently. "But maybe you can walk around the block after years of inactivity. You can begin to change your ways. I want my message something anyone can relate to: putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best you can."
Besides his "Live!" updates and other media appearances en route, Karnazes will be hosting a series of brief stopovers: a dozen "Run With Dean" events for charity, benefiting Action for Healthy Kids, a nonprofit and volunteer organization that fights childhood obesity and undernourishment. The first of these 5K fun runs is scheduled for Riverside, Calif., on Saturday.
Last week in Dallas, the expedition's two tour buses were being readied before joining him at Disneyland.
"I'm literally in Dean's bus, stocking it with his food and liquids," said Amanda Forgason Dempsey in an interview from Hawkeye, the marketing agency handling the logistics of this cross-country operation.
Dempsey, a Hawkeye managing director, said the bus would initially be packed with a 12-day supply of nonperishables. Retail sources of fresh and organic provisions (including Karnazes' requisite 20 bananas per day, part of his daily intake of as much as 10,000 calories) are already pinpointed along the route.
Another vital part of the planning: arranging police security escorts in every locality and acquiring the proper permits for this high-profile caravan.
"We contacted over 97 counties that he will cross through, to let them know that he's coming," Dempsey said.
But every plan, however thorough, is subject to change. There's the chance of getting slammed by the weather — though Karnazes, who has run in both Antarctica and the Sahara desert, is no stranger to extreme conditions. There's also the chance of injury, or, far more likely, blisters (which Karnazes hastily repairs with Krazy Glue).
And maybe he'll get antsy in the middle of the night.
"I told my crew that sometimes I get up at 2 in the morning, and if I can't sleep, I'm going to set out. They said, 'Well, wake us up.'"
"I think uncertainty is part of the appeal," he declared. "I never feel certainty when I start one of these endeavors, and I feel doubts along the way. Let's face it, the stakes are high this time. There are a lot of eyeballs following this thing. I've kind of put myself in a scary situation and I've never felt more intimidated."
"But I've never felt a tingle like this," he added vigorously. "Let's get out there!"
His coast-to-coast pilgrimage calls for Karnazes to be on the run, rain or shine, as much as 14 hours daily covering an average of 50 miles to 60 miles.
He'll be under the watchful eye of "Live! With Regis and Kelly," which invited him to make this odyssey and will track his progress every step of the way. After nearly 3,000 miles on the road, he will arrive around May 11 in Manhattan, where he will cross the finish line at the "Live!" studio to be welcomed on the air by co-hosts Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa.
"This is without a doubt the most intense endeavor I've ever undertaken," said the 48-year-old Karnazes, whose list of endurance derring-do includes this breathtaking achievement: 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states. (Whereupon, after completing the last one, the New York City Marathon, he headed back toward his San Francisco home, running 1,300 miles until, feeling homesick for his wife and two children, he hopped a flight from Missouri.)
Karnazes will leave Disneyland during Friday's "Live!" telecast (check local listings for this syndicated show), with Ripa and some 200 other well-wishers seeing him off from the Magic Kingdom.
Then his road trip shifts into overdrive.
"You'd think all he needs is a station wagon to follow him with a bunch of protein bars," said "Live!" executive producer Michael Gelman. "It's really a lot bigger than that."
The itinerary includes Arizona and New Mexico, then up to the heartland traversing Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, then southeast to the nation's capital, then New York-bound. Mostly sticking to two- or four-lane highways, he will pass through 17 states and the District of Columbia.
To do it, he'll be clad in a North Face shoe called the Sentinel Boa that features a tightening system free of pesky laces. He expects to pound through as many as 12 pairs.
Meanwhile, along for the ride will be a dozen-member entourage in two accompanying tour buses — one for Karnazes' trainer and support team as well as his own home base, the other carrying the production crew that will transmit his travels to the world.
"Almost every day we're going to see at least some of Dean," said Gelman. "Then, once a week, usually Fridays, we'll do a full sort of recap."
The show will pack a variety of high-tech gear to power the TV remotes and social media — including a blog Karnazes will be posting.
"We plan to document this entire journey," said Gelman. "We're a live show, and this is going to be a live, real-time drama. We're really going to cover it."
"Live!" first collaborated with Karnazes a couple of years ago when he ran for 48 hours on a treadmill in the show's studio.
Not only a mega-marathoner, he's also a fitness advocate and author whose latest book, "Run! 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss," will be out next week.
"I'm not saying to people, 'Hey, you got to go run two marathons a day,'" he explained from his home recently. "But maybe you can walk around the block after years of inactivity. You can begin to change your ways. I want my message something anyone can relate to: putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best you can."
Besides his "Live!" updates and other media appearances en route, Karnazes will be hosting a series of brief stopovers: a dozen "Run With Dean" events for charity, benefiting Action for Healthy Kids, a nonprofit and volunteer organization that fights childhood obesity and undernourishment. The first of these 5K fun runs is scheduled for Riverside, Calif., on Saturday.
Last week in Dallas, the expedition's two tour buses were being readied before joining him at Disneyland.
"I'm literally in Dean's bus, stocking it with his food and liquids," said Amanda Forgason Dempsey in an interview from Hawkeye, the marketing agency handling the logistics of this cross-country operation.
Dempsey, a Hawkeye managing director, said the bus would initially be packed with a 12-day supply of nonperishables. Retail sources of fresh and organic provisions (including Karnazes' requisite 20 bananas per day, part of his daily intake of as much as 10,000 calories) are already pinpointed along the route.
Another vital part of the planning: arranging police security escorts in every locality and acquiring the proper permits for this high-profile caravan.
"We contacted over 97 counties that he will cross through, to let them know that he's coming," Dempsey said.
But every plan, however thorough, is subject to change. There's the chance of getting slammed by the weather — though Karnazes, who has run in both Antarctica and the Sahara desert, is no stranger to extreme conditions. There's also the chance of injury, or, far more likely, blisters (which Karnazes hastily repairs with Krazy Glue).
And maybe he'll get antsy in the middle of the night.
"I told my crew that sometimes I get up at 2 in the morning, and if I can't sleep, I'm going to set out. They said, 'Well, wake us up.'"
"I think uncertainty is part of the appeal," he declared. "I never feel certainty when I start one of these endeavors, and I feel doubts along the way. Let's face it, the stakes are high this time. There are a lot of eyeballs following this thing. I've kind of put myself in a scary situation and I've never felt more intimidated."
"But I've never felt a tingle like this," he added vigorously. "Let's get out there!"
'Black Swan,' 'King's Speech' win costume awards
AP, LOS ANGELES: "Black Swan," "The King's Speech" and "Alice in Wonderland" are tops in costumes.
The three films claimed prizes Tuesday at the 13th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. "Swan" was honored for excellence in contemporary film, "Speech" won the period film prize and "Alice" was recognized as the best fantasy film.
Jenny Beavan, who designed "The King's Speech" costumes, and Colleen Atwood, who created the "Alice in Wonderland" costumes, are also nominated for Academy Awards.
The costumes for "Glee," "Boardwalk Empire" and TV movie "Temple Grandin" were also honored.
The Costume Designers Guild was founded in 1953 and comprises 700 film, TV and commercial costume designers.
The three films claimed prizes Tuesday at the 13th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. "Swan" was honored for excellence in contemporary film, "Speech" won the period film prize and "Alice" was recognized as the best fantasy film.
Jenny Beavan, who designed "The King's Speech" costumes, and Colleen Atwood, who created the "Alice in Wonderland" costumes, are also nominated for Academy Awards.
The costumes for "Glee," "Boardwalk Empire" and TV movie "Temple Grandin" were also honored.
The Costume Designers Guild was founded in 1953 and comprises 700 film, TV and commercial costume designers.
Emmys honor former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young
AP, NEW YORK: Former U.S. Ambassador and Atlanta ex-Mayor Andrew Young is being honored by the Emmy Awards for television work more than 50 years ago.
As a young minister living in New York, Young made frequent appearances on the CBS-TV show "Look Up and Live" from 1957 to 1960.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Wednesday that Young was one of the first black Americans with a regular television presence. Currently, he hosts the syndicated show "Andrew Young Presents."
The academy said it is giving Young an award for lifetime achievement on Friday, presented by former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw. The Emmys give out this award irregularly, with Walt Disney Co. chief Robert Iger the most recent recipient in 2005.
As a young minister living in New York, Young made frequent appearances on the CBS-TV show "Look Up and Live" from 1957 to 1960.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Wednesday that Young was one of the first black Americans with a regular television presence. Currently, he hosts the syndicated show "Andrew Young Presents."
The academy said it is giving Young an award for lifetime achievement on Friday, presented by former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw. The Emmys give out this award irregularly, with Walt Disney Co. chief Robert Iger the most recent recipient in 2005.
"Deadliest Catch" crewman found dead at Alaska hotel
Reuters, ANCHORAGE, Alaska: A crewman working on one of the fishing vessels featured in the reality TV show "The Deadliest Catch" has been found dead of unknown causes in a hotel room in his hometown, police said on Wednesday.
Justin Tennison, 34, was found dead in a hotel in the fishing town of Homer, Alaska. His body was discovered Tuesday by the hotel cleaning staff, Homer Police Lt. Randy Rosencrans said Wednesday.
There was no sign of foul play and the cause of death was unknown, though an autopsy was being conducted Wednesday, Rosencrans said.
Tennison worked as an engineer on the Time Bandit, a vessel captained by brothers Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand, both of Homer.
In a Facebook post, Andy Hillstrand said Tennison "died peacefully in his sleep."
"Justin was tough as a bull and was an all-around good hand. The captains and crew appreciated his hard work and many contributions this past year. We will miss him terribly and wish his family all the best during this most difficult time," Hillstrand's post said.
"The Deadliest Catch," broadcast by the Discovery Channel, follows the journeys of several vessels and their crews as they harvest crab and other lucrative fish species in the Bering Sea off western Alaska.
Tennison is not the first Deadliest Catch fisherman to pass away.
The show chronicled last year's death of one of the featured fishermen, Phil Harris, who died in an Anchorage hospital after falling victim to a stroke. Harris was captain of the Cornelia Marie.
Other Deadliest Catch crew members have been involved in various mishaps and police investigations.
Earlier this month, local police in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, base port for most of the Bering Sea fishing fleet, reported that an unnamed crew member had trashed a hotel room that was being used as an office for the production team.
And in January, an inspector for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was fired and charged with a misdemeanor offense after she took a $100 "gratuity" from Sig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern, another Deadliest Catch vessel.
Hansen had initially tried to buy the 26-year-old inspector dinner, according to Unalaska police.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune)
Justin Tennison, 34, was found dead in a hotel in the fishing town of Homer, Alaska. His body was discovered Tuesday by the hotel cleaning staff, Homer Police Lt. Randy Rosencrans said Wednesday.
There was no sign of foul play and the cause of death was unknown, though an autopsy was being conducted Wednesday, Rosencrans said.
Tennison worked as an engineer on the Time Bandit, a vessel captained by brothers Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand, both of Homer.
In a Facebook post, Andy Hillstrand said Tennison "died peacefully in his sleep."
"Justin was tough as a bull and was an all-around good hand. The captains and crew appreciated his hard work and many contributions this past year. We will miss him terribly and wish his family all the best during this most difficult time," Hillstrand's post said.
"The Deadliest Catch," broadcast by the Discovery Channel, follows the journeys of several vessels and their crews as they harvest crab and other lucrative fish species in the Bering Sea off western Alaska.
Tennison is not the first Deadliest Catch fisherman to pass away.
The show chronicled last year's death of one of the featured fishermen, Phil Harris, who died in an Anchorage hospital after falling victim to a stroke. Harris was captain of the Cornelia Marie.
Other Deadliest Catch crew members have been involved in various mishaps and police investigations.
Earlier this month, local police in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, base port for most of the Bering Sea fishing fleet, reported that an unnamed crew member had trashed a hotel room that was being used as an office for the production team.
And in January, an inspector for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was fired and charged with a misdemeanor offense after she took a $100 "gratuity" from Sig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern, another Deadliest Catch vessel.
Hansen had initially tried to buy the 26-year-old inspector dinner, according to Unalaska police.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune)
After Fox's `Idol,' CBS dominates TV ratings
AP, NEW YORK: After Fox's "American Idol," the television landscape lately has become pretty clear: There's CBS, and there's everybody else.
The two versions of "Idol" last week were the most popular programs on TV, the only shows with more than 20 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said Tuesday. The next 16 shows on Nielsen's list were all on CBS, including the premiere of Forest Whitaker's new drama, "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior." It had more viewers last week than the show it was spun off, "Criminal Minds."
Ten of those 16 programs were the genre that's in CBS' wheelhouse: crime or legal-oriented procedural dramas.
While last week may have included Valentine's Day, two new relationship-oriented comedies are struggling mightily out of the box. NBC's Thursday comedy "Perfect Couples" barely had more than 3 million viewers, while Fox's "Traffic Light" had 3.5 million viewers.
CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers for the week (6.8 rating, 12 share). Fox had 9.6 million (5.5, 9), ABC had 6.6 million (4.1, 7), NBC had 5.5 million (3.5, 6), the CW had 1.8 million (1.1, 2) and ION Television had 1.2 million (0.8, 1).
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a prime-time average of 3.7 million viewers (1.9 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1 million viewers and TeleFutura 930,000 (both 0.5, 1) and Azteca and Estrella both had 230,000 viewers (both 0.1, 0).
NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9 million viewers (5.8, 12). ABC's "World News" was second with 8 million (5.3, 11) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.1 million viewers (4.1, 8).
A ratings point represents 1,159,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 115.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of Feb. 14-20, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 23.2 million; "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 22.18 million; "NCIS," CBS, 19.4 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.8 million; "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.01 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.51 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 13.29 million; "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior," CBS, 13.06 million; "Mike & Molly," CBS, 12.92 million; "Criminal Minds," CBS, 12.85 million.
___
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.
The two versions of "Idol" last week were the most popular programs on TV, the only shows with more than 20 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said Tuesday. The next 16 shows on Nielsen's list were all on CBS, including the premiere of Forest Whitaker's new drama, "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior." It had more viewers last week than the show it was spun off, "Criminal Minds."
Ten of those 16 programs were the genre that's in CBS' wheelhouse: crime or legal-oriented procedural dramas.
While last week may have included Valentine's Day, two new relationship-oriented comedies are struggling mightily out of the box. NBC's Thursday comedy "Perfect Couples" barely had more than 3 million viewers, while Fox's "Traffic Light" had 3.5 million viewers.
CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers for the week (6.8 rating, 12 share). Fox had 9.6 million (5.5, 9), ABC had 6.6 million (4.1, 7), NBC had 5.5 million (3.5, 6), the CW had 1.8 million (1.1, 2) and ION Television had 1.2 million (0.8, 1).
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a prime-time average of 3.7 million viewers (1.9 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1 million viewers and TeleFutura 930,000 (both 0.5, 1) and Azteca and Estrella both had 230,000 viewers (both 0.1, 0).
NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9 million viewers (5.8, 12). ABC's "World News" was second with 8 million (5.3, 11) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.1 million viewers (4.1, 8).
A ratings point represents 1,159,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 115.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of Feb. 14-20, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 23.2 million; "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 22.18 million; "NCIS," CBS, 19.4 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.8 million; "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.01 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.51 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 13.29 million; "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior," CBS, 13.06 million; "Mike & Molly," CBS, 12.92 million; "Criminal Minds," CBS, 12.85 million.
___
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.
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