--it's easy to use
--it fits into your pocket
--it takes great video
--it's cheap for a good, portable video camera
--it has a USB port that pops up that plugs right into your computer
--at the push of a button you can easily upload videos to your computer and publish directly to sites like youtube.
--this camera now stores 120 minutes!
Gift Ideas:
--I got this camera for my cousin after she graduated from high school. I thought it would be great in college... and as I see on her facebook profile, she's certainly using it everywhere.
--my sister had a baby and since I live 2000 miles away, she and my brother-in-law video my niece and send me the videos weekly.
1) Submitting News: Are you a Penn Alum with something to promote? Post it on the DT Boards or Calendar! ...Or send me the answers to THESE questions to be considered for a featured post.
There is a 1937 film called Varsity Show which references Penn and The Mask and Wig Club (thanks Anthony Maggio C'09!). As you'll see in the short somewhat hokey clip above, the group of band players chant Mask and Wig's age old song, "There's Only Room For One." Of course I have a particular appreciation for this as I was in Mask and Wig myself.
That said, watch the tradition continue with the following video clip I also got my hands on thanks to Neil Radisch (C'86, Mask and Wig)....a video of the 1985 Mask and Wig group's rendition of the same chant! The clip was from their annual show of "Irreverance Of Things Past".
As you may recall I once compared 2 Mask and Wig videos before from 1994 and 2007 (see the post HERE). As you'll note in both sets of videos in this post, it's fascinating to me that while traditions are maintained, each generation takes that tradition and makes it their own.
Per Cynthia’s Cynopsis, after 19 years with the Sundance Film Festival (he’s been the Director most recently), Geoffrey Gilmore (C'74, Penn in Pictures 2002 panelist) just changed jobs and joined New York-based Tribeca Enterprises as CCO where "he will lead the company's international content strategy, development efforts and brand expansion. Geoffrey will also be a part of Tribeca's Board of Directors."
Mike Karz (C’89, W'89) will produce the film Valentine’s Day: “a love story which revolves around five relationships in Los Angeles, all of which are put through the paces over the course of one Valentine's Day.
Mike will also be producing the romantic comedy “Five Killers” starring Katherine Heigl. Per Screamingdemon, “Story kicks off when a woman meets the man of her dreams while on vacation. Married bliss is turned upside down when they discover that their neighbors may be assassins hired to kill them.”
Tom Christensen (W'03, Mask and Wig) just landed a co-starring role on the new series, Leverage, an Ocean's-11-Meets-A-Team series set to air on TNT in the next 6 months. Tom will play a "sweet, corn fed" guy from the Midwest" He is marrying a mob-boss's daughter, and that wedding is the setting for the episode.
When Tom arrived in LA five years ago, fellow Mask & Wig member Brian Appel (C '01) introduced him to the show's casting director. After cutting his teeth with M&W, Tom still performs sketch and improv several improv groups around LA. You can see his upcoming shows on his website, http://www.tom-christensen.com
He is currently looking for an agent. Any alumni agents out there who will take a meeting? Contact Tom via his website!
Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel mega-hit, said in an interview the other day that the upcoming season of “Hannah Montana” could be the last one. “We’re thinking this is our last season,” she told E! Online.
Rich Ross (C'83), president of Disney Channels Worldwide, told the New York Post, “I fully expect we will continue production (beyond this season)—and I can stand by that.” Ross said Disney has a option for a fourth season of the show.
The Kelly Writers House and the Fine Arts Department of the School of Design (at the University of Pennsylvania) are pleased to announce ArtsEdge, a new collaborative residency project to encourage the careers of emergent writers and artists.
Through ArtsEdge, the Kelly Writers House and the Fine Arts Department will subsidize the rent of a shared live/work space near Penn’s campus for an emergent writer and artist.
Lots of Penn news happening this week on-campus and off!...
Marc Platt (C'79) has extended his contract with Universal Pictures for five years and has several projects of in the works, including a film version of the Broadway show Wicked, a remake of the 1973 Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice film "Jesus Christ Superstar" and a new motion picture about the life of the late composer George Gershwin.
According to Cynthia's Cynopsis, Nancy Glass Productions made several exclusive talent and development deals with Penn's Off the Beat a capella group! Anyone know anything more about this?
While many people graduate after Penn from business schools or law schools, I bet Adam Gertsacov (C'86) is the only one to graduate from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College!
That's right.
Adam made it on the cover of The Charleston City Paper, but he also got profiled in the New York Times' wedding section.
A few weeks ago I announcedMark Cronin's (Eng'86, Mask and Wig) new reality show I Love Money.
The show will have contestants from Flavor of Love, I Love New York and Rock of Love with Bret Michaels competing in physical and mental challenges in an attempt to win $250,000.
Last week my Penn reality-TV based posts had been centered around Roy Bank (C'94). Now I've got some news from another Penn reality TV big time producer Mark Cronin (Eng'86)...
VH1 recently announced that they are prepping another spinoff to Flavor of Love called I Love Money.
Per Variety, the new show will feature "past contestants from "Flavor of Love," "Rock of Love" and "I Love New York" squaring off against one another in a series of reality show competitions. While "Flavor" and its past offspring were constructed to help celebrities such as Bret Michaels and Flavor Flav find "love," the new show will focus on the pursuit of cash prizes."
Which alum just sold his production company in a deal valued at 200 million dollars(!) and said this?
"It's about exploiting our content and taking what we own and doing more with it ...We haven't done nearly enough with our shows."
Click here for the details! Per today's Variety: "In a deal valued at upward of $200 million, Endemol USA has acquired Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin's (Eng '86, Mask and Wig) 51 Minds Entertainment, the reality factory that perfected the celebreality genre with nonscripted comedies such as "Flavor of Love," "I Love New York" and "The Surreal Life."
Is there a better way to kick off our Love Week than to promote one our alum’s shows about a man who despite two unsuccessful attempts at finding love will be going back for one final time?
That’s right, your favorite bachelor, Flavor Flav is back for a final time to find a his love. The third and final season of "Flavor of Love", produced by mega-reality producer Mark Cronin (Eng’86, Mask and Wig) premieres on VH1 tonight (Monday, February 11) at 9:00 PM.
This time, the woman Flavor Flav's looking for will be all about sophistication…
“This season, every challenge Flav poses, from nursing his broken heart on a hospital gurney, to composing a hip-hopera about Flavor Flav's life, will be engineered to make those women, who truly have love for Flav, shine. Whether it's jumping out of a plane at 30,000 feet, or swimming with sharks, these women will constantly be put to the test. The last two remaining contestants will travel to the international city of love in a final showdown for Flav's heart. In the end, Flavor Flav will pick the girl he believes is the one true love that he can finally settle down with. Hopefully, this time it will stick.
To help Flav find true love, he enlisted the help of his fans. Last summer, women from across the country uploaded profiles to VH1's Flavor of Love casting site and five were chosen through online voting to vie for Flav's love.”
Lately, it seems like I'm posting new stories about the next Mark Cronin (Eng'86, Mask and Wig) reality show every week! Well, I guess it's that time again.
"Hip-hop mogul Irv Gotti spent years defending himself on charges that his music company was being used to launder drug money -- years that tore apart not only his business but also his family life. He tells us now he's a changed man since being acquitted in 2005, and he wants people to see he's a good guy. That's why he's done VH1's "Gotti's Way," which premieres Oct. 15. "You got to realize that I never was tried for anything in my life (before)," notes Gotti, who runs The Inc. -- which he tells us will slowly be going back to its original name, Murder Inc., for his rap artists.
'To go in there facing 20 years against the federal government, it was a very enlightening experience. It made me realize who is really with me in life. I don't want to have to go through that again to realize it, but at the same time, it made me open my eyes.'
He notes, "When I was going through it, it stripped me of working because no one would come near me with a 10-foot pole. It put like a cloud over my head, and no one would do business with me. Now that it's over, it's like I'm back in business."
Viewers will get a behind-the-scenes look at Gotti's business on his reality show, which features his artists Ja Rule, Lloyd and Vanessa Carlton. Cameras also follow him as he juggles his family life and works on his relationship with wife Debbie, from whom he's separated. "I let them shoot everything."
...As for the other show I reference above, VH1 has ordered a second season(!) of the Rock of Love with Bret Michaels to air sometime in early 2008. This show seemed to do very well in the ratings.
Another season, another 2(!) Mark Cronin (Eng'86, Mask and Wig) VH1 Celebreality shows! (one previously covered here)
America loves to watch crazy and you'll find some of that in New York....aka Tiffany Pollard, the contestant who has been dumped twice on Mark's past shows Flavor of Love and I New York.
This time, in the upcoming I Love New York 2, from the press release, "A freshcrop of twenty men will compete for her heart and this time the selection process has a twist….some of the chosen contestants have been hand-pickedby online users and some have been chosen by Tiffany’s outspoken mother,Sister Patterson. Will the viewers’ choices for Tiffany be her perfectmatch or does mother know best?"
Tune in to "I Love New York 2 Casting Preview″ running on October 3, 1:30 am (set your Tivos and also check your local listsings) and then catch the first episode on Monday, October 8 at 9:00 PM.
Writing partners David Guarascio (C'91) and Moses Port (C'91),(former co-producers and writers of Just Shoot Me and 2001 "Penn in Pictures" panelists) debut their CW show, Aliens in America Monday, October 1. Check your local listings for times.
Joey Volpe (W'09) recently emailed me to let me know that he worked on The Bachelor this summer and that we should all check it out on Mondays on ABC.
In addition to America's Most Smartest Model mentioned above, Mark Cronin (Eng '86) also has another 2(!) shows: I Love New York 2 on Monday nights at 9 pm on VH1 as well as Gotti's Way. Check your local listings for times.
CBS has ordered Mike Sikowitz's (C'88, Sigma Alpha Mu) pilot called My Best Friend's Girl - A comedy series about a guy who falls in love with his best friend's ex-wife. Mike's credits include being a writer/producer for The Class and Grounded for Life.
A few years ago, my (former) writing partner and I attended the pilot taping of a show Mike had called Grown Men - a single-camera comedy about a group of five frat brothers who meet up at a friend's funeral. I really liked the pilot but it wasn't picked up.
Alumni out there, do you have something on the TV Schedule? Add your comment below!
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Adam El Sehamy (C'09)
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-Jeff Levin (C'07)
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Michael Rosen
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-Eric Jacob Maltiel (SEAS'12)
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-Jennifer Merves Robbins (C'92)
"I just found dueling tampons, and im hooked. i had no idea so many alum do what i want to do when i grow up!" -Danielle Hannah (C'03)
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-Matt Amalfitano (C'11)
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-David Toturgul (C'99)
"What you do on Dueling Tampons I think really provides many Penn students with inspiration for their future careers, as I know it has done with me."
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-Dan Gutin (C'97)
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-Joey Volpe (C'09)
"your dueling tampons site rocks"
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-Troy Majnerick, Penn New Student Orientation Coordinator
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-Tara Todras-Whitehill (C'00, Eng'00)
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-Adam Hellegers (C'96)
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-Eric Barker (C'94)
Alumni Attending Events Because of DT:
"Logan [Levkoff] was here on Friday and was featured in the October 2 Penn Current and today's DP. I heard about her through DT.com, so thanks Matt!" -Fran De La Torre (C'04)
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There is a 1937 film called Varsity Show which references Penn and The Mask and Wig Club (thanks Anthony Maggio C'09!). As you'll see in the short somewhat hokey clip above, the group of band players chant Mask and Wig's age old song, "There's Only Room For One." Of course I have a particular appreciation for this as I was in Mask and Wig myself.
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