DT's B&P: They're ALL Hollywood Producers To Watch

Some exciting entertainment tidbits from our alumni film producers...

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Mike Karz (C'89, W'89)'s Sorority Row (as reported HERE on DT ) debuts today.

The film is about "A group of sorority sisters try to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank gone wrong, only to be stalked by a serial killer."

Past posts about Mike's film projects here

More of my Penn "Film Producer" posts here

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Adding to our "Alumni on Important Lists" series, husband and wife team, Elizabeth Banks (C'96) and Max Handelman (C'95, AEPi) are now 2 of Variety's "Top 10 Producers To Watch".

More Here!

More of Liz's busy actress life HERE

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Check back in weeks to come!  I have a ton of developing stories from Penn alumni film producers!

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Hollywood Bits and Pieces: Their New Upcoming TV Shows & Films

Some recent juicy Penn Hollywood alumni tidbits for y'all...

Click HERE for the scoop!

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• Elizabeth Banks (C'96) has signed on for a potentially recurring role on ABC's critically-praised new fall sitcom, "Modern Family". More HERE

• Todd Lieberman (C'95) will be producing a film based on the comic book "Alibi". More HERE

• Speaking of Liz and Todd above, have you seen the new poster for their upcoming film Surrogates?

• "Harold and Kumar" creators Jon Hurwitz (W'00) and Hayden Schlossberg will be directing the comedy "One Night Stan".   Per The Hollywood Reporter, '"Stan" plays out a scenario about which many men fantasize on the cusp of marriage. When Stan learns his fiancee, Julie, has had more sexual partners than he, he gets her blessing for one night to play catch-up. Unfortunately, his plans for a sex buffet don't come together quite the way he had hoped."'
  

...Actually, Jon will be working on this project with Mike Karz (C'89, W'89), another Penn alum who will be in part producing the film.

My past "Hollywood Bits and Pieces" posts HERE

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His New Production Company's Hot New Viral Videos You MUST See!

I've got another Penn alum filmmaker you all should keep your eye on who produced 2 viral hits I want to share --one a funny commercial for "Trojans2Go" and the other which brilliantly combines a Talking Heads song with the film American Psycho!

Last year, I did a post about how Jake Avnet (C'05, Co-Chairman of Undergraduate Film Advisory Board, Founder of the Lecture Series, "Talking Film") won two prestigious grants for one of his films.  Since then, Jake has co-founded his own production company called ENEMY Incorporated with director David Green whose focus is on commercials, music videos, and viral content, as well as film and television production.

As mentioned above, Jake sent me two great films his company has produced. And they're really creative and well done!

Click HERE to watch them!

Trojan2Go Commercial -"Sri Lanka": Watch this guy travel the globe in the name of love! (reminds me of my undergrad film).   I'm sure our Penn alum sexologist and Trojan spokesperson would approve!

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A semi-NSFW cover of the Talking Heads Song "This Must Be the Place" laid over shot-by-shot re-enactments from American Psycho.  ...Tell me that the star of this video, Miles Fisher (Harvard alum), doesn't look like Tom Cruise?!

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$350,000 Netflix Competition: She's In The Final 10 and Needs Your Vote! (VIDEO)

Kristin Fairweather (Penn Grad '01, Masters in Government Administration, Alumni Relations) is in the running for winning a  $350,000 production grant and a guarantee of a premiere at next year’s LA Film Festival. ...and they need your vote!

Once producer Kristin and writer/director Jenny Deller found out they were one of the top 10 semi-finalists in the Netflix Find Your Voice competition, they were tasked with creating the above 3-minute short that reflected the feature in style or theme. 
 
Tasked with shooting a 3-minute short they decided against doing a traditional trailer and shot a stand-alone script called "Save the Future" that we bill as "a companion piece" to the feature length film (and recent Nantucket Film Festival screenplay award winning) Future Weather.  If they are selected as the winner of the Netflix contest then they get the funds to shoot the feature.

"Save the Future" Netflix Short description:
In Deller's 3-minute companion short for the Netflix competition, FUTURE WEATHER's protagonist reimagines a day in her life as a public service announcement, blurring the lines between family struggles and fear of environmental apocalypse.

 Future Weather Feature logline:
Future Weather, is a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old environmentalist. Central to the stories of three rural women, is the gifted but lonely Laduree, an aspiring conservationist whose experiments to save the planet from global warming are destroyed when her single mom runs away to find herself.

Check out the film above.  It really is a beautiful piece of work!

Help Kristin get to the final phase of the contest by VOTING HERE or voting within the video module above! (voting ends July 5)

Find out why Kristin left her career in Politics and how she got started in entertainment HERE

Other Penn alumni who followed their passion and changed careers HERE

On an environmentally related note, check out all my posts about Penn going green HERE!

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These 3 UPenn Alumni Release a Hot New Futuristic Trailer Starring Bruce Willis

Move over Terminator, another high tech film is coming out this Fall and it looks really cool.

Last week I posted my review (and photo with Betty White!) of Todd Lieberman's (C'95, Mask and Wig, AEPi) The Proposal premiere. (Incidentally, it opened on Friday...go out and support Todd!)

Now Todd, as well as co-producers Max Handelman (C'95, AEPi) and Elizabeth Banks (C'96) have recently released a trailer for their hot new futuristic film The Surrogates. The story is as follows:

"FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves - fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles - enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: In a world of masks, whos real and who can you trust?"

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Scott Glosserman's Documentary on the Implications of Wikipedia (TRAILER)

After co-writing, producing and directing the clever horror movie Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Scott Glosserman (C'99, Friars) is soon to complete his next project (as a producer and co-director) and it has to do with a different type of horror - — me, you, and thousands of other users taking over responsibilities for Britannica and The World Book.

In his documentary Truth in Numbers?, Scott takes us on the journey about the phenomenon that Wikipedia has become.

Per Scott,

"The question of whether you and I should be charged with canonizing the sum of human knowledge or whether that should be left to the scholars/experts really intrigues me. I think it’s safe to say that we’re among a populist revival era right now and nowhere is that more acutely reflected than on Wikipedia. If knowledge is power and history really is written by the winners, then Wikipedia, already the second most widely read publication in human history, clearly demonstrates this power shift towards "The People". The documentary tries to explore implications of that, among other things."

Check out his trailer above!

Catch Up!: More of my posts about Penn alumni:

• Documentary Film producers
• Film producers! (all)

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READ MORE - Scott Glosserman's Documentary on the Implications of Wikipedia (TRAILER)

Hanging Out with Todd Lieberman at His Very Engaging Hollywood Premiere of The Proposal

This past Monday, I attended the Hollywood premiere of Producer and good friend Todd Lieberman's (C'95, Mask and Wig, AEPi) film The Proposal at Hollywood's El Capitan Theater.  (Photo to right (l to r): Todd and I)

Before I get to the actual Hollywood "scene" of this premiere, I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie and it feels good to know that a guy I call one of my best friends is glowing at the response of having a hit movie on his hands.  The casting was right on the money with Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, and Betty White (plus a great scene stealer from "The Office"'s Oscar Nunez). Not only were there many funny scenes due to the pleasantly awkward tension between Bullock's and Reynolds' characters, but there was some great heart to the film as well. Definitely a great date movie. 

Here's a good summary summary of the movie (per Yahoo Movies):

"When high-powered book editor Margaret faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she's actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew, who she's tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade, but with a few conditions of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family and the always-in-control city girl finds herself in one comedic fish-out-of-water situation after another. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences."

Now onto the afterparty...

Some highlights included catching up with other Penn alumni including Todd's wife Heather (Zeegen) Lieberman (C'94, SDT), and actress Elizabeth Banks (C'96) and her husband and film producer Max Handelman (C'95, AEPi).

And then I saw a bunch of celebs, but decided to approach only two.  And before I tell you what I said, I fully acknowledge the awkwardness in my attempt at conversation with some of these celebrities, yet in the following 2 cases, I felt the need to approach them:

• I said hello to Jesse James and complimented him on how well he performed in this past season's "Celebrity Apprentice". He was very nice and thanked me. While his wife Sandra Bullock was right beside him in another conversation, I decided to save my "you were great in the movie" comment and walk away with my dignity.
• I had to say hello to "Golden Girl" Betty White. She was extremely nice and approachable and I thanked her for all the years of laughter she brought to me (I know this sounds really cheesy, but it was sincere). She was very gracious and agreed to take a picture with me.

The Proposal hits theaters on June 19.

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Our Alum Film Producer Shows Us A New Side of Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White (VIDEO)

Executive Film producer Todd Lieberman (C'95, Mask and Wig, AEPi) just released this new very funny viral video to help promote his upcoming film The Proposal, which debuts June 19.

While Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are very funny in this video, it's the very naughty Betty White who steals the show. Check out the video above to see what I'm talking about!

Todd tells me that "The thing that surprises me most about this movie is not the amount of laughs that are in it but how emotional is plays. It truly is one of those movies where you laugh...and you cry."

Catch up on all the high profile films Todd has done and is doing HERE

More Penn film producers here

Check out my other Funny Friday posts here!

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Star Trek Has Beamed Up Penn Alum Dave Baronoff to New Hollywood Heights

Last January I wrote a post on how Dave Baronoff (C'99, L'02, Mask and Wig) went from lawyer to producer for JJ Abrams.

I am happy to report that Dave is doing extremely well.  This year, not only was Dave the Associate Producer of THIS popular movie, and has appeared on the cover of Ad Age, but come this weekend, you'll see his name taking up the whole screen under the "Associate Producer" credit at the end of the new Star Trek film.

In an interview Dave did earlier this week with a Philly newspaper, Dave tells us why everyone's going to like Star trek:

'“I liked ‘Star Trek’ (growing up), but I was never obsessed with it,” says Baronoff, admitting he was more of a “Star Wars” guy. “What’s amazing about this process is I’ve been converted. What J.J. and the writers have done is to create a new way into the franchise and taken characters beloved by so many and found a way for the rest of us to connect with them.”'

On Monday night I was fortunate enough to see an advance screening of the new Star Trek movie and it was really great. If you like JJ Abrams other works including Cloverfield, "Fringe" (you'll see similar title treatments and special effects in the movie), "Lost" and "Alias", you'll also love this movie for its attention to contemporary story telling and character development. You'll also appreciate the clever incorporation of some of your favorite Star Trek classic lines. Be sure to check out the movie when it comes to theaters this Friday!

Read an interview Dave did earlier this week with a Philly newspaper HERE

Learn more about Dave and his journey in Hollywood
(great for anyone considering a career change or career in Hollywood)

On a related note, if you haven't seen the documentary Trekkies, you must see this to truly understand the Trekkie culture out there!  You'll be amazed!

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He's Won Two Prestigious Grants For His Tasty Short Film

More news of Hollywood alumni working together.

Jake Avnet (C'05, Co-Chairman of Undergraduate Film Advisory Board, Founder of the Lecture Series, "Talking Film") produced a short film called LAST MEAL with Penn alum writer Tracy Park (W'05), Micah Fitzerman-Blue (Harvard grad), and director Mark Stern (Princeton grad).

This short film has been the recipient of two very prestigious grants:  the Special Project Grant from the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, as well as the Panavision New Filmmaker's Grant.  The film stars Fran Kranz (The Village, Matchstick Men, and the upcoming TV series "The Dollhouse"), and Nikki Griffin (Dukes of Hazzard and The Fast and the Furious).

Per Jake,

"Fantasy becomes reality in this action/comedy about a suburban couple that ventures into a diner and find themselves in the middle of a "situation".  A man seeking vengeance for the death of his father has finally tracked down the culprit, the chef and owner of the diner."

Jake and his crew have just recently begun the festival run, and have been accepted into AFI Fest 2008 -- one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The film will screen in competition at the ArcLight theater in Hollywood, on November 6th and 7th. For more information, please visit the blog: http://lastmeal.wordpress.com

Jake's zest for film production seems to have been passed down from his talented Penn alum director/producer father, Jon Avnet (C'71). Click here for some of my past posts about Jon.

Click here to find out how Jake got his start as a producer and what other big projects he has in the works. 


More Penn alumni working together in Hollywood!

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DT Hollywood Bits and Pieces

A bunch of Penn Hollywood news happening in film to report...

Click here for this week's scoopage.

Check out our October Contest and win cool swag!

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Mike Karz (C'89, W'89) will be producing Sorority Row, a remake of the 1983 horror film The House on Sorority Row.

Per the Hollywood Reporter,

"The plot sees a group of sorority sisters try to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank gone wrong, only to be stalked and killed by a serial killer."

The film will star Carrie Fisher (still in negotiations), Rumer Willis, Julian Morris, Leah Pipes, Margo Harshman and Briana Evigan.

Past posts about Mike here

More of my Penn "Film Producer" posts here

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Today, the film Blindness comes out.

Do you remember when Felisha Liu (W'09) our "Penn in Cannes" correspondent reviewed the film from Cannes back in June 2008?

Read her review from back in June here!

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Todd Lieberman's (C'95, Mask and Wig, AEPi) film Beverly Hills Chihuahua comes out in theathers today.

Past posts about Todd here

More of my Penn "Film Producer" posts here

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Set your DVR's for Friday, October 10 when Elizabeth Banks (C'96) will appear on The Letterman Show most likely to promote her Zack and Miri Make a Porno and W films.

Liz also appears in this new trailer below for The Uninvited, a horror film which comes out in January 2009. Per shocktillyoutdrop.com, the film's synopsis is as follows:

"Based on Kim Jee-Woon's 2003 Korean chiller, A Tale of Two Sisters, the story revolves around a pair of siblings who return home to their father after spending time in a mental institution. Their recovery is hindered by their cruel stepmother's obsessiveness and an interfering ghost."

My past Liz Banks posts here

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