DT Hollywood Bits and Pieces

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

Click here for this week's scoopage.

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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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Another Penn Alum Featured On One Amazing Reality Show

So I was on the eliptical yesterday trying to catch up with all the new Fall TV shows that are on my Tivo.  I began to watch The Amazing Race 13 and realized that I went to Penn with one of the contestants!

A half hour after I was done with the elliptical (okay 20 minutes), I checked out cbs.com and after a few google searches realized that Penn alum Sarah Leshner (C'98, W'03) does indeed appear on this season's The Amazing Race 13 with her boyfriend Terence.  They are billed as the "opposites attract" couple.

Check out minute 0:26 of the inro clip above

Join Sarah and Terence's facebook fan page here

Other Penn alumni on Reality TV here!

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DT Hollywood Bits & Pieces

Lots of Penn news happening this week on-campus and off!...

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Catch This Alum's Film on DVD!

Jon Hurwtitz's (W'00) Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay now on DVD

My past posts about Jon here

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He's On a New Show and He's Looking for an Agent

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!

Tom's Headshot
More Penn Actor Headshots!

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Another Reality Show Debuts for This Alum

Mark Cronin's (Eng'86) next VH1 reality show, New York Goes to Hollywood premieres on Monday, 8/4.

More here
My past posts about Mark here

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This Alum Counterchecks Miley Cyrus

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.

More here

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Wish They Had This When I Was an Undergrad!

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.

More here and here

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Penn Producer Turning Penn Writer's Book Into a Movie!

Another story of Penn alumni working together in Hollywood.

Thanks to a popular Penn publication, Adam Lebovitz (W'03) has now optioned Craig Boreth's (C'91, First male drummer in Bloomers pit band) (pictured below) book, "How To Feel Manly In A Minivan".

Craig's book is a survival guide for new dads, helping each guy facing fatherhood to make the transition with his masculinity, sanity and lower back intact. It's not really a parenting guide, but more a guide to fatherly self-preservation, covering such subjects as:

• How to have sex for procreation
• How to remain conscious during delivery
• How to see your wife as a MILF
• How to Get That #%&%$ Song Out of Your Head

Per Adam (pictured right), his story on how he found Craig's book is very much a "feel good" Penn alumni story:

"I actually found the book by reading about it in the Penn Gazette. The title was so funny that I immediately bought a copy and read it. The book was hysterical! Craig Boreth's writing has such a genuine and fresh voice. Even though the book was written from a guy's perspective, both men and women can appreciate the humor of finding yourself on the verge parenthood and then all of the comedy of being a parent.

I am in the early stages of development on it. I am exploring both paths of setting it up in television and features. Working on a comedy will be a much different experience than my last project I produced which was a crime thriller called Tortured, starring Laurence Fishburne and Cole Hauser. Sony recently bought it and will be releasing it in September."

FYI, Adam owns his own production company called "Five Star Pictures" where he is partnered with his brother Nolan Lebovitz.

Click here to read an excerpt from his book...+/-

Craig Boreth's "How to Feel Manly in a Minivan" Excerpt 

Read this document on Scribd: Craig Boreth's "How to Feel Manly in a Minivan" Excerpt

Get "How to Feel Manly In A Minivan" here

Find out how Craig got his start and what advice he has for you to get published!
(fyi, this link will pop-up a page will jump to Craig's section --give it a few seconds)

Before "husbandry", Craig wrote a book on how wives can turn their husbands into the perfect husband: "How to Iron Your Own Damn Shirt: The Perfect Husband Handbook Featuring Over 50 Foolproof Ways to Win, Woo & Wow Your Wife"

Craig's website

More Penn authors!

More Penn producers!

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Music Mondays: His Music is Wicked Awesome

He's an actor and a singer and he's performing in the ensemble of a hot musical here in Los Angeles.

DJ Gregory (W'03, Off the Beat) is now performing in the ensemble of the cast of Marc Platt's (C'79) Wicked (8 shows a week!) at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, and also understudies the lead role of Fiyero. This October, DJ debuts in the Bret Easton Ellis feature film, The Informers (starring Winona Ryder).

In addition to being an actor, DJ (going by "David James") is an acoustic rock musician. Last year he released his debut EP, 'West River Drive,'. Listen below to this fantastic song of his...



Click for the meaning behind this song!...+/-

Per DJ:

"I always tell the story at live shows that 'I Don't Want To Be Your Friend," is about the 'friend-zone.' It's about that place you get to when you allow someone, who you long for romantically, to be your friend. And then because of how close you get to them, and how intimate your friendship is, they can't risk losing you, so they don't allow themselves to consider you romantically. I think the title is long, but I thought it was important to say exactly what it is. It's that moment when you realize that your heart is too strong to ignore, and you just lay it out there. I'm done. Here it is. This is what I need. I don't want to be your friend."

How awesome is this song? Tell me you can't already hear this playing on the radio or the montage music of a TV show or film?! Alumni out there, take note!

....I'm hoping we'll be able to be lucky enough to have DJ perform in a future Pennfest.

Find out how DJ got his start and for which popular show he left Penn for a year to tour with (this is cool!)

Get his West River Drive CD here!

DJ's myspace page

Other Penn musicians

More posts about successful Off the Beat undergrads and alumni

More Music Monday posts

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Top 5 "Penn" Facebook Widgets: #3

For the past 2 days, our #5 and #4 picks have centered around Penn basketball and phone books.

Today we've got a really useful widget (what is a widget?) developed by Penn alumni that will help all of you performing arts folks and party planners!

Click here to see my #3 pick.

#3) "Facebook Ticketing" Widget
Developed by Christopher Stanchak (W'03) and Iqram Magdon Ismail (Eng '05), this application allows users to sell tickets to their facebook events. I've already begun to see several Penn groups using this...

Click here to add this to your profile!

See all my Facebook widget picks!

If you haven't already, add yourself as a friend to my profile!

Check back tomorrow for my #2 pick.

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Life after Mask and Wig: Taking their comedy to the web!

So what happens when you graduate from a performing arts group like Mask and Wig and group members want to continue writing and performing together?



Through the years out here in Los Angeles, there's been a small contingency of Mask and Wiggers that have continued performing sketch comedy. Some, like myself, Todd Lieberman, Norm Golightly and Brian Yanish tried to resurrect working together again in a group called Minus Ten. That lasted for one show and that was that. It was a good try though...



Others have been more persistent and successful with performing sketch comedy.



Take Mask and Wig alumni Gary Lundy (C'05), Spencer Crawford (C'05), Ryan Baber (C'02), Tom Christensen (W'03), Joel Rubin (C'03), and Gabe Laskin (C'05). They have started a group called Danish Rhythm and in addition to a stage show over a year ago, they are now devoted to making original comedic short films. And let me say they've got some smart, irreverent comedy, with some unique Mask and Wig flavor (as you'll see in the Fosse video below).



Click below to check out these great videos:

-Hotel del Monico (NOT safe for work!)

-Glen



Check out what other Mask and Wig alumni are doing



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