 Hollywood heartthrob, Paul Walker, is making his way down to New Orleans to begin filming on the new movie, “Hours”. In this movie, Walker is taking on the emotionally (and physically) demanding role of Nolan, who is riding out Hurricane Katrina with his newborn baby. Nolan’s wife has died in childbirth, and the premature baby is at odds with the elements as the father and child struggle to survive. Paul Walker is the central figure in this film and is in almost every scene, which is filming here in Louisiana this spring. The production team notes that this isn’t just a movie about Hurricane Katrina, but a family story. The writer says that he fell in love the characters and story of this screenplay, and even Walker has been drawing upon his personal life to add depth to his performance. Walker, a father himself made the statement, “my little girl means the whole world to me. I really want to believe that if I was placed in the same situation that I would rise above, that I would be able to see it through the end and do what it would take to make sure my baby came out on top.” This latest addition to the Hollywood South is set to hit the Sundance Film Festival in early 2013, as it plans to wrap in June. For more on this story, visit the Washington Post online. Add Comment Tidings of Comfort and JOY 12/22/2011
 The JOY Theatre of New Orleans will re-open on December 29th! This iconic feature of Canal Street has been closed since 2005, after suffering severe damages from Hurricane Katrina. There have been a lot of naysayers over the past 6 years who said that the theatre was beyond repair, but when McDonnel Group took over as contractor, everything changed. Suddenly the building that was flooded beyond recognition, that had slabs of ceiling on the ground, began to reclaim its original shape. The JOY first opened in 1947, and the renovations have upheld the historical integrity of the building. Art deco pieces accent the main lobby, and a vintage ticket turnstile allows entry. Those involved with this, seemingly impossible, undertaking are themselves surprised by the progress made on this particular project. The Talent Coordinator, Bill Johnston remarked, "It's incredible how much has been done since mid-September and how much more needs to be done before the end of the month — and it's going to be… It's just staggering.” Tickets are already on-sale for the line-up following the Grand Opening on the 29th. Musicians from around the country have been trying to rent the space just to be a part of this historic event. Since the storm, Canal Street has become a symbol for New Orleans’ progress. Revitalizing old structures- like the JOY, remind residents of the greatness that can be recaptured here in New Orleans. Louisianans have rallied behind this Grand Opening, and tickets are selling fast for upcoming performances. The Gambit recently wrote a more detailed account of this story, including the history of the JOY Theatre. The article is available on their website. On this site is also information about upcoming performances and tickets sales. This story is absolutely worth your attention, especially around this time of year. Having some JOY back in New Orleans is certainly something to celebrate! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! From all of us at Southern Celebrity Gossip! Will Smith is still trying to get his Hurricane Katrina film "American Can" off the ground for Columbia Pictures, but Denzel Washington might take over starring duties to help it all happen sooner rather than later. In an online report posted late Tuesday (June 28) on the blog Vulture, which is the online entertainment arm of New York magazine, movie "insiders" are quoted as saying Smith's decision to star in M. Night Shyamalan's "One Thousand A.E." meant he would have to further delay "American Can" -- or find a new leading man. Enter Washington, who has been offering notes on the project and, assuming Smith and the suits at Columbia Pictures agree it's "a good match," could assume the lead role, Vulture reports. Smith would remain a producer on the film, which is being developed through his Overbrook Entertainment shingle. Read more about "American Can" at NOLA.com Conan O'Brien has brought back to life the New Orleans Special Man commercial "Let em have it". If you are a New Orleans native, there is no doubt that you remember this commercial and often imitated it from time to time. On a recent episode of Conan, Andy and Conan play the commercial and then get completely confused on what "The Special Man" is saying. They had no idea, while us New Orleanians were laying in bed yelling "let her have it!" This is too funny! The commercial was made back in 1989 for the original Frankie and Johnny's furniture store and it is just now, in 2011, getting national attention. What a great thing for a local business. Frankie and Johnny's has relocated since Hurricane Katrina but they are still servicing New Orleans and say the recent showing of the commercial has raised awareness that they are still around and still saying "let em have it!" To see more continue to teamcoco.com Treme S2 Ep3 - On Your Way Down 05/20/2011
 Treme has rarely had much interest in the big, dramatic scenes that make up the climaxes and important moments of the much of television. I’m not saying it hasn’t had a couple such moments (spoiler removed), but it handled these moments as though they weren’t all that big. Treme’s writers are not robbing these characters and scenes of significance; they’re just making sure nothing feels bigger than the wonderfully detailed and realistic universe they are a part of.  Britney Spears While some celebs are content with simply lending their name to a charity,Britney Spears doesn't mind getting down and dirty. The pop princess hosted a charity event in Beverly Hills Wednesday night (May 11), benefiting the St. Bernard Project, an organization that builds homes in New Orleans for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kelly Osbourne, Reggie Bush and Selena Gomez were just a few of the big names who showed up to support the SBP as well as donate to the cause. Spears, who has just been named ambassador of the non-profit organization, made the event a family affair, commissioning her father Jamie to cook the southern-style menu, which included fried chicken and hush puppies. The singer also contributed her very own recipe for sweet tea, which was served to guests. The night also included an auction featuring several items including celebrity portraits and VIP passes to the pop singer's Femme Fatale tour, which sold for $5,000. As a native of Louisiana, both Spears and her family have thrown their full support behind the St. Bernard Project. "The Spears family is getting involved because their heart is in New Orleans, because they understand that America is not healed until New Orleans is re-built," SBP director and co-founder Zack Rosenburg told AOL Music. SPB spends roughly $15,000 to $20,000 on building supplies for each house which in total cost nearly $80,000 per project. They are hoping to continue to gain donations and exposure with Spears' help. "This is the beginning of what we hope is a really [long] relationship," Rosenburg explains. "We're hoping with her support we're hoping that we can do more. We raised over $200,000 [at the charity event], we're hoping is that Britney's supporters from around the world will continue to give." Six years after the catastrophic natural disaster that nearly wiped out the city, Rosenburg wants the American public to know that the people of New Orleans have proved to be resilient but still need help. "What the people from New Orleans need most is for the rest of the country to remember that it is part of America," he states. "We've got to treat the people in New Orleans the way that we want our family to be treated." Fans interested in supporting the St. Bernard Project can text the word "Britney" to 864833 to make a $10 donation. Continue reading at AOL.com Before and After: Production Design on Treme 05/03/2011
By Lolis Eric Elie At ‘Treme,’ we take great pride in the fact that we shoot on location in New Orleans. In that way we are constantly in touch with the real people and places we seek to portray. It’s still necessary to construct sets from time to time. After all, for our first season we were shooting in the fall of 2009 in an effort to recreate events from the fall of 2005; and now we are turning 2011 into 2006. A lot has changed. It is our production designer Chester Kaczenski who creates these illusions. His job can be as simple as choosing and placing a few accent pieces (a painting on this wall, a desk on that one) in a home or office that we have appropriated for a set. It can be as complicated as recreating an entire block of storm-ruined houses. From time to time, we’ll be featuring some before and after photos of Chester’s work to give you some sense of how the material world of ‘Treme’ comes to be.  Wild Man Jesse's street WILD MAN JESSE Looking back to first season, in Episode 103, Albert Lambreaux goes to the Lower 9th Ward to the home of Jesse Hurd, the “wild man” of his Indian tribe. Albert finds Wild Man Jesse’s body underneath a canoe, in the garage behind the house. The house we used for the scene had no garage. The street we used had been cleaned up and, though not pristine, it didn’t look like it did in 2005. The question for Chester was how to convey this destruction even though the camera would not necessarily pause to show all of the finer details of his design work. “From my research of that time, I knew a lot of the telephone poles were down. We made a few fake telephone poles. If you didn’t see much, you could at least see that. “There was lots of sand and mud around, so we sprayed mud and wet river sand everywhere. The house we used for Wild Man Hurd’s was not being lived in. They were going to tear it down. So we were able to add another layer of mud. “The script called for seeing the body. We built a single-car garage and aged it down. We got a special body from an effects house in Los Angeles, a decomposed corpse. Then we had to make the clothes look decomposed. “When we were doing this, we went into the neighborhoods and talked to people in the immediate block to be respectful and to hear their stories. We wanted them to be on board with what we were trying to do. I thought that was really important. Even though you are telling a story that is sympathetic to the community, it’s still entertainment, and these people had just lived through all this. We also had cleanup crews come in as soon as we were through.”   Wheel of Fortune New Orleans Reunion 05/02/2011
 Howard Calloway, Harry Friedman and Preston Davis “Wheel of Fortune” recently returned to New Orleans for the first time since the weekend Hurricane Katrina struck and failed levees flooded the city. Three weeks of episodes shot here during that return visit will air starting at 6:30 p.m. Monday (May 2) onWVUE-TV. The visit also included a special reunion. Preston Davis and Howard Calloway weren’t scheduled to work on August 28, 2005. “We got a call early that Sunday stating that there’s a group of people that needed to be picked up at the Lowe’s hotel in New Orleans, and we’re taking them to Houston, and we need to get to them as soon as possible,” said Davis, a bus driver for Calco Travel in New Orleans at the time. “You never know who you’re picking up. It’s just to get them from point A to point B. “(We) met up with these people that looked like everyday people to us. They were very anxious to get on the bus, very anxious to get out of the city. We loaded like normal and headed out of the city.” The passengers on this trip, which has really never ended, was the “Wheel of Fortune” production crew. The syndicated game show had been taping episodes in New Orleans that weekend. The approach of Hurricane Katrina cut the production short by a day. Stars Pat Sajak and Vanna White were able to leave by private jet after Saturday’s tapings. Evacuating the rest of the company – dozens of staffers – was more of a challenge. “One by one, all of our flight reservations went away,” said Harry Friedman, executive producer for the show since 1999. “The trains were not an option. Every rental car was taken up. So, we thought, ‘We’ll get buses.’ “We contacted the bus lines we work with and they were all booked. One in particular said, ‘We have a couple of buses, but they’re reserved for a convention group coming in tomorrow.’ Our travel coordinator said in the nicest but firmest way, ‘There’s not going to be a convention.’ We literally commandeered these two buses. “When we boarded the buses the next morning, we knew it was going to be a long drive. We had no idea how long.” In the first four hours of the trip, the buses moved 10 miles. “It was harrowing,” Friedman said. “It was arduous. It was the unknown. We didn’t have enough food or water.” Breaks and attempted meals came at depleted convenience stores. “It was the first time since college that I’d had a wine cooler,” Friedman said. “Anything was sounding good.” All involved knew that every mile of the trip to Houston was a mile farther from what was happening in New Orleans. And a mile farther from their bus drivers’ homes, families and lives. “It was a scary task,” said Calloway, who lives in Gray, La. “At the time, we didn’t know what was going to happen.” As the buses inched along, Friedman and others on board kept up a stream of conversation with their drivers. “We were just tired, and they talked to us the entire time,” Davis said. “Each stop we made, they made sure we were OK.” “That was a blessing right there, to have them on board,” Calloway said. “They kept us energized.” “Some of the efforts were to take my mind off of what was happening back home,” Davis said. “We didn’t know how bad it was going to be. I don’t think any of us really did.” The drive took more than 23 hours. Neither Davis nor Calloway had driven such a long stretch before. Both men and their families attended a day of “Wheel” tapings while the show was in town to shoot the episodes that begin airing Sunday (May 2). “That was a big experience,” Calloway said. “They treated us like royalty.” “It was a great reunion,” Davis added. “Had a chance to see old friends and hug and talk about that night. “It was amazing that they continued to talk with me and keep in touch with me even after the fact. “The ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ they’re family to me, and will always be family to me.” Read the whole story on Nola.com    New Orleans taping of 'Wheel of Fortune' in 2005 Shot in New Orleans over a recent long weekend, three weeks of locally-themed "Wheel of Fortune" episodes begin airing Monday (May 2). The syndicated game show airs at 6:30 p.m. weekdays on WVUE-TV. Also shot in part over that weekend, "Wheel of Fortune: Unfinished Business," a mini-documentary about the show and its last visit to town, will air on WVUE at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 27), with a repeat at 5 p.m. Sunday (May 1). Nancy Parker hosts the special, which revisits the "Wheel of Fortune" shoot that was cut short by the approach of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.  Spike Lee covers the complexities of post-Katrina life If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise 3 stars, out of 4 (Unrated, 2010) Spike Lee's follow-up to his HBO Hurricane Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke" -- released to mark the storm's fifth anniversary -- is an often-depressing ride. But Lee is a talented filmmaker, and, despite his attraction to controversy, he does a solid job of capturing the complexities of post-Katrina life. Read The Times-Picayune's coverage of the New Olreans premiere of "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise." DVD extras: Director's commentary, 60-minute featurette. Running time: 4 hours. | AuthorJohn Robert Powers - New Orleans' premier Performing Arts Academy ~ Acting. Modeling. Singing. Dancing...Life!  ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll 
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