New Year’s Resolution 2008 –Make Fitness a Family Affair

Families that Stay Fit Together Have Better Chances of Sticking with Routine

For Families with Toddler to Teens, Funfit Offers All inclusive Family Fitness Programming

WASHINGTON, DC (RUSHPRNEWS) December 10, 2007- Funfit’s founder, Celia Kibler, has a message for the American family, “In 2008, commit to fitness as a family. Turn off the TV, get off the couch and come to Funfit. Make fitness a family affair”, she says.  With FUNFIT classes being taught in Maryland, New York, Louisiana and now Colorado, and with more locations to open shortly, Celia’s all inclusive family fitness programming has a fitness plan for all families regardless of age groups. Whether from toddlers to teens, the trick is to exercise together.  Team up dad/mom and toddler, older siblings with younger siblings, grandparents and grandkids or any other family situation, the trick is to make a family commitment to health and fitness for 2008 and as a result, see overall health benefits for everyone. 

Celia believes that by making exercise a family affair, healthy patterns are set and more likely to be effective and last a lifetime. Parents are our children’s strongest role models. She states that exercising with your kids doesn’t necessarily require special skills or start-up costs. “You don’t have to be good at anything to put on some music and move your body to it. It’s called dancing and it’s free,” Celia told Rush PR News. “People forget that you’re never too old to be a kid. Playing with your children — there’s no greater joy.” She also emphasises the importance of sharing meals and learning about nutrition together.  She explains, “Feed your body right, think clearly, make healthy decisions and have fun”.

Problems facing families today

1. Time management

2. Financial stress

3. Daily stress of school and work

4. Health concerns – fitness, nutrition, wellness

5. Kids with ADD/ADHD and other special needs

Remedies for these common problems

Funfit offers many ideas to bring the family together and regain the enjoyment of each other. Getting back to basics is a great way to start.

Start with Meals:

1. Plan your meals together

2. Shop together

3. Prepare meals together

4. Enjoy meals as a family

5. Choose and discuss healthy options

6. Learn about nutrition together at Funfit

Family play and vacation time:

1. Choose fitness programs together at Funfit, for example:
1. Tai Chi for adults and teens
2. Kung Fu for teens and younger siblings
3. Yoga for Moms/Dads and young kids and teens
4. Parent/toddler/baby active play fitness and music classes
5. The Circuit strength/cardio workouts for ages 5 to 13 and parents
2. Go to parks and public recreation areas
3. Play catch and games in your own backyard
4. Bike rides together
5. Hiking
6. After dinner family walks
7. Yoga games for kids which has been proven to diminish the symptoms of ADD/ADHD and many other special needs and mainstreaming into other fitness classes
8. With Funfit Travel Agents, pick family vacation packages that include wilderness excursions.

Benefits

1. Increased conversation with family members

2. Relax from the hectic day, together as a family

4. Feel great as you get you and your children in shape

5. Endless healthy physical and mental benefits

7. Decreased medical expenses

8. Enjoy each other’s company by rediscovering what it is you like about each other

9. Have FUN together as a family

10. Fitness as a lifelong way of life

11. Overall health improvement

12. Longevity  

Celia has been featured on Fox News, AP, Washington Times and countless other major media outlets and would be a great resource to your families in need of a healthy makeover for the New Year.

You may contact Celia’s publicist Anne Howard, at either  310-295-9578, or  by writing at anne@rushprnews.com.   Take advantage of Celia’s wealth of knowledge, which shared could bring greater quality of life to millions nationwide.

You may visit Celia’s website at www.funfit.us

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From poverty-stricken village to teeming production center, Chinawood features studios, backlots and even tram tours
By Anne Howard for Hollywood Today

While there is not yet an Ivy Restaurant catering to agents and moguls, there are up to 18 films are being shot on some days on soundstages and the miles of picturesque forests, fields and lakes. While most of the films and TV shows are made for China, about 20% of them are considered international productions.

Chinawood is capitalizing on the skyrocketing costs of shooting in North America and Europe. Though all aspects of production are cheaper there, the key is in the massive workforce where an extra makes $2.50 a day compared to $100 in the U.S.. And while the communist country may in effect cheer the concept of labor unions in America, a union worker on a Hollywood production can cost more for a day than a Chinese counterpart earns in a month.

Studios have built hundreds of sets, which include a replica of the Forbidden City (100 acres) and have been home to Sino epics “Curse of the Golden Flower” and “Hero,” according to press materials touting the locale to international location scouts.

“Labor is cheaper, all across the board. There’s no union. It’s a free hand for directors,” said Canadian producer Shan Tam during a break last year outside a dynastic palace set where she was shooting “Son of the Dragon,” starring US actor David Carradine.

Behind Hengdian’s rise is hometown boy Xu Wenrong, a confident 72-year-old multimillionaire who made a fortune manufacturing and exporting textiles, electronics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. From a single lot, its brainchild Hengdian World Studios, has spread to a 25-square-kilometer area, almost twice the size of Beverly Hills. The local government has given him permission to expand tenfold.

Not only has he turned his village into a number one destination for film crews but also has a hot tourist attractions, complete with bus tours and visit to the sets, giving birth to a whole economy for the villagers, who were more familiar with poverty and hunger than lights, camera and action.

He decided against Beijing, the cultural center of China, and Shanghai, which had its heyday in film during the 1920s and ’30s, because both centers struggle with rising cost of living and water shortage,

“Beijing can’t compete with me,” said Xu, who was himself a poor farmer but now beams with the confidence of a Hollywood mogul.

Filming of “The Children of Huang Shi”, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “was very positive and the surrounding scenery breathtaking” the actor stated at a press conference, he chuckled “even if after a while I could think of a few restaurants where I would have liked ordering from.” Culinary limitations aside, it seems that this small village under the leadership of a visionary will fulfill its Chinawood status in no time at all.

Besides a production location, the size of the Chinese market in terms of film-goers is not lost on American major studios either. All are vying to get a foot in the red-tape encrusted door with Warner Bros. slightly ahead. The first Sino-U.S. studio deal, Warner China Film was created by Warner, the State film unit China Film Group and the private Hengdian Group back in 2004. The new company makes films in the $1 million to $ 6 million range there, but more importantly for Warner, it’s a funnel for WB films into China

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“Babel,” “Departed” off to Oscar Races, “Dreamgirls” gets a mixed wakeup call

Dench, Streep, Winslett and Cruz to battle Mirren for actress crown. DiCaprio, Gosling, O’Toole and Smith up against Whitaker to see who is really king.  

HOLLYWOOD,CA(rushprnews)01/23/2007 — “Babel” spoke everyone’s language and “The Departed” is off to the races while “Dreamgirls” had a semi-rude awakening this morning when nominees were announced for the 79^th Annual Academy Awards.
“Dreamgirls,” considered a shoo-in by pundits, was shooed out of best picture and director categories though the musical still has a lot to sing about. It was nominated for a leading eight awards including best supporting kudos for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy.
Other surprises included four top noms for the little engine that could, “Little Miss Sunshine,” which had a bright morning with best picture and original screenplay. Also “United 93,” snubbed by Golden Globes and some guild award voting, nonetheless landed in the Oscar race where Paul Greengrass is up for best director.

In addition, English is apparently no longer the official language of the Academy Awards as the Spanish-language “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Volver” Japanese-language “Letters from Iwo Jima” and the five language “Babel” combined for 19 nominations, all by two outside the foreign language category.  
Clint Eastwood, whose twin WWII stories “Letter From Iwo Jima” and “Flags of our Fathers” took a combined eight noms, garnered a best director nom though he was shut out of Directors Guild Award nominations.
“Babel” earned seven nominations including best picture, two best supporting actors and best director for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Martin Scorsese led the director’s category after five previous noms without a win.  Always a bit of a Hollywood outsider, it is a widespread belief that this will be the year the Academy its failure to honor one of America’s seminal directors reflect more on their organization than on him.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” sort of “Alice in Wonderland” on acid, took a surprising six nominations including original screenplay for director Guillermo Del Toro.
Also bowing with a regal six nominations was “The Queen,” including widely-expected best picture honors for Dame Helen Mirren as well as best picture and director for Stephen Frears.
Nominations were announced at 5:38 a.m. Tuesday by Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Sid Ganis and actress Salma Hayek. Ellen DeGeneres will host the Oscarcast February 25.
-- By Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn for Hollywood Today (www.hollywoodtoday.net ). 

Complete list of 79th annual Academy Award nominees BEST PICTURE
“Babel”
“The Departed”
“The Queen”
“Letters From Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza, “Babel”
Cate Blanchett, “Notes on a Scandal”
Abigail Breslin, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
Rinko Kikuchi, “Babel”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Eddie Murphy, “Dreamgirls”
Mark Wahlberg, “The Departed”
Djimon Hounsou, “Blood Diamond”
Jackie Earle Haley, “Little Children”

BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”
Helen Mirren, “The Queen ”
Penelope Cruz, “Volver”
Kate Winslet, “Little Children”
Judi Dench, “Notes on a Scandal”

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Blood Diamond”
Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”
Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”
Peter O’Toole, “Venus”
Ryan Gosling, “Half Nelson”

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood, “Letters From Iwo Jima”
Paul Greengrass, “United 93″
Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”
Stephen Frears, “The Queen”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Babel”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Guillermo Arriaga, “Babel”
Michael Arndt, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis, “Letters From Iwo Jima”
Guillermo del Toro, “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Peter Morgan, “The Queen”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Patrick Marber , “Notes on a Scandal”
William Monahan, “The Departed”
Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Todd Field & Tom Perrotta, “Little Children”
Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, “Children of Men”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“After the Wedding” (Denmark)
“Days of Glory (Indigènes)” (Algeria)
“Lives of Others” (Germany)
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Mexico)
“Water” (Canada)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Cars”
“Happy Feet”
“Monster House”

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Dreamgirls,” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“The Good Shepherd,” Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: DPilar Revuelta
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik
“The Prestige,” Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Black Dahlia,” Vilmos Zsigmond
“Children of Men,” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Illusionist,” Dick Pope
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo Navarro
“The Prestige,” Wally Pfister

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Curse of the Golden Flower,” Yee Chung Man
“The Devil Wears Prada,” Patricia Field
“Dreamgirls,” Sharen Davis
“Marie Antoinette,” Milena Canonero
“The Queen,” Consolata Boyle

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Deliver Us from Evil,” Amy Berg and Frank Donner
“An Inconvenient Truth,” Davis Guggenheim
“Iraq in Fragments,” James Longley and John Sinno
“Jesus Camp,” Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
“My Country, My Country,” Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Blood of Yingzhou District,” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
“Recycled Life,” Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad
“Rehearsing a Dream,” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
“Two Hands,” Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr

BEST FILM EDITING
“Babel,” Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise
“Blood Diamond,” Steven Rosenblum
“Children of Men,” Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón
“The Departed,” Thelma Schoonmaker
“United 93,” Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson

BEST MAKEUP
“Apocalypto,” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Click,” Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” David Marti and Montse Ribe

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Babel,” Gustavo Santaolalla
“The Good German,” Thomas Newman
“Notes on a Scandal,” Philip Glass
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” Javier Navarrete
“The Queen,” Alexandre Desplat

HONORARY ACADEMY AWARD
Ennio Morricone 

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anne howard, writer and publicist at www.annehowardpublicist.cm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact                                                                                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Penny Sansevieri

penny@amarketingexpert.com

(212) 810-6988

Author Marketing Experts announces new client, Lori Avocato

Award-winning author of the Pauline Sokol mystery series

SAN DIEGO – Author Marketing Experts, Inc., an innovative, full service book marketing and promotion firm, announces its new client, Lori Avocato, author of the Pauline Sokol mystery series, a humorous yet suspenseful series about a sassy ex-nurse-turned-medical insurance fraud investigator.

An award-winning author, Avocato is multi-published with fifteen books currently sold in which her humor lends itself to her comedic voice. She writes contemporary novels and often uses her military, medical, or a combination of both backgrounds in her plots. Recently Lori has found her niche writing her new series, The Pauline Sokol Mysteries. The most recent in the series is NIP, TUCK, DEAD (Avon Books/An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, November 2006, ISBN: 0060837047).

“Lori is incredibly talented, I loved her work from the moment I read page one. We’re thrilled to have her as part of the team and we can’t wait to see where Nip, Tuck, Dead goes!” says Author Marketing Experts’ CEO Penny Sansevieri.

ABOUT Author Marketing Experts, Inc. Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full service book marketing and promotion company. AME is the only marketing and publicity firm to harness the Internet to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour (TM), which strategically works with social networking sites,  blogs, ezines, and relevant sites to push an author’s message into the virtual community. For more information, visit www.amarketingexpert.com.                      

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Media Contact Anne Howard 310-295-9578

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who has owned most of Vegas and part of Hollywood, is under Federal scrutiny as reports say he knew of illegal wiretaps of his ex-wife

New Analysis by Alex Ben Block, Senior Columnist for Hollywood Today

Hollywood, CA (rushprnews) 01/11/2007 - The trail of civil and criminal law suits surrounding the high profile investigation into Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano for the first time leads to press shy 89-year-old billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, who had not previously been implicated.

The New York Times (Business, Jan. 11, 2007) lays out the case involving one of LA’s highest profile attorneys and the billionaire who literally bought and sold MGM three times.  

“In recordings that Mr. Pellicano secretly made of his own telephone conversations,” reports The Times, “Mr. Kerkorian’s lawyer, Terry N. Christensen, repeatedly said he told the billionaire — then 84, and locked in a legal dispute with his ex-wife, Lisa Bonder Kerkorian — what the private detective was learning from what prosecutors say were his wiretaps.”

The Times also reports on itself, saying that the newspaper and reporters David M. Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner, are under investigation by the federal prosecutors who want to know how they gained access to evidence, including the taped conversations, that were supposed to be sealed and protected by a court order

“The recordings are among hundreds that prosecutors have turned over to defense lawyers,” reports The Times, “along with tens of thousands of documents. That evidence was subject to a court protective order, and prosecutors are investigating The New York Time’s access to some of it.”

To make their point about the evidence implicating Kerkorian, The Times not only publishes a lengthy article, but also offers up a series of very clear audio recordings of the actual conversations between Pellicano and Christensen. In one audio clip, Pellicano inquires whether “the old man,” meaning Kerkorian, was happy with the information provided by a wiretap of his ex-wife. In another, Pellicano brags to Christensen “there’s no way except with my unique techniques that you would know this.”

The audio clips provide seemingly irrefutable evidence that the highly paid lawyer, who has been indicted and pleaded not guilty to felony wiretapping and conspiracy, acted with the knowledge if not approval of his client, notes entertainment newsmagazine Hollywood Today (www.hollywoodtoday.net)

The tapes also touch on Kerkorian’s obsession at one time with finding out the true biological father of a little girl he had raised as his daughter. Kerkorian eventually figures out, through the Pellicano wiretaps, that the father is probably millionaire movie producer Steve Bing (“Polar Express,” “Beowulf”). Kerkorian later confirmed Bing was the father after another detective took material from Bing’s trash that was used to make a DNA match  Busy man Bing also had a DNA test that proved he was the father of Elizabeth Hurley’s baby boy.   

According to The times, Christensen’s lawyer Terree A. Bowers “when told the thrust of this article,” writes The Times, “called it ‘irresponsible, unwarranted and a pack of lies.’ He added: “In fact, there are absolutely no tapes or reliable evidence of any wiretaps involving the Kerkorian-Bonder litigation. The charges are and remain totally unfounded.”

Pellicano has refused to talk about his clients, cases or work. He is currently in prison while awaiting another trial recently re-scheduled to begin in August. Pellicano also last week got permission to act as his own attorney, amid rumors he could no longer afford outside counsel, and was too proud to be a charity case. Pellicano declined a court appointed attorney and was told he would be held to the same standards as a lawyer.

Christensen and Pellicano and five others were indicted in February 2006. Two of those charged have admitted guilt while the other five await trial.

The Times says that Kerkorian may be called to testify at the trial scheduled for late summer, although it adds that “Mr. Kerkorian has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and it is unlikely that someone could be held criminally liable for the actions of an investigator hired by his lawyer without showing that the client knew of the investigator’s illegal acts.”
 

Kerkorian, with homes in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, is a self-made first generation Armenian-American, with a net worth estimated in 2006 by Forbes Magazine at $8.7 billion. Although he sold MGM last year at a huge profit, for the third time, Kerkorian through his Tracinda holding company still owns controlling interest in MGM Mirage, the huge gaming company (Mirage, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Treasure Island, New York-New York and other casino hotels). Until he pulled back last year, Kerkorian was also was the largest individual shareholder in General Motors and previously was a big investor in Chrysler Corporation, which he helped push into the arms of Mercedes.

It is vitally important to Kerkorian to keep his record clean. He owns control of gaming companies that must be licensed by various authorities, and is involved in public market transactions, such as a recent effort to buy back MGM Mirage stock, that could be impacted by legal problems.

And even if he is not indicted or charged directly, this new evidence linking Kerkorian to the scandal opens the door to civil suits by Kerkorian’s ex-wife, her attorney and others in the wide ranging and still expanding case.   

 Block has been editor of The Hollywood Reporter and TV Times as well as associate editor of Forbes Magazine. He is a best-selling author and a radio talk show host in L.A.
Permission to re-print or rebroadcast granted provided Hollywood Today is credited and web address (www.hollywoodtoday.net) is listed whenever possible.

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HOLLYWOOD-CA (rushprnews) 01/02/2007-- Nine-time Grammy-winning superstar Beyoncé has had a handle on her musical destiny since she was a child. Yet while “Dreamgirls” is her third major studio movie (“Austin Powers: Goldmember,” Steve Martin’s “The Pink Panther”), it is her recent Best Actress Golden Globe nomination that will help her get the choice roles she needs to build a lasting film presence.   

 And unlike her Deena character in “Dreamgirls” she will have some control of this aspect of her career, a luxury she has been used to in her music. “Back in the “Dreamgirls” time it was very tough to cross over, being African-American,” Beyoncé told entertainment newsmagazine Hollywood Today (www.hollywoodtoday.net).  “Deena didn't have any control and was the lead singer of the group because Curtis (her manager) felt she was the most marketable.”

 “I write my own songs, I write my own video treatments and I'm in control of my career. I've always been and was the lead singer because of my voice, because of my talent and didn't have the need to become a star because I had a very happy childhood and a very comfortable living. But I learned what a Diva was because of “Dreamgirls,” she said.

“I definitely can relate to the drive and focus Deena had especially at a young age and of course I'm in a group. I will always be in a group because we're sisters, and became a solo artist but really the parallels stop there. Me on the other hand, I grew up with both of my parents. I was upper-middle class, I went to private school and I don't have a Curtis in my life. I had to make a lot of adult decisions, and that forced me to grow up a little faster.”

 And while she says there’s no Curtis in her life, there is her beau, star-maker and hip-hop star Jay-Z, president of Def Jam Recordings. Though he said he would make her his bride back in 2004, and the pair had to recently deny rumors of an imminent wedding, the fact it hasn’t happened appears to prove she has a strong say in matters.

 Even with all that, it wasn’t enough to land a starring role in a picture. She originally set her sights on Effie, the emotional anchor of the film played by Jennifer Hudson, but director Bill Condon didn’t even believe she could play Deena. She had to screen test for the part, drop 20 pounds to play the Diana Ross-type lead singer and hire a full-time acting coach.
“When I found out they were making the movie, I said, 'I have to be a part of it.' Effie's part is incredible; it would have been so fun to play that. Bill Condon didn't even believe me as Deena in the beginning, let alone that. But I didn't care that Deena was not the star. I just wanted to be a part of the film and a part of something that's so relevant and so exciting. I think 20 years from now people will still be watching the film.”

Beyoncé said she surprised everyone with her screen test. “When I did the scene with Curtis (Jamie Foxx), it was dramatic. I was bawling and crying but we ended up changing the scene to make it less.”

 And she surprised herself with her transformation to Diana Ross. “We don't really look anything alike but it was amazing. We used a lot of the photographs from Diana and the Supremes and also Martha and the Vandellas and Cher and a lot of different people from the 60s and 70s. It was the transformation. I lost 20 pounds which was really hard because I love to eat and it worked because I really did become someone else on screen.”
Furthermore she had to hone a new craft to portray Deena’s personality and pain, even in non-speaking scenes.  “I absolutely did learn to act for this. I got the best acting coach, Ivana Chuban. I wanted pain behind my eyes so I could act out the scenes and really be thinking deeper things. We used pictures, we used music, and we used diaries. I worked with her every day, cried every day, even when I didn't have scenes that were sad. Just so I could have that pain behind me because Deena was in a lot of pain.”

Even though Beyoncé wanted the Effie role she was happy to be alongside Hudson, another greenhorn. “When I first met Jennifer I was as scared as she was. Acting is new to me and I knew that she would think that I was comfortable because she'd never met me; she'd only see what people put out in the media. She was so new to it and so excited, so honest and so pure it just makes me want to hug her.”
Furthermore, she is humble in the presence of the undeniable power newcomer Hudson showed both onscreen and off. “Jennifer had it the toughest because she's never done a movie, she's never done an album and now she's in the biggest movie and has the pressure of the movie to do the song that everyone knows. When we were on Oprah and all the people were standing up (when she sang “And I’m Telling You”), I'm seeing this star, her becoming this star before my eyes. It's just so beautiful and I just hope she maintains herself because she's really amazing, she deserves it.”

 Beyoncé, still riding her hit “B’Day” album, appears headed for more celluloid success herself. She is said to be attached to a project from Oscar-winning writer-director Sophia Coppola. Called “Tipping the Velvet,” it is about an 1890’s dancehall singer and her lover, reportedly to be played by “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria. And that’s not to mention the new scripts stacking up on her agent’s desk right now.  

 Read more on “Dreamgirls” and later this week, Jennifer Hudson, in entertainment newsmagazine Hollywood Today at www.hollywoodtoday.net

Permission to re-print or rebroadcast granted provided Hollywood Today is credited and web address url is listed whenever possible.

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SUNDANCE INSTITUTE THEATRE PROGRAM ANNOUNCES ACTING ENSEMBLE AND COLLABORATORS FOR 2007 LAB AT WHITE OAK

 Doug Wright and Shelby Jiggetts-Tivony to serve as Creative Advisors

 Los Angeles, CA (rushprnews) 12/14/2006 –The Sundance Institute Theatre Program today announced the cast for its two workshop projects at the Sundance Theatre Lab at White Oak that runs January 14-28, 2007. The two projects selected for this season’s Lab are

THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE – THE MUSICAL, a new musical by Tim Acito; and SONG FOR NEW YORK: WHAT WOMEN DO WHILE MEN SIT KNITTING, an ensemble piece created by and featuring Mabou Mines, the New York-based theatre company.

THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE – THE MUSICAL

Based on Gloria Naylor’s beloved award-winning novel, THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE – THE MUSICAL, with music and lyrics by Tim Acito (ZANNA DON’T!), explores the comic, heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring lives of 10 African-American women living in an urban housing project in the early 1970’s. The cast includes: Adriane Lenox (Tony Award, DOUBT), Marva Hicks (CAROLINE OR CHANGE, THE LION KING), Harriet D. Foy (MAMMA MIA, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND), Terry Burrell (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, THE THREEPENNY OPERA), Nikki James (THE WIZ at La Jolla Playhouse; ALL SHOOK UP), Monique Midgette (MARIE CHRISTINE), Bernadine Mitchell (BESSIE’S BLUES, San Diego Rep), Tijuana Ricks (Film: THE ARCHITECT), Soara-Joy Ross (DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES) and Shelly Thomas(BROOKLYN THE MUSICAL). The workshop at White Oak will be directed by Molly Smith, artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington D.C., where she recently directed CABARET and SOUTH PACIFIC, and with musical direction by William Foster McDaniel (SHE LOVES ME, Arena Stage; AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’). 

SONG FOR NEW YORK: WHAT WOMEN DO WHILE MEN SIT KNITTING

Mabou Mines SONG FOR NEW YORK: WHAT WOMEN DO WHILE MEN SIT KNITTING is a celebration of and for the city of New York conceived and directed by Mabou Mines co-artistic director Ruth Maleczech. Ruth’s collaborators include Julie Archer (visual artist), David Neumann (choreographer), Lisa Gutkin (composer), Robert Kaplowitz (sound designer), Paul Kandel (male chorus director), Irina Kruzhilina (costume designer), Christine Sciulli (light artist) and T. Kevin Fisher (technical director). Poems about each of the five boroughs have been commissioned from five New York City writers (Migdalia Cruz, Maggie Dubris, Patricia Spears Jones, Kane Kandel and Imelda O’Reilly). Between songs, a Greek chorus of men recites “the yarns” written by historian Nancy Groce. The male chorus is comprised of Robert Collier Sublett (GONE MISSING, Actors Theatre of Louisville), Desean Terry (Juilliard School, 2004), Robert Besserer, Jr. (original dancer in Baryshnikov’s WHITE OAK DANCE PROJECT, and Obie Award 1987), Jason Postell Pringle (THE SEVEN at New York Theatre Workshop) and Charles Hendricks (Recipient, Laura Pels Award 2003).

Joining Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of the Theatre Program, are dramaturgs Mame Hunt (lead dramaturg) and Otis Ramsey-Zöe (CenterStage, Baltimore). Additionally, dramaturg Shelby Jiggetts-Tivony (Disney Creative Entertainment) and playwright Doug Wright (I AM MY OWN WIFE and GREY GARDENS) will provide feedback during the final week of the workshop as Creative Advisors.

White Oak Foundation

The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at White Oak is an extension of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program’s summer Theatre Lab focuses on supporting company-created work and innovative musical theatre. White Oak is located on a 7,500-acre property in Yulee, Florida. It was conceived by Howard Gilman as a sanctuary for animals, and a place of peaceful yet productive retreat for the people and activities he cared about. In 1982, Gilman established the White Oak Conservation Center on the property for the conservation and propagation of threatened and endangered species.

White Oak, which houses the Baryshnikov Dance Studio, has also hosted residencies by performing artists and dance companies; national and international conferences; and seminars and workshops directly related to the Foundation’s primary fields of interest: performing arts, wildlife conservation and cardiovascular research.        

Sundance Institute Theatre Program

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program convenes the profession’s leading artists and most promising new talent with a range of offerings designed to provide a creative environment in which to develop new work with dramaturgs and full casts.  The Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort and the Playwrights Retreat at Ucross support playwrights and directors at different crucial points in the creative process, and the Theatre Lab at White Oak focuses on the development of new work in musical and ensemble theatre.  More than 80% of Sundance-supported plays have gone on to be produced on stages in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe in the last ten years. Some of the past projects that have been supported by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program include Moisés Kaufman's THE LARAMIE PROJECT, Dael Orlandersmith's YELLOWMAN, and Doug Wright's I AM MY OWN WIFE, which was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2004 Tony Award for Best Play.

Other recent works developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Labs include: SPRING AWAKENING (now in previews on Broadway) BLUE DOOR (recently on stage at Playwrights Horizons), PASSING STRANGE (recently at Berkeley Rep and at the Public Theatre in January), RIDICULOUS FRAUD (recently produced at South Coast Rep) and GREY GARDENS (currently running Broadway).

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program receives major support from The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support for the Sundance Institute Theatre Program is provided by The National Endowment for the Arts;  The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; The Peter J. Sharp Foundation; The White Oak Foundation; The Ucross Foundation of Wyoming; California Institute for the Arts; the Kennedy Center 's American College Theatre Festival Program; and The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, in addition to the operating support provided to the Sundance Institute by many individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies.

Sundance Institute

Dedicated year-round to the development of artists of independent vision and to the exhibition of their new work,

Sundance Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2006. Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for thousands of independent artists through its Sundance Film Festival and artistic development programs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, playwrights and theatre artists. The original values of independence, creative risk-taking, and discovery continue to define and guide the work of Sundance Institute, both with US artists and, increasingly, with artists from other regions of the world. The annual Sundance Film Festival, a major program of Sundance Institute, is held each January and is considered the premier showcase for American and international independent film. The Institute supports non-fiction filmmakers through the Documentary Film Program by providing year-round support through the Sundance Documentary Fund and a series of programs that nurture their growth, encourage the exploration of innovative nonfiction storytelling and promote the exhibition of documentary films to a broader audience. Through the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Institute is committed to invigorating the national theatre movement with original and creative work and to nurturing the diversity of artistic expression among theatre artists. The Institute also maintains The Sundance Collection at UCLA, a unique archive of independent film.

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Creative Energy Expands Service Area to Fredericksburg, Virginia

Home Improvement Experts Bring Years of Service, Competitive Pricing to the Area

Richmond, VA(rushprnews) - December 13, 2006 – Creative Energy, the exterior home improvement specialists, recently announced plans to expand their service area to include Fredericksburg, Virginia. For more information about Creative Energy’s home improvement services, visit: www.creativeenergyexteriors.com.

The company has served the Central Virginia region for ten years, with expertise in installing vinyl siding, vinyl replacement windows, sunrooms, roofing, porches, decks and accessories. Creative Energy exclusively focuses on exterior renovation and replacement, and quality customer service has led to repeat business and a consistent customer referral base.

“We take tremendous pride in what we do,” says president Keith Smallwood. “Our clients are our neighbors, and meeting their needs is important to us.”

Investment in exterior home improvement yields significant savings and increases property value, putting homeowner’s hard earned dollars back in their pockets. Creative Energy’s vinyl replacement windows can cut utility costs by 30 percent and vinyl siding cuts costs by 20 percent. These upgrades increase the assessment value of the home, and the improved aesthetics boost curb appeal to make the home more beautiful and more marketable if the owner ever decides to sell.

The company decided to expand their service area to Fredericksburg because working with a few clients in the area brought their attention to an underserved population. Many of the home improvement contractors currently serving the Fredericksburg area are based in the Washington metro area. Creative Energy will be able to offer competitive pricing, superior customer service and unparalleled expertise in a wide range exterior home improvement projects.

 “We look forward to serving the Fredericksburg area,” Smallwood says, “and helping our neighbors improve their homes.”

About Creative Energy

Creative Energy provides home improvement services to Richmond, Fredericksburg and surrounding areas in Virginia. They partner with some of the best manufacturers in the business like Four Seasons Sunrooms, Simonton Windows, Heartland Vinyl Siding, GAF Roofing and James Hardie Siding Products to offer high-quality products and world-class service. To learn more about Creative Energy, please visit their website at: http://www.creativeenergyexteriors.com/.

Contact:

Keith Smallwood, President

Creative Energy

http://www.creativeenergyexteriors.com/

Phone: 804-359-2997

Chris Cox

The Idea Center

http://www.theideacenter.com/

Phone: 804-264-3067

Press Release Contact:

Holly Rodriguez

http://www.bigoakinc.com/

Phone: 804-741-6776

Holly Rodriguez

Big Oak

Helping Your Business Grow

Search Engine Optimization Web Design Web Development

www.bigoakinc.com

direct: 804.864-3672

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