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With each passing year, New Orleans continues to redefine itself in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And now Rosie O’Donnell has lent her support to the city’s arts community by executive-producing a documentary titled "After the Storm."
Directed by Hilla Medalia, the film centers on a group of New York actors who go to New Orleans to stage a community center production of "Once on This Island" with a cast of local teenagers.
As auditions and rehearsals move along, the young actors involved share their struggles over the loss of family and friends as well as the diminished economic opportunity they face in their hometown.
Still in production, look for it soon at festivals before it finds its eventual wider audience on cable.
Pacino goes Wilde
The story of Salome in the New Testament is one of iconic female seduction, as she’s said to have caused the death of John the Baptist. It’s a minor detail that became legend thanks to it being one of the few non-Old Testament stories that involves sex.
One artist who kept the story fresh in the public’s mind was Oscar Wilde, who saw his controversial play "Salome" banned from stages. Now Al Pacino has taken Wilde’s version and remixed it in a film called "Salomaybe?"
It’s written and directed by and starring Pacino as King Herod.
The film combines documentary and improvised drama to retell the story from an actor’s perspective.
The rest of the cast is comprised of relatively unknown character actors (that’s how you keep the budget tight.
It should be ready to make film-festival rounds sometime this year.
Knoxville, Posey make holiday ‘Fruitcake’
John Waters’ latest project, the family-friendly Christmas movie "Fruitcake," finally has the beginnings of its cooler-than-cool cast, with the signing of Parker Posey and Johnny Knoxville to star in the main adult roles.
The title, however, is also the name of the story’s protagonist, a little boy (yet to be cast) named "Fruitcake" who runs away from home at Christmas after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat.
On his journey, he meets up with a little girl being raised by two gay men.
Together, the kids go in search of her birth mother.
OK, so it’s not "Miracle on 34th Street." But remember, this is from the man who showed the world 20 years ago that he could make a plenty strange and still sweet family film called "Hairspray."
So there’s nothing to stop this promises-to-be-weird holiday confection from reaching the same wide audience.
Payne ‘Hung’ up at HBO
Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Payne (for "Sideways," not his little-used-but-still-credit-getting screenplay for "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry") has a new project up his sleeve. And it’s about what’s in one man’s pants.
"Hung," a comedy pilot on track at HBO, will be Payne’s TV-directing debut, from a script by Dmitry Lipkin, creator of "The Riches."
And the subject matter? What happens when an average, middle-aged basketball coach learns how to put his exceptionally large penis to better use.
No actor has signed on yet to play the gifted guy, but casting is scheduled to begin soon.
If picked up for series, it will be, at the very least, the first show of its kind. But will there be a "Boogie Nights"-style reveal shot? Or will it remain a mystery?
Either way, expect a big deal to made about this one.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 16, 2008.