Tag Archives: paul haggis

This year, with the appointment of Fest veteran Jon Fitzgerald as Executive Director of the 17th Annual Hollywood Film Festival, films that matter will have an opportunity to be showcased in the heart of Hollywood.
Fitzgerald will be working closely with festival founder Carlos de Abreu, and will be in charge of development, artistic direction, programming, marketing and overall Festival management, as well as the Hollywood Gives Back® Project.
Hollywood Gives Back® with CineCause, will be showcasing the other side of Hollywood, celebrating the Industry’s creative artists who have supported causes around the world. These efforts will be presented through the CineCause Spotlight section of the Festival, connecting social impact films with related causes.
The Hollywood Gives Back® mandate is to give a voice to the voiceless through the visual and new mediums, highlighting social and human conditions worldwide, and recognizing people and organizations that have contributed to the betterment of their communities or society at large by bestowing the Hollywood Gives Back Awards®.
In addition, through the Hollywood Gives Back® program, the Hollywood Gives Back Awards selects individuals to be recipients of the “Hollywood Humanitarian Awards®” in recognition of their contribution to the betterment of their communities or society at large.
Prior recipients of the “Hollywood Gives Back Awards®” include Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of East Timor, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Father Rick Frechette and actor and activist Sean Penn.
Over the years, the Hollywood Film Festival® and Hollywood Gives Back® program have contributed to such organizations as: The Art of Elysium, Artists For Human Rights; Artists for Peace and Justice; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; the Enough Project; MatchingDonors.com; Screen Actors Guild Foundation; and the children’s charity Variety SoCal among others.

“We greatly appreciate all you have done for us through the Hollywood Gives Back Awards® and our “Everybody Can Save a Life!” video contest. Your efforts have saved many lives.” – Paul Dooley, CEO- MatchingDonors.com
“Because of the generosity of The Hollywood Gives Back Awards®, we have just opened our new building at the Academy for Peace and Justice, the first free secondary school serving the very poor in Port-au-Prince… It is because of YOU that we are able to help change the lives of the poorest children of Haiti — children whose names I would love you to get to know, and whose faces I would love you to see.” – Director Paul Haggis for [...]

HollywoodNews.com: Artists for Peace and Justice offer exclusive opportunity to dine with Hollywood A-Listers thanks to Hollywood Film Awards’ Hollywood Gives Back(r).
Ten tables up for grabs for star-studded Hollywood Film Awards® with 100% of proceeds benefiting Haiti’s school system through the Academy for Peace and Justice Los Angeles, California. On October 22, 2012,120 individuals will not only have the exclusive privilege of attending the Hollywood Film Awards®, but by attending, they will be making a difference in the future of children in Haiti.
Through the Hollywood Gives Back(r) initiative, the Hollywood Film Awards® have generously donated ten tables to Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ). Purchasers of the 12 seat tables will wine and dine with Hollywood’s A-list crowd, with 100% of the funds raised from table sales contributed for the construction of a new wing at the Academy for Peace and Justice in Port-au-Prince.

“Currently more than half of Haiti’s population is illiterate, but with the Academy for Peace and Justice, we are working to change the statistics,” said Oscar-winning filmmaker and Artists For Peace and Justice Founder, Paul Haggis. “We are so grateful for The Hollywood Film Awards initiative which is an incredibly generous gift that will support both the education system and the country’s future.”
Created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, the 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards® is a prestigious celebration of the motion picture art form. The launch event of Hollywood’s award season, the celebrity-attended Hollywood Film Awards® Gala Ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel is a night of true star-studded glamor.
Director Paul Haggis at 2011 Hollywood Film Awards Gala
Committed to bringing together established Hollywood celebrities and the global creative community, discovering talented emerging filmmakers, and honoring Hollywood’s finest established professionals, The Hollywood Awards® draws more than 1,000 guests. Prior Hollywood Awards events have included stars such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Glenn Close, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Jamie Foxx, Richard Gere, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Ron Howard, Janet Jackson, Angelina Jolie, George Lucas, Rachel McAdams, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Keanu Reeves, Susan Sarandon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, John Travolta, Naomi Watts, Michelle Williams, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among many others.
APJ is an organization dedicated to encouraging peace and social justice, while addressing issues [...]

HollywoodNews.com: The Festival de Cannes celebrated Haiti: Carnival in Cannes Friday night, a benefit event presented by Giorgio Armani in support of Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO), Paul Haggis’ Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) and Petra Nemcova’s Happy Heart’s Fund (HHF), for their united and extraordinary work in Haiti. The charities? unity reflects their collective belief that more can be accomplished by working in partnership than alone. This event is the first of its kind for the Festival de Cannes since holding benefit screenings in 1984 and 1996. Additionally, this is the first time that three charities have come together with the support of the festival for one very important cause. Preliminary calculations of money raised total over $2 million.
An A-list crowd “the sort only the Festival de Cannes can procure” joined Penn, Haggis and Nemcova to offer their support. Guests included Gerard Butler, Diane Kruger, Jessica Chastain, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Ewan McGregor, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tom Hardy, Robert De Niro, Sean Combs, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, Harvey Weinstein and more. Event Chairs Giorgio Armani, Roberta Armani, CAA’s Bryan Lourd, MPAA Chairman and CEO Chris Dodd and the Festival’s own Thierry Frémaux were also in attendance. Singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett performed three songs for the intimate gathering. President of Haiti Michel Martelly gave a taped video speech in appreciation of the work of the three organizations led by Penn, Haggis and Nemcova.
A live auction took place and featured many once in a lifetime experiences and items for guests to bid on. The lot that grossed the most money came from an impromptu auction of Sean Penn to spend three days on the ground with him in Haiti. The experience went to three bidders, paying over $128,000 each. Bono’s own guitar and a meet-and-greet with him backstage at one of his shows went for over $215,000, while a lunch with a Victoria’s Secret Angel “along with VIP access to their 2012 fashion show” sold for over $115,000.
At the end of the evening, a Haitian show entitled “Carnival in Cannes” presented a concert of authentic RaRa and Racine music, created with the RAM band, Haiti’s leading Racine group, brought in for the occasion from Haiti. Guests flocked to the stage as the entire room, including Petra Nemcova and Gerard Butler, began dancing in the aisles. The show was co-sponsored by Chopard.
Other auction items included:
· [...]

By Carlos de Abreu
Hollywoodnews.com: Happy Thanksgiving from Hollywood Film Awards, Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywoodnews.com. We want to thank all of our friends, associates, filmmakers and supporters for their continuous support and hard work. Without you we could not pursue our quest of discovering emerging filmmakers, honoring excellence in the art of filmmaking, and helping others through our “Hollywood Gives Back(r)” initiative.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Starz Entertainment, American Cinema Editors, American Society of Cinematographers, ArcLight Cinemas, Art Director’s Guild, The Casting Society of America, Celebrity Services, Columbia Pictures, Creative Artists Agency, DreamWorks SKG, Entertainment Tonight, Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, Gerry Turnbull, The Hollywood Network, HollywoodNews.com, ICM, ILM, Johnny Crawford Orchestra, Los Angeles Times, Motion Picture Editors Guild, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics, Sony Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Variety, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., The Weinstein Company and YAHOO! Movies, Inc., among others.
“We greatly appreciate all you have done for us through the Hollywood Awards and our “Everybody Can Save a Life!” video contest. Your efforts have saved many lives.” – Paul Dooley, CEO- MatchingDonors.com
“Because of the generosity of The Hollywood Awards, we have just opened our new building at the Academy for Peace and Justice, the first free secondary school serving the very poor in Port-au-Prince… It is because of YOU that we are able to help change the lives of the poorest children of Haiti — children whose names I would love you to get to know, and whose faces I would love you to see.” – Director Paul Haggis for Artists for Peace and Justice.
Director Paul Haggis at 2011 Hollywood Film Awards Gala
DO SOME GOOD TODAY. HELP YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY, OR JUST HELP SOMEONE IN NEED
For a 15th consecutive year, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards continue their mandate of bridging the gap between emerging filmmakers and the film industry, as well as recognizing excellence in established Hollywood, both in front and behind the camera.
In addition to celebrating accomplishments on screen, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards established the “Hollywood Gives Back(r)” initiative to expand and continue highlighting and assisting important local and national causes. Over the years, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards have contributed to such organizations as: The Art of Elysium, Artists For Human Rights; Artists for Peace and Justice; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; the Enough Project; and the children’s charity Variety [...]

By Carlos de Abreu
Hollywoodnews.com: We want to thank all of our friends and supporters for their continuous support. Without you we could not pursue our quest of discovering emerging filmmakers, honoring excellence in the art of filmmaking, and helping others through our “Hollywood Gives Back(r)” initiative.
“We greatly appreciate all you have done for us through the Hollywood Awards and our “Everybody Can Save a Life!” video contest. Your efforts have saved many lives.” – Paul Dooley, CEO- MatchingDonors.com
“Because of the generosity of The Hollywood Awards, we have just opened our new building at the Academy for Peace and Justice, the first free secondary school serving the very poor in Port-au-Prince… It is because of YOU that we are able to help change the lives of the poorest children of Haiti — children whose names I would love you to get to know, and whose faces I would love you to see.” – Director Paul Haggis for Artists for Peace and Justice.
Director Paul Haggis at 2011 Hollywood Film Awards Gala
DO SOME GOOD TODAY. HELP YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY, OR JUST HELP SOMEONE IN NEED
For a 15th consecutive year, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards continue their mandate of bridging the gap between emerging filmmakers and the film industry, as well as recognizing excellence in established Hollywood, both in front and behind the camera.
In addition to celebrating accomplishments on screen, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards established the “Hollywood Gives Back(r)” initiative to expand and continue highlighting and assisting important local and national causes. Over the years, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards have contributed to such organizations as: The Art of Elysium, Artists For Human Rights; Artists for Peace and Justice; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; the Enough Project; and the children’s charity Variety SoCal among others.
Further, the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards selects individuals to be recipients of their “Hollywood Humanitarian Awards (TM)” in recognition of their contribution to the betterment of their communities or society at large. Prior recipients include Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of East Timor, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Father Rick Frechette and actor and activist Sean Penn.
Sean Penn receiving his Hollywood Humanitarian Award at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony
Called the “first mandatory stop in the awards season” by the “New York Times,” the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood [...]

By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: The Toronto International Film Festival receives a ton of credit for attracting as many stars for its red carpets and Gala screenings as its does commendable films with awards aspirations. But as with any behemoth (and believe me, TIFF is a monster), there’s always someone in the rear view looking to take your place.
Could the Zurich Film Festival become the next must-attend film festival on the movie lover’s calendar?
THR reports that “The Help” stars Viola Davis and Emma Stone are flying to Zurich to walk the red carpet and help promote their red-hot smash hit. Tate Taylor’s adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel closes the fest on Oct. 2, and will use the opportunity to keep the August release on awards trackers’ radars as the season rolls on.
But Davis and Stone aren’t alone. Laurence Fishburne presides over this year’s Zurich jury. Jeremy Irons, Sean Penn, Paul Haggis and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu also plan on attending this year’s festivities, And, as reported, Roman Polanski plans to attend and receive a career award he was supposed to pick up two years ago.
As for the fest’s schedule, it’s brimming with Oscar-caliber titles such as George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” Michel Hazanavicius’s winning “The Artist,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method,” Jonathan Levine’s “50/50,” Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball,” and Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia.”
The Zurich Film Festival kicks off on Sept. 22, and runs through Oct. 2. And as of now, I’m paying close attention.
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HollywoodNews.com: Columbia Pictures has acquired United States distribution rights to the forthcoming motion picture from Oscar®-winners Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, director and screenwriter, respectively, of the Best Picture-winning film The Hurt Locker, it was announced today by Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The untitled film focuses on the black ops mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, which culminated in his death earlier this month during a high-stakes raid on his compound in Pakistan. Bigelow and Boal have been developing the project since 2008 and plan to incorporate recent events into the film.
Boal and Bigelow will produce the project, along with Annapurna Picture’s Megan Ellison, and executive producer, Greg Shapiro, with production slated to commence in the late summer of 2011. The film will be released in the United States in the 4th quarter of 2012.
Commenting on the announcement, Pascal said, “With the death of Osama bin Laden, this film could not be more relevant. Kathryn and Mark have an outstanding perspective on the team that was hunting the most wanted man in the world. . Mark is second to none as an investigative journalist, and Kathryn will bring the same kind of compelling authenticity and urgency that distinguished The Hurt Locker and made that film so memorable and special.”
KATHRYN BIGELOW won Academy Awards® for directing and producing her most recent feature film, The Hurt Locker, a look at an elite Explosive Ordinance Disposal squad in Iraq. The film starred Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, and won a total of six Oscars®, including Best Picture. Bigelow’s other films include Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days, The Weight of Water, and K-19: The Widowmaker.
MARK BOAL won the Academy Award® for his original screenplay for The Hurt Locker. He also won an Oscar® for producing the Best Picture winner. As an investigative reporter, he has written for such national publications as Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Brill’s Content, Mother Jones, and Playboy. In 2003, he wrote Death and Dishonor, the true story of a military veteran who goes searching for his missing son, which later became the basis for Paul Haggis’s follow up to Crash, In the Valley of Elah, released by Warner Bros. in 2007. Boal collaborated with Paul Haggis on the script and shares a co-story credit on the film.
MEGAN ELLISON is the owner and CEO [...]

HollywoodNews.com: Tonight’s the annual amFAR dinner. But with no Sharon Stone (she was ousted last year in a political squabble), the once mighty AIDS fundraiser has been eclipsed. In the last three days, Sean Penn, director Paul Haggis, and supermodel Naomi Campbell have tapped the wealthy mainstays of Cannes for their own important causes–Haiti, and Japan. Last night, Penn’s J/P Foundation raised between $500,000 and $700,000 at a swanky dinner at the Carlton Hotel.
Philanthropist Ella Krasner hosted Robert and Grace DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jane Fonda, Richard Perry, Uma Thurman, Naomi Campbell, Ryan Gosling, Rosario Dawson, Faye Dunaway, Roberta Armani (a sponsor), the people from Maybach autos, a Saudi prince, Harvey Weinstein and a roomful of 200 or so people who sported diamonds and more diamonds. Sean, who is so passionate about Haiti, spoke eloquently and persuasively before auctioning off rare items like walking the red carpet with him and Thurman on Friday for the premiere of his film, “This Must Be The Place.”
Uma, by the way, donated a huge but undisclosed amount to the cause. She told me: “Life has been good to me, I’m lucky. So I want to give back.” She’s a peach.
Then: everyone headed to the Martinez Hotel for Paul Haggis’s Artists for Peace and Justice. That’s where siblings Jane and Peter Fonda ran into each other, and Haggis entertained stars from all the movies here. Money from both events went to Haiit relief. Earlier in the week, Naomi Campbell raised around $1 million for Japan relief with her fashion show.
The only big party that raised no money this week: Microsoft co founder Paul Allen fielded about half a dozen stars and tons of extras to his behemoth Octopus yacht. Allen, recovering from lymphoma, played the guitar with his rock band while guests got to see his full sized yellow submarine. Allen donated around $14 million to various charities in 2009, but on Tuesday night the party “was just to show off how much money he has,” a celebrity guest told me.
Not at Allen’s shindig: DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, or even Harvey Weinstein. And of course, no press allowed.
Tonight: the AmFAR event, with no Sharon Stone, actress/model Milla Jovovich singing a song, a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, and two songs from a surprise guest that’s supposed to be Janet Jackson but very likely is someone else. But in Cannes: the premiere of [...]

By Roger Friedman
HollywoodNews.com: The New Yorker– venerable and respected–has taken on the Church of Scientology.
Lawrence Wright’s piece, called “The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology,” chronicles the Oscar winning screenwriter and film director’s departure from Scientology after 34 years. It’s something this reporter has written about often, not only Haggis’s exit but that of other Hollywood stars. Wright goes even further: he has actor Josh Brolin describe his brief encounter with Scientology. It scared him. Brolin–smart, respected–has taken a big chance here because Scientology is vindictive. They’ve already called him a liar less than 24 hours since his anecdote was published.
I know Josh Brolin, and he’s no liar. He says he saw John Travolta try to “heal” Marlon Brando using Scientology techniques. “It was f–ing bizarre,” Brolin said.
I told readers of this column last year that Haggis left Scientology for two reasons: their campaign for Prop 8 against gay marriage, and for their treatment of former members. Haggis told me that when his in-laws left the Church, he and his wife were told to have nothing to do with them anymore. They banned the Haggis’s child from seeing his grandparents. This went on for a year, Paul told me. The toll it took was brutal on the family. Haggis’s in laws sued to see their grandson. Finally, Haggis and his wife, actress Deborah Rennard, caved in, reunited with the grandparents, and exited Scientology. The whole story, in detail, is in The New Yorker piece.
For years I’ve written about the horrors of Scientology, right up through Kelly Preston, John Travolta’s wife, confronting me in Memphis on the night before Isaac Hayes’s bizarre Scientology tinged funeral. Preston and Tommy Davis, chief celebrity wrangler for Scientology, then went to my bosses at Fox News to complain about me. Or more. I’ve also written about Tom Cruise‘s antics, Kirstie Alley‘s Scientology based diet plan, about Davis’s wife, Jessica Feschbach, who was Katie Holmes’s “monitor” when she first was scooped up into Cruise’s world and cut off from family and friends. I also wrote about actor Jason Beghe, and how he escaped after 14 years. And lots more. Lawrence Wright‘s piece–which is long and incredibly detailed and comprehensive–is a brilliant job and a must read.
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hollywoodnews.com: “There’s no end point,” he says, drained to the point of collapsing. “This is where I’ll be when I’m not working, for the rest of my life.”
“The Hollywood Reporter” reports on how, after one year after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, Sean Penn, Paul Haggis, Maria Bello and their friends are still fighting for Haiti’s survival amid unspeakable horror.
To read more about this article go to hollywoodreporter.com
About Sean Penn:
Two-time Academy Award® winner Sean Penn has become an American film icon in a career spanning nearly three decades. Penn has been nominated five times for the Academy Award® as Best Actor for “Dead Man Walking,” “Sweet and Lowdown,” “I Am Sam” and won his first Oscar® in 2003 for his searing performance in Clint Eastwood’s “Mystic River” and his second Oscar® as Best Actor in 2009 for Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.” The performance as gay rights icon Harvey Milk also garnered Penn “Best Actor” awards from The Screen Actors Guild, New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
As a journalist, Penn has written for Time, Interview, Rolling Stone and The Nation magazines. In 2004, Penn wrote a two-part feature in The San Francisco Chronicle after a second visit to the war-torn Iraq. In 2005, he wrote a five-part feature in the same paper reporting from Iran during the election which led to the Ahmadinejad regime. Penn’s landmark interviews with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and Cuba’s President Raul Castro, were published in The Nation and The Huffington Post. Penn’s interview with President Castro was the first-ever interview with an international journalist.
Penn’s humanitarian work has found him in New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and more recently in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. In January 2010, Penn founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization which focuses on medical aid, protection, and re-location. His organization is currently serving as UN IOM designated Camp Management for one of the largest IDP camps in Port-au-Prince and established the first emergency re-location in the country. They work with both government and non government agencies to deliver immediate results where the need is greatest. Their efforts include but are not limited to providing emergency medical and primary care services, delivering badly needed medical equipment and medicine, distributing food and water purification systems, improving communication systems, and rubble removal in the neighborhoods surrounding the Petionville Camp when they are camp managers. J/P HRO’s goal is to [...]