The Official Peter Coyote Web Site

Coymoon Creations


SPRING 2010
NEWSLETTER

May 30, 2010

Coyote fans have been writing in inquiring about the new iPad commercial - "is that Peter's voice?" Well, yes it is! It debuted on May 12th during Fox's "American Idol". If you haven't had a chance to view this new ad, you can watch it here at youtube

At the end of last year Peter filmed the western, THE GUNDOWN, in Cochise County in Arizona. Fellow cast members included William Shockley and Sheree Wilson. Set in the Arizona desert in 1893, the plot focuses on an ambitious and ruthless saloon owner, Travis McCain (Shockley), who has come to oppose the more benign Thomas Morgan (Coyote), who runs the other tavern. Wilson plays Sarah, Morgan's wife. Gammons Gulch Movie Set & Museum provided the location for the production, overseen by Dustin Rickert, the director, co-writer and co-producer. The signing of the film came about due to an interest by the non-profit Southeast Arizona Economic Development Group in re-establishing movie-making efforts in that part of the state. True West Magazine asked Peter how he got involved in the movie.

“Really it’s about supporting William Shockley,” he admits, “because Bill and I did a TV movie [Last Will] that hasn’t been released yet. We also have the same voiceover agent, and we get along; we have a lot of similar values.

“I do have a love for Westerns. My dad raised cattle, and I grew up around horses and cattle in the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania. We had another ranch in Harlingen, Texas, because he had a business partner down there. All little kids want to be cowboys, and we had cowboys running around the place. I was never a great athlete, but I know how to rope and dally and I’ve worked cattle, so it’s fun to come out here and work out these fantasies and just get paid for it.

“And I like this guy Dustin. You know, my wife was the film commissioner of San Francisco, and it cost her four years and blood to get a two-percent rebate out of San Francisco to attract production companies. So here we are in Cochise County, and these guys have built this little village - they’ve ponied up money, they’ve built the bar. These cowboys and farmers, they understand the utility of film. As much as anything I want to come here and support that community.”

May 10, 2010

On Thursday evening, May 13th, Peter will once again guest star as President Dave Segovia on ABC's "FlashForward". The episode is called "The Negotiation". He first appeared on the successful sci-fi series last October.

Described as a story of deception, corruption and misguided family loyalities, LAST WILL is now in post production. Principal photography took place in Missouri in 20 locations around the Kansas City area in the fall of 2008. Directed by Brent Huff and based on a screenplay by Alan Moscowitz, the suspenseful drama tells the story of Hayden Emery (Tatum O'Neal), who is framed for the murder of her wealthy husband Frank (Tom Berenger). With all the evidence stacked against her, Detective Sloan (James Brolin) arrests her and Hayden finds herself in the fight of her life as she tries to uncover the truth. Peter plays Michael Garner, the crooked judge who is instrumental in the plot against Hayden succeeding.

The Coyote Howl: "I have a growing intuition that the computer and online culture, as much as it has made incredible amounts of information available to citizens, has also served to fragment and pacify them. We sit around blogging and 'communicating' instead of being out in the street and making governance impossible. I came of age at a time when millions of young people were doing exactly that. In the last months of his last term, Lyndon Johnson could not govern. In the last three months of his, George Bush was still making a lot of trouble. What’s the difference? No one was in the streets. I think we need to get boots on the ground and join hands across social sectors and peer groups; get back to old-fashioned organizing and bring things to a halt until they begin to change. But hey, I’m an old man now, and one of the things about being old in a youth culture is that no one (or almost no one) listens to you."

April 11, 2010

Later this month the Newport Beach Film Festival will be featuring an exciting new British documentary narrated by Peter. It's called "Free Wheels East" and tells the inspiring story of two young Englishmen who, without any experience of the world or any training, forge a ridiculous plan to ride bicycles in every continent without using airplanes. In this epic three-year journey, beginning in 2005, cousins Ben Wylson and Jamie Mackenzie defy the social order to set out into the unknown. They battle through landslides and over mountains; they cross deserts and somehow hitch lifts across all of the world's great oceans. It seems nothing can stop them. In filming this astonishing adventure, Jamie and Ben have created a beautiful work which carriers the viewers along with them. Their pioneering use of on-bike photography and their light-hearted approach make this a compelling 92-minute documentary. To read more about this indomitable duo, follow this link.

For those fans who are awaiting Peter's second guest appearance on ABC's "Flash Forward", his name is NOT on the cast list for the next two episodes airing April 15 and 22. I'll continue to keep your posted.

April 8, 2010

In his continuing effort to share his voice in the political arena, Peter offers his opinion today at AolNews.com. Over 65 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a dream for a better world with his suggestion of a second Bill of Rights, which sadly never materialized. Obviously Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein agrees with Peter with his 2004 book, "The Second Bill of Rights: FDR's Unfinished Revolution - And Why We Need It More Than Ever". It's worth noting that Mr. Sunstein is presently taking a leave of absence to work for the Obama administration. Kudos!

There's an interesting behind-the-scenes interview with Peter regarding his recent work on the Mexican-financed film, THIS IS NOT A MOVIE, directed by Olallo Rubio. I originally posted news on this project back in the summer of 2008 when it was being shot in Mexico. In this new interview, Peter speaks highly of his co-star, Edward Furlong, best known for his role in the 1991 action thriller, "The Terminator: Judgment Day." If you click on the above poster, it'll take you to the video link.

March 17, 2010

As many of you know, Ken Burns has become one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Back in the fall of 2009, PBS broadcast "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea". The six-part series, narrated by Peter, focused on the ideas and individuals that helped propel the parks into existence. Ken Burns will once again enlighten us with a three-part, six-hour documentary called "Prohibition". The film series, now in production, will again be narrated by Peter and is tentatively scheduled to be broadcast on PBS later this year. The story of Prohibition’s rise and fall is a compelling saga that goes far beyond the oft-told tales of gangsters, rum runners, flappers, and speakeasies, to reveal a complicated and divided nation in the throes of momentous transformation. According to Peter, "The parallels to today are frightening, especially in how Prohibition created 'organized' crime, and increased the value of liquor logarhythymically."

Earlier this month it was announced that Warner Bros. has acquired Spanish rights to Peter's latest film, DI DI HOLLYWOOD,  the showbiz-set drama by helmer Bigas Luna. Starring Spanish sex-symbol Elsa Pataki, the film follows an actress who travels to Hollywood pursuing her dream of success. "Di Di" is the second part of a trilogy focused on young women trying to escape their humble pasts. The film's producers include Spain's Malvarrosa Media, Canica Films and El Virgili Films. Spanish pubcasters TVE and TV3 and Gallic paybox Canal Plus have all nabbed TV rights. Warners Bros. will release the film in Spain in the fall.  Peter says he became fast friends with Elsa and co-star Paul Sculfour during production and is "looking forward to seeing the film with eagerness." If you click on the above photo, the link will take you to a short teaser trailer. The photo below is a candid one of Peter with his female pals from the film crew - Claudia, Alva, and Vanessa.

Coyote man will soon be headed to LA to tape another episode of "FlashForward" reprising his role as President Dave Segovia. The sci-fi TV series premiered on ABC last September with Peter making a guest appearance in "Gimme Some Truth", the fifth episode. The second season will have a two-hour opener tomorrow evening and a two-hour finale on May 27th. I will try to give a heads up when I have any info on which episode he will be appearing in. Here are some photos from the episode that aired on October 22, 2009:

After spending two years of extensive reading and research, Peter, the writer, is hard at work on the  third draft of a new book called "Lies That Blind: The Education of an Angry Man." He describes it as a political book written in narrative form telling how he learned certain things as a child and how those lessons have affected how he sees the world as an adult. His memoir, "Sleeping Where I Fall" was published back in 1998 and a second edition was released last summer.

"Crimes of Opportunity", one of Peter's film scripts is getting a re-write these days with hopes that it will finally be seen on the big screen. What an exciting thought! The drama was originally co-written with Sylvia Peto, a Seattle-based author. It involves a character called Eddie Malick, modeled loosely on Jack Henry Abbott, the convicted murderer and would-be writer whose case was championed by Norman Mailer. Less than six weeks after Mr. Abbott's 1981 release from a Utah prison, while on a parole partly sponsored by Mr. Mailer, Mr. Abbott killed an actor and playwright working as a waiter at an East Village restaurant. "Crimes of Opportunity" links the convict and his literary aspirations to an equally ambitious local television personality, adding a love story to the mix.