The Official Peter Coyote Web Site

Coymoon Creations

SUMMER 2002 NEWSLETTER


Update - August 1:

The public television documentary "Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota", narrated by Coyote, won two more awards in recent months. A letter came last week announcing a CINE Golden Eagle Award for excellence in filmmaking. And last month at Book Expo in New York, it won a Benjamin Franklin Award from the Publisher's Marketing Association for Best Video. The documentary tells the story of frontier soldier-artist Seth Eastman, who captured a visual record of traditional Native American life in the upper Mississippi Valley in the early nineteenth century. "Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota" was a co-production of Twin Cities Public Television and Afton Historical Society Press and will be distributed to public television stations this November for Native American Heritage Month.

Peter Coyote was at the Rafael theater in San Rafael recently to see My Wife Is an Actress. He told The Chronicle's Rob Hurwitt that Yvan Attal, director of that movie, is acting with him in Bon Voyage. Coyote, who plays a British spy, will be speaking French (he's "pretty good, " he says) and German ("I'm learning it phonetically; it's great fun but a lot of work").

The Northfork film page has been added with a 5/3/02 article from the Great Falls Tribune on the making of this film in Montana.

Update - July 1:
If you're interested in the filming of the comedy, The Hebrew Hammer, in NYC recently, read the New York Observer article now posted. Adam Goldberg (A Beautiful Mind) stars as The Hebrew Hammer, a handsome Orthodox Jewish boy who tries to save Hanukkah from being taken over by Christmas. The cast includes Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, Judy Greer, Coyote, Nora Dunn and Tony Cox. You can also check out the production notes on the Coyote TV film called Phenomenon.

Update - June 1:
division.jpg (13097 bytes)Remember on Sunday, June 2nd and 9th, Coyote will have a guest appearance on the Lifetime Cable Series, The Division, which explores the personal and professional lives of a group of female police officers in San Francisco. Peter takes on the role of boyfriend to Capt. Kate McCafferty, played by Bonnie Bedelia. In the first episode, "Brave New World", Captain Kate McCafferty (Bedelia) becomes friends with a restaurant owner (Coyote) after a string of bad experiences with a dating service. Looking for someone to escort her to a wedding, she gladly accepts his offer. In the second episode, "Secrets, Lies and Weddings", they attend Inspector Magda Ramirez's wedding.

Coyote has finished filming Northfork, the third film of a trilogy penned by identical twin brothers, Mark and Michael Polish. His next film is Phenomenon, a made-for-television movie based on the 1996 John Travolta movie of the same name. Coyote's role is a good fit - a Berkeley professor. Phenomenon is currently scheduled to air during the 2002-03 season on ABC.

There are two more films coming up. He will play a British spy named Winkler in a French film called Bon Voyage, directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Cyrano de Bergerac). It's a WW II romantic drama with a cast that includes Gerard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani, Virginie Ledoyen, Gregori Derangere and Yvan Attal. The release date has been set for Easter 2003. The second one is The Hebrew Hammer, a comedy about a Jewish super-hero. Peter will play the head of the Jewish Justice League, a kind of crime-busters outfit. For more details on these movies, see the Spring newsletter

walk2a.jpg (15405 bytes)You'll be able to purchase the DVD and video of A Walk to Remember on July 9, 2002. The DVD sells at $19.99 and the video at $16.99. Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, the film takes place in a small Southern community during the 1950s. Landon, the teenage son (Shane West) of a wealthy family finds himself strangely attracted to an unpopular classmate, Jamie (Mandy Moore), the shy daughter of the town's Baptist minister (Coyote). When the two finally come together, they realize the ignorance of the preconceived notions about each other. Coyote comments on the making of the film -  A Walk to Remember was a really pleasant experience. The director, Adam Shankman, runs an easy, family-style set and is very, very, relaxed. Mandy Moore and Shane West, besides being totally professional and prepared, were lovely people to spend time with. I really enjoyed myself, and enjoyed Wilmington, NC where the story was shot". ..."A love story so sweet, sincere and positive that it sneaks past the defenses built up in this age of irony"...Roger Ebert

et2s.jpg (15489 bytes)When the 20th anniversary special edition of E.T. was released recently, Peter was only too happy to talk to Clint Morris of Moviehole about what he remembered. "When I was first hired for E.T., it was for 38 days. It was my 'fall' movie, that was all. Of course I knew who Steven Spielberg was, but that was it. It was a job, and lots of fun. Not only did it not have blockbuster written all over it, but Steven was very nervous. It was his little, personal picture and he seemed unsure about it, because it was so close to him. Once Steven told Director of Cinematography Allan Daviau that he wanted 'blue' light for a particular sequence. We came back 40 minutes later and when Steven walked in, he announced the obvious, The light isn't blue.' Allan began a long lecture about 'lumens of light' and why you could not put more blue gel on the lamps than he had. Steven abruptly grabbed a roll of blue gel and began wrapping it around the lamps. At a certain point he stepped back, and 'presto' - the light was blue. The man knew what he wanted.”

"I was also really pleased with the chemistry that my character, Keys, had with Henry Thomas's Elliot. There’s a scene in the hospital when I talk to Elliot and confide that I too had been waiting for E.T. and that I'm so glad that he found Elliot. I like it because it makes my character human, and in continuity with Elliot. It doesn't demonize either adulthood or science, and that was important to me also. Any movie which has touched millions and millions of people must have something going for it and E.T. does. The performances are wonderful. The story will make you laugh and (I dare you not to) cry. It's wonderfully conceived and shot, and it's a touching story carefully told. It has no sex or violence in it and yet is totally satisfying to four year olds and forty year olds. What's not to like. It's a great movie!’

By the way, according to Variety (6/9/02), both the original and re-release of E.T. will be available in a limited DVD Collector's Edition ($22.95) on October 22 for 10 weeks only before the title goes on moratorium indefinitely.

The company, SkyDancer.TV, was launched last year as a collaboration between the Oneida Nation and Sonny Skyhawk and Dan Jones, two veteran American Indian entertainment professionals. The premise of SkyDancer.TV is to help promote American Indians in the entertainment industry through television, film and news media. The duo filmed 40 hours of footage during the 2001 Crow Fair at the Little Bighorn in Montana. From the raw footage, a sales tape was made with narration by Peter. NBC is in the process of pitching the four-minute tape to various cable companies. Dan Jones comments that, "Peter is very supportive of American Indians and his voice is extremely recognizable. He's also agreed to narrate the one-hour show, 'The World of American Indian Dance', which is the next step in the company's three-year plan.

Over a year ago, it was announced that Peter was doing a narration for an epic documentary called "The Shape of Life". This compelling eight-hour series uses scientific investigation and discovery to chronicle the dramatic rise of the animal kingdom. By exploring the major body plans upon which virtually all animal life is built, the series seeks to answer fundamental questions of animal behavior, body design and evolution. Hi-definition digital video and innovative camera techniques bring creatures rarely filmed into viewers’ living rooms with startling clarity and vivid reality. It is produced by Sea Studios Foundation for National Geographic Television and Film in association with PBS and is being presented domestically in association with KCET/Hollywood and also distributed internationally through Explore International. Available as a four-disc DVD set (480 minutes), "The Shape of Life" is available for purchase at $79.98 at shop.pbs.org.