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Update -
10/28/06:
 The
AFI (American Film Institute) Fest will take place
November 1-12 in Los Angeles and among the 36 films
competing in the International Shorts category will be
APPARENT HORIZON, a 22-minute short starring
Peter and Matthew Carey. The film is referred to as an
AFI thesis film, written and directed by Thymaya Payne.
It will make its premiere on November 6th with a second
screening the following day. Peter plays a tortured,
lonely widower named Joseph Delaney, who marries Kama, a
Thai mail-order bride. She agrees to come to Glendale,
California, in an attempt to live out the American
Dream. When she moves in with Joseph and his family, she
realizes that the ideal American life she has signed up
for is an illusion. Unable to cope with the emptiness of
his life, Joseph pulls Kama and his whole family into
the black hole of his demons. When Kama is soon
attracted to Joseph's son Billy, a mentally challenged,
but gifted boy, a family feud grows deadly. The film was
shot a year ago in South Pasadena and Burbank, CA.
Peter
played host on Monday evening at the Commonwealth
Club of California's Medallion Speaker Series.
Musician and huminitarian Carlos Santana and his wife
Deborah were invited to speak at the club's prestigious
public affairs forum. The couple promoted the Milagro
Foundation, their nonprofit organization, as well as
Deborah's book "Spaces Between the Stars."
 PBS
recently aired "Oceans in Glass: Behind the Scenes of
the Monterey Bay Aquarium" narrated by Peter.
This intriguing documentary offers a rare glimpse at the
complex operations required to create and maintain the
magical exhibits of more than 35,000 animals and plants,
and chronicles how the aquarium successfully exhibited a
great white shark for a record-breaking 198 days. The
film also includes a number of fascinating features of
the aquarium, including a kelp forest, a jelly farm and
a pipe-cleaning pig, as wel as a hair-raising brush with
danger as two divers swim with a deadly great white
shark. "Oceans in Glass" is a production of Sea Studios
Foundation and Thirteen/WNET New York and is available
on the Nature series DVD called "Ocean Wonders.
Update -
10/4/06:
Green
Planet Films has announced the rollout of their new
initiative, a bi-monthly podcast focusing on
environmental films. Called Greenstream, your
source for eco film news, the podcast was created by
Green Planet Films, a nonprofit environmental DVD
distributor. Segments include eco film news, a featured
DVD, wildlife and environmental film festival updates,
and an interview with selected guests related to these
films and supporting services. Greenstream's featured
guests on the first two episodes will be Peter, the
voice behind many eco documentaries. I just finished
listening to Peter's interview and as usual, he's
terribly interesting and funny as well. He hits upon
several topics, including a new project of his called "Outside
the Box," which will be featured on Link TV. The
pilot will focus on energy issues. He also mentions
working on a script that's a fictionalized version of
his book, Sleeping Where I
Fall. You can access the podcast by
clicking here.
 There's
a 55-minute documentary directed by Jim Charleston and
narrated by Peter called "Raise the Bar". The
film highlights the National High School Mock Trial
Competition and follows schools
across the country as they put their knowledge of law to the
ultimate test. The filmmakers follow several teams and
their coaches as they navigate the intricacies of the
judicial system, while also drawing on their acting and
speaking skills. At each round, a bona fide judge
presides over the proceedings and renders verdicts on
how the teams presented their cases. Tension and
anticipation mount as state champions all over the U.S.
head to Florida for the finals. Team goes against team
until representatives from the last two states battle in
the final. More details and purchase information can be
found at
this link.
SHADOWS
OF ATTICUS, a Waldo West Production, is slated for
release on March 7, 2007. However, in an interview last
week in the Kansas City Star, Peter's co-star, Bruce Heinrich,
revealed it might be
screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Heinrich, who plays Jude Law's father in All the
King's Men, also said the name may be changed to THE
LONG ROAD HOME.
California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill,
SB1379, sponsored by Democratic Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata of Oakland, creating the nation’s first
biomonitoring program to measure chemical
contamination in the general public. Dangerous amounts
of toxic chemicals such as mercury and the pesticide DDT
were found in the bodies of our very own Coyote,
newspaper columnist Steve Lopez and other prominent
Californians during sample tests conducted to promote
the bill this year. The new law will make the results of
voluntary testing available to public health planners.
Update -
09/21/06:
 Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced the release
of its direct-to-DVD sequel BEHIND ENEMY LINES II:
AXIS OF EVIL. The DVD includes an audio commentary
by writer/director James Dodson as well as two
featurettes. The action-packed sequel follows a team of
Navy Seals on a top-secret mission to North Korea, where
they plan to destroy a missile site. But when things
don't go as planned, four of the men find themselves
stranded, forced to take on rogue elements as they fight
their way to safety. First, however, they must make sure
their mission is carried out, saving the world in the
process. Coyote gets to play the US President this
time around! The cast includes Matt Bushell, Keith
David, Bruce McGill, Nicholas Gonzalez and Shane
Edelman. This DVD will be available on October 17, 2006,
as both a standalone release and coupled with the
original film in a two-pack. You can check out the
trailer at the IMDB.
 There's
a documentary in production called "Call of Life:
Facing the Mass Extinction," produced by Species
Alliance and narrated by Peter. The film explores the
mass extinction, its six main causes, the cultural myths
and values that drive it, the psychology that underpins
it, and the latest insights into natural systems that
could help us turn back the tide. In interviews with
leading psychologists, historians and anthropologists,
the inextricable links between the extinction crisis and
social and economic problems are examined. Also explored
are the ways in which culture and psychology have
conspired to determine our collective and individual
response to this situation. The filmmakers hope to
present their film in upcoming film festivals. A
ten-minute video of the feature-length film can be
viewed here. |
