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November 7, 2008
 Peter
will be doing a reading of Emmett Grogan's "Ringolevio:
A Life Played for Keeps" at 7 pm on December 10th at
the Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. in Corte Madera,
CA. Peter wrote the introduction to the book, when it
was published in 1990. You can read
it here.
The
1996 film, "Missing in Tibet", narrated by both
Peter and Goldie Hawn, recently won an award for the
best Human Rights Film at the Eighth Annual Taos
Mountain Film Festival last month. The 30-minute
documentary tells the harrowing tale of political
persecution in Tibet. The film has previously been aired
on several PBS stations.
October 8, 2008
 The
Retail Alliance in Norfolk. Virginia, convened a "Go
Green" summit on Tuesday at Christopher Newport
University. Representatives from government, business
and environmental groups met to discuss their ideas on
how to reduce the use of plastic bags and encourage
recycling. Peter was brought in to facilitate the
meeting. It's estimated that 100 billion plastic bags
are thrown away each year. Peter explained, "They're
clogging landfills. They're poisoning wildlife. My guess
is that when everybody cooperates, there will be some
kind of reasonable solution." He admits he takes three
cloth bags whenever he goes to the market. He adds, "I
wonder why it's never a part of the conversation that
people have to change a little bit."
As
you can see from the above recent photo of Peter, he was
growing a beard for an upcoming role. However,
production for WHEN CALLS THE HEART never got off
the ground due to a lack of funding. His next project
instead will be a guest appearancee on NCSI's
Christmas special on CBS.
  ADOPT
A SAILOR has been chosen to screen at The
Women's International Film and Television Showcase. The
exact date and time has yet to be announced, but the
event will be held at the Pacific Design Center in West
Hollywood between December 4th and 7th. Peter is
expected to attend along with Ethan Peck and Kim
Waltrip. The film will also be screened at the Palm
Springs International Film Festival, held from January
6-19, 2009. Peter will attend with writer/director
Charles Evered, cast members Bebe Neuwirth and Ethan
Peck, and producers Kim Waltrip, Sherry Halperin and
Audrey Loggia. Audience response at a September
screening was very positive.
"The
writing is immaculate and Evered did a wonderful job
on his first time out as a director. The cast was
excellent. I didn't realize that Peter could be so
funny. It ran the gamut of emotions."
"Great
story. Wonderful dialogue. Both funny and touching.
The great acting by Bebe and Peter was expected. The
surprise came watching the wonderful performance by
Ethan Peck. Inspirational casting. Kudos all
around."
September 28, 2008
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In Memory
"The same qualities that
made him a charitable and socially engaged
citizen made him a fabulous actor -
selflessness, his unwavering sense of
truthfulness and his compassion. He was one
of those people who just transcended any
genre that you put him in - celebrity, movie
star, beautiful person. His unassailable
integrity was visible from 360 degrees. I'm
just heartbroken to be talking about him
under the circumstances."
...Peter Coyote
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Principal
photography began September 3 on WHEN CALLS THE HEART,
starring Peter, Maggie Grace and Stephen Amell. The feature-length television movie from California-based
Believe Pictures and Edmonton's Jordan Films Inc.
will continue to be shot in and around the Calgary area
through October 9. The screenplay, based on the
novel by Janette Oke, was written by Michael
Landon, Jr., who is also directing the film, "When Calls
the Heart" tells the story of Elizabeth Thatcher
(Grace), a cultured, young Toronto schoolteacher who in
1910 bids farewell to her father (Coyote) to take a
teaching position out west in the hardscrabble Alberta
prairie. Despite the many hardships of her new frontier
life, she cares deeply for her schoolchildren. But she
has closed her heart to love - until she meets Wynn
Delaney (Amell), a member of the Royal North-West
Mounted Police. The film will be broadcast on television
in 2009 in the United States and in Canada.
The
animal rights flick,
ALL ROADS LEAD HOME, had a limited theatrical
release this weekend on 47 screens in four cities -
Minneapolis, Kansas City, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. It
will also be screened on October 16 at the Austin Film
Festival as part of its family film series. The film is recommended for children ages 8 to
12. Critics from the four screening cities
were unfortunately unanimous in their negative comments,
citing the filmmakers for over-quoting "To
Kill a Mockingbird". The film was originally called
"Shadows of Atticus." Sadly, this was the final
big-screen role for actor Peter Boyle, to whom the film
is dedicated.. A DVD release by Anchor Bay
Entertainment is scheduled for January 2009.
Peter
is the narrator for the upcoming documentary, "Torturing
Democracy", written and produced by Sherry Jones, and
made possible through a grant and cooperation from the
National Security Archive, a research library at George
WashingtonUniversity. The film will air on select public
television stations in October The 90-minute
comprehensive documentary examines America's detention
and interrogation practices used to combat terrorism.
The film also includes a half-hour panel discussion
moderated by Wide Angle anchor Aaron Brown that updates
and expands the documentary with an in-depth
conversation on recent Congressional hearings and legal
decisions.
September 6, 2008
 This
past summer Peter worked on a film that has just come to
my attention. It's called THIS IS NOT A MOVIE,
the second production from Mexican director Olallo
Rubio. In the 1990s Rubio was a well known radio host,
obsessed with rock and roll. He has recently turned to
filmmaking with his 2007 documentary, "So, What’s Your
Price", which deals with media, power, and the consumer
culture in Mexico and the USA. Now he has written and
directed a drama starring Edward Furlong, who
coincidentally happens to be Mexican on his mother's
side. The movie, independently financed with Mexican
funds, is set in Las Vegas and is an English-language
film. Some scenes were shot earlier in Estudios
Churubusco in Mexico City with production then moving to
Las Vegas. Musician Slash (aka Saul
 Hudson),
best known as the former lead guitarist for Guns N'
Roses, has been asked to write the soundtrack for the
film. Director Rubio comments, ""The idea was to create
a very eclectic psychedelic score with sounds generated
by acoustic and electric guitars. I was looking for a
guitarist with the ability to create very emotional
music, but at the same time, the freedom to use any type
of effects to explore different sounds. Slash was
interested in the project, and so far he has composed
the music for six segments. We`re very excited with his
work." Slash describes the film as "very cutting-edge,
very artistic, and a little bit trippy. It's dark and
jagged and a bit surreal, in and out of reality."
 This
evening $5 A DAY will premiere at the Toronto
Film Festival. The film, shot last fall in New Mexico
and Atlantic City, stars Christopher Walken, Alessandro
Nivola, Amanda Peet, Sharon Stone and Peter in a minor
role as Bert Kruger. Director Nigel Cole, whose past
work includes "Saving Grace" and "Calendar Girls", goes
for an edgier, sharper comic tone in this film with
idiosyncratic narrative shifts supplied by screenwriters
Neal and Tippi Dobrofsky. Walken plays a free-spirited
hustler named Nat who claims he can live on just $5 a
day. His home is a rundown warehouse of freebies,
coupons and contest prizes. He drives a bubblegum pink
and white Sweet N' Low car that he won free use of for
one year. But none of this bounty has helped Nat repair
his fractured relationship with his son Flynn (Nivola),
who has not spoken to him in years. After all, Flynn
once went to jail for one of Nat's failed schemes. When
the two once again hook up, the hilarious tale takes
off. Image Entertainment, a leading independent
licensee, producer and distributor of home
entertainment, just announced at the festival that it
has acquired all North American rights for the film from
Capital Films, Ltd. Chief Acquisitions Officer Bill
Bromiley explains, "This film is certain to be an
audience-pleaser with it all-star cast and funny
storyline."
September 3, 2008
 Coming
this fall on television will be "Native Nations:
Standing Together for Civil Rights", hosted by
Peter. Presented by the National Council of Churches USA
and produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, the program chronicles the American Indians’
struggle for civil rights, and the creation of the
National Indian Lutheran Board to raise funds and
awareness for that struggle. From the controversy
surrounding the 1862 trial when 38 Dakota Sioux were
executed in the largest single-day
 mass hanging in
United States history, to the confrontation of the 1960s
when many Indian tribes joined together to speak out
with a unified voice, "Native Nations" tells the story
of standing together for sovereignty, justice and civil
rights. The program will air on ABC television network
affiliate stations across the country beginning October
12 through December 14. More information can be found at
this link.
 The
James M. Stewart Museum Foundation of Indiana,
Pennsylvania, will host a sneak preview of the film
ADOPT A SAILOR on November
1. Writer-director Charles Evered is scheduled to attend
along with actor Ethan Peck, grandson of Gregory Peck.
The movie, which began life as a short play about a
sailor invited to dinner by upscale New Yorkers, also
stars Peter and Bebe Neuwirth. Space is limited for the
preview and a reception. Tickets are $50. The film has
also been chosen as an official selection at the 2008
Williamstown Film Festival, held in October in
Williamstown, MA. Producer producer Kim Waltrip said she
wanted to produce the movie because of Evered’s script,
which she called “brilliant.” “It’s a mix of topical
daring, comedic narcissism and a dash of military thrown
in,” Waltrip said. “It’s not a political film. Just
enough of an undertone to make you reflect on who
exactly is out there fighting for our freedoms. But the
story is more about a bourgeois couple who are forever
changed by the young sailor who enters their lives.
Charles Evered is a super-talent. I would produce
anything he has written.”
 The
22-minute short, RACE,
directed by Peter, was screened at the Rhode Island
International Film Festival on August 6. It had
previously screened at the Atlanta Film Festival back in
April. Described as a comedy drama, the film explores
two meanings of the word race - a type of person and a
competition. The plot involves an Asian-American woman
and an African-American man who work together like a
machine as Vice Presidents of a research firm. When
their Caucasian boss announces to them that one of them
will be promoted to become Senior Vice President based
on the presentation that needs to take place the next
day, they suddenly become at odds with each other. Cast
member Nicolas Coster says, "'Race' was great fun and
director Peter Coyote was terrific. He is so
imaginative."
As
reported last spring, Peter hosted a national simulcast
of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About
Separation of Church and State... But Were Afraid to Ask.".
The program, sponsored by Americans United and The
Interfaith Alliance Foundation, featured a line-up of
actors, singers and comedians, mixed in with Americans
who shared with viewers their personal stories of
defending church-state separation on the front lines.
The event was taped in Washington, D.C., March 25 before
a live studio audience and broadcast via satellite the
next day. Peter introduced the show with "We've gathered
fearless and talented Americans together in a firstever
simulcast to take an unprecedented stand for separation
of church and state. Our program is being broadcast to
37 cities across the country, from New York to Los
Angeles, from Lansing to Little Rock, with the goal of
making church-state separation an integral part of our
national conversation." Here are some photos from
that event. The photo on the right shows Peter with
Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn.
Peter
also hosted another event in June, this time a local
benefit called "Stop the Spray". The benefit
concert was held at Sausalito on the Bay on Sunday
afternoon, June 8. About 1,000 people showed up to
raise awareness on the aerial and ground pesticide
spraying for the light brown apple moth. Featured
artists included Bob Weir, Maria Muldaur, Phat
Barbies, and the Bob Hill Band. The concert was
organized by Stop the Spray Marin, a community-based
group of citizens and grassroots organizers
concerned for the health, environmental and economic
risks of the planned LBAM eradication program, and
committed to sustainable, and ecologically-sound
alternatives to pest control. Here are a few photos
from the concert:
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