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November 30, 2009
 Attention
all Alaska residents! The documentary, "For the
Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska", will have
its statewide Public Television premiere tomorrow
evening at 8 pm. The film, narrated by Peter, relates
the struggle for full recognition by Alaska's Native
people. It centers upon the lives, during the time
of World War II, of Nome resident Alberta Schenk Adams,
and Juneau resident Elizabeth Peratrovich, two iconic
figures in the ongoing struggles for civil rights in
Alaska. It also contains much documentary material about
other aspects of what was a very segregated society here
in the 1940s and earlier. Produced by Jeff Silverman,
directed by Phil Lucas and written by Diane Benson, the
film is dedicated to Alberta Schenk Adams, who passed
away midway through production.
November 25, 2009
 Peter
recently returned from Ciudad de la Luz movie studios in
Alicante, Spain after wrapping up
DI DI HOLLYWOOD,
the second film by director Bigas Luna in his trilogy on
the struggle of women to improve their lowly existence.
Since the movie has a presence on Facebook, I've been
able to capture several publicity photos taken during
the shoot, which you can view on the film title link
above.
After
Thanksgiving, Peter will be off on a new
project called THE GUNDOWN, a "western shoot'em
up" movie that takes place in the Arizona desert in
1893. Peter will take on the role of Thomas Morgan with
Sheree Wilson (Walker: Texas Ranger), as Sarah
Morgan and William Shockley (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman),
as Travis McCain. Filming is slated to begin on
November 30th and will take place at Gammons Gulch Movie
Set & Museum located near Benson, Arizona. Silver
Bullet Films is producing in assocation with Freewill
Films.
In
his continued relationship with Bullfrog Films, known as
the leading US publisher of independently- produced,
environmental DVDs & videos, Peter has narrated another
one of their films. "The New Metropolis" is a
groundbreaking two-part documentary on the rise, fall
and revitalization of America's first suburbs. Produced
by award-winning filmmaker Andrea Torrice, this is the
first public examination devoted to the issues facing
many suburban towns. Peter narrated Part One called "A
Crack in the Pavement", which follows the story of
two Cincinnati area public officials and their efforts
to keep their towns stable and healthy despite difficult
times to repair and improve infrastructure and lure
businesses. Part Two, narrated by actress Ruby Dee,
focuses on two ordinary people, one black and one white,
who made racial integration the centerpiece of
revitalizing Pennsauken, New Jersey.
CBC
News Network in Canada will be featuring a one-hour
documentary narrated by Peter as part of The
Passionate Eye Series airing on Sunday. It's called,
"Science of Forensics: Mystery of the Floating Feet".
Produced, written and directed by Anna Fitch, the film
tells the stories of mysterious deaths and reveals the
CSI science behind how each case was solved.
October 30, 2009
 "Power
Paths", a one-hour film directed by Bo Boudart and
narrated by Peter, will be nationally broadcast November
3 on the PBS series Independent Lens. This timely
documentary on renewable energy development in Indian
Country offers a unique glimpse into the global energy
crisis from the perspective of a culture pledged to
protect the planet, historically exploited by corporate
interests and neglected by public policy makers. The
film follows an intertribal coalition as they fight to
transform their local economies by replacing coal mines
and smog-belching power plants with renewable energy
technologies. This transition would honor their heritage
and support future generations by protecting their
sacred land, providing electricity to their homes and
creating jobs for their communities.
October 27, 2009
On
November 3 at 10 pm (ET) the National Geographic channel
will present a new documentary as part of their Explorer
Series. "Inside LSD", which is narrated by Peter,
takes a fresh look at LSD, including the first human
trials in over 35 years. Using enhanced brain imaging,
non-hallucinogenic versions of the drug and information
from an underground network of test subjects who suffer
from an agonizing condition for which there is no cure,
researchers are finding that this "trippy" drug could
become the pharmaceutical of the future. Can it enhance
our brain power, expand our creativity and cure disease?
To find out, Explorer puts LSD under the microscope. You
watch a 4-minute clip
at this link.
 Peter
is presently in Spain filming DI DI HOLLYWOOD
starring Elsa Pataky, Luis Hacha, Flora Martinez,
Paul Sculfor and Ana de Reguera. Director/screenwriter
Bigas Luna describes his latest project as the second
part of his trilogy, which began with "Yo soy la Juani"
in which he focuses on the relationship between women
and success. Elsa Pataky plays Diana Diaz, an aspiring
actress who is tired of bartending in nightclubs. Her
dream is to make it big in Hollywood. She decides to
leave her miserable life and the lack of opportunities,
so she and her crazy stripper friend, Maria,
travel to Miami to try their luck in the Latin world.
Shooting began September 28th and will continue through
November 30th with a September 2010 theatrical release
in Spain. According to Luna, the trilogy "reflects the
darker side of the quest for fame."
 THE
HARIMAYA BRIDGE had its USA premiere on October 16th
at the Hawaii International Film Festival and was also
screened the following week at the San Diego Asian Film
Festival. Peter has a minor role in the Japanese drama,
which stars Ben Guillory, Saki Takaoka, Misa Shimizu,
and Danny Glover. Writer/director Aaron Woolfolk had
this to say about the reception to his film - "It had a
nationwide theatrical release in Japan during the summer
and, prior to its opening, I spent five weeks traveling
the country doing press, attending preview screenings,
doing promotional events, etc. There was a lot of love
for the film. Several people said they couldn’t believe
it was written and directed by someone who isn’t
Japanese. A lot of critics said, 'Wow, you made a
Japanese film!' Many people - both moviegoers and
journalists - said to me some variation of, 'You’re an
American, but you must have a Japanese soul.' And a lot
of people thanked me for making a film that shows
Japanese as real, normal, everyday people and not the
usual stereotypes they see from Hollywood movies. I also
got quite a few people saying how refreshing it was to
see such a drama with African American characters. Such
comments always brought a smile to my face. So I’m
really glad I took the approach towards making the film
that I did."
October 22, 2009
 Cypress
Moon Productions has announced that a new mainstream
movie is in the works called THE STORY OF BONNIE AND
CLYDE with Hilary Duff and Kevin Zegers as
the famous Depression-era bank robbers. This will be a
new adaptation rather than a remake of the 1967 movie
starting Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway. Other cast
members include Cloris Leachman as Blanche Burrow,
Michael Madsen as Frank Hamer and Peter as Smoot Schmid.
Producer/writer/director Tonya S. Holly says she's very
passionate about the film having been a longtime
Bonnie-and-Clyde aficionado. "I do feel people will
compare the two films," Holly says. "That's fine.
But there are still many different ways to tell the
story." She says her tale will be a character-driven
love story and her ending will come "with a twist". The
$15 million production will be shot in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama.
In
a new frontier of the public option debate, progressives
are getting a hand from movie stars in pitching the
much-discussed health care reform provision. While Peter
does the voice over, actress Heather Graham takes the
spotlight in a new television ad put out by the
progressive advocacy organization, MoveOn.org, in
an effort to target insurance companies. The spot casts
the "Austin Powers" actress as a "public option"
sprinter in a race against "bloated" private insurers
from CIGNA, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Health and
Humana. Called "Track Meet," the ad is airing on
national cable channels, including MSNBC, CNN and Bravo
in addition to a major push on the web. An official with
the group says that they are putting "six figures"
behind the purchase. You can view the video
at this link.
If
you tune into tonight's new ABC science fiction series,
"FlashForward" you'll catch Peter in a guest
appearance as the President. The show, starring Joseph
Fiennes and John Cho, is produced by ABC Studios and
concerns a global blackout that hits mankind, giving
people a glimpse into their future. The episode airing
tonight is called "Gimme Some Truth".
 According
to the San Francisco Chronicle, Lenore Kandel
hung out with Beat poets and was immortalized by Jack
Kerouac, wrote a book of love poetry banned as obscene
and seized by police, and believed in communal living,
anarchic street theater, belly dancing, and all things
beautiful. Kandel, who died on October 18th at the age
of 77, had been diagnosed with lung cancer two weeks
earlier. Peter met her back in '65, and describes her as
"physically beautiful and physically commanding." He
adds, "She had this voluptuous plumpness about her and
an absolute serenity." Kandel, Coyote and her then
Hell's Angel boyfriend, Bill Fritsch, became fast
friends. Peter explains, "She was working as a belly
dancer and would sew these beaded curtains to make money
on the side. We would sit around and smoke dope and talk
about philosophy and art. She was an enlightened person,
a great being."
 One
year ago, a US military raid inside Syria may have
accidentally killed seven civilians in an attempt to
eliminate a senior al Qaeda terrorist named Abu Ghadiya,
says a new investigative report by Peter and freelance
foreign correspondent/author Reese Erlich. Contemporary
culture magazine, VANITY FAIR, is presently
featuring the article on their
online web site. The above photo, taken
by Peter, shows Akram Hamid, who was wounded in the
raid.. The authors of "The Murders at al-Sukariya"
write, "We make an unlikely reporting duo. Journalist
and book author Reese Erlich, an American Jew, so
resembles a Middle Easterner that native Syrians
instinctively address him in Arabic. He has filed scores
of stories from the region since 1986. Peter Coyote, an
actor, book author, and former official in California’s
state government, is making his first trip to the
region. Tall and blue-eyed, Pete, who is also Jewish,
stands out in the Middle East as obviously of European
descent. Furthermore, due to a long career in film, he
is impossible to disguise. Even people who don’t know
precisely who he is know they’ve seen him somewhere
before." I wonder if they would recognize his voice as
well! This is not the first time Peter has played the
role of political correspondent. Last winter, he also
wrote a series of articles for the San Francisco
Chronicle describing his experiences on a trip to
Cuba. The photo below shows him with wife Stefanie
browsing a weapons collection at a Havana museum on
February 24th.
October 13, 2009
Two
more films have now been added to the ever-growing
list of documentaries narrated by Peter. The first
is National Geographic's "Inside Guantanamo".
Back in 2002, the naval base Guantanamo Bay became a
historical flashpoint as the first wave of detainees
arrived for incarceration. Dubbed "the worst of the
worst," the offenders likely had no idea they would
be
entering the most infamous prison on the planet, and
were frequently held for years without so much as a
single charge being leveled against them. Some
 viewed
the prison as a symbol of freedom protected; others
viewed it as proof of freedom betrayed. Americans
were
fighting a new kind of enemy, and the government was
playing their cards close to their chest. Nobody
really know what was happening inside those heavily
fortified barbwire fences, and at times, the
inexperienced guard force and the frightened
detainees
threatened to turn volatile. Now, for the first time
ever on camera, the day-to-day life at Guantanamo
Bay
is finally revealed. The 90-minute film is now
available on DVD.
 The
second film is "Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of
Great Predators". Produced by Award-winning
filmmakers Karen and Ralf Meyer of Green Fire
Productions, the 60-minute documentary tells the story
of the crucial relationship between predators and
their environment. Wolves and cougars, once driven to
the edge of existence, are finding their way back from
the Yellowstone plateau to the canyons of Zion, from the
farm country of northern Minnesota to the rugged open
range of the West. This film describes how science is
discovering the great carnivores as revitalizing forces
of nature and how society is now learning tolerance for
the beasts they had once banished.
 Closing
night of the 15th annual Temecula Valley
International Film & Music Festival brought film and
music celebrities, as well as local luminaries, to
California's Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula for
a black tie gala to honor outstanding achievers in the
entertainment industry. During the five-day event, which
ran from September 9-13, over 100 films from around the
world were screened for festival goers. “Best Feature
Film” went to $5 A DAY,
a story chronicling a road trip taken by a conman and
his conservative son. The lead roles are played by
Christopher Walken and Allessandro Nivola. The film,
directed by Nigel Cole, and which also stars Amanda
Peet, Sharon Stone and Peter, was previously screened at
the Toronto Int'l Film Festival last year and at the
Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival in January. Peter
himself described the comedy as "hysterically funny and
very surprising."
 Ken Burns' great documentary on our
National Parks
recently aired on PBS, but if you missed it, here comes
the six-disc set. It took the acclaimed
producer/director over six years to put together
this 12-hour series. To his credit, Burns has organized
the programs in a way that is very easy to follow and
you don't have
to be a lover of history to enjoy each and every one.
Fascinating stories are told with archival photographs,
film clips and interviews with historians and experts in
their various fields. Coupled with the down-to-earth
narration by Coyote, this series is a real pleasure to
watch. Preceding the telecast, on September 23rd the National Parks Conservation Association and PBS
celebrated with a Feel Free Concert National Parks
Celebration in Central Park's East Meadow. Here are some
photos from the concert. The first shows Peter with
musician Gavin DeGraw and the second shows him alongside
(l to r) Park Rangers Gerard Baker and Shelton Johnson,
director Ken Burns, writer Dayton Duncan, and actor Lee
Stetson.
While
Coyote man was in the Big Apple, he had the opportunity
to participate in the New York City Public Library
series "Live from the NYPL". On September 24th, he
interviewed author Rebecca Solnit, who discusses her
book, "A Paradise Built In Hell: The Extraordinary
Communities That Arise in Disaster." You can watch a
short video of the two backstage
at this NYPL link.
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