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San Fernando Valley
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The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in Los Angeles County, California, defined by the mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it. Home to 1.8 million people, it lies north of the larger, nearly two thirds of the valleys land area is part of the city of Los Angeles. The other incorporated cities in the valley are Glendale, Burbank, San Fernando, Hidden Hills, the Los Angeles River begins at the confluence of Calabasas Creek and Bell Creek, between Canoga Park High School and Owensmouth Ave. in Canoga Park. These creeks headwaters are in the Santa Monica Calabasas foothills, the Simi Hills Hidden Hills, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, the river flows eastward along the southern regions of the Valley. One of the rivers two unpaved sections can be found at the Sepulveda Basin, a seasonal river, the Tujunga Wash, drains much of the western facing San Gabriel Mountains and passes into and then through the Hansen Dam Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace. It flows south along the Verdugo Mountains through the communities of the valley to join the Los Angeles River in Studio City. Other notable tributaries of the river include Dayton Creek, Caballero Creek, Bull Creek, Pacoima Wash, the elevation of the floor of the valley varies from about 600 ft to 1,200 ft above sea level. Universal City, an enclave in the part of the valley, is unincorporated land housing the Universal Studios filming lot. Mulholland Drive, which runs along the ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains, in this Mediterranean climate, post-1790s European agriculture for the missions support consisted of grapes, figs, olives, and general garden crops. The San Fernando Valley contains five incorporated cities—Glendale, Burbank, San Fernando, Hidden Hills and Calabasas—and part of a sixth, Los Angeles, the unincorporated communities are governed by the County of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles city section of the valley is divided into seven city districts,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 12. Of the 95 neighborhood councils in the city,34 are in the valley, the valley is represented in the California State Legislature by seven members of the State Assembly and five members of the State Senate. The valley is divided into five congressional districts, the San Fernando Valley, for the most part, tends to support Democrats in state and national elections. This is especially true in the areas which include Sherman Oaks. The Los Angeles satellite administrative center for the valley, The Civic Center Van Nuys, is in Van Nuys. The area in and around the Van Nuys branch of Los Angeles City Hall is home to a station, municipal and superior courts. Northridge is home to California State University, Northridge, many branches of the Los Angeles Public Library are located in the valley. For independent libraries see Incorporated Cities in the Municipalities and districts list below, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, and independent valley city departments
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Santa Monica, California
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Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The Census Bureau population for Santa Monica in 2010 was 89,736, due in part to an agreeable climate, Santa Monica became a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its core, significant job growth. The Santa Monica Pier remains a popular and iconic destination, Santa Monica was long inhabited by the Tongva people. Santa Monica was called Kecheek in the Tongva language, the first non-indigenous group to set foot in the area was the party of explorer Gaspar de Portolà, who camped near the present-day intersection of Barrington and Ohio Avenues on August 3,1769. Named after the Christian saint Monica, there are two different accounts of how the name came to be. One says it was named in honor of the feast day of Saint Monica, another version says it was named by Juan Crespí on account of a pair of springs, the Kuruvungna Springs, that were reminiscent of the tears Saint Monica shed over her sons early impiety. In Los Angeles, several battles were fought by the Californios, following the Mexican–American War, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave Mexicans and Californios living in state certain unalienable rights. US government sovereignty in California began on February 2,1848, in the 1870s the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, connected Santa Monica with Los Angeles, and a wharf out into the bay. The first town hall was a modest 1873 brick building, later a beer hall and it is Santa Monicas oldest extant structure. By 1885, the towns first hotel was the Santa Monica Hotel, around the start of the 20th century, a growing population of Asian Americans lived in and around Santa Monica and Venice. A Japanese fishing village was near the Long Wharf while small numbers of Chinese lived or worked in Santa Monica, the two ethnic minorities were often viewed differently by White Americans who were often well-disposed towards the Japanese but condescending towards the Chinese. The Japanese village fishermen were an economic part of the Santa Monica Bay community. Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. built a plant in 1922 at Clover Field for the Douglas Aircraft Company, in 1924, four Douglas-built planes took off from Clover Field to attempt the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Two planes returned after covering 27,553 miles in 175 days, the Douglas Company kept facilities in the city until the 1960s. The Great Depression hit Santa Monica deeply, one report gives citywide employment in 1933 of just 1,000. Hotels and office building owners went bankrupt, in the 1930s, corruption infected Santa Monica. The federal Works Project Administration helped build several buildings, most notably City Hall, the main Post Office and Barnum Hall were also among other WPA projects
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Romantic comedy film
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Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is a movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily. Another definition states that its primary distinguishing feature is a plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled. Romantic comedy films are a genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. However a romantic comedy is classified as a film with two genres not a new genre. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies, a wedding-bells, fairy-tale-style happy ending is practically mandatory. The basic plot of a comedy is that two characters meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reunite. Sometimes the two meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other, the protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together. While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them realizes that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Then, after one of the two makes some effort to find the other person and declare their love, or through an astonishing coincidental encounter. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other, the couple does not, however, have to marry, or live together happily ever after. The ending of a comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists lives. There are many variations on this basic plotline, sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each others arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character. Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, the basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Nights Dream. Some comedy films, such as Knocked Up, combine themes of romantic comedies and stoner comedies, often known as bromance, such films usually use sexual elements which bring the two characters together. Films in this genre include American Pie 2 and even Wedding Crashers, romantic comedies have begun to spread out of their conventional and traditional structure into other territory
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Pretty Woman
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Pretty Woman is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo, originally intended to be a dark cautionary tale about class and sex work in Los Angeles, the film was reconceived as a romantic comedy with a large budget. It was widely successful at the box office and became one of the films of 1990. The film received positive reviews, with Robertss performance being praised, for which she received a Golden Globe Award, in addition, screenwriter J. F. Lawton was nominated for a Writers Guild Award and a BAFTA Award. Leaving a party, he takes his lawyers Lotus Esprit luxury car and he stops for her, having difficulties driving the car, and asks for directions to Beverly Hills. He asks her to get in and guide him to the Beverly Hills Regent Hotel and it becomes clear that Vivian knows more about the Lotus than he does, and he lets her drive. Vivian charges Lewis $20 for the ride, and they separate and that evening, visibly moved by her transformation, Edward begins seeing Vivian in a different light. He begins to open up to her, revealing his personal, Edward takes Vivian to a polo match in hopes of networking for his business deal. His attorney, Phillip, suspects Vivian is a corporate spy, Phillip later approaches Vivian, suggesting they do business once her work with Edward is finished. Insulted, and furious that Edward has revealed their secret, Vivian wants to end the arrangement, Edward apologizes, and admits to feeling jealous of a business associate to whom Vivian paid attention at the match. Vivians straightforward personality is rubbing off on Edward, and he finds himself acting in unaccustomed ways, clearly growing involved, Edward takes Vivian in his private jet to see La Traviata in San Francisco. Vivian is moved to tears by the story of the prostitute who falls in love with a man, after the opera. Vivian breaks her no kissing on the rule, and he offers to put her up in an apartment so she can be off the streets. Hurt, she refuses, says this is not the tale she dreamed of as a child. Meeting with the tycoon whose shipbuilding company he is in the process of raiding and his time with Vivian has shown him a different way of looking at life, and he suggests working together to save the company rather than tearing it apart and selling off the pieces. Phillip, furious at losing so much money, goes to the hotel to confront Edward, blaming her for the change in Edward, he attempts to rape her. Edward arrives, punches him in the face, and throws him out, with his business in L. A. complete, Edward asks Vivian to stay one more night with him -- because she wants to, not because hes paying her. Richard Gere as Edward Lewis, a corporate raider and womanizer from New York
5.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
6.
Broadcasting
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Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, all forms of communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. Over the air broadcasting is usually associated with radio and television, the receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively small subset, the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as radio, community radio and public television, and private commercial radio. The U. S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines broadcasting as transmissions intended for reception by the general public, private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, amateur and citizens band radio operators are not allowed to broadcast, as defined, transmitting and broadcasting are not the same. Transmissions using a wire or cable, like television, are also considered broadcasts. In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well, the earliest broadcasting consisted of sending telegraph signals over the airwaves, using Morse code, a system developed in the 1830s by Samuel F. B. Morse, physicist Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail and they developed an electrical telegraph system which sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code. Audio broadcasting began experimentally in the first decade of the 20th century, by the early 1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium, at first on the AM band and later on FM. Television broadcasting started experimentally in the 1920s and became widespread after World War II, satellite broadcasting was initiated in the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the 1970s, with DBS emerging in the 1980s. Originally all broadcasting was composed of signals using analog transmission techniques but in the 2000s. In general usage, broadcasting most frequently refers to the transmission of information, Analog audio vs. HD Radio Analog television vs.9 zettabytes. This is the equivalent of 55 newspapers per person per day in 1986. Historically, there have been several methods used for broadcasting electronic media audio and/or video to the public, Telephone broadcasting. Telephone broadcasting also grew to include telephone services for news and entertainment programming which were introduced in the 1890s. These telephone-based subscription services were the first examples of electrical/electronic broadcasting, Radio broadcasting, audio signals sent through the air as radio waves from a transmitter, picked up by an antenna and sent to a receiver
7.
74th Academy Awards
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The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, took place on March 24,2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories honoring films released in 2001, the ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Laura Ziskin and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the fourth time and she first hosted the 66th ceremony held in 1994 and had last hosted the 71st ceremony in 1999. A Beautiful Mind won four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Ron Howard, other winners included The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring also with four awards, Black Hawk Down and Moulin Rouge. With two, and The Accountant, For the Birds, Gosford Park, Iris, Monsters Ball, Monsters, murder on a Sunday Morning, No Mans Land, Pearl Harbor, Shrek, Thoth, and Training Day, with one. Despite a record length of four hours and twenty-three minutes, the telecast garnered nearly 42 million viewers in the United States, the Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring earned the most nominations with thirteen. It was the film to earn that many nominations. A Beautiful Mind and Moulin Rouge, tied for second place with eight apiece. The winners were announced during the ceremony on March 24,2002. Denzel Washington was the second African-American to win Best Actor in a Leading Role, halle Berry became the first African-American to win Best Actress in a Leading Role. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger, Sidney Poitier Robert Redford Arthur Hiller The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers. The Academy wanted to find a new venue for the festivities amid limited seating and this was the first time the ceremony was held in Hollywood since the 32nd ceremony took place at the Pantages Theatre in 1960. In view of the return of the Oscars to Hollywood, the Academy hired film producer, AMPAS president Frank Pierson explained the decision to hire Ziskin saying, This show is one of the most difficult—if not the most difficult—producing jobs in show business. Laura Ziskin brings intelligence, experience and wit expressed in everything she has done and this marked the first occurrence that a woman produced the Oscars solo. Four months later, Whoopi Goldberg was selected as host of the 2002 ceremony, I look forward to collaborating with Whoopi to put on a meaningful and entertaining evening. Furthermore, the September 11 attacks affected the telecast and its surrounding events, however, due to security concerns the Academy announced that red carpet bleacher seats would now be limited on a reservation basis based on a random selection and a background check. Several other people participated in the production of the ceremony, actors Glenn Close and Donald Sutherland served as announcers during the show. The orchestra led by composer and telecast musical supervisor John Williams
8.
79th Academy Awards
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During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Laura Ziskin, Actress Ellen DeGeneres hosted for the first time. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on February 10, the Departed won four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Martin Scorsese. The telecast garnered nearly 40 million viewers in the United States, dreamgirls received the most nominations with eight, and Babel came in second with seven. This marked the first and only occurrence that the film with the most nominations was not a Best Picture nominee, the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 25,2007. With his latest unsuccessful nomination for Best Actor, Peter OToole became the most nominated performer without a competitive win, Best Supporting Actress winner Jennifer Hudson was the fifteenth Oscar acting winner to win for a debut film performance. I Need to Wake Up from An Inconvenient Truth became the first song from a film to win Best Original Song. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger, ennio Morricone — In recognition of his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music. Sherry Lansing The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers, because of the declining viewership of recent Academy Awards ceremonies, producer Gil Cates declined to helm the upcoming festivities. The Academy sought ideas to revamp the show while renewing interest with the nominated films, in September 2006, the Academy selected producer Laura Ziskin to oversee production of the telecast for a second time. Nearly three months later, actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who had previously emceed three Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies between 2001 and 2005, was chosen as host of the 2007 ceremony. In an article published in the Los Angeles Times, Ziskin explained the decision to hire DeGeneres saying Certainly, shes popular with a very wide audience. She is not a niche performer and she touches a lot of demographics. AMPAS christened this years telecast with a theme celebrating movie quotes, in tandem with the theme, advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day designed the official ceremony poster featuring 75 quotes from several Oscar-nominated or winning films. To stir interest surrounding the awards, filmmaker Spike Lee released a trailer featuring everyday people around New York City reciting famous film lines, during the ceremony, a montage produced by director Nancy Meyers saluted the work of screenwriters and their contributions to film. Several other people participated in the production of the ceremony, william Ross served as musical director for the ceremony. J. Michael Riva designed a new set and stage design for the ceremony, voice actor Don LaFontaine was hired with Gina Tuttle as announcers for the telecast. Actor Greg Vaughan and Lucky columnist Allyson Waterman co-hosted Road to the Oscars, members of the dance troupe and contortionist group Pilobolus performed interpretive shadow figures representing scenes and logos from the nominated films
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Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
10.
University of Southern California
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The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As Californias oldest private university, USC has historically educated a large number of the regions business leaders. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research and cultural institutions throughout Asia, an engine for economic activity, USC contributes $8 billion annually to the economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California. For the 2014–15 academic year, there were 18,740 students enrolled in undergraduate programs. USC also has 23,729 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, and medicine. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the world, consistently ranking among the top 3 in external contributions, multiple academic rankings list the University of Southern California as being among the top 25 universities in the United States. With an acceptance rate of 16 percent, USC is also among the most selective academic institutions in the nation. USC maintains a tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, with alumni having founded companies such as Lucasfilm, Myspace, Salesforce. com, Intuit, Qualcomm, Box, Tinder. As of 2014, the university has produced the fourth largest number of billionaire alumni out of all institutions in the world. USC is home to the world’s most powerful computer, which is presently housed in a super-cooled. The only other commercially available quantum computing system is operated jointly by NASA, USC was also one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System. Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of the teams, the Trojans, have won 102 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the nation. Trojan athletes have won 288 medals at the Olympic games, more than any university in the United States. If USC were a country, its athletes would have received the 12th-most Olympic gold medals in history. In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities, the University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Hellman. The three donated 308 lots of land to establish the campus and provided the seed money for the construction of the first buildings. Originally operated in affiliation with the Methodist Church, the school mandated from the start that no student would be denied admission because of race, the university is no longer affiliated with any church, having severed formal ties in 1952
11.
USC School of Cinematic Arts
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The USC School of Cinematic Arts is a private film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The school offers undergraduate and graduate programs from seven divisions including the John C. Their degree programs cover production, screenwriting, cinema & media studies, animation and digital arts, additional advanced programs include the Media Arts and Practice PhD Program, the Peter Stark Producing Program, and the Business of Entertainment. The schools founding faculty include Douglas Fairbanks, D. W. Griffith, deMille, Ernst Lubitsch, Irving Thalberg, Mary Pickford, and Darryl Zanuck. In April 2006, the USC Board of Trustees voted to change the name to the USC School of Cinematic Arts. On September 19,2006, USC announced that alumnus George Lucas had donated US$175 million to expand the school with a new 137. This represented the largest single donation to USC and the largest to any school in the world. His previous donations resulted in the naming of two existing buildings after him and his then-wife, though Lucas was not fond of the used in those buildings. An architectural hobbyist, Lucas laid out the designs for the project. The project also received another $50 million in contributions from Warner Bros. 20th Century Fox, in the fall of 2006, the USC School of Cinematic Arts joined forces with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan to create the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Aqaba, Jordan. The first classes were held in 2008, and the first graduating class for the university was in 2010, the Frank Sinatra Hall, dedicated in 2002, houses a public exhibit and collection of extensive memorabilia commemorating Sinatras life and contributions to American popular culture. He is seen holding a weapon in one hand to reflect his strong ties with the USC Fencing Club. Since 1973, at least one alumnus of SCA has been nominated for an Academy Award annually, since 1973, at least one SCA alumnus or alumna has been nominated for the Emmy Award annually, totalling 473 nominations and 119 wins. The top 17 grossing films of all time have had an SCA graduate in a key creative position, the Princeton Review has ranked the Interactive Media and Games Divisions video game design program best in North America multiple years in a row. Blume also received an Academy Award nomination that year for documentary short, the films crew and cast included Nick Castle, cinematographer, John Carpenter, film editor and original music, James Rokos, director, Johnny Crawford, lead actor, and Kristin Nelson, lead actress. In 1973, Robert Zemeckis won a Special Jury Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences second annual Student Film Awards presentation for A Field of Honor. In 2001, MFA student David Greenspan won the Palme d’Or for short film at the Cannes Film Festival for his student film Bean Cake. In 2006, director, co-writer, and producer Ari Sandel received an Academy Award for best live action film made as a USC Cinema graduate school project
12.
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
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It is a remake of two earlier versions – the 1937 version was a drama starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and the 1954 version was a musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason. Believing in her talent, John gives her a helping hand and her career begins to eclipse his. Writer and director Frank Pierson, in his New West magazine article My Battles With Barbra and Jon summarized it thusly, An actress is a more than a woman. The woman in our story is ambitious to become a star, but it is not necessary, it can make her happier and richer, with stardom she is only a little more than a woman. His career is also gives him his sense of who he is. Without it, he is lost and confused, his demons eat him alive, thats why he is a little less than a man. And it is not that her success galls him, or that she wins over him, and so the conclusion is measured by the theme. He takes his life in the belief that he will then not drag her down with him. G. Wellman and Robert Carson with additional contributions by Pierson, John Gregory Dunne and it also features Gary Busey and Sally Kirkland. Venetta Fields and Clydie King perform as Streisands backing vocalists The Oreos, kristoffersons then wife Rita Coolidge and Tony Orlando appear briefly as themselves. The earlier films had portrayed the world of Hollywood film making. However, this version adapted the story to the music business, for example, the 1937 and 1954 films each portrayed the lead female character winning an Academy Award, while the 1976 version depicted the heroine winning a Grammy Award instead. A Star Is Born was co-produced by Streisand and her then-partner Jon Peters for Barwood Films and Warner Brothers with Peters as the main producer, among the actors considered for the male lead were Neil Diamond and Marlon Brando. Both Streisand and Peters wanted Elvis Presley for the role, they met with Elvis and discussed the film, parker also did not want to have Elvis portrayed as having a show business career that was in decline. This in fact was far from the truth, with Elvis playing to packed auditoriums wherever he toured in the States, the film cost around $6 million to produce. Its soundtrack album was also a success reaching number 1 in many countries. The filming locations included many in Arizona such as downtown Tucson, Tucson Community Center, Sonoita, Streisands characters clothing was straight out of Streisands own closet. The actual credit reads, Miss Streisands clothes from, the film was choreographed by David Winters of West Side Story fame, who worked closely with Streisand to perfect the movies dancing sequences
13.
Barbra Streisand
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Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She is among a group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Streisand is one of the music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award, with the release of Yentl in 1983, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first woman to win that award. The RIAA and Billboard recognize Streisand as holding the record for the most top 10 albums of any recording artist. According to Billboard, Streisand holds the record for the female with the most number one albums, Billboard also recognizes Streisand as the greatest female of all time on its Billboard 200 chart and one of the greatest artists of all time on its Hot 100 chart. Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York and her mother had been a soprano singer in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a school teacher at the same school. Streisands family was Jewish, her grandparents emigrated from Galicia and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire. Her father earned a degree from City College of New York in 1928 and was considered athletic. As a student, he spent his summers outdoors, once working as a lifeguard, hed try anything, his sister Molly said. He married Ida in 1930, two years after graduating, and became a respected educator with a focus on helping underprivileged. In August 1943, a few months after Streisands first birthday, her father died suddenly at age 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure, the family fell into near-poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper. As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an outcast, explaining and her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved, When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food, Streisand says. Streisand recalls that her mother had a voice and sang semi-professionally on occasion. During a visit to the Catskills when Streisand was thirteen, she told Rosie ODonnell, she and that session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her first moment of inspiration as an artist. She has a brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister
14.
Sally Field
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Sally Margaret Field is an American film and television actress and director. Field began her career in television, starring on the sitcoms Gidget and she ventured into film with Smokey and the Bandit and later Norma Rae, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. She later received Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances in Absence of Malice and Kiss Me Goodbye, Field received further nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Murphys Romance and Steel Magnolias. In the 2000s, she returned to television with a role on the NBC medical drama ER. She also appeared as Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man and reprised the role in the 2014 sequel. As a director, Field is known for the television film The Christmas Tree, in 2014, she was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sally Field was born in Pasadena, California, to Margaret, mr. Field was an army officer. Following her parents 1950 divorce, her mother married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney, through her maternal grandmothers genealogical line, Field is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger and colonial governor William Bradford, her 10 times great-grandfather. As a teen, Field attended Portola Middle School and Birmingham High School in Van Nuys and her classmates included financier Michael Milken, actress Cindy Williams, and talent agent Michael Ovitz. Field got her start on television as the surfer girl in the sitcom Gidget. The show was not a success and was canceled after a single season, however, summer reruns garnered respectable ratings. Wanting to find a new starring vehicle for Field, ABC next produced The Flying Nun with Field cast as Sister Bertrille for three seasons, from 1967 to 1970. In an interview included on the Season One DVD release, Field said that she thoroughly enjoyed Gidget, Field was then typecast, finding respectable roles difficult to come by. In 1971, Field starred in the ABC TV movie Maybe Ill Come Home in the Spring, playing a teen runaway who returns home with a bearded. She made several guest television appearances through the mid 1970s, including a role on the western Alias Smith and Jones and she also appeared in the episode Whisper on the TV thriller Night Gallery. In 1973, Field was cast in a role opposite John Davidson in the short-lived series The Girl with Something Extra from 1973 to 1974. Following the series cancellation, Field studied at the Actors Studio with the acting teacher Lee Strasberg, Strasberg became a mentor to the actress, helping her to move past her television image of the girl next door. It was during time period that Field divorced her first husband in 1975
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Murphy's Romance
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Murphys Romance is a 1985 American romantic comedy film directed by Martin Ritt. The screenplay by Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch was based on the 1980 novella by Max Schott, the film stars Sally Field, James Garner, Brian Kerwin, and Corey Haim, and was produced by Laura Ziskin for Fields production company Fogwood Films. The films theme song, Love for the Last Time, is performed by Carole King, Emma Moriarty is a 33-year-old, divorced mother who moves to a rural Arizona town to make a living by training and boarding horses. While refusing to help her outright with charity or personal loan, Murphy buys a horse and pays to board it with Emma, while encouraging others to do the same. He also introduces Emma to the local politicians and provides much-needed emotional support for Emma as well as Jake. A rivalry soon develops between Murphy and Bobby Jack and this contest of wills continues until a character shows up from Bobby Jacks recent past that surprises everyone, while forcing Murphy and Emma to reevaluate the nature of their relationship. Columbia didnt want to make the picture at all, because it had no sex or violence in it. But because of the success of Norma Rae, with the star, director, and screenwriting team. But, Columbia then wanted Marlon Brando, or someone with greater box-office allure, to play the part of Murphy, so Field and Ritt had to insist on Garner. Field had worked successfully with Newman in 1981s Absence of Malice. On the A&E television program Biography of Garner, James Garner, Hollywood Maverick, filming took place on location in Florence, Arizona and the towns preserved Main Street appears throughout the movie. They did a limited, selected, release December 25,1985 so that the film would qualify for that years Academy Awards, the film was one of the final titles to be released on the now defunct CED Videodisc format in 1986. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars stating Much depends on exactly what Emma and Murphy say to other, and how they say it. The movie gets it all right, the film holds a 71% on the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews. The screenplay is very different from the Max Schott novella, in the Schott story, Murphy and Emma stay just platonic friends. Murphy marries someone else, and then tries to find Emma a suitable husband, murphys Romance received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and for Best Cinematography. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists,2002, AFIs 100 Years
16.
No Way Out (1987 film)
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No Way Out is a 1987 American political thriller drama film. It stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young, will Patton, Howard Duff, George Dzundza, Jason Bernard, Fred Thompson and Iman appear in supporting roles. The film is a remake of The Big Clock, both films are based on Kenneth Fearings 1946 novel The Big Clock. Filming locations included Baltimore, Annapolis, Arlington, Washington, D. C. and Auckland, the film features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre. In a suburban house, U. S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell is asked by two men about how he first met Secretary of Defense David Brice. In a flashback, Farrell is invited to a ball by his college buddy Scott Pritchard. Pritchard, Brices General Counsel, hopes that Brice will transfer Farrell to the Pentagon, on meeting Farrell, Brice is unimpressed and virtually ignores him. Moments later, Farrell begins flirting with another guest, Susan Atwell, the two make love in her limousine and begin a secret relationship, even though she admits to also being involved with a married man. Farrell returns to sea and rescues a crewman from being washed overboard during a storm, Brice reads a newspaper story about the rescue and orders Farrell transferred to his intelligence staff. After Susan and Farrell return from a weekend, her married lover - Secretary Brice - arrives at her door. After urging a hurt and jealous Farrell to leave through the back door, Brice sees a man leaving Susans house but cannot see that it was Farrell. After Susan lets him in, an enraged Brice demands to know the name of her other lover, Brice resists, and ultimately pushes Susan to her death over an upstairs railing. After calling Pritchard, Brice is ready to turn himself in, but Pritchard suggests that if the other man was made out to be a suspected KGB sleeper agent code-named Yuri, then the other mans elimination could be made a matter of national security. Pritchard cleans Susans house of all evidence that Brice was there, the negative shows a very poor, unidentifiable image of a man. Unaware that Farrell was in a relationship with Susan, Brice orders him to find and arrest Yuri, Farrell is told that the city police have not been informed, and that CID officers, commanded by Major Donovan, have been assigned to conduct the investigation. Meanwhile, to protect his concocted story, Pritchard sends two former CIA assassins to eliminate everyone who knew of Brices affair with Susan, beginning with her girlfriends. Attempts to enhance the photo negative begin to bear fruit due to Sam Hesselman, meanwhile, Farrell sets out to conclusively link Brice to Susan by searching computer files for evidence that Brice gave her a Government-registered gift from the Moroccan Foreign Minister. Needing more time, Farrell convinces Hesselman to delay the work on the photograph, CID officers bring two witnesses to Donovan who have seen Yuri with Susan during their romantic weekend
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Orion Pictures
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It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion achieved a high reputation for Hollywood quality. Woody Allen, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Oliver Stone, of the films distributed by Orion, four won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Amadeus, Platoon, Dances with Wolves, and The Silence of the Lambs. Two other Orion films, Hannah and Her Sisters and Mississippi Burning, were nominated for same category. In 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer revived the Orion name for television, a year later Orion Pictures was quietly relaunched by the studio, in January 1978, three executives of Transamerica -owned studio United Artists – Arthur B. Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert S. Benjamin - quit their jobs, Krim and Benjamin had headed UA since 1951, and subsequently turned around the then-flailing studio with a number of critical and commercial successes. Change had begun once Transamerica purchased UA in 1967, and within a decade a rift formed between Krim and TA chairman Jack Beckett regarding the studios operations, Krim suggested spinning off United Artists into a separate company, which was rejected by Beckett. The last straw came for Pleskow when he refused to collect, Krim, Benjamin, and Pleskow quit United Artists on January 13,1978, followed by the exits of senior vice presidents William Bernstein and Mike Medavoy three days later. In February 1978, the five men forged a deal with Warner Bros, the executives formed Orion Pictures Company, named after the constellation, which they claimed had five main stars. The new company intended only to projects, giving the filmmakers complete creative autonomy. Orion held a $100 million line of credit, and its films would be distributed by the Warner Bros. studio, Orion, however, was contractually given free rein over distribution and advertising, as well as the number and type of films the executives chose to invest in. In late March 1978, Orion signed its first contract, a deal with John Travoltas production company. Orion also developed a co-financing and distribution deal with EMI Films, Orions first film, A Little Romance, was released in April that year. That year, Orion released Blake Edwards 10, which became a big critical and commercial success, other films released in that period included Caddyshack, The Great Santini, a critically praised but underpromoted adaptation of a Pat Conroy novel, and Promises in the Dark. Out of the 23 films Orion released between April 1979 and December 1981, only a third of them made a profit, Orion executives were conflicted over financing big-budgeted films and passed on Raiders of the Lost Ark for that reason. By early 1982, Orion had severed its ties with Warner. As part of the deal, the rights to Orions films made up to that point were sold to Warner, Orion was now looking to have its own distribution network by acquiring another company with such capabilities. The four partners looked into Allied Artists and Embassy Pictures before settling on Filmways, Orion subsequently purchased Filmways and reorganized the flailing company
18.
Dennis Quaid
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Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs, for his role in Far from Heaven he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor and several other accolades. Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Juanita B, nita Quaid, a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. Quaid has English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Cajun ancestry, Quaid dropped out of the University of Houston before graduating and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He initially had trouble finding work but began to notice when he appeared in Breaking Away. Known for his grin, Quaid has appeared in comedic and dramatic roles. Quaid had starring roles in the films Enemy Mine, Innerspace and he also achieved acclaim for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire. In 1989, he appeared throughout the Bonnie Raitt music video for the song Thing Called Love. He continued to garner positive reviews in a variety of films, Quaid was also the guest star of a season 2 episode of Muppets Tonight. I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra, and Pandorum, in 2009, Quaid guest starred in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, playing Mr. Krabs grandfather, Captain Redbeard. He portrayed U. S. President Bill Clinton, alongside Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton, in 2012 and 2013, Quaid played Sheriff Ralph Lamb in the CBS TV drama series Vegas. In 2017 he starred in A Dogs Purpose, billed as a celebration of the connection between humans and their dogs. He received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the Golden Globe Awards, the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, Quaid was also honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Houston, in April 2012. Quaid has been married three times and has three children, Quaid and his first wife, actress P. J. Soles, were married on November 25,1978. On February 14,1991, Quaid married actress Meg Ryan, Quaid and Ryan fell in love during the shooting of their second film together, D. O. A. Quaid and Ryan have a son, Jack Henry and they announced their separation on June 28,2000, saying they had been separated six weeks by then. Their divorce was finalized July 16,2001, Meg Ryan later revealed to InStyle Quaid had been unfaithful to her for a long time while they were married. Quaid dated model Shanna Moakler in 2001 and they were together when she was approached by Playboy, and they discussed it before she posed nude in the magazine
