Here a Love, There a Love, Everywhere a Love....

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) has spiced up his policy shop with the addition of actor Charlie Korsmo, who played alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt in the 1998 teen flick "Can't Hardly Wait."

But the 23-year-old Korsmo is no Hollywood brat. He was taking college math by age 8 and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in physics.

"He's got the Hollywood background of Ronald Reagan, and he's got the mathematician's background of [Deputy Defense Secretary] Paul Wolfowitz,"Cox said of his new charge. "He fits in perfectly here."

Korsmo is serving as deputy domestic policy analyst for Cox, who is chairman of the RepublicanPolicy Committee. He most recently was a special assistant in the Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Fargo, N.D., native is perhaps best known as the kid in the movie "Dick Tracy" who repeatedly asked, "When do we eat?"

He also played the son of Richard Dreyfuss in "What About Bob?"

Story: © 2002 Roll Call Inc. All Rights Reserved.

OSCAR 2002 STAR PARTY

by Lisa Gabor

Best yet, the event raised half a million dollars for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Guests included: LeAnn Rimes, Eric McCormack (The Audrey Hepburn Story), Fran Drescher, Kate Beckinsale, Kyle MacLachlan, Vivica A. Fox, Rachel Griffiths, Angela Bassett, Jon Bon Jovi, Sir Paul McCartney ("Ive Just Seen A Face"), Bob Dylan, Sting and Trudie Styler, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Spacey, Donatella Versace, Jennifer Tilly ("House Arrest), Benicio Del Toro, Boris Becker, Jessica Biel, Ben Chaplin, Joan Collins, Kelsey Grammer, Daryl Hannah, Jill Hennessy, Don Johnson, Heidi Klum, Bai Ling, Ricky Martin, Ian McKellan, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Watts, Jon Voight, Tobey Maguire, many others and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Story & Image: © 2002 Instyle Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

Love with singer, LeAnn Rimes

"MEMENTO'' WINS AT THE 2002 IFP/WEST
INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

``Ghost World,'' ``In the Bedroom'' Also Take Multiple Prizes

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 23, 2002--Jennifer Love Hewitt was a guest attendie at the 2002 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards, the premier event in the independent film community on Saturday, March 23, 2002 at a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

This year's big winner was Newmarket Films' ``Memento,'' which won Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Female. ``Memento'' was written and directed by Christopher Nolan and produced by Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd. United Artists' ``Ghost World,'' written by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, won Best First Screenplay and Best Supporting Male for Steve Buscemi. Miramax Films' ``In The Bedroom'' won Best Female Lead, Best Male Lead and Best First Feature. Miramax Films also won the Best Foreign Film for ``Amelie.''

Story & Image: © 2002 Reuters Limited. All Rights Reserved.

VIEWERS CLICK WITH ONLINE VIDEO

by KATHRYN TORPY

AUSTRALIAN consumers are waiting for delivery on the promise of digital television, but there's another home entertainment revolution emerging that doesn't involve the "box".

It's video-on-demand technology and involves a computer and a high-speed Internet connection. Some Australian homes already have it.

The technology gives computer users the chance to tune into sport, entertainment, news and movies on their PCs.

Telstra has launched online news, sport and entertainment channels as part of its continuing campaign for Australian's switch to broadband Internet access.

So far, Telstra's online movie content is at the experimental stage. It is part of an arrangement with a UK content provider and aimed at gauging customer interest in watching movies on a PC.

Visitors to a BigPond multimedia portal can view The Audrey Hepburn Story, an American telemovie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. While it could not be termed a big release, it represents Australia's first step into the burgeoning online industry of video-on-demand.

The industry has gained impetus in the US where major studios are pushing pay-per-view films to people who have high-speed Internet connections.

MGM Studios last month launched a venture with digital distribution partner CinemaNow. For $US6 ($A11.50), Internet users can download a feature film to view on their computer.

Over the past 12 months, MGM, Dreamworks SKG and Warner Bros, have allowed online distribution partner Intertainer to stream movies -- including recent big-screen hits such as Shrek -- to computer-users.

MGM's latest deal means movie buffs can now download a film to a hard drive to save -- and watch later.

Jupiter Media Metrix senior analyst Andrew Sergeant said there would be a problem with pay-per-view in Australia until the popularity of broadband increased and technological limitations were overcome.

About 250,000 Australians have broadband connections, compared with 20 million in the US.

Story: © 2002 News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

TELEVISION PIONEER DIES AT 93

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, who created NBC's "Today" and "Tonight" shows, brought opera and a flurry of new commercials to TV and shaped the way Americans watched the infant medium, has died. He was 93. Weaver died of pneumonia on Friday night at his Santa Barbara home, his wife, Elizabeth, said by telephone Saturday night.

"Today" and "The Tonight Show" are two television landmarks Jennifer Love Hewitt make frequent guest appearances on. Another guest on these two television landmarks: Weaver's daughter, actress Sigourney Weaver (one of the stars of MGM's 2001 hit, "Heartbreakers" with Love). 

Weaver worked at NBC from 1949, when there were only 2 million TV sets in the country, until 1956, when he resigned as chairman of the board.

"Pat Weaver was the first major creative force in television programming and one of the most innovative executives in the history of television. Pat's influence on NBC is still seen by millions of viewers everyday," NBC President and CEO Bob Wright said in a statement.

When Weaver first joined NBC, TV was run on the radio model. Sponsors owned shows, controlled their content and sometimes even dictated when they aired.

Weaver's ideas took away some of that control. He had the network produce its own shows and then sell commercial time to several advertisers, helping fund the medium.

For his contributions, Weaver received two Emmy awards and was inducted into the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 1985.

But the medium he hoped would culturally enrich America was failing to deliver on its promise, Weaver said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press.

"It's very disappointing," he said. "There's occasional good things on, but there's no consistent arts programming."

Born to a wealthy roofing manufacturer in Los Angeles, Weaver graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College. In the midst of the Depression, he took a $150-a-month job as a comedy writer for a Los Angeles radio network.

He went on to executive jobs in radio and advertising.

After a Navy stint in World War II, Weaver returned to the ad world. But he had become enamored of fledging television.

"It had the potential to take us, by sight as well as by sound, out of our homes and across oceans in a moment, to any part of the world," he wrote in his 1994 autobiography, "The Best Seat in the House."

In 1949, Weaver became NBC's vice president in charge of television. On his first day, he rescinded the cancellation of "Meet the Press" — now TV's longest-running program.

Convinced that he could woo morning radio listeners away, Weaver created the first early morning show, "Today," in 1952, with host Dave Garroway.

TV news was hampered then by big cameras that were mostly studio-bound, and by film that took hours to develop. "Today," however, had all night to get someplace where news was happening, get the pictures and get back to the studio.

"That's what it became," Weaver said, "the principle of serving the audience with the information they needed to know: What time is it? How's the weather? What happened last night? What's new today? What are the big stories? What are the funny stories? And we gradually put together that kind of a show."

He went on to create the idea of network specials that pre-empt regular programming, the globe-trotting "Wide World Series" and the talk show institution "Tonight," which showed that viewers would tune in to the tube at all hours.

Weaver was "a great idealist" who viewed TV as a way to bring culture to the common man, his wife said.

"He put on opera for the first time because he said the man in the street ... wants to hear anything and he doesn't have the money," she said. "His plan was everybody should have access."

Weaver was pushed out as NBC president in 1955 by Robert Sarnoff, son of David Sarnoff — the head of NBC's parent corporation RCA. Weaver became chairman of the board, but resigned the next year and went back to advertising.

For three years in the 1960s he headed Subscription Television, an early and ultimately failed effort at pay cable TV.

Even at age 85, Weaver was continuing to explore the possibilities of television. In 1994, he was working on a pay TV cultural events service called Intercept TV.

Along with his wife and daughter, Weaver is survived by a son, Trajan, of Utah; five grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Story: © 2002 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Jennifer Love Hewitt: "I don't really like looking at myself naked. If I could bathe in a bathing suit I totally would!" ...

Alicia Keys: "I do crazy dances in the mirror when I get out of the shower - spending time alone, those are some of the best moments!" ...

India.Arie: "Growing up, I always thought something was wrong with me. I looked so different from everyone else at school, and I had such bad acne that I just wanted to hide."

All are "candy remarks," as my pals call candor, made in CosmoGIRL's April issue.

Story: © 2002 Tribune Media Services. All Rights Reserved.

FROM THE WORLD MUSIC
AWARDS IN MONTE CARLO

by Dominic Mohan

AWARDS host Jennifer Love Hewitt told me she had been “terrified about all the things that could go wrong.”

As she cuddled up with Shaggy, the actress said: “It’s been awful sorting out what I’m going to wear.”

Jennifer also told me she was recording an album and added: “I’ve been in the studio so I hope next year I’ll be here winning awards.”

Story: © 2002 News Group Newspapers Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Hugs ... for Shaggy and Jennifer

From The Toronto Star - March 7, 2002  

MOVIE WARDROBE STEALS SHOW AT RESALE SHOP

by Bernadette Morra

PERHAPS ONE of the best things about Toronto's status as Hollywood North is that, once the film crews have packed up and gone home, they frequently leave behind the designer clothing used on set. "I often get leftovers from movies," beams Inga Welsman, owner of Act Two, a designer resale shop at 745 Mount Pleasant Rd.

Her latest score is 100 cast offs from The Tuxedo, an action flick starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jackie Chan, shot here last fall. "The wardrobe stylists come here to dress the extras because they are either looking for vintage clothing or things that aren't too expensive," she says. "I'll do anything to accommodate them because they often work odd hours."

Then when the shooting is over, wardrobe — some worn, some not — winds up on Act Two's doorstep. On the racks last week were a white tux with an unusual striated texture for $340, a drop dead beaded cowl neck gown for $550, and lots of white tuxedo shirts priced at $59. Some of the garments had been nipped to fit the hipless Love Hewitt including a pair of $98 Theory brown tweed trousers, size 2, with J. Love Hewitt typed on the label.

Other items arrived with the original tags still attached. A Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo with sexy gold neck buckle bears a Bloor St. boutique tag marked $2,550. Welsman is asking $980.

The former Munich-based aircraft designer who married a Canadian and opened the store when her daughter was grown, also winds up with designer frocks from Rosedale and Forest Hill fashion enthusiasts looking to make room in their closets. Last week's visit turned up a stunning gray sequinned Alberta Ferretti dress for $280, a silk pantsuit from Armani's top tier black label collection for $490, a beige Prada raincoat for $600, and a chocolate brown John Galliano twinset with frog closures for $200. But there are plenty of other bargains, including the vintage Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler that collectors are eagerly hunting, priced under $100.

Story: © 2002 The Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Kylie performed in customary short dress

STARS TRIUMPH AT MONACO AWARDS

Irish singer Enya beat off competition from Britney Spears and Dido to pick up the world's best-selling female award at the World Music Awards in Monaco.

Enrique Iglesias, Shaggy and Alicia Keys were also among the many winners at the lavish event presented on behalf of Prince Albert of Monaco.

Iglesias won two awards on Wednesday night - world's best-selling pop male artist and best-selling male Latin star.

Brits winner Dido did win three awards for best-selling British artist, pop female and adult contemporary but was absent from the event.

Host Shaggy did not leave empty handed, picking up the world's best-selling male artist gong, beating the likes of Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson.

Alicia Keys continued her winning streak by picking up the best-selling R'n'B award, fresh from winning five Grammys.

Kylie Minogue performed at the ceremony at International Sporting Club in Monte Carlo before being awarded the best-selling Australian artist gong.

Ja Rule won best-selling rap artist, beating Eminem and Jay-Z.

Actress Jennifer Love
Hewitt and Shaggy
co-hosted the event

Andre Bocelli walked away with the best-selling classical artist award, triumphing over Charlotte Church and Russell Watson, as well as getting recognition for his work in his home country of Italy.

Soul diva Gloria Gaynor was presented with the Legend Award by Prince Albert, the event's patron.

The ceremony was hosted by reggae singer Shaggy, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, and presenters included Naomi Campbell, Sonique and star of TV series ER, Eriq la Salle.

The show, which honours the best selling recording artists from around the world, is broadcast in more than 160 countries.

Images: © 2002 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Story: © 2002 British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

TOP-SELLING STARS TO PERFORM
AT WORLD MUSIC AWARDS

Destiny's Child, Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys and Enrique Iglesias are among the performers at tonight's 14th annual World Music Awards.

Enya, Shaggy and Andrea Bocelli will also perform at the awards ceremony in Monte Carlo.

All the artists are among the list of nominees for the awards, which also includes Robbie Williams, Linkin Park, Michael Jackson and Dido.

The World Music Awards honour the best selling acts of the past year.

The World Music Awards will be hosted by Shaggy, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Mark McGrath, and celebrities presenting awards include Naomi Campbell, Rachel Hunter and Michael Bolton.

Other nominees are:

World's best selling male artist - Shaggy, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams

World's best selling female artist - Enya, Dido, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys

World's best selling artist or group - Destiny's Child, Shaggy, Dido, Enya, Linkin Park

World's best selling pop group - Destiny's Child, NSync, Backstreet Boys

World's best selling rock artist - Lenny Kravitz, Sting, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan

World's best selling pop male artist - Michael Jackson, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Robbie Williams

World's best selling pop female artist - Dido, Britney Spears, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez

The World Music Awards Legend Award will be presented to Gloria Gaynor at the ceremony at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club.

The World Music Awards will air in the North America territories in late May 2002 on ABC TV.

Story: © 2002 Ananova Ltd All Rights Reserved.

ONE HELMER PONDER PIX AT FEST PANEL

By Lael Loewenstein and edited by Jim Mix

SANTA BARBARA (Variety) - Some of the industry's most successful scribes and directors discussed their work over the weekend at two of the Santa Barbara Film Festival's eagerly anticipated annual events.

On Sunday, "Directors on Directing" panel featured Terry Zwigoff ("Ghost World").

Director Zwigoff each had to lobby for six years to get their projects made.

Likewise, Zwigoff was disheartened when the suits at United Artists - an MGM ("Heartbreakers" & "Bunny") company, wanted a marquee name instead of original choice Steve Buscemi and suggested casting Jennifer Love Hewitt over Thora Birch.

From Jim Mix: Ms. Birch was nominated for a Golden Globe (at the recent Golden Globe Awards) for her performance in "Ghost World".

Zwigoff, by contrast, recalled getting physically ill and locking horns with executives, whether battling to secure music clearance rights or maintaining final cut.

Asked whether any forced compromises had been blessings in disguise, the helmer had very different answers. 

For Zwigoff and his part, demurred. "I can honestly say," he noted dryly, "that none of the compromises improved my film at all."

Here's a story on that from My Love Hewitt News (July 15, 2001). Click here.

Story: © 2002 Variety. All Rights Reserved.

From The Tennessean - March 4, 2002

SONGWRITER HARLAN HOWARD DIES AT 74

By ROBERT K. OERMANN
Special to The Tennessean

Staff Writer Peter Cooper contributed to this report along with Jim Mix.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Harlan Howard (www.harlanhoward.com), known as ''Mr. Songwriter,'' died yesterday, March 3 at age 74.

Details of his death and funeral arrangements were not available last night.

The man behind such timeless songs as I Fall to Pieces, Busted, I've Got a Tiger by the Tail and Heartaches by the Number was once dubbed ''the Irving Berlin of country music'' because of the size of his catalog of classics. Mr. Howard provided hit songs to several generations of stars, from Kitty Wells to Patty Loveless, from Johnny Cash to Rodney Crowell, from Patsy Cline to Reba McEntire. He wrote for Mel Tillis, then endured to write for second-generation star Pam Tillis. In a career that spanned six decades, Mr. Howard penned more than 100 top-10 hits.

Patsy Cline was the cousin of Jennifer Love Hewitt. Patsy Cline died in a plane crash on March 5, 1963.

His name became so legendary on Music Row that for 12 years, 1983-95, the community celebrated the Harlan Howard Birthday Bash, an all-star concert and outdoor picnic. A who's who of the country music world has sung his compositions — George Jones, Buck Owens, Glen Campbell, Ricky Van Shelton, The Judds, Jimmy Dickens, Ray Price and Conway Twitty, to name just a few. But Mr. Howard's songs have also been interpreted by such R&B greats as Ray Charles, Joe Simon, Shirley Caesar and Candi Staton. Artists including Brenda Lee, The Kingston Trio, Kay Starr and Burl Ives have had pop hits with his songs, as well.

Harlan Perry Howard was born Sept. 8, 1927, in Detroit. After a difficult childhood in a number of foster homes, he dropped out of school in the ninth grade and became a manual laborer. After military service, he settled in Los Angeles in 1955 and began driving a forklift in a printing factory.

As a boy, he'd been captivated by the music of Ernest Tubb and had begun writing song lyrics. In California, he socialized with other country music lovers, who encouraged his aspirations.

''I'd come home from work sometimes with six songs,'' Mr. Howard once recalled. ''During that period of time, I never knew there was that much money in songwriting. I was just writing because I loved it. I never thought I'd be able to quit the factory and make a living full time as a writer.''

Cowboy stars Tex Ritter (the father of actor JOHN RITTER) and Johnny Bond signed him to their song publishing company. Mr. Howard formed a songwriting team with West Coast singer Buck Owens that later resulted in five chart-topping hits.

Grand Ole Opry star Charlie Walker launched Mr. Howard's hit-writing career by recording Pick Me Up on Your Way Down in 1958. The following year, Heartaches by the Number topped both the country and the pop hit parades in versions by Ray Price and Guy Mitchell.

After writing successful songs for Kitty Wells, Warren Smith and Jan Howard, his wife from 1957 to 1967, Mr. Howard moved to Nashville in June 1960.

Along with figures such as Bill Anderson, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin, John D. Loudermilk and Roger Miller, he was among the first full-time songwriting professionals in the city.

''At the time, there were only a handful of songwriters writing tunes to feed this fiery furnace,'' Mr. Howard once said. ''Every record label had 30 great singers on its roster, all looking for hits. We all made each other write better. When I think back, it's amazing what happened.''

Working at Pamper Music, he collaborated on songs with Hank Cochran, with whom he co-wrote Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces and George Jones' You Comb Her Hair. Success came quickly in Music City.

At one point in 1961, Harlan Howard had 15 songs on the country popularity charts at the same time. That feat has never been equaled since. BMI gave him 10 songwriting awards that year and he was named Billboard's songwriter of the year in 1962 and 1963.

Prominence as a writer led to recording his own albums in 1961, 1965, 1967 and 1971. But the finest collection of his songs came with a 1967 tribute LP by Waylon Jennings, titled Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan. During his career, Jennings recorded more than 40 of Howard's songs, far more than any other artist.

Mr. Howard was Jennings' songwriting mentor, and his bonds with other artists were equally strong. He helped Bobby Bare obtain an RCA recording contract. He lobbied for Conway Twitty's transition from teen pop idol to country superstar. He also opened doors on Music Row for current star Sara Evans.

Howard's peers began calling him ''Mr. Songwriter'' after Ray Charles won a Grammy Award with Busted in 1963. Originally recorded by Johnny Cash, that song is one of a number of Harlan Howard compositions that have been recorded multiple times. Others include Life Turned Her That Way, The Chokin' Kind, Yours Love, Above and Beyond, I Fall to Pieces, The Key's in the Mailbox and Too Many Rivers.

He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973. But his career wound down after 1974 when Charlie Rich scored a hit with She Called Me Baby and Melba Montgomery introduced No Charge, which Shirley Caesar later turned into a gospel standard. Howard entered a long period of songwriting inactivity.

''I was getting a divorce and going through some bad times,'' Mr. Howard once said. ''It was burn-out time.''

That ended in 1982 when Opry star John Conlee revived Busted and introduced I Don't Remember Loving You and Nothing Behind You (Nothing in Sight as two new Harlan Howard creations. Thereafter, a new generation of Nashville stars began singing his songs. Reba McEntire (Somebody Should Leave), The Judds (Why Not Me), Highway 101 (Somewhere Tonight) and others extended Mr. Howard's hit streak through the 1980s.

In the 1990s Pam Tillis (Don't Tell Me What to Do), Doug Stone (These Lips Don't Know How to Say Goodbye), Collin Raye (All I Can Be) and more had hits with Harlan Howard songs. Trisha Yearwood and Aaron Neville won a Grammy Award for their 1994 revival of I Fall to Pieces. At the 1994 BMI awards banquet, Howard's Blame It on Your Heart, recorded by Patty Loveless, was named Song of the Year.

The annual Harlan Howard Birthday Bash raised funds for songwriter organizations. But declining health forced him to discontinue these events after 1995. He and fifth wife, Melanie, continued to run his song publishing business, however, and they aided such developing writers as Jackson Leap and Bobbie Cryner. He also continued to be a mentor, a raconteur and a gracious host to hundreds of hopefuls who sought him out, year after year.

Harlan Howard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997.

''I was writing for the blue-collar man on the street,'' he once said. ''I always wanted to be a songwriter, and I knew I wanted to do it all my life.''

Story: © 2002 The Tennessean - A Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper. All Rights Reserved.