I The Behrend Beacon Stewart to star in spin-off By Daniel Fienherg Zap2lt.com (KRT) Franchise expansion: It's a rood thing In what NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker described as a exciting and thrilling announcement," NBC re). ealed on Wednesdav (Feb. 21 that Mark Burnett and Donald 'Frump will spin-off their successful business reality franchise with "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." an upcom ing series featuring the currently incarcerated domestic diva "While both Donald and Martha are incredible business icons, they're in very different business es." Burnett says. "This allows each version of 'The Apprentice' TV show to have a fiery different look and feel. while operating within the same success ful format. This is really a win-win-win. It's a win for NBC. absolutely. It's a win for Martha. And def initely a win for Donald and I as partners." "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." which will land the winner an unspecified job with Martha Stewart Ominimedia. is the second announced proj ect teaming Stewart, Burnett and NBC Universal. A syndicated series is currently selling well with affil iates and is hoping for a launch sometime this fall. "There's no question that each of us is fascinated by the rags-to-riches and comeback in this country and I think that nobody is a better example of that than Martha." Zucker boasts. "I think that that is part of what the tremendous interest in her will he both in daytime and in the primetime version of 'The Apprentice' when that airs." Although Burnett acknowledges that a deal for the spin-off was in place bet Ore Stewart was incar cerated, the official announcement was held until February to avoid confusion with the third season of "The Apprentice" and, allegedly, so as not to take attention away from The Donald's recent nuptials. No timetable has been set for the premiere of Stewart's "Apprentice," hut on the show's upcom ing 27-city casting tour. applicants will he given the opportunity to choose whether they want to audi tion for the Trump-flavored fourth season, or Stewart's different brand. "She's looking 14 somebody's who's creative, but defined broadly, creativity includes marketing, inventing. using technology to sell her brand," explains Burnett. "She's also looking for someone who can think on their feet and can make decisions )pe Car Accidents Drunk Driving Defense Criminal Defense Grant C. Travis, Esquire www.paautoinjury.com www.duilawyerpa.corn eir ;. j fUDENT LI and he brave It's unclear how Stewart's "Apprentice" will set itself apart from the first three installments, which have been characterized by Trump's bombast. Stewart is expected to come up with her own catch phrase to deviate from The Donald's popular "You're fired" and she'll have her own equivalent for the boardroom setting. "Martha has her own way of dealing with things," is all that Burnett will promise. One thing that won't be a major part of the new show is Stewart's time behind bars at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, where Burnett has made regular visits. "The show is not going to he focusing on her walking out of Alderson," he says. "That won't even he in the show, in any of the shows. I'm not inter ested in that side of it. It happened. It was an expe rience. She won't avoid it. She may mention it, but in passing. We're not going to try to make a mock ery or a game out of a very serious part of her life." Rumors were flying that Trump was eying Stewart as a possible successor for when his initial "Apprentice" contract ran out this spring, but with a new deal in place for two seasons next year, Trump just wants to warn his friend that she has her work cut out for her. "The biggest advice is he prepared to work hard, because it is more difficult than anybody would know," says Trump. "It takes more time than you'd think and it's more difficult, but the rewards are great and the psychological rewards are great, of having a top show on television. For me it's been a lot of fun and it's really been a good thing." Even in the midst of their excitement over the new show, Trump and Burnett are able to poke fun at some less successful imitators. "It's going to he nothing at all like 'Wickedly Perfect,"' cracks Burnett of CBS failed domestic diva reality series. "The first difference will be this will be a success. The second difference is that's a parody attempt at comedy which failed, this is a intelligent franchise that deals with real-world busi ness problems that is totally aspirational for mil lions of people in America who want to make it." For his part, Trump jokes that Stewart, serving time for obstruction of justice, wasn't their only bil lionaire candidate for the spin-off. "We had in mind Richard Branson and Mark Cuban, but we had some free research done by other networks." 100 State Street Suite 210 Erie, PA16507 455-3839 Changing the nature of horror By George Thomas Knight Ridder Newspapers When he's not helping everyone's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swing on America's movie screens, it's refreshing to know that direc tor Sam Raimi still gets a kick out of making peo ple soil their pants with thrills and chills. Many people may not remember, but before his Spidey success, Raimi was known for horror films such as "The Evil Dead" and its sequel, "Evil Dead II," and although he's more behind the-scenes now, Raimi still works to scare people in America's movie theaters. He and his producing partner Robert Tapert cre ated an American version of the Japanese horror film "The Grudge" (known there as "Ju-On"); it became a runaway success here with box office receipts of $llO million domestically. The movie, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and made its debut on DVD and VHS this week, continued a burgeoning trend begun by "'The Ring," the Americanization of Japanese horror. Raimi said the success of "The Ring" and his film comes from the fact that the movies are gen uinely scary, but there are other things at play. The movies aren't as in-your-face with violence as American audiences grew accustomed to with the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" series. Subtlety has been a lost aspect in the American horror genre. "I do think that our director (Takashi Shimizu) worked in much more subtle ways than any mod ern American director working," Raimi said. "I would say that (Roman) Polanski is more subtle, obviously but I don't know a more subtle horror director." Tapert sees the movies' impact another way. Older Americans remember Universal Studios' horror classics such as "Dracula," "Frankenstein" and "The Wolfman," and they introduced them to another generation, as did numerous local horror movie show hosts across the country. These movies stand the test of time; they're classics. Of the slasher genre that dominated the 1980 s, only the first "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" can claim that lofty status. But younger audiences are now taking to the Japanese adaptations in droves. "A friend of mine, although I don't know that it's true or not, said that (their success is) because they're new and different than anything that's come before it, and they are accessible via a PG -13 rating," Tapert said. "The young movie-going audience identifies these movies as directly 'their' horror movie. ... Therefore a whole new genera tion is able to claim these as 'their' horror movies."' Bringing something new to American audi ences was one of the many reasons they decided to remake "Ju-On" into "The Grudge." "When we saw the original "Ju-On," we were really blown away by it. It had great mastery of the horror craft that our director, Takashi Shimizu, had demonstrated, and we wanted to bring the Web Winners By Reid Kanaley Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) With the Philadelphia Eagles meeting the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX / on Sunday, we ran to the Web for news of those great connnercials they'll be =dug. Also, there's a lot about football. Read the latest dirt scheduled Hey, this is While you ads, take a view year's , vial titles, 'Bud Was WWW (KRT) Friday, February 4, 2005 sPii)ERFAN c►Rc Director Sam Raimi is not only known for "Spider-Man," he is also famous for horror films such as "The Evil Dead" and "The Grudge.- whole package ... inclusive of its subtlety, its ter rible shock and its strange Japanese lore. to the American audience." Raimi said. Obviously Raimi and Taper( tapped into some thing, because they have agreed to make "The Grudge 2," and Raimi, whose life is normally occupied with all things Spidey, is producing sev eral other films - "Scarecrow, Rise" and next month's "The Boogeyman" - in the general horror genre. Going back to his roots, even if it's not in a directing role, provides somewhat of a respite from the webhead, Raimi said. "It's wonderful. It's fun to do both and it does take my mind off the "Spider-Man" pictures in a great way," he said. "It also exposes me to other directors and, in this case, I learned a lot.- Maybe he'll use what he's learned when he revisits one of his earlier works, "The Evil Dead," which is considered a cult classic. Some might question his willingness to go back to the future and have it remade with a new director. "The 'Evil Dead' movies were never theatrical ly successful and as much as we'd like to think that everyone has seen them. there's a whole gen eration who hasn't seen them, and a whole gener ation of filmmakers who have come up since then. It just seemed natural to find a new, young film maker, a new great filmmaker to retell or reinvent that movie, that franchise for a new generation of filmgoers in a whole new way. - In the meantime, he knows what will occupy much of his time while his horror projects creep through the creative pipeline. At this point, he knows some of what will happen in "Spider-Man 3," which is set to come out in the summer of 2007, but he's not willing to share the informa tion. But he does backtrack on a statement he made while doing publicity for "Spider-Man 2" this past summer when he said the third film would be his last: "I'd probably make as many "Spider-Man" movies as they would ask me." Trivia: Clint Eastwood DaMasNews.com (KRT) How much do you know about the work of Clint Eastwood, director and star of "Mice Dollar Baby"? ;he second film to feature "Dirty NOT feature an appear Locke? which film? received an ~~ ~-~:
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