By: Valerie Milano – Koreatown (LA), CA (Hollywood Today) 4-25-12

It’s sometimes hard to believe that the Los Angeles Riots were 20 years ago.

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By: Valerie Milano – Hollywood, CA (Hollywood Today) 4-22-12

Last nights 1st Annual ABFF Strikes for Education, a celebrity charity bowling gala sponsored by Cadillac and the American Black Film Festival, was a who’s who of African American film and TV stars. Co-hosted by ABFF Founder, Jeff Friday and actress Nia Long (Soul Food, Big Mama’s House), the event was organized to raise awareness and capitol for the Film Life Foundation, a non- profit organization dedicated to helping inner city youth interested in pursuing careers in film and television.

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Celebrate the 2012 NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers)

By: Valerie Milano (Hollywood Today) 4-11-12

The NALIP 2012 National Conference, “Diverse Voices, Universal Content” will be held April 13-15, 2012 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, CA. Highlights of the conference will be legendary actress Rita Moreno to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award in person, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, and President/COO of Universal Studios Ron Meyer to give Keynote talks at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.

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By: Valerie Milano (Hollywood Today) 4-8-12

Magic City is a sexy and sleek new series that premiered this past Friday, April 6th on the Starz network. Set in 1950’s Miami, the story is created around the Miramar Playa Hotel, a local hotspot that is set to put on one of its biggest productions, a New Years Eve concert featuring Frank Sinatra. Built from the ground up by Ike Evans (Jeffery Dean Morgan), the hotel is aesthically magnificent, popular with A list celebrities, and is even known for hosting black entertainers at a time when this was still taboo. As Evans prepares for the evenings festivities, he soon becomes swept into a whirlwind of issues, including the threat of a union takeover before Sinatra takes the stage, and unsuccessfully bargaining with the Mob boss (Danny Houston), not so affectionately known as “The Butcher”, who has more of an investment in the Miramar than Ike would like to acknowledge.

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              “You can buy a tiger, but you can’t buy common sense.” By Sheila Appleby Williams Los Angeles, CA(Hollywood Today)4/7/12/–Tippi Hendren, actress and animal rights activist, recently held a press conference for H.R. 4122, the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act” of 2012 at her exotic animal sanctuary, [...]

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By: Valerie Milano (Hollywood Today) 4-6-12

ABC’s scandal premiered last night. It centers on Olivia Pope, a “fixer”, a crisis management specialist, or a “gladiator in a suit.” She and her team are the self-styled “good guys” that solve difficult problems on an international scale. The first time we see Olivia, played by Kerry Washington, she is negotiating a ransom with only half of the money required. She approaches this minor difficulty with directness, confidence, and power, never giving into weakness.

The most interesting thing about this show is that Olivia Pope is based on a real person. Judy Smith, a Washington crisis management specialist. She began her career as a crisis manager back in the Iran Contra days. At the TCA Summer press tour, Shondra Rhimes, described Judy as “a professional fixer and has been doing it for years, and her life is super interesting and she was kind enough to let us be inspired by that and make the show.”

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