Oprah Winfrey - FishbowlLA

Mediaplanet Prepares to Empower Bay Area Female Tech Leaders

Richard Horgan — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:45:55 +0000

As a Mediaplanet Publishing project manager, Janel Gallucci (pictured) oversaw a series of four 2010-12 USA TODAY 16 to 24-page broadsheet insert sections titled “Investing in Women & Girls.” The success of that campaign has led Gallucci to San Francisco, where she is newly installed as a managing director and working on a similar initiative to be published through the San Francisco Chronicle.

The impetus for Mediaplanet’s upcoming July 5 section is pretty clear. According to Gallucci, only three percent of tech startups are female-led and women are receiving just one percent of venture capital funding.

“We’re the global leader in themed media,” Gallucci tells FishbowlLA via telephone. “What that means is we partner with the top newspapers around the world to produce niche, focused publications.”

“For the USA TODAY series, our editorial team authored all the content, but it was unbiased,” she adds. “So it’s not an advertorial in any way, and the content was all about raising awareness in this global ‘women and girls’ movement.”

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Cruise-Holmes Scientology Spoof Gathering Steam in Chicago

Richard Horgan — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:30:39 +0000

The buzz is growing for The TomKat Project, a bare-bones stage show running through April 24 at the Playground Theater in Chicago. Scientology watcher Tony Ortega let his readers know about it this morning and Tribune theater critic Nina Metz has just given the production a “Genius” rave:

It matters very little that Brianna Baker bears no meaningful resemblance to either Oprah Winfrey or Cruise attorney Bert Fields; she inhabits both with real skill and technique. This might be the best Winfrey impression I’ve seen, one that doesn’t overplay its hand but perfectly embodies her vocal tics and regal self-regard.

The Brandon Ogborn script sources media coverage of Cruise and Holmes from 1998 through 2012 to skewer celebrity journalism as much as it does Scientology. ~~Ortega’s tipster, Synthia Fagen, says that Ogborn has told her there may be some interest from Comedy Central.~~ [Editor's note: Please see reader comments below.]

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O‘s Adam Glassman: ‘Even Oprah thought I was nuts in the beginning’

Mona Zhang — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:08:11 +0000

If only he had enough hours in a day. That’s the most challenging part of Adam Glassman‘s gig as creative director of O: The Oprah Magazine, a post where he’s constantly navigating the worlds of graphic design, fashion and media. In the latest installment of Mediabistro’s So What Do You Do? series, Glassman recalls his groundbreaking decision to use real women over fashion models.

“I don’t want to say that we don’t ever use models because there are times that we do, but as we speak to these three generations of women, how can you do that?” he said. “You need something that is going to appeal to everyone. So I started using women of all ages, and not just all ages, but really all shapes. And I thought that was really key. Even Oprah thought I was nuts in the beginning. She was like, ‘You really want to do fashion on real people?’ And I said, ‘Yes, why not? You do it on the show. You show your people in makeovers; you have it in the audience. Let’s try it.’”

Read the full interview in So What Do You Do, Adam Glassman, Creative Director at O Magazine?

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Oprah on OWN: ‘I’m Not Doing the Hula Yet…’

Richard Horgan — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:45:04 +0000

Oprah Winfrey adorns one of four different covers for The Hollywood Reporter‘s special year-end double issue hitting newsstands today. She’s part of a compilation of 2012 “Rule Breakers,” the kind of framing and terminology that editorial director Janice Min is an expert at. The content seems just that much more compelling than if it were sitting under a “Top 11″ headline, which is the total number of profiled entities.

A year ago, media critics were writing Oprah Winfrey’s OWN obituary. But with Tyler Perry on the exclusive horizon and Rihanna in the rear-view mirror, the 58-year-old mogul’s conversation with reporters Lacey Rose and Stacey Wilson suggests this holiday season’s New Year’s resolutions will be a little less panicked:

“I’m not doing the hula yet… but compared to a year ago, it feels like a sigh of relief,” says Winfrey between sips of iced tea on her sprawling estate…

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Students Camp Out for Team Dave+Oprah

Richard Horgan — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:50:19 +0000

While Twilight fans were busy camping out in downtown Los Angeles this weekend for tonight’s Breaking Dawn – Part 2 premiere, another overnight line-up sprung up Friday-Saturday in Muncie, Indiana. It was for a different kind of sequel: the November 26 installment of Ball State’s David Letterman Lecture Series featuring very special guest Oprah Winfrey.

Per a report in the Ball State Daily News:

Some students had spent more than 15 hours outside for the tickets. For the overnight stay, students brought everything from a tent to a dog…

This event is once in a lifetime, Kyle Williams, a junior fashion merchandising major said. “Twenty years from now, I will be able to say I got a free ticket in college to see Oprah,” Williams said.

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Publicist-Turned-Filmmaker Ava DuVernay Gets Glowing AP Profile

Richard Horgan — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:45:48 +0000

A year that began with Ava DuVernay claiming the first-ever win by a black woman of Sundance’s Best Director prize continues apace this month for the former film publicist. As she told AP entertainment writer Sandy Cohen, “I’m living my dream.”

DuVernay’s sophomore effort Middle of Nowhere has received Twitter seal of approval from Oprah Winfrey. Her previous, first effort was endorsed by Roger Ebert. With that kind of Chicago backing, it’s no surprise that DuVernay is already hard at work on her next project – a documentary about Venus Williams – and palns to make a movie a year. From Cohen’s profile piece:

There’s a massive congratulatory bouquet of orchids on the desk in her small office overlooking Van Nuys Boulevard… A magnum of Moet with a big gold bow on top sits on the floor…

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Hearst Documentary Screens in San Francisco

Richard Horgan — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:30:18 +0000

Following a splashy private screening at Hearst headquarters in New York City and a public world premiere earlier this month at the Hamptons International Film Festival, feature documentary Citizen Hearst has come home to roost. Commissioned by Hearst and narrated by actor William H. Macy, the film will debut in San Francisco tonight at a Legion of Honor event sponsored by the Chronicle.

The movie was co-produced and directed by Leslie Iwerks, who previously took a look at another west coast media giant in The Pixar Story. The parade of on-screen interviews includes Oprah Winfrey, Dan Rather, Mark Burnett, Walt Disney Company chairman Bob Iger and a number of William Randolph Hearst descendants.

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Oprah Signs Exclusive Deal with Tyler Perry

Richard Horgan — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:45:55 +0000

Not long ago, Our America executive producer and host Lisa Ling told us OWN was the best place she had ever worked. Thanks to a monumental new deal announced today, things are only going to get better.

In a hint of what is to come in the next few years for a fully Oprah-driven OWN, the network has inked an exclusive agreement with Tyler Perry. A pair of shows from the ridiculously prolific Atlanta mogul will debut in 2013, with Perry executive producing, writing and directing across the board:

“I have been looking forward to the day when we would be in the position to enter the world of scripted television. That day has come,” said Winfrey. “We are all energized by the opportunity to collaborate with Tyler… He has an incredible ability to illuminate life stories and characters in his unique voice and inspires and encourages people all over the world.”

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Lisa Ling: ‘OWN is hands down the best place I’ve ever worked’

Mona Zhang — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:32:18 +0000

Lisa Ling got her start as a TV correspondent when she was only 15. Since then, she’s come a long way, co-hosting The View, National Geographic’s Explorer and OWN’s Our America. In the latest installment of Mediabistro’s So What Do You Do? interview series, FishbowlLA’s own Richard Horgan spoke with the Sacramento native about about her experience working for Oprah Winfrey.

“I am so lucky to work for OWN. It is the most creative freedom I’ve ever had in a job and I am so incredibly grateful for that,” said Ling. “I also have a great deal of respect for the OWN executives who oversee our show. We really operate in such a collaborative way, and I love it. I’ve never felt pressure to do anything about which I have felt uncomfortable. OWN is hands down the best place I’ve ever worked.”

Read the full interview in So What Do You Do, Lisa Ling, Host and Executive Producer of Our America?

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For THR Awards Blogger, It’s Telluride – Take Two

Richard Horgan — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:00:22 +0000

A year ago at this time, Scott Feinberg (pictured) had just signed a contract with The Hollywood Reporter to join the publication as lead awards blogger and tumbled into his first-ever trip to Telluride. This weekend, he’s back in the picturesque Colorado mountains, ready to handicap 2012 Oscar hopefuls alongside a small group of LA journo regulars that includes Anne Thompson (Indiewire), Gregory Ellwood (Hit Fix), Steve Pond (TheWrap) and Pete Hammond (Deadline).

“It’s funny, the one place where we all end up is the Santa Barbara Film Festival,” Feinberg told FishbowlLA via telephone yesterday shortly after arriving in the rain. “It’s weird. Some of us can’t make it to Telluride, some of us can’t make it to Toronto. But the one that it just seems, year after year, all the usual LA Oscar beat writers end up at is Santa Barbara.”

Everything is walking distance in Telluride. It’s also a place where, with a very few exceptions, outlets pay the same hefty price for journalist passes as attendees. And because locals are used to living next to the likes of Ralph Lauren, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise, the already secluded event has a welcome, casual feel for A-list attendees. Starting with today’s traditional kick-off picnic.

“At the end of last year’s awards season, George Clooney told me Telluride had been one of the highlights of the circuit, which he was on for a whole six months,” Feinberg recalled. “He felt that he could walk around here with no bodyguards, no entourage… Of course, one or two people might still ask him for photos. But it’s nothing like LA or Toronto.”

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Meet Devon Franklin, Oprah’s New BFF

Guest — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:32:33 +0000

DeVon Franklin, VP of production for Columbia/Sony Pictures, had a very big weekend. On Saturday, he tied the knot with Jumping the Broom actress Meagan Good, and Sunday his hour-long interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on the OWN network’s Super Soul Sunday program.

But, before he was making all of these headlines, the preacher and author of Produced By Faith sat down with Mediabistro just over a year ago, as part of our Media Beat series. In the three-part interview, he discussed his impressive rise from intern to VP in the film industry, as well as how his faith has positively impacted his career and personal life. “My whole big idea for my life is to inspire and encourage, and God has called me to use film as part of a way to do that,” he said.

Watch the first part of our interview below and check out Parts 2 and 3 after the jump.

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Deadline’s Mike Fleming Takes Another Playboy Detour

Richard Horgan — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:53 +0000

Although Mike Fleming’s deadline.com duties keep him very busy, he still finds the time to continue one longstanding freelance tradition. The Playboy interview.

Beginning with Robert Downey Jr. in the 1990s, Fleming has contributed around two dozen centerpiece Q&As to the publication, chatting with everyone from Denzel Washington to Harrison Ford to Quentin Tarantino. For the June issue, the A-lister across the tape recorder is Tom Cruise. Towards the end of the conversation, Fleming asks Cruise what he learned from that whole Matt Lauer-Oprah Winfrey train wreck:

“When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way, and I never have. Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited.”

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Thanks to Homeless Man, OWN Finally Gets Some Good PR

Richard Horgan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:00:54 +0000

Just when Oprah Winfrey perhaps needed him most, homeless LA resident “Eddie” has come to the public relations rescue of the embattled media mogul and her fellow OWN executives.

This recent encounter at Beverly Hills’ Montage Hotel could have so easily gone the other way. But instead, as reported by the New York Post’s Page Six, it has led to the best bit of feel-good OWN branding since the network’s lofty launch:

Oprah joined four OWN executives on the patio at chef Scott Conant’s Beverly Hills hot spot Scarpetta… Spies say a passerby then approached, pleading, “Oprah can you help a homeless guy get a bowl of soup, please?”

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OWN Restructuring Results in 30 Pink Slips

Marcus Vanderberg — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:47:49 +0000

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) laid off 30 employees in Los Angeles and New York Monday as the network faces another round of restructuring. This time around, the suits from Discovery Communications are coming in to help oversee operations.

The Los Angeles Times has the details:

The move comes as OWN continues to struggle to find its voice. Launched in January 2011, OWN has already cost Discovery more than $300 million. The channel’s performance has been so weak that there has even been speculation, denied by insiders at the network’s parent companies, that if the situation doesn’t improve soon the plug could be pulled.

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Magic Johnson Launching African-American Focused TV Channel

Richard Horgan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:15:05 +0000

Throughout his NBA and business career, Magic Johnson has always aspired to achieve great things. So it’s only logical that he would choose to call his new TV channel Aspire.

Per an LA Times article this morning by Meg James and Greg Braxton, Johnson’s channel is the first of several planned by Comcast TV as part of the company’s recent agreement with the FCC and Department of Justice to diversify. Aspire will offer a 24-hour mix of inspirational, family-friendly movies, comedy, music and more. From the article:

“This is so exciting for me, I’m pinching myself,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “This is big for myself, for the African-American community and the African-American creative community. I wanted a vehicle to show positive images and to have stories written, produced and directed by African-Americans for our community. Aspire — that’s how I’ve been leading my life.”

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