Possible project? In the Camera's Eye

Possible project?: In a TVGuide.com article on singer Alex Boyd, he mentions he might be acting in an upcoming film In the Camera's Eye in which the producers want EN for the lead role. All that I can find out about this project is the tiny little bit in the article. It mentions that the producers are interested in EN, but not whether he has expressed interest (or even been approached) or the names of the producers, director, or screenwriter. Based on the lack of information, it's hard to know whether to regard this seriously or whether Boyd is just voicing somebody's dream cast. TVGuide.com Alex Boyd- The New Elvis?

Next up is In the Camera's Eye, with Jeffrey Dahmer. Yes, that Jeffrey Dahmer! "The producers have hundreds of hours of real footage from Dahmer's interviews with his psychiatrist, and none of it has ever been released. So the movie will be based on the life of the cameraman who actually shot the footage.

"They have Edward Norton in mind to play the cameraman," he adds. "Ed would be CGI'd into the footage with Dahmer, and the movie would follow the downward spiral of Ed as he envisions the murders that Dahmer talks about. I've been told that my character will be Ed's younger brother, but that's pretty much all I know as of now."

Happy Birthday Edward, Rounders Collector's Edition, New Yorker Festival

Edward Norton was born August 18, 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts (he grew up in Columbia, MD). Happy 35th Birthday!!!

A Collector's Edition DVD of Rounders will become available on September 7th. While the original DVD included only the film and the trailer, the collector's edition contains more special features. The most notable features would seem to be a commentary that includes EN, director John Dahl, and screenwriters David Levien and Brian Koppelman and a behind the scenes segment on "Rounders". There are also several features that would appeal to the avid poker player. Even though EN did a lot of press for "Rounders", it be great to hear his comments on the film outside of the usual press junket questions. Rounders Collector's Edition DVD. After working on Rounders, EN, Levien and Koppelman decided to collaborate on a film adaptation of the Mark Helprin novel A Soldier of the Great War. This project was announced in March 1999, but no additional information was released. However, don't write this project off. EN includes A Soldier of the Great War in his most recent bios as one of five films he is currently producing.

According to the Rush and Molloy column (8/18/04) in the New York Daily News, EN, Stockard Channing, Cynthia Nixon and Stanley Tucci will "debate the merits of stage acting and screen acting" at this year's New Yorker Festival, which will be held Oct 1-3. No info yet at Festival's official website

In just a few days, the Paula Vogel Season will start at the Signature Theatre with the play "The Oldest Profession". EN is on the Board of Trustees and previously performed in their productions of "Burn This" and "Fragments."

California solar proposal dispute

The Associated Press (8/10/04) reports that the "Million Solar Homes Initiative", which proposes to run half of new California homes on solar energy by 2020, is moving forward in the California State Legislature. However, not everyone is satisfied with the plan.

But supporters of solar power, including actor Edward Norton, already are disputing the details of the plan. Norton on Tuesday urged that the incentives be concentrated first on low-income housing, while others lobbied to include commercial and state-owned property in incentive plans.

Norton and the environmental group Global Green USA argued the priority should be on the working poor who can least afford high energy bills and the solar alternative.

"There's no investment in solar energy that makes more economic sense," Norton said at a Capitol rally.

Norton is a trustee of the Enterprise Foundation, a nonprofit organization promoting the use of solar energy by low-income residents in South Central Los Angeles. The program pays to put a three-kilowatt system on a residence there whenever a "notable personality" buys a six-kilowatt system.

Read the entire story, via that San Diego Union Tribune website AP: Legislature pushes incentives to spur solar homes. Edward talked about his project BP Solar Neighbors in the Enterprise Quarterly article Electricity Doesn't Grow on Trees - It Falls from the Sky. Visit Global Green USA

Cleveland bound

Breaking Edward Norton news: He's coming to Cleveland. Read more info from The Cleveland Plain Dealer [Thanks to Judy for the info!!!]

Edward Norton to help CCC raise scholarship money
Thursday, August 05, 2004

A nice coup for Cuyahoga Community College. Golden Globe winner Edward Norton will speak at its annual Presidential Scholarship Luncheon Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

How did it happen? Congratulations go to Rena Blumberg Olshansky, one of the directors of the Tri-C Foundation, which raises scholarship money. Her son, Stuart Blumberg, has a production company with Norton, his Yale roommate. Norton also has some other Cleveland ties. His grandfather, James Rouse, a shopping mall developer, is responsible for both Harborplace, along Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and Beachwood Place. Norton, who was nominated for Academy Awards for his roles in "Primal Fear" and "American History X," is also a philanthropist. He serves on the board of trustees of the Enterprise Foundation, which works to move families out of poverty through affordable housing and social service networks. Cleveland is one of the recipients of Enterprise funds.

Thanks to everyone who emailed to let me know that IMDB.com and an article on CNN.com state that EN is in the upcoming Kingdom of Heaven.

It's "Intelligence (and lack thereof) Day" on my blog: The CIA goes Hollywood

Democratic National Convention

If you've been glued to C-SPAN's gavel to gavel coverage of the Democratic National Convention, perhaps you've seen him. Perhaps not. I haven't found any wire photos or video footage of Edward Norton at the DNC, but he's been mentioned in a few stories covering the event. In the Baltimore Sun article Young Democrats get a taste of convention (7/29/04), among the various events for the Maryland Young Democrats, they had drinks with him on Tuesday. Two articles mentioned that he was on the guest list for a Wednesday reception honoring Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland and Sen. Harry Reid from Nevada at the Museum of Fine Arts, however, I can't find any info that he attended ( LA Times: DNC Meets Hollywood With Glamorous Gift Bags and San Jose Mercury News: Some delegates arrive by land, two by sea, both 7/28/04)

EN's iTunes Playlist

Someday, I'm going to stop checking the news before going to bed (not anytime soon). I stumbled on a music review posted on Salon.com that included the teaser that this was Edward Norton's favorite band. After checking the Salon.com review on "The King of France", I found that the rationale behind this claim lies in EN's celebrity playlist on iTunes. Looking up his playlist (you have to download and install iTunes software to view it - or else I just did it the long way), it includes eleven songs by childhood friend Peter Salett and nine songs by The King of France. Along with the list EN includes a statement about why he chose to do a playlist, how he feels about NYC and its music scene, and why he chose those two (they are his favorite underappreciated artists from NYC). EN's playlist was released July 13, 2004.

Update on High Line Benefit, Italian Job 2 (Revenge of the Minis?)

I haven't across any pics of Edward Norton at the Friends of the High Line benefit and I found out a good reason why this morning. An article in the NY Times, The Goat, or, Who's the Guy With the Mustache?, mentioned who attended the party (as you might guess from the title, playwright Edward Albee was there) and not a lot else. However, it does state that EN wasn't present at the party since he was in China. And that's it for the recent EN coverage. Hopefully, we'll find out more about Down in the Valley soon (does it have a distributor yet?). So why would EN be in China? Well, his father is the senior advisor to the Nature Conservancy's Yunnan Great Rivers Project in Kunming, China, so my guess is a family visit.

Today's Variety announced that a sequel to The Italian Job remake is in the works. EN was the villain in the remake, however, he accepted the role to avoid litigation. He was contractually obligated to Paramount Pictures to complete a film for them (dating back to his Primal Fear contract), however, neither EN or the studio could agree on a project. The studio then informed EN that if he didn't agree to do The Italian Job, they would sue him. Read the entire story in the New York Observer article Ed Norton to Lansing: Burn This!

High Line Benefit, Forgotten Passages

Last night, the Friends of the High Line Summer Benefit was held in NYC. EN was scheduled to co-chair the event. However, I can't find any photos on any of the wire services or news coverage. Hopefully, more info will come out soon (including how much they raised through the event).

I've set up my own blog Forgotten Passages. The topics have nothing to do with Edward Norton. The purpose is to highlight items that I don't think have received a great deal of attention, usually facts that I stumble across while reading. I don't know where I'll go with it, but it keeps me off the streets. Forgotten Passages

Brando, EN as interviewer, High Line Benefit

It was announced today that actor Marlon Brando passed away. Brando's last film was The Score with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. So you might check out the interviews and the section on The Score where EN talks about what it was like to co-star with Brando. [flatbroke's note: actually it wasn't his last film role, Brando voiced an animated character Mrs. Sour in the upcoming Big Bug Man only a few weeks before he died]

EN interviewed his childhood friend musician Peter Salett in the June edition of Interview magazine (sorry I had to let you know after the fact). However, you can check out the entire interview posted at Peter Salett's official website.

EN is co-chairing a benefit for Friends of the High Line which will be held on July 14. All the cheap tickets are gone. You can get all the info at the Friends of the High Line official website.

Fight Club the Musical???

Playbill.com reports that author Chuck Palahniuk mentioned that a musical version of Fight Club might be a possibility. Palahniuk apparently stated this at a reading where he was promoting his newest novel Stranger Than Fiction. He also said that Fight Club director David Fincher would be involved in the development process. Playbill.com- The First Rule About Musicals Is...: Cult Novel-Turned-Film "Fight Club" May Become Musical. Whether or not an FC musical ever makes it to the stage, Fight Club the video game is supposed to hit shelves in October 2004. Fight Club the Game official site.

I did end up going to the Dirty Work screening at SILVERDOCS this past Friday. It went well and the doc was well-received. EN gave an introduction to the film and afterwards the two directors David Sampliner and Tim Nackashi answered questions. I tried to tape the intro and the Q&A but the audio quality turned out pretty poor, so I won't be able to post audio clips. Hopefully, I'll be able to make out enough of the audio to provide a transcript eventually. But honestly, I've been so exhausted over the past few days that I haven't wanted to even think of it.

EN at DC area Dirty Work screening

The documentary Dirty Work (EN is the exec producer) will be shown tomorrow Wed June 16 at the Atlanta Film Festival and this Friday June 18 at SILVERDOCS 2004: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival in Silver Spring, MD. This morning, Washingtonpost.com had an on-line chat with Patricia Finneran, director of Silverdocs 2004. When asked if any celebrities would be attending, she responded

Yes -- Caroline Rhea will be here tonight! As will the actor Michael Nouri, actress Jenny Dundas. Festivals are full of surprises - we have some additional celebs scheduled to appear ...

On Friday evening the screening of DIRTY WORK will be introduced by its executive producer Ed Norton!

I can't find a mention of EN's attendance on the SILVERDOCS official website but you can view the chat transcript for yourself. I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to the DC one. Also, I was going through the Atlanta Film Festival website and the icons next to Dirty Work's listing indicate that the film is by a local artist and that the artist is scheduled to be present. So at least one of the two directors will probably be present (but I have no idea if EN will make the trip).

Signature chosen for new WTC complex

Yesterday Edward Norton was present at the announcement that the Signature Theatre was one of the four cultural institutions chosen to make their home at the redeveloped World Trade Center site (the Joyce International Dance Center, the Freedom Center, and the Drawing Center were also selected. EN stated at the ceremony "You are looking at a bunch of groups that were truly the underdogs in this. It took a lot of boldness to get behind [these groups]." EN has been on the Board of Trustees for the Signature Theatre Company since 1996. In Fall 2002, EN starred in Signature's highly acclaimed production of Lanford Wilson's Burn This. He first performed with Signature Theatre Company in the 1994 New York premiere of Edward Albee's Fragments. More info: NY Times:Playwrights Champion a Theater That Championed Them and NY Daily News: Tap 4 cultural groups for WTC What will this mean for Signature? From the New York Times

The Signature's new home will have three theaters instead of the one it now operates, requiring an ambitious new slate of programming and an expansion of its one-year, one-playwright formula. Tentative plans for the opening season in 2010-11 call for nine major productions a year, and a new rotating residency for so-called "emerging and mid-career playwrights."

Music and dance will be added to the Signature's presentations, as will a series of world premieres of its so-called "master playwrights" in their largest theater, a 499-seat proscenium. There will be a cafe, a bookstore, a gallery and rehearsal studios.

The way out, Valley completed, Dirty Work site, Urban Jungle

I've been trying to find a way out from some problematic information I had posted on my website about a project that Edward may or may not be doing. My intention is always to provide the most accurate info as possible, so that when I screw up, I usually make a point of announcing my stupidity publically. Unfortunately the problem stems from the source. I investigated a rumor and finding nothing concrete, I asked a reliable source. I received a carefully worded non-denial denial and based on that, I stated that the rumor was false. However, this turns out to be a badly kept secret, there are photos and eyewitnesses. I am alienating EN fans because my post discredits their information and I have had offers of proof. I am also trying to maintain a relationship with insiders (who apparently are not entirely truthful with me) in the hope that I might get some reliable information in the future. Now I've been stressing, trying to figure out how to make everyone happy, and there is no way. At the same time, I've been dealing with my own family emergency. So this morning I realized I don't care. I'm not paid, I do this because I think it's fun and it's definitely not fun right now. I take pride in the accuracy of this website and that's currently in question. If my source had been upfront about the situation in the beginning, I could have handled this better, but as it is, I am irrevocably stuck. Here's what I'll say: Edward Norton was in Seville around the same time that Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven was filming there. That's as far as I'm going.

Down in the Valley has completed filming and is now in post production [Sources: Variety film production chart (updated May 12), Element Films May 17 press release (on an unrelated project). Thanks to everyone who emailed this info!!!]

Dirty Work, the documentary EN executive produced, now has an official website. Unfortunately, the link to the trailer currently does not work.

According to the Dirty Work official website, EN and his brother Jim (filmmaker of "Yunnan Great Rivers Expedition") are "planning a documentary television series tentatively titled 'The Urban Jungle' for the Discovery network"