The Sundance Film Festival is, without a doubt, one of the hottest industry events of the year... despite the chilly Utah weather! I was so psyched to yet again bring the Young Hollywood team out to Park City to experience the festival firsthand, mingle and chat with the stars also in attendance, and get it all on tape just for you guys!
It's been an amazing ride so far. We've shot over 40 segments, including interviews with everyone from old friends like Aziz Ansari and Natasha Bedingfield to new YH faces such as LizzyCaplan and Mary J. Blige! We also hit up all the hottest events and hot spots like Hyde and Tao... It's just been one fantastic day after the other, and we can't wait to see what else is in store and share it with you!
We will begin airing segments on YHN tomorrow, so keep on the lookout and join us on this crazy Sundance adventure!
In the meantime, check out the below video of the YH team's arrival in Utah. Heavy coats required!
Is your Facebook Friends list approaching the maximum limits? Annoyed with all the ads and Twitter hashtags? (#theycanbefineaslongastheyarenotoolong) Maybe you want something more personal...
Look out, Facebook and Twitter, because a new social network is getting a lot of buzz. Path is a mobile-only outlet and can be used as an app on either the iPhone or your favorite Android. There are some rules, though -- you are only allowed 150 people on your Friends list. So, no more adding random people just because you think you might have gone to elementary school with them!
On Facebook, your Friends can look through all your photos and posts and never leave comments, making you to wonder who has really seen it -- or maybe seen it far way too much. Path takes the anonymity away. It lets you know who has viewed your pictures, videos, and posts and notifies you. This is a great tool for businesses who count on viewership to get their brand or product out there!
Path also automatically updates your Friends to the current neighborhood you're in, and it can notify people when you are sleeping (don't worry, these are optional settings). There is a time stamp that shows when your friends have updated their own ‘path.’ You can share short updates with Twitter, but how many people do you really want to know what you ate for breakfast? But if you really want to share anything and everything on Path with your friends on Facebook or Twitter, it is done easily with a click of a button.
Ultimately, Path is meant to be more of a personal journal where you share with only those truly closest to you. So, if you're looking for a different experience connecting with your friends, this path may be a journey worth taking!
I have been aware of Instagram for some time – the photo app that not only functions like a social network but also offers some pretty sweet filter options for your pics. I guess I’m not much of a picture-taker, even though many YH staffers sing its praises constantly. But when I heard that even President Obama had joined Instagram earlier this week… well, maybe I should give this thing a shot after all!
Now I know what actress Keke Palmer was talking about when she gushed over Instagram in a recent Studio interview. For real, you guys, this app can take the most mundane picture and make it look like a museum-worthy piece of art. It’s very simple – first, visit your local App Store to download it for FREE, create a quick profile, and then get started snapping away! Click the big Share button to activate your phone’s camera; you have options to turn the flash on or off, make the edge of the photo blurry, and choose from one of 17 different filters! If you want to give your mobile photos that little extra something, this is definitely an app you won’t want to put down!
You can also follow your friends to see what photos they’ve been taking, and you can “like” and comment on them, just like on Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, you can like your Instagram account to both Facebook and Twitter so that pics you take automatically upload to those sites as well! It’s a really neat way to share your life and experiences with other people in a creative, visual way.
2011 has been the year of the People – Foster the People, that is!
Ohio native Mark Foster sure has come a long way from writing commercial jingles to make ends meet and battling inner demons on the way to industry success. Foster the People epitomizes the power of viral marketing. Mark has only just gotten his band together and was still figuring out his sound when he wrote and recorded “Pumped Up Kicks” and posted it on his Website. Once it got out there, it blew up!
As the band’s manager, Brent Kredel, put it: “He went from the guy who couldn’t get a hold of anyone to being the guy who had hundreds of emails in his inbox.”
Isn’t that the way it goes though? After signing on with Startime International, Mark and his bandmates (Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink) had a huge task ahead of them – create an album around the success of “Pumped Up Kicks”. While they were busy working on their debut record, their song was gaining some serious mainstream momentum, and by the time Torches was released in May, they already had a built-in fan base waiting for them!
And it’s only just snowballed from there. “Pumped Up Kicks” hit #1 on Billboard’s Alternative list and has gone double platinum. Awards and accolades naturally followed, the band being nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rock Video at this year’s MTV VMAs. They will definitely have much to look forward to on February 12, when they attend the Grammy Awards to find out if they’ll be taking home a trophy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and/or Best Alternative Album. Not bad for a guy who honed his skills writing short, catchy tunes for TV ads.
And just like every great breakout act, Foster and his crew found their way to the YH Studio this past summer, just as the weather and their single were really heating up. Check out the video (below) to hear Mark, Mark, and Cubbie reflect on their whirlwind success in their own words!
If you live in SoCal, you’ve probably seen the commercials for Santa Anita Park – “Santa Anita: Share the excitement!” Well, now the historic race track just got a whole lot more exciting since HBO moved in.
Having already hit major pay dirt with their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series “Boardwalk Empire,” the cable channel is ready to roll out yet another intense show with a powerhouse team behind it. “Luck” revolves around the world of those closely involved in horse-racing, from the jockeys who ride the horses to the gamblers who bet on them. David Milch, the mastermind behind “Deadwood”, hopes to strike gold once more with this series, and he’s recruited some major talent to help pull it off!
It seems more and more that A-list actors and directors are being drawn to gritty TV dramas; with so much amazing material out there these days, it’s no wonder why. It’s hard enough for a seasoned actor to find really great film roles, but if they can land one in a TV series, where they get to play and explore that same great character week after week, we can’t blame them for signing up! As “Luck” would have it, the racetrack drama stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, and it’s directed by Michael Mann. That’s thirteen Oscar nominations (and 2 wins) between those three guys. We expect to see some major fireworks from this series when it debuts on January 29, 2012!
But if you just can’t wait until then, you can catch a sneak peek of the premiere on December 11 right after the season finale of “Boardwalk Empire”! Check out the trailer below:
