American Idol - America gets it wrong

Wow - I'm very sad tonight at the outcome of American Idol. To me it was such an incredibly clear outcome, but much like politics, there are often many people who see it differently. I think Kris Allen is cute, but Adam Lambert has so much star quality and insane vocal power. He'll end up having a much bigger career than Kris - who I believe will fade away like Taylor Hicks.

I didn't know it would bother me as much as it does, but I really am shocked.

Wanted to report back on the Milan Film Festival, where "Boutonniere" has it's European premiere. It was very exciting to be there for the festival. There were some terrific shorts and some pretty awful ones as well. The one I enjoyed the most was "Mother, Mine" by British filmmaker Susan Everett. This is a dark and twisted short, which I thought had terrific promise as a full length feature. "Boutonniere" was very well received, although the subject matter of homeschooling was a foreign concept to the Italian audience. People asked many questions about it. The audience enjoying seeing Zach Quinto in his cameo role, as "Star Trek" had just opened 3 days prior.

Sundance, here we come....

It's been an exciting and busy time since I last reported. We are full steam ahead on "Maneater" - the 4 hour miniseries for Lifetime. Sony is the producing studio, Sarah Chalke ("Scrubs") is set as the lead role Clarissa and Tim Busfield is directing. This will shoot in Arizona starting in early February. We are making offers on a number of the roles and casting many others. A number of the smaller roles will be cast in the Phoenix area.

We got great news that the short film that I cast and Executive Produced, "Boutonniere" will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. This is a great little film that I've talked about before starring Wendi McClendon-Covey ("Reno 911"), newcomer Sarah Swain and Zach Quinto ("Heroes"). I've never gone to Sundance before, so I'm looking forward to it.

Additionally, we heard that the film we cast earlier in the year, "Pedro" is an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival. I won't be going to that festival, but a number of the cast members are attending.

In the meantime, AreUaStar.com continues to generate lots of hits and many people are giving the gift of an AreUaStar evaluation for a holiday present. It's a very unique gift for that special person in your family or friend who dreams of stardom. Gift certificates are available now!