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By Sean Lund
GLAAD's Hollywood Hotsheet
Among the major premieres at the festival (which runs January 20-30, 2000 in Park City, Utah) is The Broken Hearts Club, described by Variety as "a gay-themed tale about several West Hollywood pretty boys who begin to confront their futures." Club is directed by Greg Barlanti and stars Timothy Olyphant, Matt McGrath, Ben Weber, Zach Braff, Dean Cain (of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), Billy Porter, Andrew Keegan, John Mahoney, Mary McCormack and Nia Long. Among the expected U.S. entries in other categories: Beat , directed by Gary Walkow -- traces the journey of William Burroughs (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and his wife (Courtney Love) from New York to Mexico (screening in the American Spectrum section). Punks, directed by Patrik-Ian Polk - described as the "first all black-and-gay music-driven film" (screening in the American Spectrum section).
No More Action at FOX
With its December 2 airing, FOX has dropped Action, the groundbreaking black comedy series focusing on the life of Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr), a self-centered film producer with next to nothing in the morals and ethics department.
The show, which premiered September 16 and ran for eight episodes across four months, pushed the envelope with adult content and themes. Included in the cast were two recurring gay characters: Stuart (Jack Plotnick), a film development executive in Dragon's office, and Bobby G (Lee Arenberg), a ruthless, closeted studio president known for his large ego. FOX cited low ratings (in the mid-2 percents) as the reason for the cancellation. Etheridge, DeGeneres, Heche Join Millennium March
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres, actress Anne Heche and singer Melissa Etheridge have been added to the list of participants for the Sunday, April 20 Millennium March on Washington rally on the National Mall. This is Etheridge's second March on Washington, having previously participated in 1993. The three entertainers are also slated to appear at Equality Rocks, a Saturday, April 29 concert presented by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Tickets for Equality Rocks, which will be held at Washington, D.C.'s Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, are available through TicketMaster.
ABC Cancels Wasteland Creator/producer Kevin Williamson's television series Wasteland has been officially cancelled despite ABC's past assurances that the ailing series would be given a post-sweeps re-launch in December. The Miramax Television drama featured Russell (played by Dan Montgomery), a closeted soap opera star who was one of only three gay leading characters on network TV this fall (the other two being Will [Eric McCormack] on NBC's Will & Grace and Ford [John Ducey] on ABC's Oh Grow Up). Williamson had even shot a same-sex kiss between Russell and his sports-writer boyfriend for a future episode which, due to the show's cancellation, will not be aired. By word of mouth
"Yeah. I think there is and I think there always will be because I think people are afraid. I really don't know why. I really don't understand it. But I am sure I will face it."
-- Openly gay screenwriter Christopher Landon, son of the late actor Michael Landon, to the December 7 Advocate on whether there is homophobia in Hollywood among the younger generation. |
Robert Redford and his Sundance Film Festival 
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