Hollywood – Journo James's Journal

Safaris and Celebrity Sightings

Post author:journojames
Post published:April 7, 2012
Post category:Entertainment & Culture Feature

Originally published Jan. 25, 2012

I’ve never been on a safari, but I feel like I already know what a wild animal expedition would be like. I live in Los Angeles, far away from the Serengeti, but I experience exotic encounters all the time. My sightings just happen to come in the form of celebrities.

jeep_safari1 — What I imagine a safari would be like, Photo courtesy of Safari

During an expedition, people venture out into the untamed landscape and hope to discover exciting and exotic wildlife in their natural habitat. When adventurers are lucky enough to encounter something out of the ordinary, they usually just admire and quietly observe it from a distance.

I do this all the time in the wild concrete jungles of L.A.

My most recent time was just a week before Christmas.

I was visiting a friend who is recuperating in a small health care home in North Hollywood. He was involved in a terrible, life-altering car accident last summer. But enough about him; he’s not a celebrity. (more…)

Hollywood Street Performers VSV

Post author:journojames
Post published:February 20, 2012
Post category:Entertainment & Culture Feature News

Originally published May 6, 2011 Reporting from Hollywood, CA on the turf war between street performers and merchants.

Movie Exhibition in the Future

Post author:journojames
Post published:January 20, 2012
Post category:Entertainment & Culture Feature News

Originally published Nov. 30, 2010

LOS ANGELES – A seismic revolution is taking place in Hollywood. Movie fans everywhere will have more options than ever before in getting their entertainment directly from studios, threatening the established movie theater business and vastly changing the landscape of movie exhibition.

The technological innovations in personal computers and home theater systems are forcing Hollywood moguls and executives to question their longstanding business model. Motion picture studios are now looking beyond traditional cinema theaters and making a major commitment to offer their latest productions on video-on-demand (VOD), as well as Web and Internet television, all in an effort to further push their product like never before and expand their audience.

“It’s a hot button issue,” said Lontih Khatami, in the Cinema Technology, Feature Film Post Production Department at Universal Studios. “It’s a sensitive issue among the studios right now because of all the interested parties that are involved.” (more…)