Just today a brandnew newsletter from Stephan Paternot arrived:

Dear Friends,

     Hope you've all had a restful summer and are now enjoying the usual back to work fall season. Hopefully we'll be treated to a another great Indian summer here in New York City--and if the Dow could just stop falling for one sec!! So what's the latest scoop? Well, as many of you are probably aware I've been busy working on my latest film project for the past year (hard to believe it's been that long!!) called Wholey Moses, co-starring Shannyn Sossamon ("A Knight's Tale", "40 Days & 40 Nights", "The Rules of Attraction"), Linda Hamilton ("The Terminator", "Terminator 2") & myself. After having wrapped principal photography in July we've been busy cranking away on post production and have just finished a rough cut for the Sundance film festival deadline which just passed... and several more festival deadlines which are still looming. It's been the greatest experience, day-to-day, making this film and working with such talented people. The man in question who deserves the most credit for Wholey Moses is the writer & director Todd Heyman, whom I met about two years ago and have come to appreciate as one of the best and hardest working storytellers ever. Todd and I hit it off as friends and working partners and have decided to officially join forces under the same banner, ReelHero Films, LLC. This short film will be our first joint company credit.
     For those of you who'd like more information on what Wholey Moses is all about we have some great news. The official website is finally up at www.wholeymoses.com, and details to the movie are also listed in the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com. We anticipate doing a premiere screening of the film in New York City sometime before the end of the year--please visit the website for further updates. Already the project and people involved has garnered some attention from the press with mentions on CNN, Fortune, and hot off the presses in Gotham Magazine. Stay tuned for more details. Now back to 'round the clock editing :-)

All the best,

Stephan

PS. As of October I'm no longer purple haired (at last!!)....I've now downgraded back to a leaky brown--oh joy :(

COMING SOON
Wholey Moses the movie
http://www.wholeymoses.com

The film, entitled "A Silent Night", is based on a true story of friendship, goodwill and courage one Christmas Eve night in 1944 Germany and is scheduled to be shown December 14 on the Hallmark Channel in the USA and sometime on Global Television in Canada.

'Silent' Makes Start in Canada

"Silent Night," a TV movie based on a real encounter between GIs and German soldiers who lay down their arms during a snowstorm on Christmas eve 1944 amid the Battle of the Bulge, has begun shooting in Montreal.
Starring Linda Hamilton and Matthew Harbour as her young son, "Silent Night" will air on Hallmark Channel in the United States and on Global Television in Canada. The three-week shoot is scheduled to wrap Sept. 20.

Source: Yahoo/Variety News Australia & NZ, August 28, 2002.

Hawai'i man's wartime story to air in December

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

"A Silent Night," a 90-minute television movie based on former Honolulu baker Fritz Vincken's wartime experience about enemies sharing a peaceful Christmas Eve dinner in 1944, is scheduled to be shown Dec. 14 on the Hallmark Channel.
Shooting was completed Friday night in Montreal, executive producer Steve Rubin said.
The film, produced by Rubin's Los Angeles-based Fast Carrier Pictures in association with Mews Entertainment, stars Linda Hamilton as Elisabeth Vincken and 12-year-old Canadian Matthew Harbour as her son.
Fritz Vincken, former owner of Fritz's European Bakery in Kapalama, died Dec. 8 in Oregon, 16 days before the 57th anniversary of a Christmas experience he called "the night God came to dinner." Vincken was 12 years old when he and his mother offered food and shelter to three American and four German soldiers in the Ardennes Forest near the German-Belgian border.
The soldiers put down their weapons to share an evening of good will and peace. After a restful night, they went their separate ways but not before the Germans gave the Americans a compass and directions on how to get back to their lines. The screenplay, written by Roger Aylward, deals with that night in the forest.
After searching for the American and German soldiers unsuccessfully for years, Vincken realized his dream in January 1996 when he went to Maryland to meet Ralph Blank, who was one of the American soldiers at the Christmas Eve dinner. Blank, who served with the 121st Infantry, 8th Division, showed Vincken the compass the German soldiers had given him.
"As the world hears the drumbeats of war, it's nice to be able to present a peaceful, inspiring story," Rubin told The Advertiser in a telephone interview from Montreal.
The project is in post-production and will be delivered to Hallmark in November, Rubin said. "It's really a tribute to Fritz, and his family was very supportive."

Source: The Honolulu Advertiser, September 24, 2002

WWII film shot in St. Lazare
Terminator's Hamilton stars as off-island town stands in for German woods

BY Scott Taylor The Chronicle

She has battled cyborgs from the future, loved a beast in the sewers of New York and been married to the self-proclaimed king of the world, but lately actor Linda Hamilton has really been doing something different.

Hollywood actress Linda Hamilton of Terminator fame reacts during a crucial scene in the movie Silent Night. The film, based on true events during WWII, was partially shot on the outskirts of St. Lazare and is produced and directed by local filmmakers.

She's been living in a shack on the outskirts of St. Lazare.
More accurately, Hamilton has been shooting a movie in the picturesque woods of this growing off-island town.
The film, entitled Silent Night, is based on a true story of friendship, goodwill and courage one Christmas Eve night in 1944 Germany, and is both directed and produced by locals.
Hamilton plays Elisabeth Vincken, a German woman who has taken her son to a small shack hidden in the Ardennes Forest to escape the falling bombs of World War II.
On Christmas Eve, three American soldiers find their way to her cabin. Because one is badly injured, Vincken allows them to enter, even though the penalty for aiding the enemy is death.
Not long after, a heavy knock at the door causes mother and son to panic as they realize that German soldiers are outside.
Acting quickly, Vincken greets the men and tells them they can have a warm place to stay for the night and a hot meal, but that she had visitors who might not be friendly. She said if they wanted to come in and enjoy Christmas Eve they would have to leave their guns outside and enter in the spirit of peace.
The two sides shared their Christmas dinner that night, and the Germans even helped the wounded American soldier. They then parted company in the morning.
How local is this film? The producer of the movie is Irene Litinsky of Dollard des Ormeaux and the director is Rodney Gibbons, who lives in Rigaud.
The production company is Lachine's Muse Entertainment Enterprises and the outskirts of St. Lazare stand in for the German woods.
"I love historical pieces and World War Two is certainly a fascinating period of our history," Litinsky said describing her interest in the project. "I think in the crazy world we're living in right now that it would be nice to see a movie where two enemies could sit down for Christmas Eve, have dinner together and at the end of the day go their separate ways, but find something to agree on and share some values."
Litinsky, who is also president of production at Muse, said making movies has always been a goal of hers and that producing is the pinnacle of that goal. "Of all the roles on a film set, this is the one that really interested me. I love the concept of taking an idea, watching it become a script, and six months to a year later you see it on the screen. And it all started out as a bunch of people sitting around a room saying, 'wouldn't it be great to make a movie about . . .'"
She said the shoot on Silent Night had gone as smoothly as possible, with one exception. "We're all crazy to make winter in (28 C) September, but there you go."
In the realm of movie magic, the snow whipping through the air was Snobiz, a biodegradable blend of wheat glutton and rice. You can eat it, but coming from experience, you don't really want to.
Gibbons, who is directing his fifth film for Muse, said the movie took only 18 days to shoot, but that it wasn't always easy. "It actually was one of the toughest shoots I've had. Besides the very warm weather, we had mechanical problems with the snowmaker."
Gibbons, 53, said it was fascinating to bring this story to life. "I felt the idea was great. It's a war movie that is anti-war. And it is the kind of film I like best in that it's about people and their stories."
For the director who honed his skills on low-budget slice-and-dice flicks, this is a refreshing change. "You either feel it or you don't," he said about scripts he reads. "This one really captured me."
Shooting in St. Lazare ended last weekend.

Source: The Chronicle, September 26, 2002

Linda & Leslie turn 46 today. All the best from LHOW and all your fans all around the world :)

After reading the news on Linda being in "Wholey Moses" LHOW emailed the following questions to Stephan Paternot:

- Why did you want Linda for this project and how did you "get" her?
- Has shooting already begun?
- When/Where will it be released?
- Will it be available on dvd or run on tv some time?
- Will the feature length movie of the script which is mentioned in the press release definitely be done, and if so, will it be a feature length cut of the material you shoot for the 'official' short film project? Or will completely new material be shot with other actors/actresses?

Stephan was so kind to "answer as many questions as possible and email them back to you soon."

And this is what he replied:

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, we've been overwhelmed with work for the last few months. Thanks for writing though. We'll be putting up a more detailed website soon with a lot of the info you're looking for.
To answer some of your questions, Linda received the script in the spring, read it, loved it (thank god) and was ready to do it. She took several days off from her busy theater performances to fly over here for the shoot.
The shoot was completed in mid-July after pick up days were done. We're now rushing to get the edit done in time for the Sundance deadline in late September. We anticipate doing a screening sometime in October, followed by eventual TV distribution if we play our cards right :)
It's also likely that we'll do a run of DVDs for promotional purposes and depending on the success of the film... with short films its very difficult to estimate what demand will be.

Well, meanwhile the "more detailed website" is online, and we get more infos on the movie:

It's Valentines Day, sweets are currency, and New Yorkers can't seem to get enough of their favorite Moses Donuts. Unfortunately, Stan Moses (Stephan Paternot), the donut creator extraordinaire, is having a crisis of his own. As his agent pushes him to be bigger, and Valerie (Linda Hamilton, "The Terminator", "Dante's Peak", "The Terminator 2"), the bakery owner, adds a surprise of her own, Stan begins to strain under the pressures of mass production while simultaneously trying to create hand painted masterpieces... one donut at a time.
In his manic search for answers to life and love we discover that the solution to his problems may be closer than he realizes. Max (Shannyn Sossamon, "A Knight's Tale", "40 Days & 40 Nights", "Rules of Attraction"), a self-declared sugarholic, might be just what Stan needs, and he, the answer to her addictions.
Unfortunately, on this magical day, things aren't quite going according to plan for either of them. Will they ever find each other? Or will Max go back to Texas defeated, leaving the tormented Stan unresolved and alone?

The New York premiere of "Wholey Moses" is tentatively scheduled for sometime in late October or early November 2002. Please visit again for updates.

Check back for ongoing festival screening dates.

Source: The Official Wholey Moses Website

Linda Hamilton to co-star with Stephan Paternot in Independent Film

World-Class Talent Attached To Picture

New York, NY, April 30, 2002 -- Stephan Paternot (co-founder theglobe.com, author of A Very Public Offering, and now filmmaker & actor) is pleased to announce that Linda Hamilton (Terminator 1 & 2, Dante's Peak) will be co-starring as Valerie, a sultry French bakery proprietress, in the upcoming independent short film, Wholey Moses. Joining the team is Cinematographer David Phillips (The Basketball Diaries staring Leonardo DiCaprio & Mark Wahlberg, and the Sundance hit Lift). Wholey Moses, a story about donut addiction colliding with the search for love, is written & directed by filmmaker Todd Heyman, and is set to begin shooting in late May. "Having a great team like this is a real tribute not only to the quality of our screenplay, but to the independent film world as a whole. It is simply fantastic and inspiring that such talent would be willing to come on board despite such a miniscule budget" says Stephan Paternot, who will be playing Stan Moses, the young, tormented rising star donut painter. Paternot and Heyman united in the goal to make a festival winning short film, have already garnered significant interest from studios to follow up with a feature-length version of the story.

Linda Hamilton's first big break came in 1984 as Sarah Connor in James Cameron's The Terminator. From 1987 to 1989 she earned Emmy, Golden Globe, and People's Choice Award nominations and received a Saturn and a Romy Award as Catherine Chandler in TV's Beauty and the Beast.

In March 1990 Linda reprised her role as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 - Judgment Day where she went from a 40 pound pregnancy gain to all muscle and 14 percent body fat. For this she received MTV Movie Awards for 'best female performance'; as well as 'most desirable female'; and another Saturn Award as well inspiring women's fitness programs, country wide.

In 1995 Linda received a Cable Ace Award and a Golden Globe nomination for A Mother's Prayer and the film, Dante's Peak (1997), earned her a Blockbuster Award.

At the end of 2000 Linda headed a theater production of "Laura" -- her first venture on the L.A. stage in more than a decade and in 2001, she optioned a script for an independent film she expects to produce as well as star in.

Stephan Paternot, in his second starring role, has a slightly more roundabout story about breaking into showbiz. At the tender age of 24, Paternot was already an overnight hero of his generation, starring on Wall Street as a real-life founder and CEO of one of the world's most visible Internet companies. With a supporting cast of investment bankers, experienced advisors and a brilliant partner, he took his company, theglobe.com, to a record-setting IPO and a market value of a billion dollars. In a single day, his personal worth zoomed to almost $100 million, but eventually the bottom dropped out. In the sequel, Paternot is still going strong, forging his second career as an author. Leaving both his company and his paper millions behind, he picked himself up, dusted himself off and chronicled his wild ride in "A Very Public Offering: A Rebel's Story of Business Excess, Success and Reckoning". The book is a tale of following your dream, taking risks, exceeding your wildest expectations... and then starting all over. While AVPO is a coming of age story for the Internet generation, like a good movie, the story has inspired people of all backgrounds. It may be unusual that Paternot is an ex-CEO pursuing his dream of being an actor but there's no question, he's taking a sturdy path - the last couple years, he's knuckled down and taken intense acting lessons with film and television actor Neal Lerner. Film producer Brad Fuller is his manager. UTA, one of Hollywood's most influential talent agencies, is representing him on several fronts, most notably to turn his book into a feature film. Paternot recently produced and starred in Shutter, a finalist at four festivals, including the Avignon International Film Festival of 2001.

Source: The Official Wholey Moses Website

Linda currently stars as Ethel Rosenberg in Lou Shaw's "Worse Than Murder, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg," at Studio City's Ventura Court Theatre until June 30.

"Worse Than Murder, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg," Ventura Court Theatre, 12417 Ventura Court, Studio City. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends June 30. $25. (818) 752-8563. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Official Website: http://www.worsethanmurder.com/

Reviews:

  Regardless of whether you accept the presumption of innocence in playwright Lou Shaw's "Worse Than Murder, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg," at Studio City's Ventura Court Theatre, the drama's factual account of the prosecutorial excesses employed against America's most notorious convicted spies is a chilling caution about the fragility of the civil liberties we take for granted.
  In compelling performances as the doomed husband and wife, a perfectly accented Linda Hamilton and Robin Thomas immediately engage our sympathy with the couple's unshakable love for one another, and their high level of personal integrity. Proclaiming their innocence until their execution, the pair refused every opportunity to obtain leniency through confession, and the romantic spark between the actors rescues what borders on a history lesson steeped in polemics.
  Drawing on FBI and other government documents released long after the trial, Shaw makes a compelling case that the pair were systematically framed. Their convictions hinged on the fabricated testimony of Ethel's brother, David Greenglass (Tom Gibis), who shared none of their compunctions about saving his hide by claiming he delivered atomic secrets to a spy ring headed by Julius Rosenberg.
  Shaw tells his story through flashbacks evoked during an inquiry by the Rosenbergs' adult children (Murray Rubinstein and Dennis Gersten) into the fate of the parents they barely remember. Under Tom Bissinger's workmanlike staging, it proves a serviceable device for presenting information, and even allows for some speculative, surreal exchanges with the effectively sinister figure of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Dennis Cockrum), the blatantly corrupt trial judge (William Knight) and the less successful, smarmy young prosecutor Roy Cohn (Judd Trichter).
  By focusing on individual villainy, this treatment somewhat obscures the broader forces at work--the rampant Red Scare paranoia that demanded a scapegoat for the Soviet Union's development of nuclear weapons. It was necessary that someone take the blame, and the Rosenbergs' leftist affiliations and Jewish otherness made them such perfect targets that the issue of their actual guilt was chillingly irrelevant. The unindicted co-conspirators of the piece are the sullen ignorance of herd mentality, a threat in any era.
  Philip Brandes
  "Worse Than Murder, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg," Ventura Court Theatre, 12417 Ventura Court, Studio City. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends June 30. $25. (818) 752-8563. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Source: LA Times/Calendar Live

===

Flashbacks from the point of view of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg’s sons are the focal point of Lou Shaw’s compelling but flawed drama.
As the convicted spies, Linda Hamilton and Robin Thomas head a first-rate cast, evenhandedly directed by Tom Bissinger.
The Rosenbergs’ adult sons, Michael and Robby (Murray Rubinstein and Dennis Gersten), who now use the family name Meeropol, piece together government files and memories to reconstruct what happened to their parents: Ethel’s brother David Greenglass (Tom Gibis) and his wife, Ruth (Rachel Malkenhorst), fingered Julius as the ringleader of an atomic espionage plot. To gain leverage on Julius, the feds charge Ethel with conspiracy, based on the testimony of her untrustworthy brother and sister-in-law. Although the sons’ perspective allows Shaw to introduce fantasy elements, such as Michael arguing with J. Edgar Hoover (Dennis Cockrum), the mounting dramatic tension is diffused by cross-cuts from parents to children, making the action move in fits and starts.
Opening-night lighting miscues emphasized the choppiness, with performers occasionally left in the dark. Hamilton and Thomas deliver nuanced performances, but the strengths of this fine cast can’t overcome the play’s structural problems.
Pleasant Avenue Productions at the Ventura Court Theater, 12417 Ventura Ct., Studio City; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m.; indef. (818) 752-8563. (Sandra Ross)

Source: LA Weekly

Linda has been on the stage again... in a play called "Final Questions"!

Yahoo's SoapCity reported in an article on actress Kathleen Noone:

SoapCity recently caught up with her after she performed in a reading of Final Questions, an original play by Blanche Roberts, in which she shared the stage with such notables as Linda Hamilton and Linda Purl, as well as fellow soap grads Jay Acovone (ex-Brian, SFT) and Peter Haskell (ex-Lloyd, SFT).

When promoting his new movie "Collateral Damage" and after being asked about "T3" Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly said that Linda probably will appear in "T3" in flashbacks...

Source 1: Corona's Coming Attractions

January 28, 2002... Latino Review was the first outlet to post this past weekend's major T3 news: Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that Linda Hamilton will reprise her character of Sarah Connor in the upcoming sequel!

"She is in the movie as flash backs, but they felt like they didn't want the exact same cast and be limited with the story, but take certain people out," Schwarzenegger said at the Friday press junket for Collateral Damage. "Let's just assume that she died already and he (John Connor) is on his own rather than his mother whining away (laughing). They felt like you know John Connor is 22-23 years old his mother died and his is alone and lets move on."

So it sounds like Sarah will be seen in flashbacks (from the previous films?) and not in T3's present day setting. The actor also said that the part of John Connor was still uncast, and that the production (and Schwarzenegger) would be looking at "pictures real soon."

Source 2: Cinescape Magazine

"TERMINATOR 3 is terrific," said Schwarzenegger enthusiastically. "It’s coming along and we start shooting it on April 15."

When asked to comment on the status of casting, in particular why Linda Hamilton’s character would not be returning, the actor revealed that audiences would indeed see Sarah Connor in the form of flashback footage from the previous two films.

"She is [in the movie], but she is coming back as the past experiences of Linda Hamilton - not driving the current story forward," revealed Schwarzenegger. "She is in the movie as flashbacks and stuff like that. But I think [the filmmakers] felt like they did not want to have the exact same cast and have them be limited by the story. But instead, they’ve taken certain people out and are [of the mindset that], ‘Let’s assume that [Sarah] has died already and [John Connor] is on his own rather than having still the mother there whining away saying, ‘Get it straight. Remember you have to be the savior. And you can’t do this and you can’t take that drug. What if she is the Terminator?’ [Director] Jonathon Mostow was very adamant he wanted the kid now to be 22 or 23, the mother’s died and let’s move on. Let’s have him be on his own. Let’s let him have a girlfriend. And let’s go to the next level, so that was the idea."

Linda REALLY was a guest in the British TV-Show "So Graham Norton" last Friday!

Thx to Ivan we already have the stills :)

Linda fan David recently bought the famous and very much sought after "T2" sunglasses... For those of you who are also are interested in getting a pair: it's a Matsuda, model 10610.

Linda is supposed to be a guest in the British TV-Show "So Graham Norton" this upcoming Friday, January 18, 22.30h on Channel 4!

Don't forget to program your VCRs, guys ;)