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Browsing all posts from September, 2010.
09/28/10
my role in 3d movie "shakey" shooting in chicago
update 12/29: hey all, just read this cool article on the movie in the tribune- click here to read!
in honor of the emmy nominations being announced tonight (hoping for another one- pray for me!), and the upcoming chicago international film fest coming up that I blogged about yesterday, thought I would share this funny & quick video mix of me on set for my role w/a hairless rat in the new 3d movie that just wrapped in chicago!
speaking of filming in chicago, as I explained when I hosted the CBS Morning show a few weeks back, hollywood is finally recognizing how great our city is for filming more and more every year! transformers 3, Ron Howard’s “cheaters” & the tv show “ride along” are just a few examples of the many, all flocking here to shoot in chicago making it a critical character in their story telling, not to mention pumping millions into our economy, like “transformers” who just contributed at least $20mil!.
Tags: beverly d’angelo, cbs, chicago, entourage, film, international film festival, kevin cooper, movies, shakey, steve guttenberg, steve lemme, super troopers, transformers
09/27/10
Chicago International Film Festival
shoutout to all our chicago talent in the big screen realm w/ their amazing festival coming up soon! as my man Roger Ebert said, “The Chicago International Film Festival has spent its lifetime being a lifeline for new directors, films, and national cinemas.” And I just think we all need to support to keep it thriving- that’s why I’m treating some of you to a night out to the movie of your choice at the festival!
The 46th International Film Festival will take place October 7-21 at AMC River East 21. This year it will be screening more than 150 films from 50 different countries & the event will be a star-packed red carpet event along with panel discussions that explain the behind the scenes of moviemaking & showcase among the best directors. (check video above to see highlights & who attended last year!)
The first Chicago International Film Festival was held in 1965 & is one of North America’s oldest film events. Each year, the committee travels the world to find films that move and inspire people. The festival has brought he first feature films by outstanding directors like Martin Scorsese, Slumdog Millionaire’s Danny Boyle, Peter Weir, Mike Leigh, Gregory Nava, Bertrand Tavernier, Jan Troell, Joe Swanberg, Rainer Werner Fassbinder & more!
For more info & schedules visit www.chicagofilmfestival.com! & as far as those tickets, just leave a comment below of when you want to go & what you want to see!
Tags: Bertrand Tavernier, billy dec, chicago, Chicago International Film Festival, Danny Boyle, film, Gregory Nava, Jan Troell, Joe Swanberg, martin scorsese, Mike Leigh, Peter Weir, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, slumdog millionaire
09/24/10
How the heck did Billy Dec win an Emmy?!
Haha- someone just asked me that on twitter- so thought I would share the mini piece that won it for me (click here) and let all know that nominations for this year’s emmy awards are this tuesday and you may see my name at it again! (I hope?)
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educations and technical achievements – to be included in that category again would just be a huge honor.
what I pray might get nominated took hours, days, months, years.. of great work by many when I was serving as Director of Cultural Relations for the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee. Basically i asked 50 celeb friends if I could interview them about their love for our city and their support for the games taking place here, and in the u.s. In general. It was brilliant, supportive, loving, informative, fun, entertaining & community building.. All good things.
Anyway, This coming Tuesday, September 28th is the 2010 Emmy Nominations Party at Rockit Bar and Grill (22 W Hubbard) from 5:30 – 7:30pm. For more information and tickets click here and wish me luck!
For an example of my olympic interviews, click here!
Tags: billy dec, chicago 2016, emmy, emmy nominations, olympics, rockit
09/23/10
my tenacious d, sexy pilgrim, trainwreck is live in chicago! i'm giving away tickets!
i have ridiculously hilarious friends.. when my buddy jr from tenacious d did this sexy pilgrim viral video sensation for muscle milk i lost it- hilarious! so hilarious that i’m super psyched to invite you all to his show with his equally hilarious and talented band trainwreck this saturday night at the beat kitchen! i’m going w/my crew, want to meet there? leave me a comment on my facebook about how you are spreading the word about trainwreck’s show & i might pick you as one of the winners of free tix to the show!
trainwreck been described as a “cornucopia of rock and a 5-headed hydra of pleasure.” Their sounds lies somewhere between southern-rock, prog-rock, boogie, classic rock & roll… & just absurd comedy banter they’ve developed among themselves! they have fans from all over the globe and have performed on jimmy kimmel, current tv.. and more. Their newest released album is entitled “The Wreckoning”- 15 tracks of “Wreck and Roll.” It is completely a sound of their own inspired by their influences, classics, and their style & sound. Click here to watch a video of Trainwreck & for more info on the band & tickets to the show visit TrainwreckwithKG.com, facebook or myspace!
Tags: band, billy dec, chicago, facebook, free tickets, giveaway, jimmy kimmel, jr, muscle milk, rock and roll, sexy pilgrim, tenacious d, the beat kitchen, the wreckoning, tickets, trainwreck
09/22/10
Chicago Gourmet food festival in millennium park presented by bon appetit
chicago is a world-class culinary power w/all the support of its locals, talent, media, visitors & fans.. so it only makes sense that we finally have our own world-class food & wine festival appropriately named “chicago gourmet!” taking place this weekend in millennium park, this relatively young but thriving and much talked about festival will showcase the best food, wine, chefs, educational seminars, book signings and all things culinary in Chicago… oh, and I’ll be on stage MC’ing some of the wonderful culinary demonstrations that are not to be missed! join me?
you can get the entire schedule/cast of chefs, sommeliers, speakers, restaurants, brands,.. participating along with all other info on www.chicagogourmet.org. if can check out what I will be doing there (which I would love!), on Saturday at 12:30p come by the Bon Appetit Culinary Stage where I will be MC’ing “A Classic Revisited” by Bruce Sherman (North Pond). Then I’ll be MC’ing “Late Summer Plates” by Kerry Simon (Simone at the Palms) and Federico Comacchio (Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush) on the Bon Appetit Main Stage at 3pm. At 330p I will be at the Gastropub Tasting Pavilion to check out head of culinary for rockit, chef james gottwald, as he throws down and shares the secrets of our divine Mini Rockit Burgers. Then on Sunday, head over to the Sunda Table in the Supreme Lobster and Seafood Co. Tasting Pavilion for some delicious Chilled Corn and Miso Soup along with Malaysian Blue Crab Salad from chefs jesse deguzman and rodelio agligbot. seeeeeya there!
Tags: bon appétit, chefs, chicago, chicago gourmet, culinary, millennium park, rockit, sommeliers, sunda, wine, world-class food
09/21/10
Reenergizing Blues Music w/ the Chicago Blues Beautillion
Are you a fan of old school chicago blues, but would like to know, enjoy & support equally important new school blues talent, that will have heavy impact keeping the genre alive for generations to come?!
The Chicago Blues Beautillion is making it easier by taking new up and coming artists in the Blues world, and pairing them with established, successful musicians, music industry types, radio personalities and managers.
Tags: billy dec, blues, buddy guy, chicago, Music, tommy mccracken, will Jacobs
09/20/10
Positive Picture of Fenger High School, One Year After Tragedy
Almost a year ago today, young student Derrion Albert captured the attention of the world when he lost his life after being brutally beaten outside of Fenger High School on the south side of Chicago. As you can see from my video volunteering at the school soon after as “Principal for a Day” (click here) and the amazing photos captured by artist Sandra Steinbrecher (must see), there is new life and positivity coming from the kids, teachers, community and their school, that its a turnaround joy that I just had to share with you so that you can see & support along with me!
As I have talked about before, I have the honor of being a part of Mayor Daley’s “Principal for a Day” for the Chicago Public School system once a year. It’s a tremendous program that I am so thrilled to be a part of! Being able to visit a CPS school, spend an entire day with students, exchange stories, walk the halls, hear about their programs and student groups, shine any guidance on them that I can offer…it’s just a great feeling and always one of my favorite times of the year.
Last year, after I had heard about what had happened, I knew immediately that I wanted to help and decided I would be Principal for a Day at Fenger High School, only a few weeks after the murder of Derrion Albert. I have to admit I was nervous, more so than usual, and had no idea what I was in store for. But I was so blown away by what and who greeted me that day.
Elizabeth Dozier, the real Principal at Fenger, is an outstanding woman and so great at what she does. She was so gracious to me that day and I couldn’t have been more impressed with her, the faculty and the students I had the privilege of spending time with. It was a mere month after a tragedy had taken place outside their school and one of their own was killed and these kids were so positive, so willing and excited to learn, I just couldn’t believe it. I honestly feel like I was the one that benefitted more from being there that day, not the other way around.
Last year, CPS identified Fenger as a Turnaround School for the year. Renovations took place, curriculum and programs were enhanced and new highly trained staff was brought on to turn the tragedy that had taken place into a fresh and much deserved new start for the students. Sandra Steinbrecher, a super talented local photographer, was on hand all year to capture highlights of this initiative. See for yourself the touching and inspiring turnaround this school has made! For more information on Fenger High School, please visit http://www.fengerhighschool.org.
Tags: billy dec, chicago, chicago public schools, derrion albert, fenger, fenger high schoool, mayor daley, one year anniversary, principal for a day, sandy steinbecher, south side
09/16/10
Billy Dec delivering News Live as Guest Host of the CBS Morning Show!
I never ever thought I would see that title myself, but here’s a quick little video montage of me hosting the cbs morning show shooting out my feelings on the economy, Tiger Woods, technology, travel, culinary talent, twitter, facebook, the film industry.. and more! not bad for having to be awake at 230a to be on set & in their make up room by 3:45a huh!?!
shoutout to CBS for inviting me on live TV like that to help deliver the news, such an honor. and special shoutout to on air talent Mike Hegedus, Terry Savage & Laurence Holmes who really did all the hard work, and do it everyday, while still being so welcoming, supportive & fun with me as a rookie! we had a blast!
thank you also to all of you who got up early to watch me, or followed the highlights by following me on facebook & twitter.. which btw, reminds me I must apologize to cbs & all watching for holding my phone in order to send those updates out, so unprofessional… but not as unprofessional as when they came back live after commercial break and my seat is empty because I had to pee! ugh, coffee- sorry! haha, will be better next time!
Tags: 670 the score, billy dec, cbs, cbs morning show, chicago, economy, facebook, laurence holmes, mike hegedus, rockit bar and grill, terry savage, tiger woods, transformers 3, twitter
09/08/10
Chicago Rush Orthopedics & the arthritis foundation fight for kids!
If you follow me on twitter & facebook you know I attended a beautiful black tie wedding on the roof of an amazing hotel this weekend. What I didn’t share was that it was an event full of orthopedic surgeons from Chicago Rush hospital who taught me much about that area of medical that I can’t get out of my mind, and have to share.
I guess I should first say that it was very cool to hear that their area of practice in orthopedics are in the top ten in the world at chicago rush and I congratulate (and thank) them for that. I also thought it was fascinating to hear stories of how these doctors use that highest level of expertise & passion to travel to the poorest areas of the world and offer their services for free to many people in serious need. They don’t need to do that, so I seriously give them props for that kind of heart & drive.
I also found out that they were all excited to attend a very worthy charity event at one of my venues that I feel horrible for having to miss as I will be supporting a friend at the Toronto film fest, so wanted to shout it out here in effort to contribute to its much needed success by hopefully turning you on to it too!
The event aims to help the 294,000 children under the age of 18 affected by pediatric arthritis and rheumatologic conditions that suffer from painful swelling, stiffness, & uneven bone growth, which causes limping and inability to walk. Btw, did you know arthritis in general causes 9,000 deaths, 750,000 hospitalizations & 8,000,000 cases of problems, not to mention the over $80 billion in care & lost wages? Crazy. (check out www.hip2knees.com)
You can help by coming to the associate board of the arthritis foundation’s “annual summer shindig” this Friday September 10, 2010 from 6-9pm @ Chicago’s Rockit Bar & Grill at 22 w hubbard! cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, amazing people, great silent auction items,… and most important, all proceeds go to benefit kids suffering from Juvenile Arthritis.
Please spread the word and get a couple tickets for this great event at http://afchicago.kintera.org/SummerShindig
Tags: arthritis, associate board of the arthritis foundation, chicago, control, hospital, kids, orthopedics, prevention, research grants, rush, rush university, shindig, top 10
09/07/10
The Abbey & Lake Geneva, Chicago's Vacation Getaway
As you know from my tweets and facebook posts over labor day weekend, I got to finally relive my childhood dream vacation in lake Geneva, staying at my all time fav, the abbey. The level of culinary, wine, boating, games, swimming, spa, leisure,.. and anything else to just enjoy family & friends.. was such a pleasure.. especially since the getaway was only a 90 minute drive from downtown chicago to the abbey front door (excluding my stops to produce stands and apple picking farms), making it everything I remember, and much much more.. especially with the new additions of a 35,000 sq ft high end spa & a huge hard core bbq smoker out by the docs! Pretty much my perfect combo in life.
it was also really interesting to see staff at the abbey and surrounding businesses that I actually knew from working in the industry in chicago! Many people who have been able to escape to lake Geneva, decided to stay! Top three Chicagoans I have to give a shout out to and suggest you seek out when there are.. 1) Michael Lucero who used to be at house of blues and now runs the abbey (and the best staff ever) as director of operations 2) simon cummings who was a chicago chef that opened up the restaurant “sopra” out there that I enjoyed, and 3) kevin halminiak that I used to work with at dragonfly & martini ranch back in the day who opened the coolest most amazing place I have seen anywhere in a while called the baker house, an old huge historic Victorian mansion that he turned into a killer restaurant & speakeasy type bar that is a must see! (hint: don’t miss it just before sun down!)
I will be back! check out www.theabbeyresort.com for more info and take a look at www.lakegenevawi.com for everything else lake geneva has to offer!
Tags: billy dec, facebook, getaway, kevin halminiak, lake geneva, michael lucero, simon cummings, the abbey, twitter, vacation