NEW YORK (AP) - Al Gore's new television network, Current TV, is turning to Sean Penn, Robert Redford and others to give advice to fledgling filmmakers. Current TV has been operating since August. The bulk of its programming is short films by young documentarians. Current says it wants contributions from audience members along with material it solicits.
To help would-be contributors, the network has just produced a "survival guide" that it is making available online that includes advice on journalism and storytelling from Redford and Penn, along with academics, authors and filmmakers.
"We, and by we I mean everyone from a Hollywood director like me to a teenager in rural Texas, can all tell stories about our hopes and fears," said Catherine Hardwicke, writer-director of the movie "Thirteen."
"Every day I'm intrigued and sometimes outraged by things that no one talks about," Hardwicke said. "Current is a chance to be heard, and send think-bombs out into the world."
Other participants include actor and screenwriter Bonz Malone, author Dave Eggers ("A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius") and Orville Schell, dean of the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
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On the Net:
http://www.current.tv
