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Ask AfterEllen.com (Feb. 10, 2009)

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] – with your first name, city and country – and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: What’s going on with Missy Peregrym? The girl is smokin’ hot!

– Cassandra, Bay Area, CA

Answer: I think you are probably speaking for a large portion of the lesbian masses when you profess your admiration for Ms. Peregrym.

In fact, I’m pretty sure that an entire generation of women got a glimpse of Peregrym’s abs in the undeniably awesome film Stick It (2006) and immediately joined gyms in order to 1) sculpt their very own Peregrym-style six-pack or 2) pick up a girl with a Peregrym-style six-pack.

In 2007, Peregrym had a brief stint on Heroes as a shape-shifter, then took the role of Andi (the girlfriend of the main character, Sam, played by Bret Harrison) in the CW comedy, Reaper, a surprisingly funny show about an average Joe (or, in this case, Sam) who is forced to become a bounty hunter for the devil.

CW has decided to bring back Reaper two weeks earlier than planned, so now the second season begins March 3 at 8 p.m and will run for 13 consecutive episodes.

Question: I absolutely loved the Israeli move The Secrets. Are there any plans to release it for sale on DVD in the U.S.?

– Emma, New York City

Answer: I checked in with Monterey Media, and they told me that the film is still in theatrical release, but that it will be released on DVD on April 7, 2009.

For more info on the film, you can visit the official website, and read our review of the film.

Question: I loved the short film, Pariah by Dee Rees and am eagerly awaiting it being made into a feature-length film. Can you tell us when we may see Pariah on the big screen and what else Rees is working on these days?

– Celeste, Shreveport, LA

Answer: I, too, am a huge fan of Pariah, it blew me away when I saw it at Outfest in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. I had the pleasure of meeting the writer/director Dee Rees and her partner and Pariah producer Nekisa Cooper at the festival too. You’ll be happy to know that Rees was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” for 2008, and Cooper recently participated in the inaugural Sundance Creative Producing Lab that nurtures emerging independent producing talent.

I touched base with Cooper regarding your questions. About the short film version of Pariah, she said:

In January, we held a screening of the short in New York City co-sponsored by The Hetrick Martin Institute (The Harvey Milk School), Green Chimneys and The Ali Forney Center where we announced the internship opportunity for LGBTQ youth on the feature production of Pariah to demystify the filmmaking process and expose them to career opportunities in the industry. To date we’ve screened the short in over 40 festivals and won more than 25 awards in mainstream, LGBT, and people of color festivals. The short will be distributed exclusively on the educational market via New Day Films starting in May 2009.

Regarding the feature-length version of Pariah, Cooper told us, “We’re partially funded and looking to shoot the feature in summer of 2009, and Dee participated in the Sundance Directing Lab in the summer of 2008 and workshopped seven scenes from the feature.”

They’re also finishing up production on a documentary about Rees’s grandmother, Eventual Salvation. Having barely escaped with her life over a decade ago, Rees’s American born 80-year old grandmother returns to Monrovia, Liberia to rebuild her home and community after the devastating Liberian civil war. The film is the story of Amma’s journey home to help rebuild the country that gave her a second chance. (Click here to watch a clip from the film.)

Eventual Salvation follows Amma and her circle of friends and walks with them as they search for personal salvation while Liberia itself struggles for deliverance from 10 tumultuous years of civil war. For this film, Rees and Cooper are working with the talented composer from Frozen River, Shahzad Ismaily (Shahzad is currently working on Bjork’s upcoming album), and Eventual Salvation will premiere on the Sundance Channel in Fall 2009.

Finally, because they’re not busy enough, Rees and Cooper are also working on Colonial Gods, a contemporary story about a complicated friendship between a Somali man and Nigerian man set against the backdrop of gentrification and revitalization in the social housing neighborhoods of Cardiff Bay. Colonial Gods was the winners of the inaugural Iris Prize (25,000 pounds to shoot a LGBT-themed short film in Wales), and the Rees and Cooper will be going into production on it in April and premiere the film at the 2009 Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff, Wales.

For some reason, I suddenly feel very, very lazy.

Question: Love that Liz Feldman is back with This Just Out, but what other work can I catch her in?

– Chelsea, Brownstown, MI

Answer: I passed along your question to Ms. Feldman, and here’s what she told me:

I’ve been hard at work writing a sitcom for a major TV studio… and get this… it has a lesbian lead character! It’s a total dream come true and it’s only at the script stage right now. It will be a while before I know what the future holds. And sure, it’ll take a minor miracle to get it on the air, but you know I’m a positive thinker!

And, my short film My First Time Driving will be making its TV debut on Logo this spring! Not sure of the exact dates, so I’ll keep you posted about that.

For those of you living in Los Angeles, you can catch her doing stand-up comedy here and in the surrounding area.

I’m actually gonna be playing my first casino at the end of March! I’ll be at Pechanga Resort and Casino April 24 and 25. When I’m not on stage there, you’ll find me sitting at a Video Poker machine. Because, last time I went to Pechanga, I hit the jackpot three times. For serious… I’m a ludicrously lucky lady.

You can go to my myspace.com/lizinhollywood for details on my upcoming shows. And look out for more brand new episodes of This Just Out every Monday.

This is pretty exciting news. Who would have guessed that Feldman’s comedy stylings could create such loose slots?

Question: Annie On My Mind (1982) by Nancy Garden is my favorite book. Will there ever be a sequel, or even a movie?

– Ashley, Salt Lake City, Utah

Answer: Lambda Book Award-winning author Nancy Garden’s classic lesbian love story was once listed as one of the American Library Association’s Best of the Best for Young Adults list. In fact, many women name it as a book that helped them come to terms with their sexuality and, like you, have been hoping for a film adaptation of the book since its original publication.

I passed your question along to the author herself, and she told me:

There’s been a lot of interest over the years in a movie of Annie on My Mind, and it’s been optioned a few times – but never made. The most recent option was very promising, and was renewed several times – I even got progress reports occasionally. But the company doing it changed management, and the project was scrapped.

As to a sequel – many readers ask me about one, but I’m afraid I have no plans to write one. For one thing, sequels tend to be disappointing to readers, perhaps because readers are often looking to get the same feeling from the new story as they did from the original. I’m afraid that that would be unlikely in a sequel to Annie, perhaps mostly because the sequel couldn’t be a first-time love story.

I do think, though, that Annie and Liza definitely moved in together after college, that Annie is still singing and Liza is hard at work as an architect, and that both their families accept their relationship. I suspect they may have decided to move to Massachusetts or Connecticut to get married – and who knows? Perhaps they’re raising a family!

I love her version of how the book might have continued on. We lesbians are in dire need of some happy endings these days!

Question: I’m a massive West Wing fan and I was wondering what Allison Janney, the actress who played CJ Cregg, is doing now? Also, is it true that she is a lesbian?

– Jamie, Sydney, Australia

Answer: While the Emmy Award-winning actress Allison Janney is a lesbian icon, she is not a lesbian. But she has been willing to play gay (The Hours) and to stand up for LGBT rights in (Prop 8: The Musical). She also seems to enjoy telling the story about when she first came to Hollywood and was told by an idiotic agent that she would probably only be cast as “lesbians and aliens.”

Needless to say, that agent was wrong, and Janney is having no trouble finding work these days. She’s currently completed production on two films, Pretty Ugly People and Margaret, and has four other films in post-production.

This spring, you can see her on Broadway in 9 to 5: The Musical as Violet Newstead (the role made famous Lily Tomlin in the film). The show opens April 30, and you can check the official site for tickets.

While I’m sure she’ll make a fabulous Violet, Janney will always be Loretta from Drop Dead Gorgeous to me!

Question: Are there any plans for An Horse to tour America in the near future?

– Jamie, Winnetka, IL

Answer: I shared your question with one half of the Australian duo, Kate Cooper, who told me:

We are heading back to the states on February 23. Thus far I know we are playing in San Francisco on February 25th with Matt Costa. It’s part of the Noise Pop Festival and the show is AA at a place called Slim’s. We have a whole bunch of other dates that we are waiting to announce. I think we will be able to do so in the next few days.

Damon [Cox] and I will be spending most of next year in North America touring (our new home, if you will.). So I hope North Americans will be kind. Who am I kidding? Whenever we have played in the states we are blown away with how lovely everyone is!

For tour date and CD information, check out the MySpace page for An Horse. Their debut album Rearrange Beds is available on itunes now and will be available in U.S. stores on March 17.

Question: What ever happened to a season three of the The Big Gay Sketch Show? Is it still in the works?

– Amanda J.

Question: I am a big fan of Julie Goldman and love all of the videos AfterEllen has posted featuring her. Do you know if there are more videos to come or if she has any upcoming shows or projects?

– Liz

Answer: New episodes of The Big Gay Sketch Show are definitely headed for a television screen near you in the months ahead. In fact, for season three, the creators are giving fans the opportunity to win a role in an upcoming episode. You can log on to the new BGSS site, BigGayCasting.com, upload video auditions for consideration and vote for their favorite funny person. The deadline for submissions is March 10, 2009, and voters will become eligible to win an R Family Cruise for two on a July 11, 2009 cruise from Seattle to Alaska.

One of my favorite things about BGSS is comedian Julie Goldman.

I tracked her down and asked her what she’s working on these days. This is what she told me:

We’re now in pre-production on season three of The Big Gay Sketch Show. I’m also, with the help of Eve Ensler and co-producer Erin Keating, trying to launch a new comedy show called Offensive Women. We did a sold out weekend in New York in December at The Zipper and we’re looking for venues in LA and NY again. We do the monthly small versions going on both coasts at Mbar in LA and The slipper Room in NY. Check out offensivewomen.com. It’s a freaking awesome show and concept that showcases outrageous, balls-out fearless women comics..in all areas..live, tv, online, etc..and we need funding! (Plug plug wink wink…)

I’ve been developing a movie which we’re hoping will go from the script phase to the production phase soon. It’s the next best lesbian romantic comedy. If I don’t say so myself. I’ll be in Las Vegas on February 14 for two Valentine’s Day comedy shows at Gipsy, sharing the bill with Bridget McManus and Poppy Champlin.

Finally, I’ll be at Dinah Shore (Girlbar) this year on April 2, working with Olivia vacations throughout the year, and just pluggin away at complete and total world domination and being the lesbian P. Diddy. Watch for my clothing line, fragrance, record label, reality show and inspirational poster line.

Should we open the floor for suggestions for Julie’s new mega-wattage stage name? If so, I’m going with J. Giddy.

A new edition of Ask AfterEllen.com is published every Tuesday. Have a question for us? Email it to [email protected]. For more entertainment news, read previous editions of Ask AfterEllen.com, and check out AfterElton.com’s weekly entertainment Q&A column, Ask The Flying Monkey.

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