Live Talks Los Angeles presents An Evening with Oliver Sacks In Conversation with David Milch on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.  Dr. Sacks, neurologist and best-selling author, will discuss his provocative new book, Hallucinations (to be released November 6, 2012), which takes the reader into the eerie, psychedelic, and ultimately very real world of hallucinations.  Milch is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer, best known for his work on Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and Deadwood. The talk is part of Live Talks Los Angeles’ art and culture evening series of talks with speakers from the worlds of art and entertainment.  The event is at 8:00pm, with a reception from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.  Read the rest of this entry »

Live Talks Los Angeles announces the upcoming guest speakers for its Live Talks Business Forums, a dynamic breakfast-hour series featuring leading business thought leaders and executives, for its 2012-2013 season.  Upcoming speakers include: Vice President of Forrester Research Harley Manning (10/4), Wired magazine editor and author of the Long Tail Chris Anderson (10/18), Founder & Managing Director of Clean Edge Ron Pernick (11/15), bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind Daniel Pink (1/17), Whole Foods CEO John Mackey (1/25), former CEO of GM and AT&T Ed Whitacre (3/7), and Former CEO of Procter & Gamble A.G. Lafley (3/21).  The upcoming October-November 2012 Live Talks LA art and culture schedule includes events with Hollywood legend Penny Marshall in conversation with her brother Garry Marshall (10/3 – rescheduled from 9/26), gay activist Bishop Gene Robinson in conversation with Bradley Whitford (10/5), internationally-acclaimed author Sandra Cisneros in conversation with Hector Tobat, Los Angeles Times journalist and author (10/10), comedian Chris Elliott in conversation with Merrill Markoe (10/11), bestselling author-physician Oliver Sacks (11/14), and atheist magician Penn Jillette (11/15).

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Live Talks Los Angeles, which produces compelling talks, will once again bring an A-list roster of personalities to Los Angeles venues this Fall, launching its new season with Molly Ringwald in conversation with Meghan Daum on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at Track 16 in Santa Monica.  The new Live Talks LA schedule also includes events with Hollywood legend Penny Marshall, rapper-producer Wyclef Jean, comedian Chris Elliott, atheist magician Penn Jillette, bestselling author Mitch Albom, acclaimed writer T.C. Boyle, bestselling author-physician Oliver Sacks, internationally acclaimed author Sandra Cisneros, author, social critic, and political activist Naomi Wolf, and gay activist Bishop Gene Robinson.

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Live Talks Los Angeles, which produces compelling talks with fascinating speakers, will once again bring an A-list roster of personalities to the El Rey, Track 16, and Aero Theatre in the coming months. The schedule includes National Book Award and Oscar-Winning Writer Live Talks Los Angeles who will talk about his upcoming novel, In One Person (6/21, Aero); Top Chef Marcus Samuelsson, who will reflect on his life via his forthcoming memoir, Yes, Chef (7/10, Track 16); and Studio 360‘s Kurt Andersen, who will discuss his upcoming tour de force novel, True Believers (7/26, Track 16).  Also on the calendar is a special concert event by The Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band with Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Matt Groening among its members, who will hold their last public concert, after performing together for 20 years (6/22, El Rey). Most events start at 8:00pm with receptions preceding the talks. Ticket prices range from $20 to $295.  Please visit Live Talks LA’s website for additional details, updates and tickets at livetalksla.org.

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The Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band with Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Matt Groening among its members, will hold their last public concert, after performing together for 20 years, at the El Rey Theatre on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 8:30pm. The show is part of the band’s final two-city The Past Our Bedtime Tour, which also includes an appearance not open to the public at the American Library Association Conference in Anaheim on the same weekend.  The entire band is together for the first time since 2007.  Roger McGuinn, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for The Byrds, will also join as a musical guest.  Proceeds will benefit literary causes.
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Live Talks Los Angeles, which produces talks with great speakers, will once again bring a roster of A-list personalities to the Aero Theatre, Track 16, and UCLA’s Fowler Museum in the coming months.  The schedule includes Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers Band, who will speak about the highs and lows of his legendary life (5/15, Aero), Hollywood Creative Force Garry Marshall, who will discuss My Happy Days in Hollywood (5/23, Aero), and National Book Award and Oscar-Winning Writer John Irving, who will talk about his upcoming novel, In One Person (6/21, Aero).  Most events start at 8:00pm with receptions preceding the talks.  Ticket prices range from $20 to $95.

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Due out on October 31, 2011, William Castle Productions proudly presents House on Haunted Hill: A William Castle Annotated Screamplay. The book features legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s authentic working script from his 1959 classic thriller with original formatting and Castle’s own hand-written notes.  This collector’s item even comes with a new twist on Castle’s famous theater gimmick, Emerg-O. The 248-page book includes a foreword by acclaimed director Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling, Matinee), hailing the book as “an important artifact.” It also includes an introduction by William’s daughter, Terry Castle, who shares her personal thoughts on this seminal piece of film history. A critical perspective of the film by writer and illustrator Charlie Largent is also included as well as a special welcome from William Castle himself. The Screamplay will be available in print for $24.99 via Amazon and select retailers through the recently resurrected William Castle Productions (ISBN-13: 978-0578092928).

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William Castle (by Leland Cheong/Honolulu Advertiser)

Known for his ingenious marketing gimmicks, legendary horror film producer and director William Castle (1914-1977) has returned from the dead with his first new work in decades, From the Grave: The Prayer (Volume 1), a novel for young adults.  Due out this Halloween season in early October 2011, the 75,000-word book set in Hollywood and Southern France is a compelling thriller infused with history, suspense, and horror.  Dubbed “The Master of the Macabre” and “King of the Gimmicks,” Castle was internationally famous for producing Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and producing/directing countless horror classics such as House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Tingler (1959).
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Photo Credit: Randall Montgomery

Award-winning actress and playwright Diz White is set to release her spine-tingling collection of true stories, Haunted Cotswolds, through The History Press this Halloween season. Set in what many consider the most beautiful part of England, White, a Los Angeles-based British expat, recounts the numerous paranormal events that have occurred in the region while simultaneously documenting the Cotswolds’ eerie architecture and fascinating history. Pieced together from both historic and present-day sources, the 96-page paperback book is filled with tales of ghosts, ghouls and the undead from every corner of the Cotswolds, the second most popular tourist destination in the UK. Included are stories of tortured headless kings, stark-raving mad butchering inn keepers, buried alive country squires, burned at the stake nuns, and other undead who walk among us. The author will discuss and sign copies of the book at a Samuel French reception in Studio City on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. (11963 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604; 818-762-0535; www.samuelfrench.com).

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Award winning filmmaker Jon Reiss is set to release his new book Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era on March 15, 2010. The book is a primer for filmmaking in the digital era covering distribution of all types of media content – feature films, shorts, webisodes, transmedia, vblogs, etc., and is the first to address the new distribution and marketing landscape facing filmmakers today.
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