September 24, 2008 News

The LA Daily News has moved! New address:
21860 Burbank Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367


Congratulations to New Yorker Classical Music Critic Alex Ross for being honored with a MacArthur Genius Award! Read more about it here.


On the other side of the coin... check out this excellent column by the Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's spineless decision to "cave into pressure from a faction representing the [Cleveland] orchestra" by prohibiting its veteran music critic Don Rosenberg from covering the symphony any more in favor of a different critic who, presumably, won't be as, well, critical.


Steve Harvey, another highly missed former LA Times writer, starts a blog.

September 18, 2008 News

LAIst previews former LA Times writer Kevin Bronson's soon-to-debut Buzz Bands music blog.


Michael Jackson is gone from KGIL radio, replaced by conservative commentator Laura Ingraham's syndicated talk show. The OC Register's radio blog has this:

Missing is Michael Jackson, whose one-year contract was not renewed. Jackson learned of his dismissal when he returned home Sept. 10 from an Alaska cruise ship trip.

He e-mailed, "No comment, save to say that I found the staff delightful and I had a most enjoyable year. The rest of the story will be told (not by me), very soon. Be well."

KGIL management had no additional comment.

From Christian Chensvold about his FineArtsLA.com web site:

FineArtsLA is sort of in limbo… the site is for sale, if you know anyone who might be interested. The buyer would get:

---An established site already respected by the Opera, Phil, Ballet, and smaller groups, so the buyer can get immediate press passes and access to talent for interviews.

---Plus the Forty Unders program, which has great potential for partnerships in the community, etc.

Even though this site was inconsistently updated, it would be a shame for yet another outlet for arts coverage to disappear, so contact Christian if you are interested in discussing this or know anyone that would. It's Christian@

September 15, 2008 News

FishbowlLA has this about a new magazine, Homefront LA, that is described on its website as one that:

…celebrates the unique, exciting lifestyle of Angelenos at home. The magazine goes beyond architecture, home design and real estate to feature people who have a passion for the everyday luxury of home.

It launches in January 2009. An editorial contact email on the homefrontla.com website is edit@.


Los Angeles Confidential's New York address (the Niche Media offices from which most of its staffers work) has changed recently:
100 Church St
7th Floor
New York, NY 10007-2601


Writer Harriette Smith asks to have her film and theatre blog mentioned here. She can be reached via aol at harriettepr@.

September 5, 2008 News

Did you see the news about ALL of KCSN's programs being cancelled? It's on LA Observed, which called its post "Programming slaughter at KCSN."


This rather odd memo with all kinds of TMI came from the LA Times announcing wizards a week or so ago, but the news is basically that the LA Times' Donna Frazier, a perfectly nice person, has been named Image section executive editor.


Not sure when this happened, but Abigail Lewis replaced Avital Binshtock as editor of Valley Life Magazine. New aol.com email address is: ValleyLifeMag@. I learned separately that Avital is now doing the LA Times Travel section "Tours & Cruises" column as a free-lancer.


Amanda Peabody replaces Beige Adams at the Beverly Hills Courier and Design Magazine. Email at bhcourier.com is apeabody@. Editor Marcia Hobbs reports the magazine's expansion into fashion coverage as well.


Wall Street Journal's new lifestyle magazine WSJ. (note the ridiculous period) debuts Saturday, and you'll find the LA Times' new magazine LA (no periods that I'm aware of) in your paper on Sunday. Can't WAIT to read about Kid Rock. Not.

August 25, 2008 News

Thanks to the ever-on-top-of-things Lucy Pollak for this…

Got a message from Nancy Bishop that the Venice Magazine calendar has been discontinued with the September issue, and that the gmail venicemagcal address has been disabled.

And this…

Kristin Viola is now the editor of Where LA. Benjamin Epstein remains as Executive Editor, but he will concentrate primarily on Where OC and Performances magazine.

I just spoke with Benjamin, and he's also editor of the company's Guestbook LA and Guestbook Orange County. Keep him on your lists, especially because Performances covers LA-area arts.


The Advocate goes from bi-weekly to monthly in January, according to an announcement from Jon Barrett, the magazine's new editor-in-chief.


Oscar Garza turns up at the Daily News. About that and more on high-level staff courtesy of LA Observed.


Cision's Revolving Door has news of the demise of two magazines: Hachette Filipacchi's Home and Heart's Town & Country Travel.

GET OUT YOUR ROLODEXES

LA Observed has a memo from LA Times' Leo Wolinsky, associate editor overseeing features announcing that Millie Quan has been named to the new position of senior features editor. Take the link to read more about this plus other recent Times appointments.

Does anyone still actually use rolodexes?


TRUE TO FORM

Thanks to Leticia Buckley for passing this on from the LA Times' Shayna Sobol, who is one of the best communicators at the Times, always responsive, which is always appreciated by us PR types:

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've touched base with you. As I'm sure most of you know, there have been many changes going on at the Times and I, like everyone else, am trying to keep up with them.

I'm told that the arts coverage in print, and that includes theater and dance listings, is a topic that is still very much in discussion. However, for the time being, our print listings will only appear in Sunday Calendar. I am greatly disappointed about this but I realize, more than ever now, how important it is to embrace the Guide website. After all, it's the only sure place to see your events listed. Our staff is pretty slim, but we will make every effort to post submissions in a timely manner.

Which brings me to two reminders:

1. Please continue to submit your events to us! I know you're probably frustrated with the reduced coverage, but I'm still here and I'm still monitoring that in-box, which has seen a decrease in submissions of late. The address to get to the form is simple: latimes.com/submit

2. For review and/or feature coverage consideration, send your press releases to Lisa Fung. (I am open to receiving press releases, in addition to your events submission forms, but instead of counting on me to forward them to Lisa, it's a good idea to get them to her directly.)

I hope this note finds all of you well and working on new and exciting projects. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm looking forward to being overwhelmed with your submissions... go ahead, pile them on!

And, as always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the listings, the Guide site... whatever's on your mind.

All the best,
Shayna

August 14, 2008 News

New show, here's the scoop:

The Bonnie Hunt Show, produced by Telepictures and Warner Bros. will premiere on September 8. You might remember Bonnie from such films as The Green Mile, Dave, Rain Man, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, and Cheaper By The Dozen as well as her hit ABC sitcom, Life With Bonnie. She will be seated behind a desk and feature two celebrities a day as well as other guests, from everyday people to experts. She is a premiere talent who’s incredibly quick, funny and relatable. Though she’s worked with nearly every big name in Hollywood, she’s still “your next door neighbor with a first-class talk show”. BONNIE show will be shot in front of an audience, live-to-tape to air the following day. The show tapes Monday-Wednesday at 4pm and Thursday at 2pm and 6pm at The Culver Studios. BONNIE was one of the fastest programs to clear and has been sold in 97% of the country. We will air at 2pm in New York and 12PM in Los Angeles on NBC.

Contact is:
JAMES AVENELL, TALENT EXECUTIVE (email ext. below is bonniehunttv.com)
THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW
9336 W. Washington Blvd. Bldg. J, Culver City, CA 90232
310.845.2541 james.avenell@
http://www.thebonniehuntshow.com/


UCLA Live is looking for a staff senior publicist. According to the departing Holly Wallace (returning to New Orleans as director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance), the position is now posted (req. #12491). Apply online here.


News from Paul Del Colle at Walek & Associates:

Dow Jones & Company… announced that Kathleen Madigan, who formerly worked at BusinessWeek Magazine, will join the Dow Jones Newswires editorial team as “Big Picture” columnist and economics writer. Ms. Madigan will start her duties on August 11, 2008, and will focus on all aspects of U.S. economics coverage.

This was passed on by Brenda Rees some weeks ago, sorry for the delay:

Premiering in September - THE Magazine LA, a new visually oriented, monthly periodical devoted to the contemporary visual art scene in Los Angeles.

Each issue features:

UNIVERSE OF - Stories of both emerging and established artists

FEATURES - In-depth coverage of the Los Angeles art scene, from exclusive interviews with contemporary artists, collectors, and curators in Los Angeles to coverage of important curatorial work

PREVIEWS - Coverage of what's coming up in LA's galleries, museums, art centers, and more

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS - Where we share with readers - no holds barred - our responses to what's going on in the contemporary art world around town including reviews of important exhibitions

To be considered for reviews and previews

Please forward us any and all press releases for your upcoming exhibitions. Attach 3 to 4 high resolution files of work from each exhibition. Extension to email below is THEmagLA.com

Send Press Releases and images to listings@