Michael Jackson - This Is It "Premiere"

Annie had an extra ticket and invited me to join her family on Friday for the Premiere of Michael Jackson's "This Is It".

She told me to get down to the brand new theater at Staples Center "sooner rather than later" because it was going to be crazy and the place was totally sold out.



For the occasion she got dressed as MJ himself.



We were really excited for the film.



So we got into the theater an hour early and it was completely empty. And it stayed that way.

But yay private screening!



The film was beautiful and moving and magical.











It was a great final tribute to a true icon. You should definitely see it.

------------------------------

After the film, I forced Kimmie to pose with The Chipmunks.



Also, I realized that Tatyana's boyfriend was wearing the exact same shirt as me.




Awkward...



Thanks for the invite Annie! It was wonderful! You are a total weirdo! Yayyyyy!

Buppies gets picked up by BET!

Taken from the Wall Street Journal:

For most people, getting an Ivy League degree provides a career boost. But when actress Tatyana Ali returned to acting after graduating from Harvard in 2002, she found it hard to get work in Hollywood.

“I’d been gone for awhile,” says Ali, 30 years old, who co-starred with Will Smith in the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” early in her career. “That difficulty is what prompted me to start the production company.”

Ali and her sister and business partner, Anastasia, contacted a friend from school, Julian Breece, who’d approached her years earlier with an idea for a television show. The networks passed on the idea, so Ali and Breece looked to the Web, with Ali producing and Breece writing and directing. Independently financing and producing the show gave them complete creative control, from writing in gay characters to casting mostly black actors.

“Doing a Web series, working in this new medium, you have a little bit more autonomy, an ability to tell the story you want to tell,” Ali says.

With a little help from Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, Breece and Ali brought their show to BET. The result is “Buppies,” premiering Tuesday on BET.com. The show is BET’s first original Web series. It’s not the first Web series to feature a predominately black cast, but with BET’s promotion of the show online and on TV, it is arguably the most high-profile.

“BET was definitely not a part of my plan at all,” says Breece. “But a lot of black people flock to the Web for content. I just feel like it’s the new frontier.”

“Buppies” dramatizes the life of Quinci (played by Ali) a socialite and publicist dealing with the loss of her father and the end of a relationship, all amidst the glamour and gossip of Hollywood.

For Ali, who has been readying a pop/R&B album for a spring release, part of the appeal of doing “Buppies” is to show networks that black content can draw viewers.

In past decades, network television featured such black-themed shows as “The Jeffersons,” “The Cosby Show,” “In Living Color,” and “A Different World,” but there are currently no shows with majority black casts that draw the attention of those past programs.

With Ice Cube, Idris Elba, Don Cheadle and Aaron McGruder all producing new series for broadcast and cable networks, that might change in the next few years.

Ali, along with producers Martin Lawrence, Raphael Saadiq and Bentley Kyle Evans (”Martin,” “The Jamie Foxx Show”) have shot four episodes of series called “Love that Girl” and are shopping it to different networks.

“You can only wait around for auditions for so long, wait around for that perfect role for so long,” Ali says about her producing efforts. “As soon as you set out and say: ‘you know what forget everybody, I’m just going to make my own thing, make my own way.’ That’s when you start getting work!”

-------------------------------------

You can see the original post with pics from the making of Buppies here:

http://eggfurious.blogspot.com/2008/11/buppies.html

And the official BUPPIES website is here: http://buppies.bet.com

Yay!!! World domination!!!!

Tatyana's 30th Birthday!

Tatyana celebrated her 30th birthday at Zune LA on Saturday night. It was my first big late-night outing in two and half months.

Zune is the event space which supposedly helps to promote the Zune player, Microsoft's response to the iPod. My dad has one, they're actually kind of cool.

Last year, the party was sponsored by random green drink.

This year, the party was sponsored by Hennessy.

I think Hennessy is gross.

Annie says I'm racist.




It was a very well put-together event. Reminded me a lot of the Ne-Yo/Leona Lewis event with all the semi-yummy drinks, scrumptious snacky-foods, beautiful black people, and pseudo-celebs like Quddus and Twista and one of the Danity Kane girls.

Annie looked gorgeous.



And Taty was sporting a baby blue sexydress.



Only a few of us were able to enjoy the party though.



When Rach, Rob, and Chrispy literally dropped us off to find parking, there was no line and we made our way inside hassle-free... but by the time ten minutes had passed, the entrance was swarmed and the place had filled to capacity.



They left. But we soon followed.

It was almost impossible for me to maneuver around the crowded party on crutches. And on top of that, I was attempting to hold a drink, eat hors d'oeuvres, and snap photos. These things you just take for granted. Oh how I can't wait to be uncrippled.

After about 20 minutes of standing, my good foot felt like it was going to break off, and WifeKelli had a migraine HusbandMatt had to go home to attend to.

We peaced out before 112 even got a chance to sing "Happy Birthday".

I hear it was cool though.



I was home by 10pm, mourning my disability with a bucket of slow-churned ice cream.



Happy 30th Tatyana!



(I jacked this pic off wireimage.com because I thought it looked pretty.)

Last Day in the Hospital

My last day in the hospital.

Whew. It has been quite a week.

Just as I was about packed up and ready to go, Annie and Tatyana surprised me with a last minute visit.



They came bringing the sweetest gift ever. Bobby the Bergdorf Bear.



He is the softest little bear in the whole wide world.




Minutes later, TL came to aid in my escape. TL you are a champion. Chasing down cabs. Carrying all my bags. Wheeling me in wheelchair. And finally stealing a luggage trolley to transport me those last few steps up to AC and Shiri's front door. (I can't stand yet without getting extremely dizzy and almost falling over.)



Thank you thank ynou thank you TL.

Good bless you Jon Stewart.



Chapter 1 is now over. Here goes Chapter 2.

BUPPIES!

Annie and Tatyana are producing a new series called "Buppies" which centers around a group of posh sexy black people in Hollywood.






Shooting for the pilot took place at this epic house way up in the hills of Malibu.

Totally deserted. Totally beautiful.





Annie worked production, running around yelling at people.





She also played an extra in the swimming pool.



Little sis Kimmy also did some production work.



And Tatyana did what she does best...



...act...like a superstar.









It's fun to watch seasoned performers do their thing.

Now that they're done jetting around the country on the Obama campaign trail, they can focus on Buppies, etc.

Comeback inevitable and long overdue.

Wheeee!!!!!




The trailer for the series is below.

It launches in early 2009.