From the groundbreaking TV series “Your Show of Shows” to landmark films like ‘Blazing Saddles’ and ‘Young Frankenstein’, Mel Brooks has been one of the most influential voices in comedy. Now, this entertainment legend looks back on his remarkable career in “Mel Brooks Strikes Back!,” debuting Monday, December 10 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Appearing onstage with Alan Yentob, creative director for the BBC, at the Geffen Theater in Westwood, Cal. before a live audience, Brooks reviews his career as a writer, director, actor, producer, composer, failed ballet dancer and comedian. The special looks at the Brooklyn native’s early life, show-business influences, early career and ascension as one of Hollywood’s most successful writers and directors.

“Mel Brooks Strikes Back!” also features clips from some of his classic movies and TV work, including “Your Show of Shows,” featuring Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner, one of Brooks and Reiner’s “2000 Year Old Man” routines and the movies ‘The Producers’, ‘Blazing Saddles’ and ‘High Anxiety’. Brooks also takes questions from the audience, discussing his experiences in World War II and the origins of the song “Retreat,” which he performs in a clip with longtime collaborator Ronny Graham.

“Mel Brooks Strikes Back!” marks his second appearance on HBO in recent years, following 2011’s Emmy-nominated special “Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again.”

Among Brooks’ other classic comedy films as director, writer, producer and/or actor are ‘History of the World Part 1’, ‘Silent Movie’, ‘Spaceballs’ and ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’. ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘The Producers’ and ‘Young Frankenstein’ all appear on the AFI’s list of Funniest American Films. He also produced the Oscar-nominated drama ‘The Elephant Man’, as well as ‘My Favorite Year’ and ‘The Fly’, among other Brooksfilms movies, and co-created, with Buck Henry, the hit TV series “Get Smart.”

Mel Brooks is one of the few artists who have received an Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony. He won an Oscar for writing the 1968 film ‘The Producers’, a Grammy for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1999 for “The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000” and two other Grammys in 2002, for Best Musical Show Album for the Soundtrack of ‘The Producers’ and Best Long Form Music Video for the DVD “Recording the Producers – A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks.” Brooks has won four Emmys, one for Outstanding Writing Achievement for a Sid Caesar special and three consecutive awards for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for “Mad About You.” He won three Tony Awards for the 2001 musical “The Producers,” for Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score and Best Book of a Musical. Overall, the show received 12 Tony Awards, a record for a musical.

On November 13, the DVD/CD box set ‘The Incredible Mel Brooks: An Irresistible Collection of Unhinged Comedy’ will be released by Shout! Factory. The set is a veritable treasure trove of all things Brooksian, a laugh-filled celebration of his illustrious career that includes special tributes, memorable performances and rare archival TV footage.

“Mel Brooks Strikes Back!” is a Brooksfilms Production; produced by Steve Haberman and Rudy DeLuca.

Image Courtesy : Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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Season 5 of HBO’s smash-hit series “True Blood” came to a dramatic end on HBO but fans needn’t shed a tear for their favorite vampire, shapeshifter, werewolf or townie. HBO GO injects fun into the season finale with a bonus scene teasing season 6 appearing at the end of the last episode with additional, exclusive elements available through HBO GO’s “True Blood” interactive viewing experience.

The extended scene, written by creator and executive producer Alan Ball, is available now at HBOGO.com or via the HBO GO app. To view a promo for the True Blood experience and bonus scene on HBO GO visit: http://youtu.be/M0M_bBMxBfs.

“True Blood fans love to interact with the show and each other,” said Ball. “I’m excited to give them something extra to talk about even after the season 5 finale credits roll.”

The HBO GO interactive viewing experience,which features exclusive enhancements to the “True Blood” bonus scene, allows audiences to engage with original features created exclusively for the service by watching full-length episodes of the series alongside never-before-seen bonus content. The “True Blood” interactive viewing experience for HBO GO can be accessed online or via the HBO GO iPad app, featuring special enhancements designed exclusively for the device.

HBO GO can also be accessed via the HBO GO app on Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and numerous smart phones using Google’s Android operating system, as well as platforms such as Xbox 360, Samsung Smart TV and Roku – and is free of charge to HBO subscribers through participating television providers.

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HBO has a new show it’s called the ‘News Room’, made by Aaron Sorkin, creator of the ‘West Wing’ and screen writer of the ‘Social Network’ and ‘Moneyball’. ‘News Room’ shows the behind the scenes of a nightly cable news program.

The series talks about the different obstacles journalists have to face in order to fulfill their job. It centers on a network anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), the newsroom staff (John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Olivia Munn, Dev Patel) and their boss (Sam Waterston).

The show intends to show how difficult it is for the protagonists to fulfill their job, obstacles are various, sometimes it’s a corporate obstacle that impedes them to fulfill their task. In other occasions it could be a commercial obstacle where a client is affected by the information they are trying to communicate. Other times the problems are their own personal entanglements.

‘The Newsroom’ has been criticized by some journalists, who said it was an unrealistic portrayal of the media. Creator Aaron Sorkin responded that ‘The Newsroom’ is intended to be fantasy, he said, “I like writing about heroes that don’t wear capes and disguises.”

‘The Newsroom’ star Olivia Munn also defended Aaron Sorkin’s show; “I don’t believe the show is his soapbox for him to lecture the media on how to be better. On the contrary, I believe his show is an opportunity to help the audience fall in love with the news again. I felt bad for Aaron.”

A show about a newsroom is a risky bet in a time where a lot of people are talking about the internet. But Sorkin has already proved that he’s able to take the public to places that at first seem boring and inaccessible like the White House (‘West Wing’) and make them interested. So far the show has been a success, nearly three million people watched the launch of ‘The Newsroom.’

In his review of the show, Dan Rather, editor and anchor of the television news magazine ‘Dan Rather Reports’, talked about the huge audience that ‘The Newsroom’ is getting. He said that considering the show’s “shocking lack of nudity, graphic sex and violence, severed heads of former presidents on sticks, dragons or vampires,” it is a big accomplishment.

To see if this team is capable of doing the best show of news they can, you can watch’ The Newsroom’ every Sunday at 10 pm on HBO.

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. — Production has begun in South Africa and North Carolina on the HBO Films presentation ‘Mary and Martha,’ starring Hilary Swank (Oscar winner for ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’) and Brenda Blethyn (Oscar nominee for ‘Secrets & Lies’ and ‘Little Voice’), it was announced July 16 by Len Amato, president, HBO Films.

Directed by Phillip Noyce (‘Salt,’ ‘The Quiet American’) from a screenplay written by Richard Curtis (Oscar nominee for ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ Emmy winner for HBO’s ‘The Girl in the Café’), ‘Mary and Martha’ depicts the epic journey of two mothers who bond over the mutual loss of their sons to malaria. James Woods, Frank Grillo, Ian Redford and Stephanie Faracy also star.

“We were especially attracted to Richard Curtis’ approach to the story – bringing a human touch to this serious and often overlooked issue about a disease that is preventable and can be eradicated,” said Amato. “In the hands of Philip Noyce, directing these two gifted actresses, the difficult subject matter becomes upliftingly accessible, yet profoundly powerful.”

Hilary Swank stars as Mary and Brenda Blethyn stars as Martha, an American and an Englishwoman who have little in common apart from the one thing they wish they hadn’t – both have lost sons to malaria. Promising adventure and fun, Mary took her young son, George, to Africa, where he subsequently contracted the disease, while Martha’s son, Ben, died while working as a volunteer at an orphanage in Mozambique.

When the two immensely different women meet in Africa, they bond over their shared personal loss. Forging a deep friendship, they vow to dedicate themselves to the cause of malaria prevention, realizing that, as mothers, they have a responsibility to all the world’s children.

Says writer Richard Curtis, “I’ve always wanted to write a film about the fact that when you have children, there’s always the possibility of extreme joy and extreme sorrow. And over the years, working with Comic Relief, I have come across the tragedy of the startling number of lives taken by malaria every year. This film gives me achance to write about that too, as well as working with a team of people I hugely admire – Brenda Blethyn, Hilary Swank and the great Australian director, Phillip Noyce.”

‘Mary and Martha’ is an HBO Films Presentation of a WTTV Working Title Television Production, in association with BBC and NBC Universal; executive produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Liza Chasin and Juliette Howell; produced by Genevieve Hofmeyr and Hilary Bevan Jones; director, Phillip Noyce; screenplay written by Richard Curtis.

Image Courtesy of  Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. — HBO has confirmed some of the new cast members for the third season of the hit series “Game of Thrones,” with many of the actors appearing in a video that was unveiled Friday, July 13 at Comic-Con 2012.

Among the new actors and the characters they will portray are:

Diana Rigg will play Lady Olenna Tyrell. Also known as “The Queen of Thorns,” Lady Olenna is the grandmother of Margaery and Loras Tyrell and is, in many ways, the true leader of their powerful family.

Mackenzie Crook will portray Orell. A wildling raider, Orell is a “warg” or “skinchanger,” with the ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions.

Clive Russell will be Bryndon “The Blackfish” Tully. Known far and wide as “The Blackfish,” Brynden is a famous knight and the uncle of Catelyn Stark. He quarreled bitterly with his brother, Lord Hoster Tully, and the two were estranged for many years.

Nathalie Emannuel will play Missandei. Originally from the peaceful island of Naath, Missandei was sold into slavery as a child, along with her brother. She received education in various languages and became a translator to the slave trader Kraznys in Astapor.

Kerry Ingram will portray Shireen Baratheon, the only child of Stannis Baratheon. An avid reader, she escapes her lonely life through myths and stories – her books are her most treasured possessions.

Paul Kaye will be Thoros of Myr. A key member of the outlaw band known as the Brotherhood Without Banners, he is a Red Priest, in service of the Lord of Light, and originally hails from the Free City of Myr, in Essos.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster will play Jojen Reed, a mysterious and enigmatic young man who becomes an important ally to Bran Stark.

Ellie Kendrick will be Meera Reed. The eldest daughter of Howland Reed and a staunch Stark loyalist, Meera and her younger brother Jojen seek out Bran Stark to protect him on his hard journey north.

Richard Dormer will portray Beric Dondarrion. Once the lord of Blackhaven and a celebrated warrior, Lord Beric has now become the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners, a band of vigilante outlaws.

Kristofer Hivju is cast as Tormund Giantsbane. A famed wildling warrior and chief lieutenant of the “King Beyond the Wall,” Mance Rayder, Tormund is fearsome and strong, with a large build and a beard to match.

Philip McGinley as Anguy, an extremely skilled archer and key member of the outlawband known as the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Tara Fitzgerald will play Selyse Baratheon. The wife of Stannis Baratheon, Selyse spends much of her life in seclusion, shut away in a gloomy tower.

Tobias Menzies will portray Edmure Tully. The younger brother of Catelyn Stark, Edmure has recently become Lord of Riverrun in the wake of his father’s death.

Anton Lesser will be Qyburn, a former maester of the Citadel, who was stripped of his chain many years ago.

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, “Game of Thrones” is an epic drama set in the world of Westeros, where ambitious men and women of both honor and ill-repute live in a land whose summers and winters can last years. The Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning fantasy series concluded its ten-episode second season in June, with the third season scheduled to launch in 2013.

Season two cast members included: Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aidan Gillen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson and Alfie Allen.

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On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, leaving 15,372 people confirmed dead and 7,762 reported still missing. In the wake of the largest earthquake in the country’s history, some people drew the courage to revive and rebuild from cherry-blossom season, which began within weeks of the tragedy.

Oscar-nominated this year for Best Documentary Short Subject, ‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ shows how nature can be a rejuvenating – as well as a destructive – force when it debuts Monday, July 16 (10:00-10:40 PM ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Directed by Lucy Walker (the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “Waste Land”), this poignant film debuts immediately after the debut of the SXSW Film Festival hit “Birders: The Central Park Effect,” which offers a different look at how nature touches people.

The documentary will also show on HBO on July 18 (12:15 PM), July 24 (4:15 PM) and July 28 (6:00 AM, 3:15 PM).

The film will also be shown on HBO2 on July 18 (9:00 PM).

HBO Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting provocative new specials every Monday through July 30. Other July films include: “Hard Times: Lost on Long Island” (July 9); “Birders: The Central Park Effect” (July 16); “Vito” (July 23); and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” (July 30).

‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ is a stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life, and the healing power of Japan’s most beloved flower. The nation is transfixed by cherry blossom season, which runs from late March through April, with many people tracking the blossoms’ short life-cycle and attending “hanami,” or viewing parties, with family and friends.

Walker had originally planned to visit Japan to make a film about the cherry-blossom season, but on March 11, 2011, while she was making final preparations for her trip, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck, triggering tsunami waves of up to 133 feet on Japan’s northeastern coast. Initially unsure whether to continue, she flew to Tokyo with a small film crew and headed north to the Tohuku region, where she captured both the utter devastation and stoic resolve of survivors, many of whom had lost family members and friends.

‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ opens with harrowing home-video footage, shot from a hill, of a huge wave destroying the town below. A month later, a young woman stands on the same hill, remembering how she “watch[ed] people being consumed by the tsunami.” An older man tells how he tried and failed to save his oldest friend, proclaiming, “I don’t want a house. I don’t want clothes. I don’t want anything. I just want his life back.”

Others tell their stories of survival, escaping in their slippers and seeing whole houses rush toward them on a wave of black water. One couple living at a community center returns to the ruins of their house, hoping to rebuild. Their town is within the 30km exclusion zone around the Fukushima power plant, and many people wear cotton masks as protection from radiation.

Amidst the despair in the days following the tsunami comes a glimmer of hope in “sakura” (cherry blossom), a harbinger of spring in Japan and a national symbol of renewal. One man explains how the cherry blossom reflects the Japanese character, saying, “Each flower is tiny, and you can’t see one individually. But it’s beautiful when you see lots of flowers together. Japanese people see themselves that way too.”

Out of respect for the victims, many viewing parties were canceled this year, but people still visit the blossoms and take pictures. A man who lost his house shows where new plant shoots have sprouted on the beach, commenting that if plants can hang in there, humans can too. A young woman looking at the cleanup and construction adds, “Every year that the trees bloom, they’ll give us the courage to keep going.”

In addition to its Oscar nomination, ‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ received the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film Festival and BFI London.

‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ was directed by Lucy Walker with executive producers Tim Case and Charles V. Salice and producers Kira Carstensen and Lucy Walker. The director of photography was Aaron Phillips, the editor was Aki Mizutani, and the music was produced by Moby.

Image Courtesy of   Kasper Nybo

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Each year, more than a million birds make a migratory pit stop in New York City’s Central Park – and they don’t go unnoticed. The revealing documentary ‘Birders: The Central Park Effect’ chronicles one year in the life of the extraordinary array of wild birds that grace Manhattan’s celebrated patch of green, and the equally colorful New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration, when it debuts Monday, July 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. The debut of the Oscar-nominated documentary short “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” which shows how nature can be a rejuvenating as well as destructive force, follows at 10:00 p.m.

Other HBO playdates are July 19 (5:00 PM), July 21 (10:00 AM, 5:20 AM), July 24 (11:30 AM, midnight) and July 29 (2:00 PM).

It will also be showed on HBO2 with playdates on July 18 (8:00 PM), July 22 (5:25 AM) and July 26 (8:00 AM).

HBO Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting provocative new specials every Monday through July 30. Other July films include: “Hard Times: Lost on Long Island” (July 9); “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” (July 16); “Vito” (July 23); and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” (July 30).

Devoting equal time and affection to birds and birders, first-time filmmaker Jeffrey Kimball explores a distinctly New York phenomenon, telling a story of humanity, nature and the precarious balance between the two. ‘Birders: The Central Park Effect’ captures an astonishing number of species – from hummingbirds and herons to owls and hawks – with stunning HD photography that does justice to the birds’ amazingly diverse patterns, hues and personalities. The film also celebrates devoted NYC birders who find a paradise within the urban chaos, among them author Jonathan Franzen and Starr Saphir, the “matriarch” of Central Park birdwatching.

It’s springtime in New York City, and the city’s biggest park is hosting a community of several hundred birders. As veteran birder Lloyd Spitalnik notes, “If you get tired of looking at the common birds, you might as well just pack it in.” Chris Cooper says his friends don’t see him from April 15 through Memorial Day; if they question his annual obsession, he counters by rattling off his “seven pleasures of birding.” Anya, a 15-year-old birder, wants to protect birds because they are “so alive, active, varied and beautiful.”

As the birders describe their passion, the pleasure they derive from the birds is both contagious and poignant. To a birder, finding a feathered friend is like a celebrity sighting. Scientists call the concentration of birds funneling into this oasis of nature amid a sea of steel and cement the Central Park Effect.

Septuagenarian Starr Saphir, who has been giving bird tours almost daily for 20 years, wasdiagnosed with terminal breast cancer a few years ago. She talks about her heightened joy in birding, which eases her pain, and shares lists of birds she’s seen, which she has kept in journals every day since she was a child, looking at them fondly like a photo album or scrapbook. Jonathan Franzen says that when he began birding, it was like an addiction; a morning without birding gave him a sense of unease that could only be fixed by the first spotting of the day, like a smoker craving a cigarette.

Central Park is a magnet for millions of birds who need a rest stop as they migrate along the Eastern Seaboard twice a year, in spring and fall. While this migration is a dangerous process, during which millions of birds die each year, many survivors remember stopovers in the fall and return to the Park, where devoted birders await them.

By early June, all the migrants have passed through New York City, but a couple of dozen species linger. Birds have adapted to human urbanization, and though Central Park is entirely man-made, it appears no different to birds than most natural parks in the country, which are also managed landscapes. Unfortunately, notes birder Jonathan Rosen, the Effect can lead some to believe that the world and the environment is doing just fine.

In winter, species that tend to migrate north in warmer months often fly south to Central Park. At the annual Christmas bird count, citizen scientists help produce the official “Birds in Decline Report” by going out in teams and counting every bird in the Park. Though a seemingly impossible task, patterns can be found in the results. One depressing statistic for bird lovers is that nearly a quarter of all species have had a 50% decline.

Sitting on a park bench the next spring, Jonathan Rosen says he doesn’t think of his birding as a hobby “any more than raising my children would be considered a hobby.” Perhaps, he concludes, as all sorts of animal populations slowly diminish, people are hungry to touch something that may be slipping away.

A 2012 SXSW selection in Documentary Feature Competition, ‘Birders: The Central Park Effect’ is directed and produced by Jeffrey Kimball; executive produced by Pamela Hogan and Tom Casciato; edited by Daniel Baer; co-produced and co-edited by Nick August-Perna; cinematography by Tony Pagano, Nick August-Perna and Chris Dapkins; bird and nature cinematography by Jeffrey Kimball; music by Paul Damian Hogan.

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HBO Documentary Films is releasing a new documentary about the financial crisis in the United States and how it has affected American families. The new film will debut on July 9 on HBO.

Families featured in “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” include:

Alan Fromm and his wife Susan, who grew up in Brooklyn, met at Brooklyn College and moved to Plainview, where they raised two children. He has a master’s degree and spent his career in corporate education and training, but lost his job in summer 2009. No stranger to hardships, Alan was struck by lightning at age 15, had just started a new job as at the World Trade Center when it was first bombed and, most recently, was in the World Trade Center when it collapsed. At the time of filming, he has been out of work for more than a year and despairs for his family’s future after falling behind on his mortgage.

Anne and Mel Strauss, who grew up on Long Island, and met commuting on the Long Island Railroad. She works in public relations and was laid off in summer 2008; he has a master’s degree in operations research and worked in finance before moving into the mortgage industry. They separate when his stopgap commission-only mortgage broker job moves him to Albany, three hours away. In 1999, Mel was diagnosed with cancer and had a great support system, but when they both lost their jobs, people were nervous and disappeared. As Anne notes, “Having cancer was easier than being unemployed.”

Nick Puccio, who grew up in Queens, and his wife Regina, who grew up in Brooklyn. They met at Merrill Lynch, where he spent the bulk of his Wall Street career. He was laid off from an asset-management firm owned by Lehman Brothers after Lehman’s collapse and has been unemployed since. Facing foreclosure, Regina considers selling her engagement ring for cash and visits a local food pantry.

Heather and David Hartstein, who were living a fairy-tale life “right down to the white picket fence.” They married right after college, settling back in Long Island, where Heather worked as a teacher and David as a chiropractor. Together, they face a series of job-related crises that jeopardize their home and marriage.

“Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” belies the notion that unemployed people are lazy or complacently collecting unemployment checks. Like Alan Fromm, many wake up every morning and pound the pavement looking for work. “I’m not sitting home and doing nothing,” he says. “A day does not go by that I’m not looking for work.”

Complicating matters is a legislative change that could shorten New York unemployment benefits from the current 99 weeks. For many people in their 50s, prospects are especially dim at a time when out-of-work job seekers are often told by employers not to apply. At a diner where unemployed locals meet to find support, Alan states FedEx turned him down when he applied to drive a truck to deliver holiday packages, saying, “They told me I was overqualified. I just want to drive a truck!”

While they continue to search for jobs, some have been out of work so long that they are no longer eligible to receive benefits and thus aren’t even included in monthly unemployment statistics.

Anne says, “I don’t want to be helped. I want to just help myself, but what we want are jobs.”

“Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” is the third in a series of HBO documentaries by Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson on the human impact of the economy. “Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags” (2009) examined the rise and fall of New York City’s garment industry, while “Triangle: Remembering the Fire” (2011), winner of a duPont-Columbia Award, looked back at one of the worst industrial catastrophes in U.S. history, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City. Also winners of several other major awards, Levin and Pinkerson received an Emmy for their 1999 HBO documentary “Thug Life in D.C.”

Image Courtesy of  Hard Times: Lost on Long Island

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“Real Time with Bill Maher” continues its tenth season Friday, June 29 (10:00-11:00 PM live ET), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 PM following the live presentation. Allowing Maher to offer his unique perspective on contemporary issues, the show includes an opening monologue, roundtable discussions with panelists, and interviews with in-studio and satellite guests.

The roundtable guests this week are radio host Amy Goodman, Lt. Gov. of California Gavin Newsom and journalist Fareed Zakaria; author and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and author Lizz Winstead are interview guests.

Bill Maher has been favorite of subscribers since his first special on the network in 1989, starring in nine solo specials, including the hour-long presentations “Bill Maher…But I’m Not Wrong,” “The Decider” and “I’m Swiss” (both nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special category), “Victory Begins at Home,” “Be More Cynical,” “The Golden Goose Special” and “Stuff That Struck Me Funny,” and two half-hour stand-up specials, plus the specials “30 Seconds Over Washington” and “Comic Relief VI.”

He was the creator and host of “Politically Incorrect,” which was produced by HBO Downtown Productions and debuted on Comedy Central in 1993. The series moved to ABC in 1997 and ran through 2002.

His latest book, “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass,” was published in November and made the New York Times bestseller list. Maher’s 2006 book, “New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer,” also made the New York Times list, as well as bestseller lists across the country. He is also author of the books “When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism,” “Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect” and the novel “True Story.” Maher produced and starred in the 2008 feature film ‘Religulous’, the seventh most successful documentary of all time.

Image Courtesy of  Bill Maher

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In the 90s, every woman was a Miranda, Carrie, Samantha or Charlotte. ‘Sex and the City’ provided an identification matrix with which the entire female population of the Western World could be neatly categorized into one of four groups. What a time for feminism.

Thankfully, it is not the 90s anymore. Indeed, Carrie Fever has devolved into a series of tired movies kept afloat by menopausal soccer-moms who refuse to smile at the overpaid screenwriters’ desperately persistent wordsmithery for fear of angering the vengeful botox Gods. The time of ‘Sex and the City’ is passed; it is now, if modern media is to be believed, the golden age of HBO’s ‘Girls’.

The comparison between the two immensely popular televisions series is not altogether apt. ‘Girls’ is about the lives of newly emancipated twenty somethings who struggle to find a place for themselves in a world in which a liberal arts degree has exactly as much value as the (recycled) paper it was printed on. On the other hand, ‘Sex and the City’ was about the lives of inexplicably upwardly mobile thirty somethings who struggle to multitask the immensely complicated activities of buying shoes, having orgasms, asking pert, rhetorical questions and going to brunch.

Occasionally, each show strays into the territory of the other– ‘Girls’ spends a fair deal of time in its premiere season focusing on the meaningful and meaningless sexual activities of its central characters, just as ‘Sex and the City’ delved into Carrie’s dire, if fleeting, financial problems and at times, and with a surprising degree of sensitivity, handled some of the Big Issues (Miranda’s pregnancy, Samantha’s breast cancer, Charlotte’s divorce.) It is worth noting how progressive ‘Sex and the City’ was in its day.

On the whole, from the comfortable vantage point of a 21st Century American, one might be initially forgiven for thinking of ‘Girls’ as an uncomfortably realistic foil against the puffy, aged, formulaic sensationalism of ‘Sex and the City.’ However, it’s actually more complicated than that.

Where ‘Girls’ and ‘Sex and the City’ primarily overlap is that they both provide depictions of contemporary womanhood and specifically female friendship; creator and lead actress of ‘Girls’, Lena Dunham, chose the name of her show with intent. In one of the first scenes of the pilot episode, in fact, protagonist Hannah Horvath, a budding writer, wallows in the bathtub while she speaks to her uptight roommate and best friend, Marnie. With this intimate picture, Dunham establishes the idea that the friendship of these two characters, which is at the heart of the show, could only occur between two women. Furthermore, as actor, heart-throb and NYU alum, James Franco points out in an article for the Huffington Post, Dunham provides very little insight into the perspective of the male characters. This initial season of the show explores experiences that most people go through– unemployment, breakups, drug use, STDs– but somehow deftly anchors these experiences to a uniquely feminine perspective. Go figure: ‘Girls’ is about girls.

‘But what kind of girls is ‘Girls’ about?,’ you might ask. Well, on paper, the answer seems to be that ‘Girls’ is about girls like me: a middle-class, cisgendered, 22 year old University of Pennsylvania attendee, with a BAS in History and English and a group of close female friends, who is struggling to become a writer. Apart from my ethnicity and time spent in Australia, I meet all the necessary requirements for a Hannah Horvath. And yet, unlike ‘Sex and the City”s characterizations, I can’t but hope that I’m nothing like sensitive Hannah, or, for that matter, neurotic Marnie, or naïve Shoshanna or free-spirited Jessa.

Like ‘Sex and the City’, ‘Girls’ has its clearly defined female archetypes. However, Dunham is a significantly more talented writer than those who powered ‘Sex and the City’ for so many barren years, and, as such, there are shades of gray to her characters and their friendships that distort the paradigmatic boundaries of who she represents. Interestingly, for the most part, the primary way in which these shades of grey show themselves in the course of this season, though there is some indication that things will change in the next, is through the moulding of ‘Girls’ female characters into awful human beings to a magnitude that is alienating, rather than humanizing. The girls of ‘Girls’, to different extents, are selfish, narcissistic and inconsiderate.

By contrast, frankly put, the women of ‘Sex and the City’ are so consumed with embodying type A or type B– being Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte– that they don’t have enough depth to be generally and basically, sordidly, awful. Lacking ambiguity, the characters of ‘Sex and the City’ are stellar examples of postcard cutouts of real people, 2 dimensional images that haven’t the volume to contain concepts of good or bad. But boy, do they ever seem better than the alternative.

Season one of ‘Girls’ is hilarious, confronting, beautiful, puzzling, difficult to watch, charming and well made, but is it about me? I hope not; I’ll stay a Samantha-Charlotte hybrid, please and thank-you.

Image Courtesy of  Girls

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Though the recession officially ended in summer 2009, the fallout continues for some 25 million unemployed and underemployed Americans, many of whom worked their way up the corporate ladder, achieving the American Dream, only to see it slip through their fingers.

Directed by Emmy winner Marc Levin and produced by Emmy winner Daphne Pinkerson, “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” follows four families on Long Island – often labeled the birthplace of the post-war suburban American Dream – as they struggle to find work amidst shrinking finances and declining morale. The timely film debuts Monday, July 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

HBO Documentary Films presents another weekly series this summer, debuting provocative new specials every Monday from June 18 through July 30. Other July films include: “Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present” (July 2); “Birders: The Central Park Effect” (July 16); “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” (July 16); “Vito” (July 23); and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now” (July 30).

Starting in summer 2010, when many hoped an era of recovery would begin, and continuing through the holiday season six months later, “Hard Time: Lost on Long Island” spotlights the challenges facing highly skilled, well-educated Long Islanders who lost their jobs. Public relations professional Anne Strauss notes, “Being unemployed for two years is not just a financial loss. It’s an emotional loss. It’s a loss of friendships. People disappear. You can’t socialize. It changes every facet of your life.”

When both people in a couple suffer economic hardships, it can cause considerable strain on their relationship, as Heather and David Hartstein testify. “Things between Heather and I became really difficult,” admits David.“I didn’t know how to handle and deal and feel emotion.” Compounding their crisis, the bank rejected their application for a loan modification on the same day their son tested positive for Down syndrome. They subsequently filed for bankruptcy. “That was when we decided…we’re done with all this,” explains Heather.

Image Courtesy of  Hard Time: Lost on Long Island

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HBO has released the synopses for three of the new, thrilling “True Blood” episodes.

Episode #52 is called “We’ll Meet Again.” It will debut Sunday, July 1 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) and will play again on HBO on July 1 (11:00 p.m.), 4 (10:00 p.m.), 5 (11:00 p.m.) and 7 (12:15 a.m.) and HBO2 on July 2 (9:00 p.m.), 5 (8:00 p.m.), 6 (11:00 p.m.), 8 (3:00 p.m.) and 20 (9:00 p.m.). In the episode Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) have doubts they will survive the search for Russell (Denis O’Hare). Sookie (Anna Paquin) opens up to Alcide (Joe Manganiello). An irate Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) unwittingly puts Sookie’s life in danger. At Authority headquarters, Roman (Christopher Meloni) and Salome (Valentina Cervi) continue interrogating Nora (Lucy Griffiths) about the Sanguinistas – and a possible traitor within the Council. Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) forcesTara (Rutina Wesley) to toe the line; Andy (Chris Bauer) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) go to a burlesque party; Sam’s (Sam Trammell) shifter friends invite him for a run; Terry (Todd Lowe) flashes back to a deadly night in Iraq; Hoyt (Jim Parrack) tests the fangbanger waters; Sookie drowns her sorrows.Written by Alexander Woo; directed by Romeo Tirone.

Episode #53 is called “Let’s Boot and Rally.” It will debut Sunday July 8 (9:00-10:00 p.m.) and will play again on HBO on July 8 (11:00 p.m.), 11 (10:00 p.m.), 12 (11:00 p.m.) and 14 (1:55 a.m.) and on HBO2 on July 9 (9:00 p.m.), 12 (8:00 p.m.), 13 (11:00 p.m.), 15 (3:30 p.m.) and 20 (10:00 p.m.). In the episode, with time running short, Bill and Eric enlist Sookie to probe for clues on Russell’s hiding place. Unable to deal with the demon magic inside him, Lafayette calls out to Jesus’ spirit for help. Patrick Devins (Scott Foley) and Terry are held hostage in the bunker of their Iraq War buddy Brian Eller (Brian Geraghty). Jason wakes to a disturbing dream; Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) gives Tara advice on adjusting to vampire life; Sam visits Luna (Janina Gavankar)with bad news.Written by Angela Robinson; directed by Michael Lehmann.

Episode #54 is cheerfully titled “Hopeless.” It will debut Sunday, July 15 (9:00-10:00 p.m.) and will be shown again on HBO on July 15 (11:05 p.m.), 18 (10:00 p.m.), 19 (11:00 p.m.) and 21 (12:45 a.m.) and on HBO2 on July 16 (9:00 p.m.), 19 (8:00 p.m.), 20 (11:00 p.m.) and 22 (1:50 p.m.). In the episode the aftermath at the asylum leaves Sookie with an eerie sense of foreboding. At Fangtasia, Pam breaks up a vamp-girl fight, praising Tara for her tenacity. Lafayette visits Ruby Jean (Alfre Woodard), who also received a disturbing message from Jesus. Fearing for his family’s safety, Terry blames his curse for his troubles with Arlene (Carrie Preston). Alcide challenges J.D. (Louis Herthum); Sam offers to help Andy investigate the recent shootings; Roman lays out his plans to take out Russell.Written by Alan Ball; directed by Dan Attias.

“True Blood” was created by Alan Ball; based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris; executive producers, Alan Ball and Gregg Fienberg; co-executive producers, Brian Buckner, Alexander Woo, Raelle Tucker, Mark Hudis and Angela Robinson; co-producers, Christina Jokanovich, Marlis Pujol and David Auge.

Image Courtesy of  HBO True Blood

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HBO and The New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) have announced the annual “open call for entries” for the HBO/NYILFF Short Film Competition, where one grand prize winner will receive $15,000 in HBO funding to produce and direct an original-scripted short film. Jointly created in 2004, the competition seeks to foster films by Latino filmmakers and/or about the Latino experience. HBO has been the presenting sponsor of the New York International Latino Film Festival for the past 13 years.

In addition to the HBO funding, the grand prize winner will get support from an HBO creative executive who will serve as a mentor and consult during the production of the winning script to film. The completed short film will be exhibited during screenings at the New York International Film Festival, August 13-19, and will also be considered for broadcast on one of HBO’s programming services.

The HBO/NYILFF Short Film Competition is open to U.S. and international entrants 18 years and older. Only original scripts will be accepted and must be written in English by a person of Latino descent or focus on the Latino experience, and entrant must hold all rights to the material.

The screenplay cannot be more than twelve (12) pages long and final film cannot exceed a maximum running time of five (5) minutes. The submitted screenplay or work produced from it must not have had previous cable, broadcast or internet exhibition, won awards at any other festival or been previously submitted to the HBO/NYILFF Short Film Competition under its current or any former title.

Each entry must be accompanied by one completed submission form and $20.00 fee, a filmmaker bio and photo, a director’s reel or copy of last film produced (DVD NTSC only), and one executed HBO/NYILFF Short Film Competition release form. There is no limit to the number of entries that can be submitted (see rules for more specifics). Entries must be received by May 18, 2012. Winning entry will be notified by June 22nd.

For official rules, regulations and submission forms, log on to www.nylatinofilm.com.

Last year’s HBO/NYILFF Short Film Competition grand prize went to Dominic Colón, who produced and directed a short based on his original script Crush. Crush takes place in the South Bronx during Prom Night, where a young man is in for an evening filled with mixed emotions as he decides whether or not to man up and face his high school “crush” or punk out and let him walk away.

Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world’s most successful pay-TV service, providing the two television services – HBO and Cinemax – to approximately 93 million subscribers worldwide.  The services offer the most popular subscription video-on-demand products, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand as well as HBO GO and MAX GO, HD feeds and multiplex channels.

Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 60 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.

Launched in 1999, the New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) is now the premier Urban Latino film event in the country. The NYILFF’s mission is to showcase the works of the hottest emerging Latino filmmaking talent in the U.S. and Latin America, offer expansive images of the Latino experience, and celebrate the diversity and spirit of the Latino community.

Programming includes the flagship film festival in NYC, new music and art showcases, family and community events, scholarships for aspiring filmmakers, and a nationally recognized short film competition in partnership with HBO. The NYILFF is the only film event to have had the endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s NYC Latin Media and Entertainment Commission since its formation in 2003.

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HBO Documentary Films has acquired the domestic TV rights to ‘The Central Park Effect’, it was announced today by HBO and Submarine Entertainment. A 2012 SXSW selection in Documentary Feature Competition, the film will debut on HBO this summer.

Featuring Chris Cooper, Jonathan Franzen and Starr Saphir, among others, the film is directed and produced by Jeffrey Kimball and executive produced by Pamela Hogan and Tom Casciato. The deal was negotiated by Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of the filmmakers with HBO Documentary Films.

‘The Central Park Effect’ reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattan’s celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. The film focuses on seven main subjects who regularly visit the park and have found a profound connection with this hidden natural world.

“HBO is the ideal home for ‘The Central Park Effect’ and gives us the ability to tell an important story to millions of people,” says filmmaker Jeffrey Kimball. “Even though it’s set in the middle of New York City, this is a story about people’s connection to nature. It’s important for us to realize that as the world becomes more urbanized, nature doesn’t have to entirely disappear from cities.”

‘The Central Park Effect’ is an Other Noises production; directed and produced by Jeffrey Kimball and executive produced by Pamela Hogan and Tom Casciato.

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This spring, HBO Latino, the HBO network’s dedicated Spanish-language premium channel, will present an incredible lineup of programs certain to appeal to today’s multigenerational and bilingual Hispanic households.

Two new and exciting original series from HBO Latin America, Destino Deporte and Mujer de Fases, will make their U.S. television premieres on HBO Latino along with three new Spanish-language films under the Estrenos Latinos banner.

The HBO Latino lineup will also include Spanish presentations of HBO original programs including the return of Games of Thrones, the new series Girls and Veep, HBO Films Hemingway & Gellhorn, the HBO Documentary Films presentation of The Weight of the Nation and HBO Sports events.

Content exclusive to HBO

Destino Deporte (“Sports Destination”) (Mexico) – This international journalistic documentary series goes beyond the scores and statistics to cover the unexplored side of sports.

Stories include the triumphs and tragedy of “lucha libre” in Mexico City, Brazil’s preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games, the excessive competitiveness and persistent cases of drug use in sports, and the looming fear of retirement that is a reality for many athletes.

Meet the cliff divers of Acapulco, female bullfighter Lupita Lopez, former Uruguayan soccer idol Dario Silva, Patrick, who sees soccer as the only way out of the “City of God” favela in Rio de Janeiro, and more. Via in-depth investigations, Destino Deporte delves below the surface to reveal the incredible diversity and the unexpected facets of what is defined as sports. Premiere: Monday, April 9, 8:00 p.m. ET. (Visit for more information or artwork).

Mujer de Fases (“States of Grace”) (Brazil) – An all-new, 13-part comedy series from Brazil, Mujer de Fases is a modern chronicle on romantic relationships and the search for love. Based on the book Louca por Homen (Crazy for Men) by Brazilian author Claudia Tajes, the series follows the adventures of Grace, a recently divorced 30-something woman who is anxious to restart her life.

Along her journey, Grace becomes involved with a number of men, but soon realizes that finding a mate is not an easy task, and unlike a fairy tale, in most cases the prince turns into a frog – not the other way around. Cast includes Elisa Volpatto, Rodrigo Pando, Antoniela Canto, Mira Haar and Julia Assis Brazil. Premiere: Friday, April 13 at 10:00 p.m. ET.  (Visit for more information or artwork).

Cutting edge and critically acclaimed Spanish-language films from Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean take center stage on Friday nights, with a new film making its U.S. television on the first or second Friday of every month:

La Isla Interior (Spain) – The imminent death of their father brings together three siblings struggling with a genetic legacy of mental illness. Martin wants to leave his job as a teacher and become a writer in Paris. Gracia, an actress, wants to put some reality back into the fictional world her life has become.

And Coral seeks love, hiding a dark secret that keeps her from forming healthy relationships. Brought together by their father’s illness, they must confront their inner conflicts to avoid following in his footsteps. Starring Candela Peña, Alberto San Juan and Cristina Marcos. Premiere: Friday, April 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

A Tiro de Piedra (Mexico) – After dreaming he will discover a fortune, 21-year-old Jacinto Medina leaves behind his sheepherder life in Mexico and sets off on a mysterious and sobering journey to the northwest United States, where he believes fortune awaits him. Starring Rogelio Medina, Jacinto Medina and Alejandra España. Premiere: Friday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Habana Eva (Cuba/Spain) – In a Havana that’s been shaken by Fidel’s retirement, a young seamstress dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Frustrated by her lazy but endearing Cuban boyfriend, she meets a sophisticated expatriate Venezuelan photographer who dazzles her with promises of a glamorous future.

After many deceptions and surprises, Eva has to choose between the two men she loves, reaching an unexpected decision that is a humorous metaphor for Cuba’s options for the future. Starring Prakriti Maduro, Yuliet Cruz, Juan Carlos Garcia and Carlos Enrique Almirante. Premiere: Friday, June 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Original HBO Programming

Among the HBO original programs that will also be available in Spanish on HBO Latino are the following highly-anticipated series and programs.

Game of Thrones — Based on the bestselling fantasy book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO drama series continues the epic story of duplicity and treachery, nobility and honor, conquest and triumph in the land of Westeros.

In the all-new second season, kings from across the land vie for the single, all-powerful throne against the backdrop of a fast-approaching winter – the season of the white raven. Returning cast members include Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Richard Madden, Rory McCann, Iain Glen, Alfie Allen, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams. Premiere: Sunday, April 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Girls — Created by and starring Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture), the new series takes a comic look at a group of 20-something women in New York City who are trying to figure out what they want – from life, from men, from themselves and each other.

Cast includes Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet and Adam Driver, with recurring guest stars including Chris Abbott and Alex Karpovsky. Premiere: Sunday, April 15 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Veep — Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Emmy winner for Seinfield and The New Adventures of Old Christine), stars in this new series which follows the story of a woman who becomes vice president, only to discover the job is nothing like she expected, but everything she was warned about. Ensemble cast includes Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy C. Simons and Sufe Bradshaw. Premiere: Sunday, April 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Hemingway & Gellhorn — The HBO Films presentation stars Academy Award nominee Clive Owen (Closer) and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (The Hours) in a story about the tumultuous romance and subsequent marriage of literary master Ernest Hemingway and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. Premiere: Monday, May 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

The Weight of the Nation — A 4-part, multi-platform project from HBO Documentary Films, this series addresses one of the most pressing health issues in America today – obesity.  Premiere: Monday, May 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

An additional 3-part series, The Weight of the Nation for Kids, will look at children who have taken action to prevent obesity in their lives and communities. Premiere: Wednesday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET

HBO Latino is a dedicated Spanish-language premium channel that delivers compelling and relevant programming to the U.S. Latino market. Exclusive to the channel are the regular U.S. premieres of Spanish-language series, films, and documentaries acquired from North America, Latin America and Spain, as well as original short-form programming.

Additionally, HBO Latino offers the best Hollywood movies and HBO original programming from the network’s main channel in Spanish. Visit http://www.hbolatino.com for more information and scheduling. HBO Latino is included with an HBO subscription.

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The You Can Play project, with the backing of numerous National Hockey League players and other supporters, is launching an aggressive advocacy program to change the sometimes homophobic culture of locker rooms with a message that athletes should be judged on athletic skill and ability, not sexual orientation or other discriminatory factors.

A large number of high-profile NHL players, including several All-Stars, are filming public service announcements (PSAs) in support of You Can Play. The first PSA debuts during the first intermission of March 5th NBC Sports broadcast of the game between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins, with others to follow shortly. All videos can be found at YouCanPlayproject.org, which also will serve as a resource for straight and gay athletes, coaches and fans.

“The goals for You Can Play are clear,” according to co-founder Patrick Burke. “We want to make locker rooms safe for all athletes, rather than places of fear, slurs and bullying. The casual homophobia in sports has to change, so all athletes know that what counts is whether you can play the game.”

Burke, a scout for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, has been a straight ally in sports since his younger brother Brendan came out as gay while manager of the Miami University ice hockey team.  Brendan’s story became national news because of his closeness to the NHL and took on deeper meaning when he was killed in a 2010 car accident. Burke’s father, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, has joined Patrick in filming a PSA in support of You Can Play.

“The hockey community united behind Brendan because he loved the game, and that’s what matters. The NHL players stepping forward to support You Can Play know that creating a homophobia-free environment will make their teams – and the sport – better,” Patrick Burke continued.

“It’s important for straight athletes at all levels to step up and let gay athletes know they will be accepted, and to let other straight athletes know that homophobic language and attitudes are never appropriate. This project is a combined effort of gay and straight athletes and fans, but the message is largely for straight audiences.”

Said Brian Burke, general manager of the Maple Leafs, “The Burke family is very proud to carry on Brendan’s legacy by working to ensure that LGBT athletes, coaches and fans around the world are treated with respect by the sports world. The You Can Play project will serve as a tremendous resource for the sports community by providing them with the tools needed to create safe arenas.

I continue to be incredibly grateful to the NHL community for rallying around our cause and standing up for equality, and I look forward to seeing other leagues do the same. It has become abundantly clear to me that NHL players, coaches and management agree completely with our ideals: talent matters, sexual orientation does not. If you can play, You Can Play.”

2011 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Andy Miele, who was a friend of Brendan Burke’s while at Miami University and now plays in the Phoenix Coyotes organization, has stepped forward to talk about the importance of You Can Play. “The reason why I wanted to be a part of You Can Play is pretty obvious.

I had a relationship with Brendan, and if he was still here he would want to promote this more than anyone else,” said Miele. “I felt privileged when Patrick came to me and asked me to be a part of it and I look forward to investing this into players all over the world to make the sports world safe for gay athletes.”

While more than 30 NHL players have already volunteered to support the program, You Can Play will extend beyond hockey, encompassing all sports, athletes and fans. The organization is in active discussions with officials and players in several other sports leagues.

“Casual homophobia doesn’t belong in any sports setting, whether in the locker room or in the stands. You Can Play will help to change the behavior and acceptance of fans,” according to co-founder Brian Kitts, who has spent more than ten years in the front offices of professional hockey, basketball, lacrosse and soccer teams. “Most fans care about exciting games, great performances and wins, not whether a player is gay or straight.  Fans need to send the message to other fans that sexual orientation just doesn’t matter.”

Glenn Witman, the third co-founder of You Can Play, is a former hockey player at Hobart College and founder of GForce Sports, an elite gay hockey team and advocacy program.  “Any player, gay or straight, knows how homophobic locker rooms can be,” Witman said.  “Coaches and teams don’t get the best performance when a member of the team is forced to keep any secret or when any player feels shut out.  You Can Play shows coaches, team captains and players how important it is to focus on skills and work ethic, not personal differences.”

You Can Play will launch with a series of videos from professional athletes but will quickly begin adding user-generated content. The organization welcomes video content from pro teams, university teams and athletes, club athletes and sports fans who value skill and healthy competition first. Over the next year, You Can Play will provide educational materials, workbooks, online coaching and other high school- and college-based programs aimed at letting coaches and players discuss sexual orientation.

“Familiarity and understanding is the best way to promote acceptance,” Witman said.  “Athletes who work with us know that hurting your friends and teammates doesn’t get a win.”

The You Can Play website is augmented by a full suite of social media properties. Extensive outreach will be conducted on Facebook, Twitter (@YouCanPlayTeam) and YouTube (YouCanPlayProject) to grow the You Can Play community and further promote the organization’s goals and positive messages.

NBC Sports and HBO have joined the launch effort to support the creation and release of the PSA featuring NHL players. Initial funding for You Can Play was provided by the Gill Foundation, the Palette Fund and the Colin Higgins Foundation.

Web Site: http://www.YouCanPlayproject.org

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/nyrangers

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The HBO Documentary Films presentation ‘Saving Face’ received an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short at the 84th annual Academy Awards, presented at the 2012 ceremony of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Feb. 26.

Every year in Pakistan, many people – the majority of them women – are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, while numerous other cases go unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred, and many reported assailants, typically a husband or someone else close to the victim, are let go with minimal punishment from the state.

Debuting Thursday, 8 (8:30-9:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, ‘Saving Face’ chronicles the arduous attempts of acid-attack survivors Zakia and Rukhsana to bring their assailants to justice, and follows the charitable work of Dr. Mohammad Jawad, a plastic surgeon who strives to help them go beyond this horrific act and move on with their lives.

It was a very happy directional team who accepted the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. They were up against ‘The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement’; ‘God is the Bigger Elvis’; ‘Incidents in New Baghdad’; and ‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’. After leaving the stage, Daniel Junge and first time Pakistani directional winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, had an extra opportunity to express their gratitude

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Filmmaker Michael Mann and documentary director David Frankham will collaborate to produce a new limited documentary series, ‘Witness’, for HBO. The series will follow a new generation of young combat photographers into conflict zones in Mexico, Brazil, Uganda and Libya. By following these photojournalists’ immersions, their relations with the people on the ground and their closeness in battle, ‘Witness’ will show audiences why, when everyone else seeks cover, the war photographer stands.

“David Frankham and I share an admiration for combat photography that captures the universal – and sometimes the indescribable – in a single frame in the midst of chaos and danger,” said Mann.

“‘Witness’ will not provide a historical context. The direction Michael and I took in creating ‘Witness’ was to immerse the audience via intimacy with the photographer into the intensity of a situation as it’s developing, as they risk their lives to capture one piece of the truth,” said Frankham.

The first episode of ‘Witness’ was shot in Juarez, Mexico. The next three are currently in production.

Michael Mann is an acclaimed filmmaker recognized for innovative and successful motion pictures and television. Mann directed the pilot for and is executive producing HBO’s new series “Luck,” a provocative drama set in the world of horse racing. Mann’s first work in television was to direct and co-write 1979’s “The Jericho Mile,” which won four Emmys and a Directors Guild Award.

Mann’s other work in television includes executive producing “Miami Vice” and “Crime Story.” Mann made his feature directorial debut with “Thief,” following it with acclaimed films such as “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Heat” and “The Insider,” which received seven Academy Award nominations, “Ali,” “Collateral” and “Public Enemies.” Films he has produced include “Hancock” and “The Aviator,” with 11 Academy Award nominations and five wins.

David Frankham is an acclaimed documentary and commercial director. He has created commercials for such noted brands as NIKE, UPS, Adidas, FOX Sports, Fiat and Citicard as a director for Smuggler, a film, TV, commercial and music video production company.

Image Courtesy of  magicinfoto / Shutterstock.com

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In many ways, Richard and Mildred Loving were a typical couple. They grew up in the same Virginia town, fell in love and decided to cement their relationship by marrying.  Because she was part-black and part-Native American, and he was white, however, their 1958 marriage was declared illegal by their home state.

But the Lovings fought back and ultimately changed history through a watershed Supreme Court case that overturned bans on interracial marriage in 16 states. The exclusive HBO documentary The Loving Story, the uplifting saga of these unlikely Civil Rights heroes, debuts on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14 during Black History Month.

Married in Washington, D.C. on June 2, 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were arrested in their home state of Virginia five weeks later and subsequently convicted of the felony crime of miscegenation. To avoid a one-year jail sentence, they agreed to leave the state, and could only return to Virginia separately. But that was just the beginning of their story.

he Loving Story features never-before-seen vintage film and stills of the Loving family shot in 1965 and 1966, as well as compelling present-day interviews with the Lovings’ daughter Peggy, neighbors, police and their intrepid ACLU lawyers Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop, who argued the landmark 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case that finally brought justice to the Lovings.

The luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their lawyers, which was shot by filmmakers Hope Ryden and Abbot Mills, and photographs by acclaimed LIFE photographer Grey Villet capture the intimate realities of the Lovings’ daily lives. The prints were given to the Loving family by the photographer 45 years ago and given to the filmmakers in 2010. (A selection of these photos is currently on view at the International Center of Photography in New York through May 6.)

After the Lovings failed to have their convictions overturned at the state level, ACLU attorneys Cohen and Hirschkop sought a federal forum, and Loving v. Virginia was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 10, 1967. Through his attorneys, Richard Loving said to the justices, “Tell the court that I love my wife, and it is unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Lovings, striking down the prohibition of interracial marriage in 16 states in a breakthrough decision that continues to shape America’s attitude towards marriage to this day.

Neither dedicated activists nor participants in the protests of their time, the Lovings spent nine years simply trying to be able to live legally in their home state, and on their journey became little-known heroes of the Civil Rights era. They didn’t ask to be heroes. They just wanted to be happy.

Director and producer Nancy Buirski says the message of the film is both timeless and timely. Although depicting a universal love story, it comes at a time when, she says, “white supremacy groups are growing in the U.S. – in the very communities that perpetuated and maintained anti-miscegenation laws up to the 1967 Supreme Court ruling. While we’ve elected the first mixed-race president, we also recently witnessed a Louisiana justice of the peace refusing to marry a mixed-race couple.

“Contemporary parallels are gently embedded in the Lovings’ fight for marriage equality.  Today, 45 years after Loving v. Virginia, Perry v. Schwarzenegger is making its way to the Supreme Court. This is a story not of just civil rights, but of human rights and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of religion, race or gender.”

The Loving Story was an official selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival, and won the WGA Screenplay Award at the 2011 SilverDocs Festival.

Nancy Buirski is the founder and former director of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Her credits include producing five collections of documentary shorts, as well as “Time Piece,” an omnibus documentary combining stories of Turkish and American filmmakers. The film has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Painter Beverly McIver was enjoying a skyrocketing career when she promised her mother, Ethel, that she would take care of her mentally disabled sister, Renee. Years later, following Ethel’s death, that promise came due.

Filmed over the course of six years, the compelling HBO2 documentary ‘Raising Renee’ chronicles Beverly McIver’s efforts to make good on her promise. A testament to the power of family bonds, this thought-provoking film is produced and directed by Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan (the Oscar-nominated “Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern”).

Marked by drama, humor and unexpected twists, Raising Renee begins in 2003, as Beverly McIver is savoring opening night of her first solo art show in New York, joined by her mother, Ethel, and mentally disabled sister, Renee, a 43-year-old who functions at the level of a third grader. When Ethel dies the next year, Beverly’s pledge to care for Renee is put to the test.

Beverly grew up in a Greensboro, NC housing project with her sisters, Renee and Roni, and their mother, Ethel, who singlehandedly raised them while working as a maid for white families. Segregation in Greensboro was notorious: When Beverly was 17, an anti-KKK rally resulted in five people being shot dead by the Klan in front of the McIvers’ home.

Though most of her relatives stayed in the area, Beverly’s talent led to fellowships in New York and a professorship at Arizona State University. The politics of race would inform her art, and she vowed never to live in the South again.

Renee had lived with Ethel her whole life, making colorful potholders and doing good deeds with her mother. After Ethel’s death from cancer, Beverly moved Renee to Arizona to live with her. She was concerned that this added responsibility would end her life as an artist, but Renee was happy to be with her sister.

After a few years, Beverly decided she needed help caring for her sister, so she and Renee moved back to North Carolina, where she has been offered a position at North Carolina Central University, to be closer to their sister Roni and her family.

Though her sister seemed happy, Beverly worried that Renee was at home much more than when she lived with their mother. In fall 2009, shortly after Renee turned 50, an opportunity arose for her to live independently in an assisted-living apartment complex, something that was unthinkable when their mother was alive. Renee’s astonishing response to this challenge at age 50 raises key questions about disability and ability.

Beverly McIver is currently the Suntrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University. Her work is in the collections of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among other institutions, and has been reviewed in Art News, Art in America and the New York Times.

Critic Irving Sandler has described McIver’s art as a merger of “personal confession and social commentary, photography and painting, and realism and expressionism.” Husband and wife team Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan have been making documentary and fiction films for more than 20 years.

Their feature documentaries include 1995’s “Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern,” which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance, the Prix Italia, and Peabody and IDA awards, and received an Academy Award nomination. Their documentary “So Much So Fast” premiered at Sundance and was broadcast worldwide.

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He’s a self-aggrandizing actor who’s appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest hits. But now his career is on the wane, and he’ll do anything to reverse his fortunes.

From Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, Life’s Too Short is a faux documentary starring Warwick Davis (“Willow,” the “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” films) as a fictionalized version of himself: a little person who’s down on his luck, desperately trying to hustle and connive his way back into the spotlight. The comedy series kicks off its seven-episode season Sunday, February 19, following the third-season debut of the comedy series “Eastbound & Down,” with other episodes debuting subsequent Sundays at the same time, exclusively on HBO.

In Life’s Too Short, actor Warwick Davis is struggling to jumpstart his fading career and maintain his status as Britain’s “go-to” little person. He runs a talent agency for fellow showbiz little people called “Dwarves for Hire,” though he often takes the best roles for himself, and serves as vice chairman of a society for small people, though he’d rather be chairman.

Davis also seeks advice from his old pals Gervais and Merchant (playing versions of themselves) in hopes that their A-list celebrity connections will aid his career.

Each episode features cameos by top stars, including Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson, Sting, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Carell and Kat Deeley. Other cast regulars include Jo Enright as Davis’ soon to be ex-wife Sue, Rosamund Hanson as his dim-witted assistant Cheryl, Steve Brody as his incompetent accountant and “EastEnders” actor Shaun Williamson as himself.

February’s episodes

Episode #1: For more than two decades, Warwick Davis was Britain’s “go-to dwarf.” Now, with his career on the slide, a massive tax bill caused by his useless accountant and a wife who’s divorcing him, he decides to open his doors to a reality TV film crew. After interviewing a new assistant, he drops by unannounced to see old pals Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but Liam Neeson already has an appointment to pitch himself as a serious actor who is serious about breaking into comedy.

Episode #2: While selling autographs at a sci-fi convention, Davis agrees to be the special guest at a “Star Wars”-themed wedding. His fortunes appear to rise when Johnny Depp hires him to help research a new movie role, but Depp ends up having a bone to pick with Ricky Gervais.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are the creators of the Golden Globe-winning BBC comedy series “The Office” and the HBO series “Extras” and “The Ricky Gervais Show.” In addition to his feature film credits, Warwick Davis guest-starred on the series “Extras.”

Life’s Too Short was created by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant & Warwick Davis.

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HBO and filmmaker Peter Berg will team up for the innovative new primetime series On Freddie Roach, directed and executive produced by Emmy nominee Berg (Friday Night Lights). Presented by HBO and a co-production of Film 44 and Atticus Entertainment, the cinéma-vérité series focuses on Freddie Roach, the world-famous boxing trainer who owns and operates the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where he has produced a host of world champions.

This intensely personal look at Roach chronicles his life and career against the backdrop of Parkinson’s disease, an ailment very likely linked to his own boxing past. On Freddie Roach debuts Friday, January 20, exclusively on HBO, with other new episodes debuting the subsequent five Fridays at the same time. All episodes will also be available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO.

“We are truly excited to partner with Peter Berg on this exceptional production,” says Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “Freddie Roach is an extraordinary person and a fascinating personality.”

“HBO’s enthusiasm in supporting a less-conventional, vérité style of storytelling is why they continue to create original and truly innovative programming,” says Peter Berg. “It’s why they are the best and we are very excited to be working with them.

A native of Dedham, Mass., Freddie Roach has an extensive amateur boxing background. He fought as a professional under the tutelage of legendary Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Futch, ending his professional boxing career in 1987 with a record of 41 wins and 13 losses. Upon retiring, Roach became Futch’s apprentice.

In 1992, Mickey Rourke financed his first gym, the Outlaw Boxing Club. Roach has trained more than 20 world champions, including Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson. He has been honored five times as Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America and has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced a unique partnership with Roach in an effort to ensure that America’s top amateur fighters have access to the finest training in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This partnership will create a program allowing up to ten Olympic hopefuls to train at the Wild Card Gym, which has become synonymous with world-class performance.

The 51-year-old bachelor lives next door to his mother, just a few miles from Wild Card.

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One of the most popular and critically acclaimed cable television shows of 2011 was Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. The hit series is based on A Song of Ice and Fire, the best-selling fantasy novel series by George R. R. Martin.

Dark Horse Deluxe has recently been able to announce, in partnership with HBO, a vast Game of Thrones product line debuting in the spring of 2012, leading up to the show’s second-season premiere in April. Licensed product categories derived from the series will span a large range, including statues, busts, and action figures; prop and jewelry replicas; and barware, stationery, and other collectibles.

This exciting new line of products debuts with a range of branded magnets, patches, playing cards, coaster sets, and more. “We are delighted to be part of HBO’s licensing roster for Game of Thrones. We are big fans of the television adaptation,” said Dark Horse’s VP of Product Development, David Scroggy. “We are working closely with HBO to develop a line of products inspired by the series that will delight the fan base.”

Look for the first round of items in Diamond’s January Previews catalog; they will arrive in specialty retailers everywhere in March of 2012. Based on the best-selling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones debuted on HBO in March 2011. In a land where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime, trouble is brewing.

From the scheming south and the savage eastern lands, to the frozen north and the ancient Wall that protects the realm from the darkness beyond, two powerful families are engaged in a deadly cat-and-mouse game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. As betrayal, lust, intrigue, and supernatural forces shake the four corners of the Kingdoms, their bloody struggle for the Iron Throne will have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences.

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With its images of mountains and edelweiss, “The Sound of Music” might not seem like a natural fit for India’s “maximum city,” but the Bombay Chamber Orchestra begs to differ. Recruiting kids from the slums – home to half the city’s population — the Orchestra sets out to stage a one-time-only choral performance of the Rogers & Hammerstein score.

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical tells the story of the tenacious, musically inclined Indian street children who are enlisted to perform a concert with members of the elite orchestra.  For 11-year-old Ashish, like many of the other kids, performing in the concert means more than singing in a world-class theater; it also offers the hope of rising above his social and cultural limits.

Highlighting the gap between dreams and reality while showing the power of music to transform lives, the uplifting documentary debuts November 23, exclusively on HBO2. The film is one of four documentaries about contemporary India debuting on HBO and HBO2 in November.

The others are: “Marathon Boy,” the story of a four-year-old marathon runner whose rags-to-riches saga morphs into a tale of greed, corruption and broken dreams, which debuted Nov. 3 on HBO; “The Bengali Detective,” a portrait of Rajesh Ji, who solves crimes in the city of Kolkata while following his dreams of being a professional dancer, debuting Nov. 16 on HBO2; and “Pink Saris,” profiling the unlikely female activists of Northern India’s Gulabi Gang, who battle violence against women, debuting Nov. 30 on HBO2.

At the center of The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical is 11-year-old Ashish, whose wide smile and optimism stand in sharp contrast to his family’s constricted slum shelter. He admits sometimes lacking confidence as he repeatedly writes and speaks the affirmation, “I will not be self-conscious,” but his natural charisma suggests he could go far, given the right opportunity.

Ashish’s greatest strength, like many of the street kids vying to make the cut, is the ability to look beyond his deplorable living conditions, remain positive during adversity, and continually seek a better life.

Now, Ashish has been tasked to perform a solo piece from “The Sound of Music” at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, normally inaccessible to the poor. He can’t help but attach dreams to the event, because he hopes to win the affections of an upper-class girl and inspire a patron to sponsor his education. With so many hopes riding on this single performance, the stakes are high.

The documentary captures the timeless international appeal of such tunes as “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favorite Things.” For Ashish, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and “I Have Confidence” speak directly to his experience. Even in his challenging urban landscape, he can relate to the sentiments conveyed by the lyrics “Climb ev’ry mountain, ford ev’ry stream/Follow ev’ry rainbow, ‘til you find your dream.”

In telling his story, The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical never glosses over the difficulty of closing the gaps that lie between dreams and reality, rich and poor, but joyfully celebrates those who try. In addition to Ashish, The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical features Mangesh, Ashish’s best friend, who becomes jealous when Ashish is asked to be a soloist;

Nandini, a nine-year-old girl also given a solo, whose parents were once offered money by an American couple looking to adopt her and take her abroad; Kimberly, a well-spoken, supremely confident student at a posh Mumbai school, on whom Ashish develops a crush;

Johannes Steinwender, an Austrian music professor who has travelled to Mumbai to conduct the show; and Jini Dinshaw, the well-heeled founder of the Bombay Chamber Orchestra, who conceived the performance.

Notes Sarah McCarthy, the director, “Ashish has the sort of life force about him which makes him stand out. He’s ferociously intelligent and pretty much fearless.  In the first rehearsal all the kids were pretty scared, but not Ashish. He got so excited about singing the final note of ‘Do-Re-Me’ that he threw his hands in the air like some sort of evangelical preacher, which made Johannis, the conductor, notice him for the first time.

We’d always known he was going to be a character in the film, but when the conductor picked him to end the concert with ‘The Sound of Music,’ that pretty much secured his spot as the star.”

Sarah McCarthy made her directorial debut with “Murderers on the Dance Floor,” the story behind the YouTube clip of 1500 Filipino prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which has been viewed by more than 43 million people. She also developed and produced the documentary “Black Widow Granny.”

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical had its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and has a special screening at DOC NYC this Nov. 8.

Image Courtesy of   http://soundofmumbaimovie.com

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The concluding documentary in HBO and HBO2‘s month of documentaries about modern-day India is the story of women’s rights in rural India. As a young girl in rural India, Sampat Pal was married into a family where she was often beaten. But she fought back, leaving her in-laws and eventually becoming famous as a champion for beleaguered women throughout Uttar Pradesh.

The latest foray into the lives of extraordinary women from director Kim Longinotto (Rough Aunties), Pink Saris profiles the unlikely political activists of Northern India’s Gulabi Gang and their fearless leader, Sampat Pal, who battle antiquated caste traditions that produce lives of verbal, physical and sexual abuse. The moving documentary debuts November 30, exclusively on HBO2.

Sampat Pal is the leader of the Gulabi Gang (aka the Pink Gang), a vigilante group of women in Northern India distinguished by their distinctive bright pink saris. Like many other women, Pal was married as a young girl into a family that made her work hard and often beat her. Unlike most other Indian women, she overcame her problems to become an outspoken, self-described “messiah” for women.

Though domestic abuse is illegal in India, tradition and the caste system are steadfastly upheld by many, especially in the rural areas where the Pink Gang operates. By tradition, women are not allowed to live with their own parents once they are married, and are at the mercy of the husband’s family.

If a woman comes from a lower caste, she is often not allowed to marry a man of higher rank. Pal’s strategy is to expose abusive husbands, in-laws and other offenders by settling family matters out in the open, turning the tables on those who did the damage.

Among the women who see her and the Pink Gang as their only hope are Rekha, a 14-year-old homeless “untouchable” (the lowest caste, whose members are now known as Dalits) who is three months pregnant and unable to marry her unborn child’s father because of her low caste, and 15-year-old Renu, whose husband from an arranged marriage has abandoned her and whose father-in-law has been abusing her.

Pal says, “Forget tradition. Women won’t suffer in silence. They won’t keep quiet any more.” While Pink Saris highlights Sampat Pal’s strength and passion as a leader, as well as her unique way of resolving disputes, it also sheds light on her private troubles. Her partner, Babuji, who has watched Pal change over the years, is less certain about her high-profile methods.

Kim Longinotto, the world-renowned director of Pink Saris, has won awards at festivals worldwide, including the World Cinema Jury Prize in Documentary at Sundance for Rough Aunties, which aired on HBO2 in May 2010; a 2008 Peabody Award and two Cannes awards for Sisters in Law; and an Amnesty International DOEN Award at IDFA and Best Doc UK Spotlight at Hot Docs for The Day I Will Never Forget, which premiered at Sundance in 2003 and debuted on Cinemax that year.

The Museum of Modern Art honored her with a film retrospective of her body of work in 2009 and she received Hot Docs’ Outstanding Achievement Award in 2010.

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The turbulent story of a child’s journey from the slums to becoming a national sensation in India debuts on HBO on November 3. The documentary takes us back six years ago, in an impoverished corner of India, where an orphanage director and a slum boy captured the imagination of their country.

Plucked from obscurity and thrust into the national spotlight, Budhia Singh ran 48 marathons by the age of four, winning thousands of fans and making headlines around the world. But what started as a remarkable rags-to-riches saga morphed into a tale of greed, corruption and broken dreams.

The action-packed Marathon Boy recounts Budhia Singh’s fascinating story when it debuts on Thursday, November 3, exclusively on HBO. Filmed between 2005 and 2010, Marathon Boy is a riveting exploration of poverty, corruption and exploitation. Born next to a railroad track, Singh was sold by his destitute mother to a street hawker at age three.

Destined to lead a desperate existence as a beggar, he was rescued by Biranchi Das, a concerned local judo coach who ran an orphanage for slum children. Recognizing in Singh an uncommon talent for long-distance running, Das became his mentor and nurtured the boy’s gift.

A master showman, Das also organized marathon events designed to showcase Singh’s talent and raise his profile, thereby turning him into a folk hero for the underprivileged masses.

Fascinated by the boy’s ability after reading about him online, British filmmaker Gemma Atwal set out to film his story, focusing on his complex relationship with Biranchi Das, whose genuine affection for the child is countered by his zeal to burnish Singh’s celebrity at all costs.

Allowed direct access over the course of five years, Atwal and her crew captured many of the boy’s racing milestones as a three- and four-year-old, as well as intimate moments between Singh, Das and his wife Gita, who is interviewed for the film, along with several other principals.

Atwal chronicles the government’s growing disapproval of Das’ tactics, especially in the wake of the four-year-old’s highly publicized 40-mile run – a marathon is just over 26 miles – in 93-degree heat, after which Singh collapsed on the “victory” stand.

That incident, combined with criticism of Das by Singh’s birth mother, Sukanti Singh, led to investigations of the coach, who lost custody of Budhia in 2007. The conclusion of Marathon Boy is jarring and unexpected, as Singh is coerced to entrap Das, who pays a heavy penalty for helping turn a slum boy into a celebrated, albeit polarizing, figure across India.

In addition to striking location footage shot in Orissa and Delhi, Marathon Boy includes animated shadow puppet sequences that underscore a dark fairytale quality of this unsettling story.

The film is the first of four documentaries about contemporary India debuting on HBO and HBO2 in November. The others are: “The Bengali Detective,” a profile of Rajesh Ji, who solves crimes in the city of Kolkata while following his dreams of being a professional dancer, debuting Nov. 16 on HBO2;

“The Sound of Mumbai,” the upbeat story of tenacious, musically inclined Indian street children recruited to perform a one-time-only concert with members of the elite Bombay Chamber Orchestra, debuting Nov. 23 on HBO2; and “Pink Saris,” profiling the unlikely female activists of Northern India’s Gulabi Gang, who battle violence against women, debuting Nov. 30 on HBO2.

Marathon Boy is the first feature of Gemma Atwal, who has worked as a freelance director and producer on a variety of documentaries. Prior to her documentary work, she spent four years working as a journalist in Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe.

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The American comedy drama on HBO How To Make It In America premiered its second season earlier this month. In a press release, the channel has revealed the plots of the upcoming episodes this November.

The show follows two friends, Ben Epstein (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam Calderon (Victor Rasuk), as they hustle their way through the backdoors of New York’s fashion scene, determined to make it big. Through their perseverance and connections, the two enterprising young men try their best to break into the city’s competitive fashion scene.

Episode #14: “I’m Sorry, Who’s Yosi?”

Ben senses a conflict of interest when Nancy (played by Gina Gershon) sets CRISP up with a manufacturer named Yosi (Nick Chinlund). Determined to bring some spice to Biscuit, Rachel (Lake Bell) disregards her boss and pursues an edgy lead. The feds catch up with Kapo (Eddie Kaye Thomas); Lulu (Nicole Laliberte) warns Cam (Victor Rasuk) against selling out; and Rasta Monsta incites the ire of the East Flatbush Caribbean League.

Episode #15: “The Friction”

Ben and Cam debate the future of CRISP. Rene (Luis Guzmán) hunts down the culprit behind the Rasta Monsta tincture spray, and gives Kapo some advice on how to survive medium security. Rachel commemorates a job setback with ‘shrooms and a shvitz.

Episode #16 and season finale: “What’s in a Name?”

Questioning his faith in Nancy and Yosi, Ben tries to find a way to stitch CRISP – and his friendship with Cam – back together. Domingo (Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi) and Cam try to clear Rasta Monsta’s name with the East Flatbush Caribbean League. Rachel seeks Edie’s (Martha Plimpton) advice; Kapo has the best prison send-off party ever.

The second season of the zesty New Yorker tale has already proven fiery as the 32-year-old Lake Bell, who plays Rachel, Ben’s on-off girlfriend, went topless in the season’s second episode. Bell’s character is an interior designer on the search for herself. Before How To Make It In America, the stunning actress starred alongside Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep in the 2009 comedy It’s Complicated.

How To Make It In America has the successful team behind HBO’s Entourage as executive producers, including Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Rob Weiss.

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HBO renewed the hit show True Blood for a 12-episode fifth season in August and this week, details of two new characters emerged from the production team. Created by Alan Ball, the series will begin production of new episodes later this year in Los Angeles, and will debut on screen in the summer of 2012

“I am thrilled that True Blood continues to enjoy a phenomenal reception from both subscribers and critics,” noted Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO Programming.  “Alan Ball and his gifted team have devised the greatest thrill ride on TV.”

Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, the Emmy-nominated show takes place at a time when vampires have come out of the coffin, and follows the on-and-off romance between waitress and part-faerie Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin, who can hear people’s thoughts, and 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton, in the form of Stephen Moyer.

According to a press release, the series creator Alan Ball, who is also responsible for the creation of the Emmy-winning HBO series Six Feet Under, is also an executive producer of the show, which is based on the bestselling Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

“I remain amazed and delighted by the enthusiasm of our viewers,” says Ball. “I can’t imagine having more fun than this.”

The 12-episode fourth season has inspired critical raves, with USA Today calling it “exuberantly entertaining,” as well as hailing the “superb crew of writers and actors,” while the Washington Post called the show “a rollicking good scream” and “addictive.” The season was wrapped up this week with a number of cliff-hangers and surprising exits, with Sookie tied up in the middle of everything.

Fans on Stuff.co.nz found the season finale a double-edged sword; “if you’re a Sookie fan, then chances are you’re pretty happy with how things ended last night. If you’re like Pam – and at least a portion of other viewers, like me – and you’re over Sookie, then chances are the finale didn’t increase your enthusiasm for next season.”

While waiting for next summer to pick up, Entertainment Weekly revealed details of the two new characters. One is a beautiful and intelligent woman named Nora who has a story with Eric and who will join the regular cast ensemble. The other is a new female vampire whom Aceshowbiz.com describes as “a powerful ancient vampire and a world-class seductress who’s also a little mad,” named Salome.

It is likely that we will see more new faces on the show as Ball has hinted to exciting new elements of spirits, freakish demons and more never-before-seen supernatural creatures.

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The new 12-part action series based on Luc Besson’s successful film franchise, starring Chris Vance, began filming in Toronto in August and has already seen a lot of action on set. Vance will take over the TV version of the expert driver Frank Martin from Jason Statham and the big screen originals’ co-writer, Luc Besson, is executive producer.

Shooting through this November, the series will debut on Cinemax in 2012. The series’ executive producers also included Fred Fuchs, Robert Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie and Alexander Ruemelin; but weeks into shooting, Mallozzi and Mullie cited “creative differences” and left the production.

According to HollywoodReporter.com, British director Steve Shill (Dexter, Desperate Housewives) and veteran supervising producer Karen Wookey has since joined. The Transporter series is a France-Canada international treaty co-production produced by Atlantique Productions and QVF Inc. in association with broadcast partners HBO/Cinemax as well as The Movie Network and Movie Central (Canada), M6 (France) and RTL (Germany).

The ambitious production is the latest in a wave of high-end drama series with money and set locations coming from outside the US. The aim is to captivate both American and European audiences, something that other successful series such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men has struggled to do. American primetime shows seem to translate poorly to the major European markets.

According to a previous HBO press release, this fast-paced series follows the adventures of professional transporter Frank Martin, who can always be counted on to get the job done — discreetly. Operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, his three rules are: Never change the deal, no names, and never open the package. Occasionally, complications arise and rules get broken.

Andrea Osvart (Duplicity) co-stars as Martin’s trusted handler Carla and Francois Berléand reprises his role of Inspector Tarconi from the films. The cast also includes Delphine Chanéac (Splice) in the recurring role of Juliette, a reporter who seems to know a lot about Frank’s work, and Rachel Skarsten (Made…The Movie, Birds of Prey) as Delia, the daughter of someone from Frank’s past.

Last week, Deadline.com could report that there had been a temporary suspension in the series as the title role holder Chris Vance suffered an injury during an action sequence. The delay is expected to last two weeks. “We want to ensure Chris’ return to peak physical condition before putting him back in front of the camera to continue shooting this fast-paced, action-packed series,” said Shill.

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