It appears Prince Harry is not the only one facing problems because of nude pictures – shoe designer Brian Atwood is too. The latest ad campaign for famed shoe brand Brian Atwood has been banned from the streets of New York City due to its mildly sexual imagery.

Shoe brand Brian Atwood was told to remove a billboard-size image from outside their soon-to-open store by the building’s owners due to its content described as unsuitable for public eyes. The campaign poster, which was to be displayed outside the new boutique at 655 Madison Avenue in Manhattan’s Midtown, stars Victoria’s Secret supermodel Candice Swanepoel. The banned billboard-image shows the supermodel dressed in a black basque, hold-up stockings and sexy leopard-print high heels with a leg on each side of two bare-chested men. Candice is cavorting with her two nude male companions on a couch.

The owners of the building thought the huge poster, just one of four from the brand’s racy autumn/winter 2012 campaign, shot by photographer duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, was provocative, even though it was showing nothing more than long legs and sexy heels. The shoe brand has now replaced the billboard with a toned-down picture of a woman’s legs, approved by the owners of the building.

According to New York Post, the large-scale advertising campaign not only has been banned from the facade of Atwood’s Madison Avenue store, but from New York City’s ‘Taxi TV’ screens as well. A film version of the ad, that was due to air on screens in New York taxis, has also not been approved by the companies that provide TV content for the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The film features Victoria’s Secret supermodel getting naked down to nothing but for a pair of boots, while she’s watching a wall of screens, showing porn.

Instead, a behind-the-scenes teaser of Atwood’s campaign will be aired directing viewers to Brian Atwood’s official website, where the original full film will play. The Taxi and Limousine Commission’s representatives told that the film wasn’t banned due to their decision, but that private vendors were responsible for its rejection.

This ad campaign is a first for the designer, whose creations are quite popular among celebrities including Kate Hudson, Victoria Beckham, Rachel Weisz and Jessica Biel. The banned images will be published in the September issues of Vogue, W, V Magazine and CR Fashion Book. The designer himself described his ‘the sex is in the heel’ themed film, as ‘sexually charged’. His inspiration for his spring 2013 collection is going to be the ankle, explaining that “There is something so sexy about this part on a woman, and these celebrate that.” His Madison Avenue boutique is only going to be the first out of many around the world.

This is not the first time a fashion brand’s advertisement has to be withdrawn. Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and Tom Ford have all had ads banned due to nudity, provocative images, sexual implications and violent messages. The history of fashion has shown that banned ads become a success, so no worries for Brian Atwood.

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Lucy Punch plays Sarah, Kate Hudson’s character Marley’s co-worker at the ad agency and her after-hours party partner, in the new movie ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’. The two women share the same ribald humor, and their relationship is obviously complicit in an early scene when Marley arrives late for a big client meeting.

Their seamless banter tracks from the moment Marley breezes into the office and “she dumps her stuff, she has her bike, she changes her shoes, she’s putting on her jacket, she’s doing her hair, she’s looking for the story boards, she’s in the room, she’s does the pitch, she wins the client,” recalled Punch, who thought Kate’s naturally vivacious personality added an unexpected element to the unfolding of Marley’s story, and motivated Punch to take the role.

“The prospect of losing her childhood friend is crushing, but Sarah makes a promise to herself she’s not going to cry or be sad in front of her,” Punch said. Added Hudson, “She’s the only character in the film who always lets me deal with everything through my sense of humor and helps me keep myself normal.”

“Marley is a very specific type of person who loves being surrounded by a group of friends that evoke different emotions,” says Romany Malco, who plays Peter, Marley’s friend and neighbor. “All her friends serve different purposes, and Peter is a very earnest and engaging individual who has complete understanding that the last thing Marley needs in this scenario is sympathy.

When a friend may be dying, you almost instinctively make it about you because selfishly you don’t want to lose them. Peter became a servant from the beginning and I found that to be an extremely touching and evolved way to go about it.”

Marley’s friend Renee (Rosemarie DeWitt), mother of 2-year-old Cammie and pregnant again when the story begins, is more pragmatic about the situation. “They are the kind of friends who challenge each other and support each other in leading the biggest, best life,” said DeWitt, who was drawn to the “messiness” of the big things that happen in our life and the film’s mix of drama, buoyancy and life.

“She’s a bit of a fixer and thinks the way to Marley’s happiness is to get a guy, get a house, and have some kids. But Marley is always living life to the fullest and I think that causes a lot of concern, so they kind of go separate ways for a time.”

During her early visits with Dr. Julian Goldstein (Gael Garcia Bernal), Marley deflects the seriousness of his questions with humor. “Dr. Goldstein diagnoses Marley and attends to her early in her illness and becomes an accomplice in her journey,” says Bernal. Said Hudson: “In the beginning, he’s so straight and against every type Marley’s ever known and yet he’s so available for her to be vulnerable. She has to literally get naked in front of this man and he’s accepting of it. He truly accepts her.”

“I love casting in kind of unexpected ways and allowing actors to show work that they haven’t necessarily gotten to do, and he hasn’t done an American film of this type, so it feels very exciting,” said director Nicole Kassell about bringing Gael to the production.

“I got very emotional when I read it, because it’s surprising in the nuances and the way that it deals with the matter of death and the enjoyment of life,” said Bernal. “They fall in love with there being no certainty of a future, so it’s perhaps a very pure love in the sense that it’s an uninterested love, and they accompany each other and they live the moment very strongly.”

When Bernal expressed interest in the part, the producers pushed the start date of the film three months to accommodate his schedule. “He brings so much charm to the role,” said John Davis. “He’s mysterious and so accessible at the same time.”

Marley’s joie de vivre is synonymous with the heart and soul of New Orleans, so it is fitting that the production eventually chose to call that city Marley’s home. “It’s a strong choice for a place to live for someone and Marley is not from here,” explained Kassell. “Having lived here through the shoot, I found a lot of people come here and never leave. And Marley fits that mold.”

Image Courtesy of   A Little Bit of Heaven

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Kate Hudson plays the lead in the heart-warming movie ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’ and alongside the movie’s production team, she believes many people will relate to her character Marley’s struggle with her mother and father. Marley’s parents, Beverly (Kathy Bates) and Jack (Treat Williams) rush to her side when they find out she has cancer, but the overbearing mother and estranged absentee father don’t make for easy company.

“Beverly is an emotional freak and a bit of a drama queen at the beginning,” said Bates of her character, who we first meet at a dinner with her daughter and ex-husband. “It’s funny how we all push each other’s buttons, especially when there’s unresolved stuff,” said Williams of the not-so-idyllic family reunion.

“Kathy has this great capacity to make things simultaneously very funny and very real. Marley is caught in this crossfire of hatred and it was fun to enjoy Kathy’s performance and be in the scene at the same time,” recalled Williams, who worked with Bates previously in ‘The Late Shift’, and was also directed by her in “Everwood.”

“Beverly is always trying to get involved in things, and Marley has spent her life trying to get away from her mother,” Hudson said. “She comes barreling back into my life, and it’s the one relationship that I have to really forgive myself for, for making it difficult on my mother throughout our life together.

She’s the one person that’s always there, so you fight them so hard because you know they’re not going anywhere. Then to tell them that you might be going is not the easiest thing in the world to do. That was an amazing thing to play, especially with Kathy who is such an incredible actress.”

“In my mind Beverly has always wanted to be more like a buddy and a friend, and in the course of this story she has to sink into the role of being a mom,” said director Nicole Kassell, who first met with Bates in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn.

The actress was doing some work for the Methodist Health Care Foundation and over lunch they discussed relationships, their mothers and families. “She goes from being somebody who needs all the attention to realizing it’s time to give someone else the attention. She has to grow up and it’s really profound and beautiful.”

“When I read it I was somewhat touched that Jack really doesn’t know how to find his way back to a relationship with Marley,” said Williams, who as Marley’s detached father can only offer the best medical care money can buy. “He doesn’t have the tools to understand women very well. Jack is just trying to control everything and he doesn’t have any room for being vulnerable or listening to her, who she is, listening to her heart.”

“Treat was just such a perfect Jack because you see him struggling with it, he didn’t have it in him to come to terms with his mistakes, and when he does it’s so genuine and sweet,” Hudson said.

There is a key moment between Marley and her father, “they’re at a meal and he’s just trying to do the superficial thing that he’s always done with her, and she can’t do it anymore, there’s no time for chit chat,” continues Kassell, who discovered in early conversations with the actor that his own relationship with his father was difficult. “Marley calls him on it, he rises to the occasion, and it’s very moving.”

“Marley has had Beverly for a mother, someone who sort of sucks all of the air out of the room,” said Bates. She says she laughed more than she cried while reading the script. ”I think it’s been a very emotional experience for all of us for different reasons. Nicky is very quiet but quiet waters do run deep and I think she has a real fundamental understanding of how she wants to tell the story, and she is very wise about the human condition.”

Image Courtesy of   A Little Bit of Heaven

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‘A Little Bit of Heaven’, now playing in cinemas around the US, is a love story set in New Orleans about an irreverent young woman who unexpectedly falls in love with her doctor.

Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) is young, beautiful, and wildly funny, but she’s afraid of opening herself up to true love and commitment. Though she uses her humor to prevent matters from getting serious, a life-changing visit to her doctor (Gael Garcia Bernal) sends both of them on an eye-opening adventure of mutual discovery, leading to revelations neither thought possible.

The story of how the script came to producer John Davis is not uncommon in Hollywood. While waiting for a friend at the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles, Davis struck up a conversation with someone sitting next to him. She had a script, he loved the idea, and the rest is history. But what is uncommon is the delicate mix of comedy and emotion that come together to tell the story of one woman’s ultimate self-discovery.

“A Little Bit of Heaven is a story about a heroic character that, faced with the possibility of her own demise, never lets her comedy down,” explains Davis. “Marley has everything, but uses humor to deflect the pressure to commit emotionally in a relationship. Through the process of finding out that she might die, Marley finds the meaning of her life.”

“Rarely do you read a script where you laugh out loud and you cry, and cry hard,” says producer Neil Sacker. “Here’s a woman who is larger than life, everybody’s best friend, who brings joy to everybody’s life and has everything to look forward to. She finds out that she may have a very limited time to live and in the process she teaches everybody else how to live.”

Together Davis, Sacker and producer Mark Gill began the process of casting the lead actress, as well as finding the film’s director. Hudson and director Nicole Kassell “felt like they were a great combination, and it finally just gelled,” said Davis, who worked on the script for eight years before it started production. Nicole’s directing debut, the critically acclaimed “The Woodsman,” confirmed her ability to work with actors on the subtle levels the script demanded to obtain a mix of comedic, heroic, and dramatic performance.

Not long after celebrating her recent promotion with friends, Marley is diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer. “What really struck me was her journey and the way it affects all those around her; as she in the process of possibly leaving, they are all coming down to Earth,” said Kassell. “I thought, wow this script is a really truthful treatment of the subject matter; it spoke to me and felt like it was a story that would resonate.”

“I love the story and I feel that a movie like this hasn’t been made in a long time,” said Hudson. “I remember after I read the script I cried for 20 minutes. I met with Nicky and realized that the story was representative of so many brave people who have accepted their life as it is. It made me want to join Nicky in making this film and doing it in a way that hopefully you can laugh and you can cry and everyone will be able to relate to.”

“Nicky was passionate about the script from the first meeting,” Gill said. “Based on what we’d seen in The Woodsman, we expected her to have a great take on the drama, which she did. But she also completely understood and relished the humor, which is so crucial to making the film work. It was a very easy and unanimous decision to hire her, and that’s not often the case.” Said Kassell: “I was very honest with them about how I felt the film could be, and that we would laugh hard and cry hard.”

“There will be moments in the movie that people will feel more connected to because it is so close to home,” explained Kate. “Every time I read the script or we did a scene, something about that scene hit me more than it did a previous time. The characters are so full and rounded, and you get to know their dysfunctions and how they deal with their own issues throughout Marley’s journey.”

Image Courtesy of   A Little Bit of Heaven

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DreamWorks Animation SKG has announced that Tony Award nominee Josh Gad (Love and Other Drugs), who currently appears on Broadway in The Book of Mormon, will star as Stanley, Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) as his shadow, and Academy-Award nominee Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, Something Borrowed) as Heidi in Me & My Shadow, coming to the big screen on November 13, 2013.

In this original feature film conceived at DreamWorks Animation, the studio will pioneer a groundbreaking combination of both CG and traditional animation techniques, which will be used seamlessly to create a never-before-seen movie experience.

Animation veteran Alessandro Carloni, who most recently served as head of story on DreamWorks Animation’s Academy Award-nominated How to Train Your Dragon, will make his directorial debut on Me & My Shadow . Melissa Cobb ( Kung Fu Panda , Kung Fu Panda 2) will produce and Jeff Hermann ( Kung Fu Panda , Kung Fu Panda 2) will co-produce. Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember (Get Smart) are writing the screenplay. The original script was written by Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman.

“The hilarious chemistry between Josh Gad, Bill Hader and Kate Hudson couldn’t be more exciting to watch as they bring to life our trio of lead characters in Me & My Shadow ,” said DreamWorks Animation Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke. “Alessandro has proven to be a creative genius at DreamWorks Animation for over a decade and we look forward with a huge amount of enthusiasm as he takes on his feature film directing debut with us.”

“I cannot begin to express my excitement over the opportunity to direct Me & My Shadow, an original movie that makes innovative use of both cutting edge CGI technology and time-honored animated techniques in an inventive new way,” added Carloni.

Prior to his work on How to Train Your Dragon, Carloni worked with DreamWorks Animation in a number of capacities, including supervising animator on the Academy Award-nominated Kung Fu Panda . Carloni joined DreamWorks Animation in 2002, bringing with him a wide variety of award-winning experience within the animation industry, creating feature and short animated films as well as commercials and music videos.

He has served as animator, co-director, animation director, sculptor, special effects supervisor, storyboard and visual development artist and designer throughout his career.

Me & My Shadow reveals the once secret world of shadows and their human counterparts. Stan, our hero’s shadow, yearns for a more exciting life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, a timid guy with an extreme aversion to adventure. When a crime in the shadow world puts both of their lives in danger, Stan is forced to take control of Stanley.

They go on a madcap adventure to investigate the crime and stop the shadow villain from leading a rebellion where shadows take over the human world. During this adventure, Stan empowers Stanley to let go of his fears and embrace life. Through their adventure, they both learn that one cannot be whole without a true friend.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/watsonsinelgin/

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It’s a boy for actress Kate Hudson and fiancé Matthew Bellamy! The couple welcomed a healthy baby Saturday night. Although this is Kate’s second son, this is the couple’s first child together. Her son Ryder, 7, was from her previous marriage with ex-husband Chris Robinson.

Kate checked in at Cedars-Sinai hospital Saturday afternoon, where Victoria and David Beckham welcomed a baby girl that same very day. Despite having a cesarean section when giving birth to her first child, Kate gave birth naturally this time around with the baby weighing 7 lbs., 12oz.

The birth was a joyous surprise to friends and family who were unaware of the baby’s sex. Hudson recently held a gender-neutral baby shower last week, welcoming all gifts as well as name suggestions from friends like Nicole Richie, Courtney Cox, and Rachel Zoe.

Kate and Matt are extremely thrilled about this new addition to their family. Sources say both mom and baby are “doing great.” Though the family plans to move and settle in London where Matt will be working on his band’s next album, they will remain in Los Angeles for the time being.

The couple has yet to announce the name of their new baby boy. We can’t help but wonder what the hold up is, but it must be a special and meaningful name that they are deciding on. Congratulations to the happy family!

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