Rich Ross (C'83) spotted on the red carpet

Elizabeth Banks (C'96) in Hunger Games commercial (also presenter in yesterday's Spirit Awards Ceremony)

Octavia Spencer thanks Stacey Snider (C'82) for "changing her life".

Muppets producer Todd Lieberman (C'95) somewhere in the back of the first level of the Oscar auditorium. Song "Man or Muppet" from Todd's film wins best original song.

Donny Deutsch (W'79) appears on the TODAY show tomorrow morning at 9:15AM talking Oscar commercials.

Check back for more updates through the night and add any Penn alumni you know at the Oscars in the comments section below!

More Penn alumni on the Oscars from years past here!

More about Penn's Hollywood mafia

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It's not often that DT wins out exclusive interviews over Oprah, The View and Entertainment Tonight, but we did this time while we visited film producer Todd Lieberman (C'95, Mask and Wig, AEPi) on his Hollywood Muppets movie set.

While the Muppets movie isn't due out until Thanksgiving 2011, the real news is about Todd's 6 Golden Globe nominated film The Fighter which comes out today.

After the jump, watch the video Todd shot for DT and the Penn community and learn more about why people gasp when they hear how long The Fighter took to make.

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Are you an avid J-Dater?

If so, you'll relate to Meredith Fineman (C'09, SDT, Penn Democrats) who started a humorous JDating blog called Fifty First (J)Dates. On the site, Meredith writes about both her awkward first encounters with men she's met on the site (she's at #11 and counting) as well as adds funny advice and musings about the process in general.

Per Meredith,

"I spent the past year living and working for Young & Rubicam in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I moved home to DC I wanted to meet new people so I joined JDate. Then the stories/anecdotes were so hilarious I couldn't help but write about it."

Some of Meredith's fun posts:

• How to prepare for a first J-Date
• I Don’t Know How to Come Up with a Witty Title for How Bad This Date Was
• There is a Fine, Fine Line Between Confidence and Douche-baggery. (Well, not in this case.)

Fifty First (J)Dates is also featured on Huffington Post, Jewcy, and Jewlicious, as well as other blogs. Email Meredith with your stories at fiftyfirstjdates@gmail.com


Check out her site HERE and follow her on Twitter HERE

More Penn bloggers HERE


...This reminds me of another (Jewish) Penn alum who did something like this back in 1998, but it was in the format of a film called 20 Dates: A documentary type film about the dates Myles Berkowitz (C'81, W'82) had gone on as he tried to find out how to find love in Los Angeles.

...Speaking of love, have you checked out my DT Love series HERE?

And just for fun:
10 totally new ways to kiss your date
5 signs you've met your perfect match





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Being the proud Mask and Wig alum that I am, it is no secret that I love promoting anything having to do with this group which is so rich with history (dating back to 1889!).

On that note, last summer I showed you a great clip of the Mask and Wig Club being referenced in a 1937 Warner Brothers film.  And now, as part of my "Blast from the Past" series, I have another classic Mask and Wig clip!

The club has been doing their signature "kickline" forever and for years, even when I was in college, I had heard they were once on "The Ed Sullivan Show".

Well now I have video proof!

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This week the "The Mouse House" (ABC/Disney) is all about the red and the blue.

From news pertaining to studio heads, actors, producers, and writers, find out what sorts of waves Penn alumni are making this week!

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A Penn alum splitting from a major studio and another Penn alum continues to be a TV making machine!

Click here for your delicious dose of this week's scoop.

Check out my October Contest and win cool swag!

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Stacey Snider (C'82) and Steven Spielberg leave Dreamworks to work at their new Reliance Big Entertainment backed movie company ..and need a line of credit! More here

My past posts about Stacey here

More of my Penn "Film Producer" posts here

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Mark Cronin (Eng'86) is a reality TV making machine!

• His second installment of "Charm School" Premieres on Sunday, October 12 at 9:00 PM ("Rock of Love Charm School") where he's putting 14 of the most memorable contestants from "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels" through Etiquette school with Sharon Osbourne.
  

• And then on October 20 at 9:00PM, Mark spins off more of his previous contestants into a show of their own. This one takes 'Real' and 'Chance' from "I Love New York" and puts them in a new show called "Real Chance of Love"

Per VH1.com, 

"The tables have turned for these horse-breeding, music-producing entertainer brothers known as the "Stallionaires" who were just seen in the high stakes show "I Love Money" where they duked it out in an attempt to win the grand prize of $250,000. Real tried to find love on "I Love Money" after proposing to Hoopz but was sadly turned down once again. Now, Real and Chance are the ones in control and this time it'll be a gamble for 17 young ladies who will move into their ranch house to fight for their hearts."

My past Mark Cronin posts here

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Read my past Hollywood Bits and Pieces posts!

Join the new Dueling Tampons Facebook Fan page

New to DT? 14 easy suggestions to get started!

Submitting a story to Dueling Tampons: What you need to know...


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Lots of Penn Hollywood news happening recently...

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This past week, Dreamworks Exec Stacey Snider (C'82) was defending her studio's film Tropic Thunder. Find out why!

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Roy Bank (C'94) is collaborating with Salma Hayek on a new reality show with a "unique take" on weddings.

My past posts about Roy here

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Did you know that Alison Greenspan (C'95, Bloomers) Executive Produced the recent Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (as well as the first one)?

My past posts about Alison here

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Todd Lieberman's (C'95, AEPi, Mask and Wig) film Traitor comes out in theaters today. Check out a trailer below!

My past posts about Todd here

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Another week of activity for Elizabeth Banks (C'96)...

• Liz will return to Scrubs this upcoming season for a 2 episode arc
• She has just been cast as Seann William Scott's love interest in High Town who dies in childbirth but later reappears as a ghost to help raise her surviving infant.
• She appears in this B-Roll footage in Oliver Stone's upcoming "W" film.  See below (minute 3:10)! 

My past posts about Liz here

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Past "DT Hollywood Bits and Pieces" posts here

New to DT? 14 easy suggestions to get started!

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Last year Stacey Snider (C'82), Dreamworks CEO, gave a FANTASTIC speech at Penn.

The video just got released and it is a MUST for anyone wanting to come to Hollywood ...and/or for anyone who wants to make a career change!

Here's what she talked about:

• Her career change (from law school grad to CEO)
• Don’t worry about your first job
• She will always interview Penn grads
• At Tri-Star, they called their hall "Locust Walk" because there were a bunch of Penn alumni who worked with her: Marc Platt (C'79), Rick Hess (C'84), Kevin Misher (C'87), Ali Brecker Shearmur (C'89)
• Her mentorship with Steven Spielberg

Find out:

• What she attributes her accomplishments to
• How she transitioned from UCLA law student to mailroom worker to secretary to Director of Development to CEO!
• How she networked with Penn Alumni ...Listen to her tips as it could help you!
• What she did to advance her career when she was a secretary
• Her tip on how to talk salary with an employer
• What types of scripts she's looking for
• Her thoughts on the state of the business now and what is wreaking havoc on the industry these days
• What may have given her credibility early in her career in a then male dominated industry
• The most difficult time in her career
• Her advice on juggling a career with a personal life
• Which of her films she loves
• About a time when gender played a part in another well known Hollywood player's promotion over her! (last minute of video)

Click here to watch this very inspiring video!
(Stacey comes on screen at minute 12:35)

Want to work in Hollywood? Check out these recommended books!

Other Penn CEOs

More of my posts about Stacey

Find out how other Penn alumni in entertainment got their start! (great advice for anyone starting out!)

Enter my July contest and win!

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See which Penn undergrads and alumni are registered on DuelingTampons.com

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Have you seen the December 7 issue of Entertainment Weekly?

In it, Stacey Snider was named #26 (out of 50) of Hollywood's Smartest people!

More after the jump!

Per Entertainment Weekly,

"#26: Stacey Snider
Age: 46
Job Title: CEO, Dreamworks SKG
Because She mastered the art of steady leadership, Snider steered Universal through three ownership transitions emerging scratch-free, and now holds the tiller as DreamWorks weathers a rough sea with owner Paramount. She's strongest in times of crisis, whetger calming the staff or helping a director find (and fix) the problems with a film.
Oprah Effect: Assembles "favorite things" holiday gift baskets for industry friends."

Check out other Penn CEOs

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Kevin Misher (far left) on the set of The Interpreter.

Photo by ;Phil Bray - © 2005 Universal Studios.

Kevin Misher (C'87) to produce an untitled action film.

According to comingsoon.net, the film is about:

"a rough-hewn heroic tale about realizing dreams of glory, putting audiences ringside at high-stakes underground street fights. Tatum [O'Neill] will star as Sean Arthur, a young man who scrapes up a living scalping tickets in NYC. With family tragedy in his past and his father keeping him at a distance, this outsider has little to motivate him. A chance encounter with a veteran street-fighting coach leads to a whole new career for Sean. The ensuing bouts get tough, especially with the criminal element horning in, so Sean gets tougher. He will fight to win, not only the prize money but also the unexpected new relationships that are strengthening him."

Kevin is currently in post-production on Christian Alvart's Case 39, starring Renée Zellweger and Jodelle Ferland, for release this winter. For you comic book fans out there, I also see on his IMDB profile that he'll be producing "Sub-Mariner". His earlier producing credits include The Interpreter and The Rundown.

When I first moved to LA around 1996, Kevin was part of a bunch of successful Penn alumni at Universal Studios including Stacey Snider (C'82) (former Chairman of Universal Pictures, now CEO/co-chair of Dreamworks), Ali Brecker Shearmur (C'89) (former Exec VP of Universal, now producing deal at Paramount) and Marc Platt (C'79) (Executive Producer). It's great to see that they've all gone on to great success. Stay tuned on DuelingTampons.com for future posts about what all of these alumni are up to!

Click to check out an article the DP did a while back on Kevin

Click to check out some of Kevin's and other alumni films

Check out some of my other Penn film producer posts

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