May 2014 Archives

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced the release of Parks and Recreation Season 6 DVD will be available on 19 August. You can pre-order from Amazon.com for $35.98

Lucy was in the following episodes in Season 6:

Episode 01: London Part 1 (The Wedding episode)

Episode 21: Moving Up

Here are the extras you can get with the complete season

Disc 1:

Lucy interviewed on The Rosie O’Donnell Show and sings “I’m an Old Cowhand”

This interview led to a Broadway producer watching it, thinking Lucy would be perfect as Rizzo and she was cast in the 1997 Grease! production on Broadway as Rizzo.

Here's three high res scans from Xena Season 4 Episode 13 Paradise Found and episode info plus link to the episode review by SLK.

Lucy having fun with Rob and Renee O'Connor.

More images can be found in the Episode Stills gallery for the episode

Paradise Found
In a seemingly idyllic land, Gabrielle finds peace and calm as Xena is beset by visions of violence.

Syfy acquires US Basic cable rights to all 39 episodes of "spartacus" from starz worldwide distribution. Popular swords and sandals series makes basic cable premiere on syfy thursday, June 26 at 10pm

NEW YORK – May 22, 2014 – Continuing to expand its roster of diverse domestic and international programming, Syfy today announced it is acquiring U.S. basic cable rights to all 39 episodes (three seasons and the six-part prequel) of the popular swords and sandal series Spartacus from Starz Worldwide Distribution, the global television licensing and content syndication arm of Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA,STRZB).

Spartacus will make its basic cable premiere on Thursday, June 26 at 10PM (ET/PT), rounding out the channel’s potent primetime lineup of original series Defiance at 8PM and Dominion at 9PM.

Spartacus joins Syfy’s stable of acquisitions including Lost Girl, Bitten, Continuum and the upcoming The Almighty Johnsons (July), Z-Nation (Fall) and Olympus (2015).

Said Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Programming, Syfy: “Our strategy of acquiring hit shows to complement our premium original scripted series has really resonated with our audience. With its action-soaked storylines and powerful characters, Spartacus will be a dynamic addition to our schedule.”

“Spartacus made an indelible impact on STARZ premium viewers in the United States and with audiences around the globe,” said Gene George, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Distribution for Starz. “We are very pleased to strike this accord and bring the incredible tale of Spartacus to Syfy for its viewers.”

About Spartacus
Spartacus was inspired by the actual slave of the Roman Republic who, in 73 BC, led a slave revolt that grew to more than 120,000 fighters. Defying the Roman Republic’s legions of soldiers, they campaigned for two years through much of what is now Italy before succumbing to a much larger army. The new series told a new set of stories rich in character, action, sex and combat centered on the title character. As punishment for defying a Roman Legate, Spartacus was sentenced to die in the gladiator arena. But after surviving numerous fights, his sentence was commuted and sold as a slave to be trained as a gladiator. Spartacus was executive produced by Rob Tapert (The Grudge, Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), Steven S. DeKnight (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man and The Evil Dead), and Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead). The lead and title character was originally played by the beloved late Andy Whitfield. Following Whitfield’s departure from the series in 2010, Liam McIntyre was recast as the title character.

Additional cast members included: Lucy Lawless (Xenia: Warrior Princess) as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah), owned the slave Spartacus and the original gladiator camp; Erin Cummings (Dollhouse) as Sura, Spartacus’ wife; Peter Mensah (300, Avatar) as Doctore; Manu Bennett (30 Days of Night, The Condemned) as Crixus; Craig Parker (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Legend of the Seeker) as Glaber, Ilithyia (Accidents Happen), played by Viva Bianca; Nick E. Tarabay (Crash, The Sopranos) as Ashur, Dustin Clare (Underbelly, Satisfaction) as Gannicus; and Todd Lasance as Gaius Julius Caesar.

About Starz Worldwide Distribution

Starz Worldwide Distribution (www.starzglobal.com) is a leading global distributor of movies, television series, documentaries, children’s programming, and other video content. Starz Worldwide Distribution licenses and syndicates STARZ Original series and other owned and licensed third party programming on a worldwide basis. Starz Worldwide Distribution’s partnerships with independent producers provide high-quality and diverse programming to its clients, while its experience in the field distinguishes it as a premier supplier in the global content marketplace. Starz Worldwide Distribution is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

About Syfy
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 96 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.(Syfy. Imagine Greater.)

Yesterday Lucy attended the Auckland Writers Festival and she read letters from the book "Letters of Note". Janna attended the event and was kind enough to send along a photo she took of Lucy at the event.

Many thanks to Janna! Click on the smaller image to see the full size version.

Actress and activist Lucy Lawless joined the luminous line-up taking part in this year's Festival, reading letters written by the famous and brilliant from the book Letters of Note (www.lettersofnote.com), in a free event of the same name on Sunday May 18 at 2.30pm.

Writer, director and actor Fiona Samuel, multi-award-winning biographer Lucy Hughes Hallett (UK) and actor George Henare are also doing the honours.  As this is a FREE non-ticketed event, get there early to queue for a seat.
What is the Auckland Writers Festival?

The Festival brings the world to Auckland. Every year we stage over 100 public events, gathering together 150 of the world's best writers and thinkers with over 10,000 festival goers and more than 3,000 young people to celebrate the world of books and ideas.

For the past 14 years the Festival has enriched the culture of our city and established itself as a major Australasian festival, characterised not only by the calibre of our guest authors but also by the enthusiasm and engagement of our audience and the warmth and welcome provided by Auckland as our setting.

The Festival brings the very best local and international writers of contemporary fiction and non-fiction, scientists, economists, poets, journalists and public intellectuals together with audiences to explore ideas, share stories and experience brilliant conversations. We celebrate curiosity and a sense of intellectual adventure and our programme is driven by the desire to spark ideas, to get us talking and to give us a time and place to engage with the world

Here’s a behind the scenes photo I posted to AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Twitter yesterday. It’s Lucy with Michael Hurst who was directing the Season 5 Episode 18 Antony & Cleopatra episode.

When Cleopatra is murdered, Xena assumes her identity to uncover the assassin and protect Egypt.

Photo: Lucy Lawless and Michael Hurst Behind The Scenes on Xena Warrior Princess Season 5 Ep 18 Antony & Cleopatra pic.twitter.com/JzENyQ28ki

— AUSXIP Lucy Lawless (@lucylawlessnet) May 18, 2014

Here’s some more multimedia from the episode.

BLOOMSDAY JUNE 16 - Auckland's K Road

Lucy Lawless and Michael Hurst, stars of the epic sandals & skirts TV soap Xena, Warrior Princess, will be re-united in June in a K Rd pub for Auckland's fabulous annual literary bash, The Jews Brothers' Bloomsday.

They'll be part of a tribute to James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses, celebrated in pubs the world over on June 16, the world's sole annual commemoration of a totally fictional date, June 16, 1904, a date in which something happened only in a book.

On that single all-including day, Irish saint, scholar, hurler Joyce re-imagines Homer's epic poem The Odyssey unfolding its ten Mediterranean years out onto the streets and seaside and red-light district of Dublin, 1904.

It's a day now celebrated as "Bloomsday", in which Homer's hero Odysseus becomes a Dublin Jew, Leopold Bloom (in the words of one essayist "the greatest Jewish character in world literature, more forgiving than Moses, funnier than Jesus, filthier than Portnoy").

Sighed French Nobel Literature prize-winner Albert Camus, "The poignancy of the enterprise..." God knows what Camus would have thought of this internationalist musical cabaret version, done in a pub on the corner of Howe St and K Rd deep down in the South Seas.

But it's a lovely madness, fittingly pulled off amidst massage parlours and hookers. "It's not the Ku-dam," cries out chanteuse Linn Lorkin, "Or the Reeperbahn, or the port of Amsterdam! It's Karangahape-dam!"

This year's Auckland Bloomsday has a dazzling line-up of talent that top-bills with Lucy Lawless reading from Molly Bloom's midnight dreamy soliloquy, Michael Hurst as young Stephen Dedalus (and also as outrageous French cabaret star of the 1930s, the wonderful Josephine Baker!), Bruce Hopkins as the fiercesome transvestite dominatrix Bella Cohen and Unite Union organiserJoe Carolan as the frothing nationalist, The Citizen (and his mangy dog).

Yuko Takahashi will be singing Mozart, so will Farrell Cleary, aka Blazes Boylan. Tenor and political commentator Chris Trotterwill sing Dominic Behan's The Patriot Game, Jean McAllister will be backing Linn Lorkin, Hershal Hersher, Peter Scott and Auckland's yiddisher Jews Brothers Band.

Dublin actor Brian Keegan will be reading from The Book.

And there'll be a surprise appearance from Dame Sister May Leo, dropping in from heaven. 

Thirsty Dog Tavern, Karangahape Rd
Monday night, June 16, 7.30pm-10.30pm.

Source

The Code is heading to BBC4 towards the end of the year according to the Daily Mail Weekend Magazine for 17 May 2014. Australians will get to see the show around July/August (that’s the latest guestimate. Promos for the show appeared on iView (the Australian ABC online portal).

You can find out more about “The Code” on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Code Subsite

Daily Mail Weekend Magazine for 17 May 2014
(Print Edition)

The Code – Coming Here

A crash in the Australian outback is the starting point for this thriller. Two joyriders are left fighting for their lives when their 4x4 hits a lorry – yet no one wants to alert the authorities because the lorry was carrying a prohibited substance destined for a top secret research station. Starring LucyLawless (below), best known as Xena: Warrior Princess, the six-part Australian series becomes a battle of wits between shadowy authority figures and brothers Ned and Jesse Banks, who are sent footage of the crash and decide to investigate. BBC4, later this year.

CAST

• Lucy Lawless (Spartacus), 
• Dan Spielman (An Accidental Soldier, Offspring), 
• Ashley Zuckerman (The Slap, Rush), 
• Adam Garcia (Coyote Ugly, Bootmen), 
• David Wenham (Answered by Fire, Killing Time), 
• Aden Young (I Frankenstein, Rectify), 
• Chelsie Preston Crayford (Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Underbelly: Razor), 
• Adele Perovic (SLiDE), 
• Dan Wyllie (Rake, Puberty Blues), 
• Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish, City Homicide), 
• Paul Tassone (Underbelly).

Lucy has launched a new Greenpeace New Zealand campaign. It’s called Act For Arctic. Check out the video

http://actforarctic.org - The Arctic ice is disappearing fast, and the changes are the most profound to our planet that humans have ever seen. By inspiring influential people in your community to take a stand and voice their support, you can help create an Arctic Sanctuary, and save the top of the world from oil drilling and destructive fishing.
Join the global movement and let's start making history.

In 2006 AUSXIP celebrated it's 10th birthday and Roger & I decided to hold a charity auction to celebrate this huge milestone and we chose Starship because it was near and dear to our hearts. The Xenaverse is about heart and the Greater Good (we EXCEL at it - over the last 19 years the Xenaverse has raised over 15 MILLION dollars for various charities). We dig deep and we help others less fortunate. What better way to celebrate than to give of ourselves and money? You all thought it was a great idea and have supporting the auction every year since then.

Since 2006 the support we have received from all of you for the AUSXIP Starship Auction has been EXTRAORDINARY. You have supported the auction through your words, your deeds and your contributions. I've lost count how many times I've been approached / emailed and have people donate their collections. We have raised over $110,000 for Starship since 2006. Pretty good eh?

Let me tell you about Starship. They are a SUPERB group of people from the CEO down. Brad and his team have worked with AUSXIP on every auction to help make the process run as smoothly as possible. They have gone out of their way to help. I've visited Starship HQ a few times and I can tell you, they are a hardworking team and the job they do is incredible. Yes the auction is a lot of hard work for the AUSXIP Charity team but at the end, when we see what goes to Starship and the good it does? All the hard work and tiredness is long forgotten and we prep for the next year!

Starship sent me this amazing video that I can now share with you all to show us what it means for them and they enlisted the aid of some very special kids. We were truly honoured and got a little teary after seeing it. This is as much for you, for all your support as it is for us. THANK YOU!

Kiwi Artist Crowdsourcing Funds for Global Art Peace Project Monday, 12 May 2014, 10:52 am
Press Release: Boosted

Kiwi Artist Crowdsourcing Funds to Continue Global Art Peace Project

Peace in 10,000 Hands to be Boosted's biggest campaign

Queenstown artist Stu Robertson is photographing a single white rose, an ancient symbol of peace, in the hands of 10,000 people from every country on the planet - and is now turning to the New Zealand Arts Foundation crowd-funding platform Boosted to raise $55,000 for the next leg of his journey: South Africa and Asia.

The "Peace in 10,000 Hands" crowd-funding campaign kicks off from 8th May to 12thJune and will be the largest campaign to hit Boosted since it launched a little over a year ago.

Stu plans to use the funds raised from Boosted to continue his project in the South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, where several nations are struggling with peace. Every $100 raised from the Boosted campaign allows Stu to photograph one more person.

When completed, the project will become a contemporary art exhibition on a scale that confronts, provokes and gives rise to a global conversation for peace. Artworks from the project are being donated 100% to charities focused on furthering peace through children's education, safety and wellbeing.

Stu's already captured over 1,350 people from all walks of life around the world holding the white rose in the palm of their hands, including Hollywood celebrities Danny DeVito, Demi Moore, Ricky Gervais, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Brooke Shields; as well as famous New Zealanders such as the Governor General, Sir Richard Taylor, Sir Richard Hadlee, Sir Ray Avery, Sir Stephen Tindall, Valerie Adams, Lucy Lawless, and Martin Henderson (to name a few!).

Lesser-known individuals who have taken part range from remote Indian villagers, whose photographed hands reveal fingers lost to disease, to heavily tattooed, bare-chested urban LA street gang leaders.

In addition to the photograph, Stu also records each model's personal definition of "what peace means" next to their photograph.

New Zealand Arts Foundation Executive Director Simon Bowden says that Boosted has granted more than $340,000 to fantastic projects in the past year and is proud to support a New Zealand artist taking on the world:

"The Arts Foundation is excited to support our biggest Boosted project to date. His project is ambitious and it is great to see that so many people all over the world are taking notice. The responses to Stu's images are stunning and demonstrate that the arts know no borders. We are proud to support a New Zealand artist taking on the world."

During his travels to 12 countries, Stu has met with several people who have expressed their interest in supporting his art project, including film companies, book publishers, art galleries and US-based social networking businesses.

"I am thrilled to be working with the Boosted team and I am really grateful for the extra support and advice they are giving to the project," says Stu Robertson. "Funds raised via Boosted will get me one step closer to achieving the goal of photographing 10,000 people.

"But it's more than that: I would also love for this campaign to be successful so that it can help shine a massive light on the New Zealand arts community, and ultimately help other artists carry out their dreams like I am."

People wanting to contribute to Stu's campaign can do so by visiting www.boosted.org.nz/projects/peace-in-10000-hands before 12th June.

Every $500 raised from the Boosted campaign puts Stu on the road for one more day in another country photographing the white rose in the hands of hundreds more people.

About Peace in 10,000 Hands
peacein10000hands.com
facebook.com/PeaceIn10000Hands

About Boosted:
In the past 12 months, Boosted has helped New Zealand artists raise more than $340,000 through its crowd-funding platform, which was launched a year ago and remains our country's most dedicated arts focused crowd-funding website.

Created some new artwork from the 2009 Greenpeace campaign Sign On with Lucy being one of the NZ Ambassadors.

You can find out more about this campaign on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Sign On Campaign Page

Click on the thumbnail for the larger scan

Here’s a nifty image of a brochure/leaflet that is promoting The Code, the new ABC mini-series that will be seen on Australian (and overseas) TV later in the year (see the links below for more info on that).

-  Press Release: BBC Four Announces New Acquisition The Code 11 April 2014

-  Mini-Series “The Code” with Lucy Lawless Sold To Overseas Markets

You can find out more about “The Code” on the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Code Subsite

Here are some more image of Lucy from the series

What is The Code About?

Lucy Lawless of Xena: Warrior Princess fame, Dan Spielman from Offspring and Adam Garcia from Coyote Ugly are some of the big names starring in a political thriller filmed in Canberra, Sydney and Broken Hill.

CODE, a six-hour series for ABC TV. CODE is being billed as a ''contemporary thriller stretching from the spectacular red desert of Australia's outback to the cool corridors of power''. It's the story of two very different brothers who come across a new technology that people in the highest echelons of power will kill to keep secret.
CAST

• Lucy Lawless (Spartacus), 
• Dan Spielman (An Accidental Soldier, Offspring), 
• Ashley Zuckerman (The Slap, Rush), 
• Adam Garcia (Coyote Ugly, Bootmen), 
• David Wenham (Answered by Fire, Killing Time), 
• Aden Young (I Frankenstein, Rectify), 
• Chelsie Preston Crayford (Mystery of a Hansom Cab, Underbelly: Razor), 
• Adele Perovic (SLiDE), 
• Dan Wyllie (Rake, Puberty Blues), 
• Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish, City Homicide), 
• Paul Tassone (Underbelly).

There’s an interesting article in the US newspaper “Austin American Statesman” for 5 May 2014 on Seth Paskin from the Partially Examined Life podcast. There is a brief mention of Lucy in the article about taking part in the PEL podcast.

“We try to come up with a concept or an issue or something we can treat philosophically in a discrete chunk,” Paskin says. “Like: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the best form of government? Why should you act ethically?”

The part-time philosophers don’t try to cover everything about the subjects, which they discuss with some degree of seriousness or irreverence. They try to refine tremendously complicated arguments.

“What is the insight?” Paskin asks. “And can we cash it out with our real-world experiences?”

They’ve recorded more than 90 episodes and have crossed the 5 million-download mark. They attract an average of 100,000 hits a month and offer a members’ area for discussion groups.

“We did an episode on Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men,’ ” Paskin says. “And one on fame with Lucy Lawless, who’s actually a fan of the podcast. She’s going back to school to get a degree in philosophy or political theory.”

LISTEN OR READ TRANSCRIPT OF THE PODCAST

The following was originally posted on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless on 10 December 2012

Back in October (Oct 7) The Partially Examined Life site released a 2 hour podcast they did with Lucy on the subject of fame. This was such an interesting podcast. It was unfortunate for non English speaking fans that some could not understand all of the podcast. I was asked by several fans if a transcript existed. I contacted the guys from Partially Examined Life and asked. Unfortunately there wasn't a transcript. I received a very cool email this afternoon from Seth from the Partially Examined Life site to say they did have an transcript that I could share with the fans! Many thanks to Seth and the team at Partially Examined Life for this wonderful transcript!

It's in PDF format and quite lengthy.

READ THE TRANSCRIPT

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF FILE

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

• Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:03:11 — 112.8MB)

On Fame: What the Classics Tell Us About Our Cult of Celebrity by Tom Payne (2010).

What’s the deal with our f’ed up relationship with celebrities? Payne says that celebrities serve a social need that’s equal parts religion and and aggression. TV’s Lucy Lawless (Xena, Spartacus, Battlestar Galactica) joins us to discuss the accuracy of this thesis, along with her obsession with philosophy (and our podcast), the relation between fandom and mental illness, the drive for fame, sacrificial heroes, celebrity encounters, fame for fame’s sake, infamy, celebrity philosophers, mentally ill philosophers, and what Nietzsche’s will to power has to do with all of this.

The following is a scan from the NZ print edition of the New Zealand Herald on Sunday 04 May 2014 for Peace In 10,000 Hands Project

The full photo of Lucy with that white rose can be seen on the official site

Viva tweeted this photo of her and Lucy Lawless at the filming of a Starz promo for Spartacus

The video is below

6) Starz-Originals from Tony Molina Director-DP on Vimeo.

Universal is re-releasing Xena Season 5 (and has a new nifty Xena cover photo that looks alot like the Season 4 Re-released cover...)

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE DVD RELEASE OF XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS - SEASON 5! Xena goes to Hell and back, to save those she loves most. Starring Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor.

The price is $22.98 (that has come down in price). It is Region 1 and it will be released on 22 July via Amazon.com and other retail outlets.

Click here to pre-order your copy now

Now here's a little bit of a 'huh' moment...check out the cover for Season 4 and Season 5...same bow, different Xena pose...

Season Five

Actors: Lucy Lawless
Format: Box set, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 5
Rated: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Release Date: July 22, 2014
Run Time: 979 minutes
Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item
ASIN: B00K0D9760
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,151 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Here’s a fantastic photo of Lucy from the New Zealand Pre-Oscar Party on 21 March 2003. Lucy performed on stage with Dave Dobbyn to a gathering of New Zealand expats, actors producers and other assorted guests at the NZ Pre-Oscar Party.

and some more photos