Damon and Vedder to teach "People's History"

Clarice

Someone knows more about this project? tks


By Carly Mayberry Reuters --

LA - Matt Damon, Marisa Tomei and Eddie Vedder will contribute their talents to a documentary miniseries based on historian-author Howard Zinn's 1980 book "A People's History of the United States".

Titled "The People Speak", the project will feature music and readings based on America's struggles with war, class, race and the rights of women. No network is attached yet.

Damon and Tomei, along with Viggo Mortensen, Josh Brolin, Danny Glover, David Strathairn and Kerry Washington, will provide performances for the project, which will interweave archival footage, photographs and interviews. Pearl Jam frontman Vedder and R&B singer John Legend will handle the music.

"It's going to be a great piece of entertainment but more importantly something people can watch and learn and remember how great this country has been and how individual people have changed the course of history," said executive producer Chris Moore. "It's going to make them think, laugh and cry and be proud to be American."

The project, also based on Zinn's companion book "Voices of a People's History of the United States" which he co-wrote with Anthony Arnove, will begin production in January in Boston.

Zinn, who will provide introductions and the historical context through on-camera appearances, also is executive producing.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

DiRtYyELLoWoCeAn

sounds cool!

Clarice

Yes, no doubt. Sounds very, very nice.. i would like to know more about this.

Zoso

can't wait for this!

PJSEMPRE

Yet another role for former NNY resident Viggo Mortensen
DRAMATIC READING: Actor tapes passages from book for a TV miniseries, 'The People Speak'
'BY JUDE SEYMOUR
TIMES STAFF WRITER
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20080420/CURR04/921892591
SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2008
Coming this fall to a television, a theater, a computer or a classroom near you: Viggo P. Mortensen narrating stories of political activism long overlooked by standard history texts.

Mr. Mortensen, a graduate of both Watertown High School and St. Lawrence University, Canton, is a featured performer in "The People Speak," a dramatic reading of passages from Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States."

Mr. Zinn, a Boston University political science professor emeritus, offered "A People's History" as an alternative perspective on American history that didn't appear in mainstream texts. The nonfiction book was embraced by readers and has sold more than one million copies since it was first published in 1980.

Mr. Mortensen read at least two different passages and sang an a-cappella rendition of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" during a taping in Boston this past winter, according to Ara Katz, a producer at Artfire Films, Hollywood, which is producing "The People Speak."

Mr. Mortensen, now of Los Angeles, read an account from Plough Jogger, a heavily taxed farmer who protested his government's oppression by participating in Shays's Rebellion, an 18th century uprising in Massachusetts.

The actor, who read the work of New World settler Bartolomé de las Casas at a Zinn event in 2005, reprised that role for the Boston taping. "A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies" by de las Casas, which recounts the genocide of Native Americans by Spanish settlers, was included in Mr. Zinn's book.

Miss Katz said that "The People Speak" will be made into four one-hour television episodes.

As for where it will air, the producer said: "We're still figuring that out."

There are also plans to produce Internet-only videos, called "webisodes," and a related educational curriculum as companions to the miniseries.

Miss Katz said that parts of "The People Speak" may also be shown in theaters "as limited engagements woven in with live readings."

The producer said filming will continue May 1 at the Malibu Performing Arts Center in California with readings by Sean Penn ("Mystic River") and Don Cheadle ("Crash") and a performance by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of the alt-rock band Pearl Jam.

When asked if Mr. Mortensen would make a return appearance, Miss Katz replied: "We don't know. He might do more. He's a very active supporter of the project."

Besides Mr. Mortensen, the Boston taping included readings from Josh Brolin ("No Country for Old Men"), Marisa Tomei ("My Cousin Vinny") and Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon") and songs from rhythm and blues artist John Legend.

Miss Katz said she isn't sure which of Mr. Mortensen's performances will make the final cut, although a promotional trailer includes his Jogger reading.

Mr. Mortensen is filming an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Road," in Pennsylvania. That film is scheduled to open Nov. 26