Archive for 'With Disabilities'

The Hollywood Life: Mini Darth Vader Volkswagen Super Bowl Spot is a Family Affair

The Hollywood Life: Mini Darth Vader Volkswagen Super Bowl Spot is a Family Affair

Posted on 05. Feb, 2011 by .

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Hollywood is the only place I know where you, your kids, your pets and your property can all aspire to some small shot at fame.  This adorable Super Bowl half-time commercial featuring *a pint-sized Darth Vader was shot in and outside of my in-law’s lovely Tarzana, California ranch home.  Kind of ironic that when it debuts on the air for the first time during Super Bowl XLV we’ll be in that very same house for the Bobbitt’s annual Super Bowl bash. Life is often funny that way in La La Land.

* Darth Vader is played to perfection by 6-year-old Max Page, of San Clemente, CA, who is over the moon with the positive reviews of his new Volkswagen commercial entitled “The Force.”  In the spot, Page repeatedly tries (and fails) to harness the power of the Force to manipulate objects around him while dressed in his best “Star Wars” attire.  KTLA reports that when he was 4 years old, Page was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and currently has a pacemaker. More than seven million people have viewed this ‘Darth Vader’ commercial from Volkswagen online.  Page plays Reed Hellstrom on “The Young and the Restless,” and is represented commercially ad theatrically by the Buchwald Talent Group.

One last piece of trivia that will bring us full circle – this home was once owned by former child actor C. Thomas Howell (The Outsiders).

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BUZZ: Have Child Actor Atticus Shaffer Send Your Digital Holiday Greetings This Year-FREE!

BUZZ: Have Child Actor Atticus Shaffer Send Your Digital Holiday Greetings This Year-FREE!

Posted on 13. Dec, 2010 by .

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Brick, better known as child actor Atticus Shaffer, the youngest sibling in ABC’s hit comedy “The Middle,” is offering his own unique and hilarious, unorthodox advice for the holidays (and beyond) in free, quirky personalized online video greetings, available at ABC.com at http://GreetingsFromBrick.com.  Personally, I can’t think of any child actor I’d rather receive a holiday greeting from – other than my own that is!

Once on ABC.com, you can select from hundreds of names, locations, holiday and event phrases recorded by Atticus, which are seamlessly merged into a fully customized greeting, developed by StarGreetz. The video greeting features Atticus and addresses your recipients personally, resulting in literally millions of one-of-a-kind combinations. Simply fill in your recipient’s name, relationship, location, specific holiday or event (i.e. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Groundhog Day, day of the week, etc.), along with a selected tip or greeting that could only come from Brick, as well as your name and relationship, and the greeting will be created. After previewing it, you can send the greeting to your friends and family via e-mail or directly to their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

This personalized video promotion kicks off the holiday season for “The Middle,” which will air its original yuletide episode, “A Simple Christmas,” on Wednesday, December 8 (8:00-8:30 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

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Who are the Top Paid Child Stars of TV & What Do They Have in Common?

Who are the Top Paid Child Stars of TV & What Do They Have in Common?

Posted on 12. May, 2010 by .

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#1 is Angus T. Jones - seriously, who knew?

The New York Post reports on the highest salaries of television child stars, and you may be surprised at who comes out of on top.   At 16, CBS teen actor Angus T. Jones make $250,000, per episode of his show “Two and a Half Men,”and according to their new survey, he’s also the highest-paid child star working in television today.

The second-highest-paid child actor on television is Miranda Cosgrove, 16, who earns approximately $180,000 per episode of her Nickelodeon series iCarly. Whoa.

Jordan Bobbitt & #3 Selena Gomez - an HMB favorite!

Coming is third on the list is one of our HMB favorites, Selena Gomez, at $25,000 per episode of her Disney hit “The Wizards of Waverly Place.”

Here is the remainder of the top paid television child stars list:

Jordan with #4 Cole Sprouse, one of the most polite kids in the business

4. Twin Brothers Dylan (not pictured) and Cole Sprouse, 17 of the “The Suite Life” franchise at $20,000 each, per episode.

#5 Keke Palmer with former child star Raven Simone

5. Talented Keke Palmer, 16 of “True Jackson VP” makes $20,000 per episode.

#6 Miley with Momager Tish. Don't let the list fool you though - she rakes in the big bucks in a million other ways...

6. Miley Cyrus, 17, on Disney’s “Hannah Montana” makes $15,000 each episode.

Rico Rodriguez with Billy Bush and his Sister Raina

7. Rico Rodriguez, 11 of the most hilarious “Modern Family” makes $15,000 each week.

#8 Demi Lovato

8. Demi Lovato, 17, on Disney’s “Sonny With a Chance” comes in at $12,000 per show.

#9 is relative new comer Victoria Justice

9. Victoria Justice, 17, of Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” earns $12,000 per show.

Atticus Shaffer may be #10 on the list, but he's #1 in our hearts!

10. Atticus Shaffer, 11, of “The Middle” who HMB profiled recently brings home a deserved $12,000 for his comedic contributions to the hit show.

While reviewing the list, one fact is apparent – it pays to be funny.  All of the kids on the top ten list are using their comedic skills on their top-rated comedy shows. There are several talented child actors on more serious programs like Parents, Brothers and Sisters, Big Love, Medium, Ghost Whisperer – and while talented, you don’t find any of these youngsters on the big bucks list. Lesson to learn: Sign your child actor up for an improv class pronto!

The other strikingly obvious commonality for me is that most if not all of the females on list are triple threats of stage, song and dance – not to mention they all resemble each other with olive skin, dark hair and an ethnic ambiguity that seems to be so “in” at casting calls these days. As for the top paid guys and with the exception of the Blonde Sprouse brothers; they’re all what I’d call quirky and very unique.

And of course the most obvious trait all these kids possess: Talent. Truckloads of it.

The talented ensemble cast of "Sonny with a Chance." Only Lead Demi Lovato made the top ten list.

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Autistic Child Actor, Braeden Reed Cast in “Dear John”

Autistic Child Actor, Braeden Reed Cast in “Dear John”

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by .

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Dear John (In theaters Feb 5, 2010) follows the relationship between Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) as they communicate via love letters over the course of a war-filled decade.  Some of Amanda Seyfield’s scenes also involve a young autistic character, Alan, played by 6 year old Braeden Reed.

“To work with Braeden in “Dear John” was completely wonderful,” said Director Lasse Hallstrom. “He brought charm and intelligence and spontaneity to the part he played. He was fearless and lacked that inhibition that many other kids have in front of the camera. It was therefore a delight to get to know Braeden and I look forward to the opportunity to show his charm and inventive intelligence to an audience!”

Phil Blevins, Executive Director of Carolina Autism, a Charleston-based non-profit agency that serves people with autism, consulted with the “Dear John” filmmakers on matters relating to autism spectrum disorders, and responded enthusiastically to Hallstrom’s proposal that a child with autism audition for the role.  Blevins introduced the filmmakers to a number of boys, including Braeden Reed. While dozens of typically developing boys also auditioned, in the end Braeden, a child with autism, won the role.

Livestock coordinator Dan Hydrick (who provided the animals for the production) was required to teach Reed to actually ride a horse.  “Autism has to do with concentration, and if you’ve done any riding a horse, you know that you need to pay attention to what you’re doing,” Hydrick told the Los Angeles Times. “Braeden was exceptional. I just know that he made my job fairly easy.”

Teaching an autistic child to ride a horse was an experience to remember for Hydrick which required significant research. He had to find the right horse for the job visiting half-a-dozen different stables.  he finally called on his  mentor Marion Reid, of Stono River Stable. Marion was then suffering from Alzheimer’s so his wife, Annie Caroline, showed Hydrick the different horses.

According to Hydrick: “I looked at a horse named Honey. Honey was a smaller horse, just a quarter-horse, a regular riding stable plug. Old racetrack horses, they’re called plugs. They’re just quiet school horses because they give riding lessons. And that’s what I’m looking for — settled, just real calm. Then when we had Braeden come out, we showed him all the different horses, but he liked Honey. And within 10 minutes, I knew it was going to work.”

In terms of teaching Reed to ride, “Braeden set the pace,” Hydrick said. “We had just the three of us — me, Annie Caroline and Braeden — and Annie Caroline is incredible. The way she got him to wear the helmet is she wore a helmet walking next to him. She would ask, ‘Would you like to ride? Would you like to get on Honey’s back?’ We started off walking with the horse, progressed to me leading the horse with him on it, progressed to him holding the reins. We let Braeden take it to the next step. ‘Braeden, would you like to ride with Dan not having his hand on your shoulder?’ ‘Braeden, would you like to ride by yourself?’ Those questions were always asked of him to make him comfortable. Gutsy little kid, I’ll tell you.”

According to IMDB, this was Braeden’s first feature film.

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