News Brief

REVIEW: Logo's SORDID LIVES
When it comes to actors, you get what you pay for. With that in mind, the best part of the new Logo series SORDID LIVES: THE SERIES is its breathtaking cast that includes Olivia Newton-John, Rue McClanahan, Bonnie Bedelia, Caroline Rhea, and Leslie Jordan — even if, in the case of this labor-of-love project, most of this A-list talent apparently worked for far less than their usual fees.

German born actor Florian Klein joins the cast of GENERAL HOSPITAL
GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC’s longest-running Daytime soap opera, welcomes new arrival Florian Klein. The German native will make his debut on August 6th as a new, mysterious member of Port Charles’ Russian drug mafia.

"I don’t speak a word of Russian," says Florian Klein, "But that’s why they call it Acting." He continues, "I have a dialect coach from Russia who helps me with the accent. Plus, Russian or German – we’re both used to playing the villains!"

Florian, who was trained overseas and at the renowned HB studio in New York, just recently appeared in a Martini & Rossi commercial alongside George Clooney. "It was a pleasure working with someone like George. He’s so professional and just great."

Soap stars hanging in Cherry Hill
ALL MY CHILDREN actress Bobbie Eakes, and Kathy Brier and Kassie DePaiva, of ONE LIFE TO LIVE, have been at Cherry Hill's Four Star Studios of late rehearsing and recording sessions to prepare for their upcoming show "Divas of Daytime TV," which opens at the Canal Room in New York on Aug. 16. Ricky Paull Goldin, of ALL MY CHILDREN, hosts the live show, produced by Creative Entertainment's Mark Stevens of the Dovells and created by Marvin Segel, son of QVC founder Joe Segel.

Canon U.S.A. XH G1 HD Camcorders help revolutionize the look of GL
Satisfying the viewing public year after year requires many things from a television production organization, not the least of which is superior writing and acting talent. These days such efforts also include staying one step ahead of ever-evolving audience expectations. In today's era of reality television this means providing a "you are there" look that engages viewers as never before and reinforces the believability of the environments depicted onscreen. Guiding Light strategically enhanced its "look" earlier this year by becoming the first series of its kind to be filmed exclusively with small, hand-held, highly portable digital camcorders, which enable the show to be shot inside actual homes and offices, or on location practically anywhere. The camcorder chosen for this new production model was Canon's XH G1, which is engineered with the technology, features, and durability necessary for producing five daily one-hour shows each and every week for an audience of millions of dedicated viewers.

"Our Canon XH G1 camcorders work great for us," noted GUIDING LIGHT director of production services Lou Grieci. "We do seven taping days a week over a five-day period; five days here in our Manhattan studio and two days in the field. We use a total of 18 Canon XH G1 camcorders and shoot 10- to 12-hour days, three cameras at a time, or four cameras out in the field. We produce 250 shows per year. We also have one Canon XL H1. We use its wide-angle lens for establishing shots."

The key to GUIDING LIGHT's new production model of exclusively using compact, hand-held Canon camcorders is what Janet Morrison, the producer of the show's digital department, described as "Four walls and a ceiling."

"No one else does that," she elaborated. "The concept of 'Four walls and a ceiling' is part of what we felt the show's new production model needed to be. Its purpose is to make the show more intimate for the viewer and to really bring them into Springfield, so they can be a part of these characters' lives in a way they haven't been before." Springfield, GUIDING LIGHT's fictional locale, is portrayed by a suburban New Jersey town several miles west of the series' Manhattan studios.

Recap of this week's soap stories (spoilers for the rest of the week)
On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Parker (barely 15) and his girlfriend/cousin have sex. While Luke and Noah fans are patiently waiting for them to finally make love, ATWT has decided Luke's cousin Parker should be the one to have sex first, with a family member no less.