They're soap operas with a message. A nurse educator has developed an education campaign using professional actors to spread the word that safe sex pays off. Rachel Jones uses scripts based on focus groups with women in Newark and Jersey City.
Jones filmed a series of 12 soap opera vignettes with a grant from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, and recently received a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant to test the campaign's effectiveness. Women in the federal study will view the 20-minute episodes on their cell phones.
Jones says the scripts feature stories of risk and risk reduction that women can identify with. Viewing by cell phone ensures privacy and offers the viewer the chance to watch episodes again.
Amanda Donohoe glad to be on EMMERDALE
Sexy movie star Amanda Donohoe swapped Hollywood for the Yorkshire Dales because she was bored. Donohoe is joining EMMERDALE after getting tired of the party-mad lifestyle in Tinseltown. And she insists her new life as the soap’s sexy, jodhpur-wearing Natasha Wylde suits her down to the ground.
The glamorous star, who spent 12 years living the high life in Los Angeles, says: "No way do I miss Hollywood. I had an incredible time and loved it – it was overwhelming at times – but my disco party days are over. You do get bored with it after a while and I think I was a little bit lost at the end. I didn’t have family there, or a relationship or children to ground me and I was very lonely by the end of my stay."
Liverpool CORONATION STREET star in cancer hellCORONATION STREET star Ken Cope lived for six years with the secret agony of a cancer "death sentence". But veteran actor Ken, who plays Jed Stone in the STREET, has now been informed that he NEVER had cancer and his diagnosis was wrong.
The 77-year-old TV legend, who first rose to fame as the spectral private eye Marty Hopkirk in "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)", sees the irony in the fact that he has cheated death.
Now angry Ken is demanding an apology from the NHS after he suffered a six-year nightmare "waiting to die" because of the wrong diagnosis.
Ex-CORRIE star Bruce Jones is "broke"
Former CORONATION STREET star Bruce Jones has admitted that he is "broke" following a series of bad business deals. The actor confirmed that he has faced a financial crisis since his character Les Battersby was axed from the ITV1 soap in May 2007.
"I had 10 great years in that show and probably earned over a million pounds but now it's virtually all gone," Jones told The People. "I made investments but they've been hit badly like everyone else. I'm broke. While on Coronation Street I was earning £150,000 a year plus personal appearances. Now I haven't got a clue what I've earned this year. I know it's not a lot - probably £20,000 - and there is not much left of that. I'm just a jobbing actor now."
Stars may see smaller paychecks
For Hollywood circa 2009, it's all about belt-tightening -- only for once, that would have nothing to do with subzero clothing sizes. Like every place else on the planet, the pinch of the recession will be very much felt in Tinseltown, from the film and TV studios in Hollywood and Burbank to those gated Beverly Hills mansions.
It's still business as usual for the Will Smiths, Angelina Jolies and Adam Sandlers, but the Nicole Kidmans in the industry are going to find it a lot harder to justify their old asking prices, given their recent box-office track records -- Oscar or no Oscar.
The same goes for the small screen, where soap queens such as ALL MY CHILDREN stalwart Susan Lucci recently saw their salaries slashed by as much as 40%, while old reliables such as Deirdre Hall was turfed from DAYS OF OUR LIVES after something like 28 years of playing doctor.
Thanks to the prolonged economic downturn, TV shows are facing fewer words from their sponsors.
L.A. Canyon's Tommy Garrett: I Dream of Jeanne
"This year I am dreaming of Jeanne. Jeanne Cooper that is. The dynamic star of Y&R won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Daytime Drama last year and it was a long time overdue. But Academy voters are pondering their choices again this year and it’s a year full of sensational performances. Along with Cooper, other Best Actress nominations should include Melody Thomas Scott, Jess Walton, Katherine Kelly Lang and Kim Zimmer. Sorry ABC and NBC, but CBS was on top of its game this year."
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