Model: Nora from Wundermanagement.

Make up: Nicole Artmont

Styling: Henny Letailleur

This year she made a grand entrance into the intimate apparel market with a spectacular collection of luxury lingerie that fuses modern comfort with classic Hollywood glamour.

Whitney decided to create Good Night Gilda to cater to the real American woman who come in a wider range of body shapes and sizes.

A devout fan of the unapologetic heroines of Hollywood, she drew inspiration from the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth those titular femme fatale characters from the noir classic “Gilda” ultimately became the name of her brand. These elegant timeless pieces range from $78 for thongs to $315 for robes.

You can see more at www.goodnightgilda.com

In 1939, Jules Roth, a convicted felon, bought the cemetery. He used the money from the cemetery’s operations to pay for luxuries and let the cemetery fall into disrepair, also closing it to most racial minorities, e.g. forbidding actress Hattie McDaniel to be buried there. To settle tax bills, he sold some of the cemetery’s buildings along Santa Monica Boulevard, which became home to an auto-parts store and a laundromat.^[4] He also sold the original entrance to strip malls, never repaired the roofs or earthquake damage to crypts and left the fund meant to take care of the cemetery till the end of time missing about $9 million, according to the current owner.^[2] By 1997, Roth was bankrupt. He died on 4 January 1998.^[4] The state of California had revoked the cemetery’s license to sell its remaining plots.

I worked on the Paramount lot that sits behind the cemetery for several months several years ago and  heard numerous stories of people seeing ghosts on the lot in the early hours.

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. Here in Los Angeles last weekI was introduced to this ritual at the forever Hollywood cemetery where people dressed in costume and displayed shrines for the beloved dead.

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Toys are brought for dead children (los angelitos, or “the little angels”), and bottles of tequila, mezcal or pulque or jars of atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased’s favorite candies on the grave. Ofrendas are also put in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto (“bread of the dead”), and sugar skulls and beverages such as atole. The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased.^[2] Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the “spiritual essence” of the ofrendasfood, so even though the celebrators eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives. In many places, people have picnics at the grave site as well.

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (colloquially called calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for “skeleton”), and foods such as sugar or chocolate skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls are gifts that can be given to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto, a sweet egg bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

A feast for the eyes in a crazy sort of way. I was respectful whilst taking these image however it seemed to not bother the people and their shrines and they in fact embraced all of the cameras. Even the dead in Hollywood love the limelight!

The art work was spread in between the tomb stones and ashes on display with the sound of the drum beating outside and the flashing colors of lights it was a surreal feeling walking around them.

A dear friend  Johnny owns a fab bar called Harvard and Stone in Hollywood and we were able to jump in for a couple of hours and use the place as a back drop.

http://www.harvardandstone.com

Their song Dirty gets stuck in your brain. Its just one of those songs you cannot remove. They have a Kings of Leon sound with strong vocals and catchy rhythms. Check out the song “Everybody is Alright’ at the bottom of the blog too.

The song Dirty play it here: Dirty

Everybody Is Alright

From there, Moore appeared in “CSI: Miami”,” “Law and Order” and “First Daughter” with Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas and Michael Keaton. One of his most notable roles was Finny in “A Separate Peace.”

Noted as a young hot actor to watch, Moore will star in “Burger Kings,” directed by Scott Kalvert (Basketball Diaries) and will play the lead role in “Playing with the Enemy,” a war movie based on a true story that involved Moore’s grandfather.  The movie is slated to be released in June 2012 and was written by Writer/Producer David Ranes.

For the last few years Moore has been concentrating on theatre and has had some well-received shows both in America and internationally. Most recently he played the coveted role of Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Moore’s upcoming roles in films are already generating industry buzz and will surely make him a household name within the year.

See more about Toby at www.tobymoore.com.

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

You, Me and The Circus – Behind the scenes still photography by Samantha Fielding.

This was an exceptional project to work on. A dear friend asked if I wanted to run away with the circus. How could I possibly say no? We shot this independent movie in a Los Angeles studio where I found myself part of this incredible, dedicated & dreamy atmosphere. Marlon and Ty are beautiful spirits which made the cast and crew feel right at home, happily giving 100% of themselves. Fine actors, make-up and sparkling costumes on a 15 day shoot brought the crew a special bond as we created this magical project. Thus began my daunting job of editing 6,000 images. I am currently working with Omar and Ty on a project of bringing the finer images to a coffee table book that will showcase this intensely, beautiful movie. I hope to announce the release soon. Stay tuned for updates on my blog.

The film was produced by Omar Epps (Love & Basketball, House), Marlon Ollivierre, Seth Caplan and Ty Hodges and stars Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) as Max/HIM, Anita Briem (Journey To The Center of the Earth) as Bo/HER, Ty Hodges as Ralph/LIPS and Melonie Diaz (Raising Victor Vargus, Hamlet 2) as Andrea/BF, Erin Cummings (Bitch Slap, Detroit 1-8-7) as Khloe, Amy Correa-Bell as Leslie, and introduces Ashley Applewhite as Sabrina. Marlon Wayans (GI Joe, White Chicks), Columbus Short (Stomp The Yard, Armored, The Losers) and Omar Epps make scene-stealing cameos.

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Clink on following link to watch the video. You,Me and The Circus

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

I was given the opportunity to shoot the behind the scenes for DJ Sharam’s GET WILD music video last year. Dj Sharam is an Iranian-American International progressive house DJ and producer, forming one half of the Grammy award-winning DJ/production duo, Deep Dish.He is a Grammy award winning producer whose sets are unique while his production skills are diverse and ambitious.

On one side he rocks a marathon underground set like his legendary 10 hour stint at Warung Beach Club in Brazil to a sold out crowd of 4000 (2 hours of Sharam’s seminal live set was featured on his 2011 Essential Mix on BBC’s Radio 1), and on the other side he can effortlessly entertain a diverse crowd of younger dance enthusiasts and VIPs in Vegas, Miami and Ibiza with a penchant for quality music that’s engaging and entertaining, without compromising his art as a forward thinking DJ/Producer.

Set at the Paramount Ranch, Sharam directed his cast and crew. The dusty streets were filled with the sound of jingling spurs, the smell of gunsmoke, and the sight of horse-drawn stagecoaches rolling by.

The streets were once filled with the numerous Hollywood stars who made movies here at Paramount Ranch, including Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda,and Burt Lancaster.

Behind the scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Westerns used to be a very popular staple for most Hollywood studios, and it’s hard to recreate the wide-open spaces needed for cowboy shoot ‘em ups on a studio back lot. So rather than trek out to Arizona or Colorado for authentic location shooting, many Hollywood movie studios simply invested in large stretches of undeveloped land closer to home, where the natural terrain could pass for the open ranges of the Old West.

They called them “movie ranches,” and many of the films you thought were shot in some exotic locale were actually done right in your own back yard. The studios had to pay the union workers extra if they worked “out of town” (meaning farther than 35 miles from Hollywood), and these studio ranches were within that magic 35-mile circle, saving the studios money . As a result, you once found movie ranches scattered throughout both the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Fernando Valley. A few of these have survived.

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

Behind The Scenes Dj Sharam

I love Paris. Whenever I go to London I try and make a trip to across the channel, the Eurostar takes you from London to Paris in two hours pretty impressive and smooth. Hotel Costes is a favorite its romantic velvet and tassels gets me every time, however this trip we decided to rent a loft in the 19 section of the city and see how it was to live a little like a Parisian.
Waking up and walking out to the local bakery for morning pan au chocolates was a treat, even though my French is awful! The weather was cold but no rain so walking boots were applied and off we went. I had 4 cameras with me but found that I wanted to explore the city with my hipstamatic app on my iphone. I set it to Random and walked the city with John and another couple. Normally I would stop every couple of seconds to shoot and John would have the patience of a saint. This time however I walked and shot on random without stopping. I love the effects on this app and the randomness in the shots. This is my Paris on Valentines day.

Our second location was a locals bar. Off the beaten path from the tourists with a certain pride to it. Behind the bar whilst setting up the shot I found an urn with the ashes of one local that never wanted to leave. Old photos and the smell of liquor filled the air. This was some of the real New Orleans and it is only the first day of shooting! Outside of the bar stenciled on the floor was a blue dog graffiti. This I was told was one of New Orleans known graffiti artists. His girlfriend decided to start her own stencil after they split , it is called ret cat! I will endeavor to find one.