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Charity
The charity artwork project Whateverittakes.org has collaborated with a host of world famous celebrities to design personalised artworks to raise money for charity
George Clooney has designed his own plate to support his charity of choice CARE.
The plates are available from the beginning of August and are available from Whateverittakes.org.
George Clooney’s Charitable Causes
May 2007 News
Want the latest news on George Clooney’s film, Leatherheads? Check out Clooney Project. Please report dead links and other site problems to admin@clooneyunlimited.com. Thanks!
Exclusive Interview. Ezra Buzzington who plays a referee in Leatherheads was nice enough to answer some questions for Clooney Network. Read it here. Be sure to check out Ezra’s IMDB page! Older news and photos can be found here.
May 12, 2007
More changes for Clooney Network. News will now be available on our new homepage in blog format. Click here to see our changes and participate in our latest contest!!
May 9, 2007
A Fantastic Opportunity. Check out Ebay where you can bid on an Ocean’s 13 VIP pass to the premiere and after party with the cast. What a great opportunity!
May 5 , 2007
I’ve been away…I apologize for the lack of news. I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t had much time to do anything fun and that includes working on my websites:-)
Beauty Inside & Out (People Magazine) These striking celebrities do
more than just look good, they do good.
GEORGE CLOONEY RELIEF FOR DARFUR. ADVOCATE FOR The International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to resolving deadly conflicts in places like Darfur. In April 2006 Clooney visited refugee camps in the African country and later testified before the U.N. Security Council about the tragedy. WHY HE’S MOTIVATED: “My visit certainly made me more passionate about it,” says Clooney, 46. “But it’s important that a trip like that isn’t about how it affected me. That’s the danger of celebrity–to go, ‘It was so sad for me.’ The truth is, it’s sad for the millions of people whose lives are being destroyed.” To learn more, go to www.crisisgroup.org
Emerging Talent to end with ‘Sorrow’ “Sand and Sorrow,” a documentary about Darfur produced and narrated by George Clooney, will serve as the closing night film at the first International Emerging Talent Film Festival, which will be held from May 13-15 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. The fest will present 22 films from emerging filmmakers in 20 countries and will open with the European premiere of Thom Fitzgerald’s AIDS drama “3 Needles.” Visit the Sand and Sorrow website here.
Burn After Reading Casting News. John Malkovich is in negotiations to star opposite George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand in the Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading” for Focus Features and Working Title Films. The dark screwball comedy centers on Ozzie Cox (Malkovich), a former CIA agent who loses the disc of the memoir he is writing. McDormand will play Cox’s philandering wife. Clooney is set to play an assassin. Because the screenplay is being kept under wraps, it is unclear what Pitt’s character will be. Shooting is scheduled to begin in August. Joel and Ethan Coen penned the screenplay, and the former will direct the contemporary-set project. Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing alongside the Coens. Malkovich, whose upcoming film credits include “Beowulf” and “The Great Buck Howard,” is a two-time Oscar nominee for “In the Line of Fire” and “Places in the Heart.” “Burn” would mark his first collaboration with the Coens. (Hollywood Reporter)
TV Alert: George to appear in Cronkite Tribute. CBS News will honor longtime anchor Walter Cronkite with a primetime special later this month, the network said Thursday. “That’s the Way It is: Celebrating Cronkite at 90″ will air at 8 pm. Friday, May 18, on CBS. It will mark the history and legacy of the 91-year-old TV legend, who most recently contributed to the “CBS Evening News” by announcing the beginning of the September 5, 2006, show that started Katie Couric’s tenure. Couric will be in the roster of news stars — as well as competitors Charles Gibson and Brian Williams — who will be interviewed about Cronkite’s legacy. Also appearing will be CBS News journalists Don Hewitt, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer and the man who replaced Cronkite in 1981, Dan Rather. So too will be Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and Ted Koppel plus friends Spike Lee, George Clooney and Robin Williams. (Hollywood Reporter)
From Joe Carnahan’s Personal Blog “Smokin’ Joe Carnahan” Clooney is filming the Coen Bros. movie next and then he’s sliding into one of Klein’s Sy Devore suits and we’re beating the holy hell out of Eisenhower-era L.A. I am putting together a little show reel for WHITE JAZZ including some badass photoshop stuff of Clooney AS Klein (against a 1957 shot of Chavez Ravine that looks like he’s standing in it) and I am going to see about throwing that up here for your viewing pleasure.
The Time 100 Most Influential. There is a Mende proverb told by my tribe in 
Sierra Leone: “The stranger who tells our stories when we cannot speak not only awakens our spirits and hearts but also shows our humanity—which others want to forget—and in doing so, becomes family.” When George Clooney went to Darfur to raise awareness of the suffering of the people there, he became part of our family. As someone who was forced to participate in the Sierra Leonean civil war as a child soldier, I know the damage that war causes to human beings. But I also know the resilience of the human spirit; I know that there is always the possibility for recovery. That is something that Clooney clearly sees too. He has used his fame to speak wholeheartedly for those who cannot speak, with genuine concern and insight and a deep commitment and selflessness that is rare but does not have to be. Clooney, 46, took his family—his father is veteran television journalist Nick Clooney—with him to Darfur on his first trip there in 2006, and together they made A Journey to Darfur, which aired on the AmericanLife network. The actor returned to the U.S. as a consistent advocate for action in that war-ravaged region, addressing a rally in Washington, lobbying the Senate, speaking before the U.N. Security Council. His celebrity gave him the opportunity to speak. But when he spoke, it was simply as another human being, one with unremitting passion, who could not stand by and watch the genocide in Darfur continue. We need more people like George Clooney and his father, people who are willing to work hard to expose the suffering of our fellow human beings in all parts of the world.
Clooney, Heslov visit ‘Tehran’ George Clooney and his Smoke House partner Grant Heslov will co-write a dramedy for Warner Bros. Pictures detailing how the CIA, with help from Hollywood, used a fake movie project to smuggle a handful of Americans out of Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis. Warners has snapped up the film rights to Joshuah Berman’s Wired magazine article on the real-life intelligence tale and set it up with Smoke House to produce. As with any Smoke House project, “Escape From Tehran” is a potential directing and starring vehicle for Clooney. Project is the first Heslov and Clooney have penned together since 2005’s “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Berman’s article in the current issue of Wired centers around CIA operative Tony Mendez, a master of disguise who was put in charge of rescuing six Americans hiding out in Tehran. He came up with the idea of using a bogus movie and contacted Hollywood makeup artist John Chambers. Chambers and Bob Sidell, also a makeup artist, launched
Studio Six Prods. (an allusion to the six Americans awaiting rescue) and announced their first movie project, to be shot in Iran. Both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter were duped into writing news stories on the film after Studio Six took out trade ads. Mendez went to Tehran in January 1980 and told the Americans to pretend they were Canadians on a scouting trip for a big-budget Hollywood epic. The ruse worked. Smokehouse VP Nina Wolarsky brought in “Escape.” David Klawans (”Nacho Libre”) is attached to produce. UTA repped the magazine article. Heslov and Clooney launched the Warners-based Smoke House last year after Clooney parted ways with former partner Steven Soderbergh.Clooney is currently directing and starring in the 1920s sports pic “Leatherheads,” which Smoke House is producing for Universal. (By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK Variety)
Leatherheads updates (with thanks to Clooney Project)
‘Leatherheads’ shooting in Greensboro There’s no George Clooney - yet. But War Memorial Stadium is decked out for him and the other stars of the movie “Leatherheads.” Filming for the movie is taking place in front of the stadium on Yanceyville Street today. The scene being shot is a crowd scene and the extras are all in period dress. Clooney stars in and directs the movie, set during the 1920s at the dawn of pro football. His co-stars include Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski of TV’s “The Office.” Extras were being fitted with costumes early this morning. Members of the Tarheel T’s Model T Ford Club of the Piedmont were also revving their engines for their part in the movie. Eight Model T’s owned and driven by club members are being used for the film.
Turning Heads:
Residents try for sneak peeks at George Clooney, actors in town for movie Since George Clooney came to town last week to shoot scenes for his movie Leatherheads, Megan Abrams has been coming downtown in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. When Clooney walked by her Friday, she happened to be looking the wrong way and noticed him only as he was walking away. That was not cceptable. [Offsite]
Wheres’ George?
It’s a wrap! The “Leatherheads” team is packing up its lights and cameras and taking its action elsewhere. Not since Kevin Costner and crew first brought their golf clubs to town in 2001 has Greenville been this flush, suffering from celebrity fever. This spring, all anyone has heard from the carpool to the boardroom is, “Have you seen George?” Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen him, tried to talk with him. His agent’s reply: “As you might imagine, the number of requests for interviews has been overwhelming. George is currently not able to conduct any of these interviews while filming, since directing, as well as acting, is occupying all of his available time.” [Offsite]
Cleaning Up:
Twin City Cleaners is one of many local businesses bolstered by movie Bailey Dempsey and her husband, Dan, became familiar faces at the costume trailers on the set of Leatherheads, the movie being filmed in the Winston-Salem area. The couple picked up and dropped off costumes for the film’s principals and extras for the past week. A representative for Speakeasy Productions LLC contacted the Dempseys nearly two weeks ago about cleaning costumes for Leatherheads at their dry cleaners, Twin City Cleaners & Wedding Gown Specialists based in Lewisville. [Offsite]
Film crew uses Winston-Salem City Hall for movie Leatherheads. People who happened to be in the vicinity of city hall this morning got to see Renee Zellweger, one of the stars of Leatherheads, a movie about the early days of professional football that has been shooting in Winston-Salem. Extras dressed as reporters surrounded Zellweger on the steps of City Hall as photographers with the production shot still photos. The movie is set in the mid-1920s. The production has been shooting in Winston-Salem for the past week at such locations as the Millennium Center, the Nissen Apartments Building and Hanes Middle School. Shooting here will wrap up tomorrow. From here, it’s on to Statesville.
George Clooney’s ‘Leatherheads’ filming continues in Greensboro. He wasn’t there early, but when George Clooney did arrive, he created a stir among bystanders and extras on the set of his new movie. Clooney, along with cast and crew, was at War Memorial Stadium on Thursday to film scenes for “Leatherheads,” a movie in which he’s starring and directing. The romantic comedy, which also stars Renee Zellweger, is about the early days of professional football in the 1920s. While others were at the set as early as 5:30 a.m., Clooney wasn’t sighted until midmorning. He jogged past the front of the stadium and up a short grassy bank to join a crew of extras. With nothing blocking her view, Wesaal Khan was able to get a picture of Clooney on her camera phone. She shrieked, then called her sister in South Africa. Along with Khan, a research assistant at North Carolina A&T State University, were fellow researcher Xiu Lidong of China and Parvaneh Nouri. They left the laboratory quickly when they learned Clooney was at the nearby stadium, Nouri said. “They are Ph.D doctors and they just left the room,” Nouri said. Anne Reaves, an extra from Greensboro, finished her scenes for the day, then raved about the lunches of salmon, lasagna, Caesar salad and cakes — and about Clooney. “I saw George Clooney today in his little T-shirt. He’s so cute,” she said. Earlier in the day, extras were fitted in their 1920s period dress, the Ford Model T’s were parked at the stadium, and firefighters stood ready to provide rainwater on the set. “I don’t think I want to be a movie star if I have to get up at this hour,” said Greensboro police Sgt. Bill Hedrick, who arrived at the stadium at 5:30 a.m. to help with traffic. “Of course, George Clooney may still be asleep.” The eight cars needed for Thursday’s shots were provided by the Tar Heel T’s Model T Ford Club of the Piedmont, and club members didn’t complain about the hour. Filming for the movie began earlier this year in South Carolina and has taken place since then in several North Carolina locations. It is expected to finish in June.
Emerging Talent to end with ‘Sorrow’
“Sand and Sorrow,” a documentary about Darfur produced and narrated by George Clooney, will serve as the closing night film at the first International Emerging Talent Film Festival, which will be held from May 13-15 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. The fest will present 22 films from emerging filmmakers in 20 countries and will open with the European premiere of Thom Fitzgerald’s AIDS drama “3 Needles.”
The event will take place at the Grimaldi Forum and will present eleven features, including two world premieres, three European premieres and two French premieres. The IETFF will partner with the Natural Resources Defense Council to turn the festival into a “green” film event.
The fest’s mission is to discover and promote promising cinema talents, to encourage dialogue between filmmakers, to promote cultural diversity and international understanding and to engage the art of cinema. The IETFF will focus on discovering filmmaking talent from developing and underdeveloped regions of the globe.
The fest has been founded by creative director Max Ryerson along with co-founder Noriko Bonafede, association president; Marco Orsini, co-founder and executive director; and Mitch Levine, fest producer and president of The Film Festival Group.
In addition to screening “Sand,” a panel on “Crisis in Darfur – Cinema Responds” will be presented on May 15. Panelists are expected to include Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, the African Union’s Major Reuben Colince Ondoua, director Paul Freedman and author John Prendergastm, who co-penned “Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond” with actor Don Cheadle.
On May 14, there will lbe a screening of the film “Invisible Children,” which has sparked a campaign to improve the quality of life for war-affected children in Uganda.
The fest also will included a jury competition, which will chose the Wing Awards to be presented to filmmakers in various categories.
The feature line-up includes Lorne Thyssen’s “A Tale of Two Generals,” Jon Barker’s “Bunny Chow,” Tai-sik Kim’s “Driving with My Wife’s Lover,” Douglas Horn’s “Entry Level,” Eva Pospisilova’s “Marta,” Tania Hermida’s “Que Tan Lejos,” Andres Baiz’s “Satanas,” Arindam Mitra’s “Shoonya,” Robert Franke’s “Sovia,” Luc Dambia, Abdoulaye Diallo and Gideon Vink’s “Tele Guerre,” and Joy Dietrich’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.”
Jamie Meets George in Lousiana
Thanks to Jamie for sharing her fun experience of seeing George in Cameron, Lousiana on December 20th. Please don’t remove the photos or articles from Clooney Network. However, you can click on each image for a larger version. 
“I wouldn’t go all that way to drool over someone.” That was the exact words my Husband said when I told him that I was thinking about going to see George Clooney in Louisiana that Wednesday. The problem here was that I would go all that way to drool over someone.
I found out on Clooneynetwork.com that Monday night that George Clooney and George Bush Sr. were scheduled to be in Cameron, Louisiana on Wednesday, December 20th. My first thought was that was as close to me as he was ever going to get. Then my mind went into overdrive and left me in the dust. If I could get my Mom on board there was nothing keeping me from going down there and seeing George Clooney. The major problem with that was Mom being scheduled to work that day. I, myself, would quit my job and live the life of a vagabond if it meant that I got to stand within a few feet of George Clooney. So I was good. When I called Mom I braced myself for the let down. If she couldn’t go I knew there was no way I could go. My mind almost couldn’t process the sentence, “I was going to call in anyway.”
So here we were. We didn’t decide immediately whether or not to go. Instead I thought about it all throughout my 8 hour work day. I thought about it all throughout my daughters Girl Scout meeting. It was the subject of many discussions with friends. Earlier that day, Mom had made me call the Cameron Police Department to confirm that George was actually going to be there. The last thing we needed was to drive the length of Louisiana and him not be there. A very excited lady named Debbie confirmed that he was going to be there. It was about 7:30 PM that night when we made the final decision to go. Another 3 hours later we actually began our road trip. We dubbed it (brace yourself), “Clooney Quest”.
She drove for awhile. When her eyes got tired, I drove. I also prayed a lot. I prayed the truck wouldn’t break down, or that none of the tires would go flat. I prayed that a deer wouldn’t jump in front of the truck, or that I wouldn’t fall asleep, and around 5 in the morning, I prayed for a place to eat. I am convinced that, in the remote area of Louisiana we were traveling through, the cops clocked out at 5 and went home for the day. So you know that there were no eating places open and we were starving.
All of my prayers were answered that morning. The final being answered when we found the Waffle Shoppe. My Mom, thinking she was English Royalty, sat down to a four course meal. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her chuck a leg bone over her shoulder. She also drank lots of coffee. As I attempted to sleep while she drove, it dawned on me how much coffee she had guzzled. I can’t really tell you what she talked about, only that she talked a lot.
Cameron, Louisiana is as far south in Louisiana as you can go without running into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a small town in a very secluded area. Cameron, Louisiana was almost wiped off the face of the Earth. I wish that I was a proficient enough writer and could convey to you how ugly the scars of Hurricane Rita are. It had been a year and peoples houses and lives were still destroyed. There is still not much relief. The people and the land have still not recuperated.
When we pulled into Cameron we were exhausted. The local motel was still under construction, but the owner assured us he had a room. While we went to the ATM, we decided to do a drive by. We drove to the courthouse where the ceremony was going to be held so we could scope things out. I chatted with a local cop who thought we were nuts for driving all that way. He then informed us that Clooney had cancelled because of a cold. Certain things just aren’t funny when the only hour of sleep you had was in a truck driven by a mad, chatty woman. He started laughing and I slapped him on the arm. I was going in again when I realized that Zsa Zsa Gabor had been arrested for something similar. He was still shaking his head laughing when we left back for the motel.
After a nice hot shower and about an hour of lying in bed waiting to fall asleep, it occurred to me that I was too excited to go to sleep. Mom couldn’t sleep because of all the coffee. We got up, beautified ourselves, and went outside into the rain. The rain immediately let it be known to both me and my Mom that our hair was not going to hold any curl anywhere. I am pretty sure I heard my bangs sob. We ate a breakfast of burgers and nachos and decided to go and visit Debbie at the courthouse. I had told her the previous day that if we decided to drive down I would come and see her. Imagine my surprise, and Debbie’s, when it came out that we had never talked. Apparently, someone who was not Debbie had used her name. It was a mystery that the entire office tried, without success, to solve. They did, however, have an enjoyable time ribbing us about coming from Arkansas to see George Clooney.
We left them and went to stake out our place on the bleachers. The seats in the middle were reserved for the staff of the hospital that was destroyed. They were some of the first people there. After that, there was nothing to do but wait. School buses arrived. More people came. Coast Guard helicopters flew overhead and dazzled the crowd because we all knew the 2 Georges were getting closer. Then, it was getting close to time to begin.
The thing you must understand about my Mom is that at this point, she is just not a real big George Clooney fan. She doesn’t dislike him, per se, but she’s just a Ben Affleck girl. In fact, when there were plans
for Clooney to open a casino in Las Vegas, the only way I could con her into going was to say that Ben Affleck was going to be there at the opening. Yes, I did and yes, it worked. It is at this particular junction on our Clooney Quest that my Mom almost got the crowd into hysterics. She thought she saw him so she pointed and declared, “Look, there he is.” It was, in fact, not.
I thought the 2 Georges would be there throughout the whole ceremony, but they weren’t. They broke for a reception for the luckiest hospital staff in the entire world. Everyone sitting in a white chair had about an hour to schmooze with Clooney and Bush. I was wishing I was a nurse. Plus, my butt was really numb.
I was grateful to have my Mom there because it was as close to being in two different places at once as I was going to ever get. She went down on the ground to get a good shot of him coming out of the courthouse. My numb butt whimpered as I forced it to stay seated so I could get the stage shots and guard our seats.
I knew George had walked out when the crowd started screaming and clapping. I couldn’t immediately see him because the stage was in my way. When he didn’t appear on the stage for a few minutes it dawned on me that he was walking the perimeter greeting the crowd. My Mom was fuming at me when she got back to the bleachers. She had gotten to shake Clooney’s hand and I was the reason we had came. So I took a couple of shots of him sitting down and passed the camera off to Mom. I bestowed the honor of getting
the speech shots to her and made my way down to the perimeter rope. The rumor floating around was that after the speeches and money was donated, he and the President would make their way around the perimeter greeting the crowd. Sure enough, when I got there I heard the sheriffs department saying that Clooney wasn’t suppose to go around the first time like he did. It had caught them a little off guard.
I wish I could say that I heard the speeches but I was too involved in a conversation I was having with a group of 12 year olds. They were ecstatic! He had autographed the one girl’s notebook and posed for a photo with them. What none of us knew right then while we were jumping up and down (yes, me too) was that picture of them with Clooney would be in the paper the next day bigger than life. It was a good picture.
As predicted, after the speeches the 2 Georges came down to greet the line. The only problem was that I was at the wrong end of the line. It became apparent after a few minutes that they were not going to be coming down my way. I hustled my way to the end of the line and commenced to ducking and weaving. You duck so a person’s camera arm doesn’t smack you in the head as they raise their camera and you weave your way in while others weave their way out.
Victory was mine to be had when I finally reached the front of the line. George was 3 feet from me and inching my way. The impatient crowd, however, was pushing his way and I was losing my balance. Of course, you know the person in front gets in trouble for the crowd surging forward. Secret Service or body guard, I have not a clue, but he asked me to step back. I am wondering where he thinks I was going to step back to? In the end, I was just grateful I didn’t fall on George because it was getting a little
hairy there for a minute.
Then, it happened. Clooney shook my hand and looked me square in the eyes, just like all the other people whose hands he had shook said he would. If he shook your hand, he looked you in the eye. Victory was indeed very sweet.
Clooney and Bush retreated back into the courthouse after a long while. I didn’t find out until about an hour later that Diane Sawyer was there. She was interviewing them inside the courthouse and it aired the morning after on Good Morning America. I kept hearing people mention the Producer, but I had no idea who they were referring to. Jerry Weintraub was there, but I had no idea what he looked like so I missed the chance to schmooze with him. It was sometime later when they exited the courthouse. Most people had left, but there was still a small crowd milling about. George came out and took a picture with some small children and then regrettably informed us that he couldn’t hold the President up. It was obvious he would have stayed as long as it took to please everyone. He was warm and receiving. He was also very handsome. After enduring my Mom telling me the whole trip down there not to be too disappointed when I saw him because celebrities never look the same as they do in the movies, I was pretty annoyed at how handsome he actually was. It is just not fair for one person to have all that personality and good looks to boot. I was also annoyed because the entire way home all Mom, the Ben Affleck girl, could talk about was how handsome George Clooney was. I haven’t asked, but I am pretty sure nonetheless, that my Mom is now the George Clooney girl.
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