"It's too important of a story not to do," says Mintz, who is producer-director. Simon Egleton, a former associate producer of The Wire, is also producing.
Unable to sculpt, Bender spends his days painting and working on his model trolley cars. He is a founder of the Vidocq Society, a group of volunteer cold-case gumshoes whose story is the subject of the best seller The Murder Room, by Michael Capuzzo.
Media notes
CBS3 anchor
Ukee Washington will be a guest Washington Generals player against the Harlem Globetrotters at the Wells Fargo Center at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Generals plan to use him as a four-point specialist - putting him in select offensive sets to shoot the new four-point shot, at least 35 feet from the hoop. In a moment made for CBS television, he will be pitted against the Globies'
"Big Easy" Lofton, who happens to be competing on CBS's
The Amazing Race. Washington will wear No. 00 on his jersey. No. 3 belongs to Generals owner
Red Klotz. During a halftime ceremony, the 89-year-old Klotz's number will be raised to the rafters in a ceremony.
Wednesday will mark the return to work of NBC10's Justin Pizzi, who spent five weeks in a brace after surgery to replace two disks in his neck. Pizzi, 32, said the pain had come out of nowhere and turned chronic.
Joey Fortman, last heard on Now 97.5 before it became a sports-talk station in late 2009, is back on the radio. She is a fill-in/weekender on WXTU (92.5).
Behind the scenes
James Franco and
Tyrese Gibson played boxing naval officers in the 2006 movie
Annapolis, which was filmed at Girard College. But when the punches seemed to turn real, the filmmakers had to separate the actors, as veteran actor
Charles Napier relates in his new book,
Square Jaw and Big Heart (BearManor Media). Napier, who played tough guys/authority figures in such films as
Rambo: First Blood Part II (an intelligence officer),
Philadelphia (the judge), and
The Silence of the Lambs (a prison guard and Hannibal victim), told his stories to
Dante Renzulli Jr., whom he had met on the
Annapolis set. Renzulli says his day job as a lawyer in Exton, handling estates and small businesses, pales in comparison to his hobby of appearing as an extra, which has landed him roles in other films, such as
Invincible and the now-in-theaters
Limitless.
Restaurant report
Chestnut Hill is seeing a growth spurt as a dining destination. Last week, Iron Hill Brewery announced that it would open its ninth brewpub in its 15-year history at 8400 Germantown Ave., now an empty space between the Talbots and Jos. A. Bank stores. It also will be the first Philadelphia location for partners
Kevin Finn,
Kevin Davies, and
Mark Edelson. Opening is projected for this year. On Friday,
Chip Roman and
Jason Chichonski plan to open Mica, a restaurant at 8609 Germantown Ave. In the works for late spring is Chestnut7 Kitchen & Bar, which
Brian Harrington and
Kevin Clib want to fill the spot at 8201 Germantown Ave. vacated recently by Solaris Grille.
Honors
Cost of a Soul, a film written and directed by Norristown native
Sean Kirkpatrick about the homecoming of two Iraqi war veterans (played by
Chris Kerson and
Will Blagrove), won the I Am Rogue Big Break Movie contest, sponsors Relativity Media and AMC Theatres announced Friday. It will play 50 AMC theaters nationwide April 15 after a to-be-announced screening at the Philadelphia CineFest. Kirkpatrick, a 2001 Kennedy-Kenrick High grad, and producer
Edward J. Eberwine III had titled the film
Redemption during shooting in Philly neighborhoods in spring 2009.
Chef Vola's, the Italian restaurant in Atlantic City with the reputedly unlisted phone number (relax - it's 609-345-2022), is being honored by the James Beard Foundation in its "America's Classics" category. Michael and Louise Esposito will get their prize in a ceremony May 9 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Previous America's Classics winners include Mustache Bill's Diner of Barnegat Light, N.J.; John's Roast Pork of South Philly; and the White House Sub Shop of Atlantic City.
Travel + Leisure Magazine ranks the Rittenhouse Hotel fourth among city hotels in America. Tops are the Trump International in Chicago, the Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and the Peninsula in Chicago.
Out and about
Patti LaBelle's connection to the Philadelphia International Flower Show? Not her bright stage getups. It's Convention Center event manager
Don Johnson, who in a previous life was a backup singer for her. "I'm in wonderland," said LaBelle of her show visit Thursday, her first ever. Her tour guides were Pennsylvania Horticultural Society president
Drew Becher and Flower Show director of design
Sam Lemheney.
Homegrown retired running back Eddie George and a son toured the Please Touch Museum on Friday. A staffer who is a Tennessee Titans fan recognized the Heisman winner, who let on that it was his first visit.
Quotable
"Not unless I'm signing it and giving it to charity." - Phillies alum
Mike Schmidt, when I asked him the other day if he still picks up a baseball bat.
Contact columnist Michael Kleinat mklein@phillynews.com. Follow
his blog at http://go.philly.com/insider and on Twitter @phillyinsider.
