title: Stations of the Cross

text: Following the siege of 1187, Jerusalem fell to the forces of Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. Forty years later, members of the Franciscan religious order were allowed back into the Holy Land. Their founder, Saint Francis of Assisi, held the Passion of Christ in special veneration and is said to have been the first person to receive stigmata. In 1217, St. Francis also founded the Custody of the Holy Land to guard and promote the devotion to Christian holy places. The Franciscans' efforts were recognized when Pope Clement VI officially proclaimed them the custodians of holy places in 1342. Although several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the 12–14th centuries (e.g. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce, Burchard of Mount Sion, and James of Verona), mention a "Via Sacra", i.e. a settled route that pilgrims followed, there is nothing in their accounts to identify this with the Way of the Cross, as we understand it. The earliest use of the word "stations", as applied to the accustomed halting-places along the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in the mid-15th century and described pilgrims following the footsteps of Christ to Golgotha. In 1521, a book called "Geystlich Strass" (German: "spiritual road") was printed with illustrations of the stations in the Holy Land.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Franciscans began to build a series of outdoor shrines in Europe to duplicate their counterparts in the Holy Land. The number of stations at these shrines varied between seven and thirty; seven was common. These were usually placed, often in small buildings, along the approach to a church, as in a set of 1490 by Adam Kraft, leading to the Johanniskirche in Nuremberg. A number of rural examples were established as attractions in their own right, usually on attractive wooded hills. These include the Sacro Monte di Domodossola (1657) and Sacro Monte di Belmonte (1712), and form part of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy World Heritage Site, together with other examples on different devotional themes. The sculptures at these sites are very elaborate and often nearly life-size. Remnants of these sites are often referred to as calvary hills.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: In 1686, in answer to their petition, Pope Innocent XI granted to the Franciscans the right to erect stations within their churches. In 1731, Pope Clement XII extended to all churches the right to have the stations, provided that a Franciscan father erected them, with the consent of the local bishop. At the same time the number of stations was fixed at fourteen. In 1857, the bishops of England were allowed to erect the stations by themselves, without the intervention of a Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this right was extended to bishops throughout the church.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: The early set of seven scenes was usually numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11 and 14 from the list below. From the late 16th century to the present, the standard complement has consisted of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Although not traditionally part of the Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus is sometimes included as an unofficial fifteenth station. One very different version, called the Via Lucis ("Way of Light"), comprising the Fourteen "Stations of Light" or "Stations of the Resurrection", starts Jesus rising from the dead and ends with Pentecost.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have a clear scriptural foundation. Station 4 appears out of order from scripture; Jesus's mother is present at the crucifixion but is only mentioned after Jesus is nailed to the cross and before he dies (between stations 11 and 12). The scriptures contain no accounts whatsoever of any woman wiping Jesus's face nor of Jesus falling as stated in Stations 3, 6, 7 and 9. Station 13 (Jesus's body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of his mother Mary) differs from the gospels' record, which states that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross and buried him.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: To provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross, on Good Friday 1991. He celebrated that form many times but not exclusively at the Colosseum in Italy, using the following sequence (as published by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops):


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Another set of Stations are being used by the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Filipinos use this set during "Visita Iglesia", which is usually done every Holy Week.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: In the Roman Catholic Church, the devotion may be conducted personally by the faithful, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having an officiating celebrant move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The stations themselves must consist of, at the very least, fourteen wooden crosses—pictures alone do not suffice—and they must be blessed by someone with the authority to erect stations.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Pope John Paul II led an annual public prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday. Originally, the pope himself carried the cross from station to station, but in his last years when age and infirmity limited his strength, John Paul presided over the celebration from a stage on the Palatine Hill, while others carried the cross. Just days prior to his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II observed the Stations of the Cross from his private chapel. Each year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. Past composers of the Papal Stations include several non-Catholics. The pope himself wrote the texts for the Great Jubilee in 2000 and used the traditional Stations.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the Fridays of Lent, especially Good Friday. Community celebrations are usually accompanied by various songs and prayers. Particularly common as musical accompaniment is the Stabat Mater. At the end of each station the Adoramus Te is sometimes sung. The Alleluia is also sung, except during Lent.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Structurally, Mel Gibson's 2004 film, "The Passion of the Christ", follows the Stations of the Cross.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Some modern liturgists say the traditional Stations of the Cross are incomplete without a final scene depicting the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus because Jesus' rising from the dead was an integral part of his salvific work on Earth. Advocates of the traditional form of the Stations ending with the body of Jesus being placed in the tomb say the Stations are intended as a meditation on the atoning death of Jesus, and not as a complete picture of his life, death, and resurrection. Another point of contention, at least between some ranking liturgists and traditionalists, is (the use of) the "New Way of the Cross" being recited exclusively in the Philippines and by Filipinos abroad.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: The Stations of the Resurrection (also known by the Latin name of "Via Lucis," Way of Light) are used in some churches at Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Franz Liszt wrote a "Via Crucis" for choir, soloists and piano or organ or harmonium in 1879. In 1931, French organist Marcel Dupré improvised and transcribed musical meditations based on fourteen poems by Paul Claudel, one for each station.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Peter Maxwell Davies's "Vesalii Icones" (1969), for male dancer, solo cello and instrumental ensemble, brings together the Stations of the Cross and a series of drawings from the anatomical treatise "De humani corporis fabrica" (1543) by the Belgian physician Andreas van Wesel (Vesalius). In Davies's sequence, the final "station" represents the Resurrection, but of Antichrist, the composer's moral point being the need to distinguish what is false from what is real.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: David Bowie regarded his 1976 song "Station to Station" as "very much concerned with the stations of the cross". Paweł Łukaszewski wrote "Via Crucis" in 2000 and it was premiered by the Wrocław Opera on Good Friday March 30, 2018, and transmitted on TVP Kultura. Stefano Vagnini's 2002 modular oratorio, "Via Crucis", is a composition for organ, computer, choir, string orchestra and brass quartet. Italian composer Fabio Mengozzi released his electronic album "Via crucis" in 2022.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: As the Stations of the Cross are prayed during the season of Lent in Catholic churches, each station is traditionally followed by a verse of the Stabat Mater, composed in the 13th century by Franciscan Jacopone da Todi. James Matthew Wilson's poetic sequence, "The Stations of the Cross", is written in the same meter as da Todi's poem.


title: Stations of the Cross

text: Dimitris Lyacos' third part of the Poena Damni trilogy, "The First Death", is divided in fourteen sections in order to emphasise the "Via Dolorosa" of its marooned protagonist during his ascent on the mount of the island which constitutes the setting of the work.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Safe Haven is a 2013 American romantic drama fantasy thriller film starring Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel and Cobie Smulders. The film marks the final film role for actor Red West. It was released theatrically in North America on February 14, 2013. The film was directed by Lasse Hallström, and is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' 2010 novel of the same name. The film was originally set for a February 8 release.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: The film begins with a terrified woman, Erin, barefoot and covered in blood, running to an elderly neighbor’s house for shelter. She arrives at a bus station, now with cut and bleached hair. Cops appear and start looking for her, but she gets on a bus and escapes them. Finally, Erin arrives at Southport, North Carolina.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: She introduces herself as Katie at the general store, gets a job as a waitress, and rents a small house on the edge of town. She befriends her neighbor, Jo, and meets Alex Wheatley who operates the local general store. He is a widowed father of two young children, Josh, who has a strained relationship with him, and Lexie.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Katie soon begins a relationship with Alex, and becomes a mother figure to Josh and Lexie. Meanwhile, Kevin Tierney, a Boston police detective, prepares wanted posters for "Erin", a woman accused of first-degree murder. Alex sees the poster in the police station and notices the picture bears a striking resemblance to Katie. He confronts her, causing a huge fight which ends in their breakup and her moving out.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: As Katie is about to leave town, Alex intercepts her, saying he has fallen in love with her, begging her not to leave and promising to keep her safe. Katie reluctantly returns his love, and decides to stay in Southport (though still apprehensive of bringing danger upon his family). She tells him that she fled there to escape her abusive and alcoholic cop husband. They got in a big fight and she stabbed him in self-defense before fleeing in a panic.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Meanwhile, Kevin is suspended for creating the false wanted posters - for crimes that were not committed - and for drinking on the job. He turns out to be Katie's (Erin's) husband, still alive and well. A flashback reveals that on the night Katie ran away, she stabbed Kevin with a knife when he attacked her in a drunken rage. Enraged, he breaks into Katie's former neighbor's home in Boston and gets the phone number to the restaurant where Katie works. Arriving in time for the town's Fourth of July parade, a severely intoxicated Kevin sees Katie kissing Alex, which enrages him. That evening, Katie has a dream that she is standing on the docks watching the fireworks when Jo comes up and tells Katie that "he" is here. Katie wakes up in the convenience store next to a sleeping Lexie when Kevin suddenly appears and confronts her, demanding that she go back with him. She refuses and tells him to leave. Kevin pulls a gun and pours gasoline all over the store, with the intent to burn it down.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Katie buys time by faking sympathy and agreeing to go back with him. When he lets his guard down, she pushes him into the water. A firework spark lands on the gasoline, igniting a fire that engulfs the store. Alex sees the burning store, quickly crosses the harbor by boat, and saves Lexie. Meanwhile, as Katie tries to fight off Kevin, the gun goes off and kills him.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: After the fire, Alex recovers several letters written by his late wife Carly before she died. They were prepared ahead of time for memorable events such as Josh's eighteenth birthday and Lexie's wedding day. He also reconciles with Josh.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Jo later tells Katie that she will be leaving Southport soon. Katie thanks her for being a good friend and Jo tells her, "You deserve this, Katie. You belong here."


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Alex gives Katie a letter with the words "To Her" on the envelope. It explains that Alex must be in love to have given her the letter and she hopes that she feels the same, wishing that she could be there with them. Enclosed with the letter is a photo of Alex's late wife. Katie realizes that her neighbor "Jo" was the ghost of Carly watching over them.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: According to a 2012 Twitch Film article, Keira Knightley had entered into "early talks" to play Katie, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with the 2013 film "Begin Again".


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: The film began principal photography on June 18, 2012 in Wilmington and Southport, North Carolina. Parts of it were filmed in Louisiana and the opening scene with Katie on the Coach America bus is on the Linn Cove Viaduct along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: "Safe Haven" grossed US$71,349,120 in North America and US$26,245,020 in other territories for a worldwide total of US$97,594,140.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed US$21,401,594, finishing third at the box office behind "A Good Day to Die Hard" (US$24,834,845) and "Identity Thief" (US$23,674,295).


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Critical reaction for "Safe Haven" was largely negative. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 13%, based on reviews from 146 critics, with an average rating of 4.00/10. The consensus reads, "Schmaltzy, predictable, and melodramatic, "Safe Haven" also suffers from a ludicrous plot twist, making for a particularly ignominious Nicholas Sparks adaptation." On Metacritic the film has a score of 34 out of 100, a "generally unfavorable" score, based on 33 reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+.


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Richard Roeper called the film "Bat. Bleep. Crazy." and asks if the filmmakers or a key character is out of her mind. Roeper expresses disbelief at the twist ending, and "how insane the whole thing is". Aside from the twist ending he would have given the film 2.5 stars, but ultimately gives it only 1.5 out of four stars. Peter Bradshaw, writing for "The Guardian", called "Safe Haven"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s setting "a sugary vision of small-town America that does not correspond with the real world at any point." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film zero stars out of four, and concluded his review by stating: "I hate "Safe Haven". It's a terrible thing to do to your Valentine."


title: Safe Haven (film)

text: Despite the film's negative reception, it was nominated for a Teen Choice Awards in the category Choice Movie: Romance. Mimi Kirkland received a Young Artist Award nomination in the category "Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film".


title: Michael Beasley

text: Michael Paul Beasley Jr. (born January 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Kansas State University for one year before declaring for the NBA draft in 2008. Beasley was the 2nd pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and was selected by the Miami Heat. He is regarded as one of the best freshman college basketball players of the 2000s. Though he is ambidextrous, he shoots left-handed.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley was born in the Prince George's County town of Cheverly, Maryland. Beasley's mother Fatima Smith and his four siblings (two brothers and two sisters) moved from nearby Montgomery County to Frederick in 2005 and lived there for one year.


title: Michael Beasley

text: While growing up, Beasley played for one of the country's most successful AAU youth teams at the time, the PG Jaguars. Beasley won multiple national championships with this team alongside future fellow blue-chip recruits Kevin Durant (Texas) and Chris Braswell (Charlotte). Beasley later moved on to play AAU ball for DC Assault's 17 & Under team, playing alongside such players as future KSU teammate Ron Anderson, Nolan Smith (Duke), Chris Wright (Georgetown), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), and Julian Vaughn (Georgetown).


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley attended a total of six high schools: Bowie High School in Bowie, Maryland, National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Maryland (where he averaged 30 points and 10 rebounds per game in his freshman year, 2003–04), The Pendleton School in Bradenton, Florida, Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (28 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks per game as a sophomore, 2004–05), Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia (20.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game as a junior, 2005–06), and Notre Dame Preparatory School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. As a high school senior, he averaged 28 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game for the 2006–07 season. During his senior season he had single-game highs of 64 points and 31 rebounds.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In 2006, Beasley was a second-team "Parade" All-American and was also named to the 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team member on June 26, 2006. Beasley averaged team highs of 13.8 ppg. and 8.3 rpg at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in San Antonio, Texas. He ranked fifth in rebounds per game (8.3 rpg) among all 2006 tournament leaders, and he ranks third all-time in the USA Men's U18 record book. He was named to the McDonald's All-American team. In the 2007 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, he won the MVP with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Rivals.com rated Beasley No. 1 in the class of 2007 high school basketball prospects.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley began his freshman year at Kansas State in the fall of 2007. In the 2007–2008 regular season, Beasley was one of the most dominant players in the country. His 26.2 points (3rd in the nation) and nation-leading 12.4 rebounds were the most by a Big 12 player in any season. His 866 total points and 408 rebounds ranked third and second among all freshmen in NCAA history. He also led the nation in double-doubles (28), 40-point games (three), 30-point, 10-rebound games (13), and 20-point, 10-rebound games (22). His 28 double-doubles broke the freshman double-double record previously held by Carmelo Anthony who had 22 double-doubles in his only season at Syracuse in 2002–03. On February 23, 2008, Beasley scored a Big 12 record 44 points in a 92–86 loss at Baylor. (This mark has since been matched by Kansas State's Denis Clemente.) Beasley became known as an unstoppable force when shooting, finishing the season shooting 53.7 percent from the field (282 of 525). He also finished the season shooting 39.5 percent from 3-point range.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley holds 30 Kansas State career, single-season and freshman records as well as 17 Big 12 single-game and single-season marks. Beasley guided the Wildcats to a 20–10 record and a 10–6 Big 12 Conference record. Some of the key conference victories were a win at Oklahoma and, a home victory against Texas A&M, and a victory against then-unbeaten No. 2 Kansas, marking the first time in over four years that Kansas State defeated a Top 10 team at home (Kansas State beat No. 10 Texas, 58–48 on March 6, 2004), the first time K-State beat Kansas in Manhattan since 1983 and the first-ever victory against the Jayhawks in Bramlage Coliseum. The win partially backed up a boast he had made before the season about K-State's prospects against the Jayhawks:


title: Michael Beasley

text: On March 1, 2008, his boast did not come true, as Kansas won the return match in Lawrence, 88–74 despite 39 points and 11 rebounds from Beasley. He matched a Big 12 record by equaling former Kansas player Drew Gooden's record for most double-doubles in a season (25). With his 33-point, 14-rebound effort against Colorado on March 4, he eclipsed Mitch Richmond's 20-year-old school single-season points record (768; 1987–88), while he broke the Big 12 record for double-doubles in a season with his 26th for the year. He is just the 27th player in NCAA Division I history to post 26 or more double-doubles in a season and the first since Utah's Andrew Bogut (26) did it in 2004–05.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley led the Wildcats to a 10–6 record in conference play, earning a number 3 seed in the 2008 Big 12 men's basketball tournament at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Wildcats faced the No. 6 seed Texas A&M Aggies and lost 77–71. Beasley had 25 points and 9 rebounds, one board short of a double-double. He shot 10–21 from the field and 1–4 from behind the three-point line. He also registered three blocks. The Wildcats earned a berth in the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region. They beat the No. 6 seed USC Trojans. Beasley had 23 points and 11 rebounds for his 27th double-double of the year. However, the Wildcats lost 72–55 to No. 3 Wisconsin in the second round of the tournament. Beasley added 23 points (only 6 scored in the second half) and 13 rebounds against the Badgers his 28th and final double-double.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On April 14, 2008, Beasley announced that he would forgo his last three years of eligibility and enter the NBA draft.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley is one of just two players in Kansas State history to earn first team All-America honors from the Associated Press. Overall, Beasley is the fifth player in school history to earn recognition to any of organization's three All-America teams. Beasley was one of 24 finalists for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year award and was selected by voters to the 10-member 2008 John R. Wooden Award All American team. He followed Kevin Durant as the second consecutive standout freshman to win both Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley became the fourth player in school history to be honored as the conference's Player of the Year and the first since the inception of the Big 12. He was the first player to be named league Freshman of the Year and the 12th overall to be selected as either Freshman or Newcomer of the Year since 1970.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley was named National Freshman of the Year by CBS Sports.com, Rivals.com, The Sporting News, and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He has also been selected a first team All-American by numerous outlets, including CBS Sports.com, Dick Vitale, ESPN.com, Rivals.com, "Sports Illustrated", The Sporting News and U.S. Basketball Writers Association. In addition, he was chosen as a first team Freshman All-American by CBS Sports.com and Rivals.com.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In addition, he was named one of four finalists for the 2008 Naismith Player of the Year Award. He also was one of 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Player of the Year award.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On June 26, 2008, Beasley was selected 2nd overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Miami Heat. He signed with the Heat on July 2.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In his NBA Summer League debut on July 7, Beasley scored 28 points and grabbed 9 rebounds (and had 2 assists) in 23 minutes played. He was second in the league in rebound average, and tied for third in scoring average in the 2008 Summer League. During his first official practice with the Heat, he was accidentally hit in the chest with an unidentified teammate's elbow. He was evaluated and returned to the team a day later with chest bruising, but only participated in non-contact play. He had slightly cracked his sternum, and resumed contact drills 2 days after that.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In his first preseason game, Beasley scored 16 points against the Detroit Pistons. He followed those performances with 21 points and 7 rebounds, 12 points and 11 rebounds, 14 points and 6 rebounds, 19 points and no rebounds, 14 points and 3 rebounds, and 19 points and 9 rebounds. On opening night of the 2008–09 regular season, Beasley scored 9 points in a loss against the New York Knicks. He posted double-digit point totals for the next nine straight games, including a season-high 25 points in a loss to Charlotte on November 1.


title: Michael Beasley

text: After the Heat's first round exit from the 2009 playoffs, it was reported that Beasley, along with fellow rookie Mario Chalmers, had been fined multiple times throughout the season for violations of team policy.


title: Michael Beasley

text: During the 2009–10 season, he was a starter for the entire season. On February 19, 2010, he led the Heat to victory over the Memphis Grizzlies with a then career-high 30 points along with 8 rebounds. For the season, he averaged 14.8 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. In the Heat's first-round playoff series loss to Boston, those averages declined to 10.4 and 5.8, respectively.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On July 12, 2010, Beasley was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for 2011 and 2014 second-round draft picks. Beasley was traded in order to clear salary cap space for Miami, allowing them to sign free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh, as well as re-sign Dwyane Wade.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On November 10, 2010, he led the Timberwolves to victory over the Sacramento Kings with a career-high 42 points along with 9 rebounds. He finished the season averaging 19.2 points per game which was ranked top 20 in the league. In the 2011–12 season, Beasley sprained his foot against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 6, 2012 which kept him out for 11 straight games. Shortly after he returned from injury, he led the Timberwolves to victory over the Houston Rockets with 34 points. Over the 2011–12 season, he averaged 11.5 points per game.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On July 20, 2012, Beasley signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Phoenix Suns. Around this time, he decided to train with former two-time NBA champion point guard Norm Nixon in order to improve his game. In a November 7, 2012 game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Beasley scored 21 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 7 assists to help the Suns win 117–110. On January 30, 2013, Beasley scored a season high 27 points with 6 rebounds and 5 steals off the bench to lead the Suns to a 92–86 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 3, 2013, Beasley was waived by the Suns. The decision came shortly after Beasley had been arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession. Lon Babby, the Suns' president of basketball operations, said, "We worked hard to devote ourselves to Michael's success, but we have to maintain the standards to build a championship culture."


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 11, 2013, Beasley signed with the Miami Heat. The Heat made it to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight time in 2014, with Beasley making his first Finals appearance in Game 5 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat lost Game 5 and the series, as the Spurs won 4–1.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 25, 2014, Beasley signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. However, he was later waived by the Grizzlies on October 9. That same day, he signed a one-year deal with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. During the 2015 CBA All-Star Game, Beasley came off the bench to score 59 points, setting a CBA record for most points in the league's All-Star Game.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Despite averaging 28.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.9 steals in 37 games, Beasley could not lead the Sharks to the CBA playoffs as they finished 12th with a 17–21 record.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On February 26, 2015, Beasley signed a 10-day contract with the Miami Heat. The next day, he made his return for the Heat, scoring seven points in a 104–102 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. He then signed a second 10-day contract with the Heat on March 8, and for the rest of the season on March 18.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On June 28, 2015, the Heat declined to pick up their $1.3 million team option on Beasley's 2015–16 contract, making him a free agent.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 30, 2015, Beasley signed with the Shandong Golden Stars for the 2015–16 CBA season, returning to China for a second stint. He scored 48 points in the team's season opener on November 1, and bested that mark with 49 points ten days later. On January 17, 2016, he won the CBA All-Star Game MVP award for the second straight year after recording 63 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists for the South team. Shandong qualified for the 2016 playoffs, but were defeated 3–0 by the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the first round. In 40 games for Shandong, Beasley averaged 31.9 points, 13.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. He was subsequently named the league's Foreign MVP for the 2015–16 season.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On March 4, 2016, Beasley signed with the Houston Rockets. In his third game for the Rockets on March 11, he recorded 18 points and 8 rebounds in just under 15 minutes off the bench in a 102–98 win over the Boston Celtics. On March 19, he recorded a season-high 30 points and 9 rebounds in a 109–97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. On March 31, he recorded his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 103–100 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Beasley helped the Rockets finish the regular season as the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a 41–41 record. Down 2–0 to the first-seeded Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, Beasley scored 12 points in a 97–96 Game 3 win in Houston; he gave Houston a 95–94 lead with two free throws with 41 seconds left.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 22, 2016, Beasley was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Tyler Ennis. On November 12, 2016, he scored a season-high 19 points in a 106–96 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He missed five games in December with a foot injury. On January 10, 2017, he set a new season high with 28 points in a 109–107 win over the San Antonio Spurs. On March 31, 2017, he returned after missing 17 games with a hyperextended left knee, scoring seven points in eight minutes in a 108–105 win over the Detroit Pistons.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On August 8, 2017, Beasley signed with the New York Knicks. On November 25, 2017, he had a season-high 30 points starting in place of the injured Kristaps Porziņģis in a 117–102 loss to the Houston Rockets. On December 16, 2017, once again starting in place of Porziņģis, Beasley tied his season high with 30 points in a 111–96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. On December 21, 2017, he scored 28 of his season-high 32 points in the second half of the Knicks' 102–93 win over the Boston Celtics. He also had 12 rebounds against the Celtics. Beasley became the first NBA player since starts were recorded in the 1970–71 season to come off the bench and have at least 32 points and 12 rebounds while playing 25 minutes or fewer. He also became the first Knicks sub ever with a 32–12 game. On January 10, 2018, he recorded 26 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in a 122–119 double overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls. On March 31, 2018, he had a 32-point effort in a 115–109 loss to the Detroit Pistons.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On July 23, 2018, Beasley signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed much of the first half of the season to be with his sick mother.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On February 7, 2019, Beasley and Ivica Zubac were traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala. He was waived by the Clippers two days later.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On July 9, 2020, the Brooklyn Nets announced that they had signed Beasley as substitute player for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. However, his contract was voided when he tested positive for COVID-19.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley joined the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2021 NBA Summer League. On October 5, he signed with Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On May 11, 2022, the Big3 announced that Beasley had signed with 3's Company as a co-captain. In Beasley’s Big3 debut vs. the Bivouac, he scored 26 points.


title: Michael Beasley

text: Beasley's parents are Fatima Smith and Michael Beasley Sr. Beasley's mother died of cancer in December 2018. He has two brothers, Leroy Ellison and Malik Smith, and two younger sisters, Mychaela Beasley and Tiffany Couch. He has a daughter Mikaiya, born in May 2009 and a son Michael III, born in November 2010. Beasley grew up with Kevin Durant and Nolan Smith, and remains friends with both players.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 3, 2008, at the NBA's Rookie Transition Program, Beasley was involved in an incident along with fellow rookies Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur. Police responded to the hotel room of Chalmers and Arthur following a fire alarm at 2 am and claimed that the room smelled strongly of burning marijuana, but none was found and no charges were filed. Chalmers and Arthur were excused from the camp because of the incident and were later fined $20,000 each for missing the rookie camp, but were not fined or suspended for any drug-related violations. Both later denied any involvement with marijuana. Originally, ESPN reported that Beasley was also present in the room, but was not asked to leave camp. The story was later updated and any mention of Beasley was removed from the article.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On September 18, 2008, Beasley was fined $50,000 by the league for his involvement in the incident after he confessed to league officials that he had slipped out the door when the police arrived.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On August 24, 2009, Beasley reportedly checked into a Houston rehab center, just days after he posted pictures of himself on Twitter with what some have speculated to be marijuana in the background. It is unknown if the rehab was drug related; officially he was receiving counseling for stress-related issues.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On June 26, 2011, Beasley was driving in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka when he was pulled over by a policeman for speeding. The policeman noticed that the car smelled of a strong odor of marijuana. The officer allegedly found marijuana in a plastic bag under the front passenger seat. However, Beasley said the marijuana was not his, but belonged to a friend whom he had just dropped off. Beasley was consequently fined and ticketed.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In August 2011, Beasley was on a streetball tour in New York City with All-Star forward Kevin Durant when he got into an altercation with a heckler, shoving a hand in the heckler's face.


title: Michael Beasley

text: On August 6, 2013, Beasley was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession in Scottsdale, Arizona. According to police reports, narcotics were confiscated from Beasley's car after he was stopped for a traffic violation. That arrest was a factor in Beasley's official removal from the Suns a month later.


title: Michael Beasley

text: In September 2014, a sexual assault case from January 2013 involving Beasley was dropped after no probable cause was established.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: The work was praised by the "Financial Times" for "tackling big themes—gods, messiahs, artificial intelligence, alienness—with brio."


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: It was selected from a shortlist of six works and a total pool of 113 books to be awarded the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction of the year in August 2016. The director of the award program said that the novel has a "universal scale and sense of wonder reminiscent of Clarke himself."


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: The next in the series, "Children of Ruin", was published in 2019, followed by "Children of Memory", in 2022.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: In a far-future, Dr. Avrana Kern is the head of a science team that has terraformed an uninhabitable planet then deliberately released a genetically designed virus to speed the evolution of monkeys. Their plan goes wrong when the monkeys' ship burns up upon entry, leaving the virus to infect of a variety of creatures, eventually settling on spiders ("Portia labiata"). Meanwhile, the last human remnants of a dying Earth are en route to the promised paradise planet unaware of the uplifted spiders. The work plays off the contrast between the rapid advancement of the spiders and the barbaric descent of the starship crew of the last humans.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: A self-described genius determined to "beget new sentient life" in humanity's own image. She escapes the destruction of her ship and spends millennia in suspended animation inside an observation satellite, hovering above the only world she managed to seed with the gene-editing nano-virus as it works its wonders on the population below.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: Leader of the Gilgamesh who exercises often autocratic authority over the expedition and its human cargo. After Kern forces his hand, Guyen leads the ship to another terraformed world and discovers experimental old empire tech capable of uploading a human mind to a sufficiently sized computer. He eventually becomes dedicated to a new mission, uploading himself to the Gilgamesh computer, as a means of establishing firmer control over the ship itself before returning to Kern's world.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: Chief classicist of the Gilgamesh, he is charged with the interpretation of the old empire language “Imperial C”. Holsten's primary responsibility is to help the ark ship navigate the territories and tech of the old empire, though he eventually embraces a higher mission, the establishment of a new cultural heritage for humanity based upon the historical narrative through which he lived while aboard the Gil.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: Chief engineer of the Gilgamesh and its eventual de facto leader, Lain is often forced to hold the ship together in the face of near-insurmountable technological breakdown. She becomes the spiritual leader of the Gil's generations of inhabitants after spending decades of her life guiding and protecting “the tribe” as well as the vessel itself. If Guyen is the villain in Holsten's historical narrative, then Lain is most certainly the heroine.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: Chief science officer of the Gilgamesh and a stern adherent to professional objectivity, Vitas is more than capable of performing notable research. However, her ambitious scientific curiosity can often guide her down the wrong path. She is described as somewhat robotic and uncannily ageless by Holsten.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: The Gil's chief of security, though flamboyantly blunt, eventually proves himself a somewhat cautious leader by limiting weapons access during the ship's periods of internal confrontation. Originally intimidated by the gruff gunslinger, Holsten grows to respect Karst by the end of the novel.


title: Children of Time (novel)

text: The story takes place over many thousands of years and many generations of spider. The spiders have their own names, but the text refers to the major spiders by only four names based on their personality.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk (, ; ), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Arkhangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval and early modern Russia until 1703, when it was replaced by the newly-founded Saint Petersburg.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: A railway runs from Arkhangelsk to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl, and air travel is served by the Talagi Airport and the smaller Vaskovo Airport. As of the 2021 Census, the city's population was 301,199.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: The arms of the city display the Archangel Michael in the act of defeating the Devil. Legend states that this victory took place near where the city stands, hence its name, and that Michael still stands watch over the city to prevent the Devil's return.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Vikings knew the area around Arkhangelsk as Bjarmaland. Ohthere of Hålogaland told circa 890 of his travels in an area by a river and the White Sea with many buildings. This was probably the place later known as Arkhangelsk. According to Snorri Sturluson, Vikings led by Thorir Hund raided this area in 1027.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 1989, an unusually impressive silver treasure was found by local farm workers by the mouth of Dvina, right next to present-day Arkhangelsk. It was probably buried in the beginning of the 12th century, and contained articles that may have been up to two hundred years old at that time.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Most of the findings comprised a total of of silver, largely in the form of coins. Jewelry and pieces of jewelry come from Russia or neighboring areas. The majority of the coins were German, but the hoard also included a smaller number of Kufan, English, Bohemian, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian coins.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: It is hard to place this find historically until further research is completed. There are at least two possible interpretations. It may be a treasure belonging to the society outlined by the Norse source material. Generally such finds, whether from Scandinavia, the Baltic area, or Russia, are closely tied to well-established agricultural societies with considerable trade activity.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Alternatively, like the Russian scientists who published the find in 1992, one may see it as evidence of a stronger case of Russian colonization than previously thought.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In the 12th century, the Novgorodians established the Archangel Michael Monastery in the estuary of the Northern Dvina.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: The main trade center of the area at that time was Kholmogory, located southeast of Arkhangelsk, up the Dvina River, about downstream from where the Pinega River flows into the Dvina. Written sources indicate that Kholmogory existed early in the 12th century, but there is no archeological material of this period. It is not known whether the origin of this settlement was Russian, or if it goes back to pre-Russian times. In the center of the small town (or Gorodok) that is there today is a large mound of building remains and river sand, but it has not been archeologically excavated.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: The area of Arkhangelsk came to be important in the rivalry between Norwegian and Russian interests in the northern areas. From Novgorod, the spectrum of Russian interest was extended far north to the Kola Peninsula in the 12th century. However, here Norway enforced taxes and rights to the fur trade. A compromise agreement entered in 1251 was soon broken.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 1411, Yakov Stepanovich from Novgorod went to attack Northern Norway. This was the beginning of a series of clashes. In 1419, Norwegian ships with five hundred soldiers entered the White Sea. The "Murmaners", as the Norwegians were called (cf. Murmansk), plundered many Russian settlements along the coast, among them the Archangel Michael Monastery.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Novgorod managed to drive the Norwegians back. However, in 1478 the area was taken over by Ivan III and passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow with the rest of the Novgorod Republic.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Three English ships the "Bona Esperanza", "Edward Bonaventure", and "Bona Confidentia" set out to find the Northeast passage to China in 1553; two disappeared, and one, the "Edward Bonaventure" ended up in the White Sea at Nyonoksa, eventually coming across the area of Arkhangelsk at the mouth of the Dvina River where the St. Nicolas Monastery stood. Subsequently, the English gave the name "St. Nicolas Bay" to the sea now known as the White Sea. Ivan the Terrible found out about this, and brokered a trade agreement with the ship's captain, Richard Chancellor. Trade privileges were granted to English merchants in 1555, leading to the founding of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which began sending ships annually into the estuary of the Northern Dvina. Dutch merchants also started bringing their ships into the White Sea from the 1560s.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Scottish and English merchants also traded in the 16th century; however, by the 17th century it was mainly the Dutch that sailed to the White Sea area.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 1584 Ivan ordered the founding of New Kholmogory (which would later be renamed after the nearby Archangel Michael Monastery). At the time access to the Baltic Sea was still mostly controlled by Sweden, so while Arkhangelsk was icebound in winter, it remained Moscow's almost sole link to the sea-trade. Local inhabitants, called Pomors, were the first to explore trade routes to Northern Siberia as far as the trans-Urals city of Mangazeya and beyond. In December 1613, during the Time of Troubles, Arkhangelsk was besieged by Polish-Lithuanian marauders commanded by Stanislaw Jasinski (Lisowczycy), who failed to capture the fortified town. In 1619, and again in 1637, fires broke out, and the entire city burned down.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 1693, Peter the Great ordered the creation of a state shipyard in Arkhangelsk. A year later the ships "Svyatoye Prorochestvo" (Holy Prophecy), "Apostol Pavel" (Apostle Paul), and the yacht "Svyatoy Pyotr" (Saint Peter) were sailing in the White Sea. However, he also realized that Arkhangelsk would always be limited as a port due to the five months of ice cover, and after a successful campaign against Swedish armies in the Baltic area, he founded St. Petersburg in May 1703. Nonetheless, Arkhangelsk continued to be an important naval base and maritime centre in the Russian north.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 1722, Peter the Great decreed that Arkhangelsk should no longer accept goods that amounted to more than was sufficient for the town (for so-called domestic consumption). It was due to the Tsar's will to shift all international marine trade to St. Petersburg. This factor greatly contributed to the deterioration of Arkhangelsk that continued up to 1762 when this decree was cancelled.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk declined in the 18th century as the Baltic trade became ever more important. Its economy revived at the end of the 19th century when a railway to Moscow was completed and timber became a major export. The city resisted Bolshevik rule from 1918 to 1920 and was a stronghold of the anti-Bolshevik White Army. The White Army was supported by an Allied intervention in which British, French, Italian, and American troops helped to defend against the Bolsheviks. The Allied forces, led by British Lieutenant General Frederick Poole, suffered numerous set-backs and eventually withdrew from Russia. Without Allied support, the poorly disciplined White Army quickly collapsed and the Bolsheviks entered Arkhangelsk on February 21, 1920. Arkhangelsk was also the scene of Mudyug concentration camp.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: During both world wars, Arkhangelsk was a major port of entry for Allied aid. During World War II, the city became known in West Europe as one of the two main destinations (along with Murmansk) of the Arctic Convoys bringing supplies in to assist the Soviet Union. During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Arkhangelsk was one of two cities (the other being Astrakhan) selected to mark the envisioned eastern limit of German control. This military operation was to be halted at this A-A line, but never reached it, as the German armies failed to capture either of these two cities and also failed to capture Moscow.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk was also the site of Arkhangelsk ITL, or the Arkhangelsk Labour Camp, in the 1930s and 1940s.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Today, Arkhangelsk remains a major seaport, now open year-round due to improvements in icebreakers. The city is primarily a center for the timber and fishing industries.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Primorsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with five rural localities, incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Arkhangelsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Arkhangelsk is incorporated as Arkhangelsk Urban Okrug.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk is the final destination of Northern Railway. In addition, the city is host to two airports, Vaskovo Airport and Talagi Airport where they host the 2nd Arkhangelsk United Aviation Division and Smartavia Airline, respectively.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: M8 highway provides a direct link to Moscow, Yaroslavl and Severodvinsk, the administrative center of the oblast.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Local public transit is provided by buses and minibuses called "marshrutkas". Until 2004 there were also streetcars (trams), and until 2008, trolleybuses.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk was home to Pomorsky State University and Arkhangelsk State Technical University which merged with several other institutions of higher learning in 2010 to form the Northern (Arctic) Federal University.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk is also home to the Northern State Medical University, Makarov state Maritime Academy, and a branch of the All-Russian Distance Institute of Finance and Economics.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Mikhail Lomonosov came from a Pomor village near Kholmogory. A monument to him was installed to a design by Ivan Martos in 1829. A monument to Peter the Great was designed by Mark Antokolsky in 1872 and installed in 1914.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: After its historic churches were destroyed during Joseph Stalin's rule, the city's main extant landmarks are the fort-like Merchant Yards (1668–1684) and the New Dvina Fortress (1701–1705). The Assumption Church on the Dvina embankment (1742–1744) was rebuilt in 2004.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In 2008, it was decided that the city's cathedral, dedicated to the Archangel Michael, which had been destroyed under the Soviets, would be rebuilt. The foundation stone was laid in November 2008 by the regional Bishop Tikhon. The cathedral, situated near the city's main bus station and river port, is expected to be completed and consecrated in 2019.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Another remarkable structure is the Arkhangelsk TV Mast, a tall guyed mast for FM-/TV-broadcasting built in 1964. This tubular steel mast has six crossbars equipped with gangways, which run in two levels from the central mast structure out to the each of the three guys. On these crossbars there are also several antennas installed (image).


title: Arkhangelsk

text: An unusual example of local "vernacular architecture" was the so-called Sutyagin house. This thirteen-story, tall residence of the local entrepreneur Nikolay Petrovich Sutyagin was reported to be the world's, or at least Russia's, tallest wooden house. Constructed by Sutyagin and his family over fifteen years (starting in 1992), without plans or a building permit, the structure deteriorated while Sutyagin spent a few years in prison on racketeering charges. In 2008, it was condemned by the city as a fire hazard, and the courts ordered it to be demolished by 1 February 2009. On December 26, 2008, the tower was pulled down, and the remainder of the building was dismantled manually by early February 2009.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: An airstrip in Arkhangelsk was the fictional setting for a level in the 1997 hit videogame "Goldeneye 007".


title: Arkhangelsk

text: The Russian North, and, in particular, the area of Arkhangelsk, is notable for its folklore. Until the mid-20th century, fairy tales and "bylinas" were still performed on the daily basis by performers who became professionals. Starting from the 1890s, folkloric expeditions have been organized to the White Sea area and later to other areas of the Arkhangelsk Governorate in order to write down the tales and the "bylinas", especially in Pomor dialects.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: In the 1920s, mostly due to the efforts of Anna Astakhova, these expeditions became systematic. By the 1960s, the performing art was basically extinct. These folkloric motives and fairy tales inspired the literary works of Stepan Pisakhov and Boris Shergin, who were both natives of Arkhangelsk.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Arkhangelsk experiences a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfc"), with long (November–March), very cold winters and short (June–August), mildly warm summers. More extreme climates at this high latitude- such as Fairbanks, Alaska or Oymyakon, Sakha Republic- have much colder winters than Arkhangelsk, indicating that there is still significant moderation from the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Snowfall during winter is heavy, while summers are very rainy. Precipitation is very reliable year round.


title: Arkhangelsk

text: Bandy is the biggest sport in the city and is considered a national sport in Russia. Vodnik, the local team, nine times became the Russian champion (1996–2000 and 2002–2005). Their home arena has the capacity of 10000. Arkhangelsk hosted the Bandy World Championship in 1999 and 2003. The 2011–2012 season Russian Bandy League final was played here on March 25, 2012. The 2016 Youth-17 Bandy World Championship was played in Arkhangelsk between 28 and 31 January.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and musicals in London, and her Broadway debut in "Entertaining Mr Sloane" (1966) earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in Play.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role in "Cabaret" (2007) and was nominated at the Laurence Olivier Awards five other times for her work in "Annie" (1978), "" (1980), "The Winter's Tale" (1982), "Prin" (1989) and "Sister Act" (2010).


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Sheila Cameron Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Enrico Cameron Hancock and Ivy Louise (née Woodward). Enrico Hancock was the son of a Thomas Cook employee, and grew up in Milan. He worked for Vickers, and was previously a publican and hotel manager for the Brakspear Brewery, working on the Isle of Wight, in Berkshire, and at King's Cross, London. Ivy Hancock worked at Hedley Mitchells, a department store in Erith, setting up a café and theatre booking office there after working in gloves and lingerie, having previously worked alongside her husband in pubs and hotels; before her marriage she had worked at a Lewisham pub and a flower shop at Greenwich.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: After leaving the hospitality industry in 1938, the Hancocks moved to a semi-detached house in Latham Road, Bexleyheath, which Hancock considered "dreadfully dull" compared to "the rough and tumble" of King's Cross. Hancock recalled that there was a sense that "we had definitely gone up in the world... became lower-middle-class." Her sister Billie was seven years older. Hancock was educated at St Etheldreda's Convent at Ely Place, Holborn, then at Upton Road Junior School and Upland Junior School. After wartime evacuation to Wallingford, Oxfordshire (at that time, in Berkshire) and to Crewkerne, Somerset, Hancock attended the Dartford County Grammar School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock worked in repertory during the 1950s and made her West End debut in 1958, replacing Joan Sims in the play "Breath of Spring". She then appeared in Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop production of "Make Me An Offer" in 1959, and her other early West End appearances included Peter Cook's revue "One Over the Eight" with Kenneth Williams in 1961, and starring in "Rattle of a Simple Man" in 1962. She recalled that in "One over the Eight" she had been egged on by Irving Davies's exhortation as dance captain, "Eyes, teeth, and tits, darlings – and sparkle, sparkle, sparkle!"


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 1965, she made her Broadway debut in "Entertaining Mr Sloane". In 1978, she played Miss Hannigan in the original London cast of the musical "Annie" and two years later, she played Mrs Lovett in the original London production of the musical "" at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane; her portrayal was described as having "caught the love-story element perfectly.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock has appeared in "The Winter's Tale", "Titus Andronicus" and "A Delicate Balance" for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). At the National Theatre she has appeared in Neil Bartlett's "In Extremis/ De Profundis", "The Cherry Orchard" and "The Duchess of Malfi". As the first woman artistic director of their tour she also directed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for the RSC and was the first woman to direct in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre on "The Critic". She was also associate artistic director of the Cambridge Theatre Company.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock took the role of Rose in the West Yorkshire Playhouse Company Christmas 1993 production of "Gypsy"; a reviewer commented that she "certainly had the measure of Rose... 'Everything's coming up roses' brought the first hint of true pathos into the show", while in the final scene "her wild fluctuations between self-belief and self-doubt ended in tear-jerking self-awareness".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 2006, Hancock played the role of Fräulein Schneider in the West End revival of the musical "Cabaret" at the Lyric Theatre. She won the Laurence Olivier Award, and the Clarence Derwent Award, for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. In 2009, she spent over a year playing Mother Superior in "Sister Act the Musical" at the London Palladium for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 2013, Hancock starred alongside Lee Evans and Keeley Hawes in the comedy "Barking in Essex" at Wyndham's Theatre.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 2016, Hancock starred with Jenna Russell in the UK premiere of the musical "Grey Gardens" at the Southwark Playhouse. In 2018, she played Maude in "Harold and Maude" at the Charing Cross Theatre, London. In 2019, Hancock starred in the musical "This Is My Family" at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock's first big television role was as Carol in the BBC sitcom "The Rag Trade" in the early 1960s. She also played the lead roles in the sitcoms "The Bed-Sit Girl", "Mr Digby Darling", "The Secretary Bird" and "Now Take My Wife". Her other television credits include "Doctor Who" (playing a parody of Margaret Thatcher in "The Happiness Patrol"), "Kavanagh QC" (opposite her husband, John Thaw), "Gone to the Dogs", "Brighton Belles", "EastEnders", "The Russian Bride", "Bedtime", "Fortysomething", "Feather Boy", "Bleak House", "New Tricks", "Hustle" and "The Catherine Tate Show". In 2008, she played the part of a terminally ill patient who travelled to Switzerland for an assisted suicide in one of "The Last Word" monologues for the BBC, in a role that was written especially for her by Hugo Blick. In 2009, she played Liz in "The Rain Has Stopped", the first episode of the BBC anthology series "Moving On".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock has also presented several documentaries. In 2010, she presented "Suffragette City" (part of "A History of the World" series), telling the story of the suffragette movement through objects from the Museum of London's collection. In 2011, she presented "Sheila Hancock Brushes Up: The Art of Watercolours", exploring the history of watercolour via beautiful yet little-known works of professional and amateur artists. In 2013 she presented, as part of the ITV "Perspectives" documentary series, "Perspectives: Sheila Hancock – The Brilliant Brontë Sisters", examining the writers' upbringing and the sources of their inspiration.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In December 2012, Hancock took part in a Christmas special edition of the BBC programme "Strictly Come Dancing".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In January 2016, she made a guest appearance in an episode of the BBC medical drama "Casualty" for its 30th anniversary. From December 2016 until its conclusion in January 2019, she starred alongside Dawn French, Emilia Fox and Iain Glen in all three seasons of the Sky One comedy drama series "Delicious".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In January 2017, she made a guest appearance in the episode "Harvest" of the "Inspector Morse" prequel "Endeavour" alongside her stepdaughter Abigail Thaw.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 2020, she co-presented "Great Canal Journeys" for Channel 4 with Gyles Brandreth, with whom she had previously appeared on "Celebrity Gogglebox". In January 2021, she appeared in more "Great Canal Journeys" as well as the Sky One fantasy drama "A Discovery of Witches" as Goody Alsop, and as Eileen in ITV's "Unforgotten".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In March 1963, Hancock made a comedy single record, "My Last Cigarette". The song is about someone trying to give up smoking: however, every good intention is dependent on her having "just one more cigarette".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: In 1979, she appeared in the movie "The Wildcats of St Trinian's" which she called "one of the worst films ever made".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock regularly works in radio. She has been a semi-regular contestant on the BBC Radio 4 panel game "Just a Minute" since 1967. She starred as Alice Foster in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series "Thank You, Mrs Fothergill", in 1978–79, alongside Pat Coombs. In 1995 Hancock provided the voice of Granny Weatherwax in BBC Radio 4's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel "Wyrd Sisters". In 2011, Hancock appeared in the BBC Radio 4 series "North by Northamptonshire", alongside Geoffrey Palmer.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: She has made guest appearances on television shows like "Grumpy Old Women", "Room 101", "Have I Got News for You" and "Would I Lie To You?". From March to May 2010, she appeared as a judge on the BBC show "Over the Rainbow", along with Charlotte Church, Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Partridge.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock was the subject of "This Is Your Life" in 1977 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the curtain call of the play "The Bed Before Yesterday" at the Lyric Theatre, London.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock was married to actor Alec Ross from 1954 until his death from oesophageal cancer in 1971. They had one daughter, Melanie, born in 1964. In 1973, Hancock married actor John Thaw. He adopted Melanie and they had another daughter, Joanna Thaw. Thaw's daughter Abigail, from his first marriage, also joined their family. All three of their daughters have become actresses.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock was married to Thaw until his death (also from oesophageal cancer) on 21 February 2002. Hancock herself was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988, but made a full recovery. Her 2004 book, "" is a dual biography, which gives accounts of both their lives, as well as focusing on their 28-year marriage. This was followed by the 2008 book, "Just Me", an account of coming to terms with widowhood, and "Old Rage" in 2022. In 2014 she published her debut novel, "Miss Carter's War". Hancock had published in 1987 "Ramblings of an Actress".


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She is a patron of educational charity Digismart as well as a trustee of the John Thaw Foundation.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1974 Birthday Honours, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.


title: Sheila Hancock

text: Hancock is a friend of Sandi Toksvig and read Maya Angelou's poem "Touched by an Angel" at the "I Do To Equal Marriage" event which celebrated the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales.


title: Tabitha King

text: Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane Spruce (née White; December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007) and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014). King attended college at the University of Maine, where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library.


title: Tabitha King

text: As of 2006, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction. She published her first novel, "Small World", through Signet Books in 1981, and in 2006, "Candles Burning" was published through Berkley Books. The paperback rights for "Small World" were bought by New American Library for $165,000. "Candles Burning" was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.


title: Tabitha King

text: King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine, such as the Bangor Public Library board. She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994. In 1998 she received the inaugural Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize, the Maine Humanities Council's highest award, for her work with literacy for the state of Maine.


title: Tabitha King

text: She currently serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT radio stations as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.


title: Tabitha King

text: Reception to King's work has ranged from negative to positive. "Pearl" received positive mentions from the "Los Angeles Times" and the "Bangor Daily News", while the "Chicago Tribune" panned "Survivor". The "Arizona Daily Star" criticized "One on One", calling King "a hack", whereas "Entertainment Weekly", "Time", and the "Rocky Mountain News" gave the novel positive reviews. "Caretakers" received positive praise by "The New York Times", while Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes made to McDowell's "Candles Burning".


title: Tabitha King

text: She and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971. They have three children: Naomi and Joe Hill and Owen King, who are both writers.


title: Independent film

text: An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in some cases, distributed by major companies). Independent films are sometimes distinguishable by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower budgets than major studio films.


title: Independent film

text: It is not unusual for well-known actors who are cast in independent features to take substantial pay cuts for a variety of reasons: if they truly believe in the message of the film; they feel indebted to filmmaker for a career break; their career is otherwise stalled or they feel unable to manage a larger commitment to a studio film; the film offers an opportunity to showcase a talent that hasn't gained traction in the studio system; or simply because they want to work with a particular director that they admire. There are many examples of the latter, such as John Travolta and Bruce Willis taking less pay to work with Quentin Tarantino on "Pulp Fiction".


title: Independent film

text: Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release, often at independent movie theaters, but they can also have major marketing campaigns and a wide release. Independent films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals before distribution (theatrical or retail release). An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution.


title: Independent film

text: In 1908, the Motion Picture Patents Company or "Edison Trust" was formed as a trust. The Trust was a cartel that held a monopoly on film production and distribution comprising all the major film companies of the time (Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Essanay, Selig, Lubin, Kalem, American Star, American Pathé), the leading distributor (George Kleine) and the biggest supplier of raw film, Eastman Kodak. A number of filmmakers declined or were refused membership to the trust and came to be described as "independent".


title: Independent film

text: At the time of the formation of the MPPC, Thomas Edison owned most of the major patents relating to motion pictures, including that for raw film. The MPPC vigorously enforced its patents, constantly bringing suits and receiving injunctions against independent filmmakers. Because of this, a number of filmmakers responded by building their own cameras and moving their operations to Hollywood, California, where the distance from Edison's home base of New Jersey made it more difficult for the MPPC to enforce its patents.


title: Independent film

text: The Edison Trust was soon ended by two decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States: one in 1912, which canceled the patent on raw film, and a second in 1915, which cancelled all MPPC patents. Though these decisions succeeded at legalizing independent film, they would do little to remedy the "de facto" ban on small productions; the independent filmmakers who had fled to Southern California during the enforcement of the trust had already laid the groundwork for the studio system of classical Hollywood cinema.


title: Independent film

text: In early 1910, director D.W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of performers Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and others. They began filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and positive about the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, "In Old California", a Biograph melodrama about California in the 1800s, while it belonged to Mexico. Griffith stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York.


title: Independent film

text: During the Edison era of the early 1900s, many Jewish immigrants had found jobs in the U.S. film industry. Under the Edison Trust, they were able to make their mark in a brand-new business: the exhibition of films in storefront theaters called nickelodeons. Within a few years, ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack) had switched to the production side of the business. After hearing about Biograph's success in Hollywood, in 1913 many such would-be movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by Edison. Soon they were the heads of a new kind of enterprise: the movie studio.


title: Independent film

text: By establishing a new system of production, distribution, and exhibition which was independent of The Edison Trust in New York, these studios opened up new horizons for cinema in the United States. The Hollywood oligopoly replaced the Edison monopoly. Within this new system, a pecking order was soon established which left little room for any newcomers. By the mid-1930s, at the top were the five major studios, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, RKO Pictures, and Warner Bros. Then came three smaller companies, Columbia Pictures, United Artists, and Universal Studios. Finally there was "Poverty Row", a catch all term used to encompass any other smaller studio that managed to fight their way up into the increasingly exclusive movie business.


title: Independent film

text: While the small studios that made up Poverty Row could be characterized as existing "independently" of any major studio, they utilized the same kind of vertically and horizontally integrated systems of business as the larger players in the game. Though the eventual breakup of the studio system and its restrictive chain-theater distribution network would leave independent movie houses eager for the kind of populist, seat-filling product of the Poverty Row studios, that same paradigm shift would also lead to the decline and ultimate disappearance of "Poverty Row" as a Hollywood phenomenon. While the kinds of films produced by Poverty Row studios only grew in popularity, they would eventually become increasingly available both from major production companies and from independent producers who no longer needed to rely on a studio's ability to package and release their work.


title: Independent film

text: This table lists the companies active in late 1935 illustrates the categories commonly used to characterize the Hollywood system.


title: Independent film

text: The studio system quickly became so powerful that some filmmakers once again sought independence. On May 24, 1916, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company was formed, the first movie studio owned and controlled by independent filmmakers.


title: Independent film

text: In 1919, four of the leading figures in American silent cinema (Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith) formed United Artists. Each held a 20% stake, with the remaining 20% held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford, and cowboy star William S. Hart a year earlier as they were traveling around the U.S. selling Liberty bonds to help the World War I effort. Already veterans of Hollywood, the four film stars began to talk of forming their own company to better control their own work as well as their futures. They were spurred on by the actions of established Hollywood producers and distributors, who were making moves to tighten their control over their stars' salaries and creative license. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before things had formalized. When he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, is said to have observed, "The inmates are taking over the asylum."


title: Independent film

text: The four partners, with advice from McAdoo (son-in-law and former Treasury Secretary of then-President Woodrow Wilson), formed their distribution company, with Hiram Abrams as its first managing director. The original terms called for Pickford, Fairbanks, Griffith, and Chaplin to independently produce five pictures each year, but by the time the company got underway in 1920–1921, feature films were becoming more expensive and more polished, and running times had settled at around ninety minutes (or eight reels). It was believed that no one, no matter how popular, could produce and star in five quality feature films a year. By 1924, Griffith had dropped out and the company was facing a crisis: either bring in others to help support a costly distribution system or concede defeat. The veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. Not only had he been producing pictures for a decade, but he brought along commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, and his brother-in-law, Buster Keaton. Contracts were signed with a number of independent producers, especially Samuel Goldwyn, Howard Hughes and later Alexander Korda. Schenck also formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name.


title: Independent film

text: Still, even with a broadening of the company, UA struggled. The coming of sound ended the careers of Pickford and Fairbanks. Chaplin, rich enough to do what he pleased, worked only occasionally. Schenck resigned in 1933 to organize a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, Twentieth Century Pictures, which soon provided four pictures a year to UA's schedule. He was replaced as president by sales manager Al Lichtman who himself resigned after only a few months. Pickford produced a few films, and at various times Goldwyn, Korda, Walt Disney, Walter Wanger, and David O. Selznick were made "producing partners" (i.e., sharing in the profits), but ownership still rested with the founders. As the years passed and the dynamics of the business changed, these "producing partners" drifted away. Goldwyn and Disney left for RKO, Wanger for Universal Pictures, Selznick and Korda for retirement. By the late 1940s, United Artists had virtually ceased to exist as either a producer or distributor.


title: Independent film

text: In 1941, Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Walt Disney, Orson Welles, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Alexander Korda, and Walter Wanger—many of the same people who were members of United Artists—founded the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers. Later members included William Cagney, Sol Lesser, and Hal Roach. The Society aimed to preserve the rights of independent producers in an industry overwhelmingly controlled by the studio system. SIMPP fought to end monopolistic practices by the five major Hollywood studios which controlled the production, distribution, and exhibition of films. In 1942, the SIMPP filed an antitrust suit against Paramount's United Detroit Theatres. The complaint accused Paramount of conspiracy to control first-run and subsequent-run theaters in Detroit. It was the first antitrust suit brought by producers against exhibitors alleging monopoly and restraint of trade. In 1948, the United States Supreme Court Paramount Decision ordered the Hollywood movie studios to sell their theater chains and to eliminate certain anti-competitive practices. This effectively brought an end to the studio system of Hollywood's Golden Age. By 1958, many of the reasons for creating the SIMPP had been corrected and SIMPP closed its offices.


title: Independent film

text: The efforts of the SIMPP and the advent of inexpensive portable cameras during World War II effectively made it possible for any person in America with an interest in making films to write, produce, and direct one without the aid of any major film studio. These circumstances soon resulted in a number of critically acclaimed and highly influential works, including Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" in 1943, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" in 1947, and Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin and Ray Abrashkin's "Little Fugitive" in 1953. Filmmakers such as Ken Jacobs with little or no formal training began to experiment with new ways of making and shooting films.


title: Independent film

text: "Little Fugitive" became the first independent film to be nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the American Academy Awards. It also received Silver Lion at Venice. Both Engel and Anger's films won acclaim overseas from the burgeoning French New Wave, with "Fireworks" inspiring praise and an invitation to study under him in Europe from Jean Cocteau, and François Truffaut citing "Little Fugitive" as an essential inspiration to his seminal work, "The 400 Blows". As the 1950s progressed, the new low-budget paradigm of filmmaking gained increased recognition internationally, with films such as Satyajit Ray's critically acclaimed "Apu Trilogy" (1955–1959).


title: Independent film

text: Unlike the films made within the studio system, these new low-budget films could afford to take risks and explore new artistic territory outside the classical Hollywood narrative. Maya Deren was soon joined in New York by a crowd of like-minded avant-garde filmmakers who were interested in creating films as works of art rather than entertainment. Based upon a common belief that the "official cinema" was "running out of breath" and had become "morally corrupt, aesthetically obsolete, thematically superficial, [and] temperamentally boring", this new crop of independents formed The Film-Makers' Cooperative, an artist-run, non-profit organization which they would use to distribute their films through a centralized archive. Founded in 1962 by Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Shirley Clarke, Gregory Markopoulos, and others, the Cooperative provided an important outlet for many of cinema's creative luminaries in the 1960s, including Jack Smith and Andy Warhol. When he returned to America, Ken Anger would debut many of his most important works there. Mekas and Brakhage would go on to found the Anthology Film Archives in 1970, which would likewise prove essential to the development and preservation of independent films, even to this day.


title: Independent film

text: Not all low-budget films existed as non-commercial art ventures. The success of films like "Little Fugitive", which had been made with low (or sometimes non-existent) budgets encouraged a huge boom in popularity for non-studio films. Low-budget film making promised exponentially greater returns (in terms of percentages) if the film could have a successful run in the theaters. During this time, independent producer/director Roger Corman began a sweeping body of work that would become legendary for its frugality and grueling shooting schedule. Until his so-called "retirement" as a director in 1971 (he continued to produce films even after this date) he would produce up to seven movies a year, matching and often exceeding the five-per-year schedule that the executives at United Artists had once thought impossible.


title: Independent film

text: Like those of the avant-garde, the films of Roger Corman took advantage of the fact that unlike the studio system, independent films had never been bound by its self-imposed production code. Corman's example (and that of others like him) would help start a boom in independent B-movies in the 1960s, the principal aim of which was to bring in the youth market which the major studios had lost touch with. By promising sex, wanton violence, drug use, and nudity, these films hoped to draw audiences to independent theaters by offering to show them what the major studios could not. Horror and science fiction films experienced a period of tremendous growth during this time. As these tiny producers, theaters, and distributors continued to attempt to undercut one another, the B-grade shlock film soon fell to the level of the Z movie, a niche category of films with production values so low that they became a spectacle in their own right. The cult audiences these pictures attracted soon made them ideal candidates for midnight movie screenings revolving around audience participation and cosplay.


title: Independent film

text: In 1968, a young filmmaker named George A. Romero shocked audiences with "Night of the Living Dead", a new kind of intense and unforgiving independent horror film. This film was released just after the abandonment of the production code, but before the adoption of the MPAA rating system. As such, it was the first and last film of its kind to enjoy a completely unrestricted screening, in which young children were able to witness Romero's new brand of highly realistic gore. This film would help to set the climate of independent horror for decades to come, as films like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) and "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980) continued to push the envelope.


title: Independent film

text: With the production code abandoned and violent and disturbing films like Romero's gaining popularity, Hollywood opted to placate the uneasy filmgoing public with the MPAA ratings system, which would place restrictions on ticket sales to young people. Unlike the production code, this rating system posed a threat to independent films in that it would affect the number of tickets they could sell and cut into the grindhouse cinema's share of the youth market. This change would further widen the divide between commercial and non-commercial films.


title: Independent film

text: However, having a film audience-classified is strictly voluntary for independents and there's no legal impediment to releasing movies on an unrated basis. However, unrated movies face obstacles in marketing because media outlets such as TV channels, newspapers and websites often place their own restrictions on movies that don't come with a built-in national rating in order to avoid presenting movies to inappropriately young audiences.


title: Independent film

text: Following the advent of television and the Paramount Case, the major studios attempted to lure audiences with spectacle. Widescreen processes and technical improvements, such as Cinemascope, stereo sound, 3-D and others, were developed in an attempt to retain the dwindling audience by giving them a larger-than-life experience. The 1950s and early 1960s saw a Hollywood dominated by musicals, historical epics, and other films which benefited from these advances. This proved commercially viable during most of the 1950s. However, by the late 1960s, audience share was dwindling at an alarming rate. Several costly flops, including "Cleopatra" (1963) and "Hello, Dolly!" (1969) put severe strain on the studios. Meanwhile, in 1951, lawyers-turned-producers Arthur Krim and Robert Benjamin had made a deal with the remaining stockholders of United Artists which would allow them to make an attempt to revive the company and, if the attempt was successful, buy it after five years.


title: Independent film

text: The attempt was a success, and in 1955 United Artists became the first "studio" without an actual studio. UA leased space at the Pickford/Fairbanks Studio, but did not own a studio lot as such. Because of this, many of their films would be shot on location. Primarily acting as bankers, they offered money to independent producers. Thus UA did not have the overhead, the maintenance or the expensive production staff which ran up costs at other studios. UA went public in 1956, and as the other mainstream studios fell into decline, UA prospered, adding relationships with the Mirisch brothers, Billy Wilder, Joseph E. Levine and others.


title: Independent film

text: By the late 1950s, RKO had ceased film production, and the remaining four of the big five had recognized that they did not know how to reach the youth audience. In an attempt to capture this audience, the Studios hired a host of young filmmakers (many of whom were mentored by Roger Corman) and allowed them to make their films with relatively little studio control. Warner Brothers offered first-time producer Warren Beatty 40% of the gross on his film "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) instead of a minimal fee. The movie had grossed over $70 million worldwide by 1973. These initial successes paved the way for the studio to relinquish almost complete control to the film school generation and began what the media dubbed "New Hollywood."


title: Independent film

text: Dennis Hopper, the American actor, made his writing and directing debut with "Easy Rider" (1969). Along with his producer/co-star/co-writer Peter Fonda, Hopper was responsible for one of the first completely independent films of New Hollywood. "Easy Rider" debuted at Cannes and garnered the "First Film Award" () after which it received two Oscar nominations, one for best original screenplay and one for Corman-alum Jack Nicholson's breakthrough performance in the supporting role of George Hanson, an alcoholic lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. Following on the heels of "Easy Rider" shortly afterward was the revived United Artists' "Midnight Cowboy" (also 1969), which, like "Easy Rider", took numerous cues from Kenneth Anger and his influences in the French New Wave. It became the first and only X rated film to win the Academy Award for best picture. "Midnight Cowboy" also held the distinction of featuring cameo roles by many of the top Warhol superstars, who had already become symbols of the militantly anti-Hollywood climate of NYC's independent film community.


title: Independent film

text: Within a month, another young Corman trainee, Francis Ford Coppola, made his debut in Spain at the Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival with "The Rain People" (1969), a film he had produced through his own company, American Zoetrope. Though "The Rain People" was largely overlooked by American audiences, Zoetrope would become a powerful force in New Hollywood. Through Zoetrope, Coppola formed a distribution agreement with studio giant Warner Bros., which he would exploit to achieve wide releases for his films without making himself subject to their control. These three films provided the major Hollywood studios with both an example to follow and a new crop of talent to draw from. Zoetrope co-founder George Lucas made his feature film debut with "THX 1138" (1971), also released by Zoetrope through their deal with Warner Bros., announcing himself as another major talent of New Hollywood. By the following year, two New Hollywood directors had become sufficiently established for Coppola to be offered oversight of Paramount's "The Godfather" (1972) and Lucas had obtained studio funding for "American Graffiti" (1973) from Universal. In the mid-1970s, the major Hollywood studios continued to tap these new filmmakers for both ideas and personnel, producing films such as "Paper Moon" (1973) and "Taxi Driver" (1976), all of which met with critical and commercial success. These successes by the members of New Hollywood led each of them, in turn, to make more and more extravagant demands, both on the studio and eventually on the audience.


title: Independent film

text: While most members of the New Hollywood generation were, or started out as, independent filmmakers, a number of their projects were produced and released by major studios. The New Hollywood generation soon became firmly entrenched in a revived incarnation of the studio system, which financed the development, production and distribution of their films. Very few of these filmmakers ever independently financed or independently released a film of their own, or ever worked on an independently financed production during the height of the generation's influence. Seemingly independent films such as "Taxi Driver", "The Last Picture Show" and others were studio films: the scripts were based on studio pitches and subsequently paid for by the studios, the production financing was from the studio, and the marketing and distribution of the films were designed and controlled by the studio's advertising agency. Though Coppola made considerable efforts to resist the influence of the studios, opting to finance his risky 1979 film "Apocalypse Now" himself rather than compromise with skeptical studio executives, he, and filmmakers like him, had saved the old studios from financial ruin by providing them with a new formula for success.


title: Independent film

text: Indeed, it was during this period that the very definition of an independent film became blurred. Though "Midnight Cowboy" was financed by United Artists, the company was certainly a studio. Likewise, Zoetrope was another "independent studio" which worked within the system to make a space for independent directors who needed funding. George Lucas would leave Zoetrope in 1971 to create his own independent studio, Lucasfilm, which would produce the blockbuster "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" franchises. In fact, the only two movies of the movement which can be described as uncompromisingly independent are "Easy Rider" at the beginning, and Peter Bogdanovich's "They All Laughed", at the end. Peter Bogdanovich bought back the rights from the studio to his 1980 film and paid for its distribution out of his own pocket, convinced that the picture was better than what the studio believed — he eventually went bankrupt because of this.


title: Independent film

text: In retrospect, it can be seen that Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" (1975) and George Lucas's "Star Wars" (1977) marked the beginning of the end for the New Hollywood. With their unprecedented box-office successes, these movies jump-started Hollywood's blockbuster mentality, giving studios a new paradigm as to how to make money in this changing commercial landscape. The focus on high-concept premises, with greater concentration on tie-in merchandise (such as toys), spin-offs into other media (such as soundtracks), and the use of sequels (which had been made more respectable by Coppola's "The Godfather Part II"), all showed the studios how to make money in the new environment.


title: Independent film

text: On realizing how much money could potentially be made in films, major corporations started buying up the remaining Hollywood studios, saving them from the oblivion which befell RKO in the 50s. Eventually, even RKO was revived, the corporate mentality these companies brought to the filmmaking business would slowly squeeze out the more idiosyncratic of these young filmmakers, while ensconcing the more malleable and commercially successful of them.


title: Independent film

text: Film critic Manohla Dargis described this era as the "halcyon age" of the decade's filmmaking that "was less revolution than business as usual, with rebel hype". She also pointed out in her "New York Times" article that enthusiasts insisted this era was "when American movies grew up (or at least starred underdressed actresses); when directors did what they wanted (or at least were transformed into brands); when creativity ruled (or at least ran gloriously amok, albeit often on the studio's dime)."


title: Independent film

text: During the 1970s, shifts in thematic depictions of sexuality and violence occurred in American cinema, prominently featuring heightened depictions of realistic sex and violence. Directors who wished to reach mainstream audiences of Old Hollywood quickly learned to stylize these themes to make their films appealing and attractive rather than repulsive or obscene. However, at the same time that the maverick film students of the American New Wave were developing the skills they would use to take over Hollywood, many of their peers had begun to develop their style of filmmaking in a different direction. Influenced by foreign and art house directors such as Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini, exploitation shockers (i.e. Joseph P. Mawra, Michael Findlay, and Henri Pachard) and avant-garde cinema, (Kenneth Anger, Maya Deren and Bruce Conner) a number of young film makers began to experiment with transgression not as a box-office draw, but as an artistic act. Directors such as John Waters and David Lynch would make a name for themselves by the early 1970s for the bizarre and often disturbing imagery which characterized their films.


title: Independent film

text: When Lynch's first feature film, "Eraserhead" (1977), brought Lynch to the attention of producer Mel Brooks, he soon found himself in charge of the $5 million film "The Elephant Man" (1980) for Paramount. Though "Eraserhead" was strictly an out-of-pocket, low-budget, independent film, Lynch made the transition with unprecedented grace. The film was a huge commercial success, and earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nods for Lynch. It also established his place as a commercially viable, if somewhat dark and unconventional, Hollywood director. Seeing Lynch as a fellow studio convert, George Lucas, a fan of "Eraserhead" and now the darling of the studios, offered Lynch the opportunity to direct his next "Star Wars" sequel, "Return of the Jedi" (1983). However, Lynch had seen what had happened to Lucas and his comrades in arms after their failed attempt to do away with the studio system. He refused the opportunity, stating that he would rather work on his own projects.


title: Independent film

text: Lynch instead chose to direct a big budget adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel "Dune" for Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis's De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, on the condition that the company release a second Lynch project, over which the director would have complete creative control. Although De Laurentiis hoped it would be the next "Star Wars", Lynch's "Dune" (1984) was a critical and commercial flop, grossing a mere $27.4 million domestically against a $45 million budget. De Laurentiis, furious that the film had been a commercial disaster, was then forced to produce any film Lynch desired. He offered Lynch only $6 million in order to minimize the risk if the film had failed to recoup its costs; however, the film, "Blue Velvet" (1986), was a resounding success, earning him another Academy Award for Best Director nod. Lynch subsequently returned to independent filmmaking, and did not work with another major studio for over a decade.