Lawrence Bender

As Chili Palmer in "Get Shorty," John Travolta has a running gag in which he reckons that producing movies is a cakewalk compared to mob business. "I don't think a producer has to know much," says Chili, and perhaps nobody appreciates the irony of the joke better than producer Lawrence Bender. After all, it was "Pulp Fiction," produced by Bender, that restored Travolta's wilting career.

The winners on stage at the Academy Awards feel all sorts of things. Producer Lawrence Bender felt the BlackBerry in the hip pocket of his tuxedo buzzing nonstop with e-mails. By the time he checked his computer -- at 6 a.m. Monday after a night of Oscar partying -- he had 260 messages congratulating him on his win this week for "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary that chronicles Al Gore's efforts to raise awareness about global warming.

The winners on stage at the Academy Awards feel all sorts of things. Producer Lawrence Bender felt the BlackBerry in the hip pocket of his tuxedo buzzing nonstop with e-mails. By the time he checked his computer -- at 6 a.m. Monday after a night of Oscar partying -- he had 260 messages congratulating him on his win this week for "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary that chronicles Al Gore's efforts to raise awareness about global warming.

With the presidential election only a week away, everybody in Hollywood has begun to sound like a battle-scarred political consultant. A town normally obsessed with weekend box-office numbers is suddenly full of noisy denunciations of President Bush's environmental policy and hare-brained schemes to end the occupation of Iraq. Agents who used to only care about getting a perk package for their clients are now experts on how to privatize Social Security.

With the presidential election only a week away, everybody in Hollywood has begun to sound like a battle-scarred political consultant. A town normally obsessed with weekend box-office numbers is suddenly full of noisy denunciations of President Bush's environmental policy and hare-brained schemes to end the occupation of Iraq. Agents who used to only care about getting a perk package for their clients are now experts on how to privatize Social Security.

Paramount's specialty division has acquired the distribution rights to former Vice President Al Gore's documentary about the dangers of global warming, a producer of the film said Monday. The film, "An Inconvenient Truth," will be shown in theaters starting at the end of May, Lawrence Bender said. He would not disclose how much the studio paid for the rights. The film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month. -- Tina Daunt

Nigel Lythgoe, the über reality-TV producer, is a one-man brand for bringing the world of dance to the masses, mainly through the Fox series "So You Think You Can Dance. " Later this month, he will host a special cinematic event that is intended to give classical ballet a leg up in terms of public exposure. "Ballet's Greatest Hits" is a filmed version of a January gala that took place at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Fla. The gala performance featured excerpts from famous ballets -- including "Swan Lake," "Giselle" and "The Nutcracker" -- performed by dancers from top companies around the world.

Johnny Depp continues to jam as a single man in Los Angeles — this time with rock band Aerosmith. Depp showed up to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry's Monday show at the Hollywood Bowl, where he surprised the audience and celebrity attendees by accompanying the pair on "Train Kept a Rollin'. " Decked out in his signature Walker hat and bracelets, Depp handled a guitar while Liv Tyler and Jim Carrey looked on. After the show, Depp, Tyler and Perry gathered famous friends and family for an after-party at Harry Morton's Pink Taco on Sunset Boulevard.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who arrived for the Cannes International Film Festival promoting his new documentary on global warming called "An Inconvenient Truth," was asked at a news conference Saturday how he should be addressed. "Your Adequacy," he deadpanned, causing the room filled with international entertainment reporters to erupt in laughter. But he quickly got down to the topic of global warming, which he views as a looming disaster that could spell the end of human civilization.

Regarding your interview with film producer Lawrence Bender ("Hey, Chili, Meet a Real Producer," Calendar, Jan. 6): As an international representative of more than 35,000 film, TV and stage technicians for IATSE here in California, and as someone who has had direct contact with Larry, let the readers not be fooled. Bender is quoted as saying: "A low-budget filmmaker in L.A. just has to pray that the unions don't catch you." In fact, L.A. and IATSE will work with any budget to make independent film producers stay here in L.A. This is strictly Larry Bender and Quentin Tarantino exercising their warped mentality as control freaks . . . and saving a dollar upon the backs of labor.

As Chili Palmer in "Get Shorty," John Travolta has a running gag in which he reckons that producing movies is a cakewalk compared to mob business. "I don't think a producer has to know much," says Chili, and perhaps nobody appreciates the irony of the joke better than producer Lawrence Bender. After all, it was "Pulp Fiction," produced by Bender, that restored Travolta's wilting career.

One lesson to be learned from Saturday's Moving Picture Ball is that it's a lot less painful to endure hotel ballroom food and tribute speeches if guests actually like the honoree. And John Travolta's colleagues like him. Yes, they like him. They really, really like him. Really. They like him enough for Gene Siskel, who owns the white suit from "Saturday Night Fever," to praise Travolta's disco mega-hit and read dialogue from it.

"AN Inconvenient Truth," a documentary about global warming, is being marketed as "the most terrifying film you will ever see." And indeed the message, delivered by Al Gore, is scary: We have just 10 years to clean up our acts before the Earth's climate system falls into a tailspin of epic destruction. The film -- which opens in Los Angeles and New York on May 24 -- is based on a slide show Gore has been giving to audiences since 1990.