Word: wolper
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Producer David Wolper does not believe in small gestures, especially when large expensive ones will do. For next month's four-day extravaganza celebrating the refurbished Statue of Liberty, Wolper has lined up 850 drill- team members, 300 tap dancers, 200 Elvis Presley impersonators, 150 banjo players, two aircraft carriers and one President of the United States. To help pay the spectacle's $30 million bill, Wolper offered the TV rights to the networks. ABC bid $10 million, beating out NBC, the only other network that took part in the auction. ABC's competitors did not mind losing the mock...
...other networks complained that ABC had no right to treat legitimate news as its own property. ''Anything the President does constitutes news,'' said Lane Venardos, executive producer of special events for CBS. ''Maybe not big news, but news of one form or another.'' Wolper, who staged the glitzy closing ceremonies for the 1984 Olympics, countered that ABC owned the Medals of Liberty presentation and thus had the exclusive right to broadcast the awards. ''It's my medal, and I sold the thing to ABC,'' said Wolper...
Nonetheless, compromise seemed in order, especially after Administration officials quietly pressured Wolper. Just to be sure ABC got the message, Interior Secretary Donald Hodel issued a statement last week saying that public events ''held on Interior-administrated property should be open to the media.'' The next day ABC announced that the other networks could air the opening ceremony remarks made by Hodel and Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca, who heads the foundation that raised funds for the statue's restoration. ABC's competitors will also carry the speeches of Navy Secretary John Lehman and French President Francois Mitterrand, as well...
...Carol Wolper...
Sadly, the answers Imagine offers are not satisfying. Considering that Yoko Ono not only gave Wolper and director Andrew Solt access to countless hours of previously unseen footage but also gave them creative control over the final product, Imagine could well have been the definitive film about John. Unfortunately much of the footage is ill-chosen, and at an hour and a half, the film is much too short. Still, while Imagine fails as a comprehensive biography, it may help neophytes understand Lennon's appeal, and fans may find Imagine a poignant and occasionally amusing exercise in nostalgia...