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The Aging Body in Dance: A cross-cultural perspective
by Gabriele Brandstetter Nanako NakajimaWhat does it mean to be able to move? The Aging Body in Dance brings together leading scholars and artists from a range of backgrounds to investigate cultural ideas of movement and beauty, expressiveness and agility. Contributors focus on Euro-American and Japanese attitudes towards aging and performance, including studies of choreographers, dancers and directors from Yvonne Rainer, Martha Graham, Anna Halprin and Roemeo Castellucci to Kazuo Ohno and Kikuo Tomoeda. They draw a fascinating comparison between youth-oriented Western cultures and dance cultures like Japan’s, where aging performers are celebrated as part of the country’s living heritage. The first cross-cultural study of its kind, The Aging Body in Dance offers a vital resource for scholars and practitioners interested in global dance cultures and their differing responses to the world's aging population.
Agnes Varda (Contemporary Film Directors)
by Kelley ConwayBoth a precursor to and a critical member of the French New Wave, Agnès Varda weaves documentary and fiction into tapestries that portray distinctive places and complex human beings. Critics and aficionados have celebrated Varda's independence and originality since the New Wave touchstone Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) brought her a level of international acclaim she has yet to relinquish. Film historian Kelley Conway traces Varda's works from her 1954 debut La Pointe Courte through a varied career that includes nonfiction and fiction shorts and features, installation art, and the triumphant 2008 documentary The Beaches of Agnès . Drawing on Varda's archives and conversations with the filmmaker, Conway focuses on the concrete details of how Varda makes films: a project's emergence, its development and the shifting forms of its screenplay, the search for financing, and the execution from casting through editing and exhibition. In the process, she departs from film history's traditional view of the French New Wave and reveals one artist's nontraditional trajectory through independent filmmaking. The result is an intimate consideration that reveals the artistic consistencies and bold changes in the career of one of the world's most exuberant and intriguing directors.
Agnes Varda: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by T. Jefferson KlineOver nearly sixty years, Agnès Varda (b. 1928) has given interviews that are revealing not only of her work, but of her remarkably ambiguous status. She has been called the “Mother of the New Wave” but suffered for many years for never having been completely accepted by the cinematic establishment in France. Varda's first film, La Pointe Courte (1954), displayed many of the characteristics of the two later films that launched the New Wave, Truffaut's 400 Blows and Godard's Breathless. In a low-budget film, using (as yet) unknown actors and working entirely outside the prevailing studio system, Varda completely abandoned the “tradition of quality” that Truffaut was at that very time condemning in the pages of Cahiers du cinema. Her work, however, was not “discovered” until after Truffaut and Godard had broken onto the scene in 1959. Varda's next film, Cleo from 5 to 7, attracted considerably more attention and was selected as France's official entry for the Festival in Cannes. Ultimately, however, this film and her work for the next fifty years continued to be overshadowed by her more famous male friends, many of whom she mentored and advised. Her films have finally earned recognition as deeply probing and fundamental to the growing awareness in France of women's issues and the role of women in the cinema. “I'm not philosophical,” she says, “not metaphysical. Feelings are the ground on which people can be led to think about things. I try to show everything that happens in such a way and ask questions so as to leave the viewers free to make their own judgments.” The panoply of interviews here emphasizes her core belief that “we never stop learning” and reveal the wealth of ways to answer her questions.
Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art
by Rebecca J. DerooAgnès Varda is a prolific film director, photographer, and artist whose cinematic career spans more than six decades. Today she is best known as the innovative “mother” of the French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and '60s and for her multimedia art exhibitions. Varying her use of different media, she is a figure who defies easy categorization. In this extensively researched book, Rebecca J. DeRoo demonstrates how Varda draws upon the histories of art, photography, and film to complicate the overt narratives in her works and to advance contemporary cultural politics. Based on interviews with Varda and unparalleled access to Varda's archives, this interdisciplinary study constructs new frameworks for understanding one of the most versatile talents in twentieth and twenty-first century culture.
Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art
by Rebecca J. DeRooAgnès Varda is a prolific film director, photographer, and artist whose cinematic career spans more than six decades. Today she is best known as the innovative "mother" of the French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and '60s and for her multimedia art exhibitions. Varying her use of different media, she is a figure who defies easy categorization. In this extensively researched book, Rebecca J. DeRoo demonstrates how Varda draws upon the histories of art, photography, and film to complicate the overt narratives in her works and to advance contemporary cultural politics. Based on interviews with Varda and unparalleled access to Varda's archives, this interdisciplinary study constructs new frameworks for understanding one of the most versatile talents in twentieth and twenty-first century culture.
Ahmed the Philosopher: Thirty-Four Short Plays for Children and Everyone Else
by Alain BadiouEnglish-speaking readers might be surprised to learn that Alain Badiou writes fiction and plays along with his philosophical works and that they are just as important to understanding his larger intellectual project. In Ahmed the Philosopher, Badiou's most entertaining and accessible play, translated into English here for the first time, readers are introduced to Badiou's philosophy through a theatrical tour de force that has met with much success in France. <P><P> Ahmed the Philosopher presents its comic hero, the "treacherous servant" Ahmed, as a seductively trenchant philosopher even as it casts philosophy itself as a comic performance. The comedy unfolds as a series of lessons, with each "short play" or sketch illuminating a different Badiousian concept. Yet Ahmed does more than illustrate philosophical abstractions; he embodies and vivifies the theatrical and performative aspects of philosophy, mobilizing a comic energy that exposes the emptiness and pomp of the world. Through his example, the audience is moved to a living engagement with philosophy, discovering in it the power to break through the limits of everyday life.
Ahora y siempre: Memorias
by Diane KeatonLas memorias íntimas de Diane Keaton «¿Casarme? Yo no quería ser la mujer de nadie. Lo que me apetecía era ser una chica sexi, alguien con quien darse el lote.»Diane Keaton Ahora y siempre es un libro emocionante y divertido como la propia Diane Keaton. Cuenta la historia de una chica corriente que se convirtió en una mujer extraordinaria y el papel fundamental que su madre jugó en todo ello. Esta es la autobiografía de una de las actrices más aclamada de todos los tiempos pero también el relato vital de una madre y una hija, de sus sueños individuales y compartidos.
AI for Arts (AI for Everything)
by Niklas Hageback Daniel HedblomAI for Arts is a book for anyone fascinated by the man–machine connection, an unstoppable evolution that is intertwining us with technology in an ever-greater degree, and where there is an increasing concern that it will be technology that comes out on top. Thus, presented here through perhaps its most esoteric form, namely art, this unfolding conundrum is brought to its apex. What is left of us humans if artificial intelligence also surpasses us when it comes to art? The articulation of an artificial intelligence art manifesto is long overdue, so hopefully this book can fill a gap that will have repercussions not only for aesthetic and philosophical considerations but possibly more so for the development of artificial intelligence.
The AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television
by Kylo-Patrick R HartAre people with HIV/AIDS treated fairly in films?Here is a compelling book that provides you with a thorough examination of how HIV/AIDS is characterized and portrayed in film and how this portrayal affects American culture. The AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television uncovers the primary ways that films about HIV/AIDS influence American ideology and contribute to society's view of the disease. In The AIDS Movie, professors and scholars in the areas of popular culture, film, sociology, and gay and lesbian studies will discover cross-cultural approaches that can be used to analyze the representation of AIDS in American films made in the first two decades of the pandemic. Giving you insight into the production and circulation of social meanings pertaining to HIV/AIDS, this study explores the social ramifications of such representations for gay men in American society, as well as for the rest of the population. Interesting and informative, The AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television examines the ways that AIDS has been represented in American movies over the past two decades, defines and proposes criteria for identifying an “AIDS movie” and explores how these images shape social opinions about AIDS and gay men. The AIDS Movie discusses several character types such as “innocent victims” and “guilty villains” and the process of victim-blaming that occurs in AIDS movies. Defining an “AIDS movie” as a film with at least one character who either has been infected with HIV, has developed AIDS, or is grieving the recent death of a loved one from AIDS, this guide bases standards for these movies on several works, including: Chocolate Babies It's My Party Jeffrey The Living End Grief An Early Frost Men in Love A Place for Annie Philadelphia The Ryan White Story Gia Boys on the SideThe AIDS Movie: Representing a Pandemic in Film and Television is compelling and insightful as it cleverly reveals how AIDS is portrayed in cinema and television, and how that portrayal affects American culture.
Ain't It Time We Said Goodbye: The Rolling Stones on the Road to Exile
by Robert GreenfieldFor ten days in March 1971, the Rolling Stones traveled by train and bus to play two shows a night in many of the small theaters and town halls where their careers began. No backstage passes. No security. No sound checks or rehearsals. And only one journalist allowed. That journalist now delivers a full-length account of this landmark event, which marked the end of the first chapter of the Stones’ extraordinary career. Ain’t It Time We Said Goodbye is also the story of two artists on the precipice of mega stardom, power, and destruction. For Mick and Keith, and all those who traveled with them, the farewell tour of England was the end of the innocence. Based on Robert Greenfield’s first-hand account and new interviews with many of the key players, this is a vibrant, thrilling look at the way it once was for the Rolling Stones and their fans#151;and the way it would never be again.
Ain't That a Knee-Slapper: Rural Comedy in the Twentieth Century
by Tim HollisThere was a time when rural comedians drew most of their humor from tales of farmers' daughters, hogs, hens, and hill country high jinks. Lum and Abner and Ma and Pa Kettle might not have toured happily under the "Redneck" marquee, but they were its precursors.In Ain't That a Knee-Slapper: Rural Comedy in the Twentieth Century, author Tim Hollis traces the evolution of this classic American form of humor in the mass media, beginning with the golden age of radio, when such comedians as Bob Burns, Judy Canova, and Lum and Abner kept listeners laughing. The book then moves into the motion pictures of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, when the established radio stars enjoyed second careers on the silver screen and were joined by live-action renditions of the comic strip characters Li'l Abner and Snuffy Smith, along with the much-loved Ma and Pa Kettle series of films. Hollis explores such rural sitcoms as The Real McCoys in the late 1950s and from the 1960s, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Hee Haw, and many others. Along the way, readers are taken on side trips into the world of animated cartoons and television commercials that succeeded through a distinctly rural sense of fun.While rural comedy fell out of vogue and networks sacked shows in the early 1970s, the emergence of such hits as The Dukes of Hazzard brought the genre whooping back to the mainstream. Hollis concludes with a brief look at the current state of rural humor, which manifests itself in a more suburban, redneck brand of standup comedy.
Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City
by Craig HavighurstStarted by the National Life and Accident Insurance Company in 1925, WSM became one of the most influential and exceptional radio stations in the history of broadcasting and country music. WSM gave Nashville the moniker "Music City USA" as well as a rich tradition of music, news, and broad-based entertainment. With the rise of country music broadcasting and recording between the 1920s and '50s, WSM, Nashville, and country music became inseparable, stemming from WSM's launch of the Grand Ole Opry, popular daily shows like Noontime Neighbors, and early morning artist-driven shows such as Hank Williams on Mother's Best Flour. Sparked by public outcry following a proposal to pull country music and the Opry from WSM-AM in 2002, Craig Havighurst scoured new and existing sources to document the station's profound effect on the character and self-image of Nashville. Introducing the reader to colorful artists and businessmen from the station's history, including Owen Bradley, Minnie Pearl, Jim Denny, Edwin Craig, and Dinah Shore, the volume invites the reader to reflect on the status of Nashville, radio, and country music in American culture.
Air Travel Fiction and Film: Cloud People (Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture)
by Erica DuranteAir Travel Fiction and Film: Cloud People explores how, over the past four decades, fiction and film have transformed our perceptions and representations of contemporary air travel. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of a wide range of international cultural productions, and elucidates the paradigms and narratives that constitute our current imaginary of air mobility. Erica Durante advances the hypothesis that fiction and film have converted the Airworld—the world of airplanes and airport infrastructures—into a pivotal anthropological place that is endowed with social significance and identity, suggesting that the assimilation of the sky into our cultural imaginary and lifestyle has metamorphosed human society into “Cloud People.” In its examination of the representations of air travel as an epicenter of today’s world, the book not only illustrates a novel perspective on contemporary fiction, but fills an important gap in the study of globalization within literary and film studies.
Air Words: Writing for Broadcast News
by John HewittAn introductory text for broadcast newswriting, with numerous exercises and examples illustrating broadcast news style. Defines and explains standard industry formats, rules, and procedures, and covers fact checking, ethics, script formats, shifting from print to broadcast, writing leads, interviews, aspects of TV writing, and copyediting and producing. Includes chapter glossaries. This second edition discusses technology advances such as wire capture and producing from CRTs. Lacks a bibliography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News
by Emily MaitlisFEATURING EMILY MAITLIS' GROUNDBREAKING INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE ANDREWThe news has never been more prominent - but are we getting the full story? Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis gives us a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest news stories and interviews of recent years 'Smart, funny and brilliantly told' Elizabeth Day 'Revelatory, riveting and frequently hilarious' James O'Brien 'Absolutely irresistible' Jeremy Vine ________ In this no holds barred account of life in the seconds before, during and after going on air, Newsnight presenter, leading journalist, and queen of the side eye Emily Maitlis gives us the insider info on what we don't get to see on-screen. Giving us the inside scoop on her interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson to Russell Brand, and Donald Trump to Tony Blair, as well as covering news stories such as President Clinton's affairs, Boris Johnson's race to PM, Grenfell, #MeToo, and that interview with Prince Andrew. Airhead is a brilliant exposé of the moments that never make the news. From News Presenter of the Year and 2020 BAFTA nominee ________ 'Funny and subtly smart' GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR DAILY MAIL BOOKS OF THE YEAR 'Deliciously funny . . . Irresistible' The Times '[Emily] is so absolutely of the moment' Evening Standard
Akram Khan
by Royona MitraAkram Khan: Dancing New Interculturalism analyses the relationship between this seminal British-Asian choreographer's complex identity-positions and his art through the lens of 'new interculturalism'. Through seven key case studies from Khan's oeuvre, this book demonstrates how Khan's philosophy and aesthetic of 'new interculturalism' is a challenge to the 1980s predominantly western 'intercultural theatre' project, as a more nuanced and embodied approach to representing Othernesses, from his own position of the Other. Additionally, the book challenges popular perception of Khan's art as contemporary South Asian dance by suggesting that, instead, Khan uses South Asian dramaturgical principles to transform the western contemporary dance landscape in intercultural ways. Offering the first full-length investigation of Akram Khan's work, this book is essential reading for students, researchers, practitioners and fans of Khan's work.
Al Franken, Giant of the Senate
by Al Franken<P>From Senator Al Franken - #1 bestselling author and beloved SNL alum - comes the story of an award-winning comedian who decided to run for office and then discovered why award-winning comedians tend not to do that.This is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. <P>It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. <P>It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast.In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics. <P>Has Al Franken become a true Giant of the Senate? Franken asks readers to decide for themselves. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism
by Mohammed El-Nawawy Adel IskandarAl-Jazeera, the independent, all-Arab television news network based in Qatar, emerged as ambassador to the Arab world in the events following September 11, 2001. Arabic for "the island," Al-Jazeera has "scooped" the western media conglomerates many times. With its exclusive access to Osama Bin Laden and members of the Taliban, its reputation was burnished quickly through its exposure on CNN. During the 2003 war in Iraq, Al-Jazeera seemed to be everywhere, reporting dramatic stories and images, even as it strived to maintain its independence as an international free press news network. Al-Jazeera sheds light on the background of the network: how it operates, the programs it broadcasts, its effects on Arab viewers, the reactions of the West and Arab states, the implications for the future of news broadcasting in the Middle East, and its struggle for a free press and public opinion in the Arab world.
Al Jazeera and the Global Media Landscape: The South is Talking Back (Routledge Advances in Internationalizing Media Studies)
by Tine Ustad FigenschouThis book analyzes how and why Al Jazeera English (AJE) became the channel of choice to understand the massive protests across the Arab world 2011. Aiming to explain the ‘Al Jazeera moment,’ it tracks the channel’s bumpy road towards international recognition in a longitudinal, in-depth analysis of the channel’s editorial profile and strategies. Studying AJE from its launch in mid-November 2006 to the ‘Arab Spring’, it explains and problematizes the channel’s ambitious editorial agenda and strategies, examines the internal conflicts, practical challenges and minor breakthroughs in its formative years. The Al Jazeera-phenomenon has received massive attention, but it remains under-researched. The growth of transnational satellite television has transformed the global media landscape into a complex web of multi-vocal, multimedia and multi-directional flows. Based on a combination of policy-, production- and content analysis of comprehensive empirical data the book offers an innovative perspective on the theorization of global news contra-flows. By problematizing the distinctive characteristics of AJE, it examines the strategic motivation behind the channel and the ways in which its production processes and news profile are meant to be different from its Anglo-American competitors. These questions underscore a central nexus of the book: the changing relationship between transnational satellite news and power.
Al mig de la vida, jo
by Marina PorrasLa biografia sobre l'autora més influent de la literatura catalana des de la mirada fresca i revel·ladora de Marina Porras, periodista i crítica literària La vida de Mercè Rodoreda és la conquesta de la individualitat que es necessita per escriure. De nena va ser educada per ser una esposa convencional, de jove aspirava a ser una periodista del sistema i dues guerres la van fer créixer i descobrir de cop el món del segle XX. De l'estricta supervivència al descobriment de la solitud, Rodoreda va entendre que només se salvaria a través de l'escriptura si els seus llibres rescataven la memòria del seu temps. Marina Porras, periodista i crítica literària, explica en aquest retrat biogràfic la manera com es lliguen la vida i l'obra de l'escriptora més influent de la literatura catalana. La infantesa a la Barcelona d'abans de la guerra, la joventut a l'exili francès, la vida parisenca, l'esclat artístic a Ginebra i els anys finals a Romanyà.Una biografia fresca i directa amb il·lustracions de Elisa Munsó.
Al Pacino: The Authorized Biography
by Lawrence GrobelFor more than a quarter century, Al Pacino has spoken freely and deeply with acclaimed journalist and bestselling author Lawrence Grobel on subjects as diverse as childhood, acting, and fatherhood. Here, for the first time, are the complete conversations and shared observations between the actor and the writer; the result is an intimate and revealing look at one of the most accomplished, and private, artists in the world.Pacino grew up sharing a three-room apartment in the Bronx with nine people in what he describes as his "New York Huckleberry Finn" childhood. Raised mostly by his grandparents and his mother, Pacino began drinking at age thirteen. Shortly after he was admitted to the renowned High School for Performing Arts, his classmates nicknamed him "Marlon," after Marlon Brando, even though Pacino didn't know who Brando was. Renowned acting coach Charlie Laughton saw Pacino when he was nineteen in the stairwell of a Bronx tenement, and the first words out of Laughton's mouth were "You are going to be a star." And so began a fabled, lifelong friendship that nurtured Al through years of not knowing where his next meal would come from until finally -- at age twenty-six -- he landed his first salaried acting job. Grobel and Pacino leave few stones unturned, touching on the times when Pacino played piano in jazz clubs until four a.m. before showing up on the set of Scarecrow a few hours later for a full day's work; when he ate Valium like candy at the Academy Awards; and when he realized he had been in a long pattern of work and drink. As the pivotal character in The Godfather trilogy and the cult classic Scarface, Pacino has enshrined himself in film history. He's worked with most of Hollywood's brightest luminaries such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann, Norman Jewison, Brian De Palma, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams, among many others. He was nominated for eight Academy Awards before winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Scent of a Woman. Pacino still seems to prefer his work onstage to film and, if he's moved by a script or play, is quick to take parts in independent productions. Al Pacino is an intensely personal window into the life of an artist concerned more with the process of his art than with the fruits of his labor, a creative genius at the peak of his artistic powers who, after all these years, still longs to grow and learn more about his craft. And, for now, it's as close to a memoir as we're likely to get.
Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion
by Al Roker Courtney Roker LagaBarnes & Nobles Most Anticipated Comfort Food BooksTODAY Show cohost and America&’s favorite weatherman, Al Roker, and his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, welcome us into their kitchen in this cookbook featuring generations-long family favorites for every meal. Al Roker and his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, welcome you into their home, where a good conversation or a needed dose of laughter always starts with something great to eat. 100 original and kitchen-tested dishes for every occasion, including Sunrise Burritos Shrimp and Grits with Bell Peppers and Bacon Smothered Chicken Coffee- and Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls Bourbon Apple Pie Milkshakes Tuscan Polenta Silky Cauliflower Puree Lemon Meringue Crumb Crust Pie Stunning dishes in this book will inspire you to start cooking memory-making meals. Full of cheerful family photos and Al&’s frank, witty opinions on food and cooking, Al Roker&’s Recipes to Live By is sure to become the most well-thumbed cookbook on your shelf, whether you&’re a beginner home cook or a seasoned chef.
Alain Resnais: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by T. Jefferson KlineAmong the most innovative and influential filmmakers of the twentieth century, Alain Resnais (1922–2014) did not originally set out to become a director. He trained as an actor and film editor and, during the sixty-eight years of his working life, delved into virtually every corner of filmmaking, working at one time or another as screenwriter, assistant director, camera operator and cinematographer, special effects coordinator, technical consultant, and even author of source material. From such award-winning documentaries as Van Gogh and Night and Fog to the groundbreaking dramas Hiroshima mon amour, Last Year at Marienbad, and Muriel, Resnais’s films experiment with such themes as consciousness, memory, and the imagination. Distinguishing himself from associations with the French New Wave movement, Resnais considered his films to be “anti-illusionist,” never allowing his spectators to forget they were watching a work of art. In Alain Resnais: Interviews, editor Lynn A. Higgins collects twenty-one interviews with the filmmaker, twelve of which are translated into English for the first time. Spanning his entire career from his early short subjects to his final feature film, the volume highlights Resnais’s creative strategies and principles, illuminates his place in world cinema history, and situates his work relative to the New Wave, American film, and experimental filmmaking more broadly. Like his films, the interviews collected here reveal a creator who is at once an intellectual, a philosopher, an entertainer, a craftsman, and an artist.
Alan Ball: Conversations (Television Conversations Series)
by Thomas FahyAlan Ball: Conversations features interviews that span Alan Ball's entire career and include detailed observations and insights into his Academy Award-winning film American Beauty and Emmy Award-winning television shows Six Feet Under and True Blood. Ball began his career as a playwright in New York, and his work soon caught the attention of Hollywood television producers. After writing for the sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Cybill, Ball turned his attention to the screenplay that would become American Beauty. The critical success of this film opened up exciting possibilities for him in the realm of television. He created the critically acclaimed show Six Feet Under, and after the series finale, he decided to explore the issue of American bigotry toward the Middle East in his 2007 play All That I Will Ever Be and the film Towelhead, which he adapted and directed in the same year. Ball returned to television once again with the series True Blood—an adaptation of the humorous, entertaining, and erotic world of Charlaine Harris’s vampire novels. In 2012 Ball announced that he would step down as executive producer of True Blood, in part, to produce both a new television series and his screenplay, What’s the Matter with Margie?