newsmakers

September 1, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

newsmakers

Lindsay Lohan wants career back

LOS ANGELES

Lindsay Lohan wants your respect. In the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, the 24-year-old actress acknowledges making mistakes in the past and “dabbling in certain things.” But in a July interview with the magazine before she served 14 days in jail followed by 23 days of inpatient rehab, she defended her actions, saying she was young and curious and was associating with the wrong people.

“So many people around me would say they cared for the wrong reasons,” Lohan said. “A lot of people were pulling from me, taking from me and not giving. I had a lot of people that were there for me for, you know, the party.”

Despite everything, Lohan is confident in her acting abilities and future: “I don’t care what anyone says. I know that I’m a damn good actress.” She says she’ll do whatever it takes to fix her party-girl image. “I want my career back,” she said. “I want the respect that I had when I was doing great movies. And if that takes not going out to a club at night, then so be it. It’s not fun anyway.”

‘Gone With Wind’ hits donation target

AUSTIN, Texas

Legions of “Gone With the Wind” fans have together donated tens of thousands of dollars to prove they, frankly, do give a you-know-what.

The University of Texas Harry Ransom Center says it has met its $30,000 fundraising goal to pay for restoring five of Scarlett O’Hara’s gowns from the multiple Oscar-winning Civil War drama.

Ransom Center officials announced Tuesday that contributions came from more than 600 people in 44 states and 13 countries.

The gowns worn by actress Vivien Leigh in the 1939 film include a green curtain dress.

The Ransom Center is planning an exhibit to mark the movie’s 75th anniversary in 2014. Once restored, the dresses may be loaned to other museums.

Venice film festival focuses on innovation

VENICE, Italy

In film, recession may be the mother of innovation.

The Venice Film Festival opens today with its share of big-screen bound blockbuster potential, from Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” to Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated “Somewhere” and Ben Affleck’s sophomore directorial effort, “The Town.”

But director Marco Mueller says that the economic downturn has forced even big name directors to come up with cheaper means of production, giving rise to innovation and an “in-between” budget category — bridging low-budget under a million dollars and mid-range of around $7.5 million to $9 million.

“In between there was very little. And now several people rush to occupy that special space,” Mueller told The Associated Press in an interview. “Because it’s also the space where with some local, regional subsidy, some private money and maybe with a few distributors interested in the project, you can get your film off the ground.”

Vindicator wire services