newsmakers
newsmakers
Patterson thriller to film in Cleveland
CLEVELAND
Cleveland will be the backdrop for a new Hollywood thriller based on a best-selling book series by author James Patterson.
The Greater Cleveland Film Commission says “I, Alex Cross” is the fourth feature film to shoot in the city this spring and summer. The movie stars Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox and Ed Burns.
The commission says producers expect to hire around 180 Ohio crew members and more than 1,700 cast members, including extras.
The film will be directed by Rob Cohen, director of the original “The Fast and the Furious.”
The Ohio Film Office says shooting will begin in August on the movie, about a detective whose own family is targeted by a serial killer.
The production will receive a $5 million Ohio motion-picture tax credit.
Angelina Jolie visits Turkey-Syria border
ALTINOZU, Turkey
U.N. envoy Angelina Jolie traveled to Turkey’s border with Syria on Friday, sharing fruit and dessert with some of the thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled their government’s bloody crackdown.
The Hollywood celebrity and goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees arrived in the Turkish province of Hatay on a private jet with boxes of toys for the refugee camps.
Jolie spent 21/2 hours with the refugees, asking in Arabic how they were and then speaking with them through an interpreter, Turkey’s NTV television reported. It said she took notes, showing particular interest in the women and children.
Nearly 10,000 Syrians have sought refuge in camps in Turkey.
Protests first erupted in Syria in mid-March as part of the “Arab Spring” push toward democracy. Syrian President Bashar Assad responded by unleashing the military to crush the street demonstrations. Human-rights activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained.
Associated Press