It was five years ago this month that I created The Hollywood Sentinel. In commemoration of that fact, I bring you here the very first letter from the editor from that first issue of The Hollywood Sentinel back in 2009. It is as accurate to us today, as it was then. As always, we hope you enjoy the new issue, and invite you to contact us in the box at the bottom of this page with any questions or comments.
Creating any thing good is an exciting adventure. Creating a house, a work of art, a business, an invention, a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or more can all be thrilling to make. Hollywood gets a bad rap for being flaky, fickle, and extreme in the most ridiculous of ways. I won't argue those points. But the entertainment capitol of the world, which we call Hollywood, is also a refuge and eternal home to some of the greatest artists and creative masters of all the world. Name any world renowned creative giant, and they usually stomped around not only in New York City, but also, in the other greatest city in this nation, Los Angeles.
Hollywood is a land where most children dream of running to, where most teenagers long to arrive at, and where many adults blow every last penny to try and make it in. It is the land where millions of dreams have been dashed to bits by the cold hard reality of its brutal ways. But if it were easy, its pinnacle wouldn't reach so high. If it were simple to conquer, it wouldn't shine so bright, and if it were had by all, it wouldn't be so much worth having. Hollywood is filled with more creative people than any where on planet Earth. And its creative spirit is nurtured, not stifled like in so many other great cities.
It is with this love and passion for this town, as we say in the biz, that this magazine is named. Hollywood the name, was begun of course, as an advertising ploy for some real estate. The developer called it Hollywoodland. The shortened version of Hollywood finally stuck, and the rest, as they say, is history. Hollywood has the hottest of the hot. A constant stream of dream catchers and chasers by the busload. And yet some have a flame of talent and passion that burns so bright, that they are destined to be known by the world.
And so The Hollywood Sentinel was created. With this magazine we intend to strip away some of the facade, and some of the hype, yet leave you something exciting and real. A 'sentinel' is an onlooker, a guard, who protects and watches over. And so, this magazine serves as a voice from Hollywood, as insiders, to the outside world, somewhere on the edge of both, defending its glimmering dust.
Hollywood will always be the scapegoat for the ills of the world. Yet it fuels the spirit through the transmission of feelings, words, symbols, visions, and ideas, giving us hope, love, happiness, and pleasure. Hollywood is merely a machine to reflect and perpetuate all that is human or inhumane, on a massive, instant scale. Yet our work, though seemingly easy, is no instant achievement. It often takes the toiling of years, training, and of course, chutzpah. It is with all of this, and so much more that we welcome you to this issue. May humanity rise higher, and may Hollywood be elevated with the stars, to its legendary heights once again.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
One of the finest actors of our time, Philip Seymour Hoffman, has sadly passed on. Mr. Hoffman starred in HBO’s film “Empire Falls” with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Robin Wright Penn, among others. He appeared in “Mission Impossible III,” with Tom Cruise. Mr. Hoffman has received numerous awards and nominations for his work as an actor, including two Tony and Drama Desk nominations as Best Actor in revivals of Sam Shepard’s “True West” in 2000, during which he also won the Outer Critics Circle Award, and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in 2003. The National Board of Review named him Best Supporting Actor in 1999 for his roles in “Magnolia” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” and he also won awards from the NBR as a member of the ensembles of “Happiness,” “Magnolia,” and “State and Main.” Mr. Hoffman received Screen Actors Guild nominations as Best Actor in “Flawless” and as part of the ensembles of “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” and “Almost Famous.” He was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Supporting Actor for “Happiness.”
An Academy Award winner, Mr. Hoffman was also a three time nominated actor for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. He was nominated for an Oscar first for his Supporting Role for 'Charlie Wilson's War' in 2007, and then just a year later he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for for 'Doubt' in 2008. In 2012, He was nominated again for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for 'The Master' in 2012. His Oscar winning performance was his legendary performance at Truman Capote for which he won his first Oscar, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for 'Capote in 2005. Mr. Hoffman was also an executive producer on the film.
Born in Fairport, New York, Philip Seymour Hofman Mr. Hoffman knew “Capote” director Bennett Miller and writer Dan Futterman since 1984, when they met at a summer theatre program in Saratoga Springs, New York. After receiving his BFA in Drama in 1989 from New York University, Mr. Hoffman began appearing on stage and in supporting roles in both independent and Hollywood films. He began a fruitful collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson on “Hard Eight,” and has continued to work with him on all of Anderson’s subsequent films, “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia” and “Punch-Drunk Love.” Other notable films include “Scent of a Woman, “Nobody’s Fool,” “Twister,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Patch Adams,” “Love Liza” (written by his brother, Gordy Hoffman), “Red Dragon,” “25th Hour,” “Owning Mahowny,” “Cold Mountain,” “Along Came Polly, the political documentary, “The Party’s Over,” "A Late Quartet, Moneyball and as Plutarch Heavensbee in the blockbuster sequel, 'Hunger Games; Catching Fire.' Mr. Hoffman also played Lester Bangs in the hit film 'Almost Famous,' among many other memorable titles.
Mr. Hoffman’s stage credits include “The Seagull,” “Defying Gravity,” “Shopping and ____ing,” and “The Author’s Voice” (Drama Dept, Drama Desk nominations). A member and Co-Artistic Director of LAByrinth Theater Company, he directed “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” “In Arabia We’d All Be Kings,” and “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” for LAByrinth. His production of “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” was produced to great acclaim Off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Festival (Fringe First Award), at London’s Donmar Warehouse, and then at the Arts Theatre in London’s West End. In addition, he directed LAB's Off-Broadway commercial production of “Our Lady of 121st Street” at the Union Square Theater (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations) and “The Glory of Living” at MCC Theater.
With over 100 noteworthy credits to his name, Mr. Hoffman had over one dozen projects he was working on in some capacity, either as actor, producer, or director, including the blockbuster film sequels to The Hunger Games; Mockingjay I and II, up until the time of his departing. One of the worlds greatest actors of our time, Philip Seymour Hoffman will be missed. The Hollywood Sentinel gives our condolences to all of his loved ones. His legacy shall carry on.
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