16B - Ti4ichigan Daily - Wee id etc. Magazine -Thursdanuary ii1;2001@
*.
etc Site of the Week
Teen turns red carpet interviews into outstanding site
By ily ebert
For the Daily
games, and listens to music with his
friends, but don't be fooled. Fred
Medill is not a normal teenager.
While most teens only dream about
He plays tennis,
goes to Lakers
+
meeting the stars, at 14-years-old
Fred has already interviewed such
celebrities as Tom Hanks, Jennifer
Lopez and Denzel Washington for his
web site, wwwFredTVnet. With his
dad, Cary Medill, standing by as
cameraman, Fred gets most of his
interviews by standing out on the red
carpet at movie premieres. In fact, as
Fred's website asserts, "where there's
a red carpet, there's FredTV."
Evidently, though, FredTV has a
right to boast. Granted, FredTV is no
Entertainment Tonight, yet despite its
young star and humble beginnings
the show has gained both acknowl-
edgement and respect in Hollywood.
For instance, although FredTV may
not provide the publicity that main-
stream television programs can offer,
celebrities are nonetheless drawn to
Fred. Even Pat Kingsley, a publicist,
known for her selectivity, steers
clients Tom Cruise and Matt Damon
in Fred's direction at premieres. "He
does his homework. He's prepared
and asks short, concise questions,"
she told The L.A. Times. Kingsley
also admits that, if nothing more,
Fred's interviews provide her clients
with "an interesting couple of min-
utes."
Clips of these "interesting couple
of minutes" with stars can be
accessed on Fred's website at
www.fredtv.net, in which he inter-
views everyone from 'N SYNC to
Muhammed Ali.
The inspiration for FredTV began
when Fred spotted talk show host
Larry King at a deli and mustered up
enough courage to approach King
about doing a cameo for his bar mitz-
vah video. In addition to King, Fred
approached other celebs such as
Michael Jackson and Jay Leno for
some mock interviews. The finished
product was a compilation of several
interviews, shown to bar mitzvah
guests in March 1999. Following the
bar mitzvah video, Fred continued to
pursue and videotape stars, seeing
many of them during his family's
biannual vacations to Maui.
Eventually, a producer friend of the
family invited Fred and his dad to
stand on the red carpet for the pre-
miere of the movie, "Arlington
Road." The fact that Fred, a novice
child reporter, managed to snag an
interview with the film's star (Jeff
Bridges) provided encouragement to
Fred and Cary Medill to take the next
step:.FredTV.
Currently, FredTV provides enter-
tainment to hospitalized children at a
Chicago Hospital on mobile comput-
ers known as PC Pals. Through the
Starlight Children's Foundation, seri-
ously ill children also get to accom-
pany Fred on his FredTV interviews
and get their pictures taken with the
stars. The Starlight Children's
Foundation is a non-profit charity
organization dedicated to improving
the lives of children with serious ill-
nesses. According to a recent Los
Angeles Times article any future rev-
. 0* *~g 9k ope~e -
Courtesy of www.fredtv.net
At the age of 14, interviewer Fred
Mediil is a standard presence at red
carpet award shows.
enue that may be attained by FredTV,
either by selling ads or selling the
website to a major network, will ben-
efit the Starlight Children's
Foundation.
Presently posted on FredTV are
highlights of Fred's- interviews with
film, TV, music and sports celebrities
over the past year, along with more
recent footage of Fred's interviews
with the guys from "Dude, Where's
My Car?" and Arnold
Schwartzenegger from "The Sixth
Day."
I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ II
The University Musical Society Presents
The Royal Shakespeare Company
Student Ticket Sale
Where:
When:
What:
i
UMS Box Office located in the Power Center, 121 Fletcher St.
Saturday, February 3, 9 am
A limited number of Student Tickets will be available
for University of Michigan students to the Royal
Shakespeare Company. Tickets for this cycle of four
plays will be available for the mid-week cycle,
located in the on-stage seating area and will cost
$125 - a 50% discount!
UNIVERSITYOF WiscONSIN
PLATTEVILLE
Study Abroad Programs
Learn Your Way Around The World
* Study abroad in England, Japan, or Spain
* Courses in liberal arts and international business
" Fluency in a foreign language no.trequired
" Home-stays with meals
" Field trips
+ Financial aid applies (except for summer session)
Program Costs:
" For tuition, room, board and field trips per semester (for
Wisconsin residents/non-residents)
" In London, England: $5,675/$5,975
" In Nagasaki, Japan: $5,875/$6,175
" In Seville, Spain: $6,9001$7,200
Application deadlines:
" April 1 for summer session + April 30 for fall semester
" October 15 for spring semester
For further information contact:
Toll free: 1-800-342-1725
E-mail: StudyAbroad@uwplatt.edu *
Web: http://www.uwplatt.edu/-studyabroad
Performance Schedule:
Henry V, Part I Tue
Henry VI, Part I We
Henry VI, Part Ill We(
Richard III Th
Details: One ticket per student. Valid U-M Student
I. D. required. Payment for ticket is required at the
RSC Sale (cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, American
Express and Discover accepted). Payment and ticket
orders will not be processed until verification of U-M
enrollment is confirmed.
esday, March 13, 8 pm
dnesday, March 14, 3 pm
dnesday, March 14, 8 pm
ursday, March 15, 8 pm
764.2538
www. urns. org