William Morrow Acquires North American Publishing Rights to Luis Elizondo’s Memoir About His Government Work, Including Heading the U.S.’ UFO Program

Luis Elizondo’s out of this world memoir is headed to the printer…

HarperCollins imprint William Morrow has signed on for the North American publishing rights to a new memoir from the Cuban American former U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent and former employee of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Luis Elizondo

Elizondo is the former head of the U.S. Government’s UFO program, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). He was recently featured in a CBS 60 Minutes story about the potential existence of UFOs.

Following the Pentagon’s recent report to the U.S. Congress regarding UFOs, Elizondo was quoted saying, “The American people now know a small portion of what I and my colleagues in the Pentagon have been privy to: That these UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon) are not secret U.S. technology, that they do not seem to belong to any known allies or adversaries, and that our intelligence services have yet to identify a terrestrial explanation for these extraordinary vehicles. This conversation is only just beginning.”

Elizondo spent the majority of his military career as a senior Intelligence Officer, hunting drug traffickers, terrorists, and spies around the world on behalf of the U.S. government and various branches of the military. In 2008, he was asked to be part of the Pentagon’s secretive UFO program. In 2010 he became its Director and led the effort to study UFOs around the world. In 2017, he resigned from his position in protest of excessive government secrecy regarding UFOs. Since then, he has led the global disclosure effort.

Ariana DeBose to Take Part in Virtual Concert to Benefit the Covenant House Charity for Homeless & Trafficked Youth

Ariana DeBose  is helping homeless and trafficked youth…

The 29-year-old half-Afro-Puerto Rican actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre and on So You Think You Can Dance, will take part in a virtual concert event to benefit the Covenant House charity for homeless and trafficked youth.

Ariana DeBose

DeBose joins a 50-plus roster of stars who’ll perform or appear for the May 18 fundraiser that includes Meryl StreepDiane Keaton, Jon Bon JoviRachel BrosnahanStephen ColbertMartin ShortDolly PartonDionne WarwickStephanie J. BlockTony ShalhoubCharlie DayChris O’DowdZachary Leviand Zachary Quinto.

A Night of Covenant House Stars, to be held on Monday, May 18 at 8:00 pm ET on the Broadway on Demand streaming platform, will be co-hosted by six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald and 60 Minutes orrespondent John Dickerson, both members of the Covenant House Board of Directors.

The event is designed to support Covenant House, the international, mostly privately funded charity providing housing, food and healthcare to children and youth facing homelessness, and the front-line staff working during the COVID-19crisis.

“This virus does not get the last word,” said Covenant House President & CEO Kevin Ryan. “This amazing group of stars uniting in love to help us care for kids is proof positive of that.”

Other stars slated to appear include Robin Thicke, Deborah CoxQuentin Earl DarringtonDarius de HaasMary Elizabeth EllisEden EspinosaJordan FisherStephanie Hsu,Randy JacksonCapathia JenkinsJeremy JordanRamona KellerAlex NewellKaren OlivoDawn O’Porter, Laura OsnesBenj PasekJodi Picoult, Shereen PimentelAndrew RannellsKeala SettleJake David SmithWill SwensonBobby Conte ThorntonAna VillafaneFrank Wildhorn, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir.

Event proceeds will benefit Covenant House’s work across 31 cities, in six countries.

The May 18 fundraiser will mark the launch of the Broadway on Demand platform (the company had previously announced a May 17 program). Viewers can watch the Covenant House event free of charge.

In addition to Broadway on DemandA Night of Covenant House Starscan be streamed on iHeartRadio BroadwayFacebookTwitchYouTube, and Stars in the House.

Rodriguez to Perform on the Festival Circuit

Call it the second coming of Sixto Rodríguez

The 70-year-old Mexican-American singer/songwriter, the man at the center of Malik Bendjelloul‘s Oscar-nominated documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has lined up festival dates lined up at Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera in Spain that will follow tours of South Africa and Australia.

Rodriguez

The new dates are part of Rodriguez’s astonishing rediscovery after releasing two albums for Clarence Avant‘s Sussex label in the early 1970s that didn’t sell anywhere except in South Africa where his legend grew along with his record sales.

Bendjelloul’s documentary, which will be released on DVD on January 22, chronicles the myths and realities of Rodriguez’s story and his 1998 concerts in South Africa.

“It’s a different level that we’re at now,” Rodriguez said during a recent visit to Los Angeles to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “I can’t imagine it getting much busier. This is pretty busy. You gotta stay balanced and normalized, pace yourself. At this late date I have a new perspective on things because of the success of the music now.”

The demand for Rodriguez has picked up dramatically in the last year for Rodriguez, who had done a few club performances per year since 2008 when Light in the Attic re-released his two albums, Cold Facts and Coming From Reality. Rodriguez appeared at film festivals like Sundance and SXSW in early 2012 and performed solo at most of his shows. He has been using various bands to back him since moving up to larger clubs and small theaters in the fall.

“We did 13 dates in the UK, all 3,000-seaters, and when we go back it will be Royal Albert Hall,” Rodriguez says.

60 Minutes, which did a piece on Rodriguez prior to the film opening, has contacted him again about possibly chronicling his tour of South Africa in February.

Besides the Oscar nomination, Searching for Sugar Man is up for BAFTA, Producers Guild and WGA awards. It won the International Documentary Association‘s best feature and best music awards and the National Board of Review named it the best documentary of the season.

Rodriguez’s “Searching for Sugar Man” Earns PGA Award Nomination

The documentary about ’70s singer/songwriter Rodríguez continues to garner praise this awards season

Following its best documentary feature nod from the International Documentary Association, the Producers Guild of America has selected Searching for Sugar Man as a nominee for its Documentary Motion Picture Award.

Rodriguez

Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, the documentary tells the story of Sixto Díaz Rodríguez, the now 70-year-old Mexican American folk musician who became a huge star in South Africa while remaining a virtual unknown in the United States or even his hometown of Detroit.

CBS60 Minutes recently featured a special news report on Rodriguez and the critically acclaimed documentary.

Searching for Sugar Man will face off against Aaron Yeger‘s A People Uncounted, Dror Moreh‘s The Gatekeepers, Jon Shenk‘s The Island President and Marius A. MarkeviciusThe Other Dream Team.

The PGA Awards will be held January 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

“Searching for Sugar Man” Receives Best Documentary Feature Nod

Malik Bendjelloui‘s Searching for Sugar Man is one step closer to landing an Oscar nomination…

The documentary about singer-songwriter Rodriguez, dubbed the greatest ’70s U.S. rock icon who never was, is one of five nominees for best documentary feature by the International Documentary Association.

Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man, which recently received the 60 Minutes treatment, will compete against Central Park Five, a documentary about a miscarriage of justice directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon; Kirby Dick‘s The Invisible War, a study of rape in the military; Lauren Greenfield‘s Queen of Versailles, a look inside the world of the super-rich; and Peter Gerdehag‘s Women with Cows, the account of two women bound together by their family farm.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Lopez and Peter Getzel’s Harvest of Empire has been nominated for the Humanitas Documentary Award, given to a documentarian “whose film strives to unify the human family by exploring cultural differences.

Harvest of Empire takes a look at the role that U.S. economic and military interests played in triggering an unprecedented wave of migration that’s transforming the nation’s cultural and economic landscape.

The film will compete against David Belton‘s American Experience: The Amish; Micha X. Peled‘s Bitter Seeds; Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall‘s Cull Me Kuchu; and Namir Abdel Messeeh‘s The Virgin, the Copts and Me.

In addition, Harvest of Empire is nominated for the ABCNews Videosource Award. It will compete against Raymond De Felitta‘s Booker’s Place; Central Park Five; Hussein Elrazzaz‘s The Family; and Amie WilliamsWe Are Wisconsin.

The winners will be announced at IDA’s awards ceremony to be held on December 7 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.

Rodriguez Profiled on CBS’ “60 Minutes”

Call it the “comeback of the century”…

Sixto Rodriguez – who dropped out of sight after releasing two extraordinary albums in the early 1970s that didn’t sell well stateside – is back after a 40-year hiatus.

Sixto Rodriguez

The 70-year-old Mexican American rock troubadour, who was born and raised in Detroit, has seen his star shine brighter than ever after the release of a critically acclaimed documentary about him, Searching For Sugar Man.

Since the release of the film Rodriguez, hailed as one of the founding fathers of apartheid-era South African progressive rock, has received requests to perform everywhere, including Los Angeles’ legendary El Rey Theater.

This past Sunday, the rediscovered singer was the focus of an oh-so-inspiring profile by correspondent Bob Simon on CBS60 Minutes. It’s a must-see piece of journalism that shines a spotlight on the appearance, disappearance and reappearance of a true Mexican American icon.