Ledger Pop Journal - Celebrity News & Sports

Anthony Michael Hall has a long-running winner with his "Dead Zone" USA series -- but that doesn't mean he's resting on his laurels. "I want to take that leap and become an independent filmmaker like Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino," says Hall, who produced and stars in the indie drama "Aftermath" with Tony Danza and the late Chris Penn.

Anthony Michael Hall (Wenn)

Hall says he'll direct the next project he's hoping to get off the ground for his AMH Entertainment company by the end of the year. "I wrote a comedy called 'Life After Death in Las Vegas,'" he says. "It's about greed set in Vegas, kind of like 'Old School' and 'Wedding Crashers.' I have attached Mike Epps, Wayne Newton, Michael Madsen, Carmen Electra and Gilbert Gottfried."

Hall says his desire is to stay strictly behind the camera on "Life After Death." "People ask me 'Why direct?' But I want to go back to those roots I had as a kid and the comedies I made," says Hall, referring to his earlier films such as "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Weird Science." "Instead of paying the five biggest stars in Hollywood, use 20 people you know and love. I've been really working hard in terms of development, and this will be the first one I launch."

WOMAN ON THE MOVE: Actress/writer/producer Jennifer Westfeldt has a "chaotic" couple of weeks ahead, taking her critically admired, September-opening "Ira and Abby" romantic comedy to France for the Deauville Film Festival this week -- just after doing prosthetic pregnancy padding and costume fittings and otherwise getting ready to go back into production on ABC's "Notes From the Underbelly" series.

"In two weeks we'll be back to working 15-hour days again," she notes. Westfeldt, the woman behind the indie hit "Kissing Jessica Stein," tells us that even though she had more recognition and money to work with for her sophomore effort, "It was still a challenge. Everything is a challenge on a low-budget independent film. Every day you have a location for only that day, if anything goes wrong, you're in trouble. And we had weather challenges, trying to capture changing seasons on a four-week New York shoot."

The end result -- with leading man Chris Messina and supporting cast members including Judith Light, Fred Willard, Robert Klein and Jason Alexander -- has been likened to Woody Allen's work. "The Woody Allen thing has come up before," notes Westfeldt, referring to "Jessica Stein." "I don't think anyone can do a dialogue-driven romantic comedy without being compared to Woody Allen. He OWNS the New York rom-com. You just hope you can bring in something of your own that's original and fresh."

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN: "Battlestar Galactica" regular Katee Sackhoff says she's just hoping she'll still be standing after this television season now that's she's juggling the Sci-Fi Channel hit with her duties on NBC's "Bionic Woman," debuting Sept. 26. "Both roles are extremely challenging physically and emotionally," says Sackhoff, who plays intense, hotshot pilot Starbuck on "BG" -- (yes, folks, her character died last season, but she will be back for the show's final season!) -- and will now be going bionic toe-to-toe with Jamie Sommers as the evil villain in the new "Bionic Woman."

Sackhoff spent her last couple of hiatuses shooting films. "I haven't had a break in two years now, so I was really looking forward to taking some time off," she says. "It took me a long time to be convinced to do 'Bionic Woman' on a regular basis. I was fine just doing the pilot." However, she found it was an offer she couldn't refuse. "It was all David Eick(cq) … He's the exec producer for 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'Bionic Woman.' He told me he had me in mind (for the nemesis) from the beginning. It's rare for an actor to be able to do two jobs at once, but everything fell into place."

KIDDING AROUND: Actor-singer-dancer puppeteer John Tartaglia is deep into production on the second season of his inventive musical Playhouse Disney show "Johnny and the Sprites," and reports, "We're filming through November, possibly longer." On top of that, "We're developing two other shows, and I've just signed a deal to do concerts around the country as myself." The multi-talent, who earned a Tony nomination for his work in "Avenue Q" (he created the puppet characters of college grad Princeton, and Rod, the closeted gay Republican investment banker), says he's working out "a double act. During the day I can work a kid-friendly show, and at night I'll do one geared to 'Avenue Q' fans.'" How can he manage it all? "I'm a bionic man. No, I just can't look at a calendar. It's too overwhelming. I know every actor, every creator dreams of being this busy. When that golden ticket lands in your lap, you have to make the most of it."

What's helped on the TV front is the fact that "Johnny" has earned its own rep, "and it's definitely a lot easier to get people involved," he says, speaking of Broadway colleagues like Gary Adler, Bobby Lopez, Laurence O'Keefe and Michael Patrick Walker.

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)