Atlas Shrugged movie scheduled to definitely start production – on June 11th, 2010!

A new article at Deadline.com begins:

For almost two decades, Hollywood has tried unsuccessfully to turn Ayn Randâ??s 1100 page classic Atlas Shrugged into a feature film with actresses ranging from Angelina Jolie to Charlize Theron to Faye Dunaway. John Aglialoro, the entrepreneur who 17 years ago paid $1 million to option the book rights, is tired of the futility and is taking matters into his own hands. Heâ??s announced that he is financing a June 11 production start in Los Angeles for the first of what he said will be four films made from the book.
Aglialoro, who had a hand in writing the script by Brian Oâ??Tool, is taking on this ambitious plan with an unproven director, and is weeks away from production without stars to play Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden, John Galt and the other roles. He’s moving forward despite the conventional wisdom that without stars, it could ultimately be the audience that shrugged.

It will be a four-part three-part series [see update from Aglialoro]. See the full article for much more.

New documentary about the rock band Rush comes to theaters June 10, 2010

A new documentary movie about the rock band Rush — whose 1976 concept album 2112 featured a title track based loosely on Ayn Rand’s novelette “Anthem” — will be coming to theaters on June 10, 2010.
The trailer is available on YouTube, for those who don’t have Apple’s Quicktime player — but this HQ version at Apple is of much higher quality.

Celebrity Ayn Rand fan Ed Snyder to start new "RightNetwork" cable network

Ed Snider, perhaps best known as owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, is starting a new cable network called RightNetwork, which will compete with Fox News while focusing on entertainment rather than news.
Snider has long been a supporter of Rand-related causes, as he talks about in this 2007 speech.
Hat-tip to Don Hauptman for the link.

OCON 2010: Today is last day for early registration [Update: extended]

Today is the last day for early registration discount for the OCON 2010 conference.
This year’s OCON will be held from July 2-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I will soon turn on the OCON summer conference networking options inside the dating service, as that seemed to be a popular option last year.
UPDATE from OCON: “We are writing with exciting news: as of today, registrations for Objectivist Summer Conference 2010 are on a record-setting pace, with 34% more registrants than we had at this time last year. At this rate, we anticipate our largest conference to date! In response to this news, we have decided to extend our deadline for early registration discounts to Sunday, April 4.”

Scholarships are available from The Atlas Society

From Will Thomas:

1) Graduate Scholarships: Application Deadline March 1, 2010
The TAS Graduate Scholarships program is looking for graduate students with a high potential to contribute to future work on Ayn Rand and Objectivism, and whose progress toward a degree could signally benefit from scholarship support. We offer up to $11,000 over the year-long period August 2010-July 2011. Students with a solid, systematic understanding of Objectivism and who are pursuing Ph.D. or masterâ??s degrees in philosophy, political science, history, psychology, and related fields are eligible. Full application information is online here.
2) Summer Seminar scholarships
The Atlas Society will be holding our 20th Summer Seminar conference, planned in cooperation with the Free Minds Foundation. The Summer Seminar is planned for June 30 through July 8, in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. The latest updates on the Summer Seminar plans are online here.
While Free Minds handles the business side of the conference, we at TAS advise on program content and will provide key talks and courses. In addition, we at TAS will offer scholarships for students at all levels who need financial assistance in order to attend the Summer Seminar. These scholarships can cover event registration costs (tuition) and/or room and board costs at the Summer Seminar. We will post application information on our website, www.atlassociety.org, when Summer Seminar registration officially opens.

Avatar: The Atlas Shrugged of the Left

A new article by Nick Rizzuto at TownHall.com begins:

For 52 years now, Ayn Randâ??s Atlas Shrugged has stood alone as the shining example of political allegory. Rand’s novel has long been considered to be essential reading for American individualists and advocates of free markets. The American left on the other hand has not had a work of fiction that definitively embodies their worldview. Avatar might just fill that void. While the two stories are powerful, their messages are diametrically opposed.

See the full article for much more.