Jenna Dewan’s New ‘Magdalena’ Interviews from MTV’s Splash Page

One of the things that Channing Tatum’s longtime girlfriend Jenna Dewan and I talked about when I saw her last was how excited she is about her newly announced role of comic book heroin Magdalena.

It’s a dream project for the humble actress who fell in love with the idea of the film quickly and is very hopeful that fans will respond to it well.

To get fans familiar with ‘Magdalena‘ way ahead of time, the film’s production team is doing a lot of pre-promotion, even before the script is done. I was excited to see that MTV’s Spash Page now has a week long series on Jenna’s new film.

Fans can read the first two articles and watch the video interviews below:

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This week is “Magdalena Week” here at Splash Page. Each day we’ll be giving you an exclusive look at “Magdalena,” the upcoming big-budget adaptation of the Top Cow comic book starring Jenna Dewan and Luke Goss. Today, learn about the character and where the film will diverge from its source material.

Before Wonder Woman, or Red Sonja, before She-Ra or She-Hulk, one female comic book super hero is going to make it to the big-screen to kick butt and take names, to thwart evil and kill the wicked.

And she’s gonna do it all in Jesus’s name (Amen).

Well, sort of, laughed recently cast Jenna Dewan, the actress set to fill the giant shoes — and monster lineage — of Patience, the holy warrior protagonist of the upcoming comic flick “Magdalena.”

Wait, who?

Wielder of the mighty Spear of Destiny, the Magdalena refers to any of a number of distant descendents of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene who fight on behalf of the church. Thanks to her bloodline, she possesses preternatural fighting abilities and (quite literally) sacred blood – think “The Da Vinci Code” crossed with “X-Men.”

In the comics, several Magdalenas throughout history are given stories. Conversations between Dewan and producer Gale Anne Hurd, however, have made it clear to the actress that the movie will more or less follow the comic origin of one Magdalena, Patience, the last in the long line of warriors and the current champion of the world.

“They’re going to follow that comic pretty closely,” Dewan said of the planned plotline.

In the comic story, Patience grows up in a nunnery before becoming a homeless runaway on the streets of NYC. When presented with her destiny, she’s initially hesitant, circumspect, rebellious. “She has this streak in her, a free spirit,” Dewan explained. All of which makes her the perfect fit for the film version of Magdalena, the 27-year-old former “Step-Up” star said.

“What’s interesting in the comic is that Patience is the only one that they mention who questions. She doesn’t just instantly go into ‘Oh, the Catholic Church is right and I know what I’m doing.’ She says I’m very strong in what I believe in, I believe people are doing bad things,” Dewan told MTV News. “I want to fight that because I feel like inside of me that’s what I want to do. But she doesn’t attach herself to any symbols or labels or anything like that.”

Avoiding labels is actually a big challenge for the filmmakers, Dewan confessed, given the heavily sacrilegious nature of the character. Solution? While the recently announced movie version of the heroine will certainly honor her heritage, it won’t necessarily focus as much on the religious aspects of the character, Dewan insisted.

“When I started this I said I didn’t want it to be a religious movie - the Catholic Church versus everyone else. I wanted it to be somebody who knows she has something inside bigger [than herself], this spiritual want to help people,” Dewan said. “That’s really what we’re focusing on - fighting the darkness for the light, rather than the Catholic Church and religion. There is that element of it but it’s more about fighting people who are evil in this world.”

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Yesterday, Jenna Dewan gave us the scoop on her upcoming comic book adaptation of “Magdalena,” the story of the butt-kicking last scion of Jesus, put on Earth to fight crime and preserve the innocent.

Maybe you hadn’t heard of “Magdalena” before this. Maybe that caused you to look her up elsewhere. Maybe that caused you to find this. It’s a costume that’ll send a million mouths a’drooling. So is the trashy, vampy, very revealing costume going to make its way to the film? Settle down, boys. The answer, unfortunately, is no.

“I think the goal of this movie – we don’t want to do ‘Catwoman.’ I don’t think I’ll be walking the street in a thong and leather chaps,” Dewan said, laughing. “That’s not gonna happen.”

It’s as if millions of fans cried out in horror, and were suddenly silenced.

But all is not lost, Dewan said. While she won’t be wearing a thong and leather chaps, the costume WILL still be quite sexy, she insisted, telling MTV News that the ultimate version will be some kind of compromise.

“We’ll be making a sort of blend. We want it to be more based in reality, more ‘Matrix’-y. Not necessarily superhero,” Dewan said. “[But] I probably will have a flavor of the comic counterpart. In my personal opinion I like movies that touch on that.”

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Congrats again to Jenna on this awesome new role! This world can definitely use another heroine, and I can’t wait to see her kicking butt and taking names. Stay tuned to Channing Tatum Unwrapped, and I’ll make sure to post the rest of the MTV Splash Page interviews later this week.

CHANNING TATUM VIDEO OF THE WEEK: New Channing Tatum PSA for Rock4Change.org

Join Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, and many other celebrities at the upcoming benefit concert that is being held to help to put an end to the genocide, suffering and atrocities in Darfur & Uganda. Fans can show their support by attending the benefit concert and by helping us spread the word about it.

Even if you can’t attend the event, showing your support is really easy. In our latest CTU contest, fans can get a chance at winning Channing Tatum’s autograph if you go to Rock4Change.org’s MySpace profile and add them as a top friend. CLICK HERE to get all of the contest details before the quickly approaching September 1st entry deadline. I would also like to thank fans that are sending out bulletins to your friends on MySpace to help promote the event and the cause.

Another PSA has been released and fans can now check out Channing Tatum in the newest Rock4Change.org public service announcement that also features Randy Couture, Flea, Ludacris and James Denton. Enjoy!!!

If you haven’t seen the other video’s that also feature Jenna Dewan, you can CLICK HERE to watch all of the PSA’s that have been released by Rock4Change.org.

The goal of the Rock4Change benefit concert on Thursday, September 4th at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California is to fund the Reforestation Project in Darfur via the work of “Aid Still Required” and to also fund the Clean Springs Campaign in Uganda through the work of “Hands Across Nations”. These projects provide life saving and life changing solutions for the people of Darfur & Uganda. You can CLICK HERE to learn even more about the event and to read a really good article on how and why the organizers created Rock4Change.

Rock4Change empowers & inspires a new generation of activism through the entertainment industry, and in doing so will raise funds and awareness for important social issues that need our attention. Each one of us has the opportunity and the responsibility to use our voice to make a difference. Partnering with the biggest names in music, film, television, and sports, they shine a spotlight on worthwhile causes to motivate people across the globe to do their part to affect positive change. They invite all of us to be a part of the worldwide movement.

Fans can CLICK HERE to get your tickets and join Chan, Jenna, and I at the star-studded event!!!

Channing Tatum Project Update: ‘Battle in Seattle’, ‘Public Enemies’, ‘G.I. Joe’ and More…

There’s been a lot of different things going on with Channing Tatum’s movies lately, so I thought that I would give fans a quick update.

Battle in Seattle

Channing’s upcoming drama ‘Battle In Seattle‘, where he plays a riot cop by the name of Johnson, was the talk of the Democratic National Convention yesterday when it was shown at the Impact Film Festival. The screening was held at at the Starz Film Room and was only open to the delegates at the Denver, Colorado-based political convention. Attendees were also able to take part in a Q&A with director Stuart Townsend and actress Charlize Theron after the movie.

Star-studded premieres are planned for BIS in mid- to late September in L.A., New York., and Sacramento. The movie will then premiere in the following growing list of cites on the dates listed below.

• September 19, 2008 - New York, San Rafael, San Fransisco, Minneapolis, and Seattle
• September 24, 2008 - Sacramento
• September 26, 2008 - Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
• October 3, 2008- Plano, Philidephia, and Santa Barbara

Fans can CLICK HERE to buy tickets. If the movie is not currently scheduled to show in your city, make sure to keep demanding it. Rumor has it that if a city gets 200 demands, then the producers at Redwood Palms Pictures will try to bring the film to your city too.

The ‘Battle In Seattle‘ marketing team has been in high gear for a while and is currently adding fans to their update list. Its easy to join. All you have to do is e-mail their private account at youcontroltheworld@yahoo.com and put “Battle In Seattle” in the subject line. You don’t need to put any message in the body of the e-mail. Once they get your e-mail they will keep you up to date on all of ‘Battle In Seattle’s progress.

Based on one of the most incendiary political uprisings in a generation, ‘Battle In Seattle‘ takes an in-depth look at the five days that rocked the world in 1999 as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest on the World Trade Organization. What began as a peaceful protest intended to stop the WTO talks quickly escalated into a full-scale riot and eventual State of Emergency that squared off the protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.

Fans can CLICK HERE to download the free trailer from ITunes.

Public Enemies

A journalist who played as as extra in Channing Tatum’s 2009 drama ‘Public Enemies‘, where Chan plays the doomed 1930’s bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, recently gave us some new info on the release of the film.

It appears that there has been an official informational release sent to theaters from the studio to remind theater owners to reserve space next summer for the film. It confirms that the film will be released July 1, 2009. The reporter was told by inside sources that even though the film is still in the midst of editing, there will be enough cleaned up and pieced together footage for theater preview trailers to be ready for the Christmas holiday movie releases.

An adaptation of Brian Burrough’s book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43,” Channing’s film centers on the government’s attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. The star-studded cast also includes Johnny Depp who plays Dillinger and Christian Bale portrays the famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

G. I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Channing Tatum will play the lead role of Duke Hauser in what MTV has declared to be one of the most anticipated movies for summer of 2009, and I know that fans are definitely looking forward to seeing Chan flex his super hero chops in the big-budget, action film ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘.

They wrapped filming in on the movie in the Czech Republic in June and not too long after one of the crew members posted his impressions of Channing one of the IMDB messages boards. If you want to get an idea of what it’s like to work with Channing on set, read below…

“So I did a little work on GI Joe, and I have to say it was really refreshing just how cool and unassuming Channing was. When you work with actors often, you come to expect a certain degree of self-absorption. They’re just a different breed in general–partially because they live in very different realities than the rest of the world. Channing was ALWAYS cool. He seemed like someone who knew he was in a fortunate position. He never dragged his feet coming to set, he insisted on taking care of himself, and usually had a smile on his face. Ray Park was the same way … absolutely gifted martial artist, and completely humble. For the sake of these two guys, I hope the movie does really well, as we need more personalities like theirs in the A-list.”

‘G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘ revolves around a European-based military unit known as Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity (G.I.J.O.E.), which is a hi-tech, international force of special operatives that takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.’G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘ is currently scheduled to hit US theaters on August 7th, 2009.

Pinkville

Channing was scheduled to start filming Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone’s ‘Pinkville‘ last November until the production was derailed by the writer’s strike. I’m now hearing from multiple sources that the film may be back on sooner rather than later. Right now, this is just rumor, but if it turns out to be true, they will most likely have to recast some roles depending on which actors are available.

‘Pinkville‘ is a drama about the investigation of the tragic 1968 My Lai massacre that occurred during the Vietnam war. Channing was supposed to play real-life hero Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot who, upon realizing what was happening below, put a stop to the killing by placing his craft between gunmen and the few villagers who were left, and telling his two shipmates to fire on the soldiers if they shot any more people. They airlifted the survivors and reported the carnage to superiors.

What’s Next for Channing Tatum

Channing is scheduled to start filming his romantic drama ‘Dear John‘ next month in South Carolina, his movie ‘Fighting‘ will be released in January 2009, and his movie ‘Parkour‘ will start filming early next year. Fans can CLICK HERE to get a complete list of Channing’s past, current, and future films and watch their trailers.

CHANNING TATUM VIDEO AND PICTURE OF THE WEEK: Thanks for the Happy Birthday Wishes!!!

Each week Channing Tatum Unwrapped will post one or more of our favorite pictures and videos of the uber hot Channing Tatum.

Today’s Video of the Week was submitted by Fabulous Channing Tatum Fans and longtime CTU readers Naz, Marlie, Kerline, Brad, Brandi, Alex, Jan, Vienna, Allison, Liz, Faith, Anita, Ayshi, and Erin and the Picture of the Week was submitted by Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan and resident CTU artist Brad as a birthday gift to me.

I really want to thank everyone mentioned above for the awesome drawing and video you see below and I’d also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to wish me happy birthday today. It really means a lot to me!!!

Before I go on, I would like to clear up one thing. Ever since I made my annual birthday/contest post earlier today, there has been some confusion. Some fans are thinking that today is Channing’s birthday. Just to make sure we’re all on the same page…Channing Tatum’s birthday is April 26th. The birthday we’re celebrating today is my birthday. In case you’re new to CTU, I am Q (aka CTU’s webmaster) and the girl on the left in the picture with Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan and in Brad’s awesome drawing below.

Fans can also check out the incredible video that readers created for me below:

Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful gifts!! They mean the world to me!!!

CTU NEWS: And the Lucky Winner of the Rock4Change Concert Tickets Is…

Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter CTU’s latest contest where one lucky fan will win two FREE tickets to the star-studded Rock4Change benefit concert where both Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan will be presenters.

The lucky winner is…

Belinda T.
from Westwood, California

Unlike Belinda, you may not have won the free tickets, but you can and should still attend the event if you are able to.

Make sure to buy your tickets today so you can see both Chan and Jenna as they introduce a very special African dance presentation created by EMMY nominated choreographer Shane Sparks (MTV’s hit show “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew”) especially for the Rock4Change Benefit Concert and more importantly, so you can help a great cause!

I just learned that Dane Cook has agreed to host the event, and they keep adding performers on a daily basis. Fans can CLICK HERE to see the growing line up of performers and presenters.

My inside sources have also told me that they will be releasing six new videos over the next few days leading up to the concert. Fans will be glad to know that at least one of the videos will feature Channing and numerous other well-known celebrity hotties. I’ll post the video as soon as they send it to me.

Until then, fans can watch all of the PSA’s that have been released so far where Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, and other celebrities speak out against the atrocities in Darfur & Uganda in hopes of inspiring their millions of fans to join The Rock4Change Movement.

You can click on the flyer at the top of this post and go to Rock4Change.org to get more details on the event. I hope to see you at the Rock4Change benefit concert on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk.

Finally, fans stay tuned to Channing Tatum Unwrapped. In addition to keeping you updated on Rock4Change, I will be holding another contest very soon that relates to the event.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ Premieres in Spain!!!

After having it’s initial premiere in the states way back in February, Channing Tatum’s extremely successful sequel to his 2006 hit ‘Step Up‘ is finally having one of its last theatrical releases around the world.

I want to let Chan’s Fabulous Fans in Spain know that his film ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ has now premiered in your country, where it is actually known as ‘Street Dance‘.

The film will be showing in numerous Spanish cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Sevilla.

Fans can go to the Spanish Yahoo movie website to get more details on the film and to get information on theaters, show dates, and times.

Fans can also check out the Spanish trailer below:

CHANNING TATUM VIDEO OF THE WEEK: New Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan PSA for Rock4Change.org

Check out Channing Tatum and his girlfriend Jenna Dewan in the new Rock4Change public service announcement that also features EMMY nominated choreographer Shane Sparks from MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” & FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance”, Layla Kayleigh from “ABDC” and Danielle Savre from “Bring It On 2″. Enjoy!!!

Here’s how you can help…

Fans can show their support by attending the benefit concert and by helping us spread the word about it. Go to Rock4Change.org’s MySpace profile to add them as a top friend and to see how you can join Channing, Jenna and many other celebrities at the upcoming benefit concert that is being held to help to put an end to the genocide, suffering and atrocities in Darfur & Uganda.

The goal of the Rock4Change Benefit Concert on Thursday, September 4th at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, is to fund the Reforestation Project in Darfur via the work of “Aid Still Required” and to also fund the Clean Springs Campaign in Uganda through the work of “Hands Across Nations”. These projects provide life saving and life changing solutions for the people of Darfur & Uganda.

Rock4Change empowers & inspires a new generation of activism through the entertainment industry, and in doing so will raise funds and awareness for important social issues that need our attention. Each one of us has the opportunity and the responsibility to use our voice to make a difference. Partnering with the biggest names in music, film, television, and sports, they shine a spotlight on worthwhile causes to motivate people across the globe to do their part to affect positive change. They invite all of us to be a part of the worldwide movement.

And don’t forget that you can still win a FREE pair of tickets to the event from Channing Tatum’s official site ChanningTatumUnwrapped.com. The deadline is less than 2 days away, so CLICK HERE to learn how you can quickly enter!!

ACDC’s Final Challenge to Channing Tatum & Jenna Dewan’s M&M Cru

‘Step Up 2‘ and ‘Step Up 3-D‘ director and ACDC leader Jon M. Chu has one final message for the M&M Cru that he would like to share with world. Although his dance crew may have surprisingly lost the dance battle he started with Adam Sevani last April against Miley Cyrus’ M&M Cru at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, he’s still fighting the war to help children in need around the world.

Watch the video and read his message below to see how you too can help…

Here’s the message that accompanied the video on YouTube:

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One last challenge to Miley and Mandy Cru!!! oh and Adam and I are in Norway…come say hello!!ACDC and Invisible Children have been paired up from the beginning to help raise awareness and money for the forgotten kids of Northern Uganda. So far, through the ACDC TShirt sales, we have made over $50,000 dollars for the charity. Now it’s Miley and Mandy’s turn!

We CHALLENGE Miley and Mandy to put their M&M Cru tshirts on sale online and throw 100% of the profits to whatever charity they choose.

We believe dance can change the world. And since this battle has begun, and the tshirts started to sell, we are proving that it is true. More kids are getting educated, more kids have books, dorms, clean water because of YOU guys and girls!! Thank you for all your support.

The battle is over, but the war wages on.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for ACDC updates….

Visit invisiblechildren.com to get tShirts and learn more…

and SUBSCRIBE to CHU PICTURES to stay in touch with the ACDC videos!!

-Chu

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I also found a really great interview that M&M Cru director Cole Walliser did with Wired prior to the final battle at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards a few weeks ago. It explains how Cole (who also happens to be friends with Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum) and the M&M Cru were able to recruit Chenna to their side of the dance battle. Enjoy!!!

M&M Cru, ACDC Take YouTube Dance Battle to Prime Time

By Angela Watercutter August 04, 2008
When the Teen Choice Awards air Monday night, the show will feature the final showdown of the “biggest online dance battle in YouTube history.”

That’s right. The online clash between director Jon Chu and Adam Sevani’s ACDC dance troupe and Miley Cyrus and Mandy Jiroux’s M&M Cru will finally be decided in prime time based on the decibels of ear-bleeding screams at the awards show, which Cyrus is hosting. (The show was taped Sunday and, for those who don’t mind spoilers, MTV.com reported the winner.)

It’s taken a lot of trash-talking, celebrity cameos and ice cream shenanigans to get to this point. But in the last few weeks, both sides have remained fairly quiet as they meticulously prepared for the face-off — except for the video tease (embedded) from the ACDC team showing aspiring member (and premier danseur) Little Demon.

In an attempt to get up to speed — and get a few details about what’s in store for the show — Wired.com asked M&M Cru members Cole Walliser (the director and an M&M dancer) and Teresa Espinosa (the choreographer) for a quick oral history of the throw-down.

“We’re really excited this thing has exploded,” says Walliser. “We obviously knew that people would watch these videos because Miley has a fan base and Jon has a fan base, but this has really helped both groups grow [beyond that]. Now people see these videos and say, ‘Miley’s kind of cool, look at this stuff that she’s a part of.’”

After the jump get the skinny on being friends with the competition, making dance videos on a shoestring and what surprises are in store for the final battle. (Hint: There is more than just fancy footwork involved.)

Wired.com: So how did it all get started?

Cole Walliser: Teresa has been Miley’s choreographer since Day One. Her and Alison Faulk [the producer and also one of the dancers] are good friends, so for bigger projects Alison was brought on as assistant choreographer. I’ve known Teresa for a number of years and Alison is actually my roommate. We’re all good friends in that circle. Then how the whole battle came about was Alison actually worked on Step Up 2 — she was in the 410 crew — so she got to know Jon and Adam last summer. It got to the point, I think, where Miley saw Step Up 2 and was like, “Oh Adam’s cool, Adam’s cute” or whatever. Alison said that she knew them and then word got back to Jon and Adam. So Adam obviously thought that Miley was cute and Jon started thinking, “Oh I’ve got to start getting some action going between these guys.” Just lighthearted stuff.

So Jon had the idea to use his YouTube blog to be like, “Hey, I’m going to call you guys out to an online dance battle.” He was talking to Alison at the Idol Gives Back thing that Miley performed at. And Alison was like, “This doesn’t exist, what are you talking about?” Then Miley grabbed the phone or maybe they were texting or whatever then they just started trash-talking just for fun like, “We’re going to smoke you” and “We’re going to get these dancers from this crew” and stuff. Basically, at first, we didn’t know what they were doing, we just knew they were going to call us out (video embedded). Then when Alison and Teresa knew they had to make a video, they called me. To be honest, I think we kind of impressed them with our production value and finesse on our first video (embedded below). It sort of jumped up from video to video from there.

Teresa Espinosa: I’ve been Miley’s choreographer since 2006. We did her concert choreography for the first Hannah Montana season. It’s a totally different ballgame working with her for this kind of thing. When I work with her, she’s the artist, so she can never do wrong. She can do the routine or she can go off and ad lib. But this is a dance-off — if she’s not involved in it she’s not really part of the crew. She’s never done a two-and-a-half-minute dance number [like the one for the Teen Choice Awards]. She’s had dance sections in her songs, but not a number where she has to do all the choreography.

Wired.com: How did both sides assemble their crews?

Walliser: The professional dance community is pretty small — especially street dancers. It’s kind of funny because half of our close friends are in ACDC. It was really a matter of who called who first. There were a couple of people that we called first and ACDC called them after and they were like, “Sorry guys, we’re already signed up for this Miley Cyrus thing.” For the other side, we called some of our close friends, who we thought were totally going to be down, and their response was, “Oh, Jon and Adam called me already.” It’s a favor, but this also what we love to do.

That was one of the reasons we put names on the videos, just to give everyone a shout-out. Because normally, as a dancer, you’re just dancing behind an artist. You’re behind Mariah Carey. You’re behind Janet Jackson. That’s why everyone jumped on board without asking for any money. It’s exciting that now that all these dancers have donated their time and energy to make these videos we can actually give a job back to them and it’s cool for us, because everyone’s getting paid [for doing the awards show].

Wired.com: What’s with all the one-upping each other?

Walliser: I think it’s always in the mix with dancers. It’s a part of the culture. So if some dancer has a move, you’re going to want to do it cooler. You always have to be like, “I’m going to top you.” So, we brought in a celebrity, we brought in Channing Tatum. Alison is good friends with him and Jenna Dewan because they were on a Janet Jackson tour together back in the day. So we called them because we thought it would be fun opportunity because they were the stars of the first Step Up. Jon thought it was pretty funny. Then, of course, he’s thinking, “If you’re bringing people in, I’m bringing people in hard-core.” So they had tons of [famous] people in their second video (embedded below). No matter what the other person does, be it cameos or production or music or anything, as dancers you try to one-up them on every single level you can.

Wired.com: Yeah, like helicopters.

Walliser: You know, a lot of the things that we did just came about from us sitting around saying, “What do we have access to?” People talk online saying, “Oh, well, Miley can just buy this or buy that,” but in terms of production funding we had zero dollars. We had money to cover insurance and we gave the location crews a little money so they could be there and pay for some lights. But other than that we had no money and were basically just pulling in favors from everywhere.

What happened with the helicopter was that Mandy’s dad owns a helicopter school. So when we were talking about what we could do for that next video, Mandy said, “Well my dad owns helicopters.” We were like, “Are you serious?!” But that was also a huge logistical problem, too. It was a pretty big thing to work around. We were just a bunch of friends with a camera trying to make a video destined for YouTube. So we just took all precautions necessary. We basically shot it in a way that they were actually 30 feet away. It wasn’t running when they were near it.

Wired.com: How did you pick your locations?

Espinosa: Actually, some of our rehearsals right now are at a studio in Silver Lake [in Los Angeles], which is the same location we used for our first video, the place that has the giant radio as the backdrop that says “Respect” on it.

Walliser: Actually, that club in the last video (embedded right), Boulevard3, actually hires a bunch of dancers every weekend. I’ve performed there a couple of times and so have some of our other dancers. We just called them and said, “Hey, we’re doing this thing, it’s guaranteed millions of views on YouTube.” They were supercool about it; eventually they started kicking us ideas and saying, “We could do this or we could do that.” They didn’t charge us for the venue at all. We basically just had to pay someone to run their lighting system for the day.

Wired.com: How do you go from YouTube to live?

Walliser: It’s definitely tricky, because we still want to have interesting components. It’s way more complicated and there are way more logistics to get it all to happen in the time allotted. Basically, each crew is getting two minutes and 30 seconds. But we had free reign. We just had to come up with a concept that would allow us to do interesting gags and tricks, back to back to back. With the videos, there was some stuff we shot in New York, there was some stuff we shot in L.A., but we shot it over a couple weeks and were able to edit together. This all has to be organized and choreographed in time to happen right after each other. Teresa has a lot of experience choreographing for stage so she’s planned this really well, Alison too. So, we have an edge. We’re really excited about this, but it is a little different. It’s all new choreography, all new music, so we’re also not interpreting something that’s been performed before.

Espinosa: We have to create transitions. It has to flow together, whereas with a video you can cut and paste. You have to make things stand out. With a video, the camera creates the focus for you, but on a stage you don’t have that. We’re going to have to be really organized and focused.

Wired.com: What are the surprises going to be?

Walliser: So our opening song is Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork.” All I can say about the performance is that there are going to be some celebrity guests involved in the musical aspects of our performance. The whole thing about it is that, even though we hear things through the grapevine from the other dancers, we have no idea what ACDC is doing and they have no idea what we’re doing. We’re going to see it live for the first time. So it’s important to keep things under wraps.

Wired.com: Will this really be the end?

Walliser: Jon’s in preproduction for Step Up 3, and I have other projects to work on too. I don’t feel like it can get any bigger either. We already had a helicopter, what are we going to have a spaceship next time? [Laughs] I think it’s sort of capped itself. I don’t think that’s the end of what you’ll see of us, but the big production dance videos will probably come to an end.

Wired.com: Any final words?

Walliser: People are under the impression that these crews already existed and that we hate each other, and that’s totally not true. It’s a battle, we are out for blood. But it’s all for fun.

Espinosa: We have the solid core group from the first core group from the first couple videos will be there at the battle. We have the best people so it’s not hard to pick. We have amazing dancers — I’m not even worried about the competition.

CHANNING TATUM VIDEOS OF THE WEEK: 2008 Teen Choice Awards & Jenna Dewan E! Interview

Today’s Videos of the Week were submitted by Fabulous Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Fans Naz from London and Tina from the Phillippines.

Naz has submitted the first video which features Channing Tatum’s interview in the press room after he won the Choice Dramatic Actor Award for his role in ‘Stop-Loss‘ at this year’s 2008 Teen Choice Awards. In the video, Chan talks about surfing, dancing and the biggest challenge for kids today. Enjoy!

Tina taped and submitted the next video which shows a recent interview that Chan’s girlfriend Jenna Dewan did for E! Television when she was promoting her highly successful Lifetime Television movie ‘Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal‘. It’s a cute interview that shows Jenna teaching dance to the kids at the Gabriella Charter School that recently awarded her with their Limelight Award. Enjoy!!!

If you have a favorite video that you would like me to consider, send a link to the video to votw@channingtatumunwrapped.com and tell me why you like it. I will post it and your explanation on the blog.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Premieres in Australia

I want to remind all of Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in the Australia that his drama ‘Stop-Loss‘ recently premiered in your country!!!

The film is playing in numerous cities across the country, so you can go to the Australian website Yahoo Movies to get theater locations and times.

Fans can watch the trailer below:

What’s up next? ‘Stop-Loss‘ will be released on DVD in the UK on August 18, 2008 and will have its next theatrical release in New Zealand on September 4, 2008.

New Photos and Video of Channing Tatum and Girlfriend Jenna Dewan at Madeo’s Restaurant

I will be posting my last LA trip article about my dinner with Channing Tatum and his adorable girlfriend Jenna Dewan, but in the mean time, I found some more new photos and a video of the our favorite couple Chenna leaving popular restaurant Madeo in West Hollywood on August 12, 2008. Enjoy!!!

Below you can check out the X17Online video showing Chan and Jenna interacting with fans outside the restaurant:

CTU EXCLUSIVE: Channing Tatum and Girlfriend Jenna Dewan at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards

In the first of 4 articles recapping my 5-day trip to Los Angeles, California last week, you all learned about my awesome visit with ‘Stop-Loss’ director Kimberly Peirce.

Today’s post is all about my amazing experiences at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, August 3, 2008. Before the event, my best friend and I had breakfast at a popular Santa Monica farmer’s market, went home to get ready, and then took part in an age-old awards show tradition of getting my makeup done before we headed over to the venue.

As I mentioned before, getting tickets to this particular event is really difficult because of the popularity of it. In the end, I was able to get a ticket from my best friend’s company and 2008 Teen Choice Awards sponsor, Neutrogena. They had 65 tickets in total, and from what I understand, ten of them were VIP. Once we arrived, we had to meet up with the person who had what I thought was going to be my general admission ticket to the event. For whatever reason, when I opened the envelope, it had a VIP pass and ticket inside instead. Can’t even explain how excited I was!!!

You’re probably asking what is the difference between a General and a VIP ticket. Well, I now know that there’s a world of difference! The people with General tickets enter the venue from the front door and are restricted from entering in certain areas in the arena (generally the ones where celebrities are sitting or congregating).

On the other hand, VIP ticket holders get to enter the venue from a guarded back entrance with celebs, get to walk the red (blue in this case) carpet if you want, get to hang out with the celebs outside before they take their seats, get to go into the heavily-guarded pit-o-celebs at the foot of the stage where you all saw people sitting on the white couches on TV, and most importantly, get access to the ever-popular, goody-packed gifting retreat that you see Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan in with American Idol’s Randy Jackson on the right.

When we arrived, we decided to bypass the blue carpet. We figured the photographers would not be too interested in us no-celebs and decided to save us all a little embarrassment when their cameras would have gone silent as we made out way down the carpet.

Once we entered the outside backstage area, I started spotting stars like Minka Kelly form “Friday Night Lights”, Josh Duhamel from “Las Vegas”, Hayden Panettiere from “Heroes”, Mandy from the M&M Cru, Jon M. Chu and the entire ACDC crew, Selena Gomez from Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”, and the list goes on. It was like I was standing smack dab in the middle of an issue of US Weekly. I was loving every bit of it and still not believing my luck with the VIP pass!

Not knowing when Chan and Jenna would arrive, I decided to go inside the venue. I took a short video from my seat in the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal City to give you all an idea of the atmosphere of the event. You can check it out below:

Although there was a lot of activity, it took awhile for the show to actually start taping. In the meantime, I was able to star watch as the celebrities continued to arrive at the event and sit in the white couch area in front of the stage.

From Fergie to Will Smith and his kids to Zach Efron and Vanessa Hudchens to David Beckham, Posh, and their kids to the Gossip Girl cast to Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, the stars were showing up in droves and the fans in the audience were screaming for all of them like crazy.

If you even looked like you were going to say the words Miley or Jonas Brothers, the crowd erupted into eardrum-piercing screams. The energy in the room was insane and contagious!

The show finally began with Miley singing her new hit single ‘7 Things’, and I have to say that I was even singing along to it. It’s what happens when you have a 3 and an 8 year old that watch the Disney Channel 24/7.

Later on, Mariah Carey also performed her song “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” to the delight of the very excited crowd. How she did not fall in those insanely high yellow heels, I’ll never know, but the performance was great.

As I mentioned in a previous article, your hard work and votes helped Channing Tatum win Choice Dramatic Actor for ‘Stop-Loss‘ and helped his movie ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ win Choice Drama. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan’s M&M Cru also won the BIGGEST online dance battle known to mankind. Although we did not get Choice MySpacer, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for all of the categories that Channing was nominated in, and as far as I’m concerned, 3 out of 4 is nothing to sneeze at!!!

During one of the commercial breaks, my magical VIP pass allowed me to cross the sea of stars sitting on the white couches to get to Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan. With Will Smith and his kids sitting in the couch in front of them and the Beckhams not far away on their right, I honestly felt like I was in an alter-world or something.

Chan saw me and bounced off the couch to give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek (I’m looking into how to preserve my face at this time). I was even more excited, because after emailing for months, I finally got to meet Jenna Dewan in person for the first time, and she gave me a big hug too. We did not get to talk all that long, because I had to return to my seat before the commercial break was over, but we did make plans to meet for dinner before I left LA (more on that in LA-recap post #4).

Later in the night, I made another venture into what I affectionately call the “Celeb Pit” to finally meet Jon M. Chu and Adam Sevani in person. Jon was awesome and very nice. And if you watched the “So You Think You Can Dance” finale this week, then you know that ‘Step Up’ and ‘Step Up 2′ executive producer Adam Shankman (who was also at Teen Choice) announced that Jon will return to direct ‘Step Up 3-D‘ and that Adam Sevani will also be starring in the film. I want to send out a huge congrats to both of them!!!

After the show, most of the celebs headed home or to other destinations, but before he left, Channing and numerous other celebrities at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards autographed Texas Instruments gear for City of Hope, a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. The autographed TI-Nspire graphing calculators will be given to patients at City of Hope for use in their math and science courses.

The rest of us walked to the show’s after party at a place called Jillian’s in Universal City. At the party, they gave away blue Teen Choice Awards cooler bags with swag from sponsors Dr. Pepper, Neutrogena, Fox, and more.

Although you all may not have been able to attend the event with Chan, Jenna, and I, one lucky CTU reader is not only going to be able to win the bag that you see me holding in the photo on the left, but I also had Channing autograph the all-important VIP pass that allowed me to rub elbows with the celebs at the event. It did not hit me until after I got home from LA that I should of had Jenna sign it too, but I promise I will not make that mistake again.

If you would like to win the exclusive, autographed VIP pass and 2008 Teen Choice Awards goody bag, then here’s what you need to do to enter the contest:

1) CLICK HERE to quickly signup for the Channing Tatum Unwrapped newsletter where you will get a daily email with any articles I have posted in the last 24 hours. If you don’t want to miss out on any juicy Channing Tatum and/or Jenna Dewan news, then the newsletter is the best way to go. If you are already subscribed to the newsletter, then you can skip to step #2.

2) Send me an email from the address you used to sign up for the newsletter to contests@channingtatumunwrapped.com with “Teen Choice” in the subject and your mailing address in the body of the email. I have another contest that will start in a few days, so it’s important that you have the correct subject on your email.

Each fan can enter the contest one time. Please do not submit multiple entries, because only your first submission will be used. The winner of the contest will be announced on this Saturday, August 16, 2008 (the 1 year anniversary of Channing Tatum making CTU his official site), so please submit your entries by the end of the day on Friday, August 15, 2008 to try to win the prize. Good luck everyone!!!!

I had an amazing time at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. My only regret is that I completely forgot to go to the gifting retreat, and I heard that they had some really awesome swag in there. Let it be known that I will NOT make that mistake twice.

I know that Channing and Jenna have plenty more awards shows, premieres, and sets that they will be involved with for many years to come. If given the opportunity, I hope to be able to cover some of them too so I can share the experience with all of you. Well, that’s it for this show, but fans can CLICK HERE to check out tons of photos from the event.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where I will recap my awesome day with Channing Tatum’s mom Kay. Yet another one I promise fan’s won’t want to miss.