Arguably one of the coolest women in Hollywood.

Through my travels, I have been fortunate enough to get to know some of the coolest women in Hollywood. Juliette Lewis is one one of them, and her sister Brandy Lewis is pretty groovy, too. An Academy Award nominee, Juliette is a true renaissance woman who has lived a very colorful life. Next up is the coveted role in the film adaptation of August: Osage County alongside Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. She has also achieved fierce rocker chick status having toured the world with her band Juliette and The Licks. I once asked her if she would ever want to do a fragrance like every other actress or rocker chic and she said, “No, but if i did, I’d call it Sweat!”

Regarding her preferred charity, Juliette wanted to draw attention to Musicares. Under the umbrella of The Grammy Organization, MusiCares is there when music people need help. So many in their community give so much joy to the world, yet face each day without the benefits of health insurance, retirement plans, or a consistent source of income. MusiCares offers a safety net without which many amazing talents would have nowhere else to turn. Learn about how your donation can help a musician in need today. Click on Juliette to find out how you can help.

Watch my interview with Juliette Lewis for IMW-TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhOpTgAkWSw

Directed by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

We are family, I got all my sisters with me.

Alan Cumming is an activist’s actor’s actor or is it actor’s actor activist? He is deeply committed to important issues, we worked together on the UN Millennium Goal Campaign and Alan has recently joined the Board of Activates for the Family Equality Council. The mission of FEC is a commitment to changing attitudes and policies to ensure every family is respected, and especially the more than a million  families in the United States whose parents are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender. When asked why that organization, Alan said, “I came to know of the Family Equality Council because of a movie I am in, Any Day Now, in which I play half of a gay couple in the 1970′s trying to adopt a child with Downs Syndrome.  It is an amazing story but the saddest thing is that so little has changed for same sex parents in the 35 years since the story takes place”. Click on Alan and Liza Minelli to learn more about the Family Equality Council.

Watch my interview with Alan Cumming where we talk about life, love, Harold and Maude, Shakespeare and Josie & the Pussycats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a4QRzZ3R6Y

Directed by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

Carrie Fisher went to a galaxy far, far away.

Carrie Fisher invited me to the annual fundraising dinner to benefit Silver Hill Hospital, the facility she went to during her most trying time dealing with mental health issues. Though if you ask me, she is saner than many. Carrie was being honored that night and said, “Having waited my entire life to get an award for something, anything…I now get awards all the time for being mentally ill. It’s better than being bad at being insane, right? How tragic would it be to be runner-up for Bipolar Woman of the Year?”

The mission of Silver Hill Hospital is to provide patients with the best available treatment of mental illness and addiction. This tony mental health facility has been the safe haven for such notables as Mariah Carey, Truman Capote, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross to name a few.

“I feel I’m very sane about how crazy I am.” – Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking

Besides celebrities, Silver Hill Hospital has a scholarship program that offers people like you and me the opportunity to get the best care for psychological disorders and drug rehabilitation. They also have a great program for teens with psychological problems. To find out more about Silver Hill Hospital, click on either Princess Leias and learn about one of the best facilities in the United States.

Watch my interview with Carrie Fisher for IMW-TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWcHMMzPa8M

Produced by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM_WGcC0jDw

Produced by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

Kara DioGuardi took a break from rehearsals for Chicago to chat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKNrHUQ-ng

Produced by Abe Gurko, Directed by David McIntyre, Image Loading for IMW-TV

Watch Kara and Jason reeves sing Terrified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTeBtw9Jhsc

I Mean…What?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a4QRzZ3R6Y

Produced by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

The fashion industry and Pratt Institute will honor Fern Mallis with a Lifetime Achievement Award tonight. Just wanted to give her a shout out and wish her the best, ’cause we lerve Fern. It’s odd not seeing Fern at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, but then again, I had issues adjusting to the second Darrin Stevens on Bewitched. Guess we all have to just move on. Calvin Klein is giving her the award and I am sure the press will be asking him about that twinkie, Nick Gruber, who is apparently off to rehab for being a cross-addicted twinkie.

Calvin Klein will give Fern Mallis the Lifetime Achievement Award at Pratt Institute.

Produced by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?

The New York Times Style section featured a great article on vibrators. Sex toys have come out of the closet and onto the shelves at Duane Read and Walgreen’s taking the taboo out of diddling with your hoo-ha. Now there are movies coming out about them, Oprah’s new channel OWN has a chat show with a sex therapist and before you know it, sex toys will become more acceptable than sex itself. When the rubber company Trojan launched their line of vibrators called Trojan Vibrations, I sat down with Dr. Logan Levkoff for a frank conversation about sex, diddling and politics. No, not the politics of sex, rather, the need for politicians to use these products before they vote on certain bills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml9y60SbjHM

Directed by David McIntyre for imageloading.com

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Meet the people who design Gap 1969.

Something wonderful happened in the aftermath of writing that story, What The Gap Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love. The next day—after my article had gone viral, having first submit it to The Huffington Post, (as a contributor), it was was then picked up by Jezebel, Blackbook and others—the Gap Global External Affairs office reached out to say thank you for being so honest and that my suggestions were being discussed internally. Since then, we have continued a friendly dialogue about some of my ideas. Most importantly, they invited me, along with a handful of key media outlets and influencers, to preview their fall ad campaign last week. On Thursday, Women’s Wear Daily, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg News and yours truly met with Seth Farbman, the new Chief Marketing Officer to discuss what’s in store—literally and figuratively—for the Gap. Since I Mean What was the only media outlet to roll cameras, please watch this short interview that highlights my chat with Seth peppered with some of the images from the new campaign. Look, I wish we all had the attention span of anything besides a gnat, but the fact remains, you have to keep these videos short and sweet. Overall, my take away from our conversation makes me think that there is hope for the Gap.

We the people.

Being told to meet Seth at the Gap Global Creative Center had me wondering what exactly is at the center of a gap? The abyss? That riddle baffled us as we arrived in Tribeca for the shoot. Through my interview with Seth—who definitely has his finger on the pulse—one can see why he is a good choice to speak on behalf of the Gap as they begin their long road to recovery. The fact remains, cool ad spots and viral marketing are a given. But there are several ways to skin a cat, and hopefully they will be firing on all cylinders. Rome was not built in a day, and no brand—besides maybe the Kardashian one—can turn on a dime. Having worked with international conglomerates for years, I liken them to submarines. You can not turn them around quickly, especially when they are full steam ahead, going the wrong way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2aXFVqJ6wU

Here are some outtakes not included in the video, due to the whole gnat thing. 

Seth: We want to de-corporatize the Gap.
Abe: Good move. Does that also mean streamlining the non-performing stores a la Starbucks? Might I suggest closing the 23rd Street & 8th Avenue location since the dust bunnies rule the roost and the window displays seem to always feature Final Sale, Closing Out or Everything Must Go visuals, which is not a good look, nor “on trend”.

Seth: We are talking to millennials, (which for you non-corporate-speak types means 20-somethings).
Abe: The problem with the old Gap was that you were trying to engage the full range of 18-45 year old fashionistas. You can not be all things to all people. Stick with this 20-something group. There is hope for them since they did help shepherd Barack Obama into the White House. Granted, they are the epitome of gnat-brains, but if you mollycoddle them, they are yours for life.

Each person tells their story. The cutest.

Seth: We are engaged in sustainability but down playing the communication that we are doing this, so not to seem disingenuous.
Abe: I get it, no one likes when a company gets on a high horse to spew how wonderful they are BUT since our government is not doing enough in this area, I say promote the hell out of it. This generation is quite conscientious about sustainability. When the Gap first opened its doors, the youth movement was fighting for and winning the argument against the government to end the War in Vietnam. “The (Generation) Gap”, the namesake of this brand needs to take its place at the table again. It should be one of the Gap’s greatest initiatives, if you ask me, but what do I know?
(The Gap’s publicist seemed uncomfortable with my railing against the machine, so I changed the subject.)

Seth: We want to tell stories about real people in a real way.
Abe: Seth, you will never go to hell for being real. You may not get invited to Kim Kardashian’s wedding, but then again, who cares?

We ended our interview with a hearty handshake and Seth’s saying, “Don’t be a stranger”. Well, I may not be able to extricate the word strange from who I am, but I do hope to continue the dialogue.

And they can bring their dog to work? In LA? Jeally.

Watch this video overview of the new fall Gap 1969 Ad Campaign. The great coincidence is that a freind of mine, Ami Kealoha from Cool Hunting did the production of this campaign. Bravo, girl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2mWyLC9vcA

I Mean…What?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ko2_iWUwMI

Produced by Image Loading for IMW-TV

I Mean…What?!?