<h4>Hollywood's Magical Island - Catalina celebrates its 7th anniversary syndicating on PBS KCET airing June 10th, 2010</h4>
<p><strong>Award-winning film director GREG REITMAN &ldquo;Hollywood&rsquo;s Magical Island &ndash; CATALINA&rdquo; showcases its Pledge Drive on KCET beginning on June 10th, 2010 reliving some of Catalina&rsquo;s classic memories. </strong></p>
<p><img hspace="15" align="left" src="images/stories/casinaharbor.jpg" alt="" />LOS ANGELES, CA &ndash; May 25, 2010 &ndash; First-ever film on the History of Catalina Island will be syndicating a pledge drive on PBS Network Channel, KCET beginning on June 10th, 2010 at 9:00 PM.&nbsp; During the pledge drive, GREG REITMAN will be joined by special guests, actor, TONY DOW and Catalina Historian, CHUCK LIDDELL reflecting on 'HOLLYWOOD&rsquo;S MAGICAL ISLAND &ndash; CATALINA'. &nbsp;<br />
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Today, Catalina Island is a picturesque getaway that Southern Californians might visit once or twice in their lifetimes.&nbsp; In its heyday, thousands flocked to this once world-famous mecca in a single day &ndash; lured there by such attractions as the Big Band swing music of such legends as Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown; the world premieres of the first talkie motion pictures; underwater kelp gardens found nowhere else in the world; and endless other man-made and natural wonders.<br />
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Narrated by Emmy-winning actor PETER COYOTE, &ldquo;HOLLYWOOD&rsquo;S MAGICAL ISLAND &ndash; CATALINA&rdquo; presents the fascinating history of California&rsquo;s own paradise isle through rare 16 mm footage, never-before-seen vintage photographs, and interviews with celebrities, island historians, and a Wrigley heir.<br />
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Filmed over a period of several years by first-time director GREG REITMAN, &ldquo;HOLLYWOOD&rsquo;S MAGICAL ISLAND&rdquo; takes viewers on a first-time journey through its unparalleled history &ndash; beginning in 1919, when self-made chewing-gum magnet WILLIAM WRIGLEY, JR., purchased a portion of the island sight-unseen in 1919, then bought up the rest for $2 million soon after arriving.<br />
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Among those featured on-camera are:</p>
<ul>
    <li><strong>William Wrigley</strong>, Jr.&rsquo;s granddaughter, Ada Wrigley Schreiner, in her first-ever interview.</li>
    <li><strong>Actor Gregory Harrison</strong> &ndash; a third-generation islander and son of the captain of the famous Glass Bottom Boat that ferried tourists around Avalon Bay. &nbsp;</li>
    <li><strong>Tony Dow</strong> &ndash; one of our favorite childhood stars as Wally Cleaver on the classic series, &ldquo;Leave it to Beaver&rdquo; &ndash; who spent every summer there with his family. &nbsp;</li>
    <li>Oscar-nominated actress <strong>Kathleen Quinlan</strong>, who was born in Avalon and returned each summer. &nbsp;</li>
    <li>The late <strong>Les Brown</strong> in his last interview, talking about playing the famed Catalina Ballroom with his Band of Renown orchestra.</li>
    <li>Fitness guru <strong>Jack LaLanne</strong>, who frequently visited during his bodybuilding years.</li>
    <li>Oceanographer and explorer <strong>Jean-Michel Cousteau</strong>, an admirer of how well the island has been preserved.</li>
    <li>Surf guitar legend <strong>Dick Dale</strong>.</li>
    <li>Veteran film producer <strong>A. C. Lyles</strong>, who was working for Paramount Pictures when buffaloes were imported to Catalina for the filming of Zane Gray&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Vanishing American&rdquo; in 1924, and shot many of his own pictures there.</li>
    <li>The late screen siren <strong>Peggy Moran</strong>, a cult favorite for her 1940 role in &ldquo;The Mummy&rsquo;s Hand,&rdquo; who was a regular during the Big Band era.</li>
</ul>
<p><br />
&ldquo;HOLLYWOOD&rsquo;S MAGICAL ISLAND&rdquo; takes viewers on an intimate journey through such history-making developments and moments as:</p>
<ul>
    <li>The construction of the Sugarloaf Casino in 1920 &ndash; an eight-sided, steel-framed stucco structure designed to accommodate 250 couples at a cost $250,000 &ndash; which later became the world&rsquo;s largest birdcage.</li>
    <li>The discovery of the island&rsquo;s real treasure in 1926, the clay deposits that were manufactured into the widely known &lsquo;Catalina tile,&rsquo; evident throughout Avalon.</li>
    <li>The design and construction of the island&rsquo;s world-famous landmark, the 140-foot circular Catalina Casino, unveiled in 1929 at a cost of $2 million &ndash; where, notably, gambling has never been allowed.</li>
    <li>The first theater ever built for &ldquo;talkies&rdquo; &ndash; which later became an acoustical model for Radio City Music Hall.</li>
    <li>The 15,000 square foot Avalon Casino Ballroom, where all the big band greats played to crowds of 6000 or more during the Golden Age of swing music.</li>
    <li>The stunning art deco-style murals by artist John Gabriel Beckman, a designer of Grauman's Chinese Theater a year earlier. &nbsp;</li>
    <li>The instrumental role that Catalina&rsquo;s fleet of steamships played in transporting the hordes of tourists who visited from the mainland daily.</li>
    <li>The advent of amphibious seaplane service to the island, launched in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin&rsquo;s half-brother in a failed venture.</li>
    <li>The 30-year history of Catalina as the spring training ground of the Chicago Cubs.</li>
    <li>The unlikelihood of Ronald Reagan&rsquo;s being signed to an acting contract, as a result of covering the Cubs on Catalina as a Chicago radio announcer.</li>
    <li>Best-selling novelist Zane Gray&rsquo;s famed fishing exploits as a member of the Catalina Tuna Club.</li>
    <li>The trend-setting fashion influence of the Catalina Swimsuit Company.</li>
    <li>Marilyn Monroe&rsquo;s life as the wife of a serviceman stationed on the island during World War II &ndash; while she was still Norma Jean Baker.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><br />
About GREG REITMAN and BLUE WATER ENTERTAINMENT </strong><br />
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GREG REITMAN&rsquo;S classic &ldquo;Hollywood&rsquo;s Magical Island&rdquo; marks the 7th Anniversary of his directorial debut as a writer, producer, and director with well-known casting director Mike Fenton. &nbsp;<br />
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GREG REITMAN is the founder of Blue Water Entertainment, Inc., an independent production company focusing on environmentally conscious entertainment. Widely regarded as Hollywood&rsquo;s &ldquo;Green Producer,&rdquo; GREG REITMAN produced the 2008 SUNDANCE Audience Award-winning feature documentary &ldquo;FUEL.&rdquo; He is currently in production on his new feature documentary film, &ldquo;ROOTED in PEACE.&rdquo; <br />
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Cinema is the place where dreams are made and where life stops. In the magic kingdom of story telling, BLUE WATER ENTERTAINMENT&rsquo;S slate of films focuses on current issues that impact our daily lives -- from politics, social justice and poverty to religion...and of course, the environment.<br />
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&ldquo;Documentaries are wonderful place to begin, and its delightful to see after seven years the classic film, of Hollywood&rsquo;s Magical Island &ndash; CATALINA back out on the PBS airwaves.&rdquo; Reitman says with pride. &nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">* * *</p>
<p>For more information, please contact:<br />
<br />
Britta Peterson, Publicist<br />
Blue Water Entertainment<br />
(310) 234-2583 Cell: (310) 999-5616<br />
britta@bluewatercompany.com</p>