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Following crowd-funding campaigns from "Veronica Mars" and Zach Braff, James Franco is trying to raise $500,000 to bankroll a trilogy of movies. Franco on Monday night started a campaign on Indiegogo, a crowd-funding alternative to Kickstarter that allows people to keep the money they raise even if the project doesn't come to fruition. Franco isn't trying to direct the films; he's raising money so that a collection of young filmmakers can adapt his 2011 short story collection, "Palo Alto."
Franco pledges to donate any profits from the films to Art of Elysium, a nonprofit that encourages entertainers to visit children with serious medical conditions. Levels of contribution range from $10 for copies of the screenplays to $10,000, which gets dinner with Franco and an executive producer credit.
The three films — titled “Memoria,” “Yosemite” and “Killing Animals” — will pull from stories Franco wrote about his California hometown.
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Katy Perry "goes there" with Vogue about two of her high-profile relationships in the magazine's July cover story.
The singer says of ex-husband Russell Brand that she "was in love with him when I married him" in 2010. She adds that she hasn't heard from the comedian since Brand sent her a text on New Year's Eve 2011 saying he wanted a divorce, about 14 months later.
Perry says she blamed herself for their breakup until she “found out the real truth,” which she “can’t necessarily disclose.”
She also opens up about her on-again-off-again relationship with John Mayer, saying she "was madly in love with him" and still is. She also says he has a "beautiful mind" and a "tortured soul."
The July issue of Vogue goes on sale Tuesday.
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Health officials in Mumbai are investigating reports that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife know the sex of a baby they are having through a surrogate mother.
Sex determination tests are banned in India to stop the practice of aborting female fetuses due to a preference for sons.
Khan was not at home when municipal authorities tried to question him about reports that the woman had such a test, Press Trust of India reported. A complaint filed by an unidentified, non-governmental organization alleged that Khan and his wife know they are expecting a boy.
Khan has refused to comment.
Associated Press
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Tommy DeVito of The Four Seasons is 85. Actress Gena Rowlands is 83. Singer Spanky McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang is 71. Actress Phylicia Rashad is 65. Singer Ann Wilson of Heart is 63. Actress Kathleen Turner is 59. Country singer Doug Stone is 57. Singer Mark DeBarge of DeBarge is 54. Singer-dancer-choreographer Paula Abdul is 51. Actor Andy Lauer ("Caroline in the City") is 50. Singer-guitarist Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe is 49. Actress Mia Sara ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") is 46. Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch is 43. Actor Jean Dujardin ("The Artist") is 41. Actress Robin Tunney is 41. Actress Poppy Montgomery is 38. Singer-banjoist Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers is 37. Actress Zoe Saldana ("Avatar") is 35. Actor Paul Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine") is 29. Actor Atticus Shaffer ("The Middle") is 15. ASSOCIATED PRESS
