MONESSEN, Pa., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Douglas Education Center (DEC), a creative career school located just 30 minutes south of Pittsburgh, is already home to Tom Savini's monstrously successful Special Make-Up Effects Program, which began in 2000 and has graduated hundreds of students from all over the country. DEC offers many other programs besides make-up effects, including graphic design, illustration, cosmetology, and starting in February, Tom Savini's Digital Film Production Program. "Our film students are going to have the opportunity to collaborate with all of these other programs on their productions," said Savini. "They will be surrounded by talented individuals, just like in a professional studio, from the very first day they step on campus."

Each student entering the 16-month program receives a video camera and a laptop computer fully equipped with software for all their filmmaking needs.

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This new spot from Dove hits on a couple of current advertising trends. First, it debuted during the Academy Awards telecast—increasingly, the Super Bowl of splashy ads for women. As Ad Age has noted, Oscars ads cost significantly less than Super Bowl ads: $1.7 million compared with $2.6 million for a 30-second spot this year. They reach a more heavily female audience (60 percent of Oscars viewers are women, while that figure drops to less than 50 percent for the football game). And while Super Bowl advertisers face the risk of a massive tune-out if the game grows lopsided, the biggest Oscar presentations are saved for the tail end of the broadcast, so viewers generally stick around.

Grown-ups have long way to go to rival teens' technology grasp

In type that scrolls up the screen like the preface for Star Wars, a YouTube video reads, "For years, parents could not text message. They could not figure out how to record a voice mail. They could not even connect to the Internet without using AOL." .

Mother establishing moving memorial for Marine son, others

Brian Barker, of B.K. Artworks, puts the finishing touches to the portrait on the hood of a 1992 Mustang GT. The painting portrays the car's owner, Sgt. R.J. Jimenez, who was killed in battle in Iraq in 2004. His mother is having the car restored as a memorial to him and the other Marines who died in Iraq. .

Grate expectations as cheese comes of age

The figures back up Broome's contention that we are witnessing a sea-change in our attitudes towards cheese. According to marketing information consultants TNS, shoppers bought £62.6m of lesser-known regional and organic cheeses in the UK, compared with £52.8m in the previous year. And data from market analysts Mintel show that "territorial" cheeses, a term which includes mass-market UK regional cheeses as well as the smaller producers, rose from £160m in 2002 to £220m last year. The study also forecast that shoppers will continue buying more organic and specialist cheese and that they will want to know more details about where the cheese in their shopping basket has come from. "There has been a change in recent years," said celebrity chef Martin Wishart. "We find that about 60% of our diners do opt for cheese and that is more than you would have expected a few years ago.

OUT LOUD: Will Ferrell

We looked at a lot of the old stuff from the ABA, photos, what little footage there is. They didn't have a TV contract. That's where we got the wardrobes and outfits. The entire framework and feel of the movie is taken from all the research we did.

Andre (Benjamin) kept saying Woody (Harrelson), but I think I have a better overall game.

I played basketball in high school. I was a power forward. I still play now and then. I'm OK. I can play.

I was varsity junior and senior year. I was captain my senior year. It was kind of fun. I had to give a speech at school assemblies. Those were kind of fun because you could make fun of the faculty.

I always loved comedies, but I was like, "That's so tough to break into.'' I love sports.

Gilmore's gold in first round

WORLD champion Stephanie Gilmore swooped into the new season as the pacesetter in round 1 of the Roxy Pro surfing tournament on the Gold Coast yesterday.

Local knowledge helped Gilmore pick the best waves and take command of the heat.