Joel throws support behind documentary
OYSTER BAY (AP) — Long Island native Billy Joel is supporting a crowdfunding campaign for a local documentary examining the plight of Oyster Bay’s natural shell fishermen.
Newsday reports the 67-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has key roles in “The Bay of Imbalance” and is listed as a content contributor on the website seeking donations for the film.
The documentary’s bio for Joel says he “lives on the shoreline of Oyster Bay Harbor and supports the Oyster Bay Baymen’s Association.”
Writer-director Eric Gulbransen says 60 years of unregulated commercial hydraulic shellfish dredging has left Oyster Bay Harbor in dire straits and fishermen fighting for their livelihood.
The film has been in development for two years and is largely self-funded. The online campaign has raised about $12,400 toward its $50,000 goal.
Freeman to receive AARP award
Morgan Freeman is adding another lifetime achievement prize to his mantelpiece.
AARP said Thursday the actor will receive its Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award at a gala ceremony next year.
The 79-year-old actor has already received the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award and a National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama.
“At a certain point in life, if you’ve had some success, awards start to fall from the sky. But this one really means something,” Freeman said in a statement. “I started my movie career at 50 and some of the best years happened since then.”
He will accept the AARP honor at a dinner Feb. 6 in Beverly Hills, California. Previous recipients of the Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award include Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Robert Redford.
Freeman won an Academy Award for 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby” and has received four other nominations. His most recent film credits are “Ben-Hur” and “Now You See Me 2.”
