Danny Puff

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) The dramatic film "Fruitvale" and the documentary "Blood Brother" won over audiences and Sundance Film Festival judges.

Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.

"Fruitvale" is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, Calif. First-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the dramatic narrative.

"This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don't know," the 26-year-old said as he accepted the final prize of the night. "To get this award means that it had a profound impact on the audience that saw it, on the people that were responsible for picking it up. And this goes back to my home, to the Bay Area, where Oscar Grant lived, breathed, slept, loved, fought, had fun, and survived for 22 years."

Fox Searchlight founder and Sundance juror Tom Rothman said "Fruitvale" was recognized for "its skillful realization, its devastating emotional impact and its moral and social urgency and for anyone out there who thinks for one second that movies don't matter and can't make a difference in the world.

"This will not be the last time you guys walk to a podium," he added.

Coogler said he felt personally connected to the story because he's from Oakland and was born the same year as the subject of his film.

"So I'm the same age, same demographic. So when I saw the footage, initially I was heartbroken, frustrated, and the biggest thing was that Oscar looked like us, you know what I mean?" he said. "He looked like any one of my friends could have been me, could have been them, and these situations happen again and again."

The U.S. documentary winner, "Blood Brother" follows a young American, Rocky Braat, who moved to India to work with orphans infected with HIV.

"This means so much to so many kids," director Steve Hoover said as he accepted the award.

Other dramatic winners at the ceremony hosted by actor-director Joseph Gordon-Levitt included Lake Bell, who accepted the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for her directorial debut, "In A World," and Jill Soloway, who won the directing award for her feature debut, "Afternoon Delight."

Soloway thanked Bell and the other "lady directors" making their debuts at the festival.

"I feel like we all crossed the street together holding hands," she said. "We're all out there together exposing ourselves and I love being here with you guys."

Cinematographer Bradford Young was recognized for his work in two dramatic films, "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" and "Mother of George."

Documentary winners included Zachary Heinzerling for directing "Cutie and the Boxer" and Matthew Hamachek for editing "Gideon's Army."

The Cambodian film "A River Changes Course" won the grand jury prize for international documentary, and a narrative film from South Korea, "Jiseul," claimed the grand jury prize for dramatic world cinema.

Having a film at Sundance serves as a stamp of approval, Coogler said.

"Audiences trust this film festival more than any other festival in the country," he said, "and they know if a film plays here, it's a film that should be seen."

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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LOS ANGELES (AP) "Argo" continues to shake up the Oscar race by taking the top honor at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday.

Ben Affleck, coming off winning Golden Globe Awards for best motion picture drama and director for the real-life drama, received the award handed out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm still working as an actor," he said in his acceptance speech.

Affleck also stars in "Argo" as the CIA operative who orchestrated a daring rescue of six American embassy employees during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. George Clooney and Grant Heslov share the producer award with Affleck as "Argo" beat out the Civil War saga "Lincoln," which has a leading 12 Academy Awards nominations.

Other nominees in the PGA movie category were "Les Miserables," ''Zero Dark Thirty," ''Beasts of the Southern Wild," ''Django Unchained," ''Life of Pi," ''Moonrise Kingdom," ''Silver Linings Playbook," and Skyfall."

Along with honors from other Hollywood professional groups such as actors, directors and writers guilds, the producer prizes have become part of the preseason sorting out contenders for Academy Awards.

The big winner often goes on to claim the best-picture honor at the Oscars on Feb. 24.

Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" won the guild's animation category, beating "Brave," ''Frankenweenie," ''ParaNorman" and "Rise of the Guardians."

"Searching for Sugar Man" took the documentary prize, beating "A People Uncounted," ''The Gatekeepers," ''The Island President," and "The Other Dream Team."

Showtime's "Homeland" won the producer's award for television drama series, which beat out "Breaking Bad," ''Downton Abbey," ''Game of Thrones," and "Mad Men."

The ABC sitcom "Modern Family" took the prize for best comedy series for the third straight year, beating "30 Rock," ''The Big Bang Theory," ''Curb Your Enthusiasm," and "Louie."

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Argentina, a year later. Thailand in 2008. Russia in 2009.

For survivors of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, the fire in Brazil that killed hundreds Sunday is the latest in a series of reminders that no matter how far away, those who ignore the lessons of their tragedy can pay a horrible cost.

On a cold night in February 2003, the rock band Great White took the stage at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. During the show, pyrotechnics set fire to flammable soundproofing foam that lined the walls and ceiling, killing 100 and injuring 200.

Over the decade since, survivors have come together time and again over news of similar disastrous fires overseas.

"We're very tight," said Todd King, one of the survivors. "You can't put into words what we saw."

He said he was woken up Sunday morning by a storm of text messages from others who survived the Rhode Island fire, asking, "Can you believe this is happening again?"

"I'm surprised nobody has learned," he said.

Another Rhode Island survivor, Victoria Eagan, said she and others noted that each of three earlier fires was caused by indoor pyrotechnics igniting with material in the building. Investigators have just begun their work in Brazil, but witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.

"I had the same reaction as the other three times," Eagan said Sunday. "We're doomed to repeat history and I wish they could learn."

In the year after the Rhode Island fire, a flare ignited ceiling foam at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.

Indoor fireworks were blamed for a fire at a club in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2008 in which 66 partygoers were killed.

And another indoor fireworks display at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152 people in December 2009.

In Rhode Island, the Station fire brought about sweeping changes to the state's fire code with one intent: Never again.

Sprinklers are now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 or more, nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and more money was set aside for fire safety classes in schools.

Rhode Island also banned pyrotechnics in all but its largest public venues and local fire marshals were enabled to order immediate repairs and write tickets for violations.

Eagan said the changes were necessary in Rhode Island.

"I wish it would spread to other countries," she said.

A deadly blaze overseas does not seem so distant because of the Rhode Island tragedy, Eagan said.

"It's a tragedy that hits close to home," she said. "It's maddening to see it happen again."

In an emailed statement, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, which is building a memorial to those affected by the 2003 fire, compared the two fires.

"One cannot help but notice the similarities between this tragedy and the Station nightclub fire that occurred nearly 10 years ago," the group said.

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Two senators at the center of negotiations over comprehensive immigration reform, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said on Sunday that a pathway to citizenship is an essential component of a comprehensive reform bill.

"That has to be also part of it," McCain told ABC News' Martha Raddatz on "This Week" when asked whether a pathway to citizenship would be a component of reform. "There's a new appreciation on both sides of the aisle including, maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle, that we have to enact comprehensive immigration reform."

Like "This Week" on Facebook here. You can also follow the show on Twitter here.

McCain said that a small group of Senators will release the principles of a comprehensive, not "piecemeal," reform bill this week.

"I'm very pleased with the progress," McCain said. "It's not that much different from what we tried to do in 2007."

Read a full transcript of the interview with Sens. McCain and Menendez HERE.

Menendez, who met with President Obama on Friday along with other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus leadership, said that the president expressed his full commitment to reform.

"The president made it very clear in that discussion that this was a top legislative priority for him in this session of the Congress and that he expects to work with all of us in an effort to achieve that goal and he's fully committed to it."

He added that a pathway to "earned legalization" is an "essential element" of an immigration reform bill.

"First, Americans support it in poll after poll. Secondly, Latino voters expect it. Thirdly Democrats want it. And fourth Republicans need it," Menendez said.

McCain added that he believes Obama's use of the presidential podium on behalf of immigration reform at an event in Las Vegas planned for Tuesday will aid efforts to pass a bill.

"I think it helps," McCain said. "I think its important that we all work together on this."

"Believe it or not, I see a glimmer of bipartisanship out there," he added.

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PARK CITY, Utah (AP) Ashton Kutcher says playing Steve Jobs on screen "was honestly one of the most terrifying things I've ever tried to do in my life."

The 34-year-old actor helped premiere the biopic "jOBS" Friday, which was the closing-night film at the Sundance Film Festival.

Kutcher plays the Apple Inc. founder from the company's humble origins in the 1970s until the launch of the first iPod in 2001. A digital entrepreneur himself, Kutcher said he considers Jobs a personal hero.

"He's a guy who failed and got back on the horse," Kutcher said. "I think we can all sort of relate to that at some point in life."

Kutcher even embodied the Jobs character as he pursued his own high-tech interests off-screen.

"What was nice was when I was preparing for the character, I could still work on product development for technology companies, and I would sort of stay in character, in the mode of the character," he said. "But I didn't feel like I was compromising the work on the film by working on technology stuff because it was pretty much in the same field."

But playing the real-life tech icon who died in 2011 still felt risky, he said, because "he's fresh in our minds."

"It was kind of like throwing myself into this gauntlet of, I know, massive amounts of criticism because somebody's going to go 'well, it wasn't exactly...,'" Kutcher said.

While the filmmakers say they tried to be as historically accurate as possible, there was also a disclaimer at the very end of the credits that said portions of the film might not be completely accurate.

Still, realism was always the focus for Kutcher, who watched "hundreds of hours of footage," listened to Jobs' past speeches and interviewed several of his friends to prepare for the role.

The actor even adopted the entrepreneur's "fruitarian diet," which he said "can lead to some serious issues."

"I ended up in the hospital two days before we started shooting the movie," he said. "I was like doubled over in pain, and my pancreas levels were completely out of whack, which was completely terrifying, considering everything."

Jobs died of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Still, Kutcher was up to the challenge of playing Jobs, in part because of his admiration for the man who created the Macintosh computer and the iPod.

"I admire this man so much and what he's done. I admire the way he built things," Kutcher said. "This guy created a tool that we use every day in our life, and he believed in it when nobody else did."

The film also shows Jobs' less appealing side, withholding stock options from some of the company's original employees and denying child support to the mother of his eldest child.

Kutcher still found the man inspiring. Jobs had a singular focus, Kutcher said, and felt like anyone could change the world.

"I don't know if there's ever been an entrepreneur who's had more compassion and care for his consumer than Steve Jobs," Kutcher said. "He wanted to put something in your hand that you could use and you could use it easily... and he really cared about that."

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

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LONDON (AP) Prince Harry's off-duty time in Afghanistan appeared to be full of war movies, board games and elaborate candy trades.

The 28-year-old helicopter pilot and fellow members of his squad swapped Kit Kats and Rice Krispies Squares for American soldiers' M&Ms, according to a British media pool report released Sunday.

Harry himself outlined one of his less-prestigious duties. The third-in-line to the U.K. throne said anyone who lost at Uckers a military game similar to Ludo or Parcheesi had to then wait on his comrades like a Buckingham Palace butler, ready with a fresh cup of tea whenever anyone rang their bell.

"Whoever loses ... then you have to make brews for everybody all day," Harry told journalists ahead of his return to Britain this week.

He also denied rumors that he was far better at PlayStation than at traditional board games.

"I don't know who told you that," he told reporters. "I lost two days ago, and yesterday, so since you guys have been here I've only lost."

Harry returned to Britain on Wednesday after a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan in which he acknowledged that he had targeted Taliban fighters from the cockpit of his Apache attack helicopter.

Asked in an earlier round of interviews whether he had killed anyone, Harry said: "Yeah, so, lots of people have." That admission disturbed some Britons and led to front-page headlines like the one in The Daily Mail that read: "Harry: I Have Killed."

This latest round of interviews, focusing on Harry's daily life at Britain's Camp Bastion military base in Afghanistan, is not likely to draw the same kind of headlines.

The report mainly carried glimpses of the prince's daily routine, including his favorite foods chicken and broccoli and his favorite movies "Full Metal Jacket," ''Apocalypse Now," and "Platoon."

In an interesting twist for an Apache pilot, "Black Hawk Down," the Ridley Scott film about a helicopter raid gone wrong in Somalia, was among the movies spotted in Harry's communal tent.

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NEW YORK (AP) Dr. Phil McGraw has booked the first on-camera interview with the man who allegedly concocted the girlfriend hoax that ensnared Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o.

A "Dr. Phil Show" spokesperson confirmed on Friday the interview with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo (roh-NY-ah too-ee-AH'-so-SO'-poh), the man accused of creating an online persona of a nonexistent woman who Te'o said he fell for without ever meeting face-to-face.

The ruse was uncovered last week by Deadspin.com, which reported that Tuiasosopo created the woman, named Lennay Kekua, who then supposedly died last September.

No further details of the "Dr. Phil" interview, including its airdate, were announced.

This interview follows the first on-camera interview with Te'o conducted this week by Katie Couric.

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NEW YORK (AP) Before long plane flights, Thomas Schumacher likes to download talks from some of the world's brightest and creative minds speaking at TED conferences, watching them on his iPad while thousands of feet in the air.

"I marvel at the range of stuff. I like the passion of the speakers and love the content," says the president of the Disney Theatrical Group about the various conferences dedicated to technology, entertainment and design. "I am a giant TED freak."

The downloader will become the downloaded after Monday when Schumacher joins more than a dozen speakers for the second TEDxBroadway conference at the off-Broadway complex New World Stages.

The one-day event is bringing together more than a dozen producers, marketers, entrepreneurs, academics, economists and artists. All will try to answer the question: "What is the best Broadway can be?"

Schumacher's string of hits including "The Lion King," ''Mary Poppins" and "Newsies" hasn't made him impervious to a bout of nerves ahead of the conference.

"I'm confident that somebody will be worse than me, and I'm really confident that people will be better than me," he says, laughing. "There are no rules about doping for this, so I'm going to do whatever I can. I'm going to have a blood transfusion Sunday night."

He'll join a wide assortment of speakers, including "Star Trek" actor George Takei, producer Daryl Roth, Schmackary's Cookies CEO Zachary A. Schmahl, playwright Kristoffer Diaz, critic Terry Teachout, ethnographer Ellen Isaacs and Erin Hoover of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

There will also be performances, this being Broadway, after all. Magician Steve Cohen will wow the crowd with tricks, and there will be music from Rasputina, the all-female cello-driven band.

TEDx events are independently organized but inspired by the nonprofit group TED, which started in 1984 as a conference dedicated to "ideas worth spreading." Video of the Broadway event will be made available to the public.

The annual gathering centered on Broadway is the brainchild of three men: Ken Davenport, a writer, director, producer and industry pioneer; Jim McCarthy, the CEO of ticket discounter Goldstar; and Damian Bazadona, the founder of Situation Interactive, an online marketing firm.

Last year, the organizers asked speakers to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway would look like in 2032. This year, they dropped the forecasting to focus on current issues.

"I think by taking the time frame off of it, we've actually retained the imagination part and kind of liberated the speakers a little bit more," said McCarthy. "I think it's been a more constructive framework for them to work with."

The speakers will include Tony Award-winning set designer Christine Jones, who will discuss how to make the Broadway experience more intimate. She's an expert on the subject, having created Theatre for One, a 4- by-8-foot portable theater that fits just one audience member and one actor.

One returning speaker is Vincent Gassetto, the principal of a high-performing public middle school in a tough area of the Bronx who urged those in attendance last year not to overlook his diverse and enthusiastic talent pool as arts funding shrivels. His passion triggered several school visits to Broadway shows.

One hot topic will be on the future of live theater. David Sabel, from the National Theatre of Great Britain, producer Randi Zuckerberg and Internet pioneer Josh Harris will each talk about how theater can be freed from the stage, whether that means more immersive experiences or employing more broadcasts of plays and musicals on movie screens.

"Our goal at the conference is not necessarily to walk out with a list of things we're going to do tomorrow and say, 'This is going to solve the problem,'" said Bazadona. "The idea is really just to discuss what the different ideas and directions are. For me, the more open-ended it is, the more excited I am to see where it goes."

The three organizers have seen the event grow and hope to keep it an annual event. Last year's TEDxBroadway attracted some 200 people; this year it is expected to double that.

"I think of the conference as a steroid shot to everyone's imagination. It just stirs everyone up," said Davenport. "It's a jolt to everyone's system and gets everyone thinking in a new and exciting way."

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Online:

http://www.goldstar.com/tedxbroadway

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Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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NEW YORK (AP) Fox News Channel is parting ways with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, ending her three-year tenure as a contributor on the network.

While Palin's time at Fox was occasionally rocky, the network's news executive, Bill Shine, said Friday that "we have thoroughly enjoyed our association" with her.

"We wish her the best in her future endeavors," said Shine, Fox's executive vice president for programming.

A person familiar with discussions between Fox and Palin described the parting as amicable, saying that Fox and Palin had discussed renewing her contract but she decided to do other things. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Palin's lawyer in Alaska, John Tiemessen, had no immediate comment on her exit. Palin's last appearance on Fox News was Dec. 19 on Greta Van Susteren's show.

Palin signed to deliver commentary on Fox in January 2010, reportedly for $1 million a year. It was a coup for both sides at the time; the former Alaska governor was a little more than a year removed from her attention-getting run for the vice presidency and was considered one of the leading contenders for the 2012 presidential nomination. At Fox, she had a platform on the most popular network for conservative viewers. Fox installed equipment in Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, home to make her regular appearances easier.

But there were some indications of tension between her and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, who was quoted in a 2011 story by The Associated Press saying, "I hired Sarah Palin because she was hot and got ratings."

When Palin announced she would not be a candidate in 2012, she said it on a conservative radio show, which didn't sit well with the company paying her to be a contributor. Palin took to her Facebook page late last summer to complain that Fox had cancelled her appearances one night at the GOP national convention; Fox said it was simply because the GOP had to condense its speaker schedule due to a hurricane.

Four years removed from her vice presidential candidacy, Palin's influence had waned and she was somewhat overshadowed as a contributor at Fox by Karl Rove, former President George W. Bush's top political aide. Rove recently renewed his contract at Fox through the 2016 election.

With four more years of a Barack Obama administration in power, Fox recently hired former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as a contributor.

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DES MOINES (Reuters) - Senator Tom Harkin, a veteran Iowa Democrat and one of the most liberal senators, said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, putting at risk what was considered a safe Democratic seat.

Harkin, 73, who has focused much of his nearly 40-year congressional career on farm policy, education and expanding rights for people with disabilities, is the third senator facing re-election next year who has announced his retirement, following Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

"It's somebody else's turn. It's time for me to step aside ... . I think that's not only good for our party, it's good for our state and for our nation," Harkin said in an interview with Reuters.

He said he had no health problems but had promised his wife that he would quit before it was too late to enjoy other things in life.

Iowa, site of the country's first presidential nominating contest, is considered a political swing state. Republican Charles Grassley is Iowa's other U.S. senator.

In remarks to the Iowa Democratic Party central committee after his announcement, Harkin said he would stay politically active.

"I'm not quitting today. This is not a time for legacy talks or anything like this," said Harkin, who has served in Congress since 1974.

Several committee members had tears running down their cheeks as he spoke.

President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, praised Harkin for his decades of public service.

"During his tenure, he has fought passionately to improve quality of life for Americans with disabilities and their families, to reform our education system and ensure that every American has access to affordable health care," Obama said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, in a statement described Harkin as "a passionate progressive, whose deeply held principles have provided a guiding light to Democrats for decades."

SEARCH IS ON

Party officials said Harkin's announcement, coming early in the current two-year election cycle, provides ample time to recruit a strong Democratic candidate.

Among Democrats, U.S. Representative Bruce Braley is widely seen as a front-runner. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, and his wife, Christine Vilsack, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year, are also viewed as potential candidates.

Among Republicans, U.S. Representatives Tom Latham, a moderate, and Steve King, a conservative, are mentioned as possible candidates, which could produce a divisive Republican primary.

Obama won Iowa in the November election. But the state has a Republican governor, and a divided legislature and congressional delegation.

Harkin's retirement "just reinforces our belief that a grassroots Republican comeback can take place in 2014. Let's have it start in Iowa," Iowa Republican Party Chairman A.J. Spiker said in an email appeal to state Republicans.

The party needs to pick up six seats in the mid-term elections next year to get a majority in the 100-member Senate.

One of the last of the Senate's old-guard liberals, Harkin angrily opposed the White House over the recent fiscal cliff compromise that Vice President Joe Biden negotiated with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Harkin said the deal that raised taxes only on the very rich helps the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1974 and to the Senate in 1984, Harkin said someone younger needs to take his place.

"I've been there 40 years. I'm 73. By the time I run (for re-election), I'd be 75," he said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Charles Abbott and Vicki Allen in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Xavier Briand)

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