Two Top Guns Shoot Blanks
By FRANK RICH
New York Times, June 19, 2005

Extract:

"The Cruise-Holmes antics, not to mention the concurrent shenanigans of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, add yet another variant to this mix, shrewdly identified by Patrick Goldstein of The Los Angeles Times as "a new rogue genre in which celebrities act out their own reality show, free from the constraints of a network time slot or a staged setting, like a boardroom or a desert island."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/opinion/19rich.html?hp

Runaway Bride, Hero Hostage to 'Tell-All'
By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer
San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, June 19, 2005

Extract:

"One woman broke the law. The other helped catch a suspected killer. Both are selling their stories and could make millions in the process. Representatives of Ashley Smith — whose 911 call led police to courthouse shootings suspect Brian Nichols — and runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks made deals for their stories with publishing houses in the past week.

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The women likely received advances of about $500,000 for story rights that could turn into a windfall of millions of dollars should movies on their lives be made, entertainment experts said.

"Experts say the sky is the limit when millions of people want to know your story.

"The demand is unprecedented," said Steven Beer, an entertainment attorney from the New York law firm Greenberg Traurig who has represented Britney Spears. "We're living in this media culture where general audiences crave personal stories of people who were once like them but now ... are thrust into the public eye.