Just act naturally
Photo- GREG GEORGE
"People have said that I remind them of Orson Welles," Blank said - minus the girth.
Like Welles, Blank established himself early in life as an actor. As a freshman, he is a regular on "The Parent 'Hood," a sitcom about an African-American family that airs Wednesdays on Time-Warner's new WB Network. Blank plays the oldest son, 16-year-old Michael Peterson. Entering its second season, the sitcom ranks No. 2 in New York for its time slot.
Also like Welles, Blank hopes to use acting as a stepping stone to a behind-the-scenes career. He's already had some success. Blank composed the new "The Parent 'Hood" theme song that will debut later this season. Acting on the show also helped him land a commission to compose the show's transitional music, which airs after commercials. Blank's other musical credits include the theme song for "The Montel Williams Show" and the title track for the 1991 Joe Pesci film, The Super.
Having well-connected parents hasn't hurt, either. Mother Lola Blank was a singer, dancer and actress before becoming his manager. Father Warren Benbow is a percussionist who has played with Stevie Wonder, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Before he began producing music videos, stepfather Bob Blank owned and operated Blank Tapes, the noted New York recording studio whose clients included Whitney Houston and David Byrne.
"I've always been around musical people," said the young actor and composer. A classically trained pianist, Blank also plays drums, guitar and the bass.
Blank figures he's been composing since he was 5. At 7, his acting career began with appearances on a PBS reading program. He has since appeared in national commercials for Lego and Pepsi, two made-for-television movies and the Eddy Murphy movie Boomerang.) By 10, he was making movies.
This fall, Blank enrolled in the School of Cinema-Television, where he hopes to hone his skills as a filmmaker.
"I want to write, direct, shoot, edit, do post-production, mix and write the score," he said. "I don't intend to stop the acting... It gives you entry into other things."
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USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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