The Left Lane
Dancing onto TV

Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas in "Save the Last Dance."

Fox has committed to developing a script for a weekly series based on "Save the Last Dance," the film starring Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas that earned a surprising $90 million at the box office early this year. The deal follows a similar one this week for "Legally Blonde," which ABC is developing as a sitcom.

Stiles played an aspiring ballet dancer who was forced to give up her dreams when her mother died. She's inspired again by Thomas, who shares his love of hip-hop with her. The two fall in love despite the racial and class differences that would, under other circumstances, divide them.

The producers of the movie, Robert W. Cort and David Madden, will serve as executive producers of the TV series, with Toni Ann Johnson (the TV movie "Ruby Bridges") writing the script.

Writers will gather

The Bamboo Ridge Writers Institute, Hawai'i's biggest conference for successful local writers and those who want to be, is set for later this month.

The two-date event features an opportunity to talk story or take a workshop with local writers working in every genre. Among those set to participate are A.A. Attanasio (science fiction), Lee Cataluna (playwright), Cedric Yamanaka (short stories), and Edge Lee (filmmaking). Workshops are being led by novelists Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Nora Okja Keller, and poets Cathy Song, Eric Chock and Joy Harjo.

The conference starts at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 with 19 authors reading from their work and celebrating the latest issue of Bamboo Ridge, Hawai'i's literary journal. Workshops and panel discussions, are scheduled from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. the next day, Oct. 20.

All the activities will be held at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Campus Center. Registration fees range from $30 to $50. For more information: Bamboo Ridge Press, 626-1481 or brinfo@bambooridge.com.

Wonderful whirl for Iz

Having hit stores Sept. 25, the CD made its debut at the No. 1 slot on Billboard's World Chart, one of only 12 CDs ever to do so. It is the only Hawaiian music CD to debut at the top and the first release on an independent label (Big Boy/Mountain Apple Records) to make it Up There. "Alone" also debuted at No. 1 in the local Tower Records survey and the CD is at No. 134 spot on Billboard's Top 200 and No. 6 on the Independent Label Chart.

The new version of "Over the Rainbow" was Jones Radio Network's Weekly Chart Breaker. Elsewhere, at WMAL-AM in Washington, D.C., "Starting All Over Again" has been a featured track leading into and out of news stories.