Live Wire

Sean Penn will be celebrated for his humanitarianism towards everyone but paparazzi by the Producers Guild of America,which will bestow on him the Stanley Kramer Award,the group announced on Thursday. Named for the producer and director who made High Noon,The Caine Mutiny and Guess Whos Coming to Dinner,and was apparently known as Hollywoods Conscience, the prize honours a motion picture,producer or other individual,whose achievement or contribution illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion. It will be given to Penn at the guilds ceremony on January 22.

Barbra Streisand is set to star as Rose,the mother of all stage mamas,in a film version of the1959 musical Gypsy. Arthur Laurents,who wrote the book for Gypsy and directed its 2008 revival on Broadway starring Patti LuPone,said that Warner Brothers and Joel Silver were attached as producers,but that no director had been chosen. Streisand,who won an Academy Award for best actress in 1968 for the film musical Funny Girl has been interested in doing Gypsy for many years,He said that he had suggested Tom Hanks to play the role of Herbie,Roses love interest and the talent manager of her two daughters,Baby June and Louise. Gypsy was made into a film in 1962,starring Rosalind Russell as Rose,which has its fans and detractors.

Lady Gaga,Mel Gibson and pop idol Justin Bieber were the most tweeted about people in 2010. Alok Choudhary,the chair of the electrical engineering and computer science department at Northwestern University in Illinois,and his team analysed the biggest trends on Twitter last year. They found that the earthquake in Haiti and the Chilean mine rescue were among the top events. The New York Times,Times.com and The Wall Street Journal were often the top influencers on politics and world events,but actor Adam Lambert,and singer Ricky Martin also had an impact.