Hollywood Marks Katrina Anniversary

One year later and Hollywood hasn't forgotten the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

On Aug. 29, 2005, the storm made landfall along the Gulf Coast, swamping New Orleans and devastating the region in one of the worst calamities in American history.

Thursday night in New York City, a slew of celebrities joined Moby and the Roots at a benefit cum launch party for It Takes a Nation, a book chronicling MoveOn's HurricaneHousing.org program, which helped to find shelter for more than 30,000 people displaced after the storm.

"I think it's remarkable that they just through basically grassroots networking were able to accomplish what the government was not able to accomplish," Moby told E! Online. "MoveOn put the word out and said if you have a room available and you can house people, then please take people in and all of sudden everyone opened up their houses to complete strangers. That's why the book is so remarkable because it documents this amazing human achievement."

Oscar nominee Rosie Perez emceed the event, which took place at popular Manhattan nightspot CroBar. Joining her onstage was Julia Stiles, who read evacuees' first-hand accounts from the book.

"Katrina to me brought out a gamut of emotions. It ranged from shock and horror to anger, then fear. . .but the immediate response of the people gave hope," Perez said.

Short sets by Moby and the Roots closed out the evening, with profits going to ACORN, a nonprofit organization which has organized a long-term campaign to assist New Orleans residents, help rebuild New Orleans and fight poverty there.

"I'm a big supporter of MoveOn and I think the book can do a lot of good," said Stiles.

It Takes a Nation is one of many projects marking Katrina's one-year anniversary on Tuesday.

More than 75 film, TV and music stars, including Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Kevin Bacon, Justin Timberlake and Jon Bon Jovi, have written messages to Katrina survivors for the coffee-table book Love Letters to the South, which book stores this week.

The book, published by Naked Inc., features photos of both victims and those who came to their aid, as well as portraits of its celebrity contributors, with a portion of the proceeds going to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and Habitat for Humanity.

HBO will air Spike Lee's four-hour documentary, When the Levee Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, in its entirety on Tuesday. The movie premiered in two parts Monday and Tuesday on the pay cable network and will be available to access anytime via HBO on Demand starting next Wednesday.

That same day, Hilary Duff plans to visit victims in the Big Easy on a trip sponsored by USA Harvest, through which she has donated 2.5 million meals to those in need over the past year.

The entertainer's schedule includes stops at elementary schools, a high school and a disaster recovery center. Duff will do everything from passing out water bottles and serving lunch to speaking about positive role models and signing autographs.

"From day one, Hilary has been there to support our efforts to aid victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma," said Stan Curtis, chairman of USA Harvest. "We look forward to our trip to revisit the remarkably resilient victims of the storms and share time with them as well as provide them with more food and supplies to ensure continued growth and recovery."

One of the biggest stars to lend a helping hand at the outset was Oprah Winfrey, who flew down to the affected region to visit with evacuees and covered the hurricane extensively on her show. Her charitable organization, Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network, raked in $61,000 on July 27 courtesy of Matthew McConaughey, who auctioned off his beloved 1971 Corvette Stingray on eBay. The money raised will go toward hurricane relief.

James Woods and online poker site HollywoodPoker.com, meanwhile, are inviting poker fanatics to get online for a good cause, with half the proceeds raised going to the Red Cross.

Meanwhile, several networks plan to mark the occasion with TV specials, among them: ABC News will present Hurricane Katrina: Where Things Stand, which will feature live broadcasts from the area on all its major shows--World News with Charles Gibson, Nightline, This Week with George Stephanopolous and Good Morning America.

CBS will do the same with The Early Show and the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer Monday and Tuesday, while 60 Minutes will lead off with an interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Sunday. CBS News Sunday Morning and Face the Nation are also getting in on the anniversary coverage as well.

NBC will televise an expanded version of Brian Williams' documentary for the Sundance Channel, In His Own Words: Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina, as part of an hourlong special, Katrina: The Long Road Back. NBC Nightly News will also broadcast from the region Monday and Tuesday while Today, Meet the Press, Weekend Today and sister net MSNBC will supply additional retrospectives.

CNN will continue its Peabody Award-winning coverage by sending an army of anchors and correspondents to the region, among them American Morning's Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien and golden boy Anderson Cooper for Anderson Cooper 360.

Fox News kicks off its coverage on Saturday with America's Challenge: Rebuilding the Gulf, featuring live reports from its big guns, including Shepard Smith and Greta Van Susteren.

On Sunday, the Discovery Channel will broadcast Surviving Katrina on Sunday, a two-hour documentary on the storm and its impact on the Crescent City.

The History Channel on Tuesday will air Katrina: Seven Days with the National Guard, detailing the heroism of those first-responders.

HGTV's Life After Katrina, airing on Sunday, takes a look at a group of residents from New Orleans and Gulfport, Mississippi are faring in starting over and rebuilding their homes.

During the next few weeks, Dr. Phil will air several episodes filmed in New Orleans specifically for the anniversary. Oprah's favorite psychologist also emceed a benefit concert two weeks ago at the New Orleans Arena featuring jazz pianist Allen Toussaint, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, R&B crooner Brian McKnight and country duo Brooks & Dunn.

Speaking of music, Music Rising, the campaign founded U2's The Edge to help replace musical instruments lost or destroyed in the region's hurricanes and give a lift to the region's struggling musicians, just announced that it has provided music gear to more than 2,000 artists to date.

Music Rising also plans to raise additional money through the sale of a limited-edition Epiphone guitar made by Les Paul that features exclusive artwork and the campaign slogan "Rebuilding the Gulf Region Note by Note."

Also marking the anniversary, Rhino has releases a two-disc DVD set of last fall's From New Orleans to the Big Apple: The Concert for New Orleans, the massive benefit concert held at Madison Square Garden that featured performances by Simon and Garfunkel, Bette Midler, Elvis Costello and John Fogerty, among others.