So What Are the Cosby Kids Up to Today?

In the 1980s, Thursday nights belonged to "The Cosby Show". Heathcliff and Claire Huxtable and their crew of kids were the talk of the entertainment world. I saw that little Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) was developing a reality show and wondered what was going on in their lives. And this is what the Cosby Kids are up to today.

Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy): She was the youngest for the majority of the time. She's back in the public eye on a couple of fronts. She had a role in Tyler Perry's latest flick and she is starring in a new reality show, "Keshia and Kaseem." The show is airing on Oxygen and will follow the lives of the actress and her live-in boyfriend, entrepreneur Kaseem Penn.

Raven-Symoné (Olivia): She was the new cute kid who the producers brought in when Rudy reached her awkward tween years. Of all the kids, she has had the biggest post-Cosby career, starring in numerous films and her own TV show: "That's So Raven."

Lisa Bonet (Denise): She starred in the Cosby Show spin-off “A Different World.” She may be best known for her role opposite Robert DeNiro in the controversial movie "Angel Heart." Bonet also made news when she and husband, Jason Momoa, named their child Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo): He is both an actor and a singer. The Emmy-nominee has starred in his own sitcom, "Malcolm and Eddie," the Showtime hit "Dexter," and the poorly received 2008 romantic comedy, "Fool's Gold". He's also released a few CDs; including "The Miles Long Mixtape."

Tempestt Bledsoe (Vanessa): She had the unappreciated task of playing the annoying middle child. Still, she went on to host her own short-lived talk show, and also appeared on the third season of "Celebrity Fit Club." She is also developing a reality show with her boyfriend called "Househusbands." What’s up with all this watching people’s daily unreality, who watches this stuff anyway?

Sabrina LeBeauf (Sondra): The eldest Cosby kid was probably the least popular. She does however, continue to act and has her own interior design company. And in trivia alert: she beat out Whitney Houston for the role of Sondra.

First Lady Obama Moved by School Visit

An emotional First Lady Michelle Obama told schoolgirls in London that the world needs strong young women to pave the way for the future. Mrs. Obama was close to tears as she addressed the excited crowd at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington, north London.

Her visit to the north London school was greeted with much excitement by pupils and she sat smiling, riveted, as a student lead the school's junior choir in a performance of the Whitney Houston hit Believe. The student was congratulated with a high-five by the first lady. Michelle Obama, a mother of two girls herself, smiled and watched intently throughout the other performances, which also included a modern-day staging of The Tempest, and a presentation on the school's new Learning To Lead scheme.

As she addressed the crowd, Mrs. Obama choked up, saying: "Wow. I can't follow that. Let me tell you, I am just very touched and moved by all of you."

In a brief speech to about 100 students she spoke of her working class upbringing in the South Side of Chicago, saying she was "an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them".

She told them that she was surrounded by extraordinary women in her life who taught her about quiet strength and dignity. And that they too can control their destiny. She told them: "We are counting on every single one of you to be the best that you can be."

Cheetah Girls Writer Deborah Gregory's Story

Writer, performer and designer Deborah Gregory is the award-winning author of "The Cheetah Girls" novel series. The 22-book series (16 books written by Deborah Gregory plus 6 movie tie-in books) is about five talented teens that form a singing group and make their dreams come true. The Disney Channel original movie produced in conjunction with Whitney Houston, "The Cheetah Girls" --based on the book series stars Raven Symone, Adrienne and Kiely from 3LW as well as Lynn Whitfield. Deborah Gregory served as a co-producer on the film project.

Gregory is also a National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) award-winning contributing writer for ESSENCE magazine since 1992. Her work has also appeared in VIBE, MORE, Heart & Soul, Entertainment Weekly, and US magazines. Her pop culture column, THE DIVA DIARIES, appears in GRACE magazine, the national fashion and lifestyle "reality" publication targeted at multi-cultural women. She recently released her new book, written as an adult novel, “Catwalk”, a tale about budding fashionistas who vie for the prize and are destined to rip the runway by any means necessary. She also has developed a one-woman show "LEOPARD LIVES" --a coming of age story about a child growing up in the New York City foster care system of which Ms. Gregory is also a survivor.

Ms. Gregory has also contributed to several books including, "Men of Color: Fashion, Mission, Fundamentals"; "Body and Soul, SoulStyle: Black Women Redefining the Color Fashion," "Essence Total Makeover Book," and "50 Most Influential People." She also contributed to photographer Marc Baptiste's book of nudes, "Beautiful". The pictures include a host of celebrities who posed nude including Stacey Dash, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Williams, Beverly Johnson, and LisaRaye.

Deborah Gregory also launched her company, CHEETAHRAMA, offering her original designs including hand-crafted decoupage art cases and hair accessories which are sold at stores nationwide.

Ms. Gregory received her A.A.S. from Fashion Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science from Empire State University in 1986. She currently lives in New York City with her pooch Cappuccino who poses as the Cheetah Girls mascot Toto.

That’s all good news. The bad news is that Deborah Gregory says that she has not been paid one cent. “It’s called ‘net profit participation,’ says Ms. Gregory. And she isn’t the only author to find out the hard way about Hollywood accounting, which reduces the reported profit of a movie through the calculation of overhead expenses, employee salaries and advertising costs. Other book authors reportedly not receiving money for their books turned movies include Olivia Goldsmith who wrote The First Wives Club, Alice Walker who wrote The Color Purple, and Stan Lee who wrote Spider Man. Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel for his unpaid share of profits based on the character and reportedly won more than $10 million.

Net Profit is defined as an amount of money earned after all expenses have been deducted from the total revenue. There is a saying in Hollywood that “a percentage of the net is a percentage of nothing.” Ms. Gregory claims that she has received only $125.000 from the Disney Channel for the two and a half year option, producer fees and purchase price for two movies. The Cheetah Girls was made into a Disney Channel TV movie, capturing 6.5 million viewers. The sequel topped the first, becoming the most-watched original movie in the Disney Channel’s history. The Cheetah Girls have become a brand with massive merchandising, including soundtracks, DVDs, video games and sold-out concerts.

Authors don’t have a real union like screenwriters do. They have the Authors Guild, which does not operate like a real union. So studios are not accountable to the authors, although 40 percent of all movies and TV projects have the source material from books.

If you ever write a book which turns into a movie, Deborah Gregory provides these suggestions on how authors can protect themselves from “net profit participation.” (1) Get as much money as you can up front for your movie rights. (2) Consider writing the screenplay or TV teleplay so that you can get into the Writer’s Guild. That will provide you DVD residuals. (3) Have bonus clauses included. As merchandise is made, for example, that will ensure that a bonus kicks in.