RESTIVE TINSELTOWN HAS NEW HUNGER FOR ACTIVISM.

Byline: Ed Rampell Local View

ON Sept. 11, various celebrities gathered at Skylight Books in Los Feliz for the Hollywood Activists Forum, which I moderated. The success of the event and the audience's reaction prove that there's a growing hunger for activism in Tinseltown.

As the Iraq disaster slogs on, and Hurricane Katrina exposes President George W. Bush's incompetence, Americans are increasingly restive. And they are turning to cultural leaders for cues.

The dissenting talents at the forum were all passionately outspoken, expressing urgency and outrage over Bush's bungling from Baghdad to Baton Rouge. As feisty as ever, actor Tom Laughlin - who personified the '60s and '70s power-to-the-people pictures as Billy Jack, the black belt who defended peaceniks and Indians from rednecks - expressed the group's feelings, verbally karate-chopping the administration and denouncing the commander in chief as ``schizophrenic.'' Laughlin demanded the removal of Bush from office and U.S. troops from Iraq.

The ensuing Q&A with the standing-room-only crowd was equally lively. A woman asked the obvious, yet essential question: ``What should people do?''

At critical times in American history, Tinseltowners have fought at the front lines, on- and offscreen. Before World War II, the Hollywood Anti- Nazi League raised funds for ambulances for the Spanish Republic while Henry Fonda starred as an anti-Franco guerrilla in ``Blockade'' and Charlie Chaplin's ``Great Dictator'' mocked fascism. Henry's daughter, Jane, organized the Entertainment Industry for Peace and Justice to oppose the Vietnam War and racism. As Arlo Guthrie evaded the draft in ``Alice's Restaurant,'' ``M*A*S*H'' ridiculed war.

Now, deepening crises from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf Coast prove the emperor has no clothes and give Left Coasters one more Hollywood moment for presenting an alternative vision.

Showbiz personalities support causes and candidates in several ways. Their celebrityhood attracts crowds, cameras and contributors. They donate. Most importantly, TV and filmmakers are skilled mass communicators who can artistically express their times, uplifting and influencing audiences.

Responding to the ``What is to be done'' question at the forum, rapper Wil B of the parody group Billionaires for Bush urged hip-hop musicians to sing about positive social change instead of gangstas and hos. Michael Shoob, co-director of the Karl Rove documentary ``Bush's Brain,'' noted that he's planning another political documentary.

Can media change the world? Edward R. Murrow's 1954 ``See It Now'' Joe McCarthy broadcasts led to the tyrannical senator's downfall. And during the 9-11 forum, panelist Rena Owen - star of the New Zealand domestic abuse drama ``Once Were Warriors'' - noted that her film persuaded New Zealand's parliament to outlaw domestic violence.

Audiences need films of conscience and consciousness, and judging by the boffo box office of ``Fahrenheit 9/11,'' ``The Day After Tomorrow'' and ``The Motorcycle Diaries,'' there's a public for entertaining and enlightening works.

More progressive pictures are coming soon: Producer/director Robert Greenwald, who co-founded Artists United to Win Without War, is making a Wal-Mart expose that will premiere Nov. 13. Michael Moore's forthcoming documentary is about health care. And George Clooney's docudrama ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' is about Murrow's toppling of McCarthyism.

It's lights! Cameras! Action! for entertainment industry activists.