Month: October 2012

Categories
Truly Free Film

Tech & Media Finally Allowed To Marry In NYC (IFP To Officiate)

It was with great pleasure that on Friday, I saw that it was announced that the IFP (of which I am on the board of) was awarded the RFP for a new digital media center in New York City.  I, and many others, had been struggling with the lack of interaction between the two fields.  The Mayor’s Office stepped into do something about it.  This is a truly great initiative and should be a model for cities throughout the country (Hey San Francisco:  hint, hint).

This is the official press release:

Media Center Will Promote Collaboration between Entertainment, Advertising and New Media Industries and Offer Educational Programs to Support the Next Generation of Innovators

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Truly Free Film

When Did I Sign Up For This “Audience Development” Thing?

By Chris Dorr

Peter Kafka of the WSJ recently interviewed Robert Kyncl, the man who heads up the channel initiative at YouTube.  Robert was asked what he had learned from his experience at YouTube thus far.  He states:

“Lesson one: Audience development is equally as important as great content. By creating fantastic content and spending zero time on audience development, you are certain that you will not succeed on YouTube. You have to focus on audience development as much as you focus on creating content.”

Kyncl goes on to discuss how the task of TV programming and marketing have to be combined in the new world of on demand content viewing. Kafka then asks who is supposed to do audience development, the content creator or YouTube. Kyncl responds:

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Truly Free Film

Who Do You Wish Tweeted?

On Demand Weekly just published a Twitter Top 100 for the VOD space.   Guess who made it? 🙂  Yup.

It’s a good list and even someone (like me) who follows a lot of folks is sure to find some more folks to follow.

I must confess though my fav part was “People We Wish Tweeted”.  On Demand Weekly had listed:
Eamonn Bowles
Bob & Harvey Weinstein
Tom Bernard, Michael Barker and Marcie Bloom
Melanie Miller
Ted Sarandos
Jeff Bezos

Definitely, on all fronts.  I’d add:

James Schamus

I have more but not in the same category.

Categories
These Are Those Things

First The Feature (Script), Then The Short

We hosted Anna Boden as an Artist In Residence at The San Francisco Film Society recently.  I found it interesting to hear her say she and Ryan Fleck had been inspired by Peter Sollet’s RAISING VICTOR VARGAS and the prize-winning short that preceded it 5 FEET HIGH & RISING.  They had written the HALF NELSON script and in trying to figure out how to do a short that could help get the feature made they decided to shift the focus away from the focus on the teacher (later played by Ryan Gosling in the feature) and put in on Shareeka Epps the student (and who stars in each the short and feature).  This is the short  GOWANUS BROOKLYN that helped get the feature HALF NELSON shot.

Categories
The Next Good Idea

Let’s Convert All Rooftop Parking Garages Into Drive-In Movie Theaters

The La Times reported:
A new drive-in movie theater is opening atop downtown Los Angeles.

On Oct. 28, Electric Dusk Drive-In will debut on the rooftop of a parking garage at the corner of 4th Street and Broadway.

The drive-in will project a wide selection of classic films, cult favorites and contemporary blockbusters on a 24 foot by 18 foot screen, complete with carhops taking orders from a snack bar.

Ah, imagine a world where each city had more than one such drive-in. Now I have never been a

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Categories
These Are Those Things

True Facts About Hedgehogs

Via Metafilter

Categories
Truly Free Film

Fifteen Big Lessons I’ve Learned (I Hope)

I recently did some lectures in Australia & New Zealand.  Being asked to speak, gives me a chance to reflect.  One or two days of 6-7 hr marathon lectures leads me to want to be able to sum it all up.  This exercise in summation is one of futility, but that does not stop me from trying.

What have I learned over the years? What can be done to make better films? What can be done to make a better film industry and culture that actually supports & benefits the creators and appreciators of ambitious and diverse film? How can our culture actually lift up our world?  I don’t pretend to know the answers, but I have fortunately learned some things (and I believe in sharing, declaring, and collaborating).

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