Categories
Uncategorized

The Battle Is On: AppleTV vs. GoogleTV

Apple is going to go head to head with Google over control over web content on people’s television.  A major revamp of AppleTV is headed our way to compete with Google’s new set top box & interface.  Either way, indies will soon have  new worlds available to conquer.  It’s going to be a whole lot easier to get your work positioned to be seen in the comfort of someone’s home.

Fast Company reports on many of Apple’s revamps benefits, from a low $99 price to cloud computing storage (so you can watch anything instantly without having to prerecord).

Categories
The Next Good Idea

The Worst Inventions?

Time Magazine has given us their list of the Top 50 “bright ideas that just didn’t work out”.  Check it out here.

But for those quick scanners out there, the list is:

Categories
Uncategorized

YouTube Removing The Tyranny Of Choice

I’ve always pictured utopia as the time when choice, not impulse or passivity, drives our participation and consumption.  But as the NY Times reports, that does not fit with YouTube’s business mandate to keep viewers on their site.

YouTube LeanBack will debut this fall: “There’s no browsing, no searching, no clicking. It behaves like you would expect television to.”

Thanks to Phillip Lefesi for bringing this to my attention!


Categories
Bowl Of Noses

It’s A Fact

The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.

Categories
These Are Those Things

A Communal Work: The Johnny Cash Project

Director Chris Milk has found a perfect way to memorialize one of Johnny Cash’s last songs “Ain’t No  Grave”.  Through this interactive website, participants may drawn their own portrait of Johnny Cash to be integrated to a collective whole.  As people all over the world contribute, the project will continue to evolve and grow, one frame at a time

Check out the website.  It’s a beautiful idea, a beautiful video, and a beautiful song.  Thank you Chris.

Categories
Truly Free Film

Mindmap For The 38 Failings

Mike Ambs (aka @Pedal) built this pretty picture of the 38 Problems. Sometimes a picture is worth it’s weight in words. And hey, You can add on to it too. Thanks Mike!

Categories
Issues and Actions

Festivals Should Reveal Original & Projecting Formats

Manohla Dargis’ recent thoughts from the Cannes Film Festival pointed out this hole in film festival information. Particularly in this day and age of a plethora of choices and easy access & distribution of information, why aren’t festivals telling the audience these details?

Fests, please take note. Filmmakers, please make this request when you apply. Without A Box and Festival Genius, please allow and supply this information.