the Colbert Report Mashup - the Healthcare

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I'm glad that the whole healthcare bill ordeal has passed after I cut this piece.

New York's Independent Film Community Goes From Boom to Bust

"In the past 18 months, New York, once the thriving center of independent film, has lost much of its economic base."

"The center of independent film is not a geographical context," he says, "but a communicative instrument: the Internet."

"the more homogenized and big and noisy Hollywood films get, the more people will want to see independent films. So we should be entering the greatest moment for independent film in a decade."

I hope to survive and live to tell the tales.

James Cameron & Peter Jackson interview

from Newsweek.

Cameron: "I came to filmmaking in the early '80s, and it was a time of deep economic recession. It was a time when VHS home video was taking money from the theaters. The film industry was depressed. That's what I knew—a state of upheaval and change."

"They always say pioneers are those guys flying on planes with arrows in their backs. 3-D will find its place. It's like color. Color didn't affect the career of a single actor. And then people will find out about the intimacy to 3-D that can add to a dramatic film that's not even on the radar of the Hollywood studios right now."

James Cameron drives this conversation, and I agree that 3D is like introduction of Color after watching Avatar yesterday.

the Colbert Report Mashup - the Media

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Exclusive - The Media
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Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

I haven't done one of these for awhile, but here it is for the end of year lull. I tried really, really hard not to focus too much on Glen Beck / Fox News. You be the judge if I succeed in that noble quest or not.

7 Parts Video Review of Star Wars: Episode I

The epic video review that tears through the Episode I like no other. I thought it's one of most valuable tools of storytelling, period, on the web today, hence this blog post.

"The Phantom Menace makes you wonder: with the total control on the every aspect of film... this was the result?"

YouTube keeps video makers rolling in dough

"We don't have anybody making a million yet, but the curve continues to grow."

A hit on the Internet is a hit for everywhere, and everyone.

Are Directors Overrated?

"Directing is tone. And tone is the hardest thing to explain to someone. It's like how you know you're in love with somebody." - Jason Reitman

"Directing is the ultimate 'all of the above."

"When I see a bad performance, I never blame the actor. I blame the director. He either mis-cast, and that happens, or he didn't create an atmosphere where he could get the best out of that person."

"This really is a director's medium. You're just this taste machine. And you can't help but reflect your own attitudes and feelings and personality." - Richard Linklater

7 Writer's Rules for Survival in Animation

by Rob Edwards. "Each Story Artist is “cast” to do various sequences according to their abilities with action, comedy or dramatic moments. If you’ve followed Rule #2, you’ll quickly figure out how to write to the strength of the particular artists." "The more outrageous and remarkable the world of your film is, the more it needs to be anchored with an emotional reality. Find the truth in the incredible, give your characters a beating heart, tell your stories as entertainingly as possible and have a ball doing it."

25 Films of Akira Kurosawa

AKA, AK 100 from the Criterion Collection. No Blu-Ray?!

Comedy Central Bets Big On Web Development

New series Workaholics, Ugly Americans and The Fuzz come rooted in online process. "It offers us the opportunity to see whether [potential talent] can write, act or direct. It is almost like they can walk in the door already having proven that they can do certain things." Web is new short films fest.

The Sexual Politics Of Prince Of Persia

"I know how easy it is to turn off an audience, and once you lose them, it’s hard to get them back on you and your character’s side." Very interesting analysis of the characters in popular video games today. Can your Hollywood blockbuster do that?