This came to my InBox....

So I thought I would share what's cooking over at StrikeTv:

Hello StrikeTVer's,

It's been awhile since we've communicated with all of you en masse, but now that the strike is over we realized an update was long overdue. We're happy to tell you that StrikeTV is thundering forward. We've truly been amazed by the response from the creative community. Although we've largely flown under the radar for the past few weeks, this has been an incredibly productive time for all of us. Currently, we've got 30 to 40 projects in various stages of pre-production, production or post-production. That's incredible for an enterprise that was only started in January. And these projects are going to give StrikeTV a truly diverse and eclectic slate of shows. We've got comedies, dramas, procedurals, some animation, game shows, sci-fi, horror and even two soap operas.

The writers creating these shows represent such well-known movies and TV shows as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, Tomb Raider and Die Hard, The Daily Show, The Office, Law & Order, the Child's Play films, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Prairie Home Companion, Lonelygirl 15, 30 Days of Night, Ghost Whisperer, 8 Simple Rules, General Hospital, Star Trek: Next Generation, King of Queens and the Bob Newhart Show (and yes, we've even got Bob Newhart himself!), among many others.

We've also gotten a tremendous outpouring of support and assistance from the entire entertainment community. Below-the-line crew members, actors, directors, editors, composers and even lawyers have stepped up and donated their time, expertise and energy to our mission. As to our cause -- the Writers Guild Foundation's Industry Support Fund - the fund is going to be a necessary resource for non-WGA members for months to come. The collateral damage of the writers strike, and the possibility of a SAG strike, is going to be affecting non-writing members of the industry well into the summer. So StrikeTV's purpose and mandate is still clear -- to raise money for the Industry Support Fund by monetizing original scripted content on the Internet.

But wait, the strike is over. Are you going to keep the name StrikeTV?

Yes, we are. Aside from being a strong brand name, as well as speaking to our endeavor being born from the writers strike, we want to expand upon its meaning. StrikeTV is about writers "striking out on their own," "striking while the iron is hot in New Media." It's about writers being entrepreneurial, independent and empowered.

Okay, so how do you plan on distributing StrikeTV?

To that end, we at StrikeTV Central are in the midst of ongoing discussions with potential sponsors. We're not ready to reveal specifics just yet, but suffice to say that the launch of StrikeTV is something we are handling with great deliberation and care. We want StrikeTV to be seen by as many people worldwide as possible, so it's in all of our best interests to take a little extra time and do it right. As a result, the launch of StrikeTV probably won't happen until late March. We hope to be able to make some more specific announcements very soon, and we're also planning on holding a meeting for all StrikeTV creators to discuss our launch strategy in full detail.

Until then, keep up the great work! The finished projects are already starting to come in, and we couldn't be more excited about where we're all headed.

All the best,

The StrikeTV Team

Oh Yeah, By the Way...

It's my birthday today. I would have forgotten it if both the Done Deal Pro Message Board and The Artful Writer Forum hadn't sent me an email.

You get to be my age you get just as forgetful as you do "distinguished." So in the spirit of "distinguished ramblings" I'm going to impart a few tidbits of wisdom...er, philosophy... er, you get the idea:

• You are in charge of you. Treat yourself accordingly.
• Summer is great as all the women are out and about in their summer dresses. Thank you ladies.
• Things your Dad told you when you were eight? They're going to start making sense when you're 45.
  
• Say what's on your mind - there is nothing worse than knowing you could have solved a problem, saved a relationship, moved ahead if you had just spoken up.
• Films are pretentious. Movies are fun. I make movies.
  
• Comics are going to the web. You have been warned.
  
• Television is going to be around for awhile, but it's going to face stiff competition.
• Quarterlife = Twentysomething. I hated it when it was Thirtysomething. It was whiny then and it's whiny now.
  
• Keep working. That's the secret.
  

Before I Forget...

We had a wonderful time chatting with comic book, TV, animation and video game writer Christy Marx on last night's Geekerati podcast.

However you won't hear my scratchy voice on the podcast as I took my place in the chat room and directed my questions from there. Christy was an excellent guest and her comment regarding the fact she has written so many different sorts of media because she needed to make a living was verrry pulpy.

Go listen to Christian, Shawna and Eric chat with Christy, and learn somethin' will ya?

[Just imagine I'm there in the background, swilling whiskey and stuffing bills down g-strings as I type on my laptop. The truth is far sadder, but I have some sort of rep to maintain ]

FYI - Scr(i)pt Magazine Readers...

I am quoted in this month's issue regarding "the challenges of web distribution" right alongside my good buddy, Bill Martell.

(p. 52 for those wishing to flip directly to the two Bill's brilliance)

RUN! Don't Walk...

To your nearest purveyor of all things DVD and get the 2 disc set of JLA: THE NEW FRONTIER. Tell them the Mad Pulp Bastard sent you (then duck).
(No, seriously - duck!)

John Polonia

I have just been informed via email from John Oak Dalton that John Polonia, one half of the indie filmmaking duo The Polonia Bros. has died due to an aneurysm. He was 39.

John and his twin brother Mark are guys that have helped define the indie filmmaking movement for the past 20 or so years. They were genre movie fans who didn't let the fact that they lived no where near Hollywood deter them from making movies and getting them distributed around the world. John isn't a household name, but I bet one or two of his movies have crossed your eye at the local video store.

Here's John Oak Dalton's tribute to the man he collaborated with:

For those of you who didn't hear the sad news, John Polonia died suddenly in his home this morning of a heart aneurysm. He was 39 and leaves a wife and young son.

John was an incredibly funny person who enjoyed home and family life and could talk movies with a great fervor. He turned this love of movies into a memorable filmmaking career.

John was a good friend to me and a lot of other filmmakers. He was a great lover of cinema and had a vast collection of movies stored on the shelves of his home and in his brain. He had a dream to make movies and lived that dream every single day since his teenage years. I spoke with him a few weeks ago about a new project I would rewrite over one of his scripts and he was as excited about these upcoming prospects as he was about every project.

I think we are too close to the Polonia Brothers' legacy for it to be properly measured. They first got distribution as teenagers and are noted for having one of the first shot on SVHS features to be accepted at Blockbuster. They produced and directed more than 30 features in 20-some years that were distributed direct to video. They were incredibly prolific and successful together and embraced a large fan base while being courteous to foes. Their role in the rise of VHS rentals, the mom and pop stores, the SOV era, and then the direct-to-video DVD boom, will have to be noted much farther down the timeline to see what they have really meant as people and professionals.

I can say in total honesty I have never met anyone like John. When I first saw "Blood Red Planet" I knew the Brothers were special as very unique filmmakers and I later came to learn they were incredible individuals as well. I hope you will join me in keeping his family in your thoughts during this time, and keeping his memorable legacy at the forefront in the future.

John Oak Dalton

The world is lessened by John's death. I am sure he had a lot more pulp to give us.

Get Your Creativity On...

Already my websurfing is paying off today with this little pamphlet/manifesto from Issuu.com:

Enjoy!

Darwyn Cooke Wonderful...

Darwyn Cooke, the mastermind behind the animated title sequence for the BATMAN BEYOND tv show, the NEW FRONTIER comic series and the relaunch of WILL EISNER'S THE SPIRIT was interviewed at Wondercon by editor Scott Dunbier.

Newsarama has the breakdown here.

What's interesting to the pulpster contingent reading this is how Cooke breaks down the idea of simplicity - something we've talked about here on the blog:

"Further explaining Toth’s influence on his work, Cooke said that his work is “fairly simple and open” and he finds himself always trying to figure out how to connect with his audience on an emotional level given his “simple” art. To illustrate that point, Cooke pointed out how that, if you took a photo-realistic painting of a person smiling, the simple yellow circle with two dots and a curved line will express the feeling more clearly, due to its simplicity. Cooke said he is always striving for what Toth had in his art – to use the simplest image to get the emotion across, from artist to audience."

Simplicity is hard to do, it requires you to strip your characters down to their main components and discard the "pinstriping" that seems in vogue with many writers (and artists) these days. But when you do strip your characters and their story down to the essentials - you are able to more directly communicate with your audience. They "get it", and more importantly -- they remember.

It's Early...

And I've had no where NEAR enough coffee yet this morning.

I am cooking up a free surprise for later this year.

That is all.

Back to writing.

(The Knightmare is trapped by the Murder Legion and I have to get him out of it)

But of Course, It's ONLY Promotional....

NBC and CBS have announced they are streaming television shows across their web portals.

I am not certain if these shows pay residuals anymore, which is a win for the corporations as they will be paid (via ads) to put these episodes online and use the interest to spur home entertainment sales. So yes, it is promotional... but promotions pay too.

That's why I have always found that "it's promotional" argument to be a load. They are promoting the shows so they can sell them in a variety of other media.

In other industries they call that "business."

Leverage This!

Had an exceptionally interesting (and exclusive!) talk with John Rogers last night on Geekerati where he spilled his guts about his new television show for TNT -- LEVERAGE. If you want to learn what it's like independently setting up a cable series in this era of "new television" then you'll want to tune in to the show player in my right sidebar. >>>>>>>

(It actually didn't take as long as I imagined it would as we had him under the hot lamp and he was singing like a canary in no time. I didn't even have to use the cattle prod or "big bertha.")

John talks about the 20 million or so other things he's doing as well. Give it a listen.

Mercury Rising...

Warren Ellis discusses his new print project from Avatar Comics, ANNA MERCURY:

-------------------------------

"So, yeah, Anna has elements of the Shadow in her, among other things, but that's not important. What's important is the connection it gives her to pulp roots, because I'm writing what I privately think of as "NewPulp" here -- it has a big engine, it has scale, it moves fast, something major happens every four pages, it drives hard, and then it kicks up a gear, we zoom back, and suddenly we perceive it all in a new and larger scale..."


--------------------------------

Here endeth the lesson for today.

No, Emily It Was NOT Worms...

But it sure felt like it at times as I disgusted even myself (a feat to be sure).

I am now well-rested and ready to meet James Moran tomorrow over at the Gallifrey One convention taking place here at the LAX Marriott.

James and I have corresponded from the early days of the blogosphere as he has gone from his pulpy debut, SEVERANCE to writing TORCHWOOD and PRIMEVAL.

In other, it's-a-small-world news, the Geekerati crew will be talking to John Rogers on monday night at 7pm. You can tune in here for details. I am already assembling a ton of questions for John about his new television series, Blue Beetle, and other pulpy items of interest that he hints at occasionally. I also want to get into what it is like writing for these different media.

I ran to the comic shop yesterday and picked up this:

I would suggest you do the same to see the wonderful B&W artwork of Joe Kubert. There's some early (read amateurish) stuff in there by other artists, but Kubert and John Severin show them how it's done when it comes to War Comics. I would like to see more Kubert stuff in these B&W Showcase editions. They are affordable (Yeah!) and allow artists and fans a look at the "raw" material. I get just as much entertainment out of reading these stories in this form as I do in color - maybe moreso - because I can read a lot of the story at once. So let's see Kubert's TARZAN, Azzarello and Risso's 100 BULLETS, and any other stuff you can think of in this format.

It works.

Trapped in Bed...

and not in a good way.
Sick with the flu...
Lost ten pounds...
and not in a good way.

Trying to get some work done in between the projectile...well, you get the picture.

A New Frontier

So many things going on right now that I truly don't have time to sit down and "compose" a post that fully examines every aspect of the issues surrounding us. That being said - let me get these impressions out into the blogosphere before my head explodes.

-- I am happy that the strike is over or at least appears to be over. I am hoping that the transition of going back to work is smooth for everyone, but truly I don't think it's going to be the same after this.

-- I am sad that it took a strike for many writers to realize they have to take greater control over their careers, and cast the net wider than just television or movies. I think it hit some of them especially hard when they realized they really didn't have the "equity" in the shows they were writing that they thought they had.

-- I am happy however that the Guild snapped to, and organized StrikeTV.org to get the membership thinking about ownership, equity and branding outward. That's important, and speaks to the future.

-- I am sad that Canada is going through its own turmoil right now. I can only hope that Canadian writers and other creatives flip the CTRC off, and head for the web (and elsewhere) where there is at least the promise of equity and control.

-- I am also sad that Canadians are wrestling with this whole culture v. entertainment (read commercial) problem, which in my (smart-alec American) estimation really isn't a problem. Entertainment in all its forms is an expression of a culture. Ballet is entertainment. Hip Hop is entertainment. Both are expressions of culture. Deal.

[Does this cultural v. commercial controversy come about from Canadians not defining who they are, but only defining who they are not? If so, I find that incredibly sad. ]

-- I am happy that I saw JLA: THE NEW FRONTIER today. It is one of the truest expressions of the American ideal and promise as I have ever seen. It is a story of courage - in all its forms - and the meaning of heroism. The story lives up to its inspiration - President John F. Kennedy's famous speech.

-- I am sad that I have to wait to get the 2 disc DVD set. I am chomping at the bit to learn more about the creative process behind this work.

-- I find it interesting that arguably the greatest comic creation of all time - SUPERMAN, the symbol of the American ideal - was co-created by a Canadian.

-- I also find it interesting that JLA: NEW FRONTIER was created by a Canadian - Darwyn Cooke.

-- What that means, I don't know, except to say that as I shake hands with my fellow creatives across the border - Canadian, British, European, Middle Eastern, Asian etc... - as we engage in the free exchange of ideas and learn more about one another; we understand that it is our similarities that matter most and not our differences.

We have a lot of work ahead...

Extry! Extry! Read all about it....

Curt Purcell over at The Groovy Age of Horror did me one better when he went about helping me prove the concept of digital comics and distribution. He uploaded a PDF he had of the infamous ADVENTURES OF PHOEBE ZEITGEIST by Michael O'Donoghue and Frank Springer.***

There is a change a'coming and it is going to make headlines.

Going to run off - have a photo shoot this morning for a DVD cover that I have to consult on... I'm taking my video camera along to shoot what goes into the making of a pulpy movie keyart.

*** I am not certain of the legality of this comic in terms of copyright. It is posted here in the interest of demonstration and discussion.

Proof of Concept...

Enjoy, and please feel free to link or embed this comic on your blog, Facebook or Myspace page, or website. Please tell us in the comments that you've linked up and where we can find you.

Let's see how far we can take this...

Forget the Past and say, "Good Morning, Future! "

Busy this morning "consulting" on a film (Hi Liz!) and finally got around to cleaning out the InBox when I found a nice little email from the folks at Content Agenda featuring two stories that speak not only to the past media business model, but to the future.

The first is an op-ed from Julian Lloyd Webber regarding the Price We Pay for Free Music. In it he discusses the fact that musicians will be putting more and more content up on the web for free and how this will hurt musicians overall - especially those without "name value."

I am certain Mr. Lloyd-Webber is a fine musician, however he knows little to nothing of the economics of the web. To be fair, not many people do know the economics of the web. That said, we all have to realize that programming on the web or television is designed to sell products through advertising. You aren't selling the programming itself, but that is the hook to get people to look at the ads and buy the merchandise.

That's the way it's always been, and people don't blink an eye at the idea of free television, yet somehow they blanch at the idea of giving things away for free on the web. People only pay for cable because it doesn't have advertising to pay for it (I'm talking HBO, etc... here), and in that case, waaaaay fewer people watch HBO programs than they do terrestrial broadcast programs.

Now understand that there is a huge fertile field of the internet out there to plant advertising. Doing an entertainment-to-ad spending comparison, there's a lot of room to grow the web.
A lot. Estimates are that right now only 14% of the web's potential is being used ad spending-wise. Already it's a multi-billion dollar business and it still has 86% more room to grow.
In light of that dollar potential for ads, is it so wrong to give music away for free?

The second article that caught my eye was the announcement by Damon Wayans that he is starting a web business called WayOutTv.com to, "feature videos produced by aspiring young comedians he handpicked. Wayans sees the free site as an online comedy club and production studio that could eventually change the way content is bought and sold in Hollywood."

Mr. Lloyd-Webber would do well to pay attention to Mr. Wayans. He is starting the online equivalent of In Living Color - the television series which brought us comedians David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey and others (including Jennifer Lopez. What? She's not a comedienne? Really?)... And like television and radio before him, he's doing it for free.

Gee, it's even happening in comics...

Are the economics that hard to understand?

I Have Issuus...

No, that's not a misspelling. Issuu (pronounced "Issue") is a new website where you can convert your PDF document into an interactive online magazine. You upload your document for free and create a magazine that is page-turning, embeddable and in looking at some of this stuff -- really cool.

This is Pulp 2.0, folks. Pure entertainment delivered digitally everywhere.

Hear that print comics? That is your freaking death cry. Seriously, you should be freaking wetting yourselves now.

(found by Warren Ellis, who manages to write 50 million comics a year and still comes up with this stuff from trolling the web)

Edit to add: This is the spike that will stop the bloodsucking distribution problems of print media. Digital magazines are being monetized.

Turok Today...

Get. It. Now.

From Emmy award winning Directors Curt Geda and Dan Riba (BATMAN BEYOND) and the producers behind HELLBOY ANIMATED and X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES.

The one stupid, stupid thing about all of this is the fact that the ineptly named Genius Products is releasing the DVD...


AND IT'S NOT EVEN ON THEIR SITE!!!!!

(I typed it into the Search bar and zippo. Nada. Nothing)

IDIOTS. IDIOTS. IDIOTS.

Edit to add: Newsarama has an interview here.

Monday Morning Linkology

Because I am super-busy right now bloodying my fingertips (Shadow-philes will understand the reference) over this Knightmare script (I think I am over-thinking it... or maybe not... oh shit), I wanted to direct everyone over to a couple of things that caught the eyeballs this weekend:

Jim Henshaw rawks here and here.

Coming Attractions posts cool artwork from the old pulp days enticing me to spend more and more money. I am now convinced I need Black Bat and Phantom Detective pulp reprints for my collection. Aaargh.

Read Christa Faust's Money Shot this weekend. Go. Buy. Now.

Groovy Age continues mining the vein of Horror in paperbacks, fumetti, and groschenromaine.

Shawna sent me a link to this guy, who is making the web work. Read. Learn. Live.

Radio Science Funnies At Secret HQ

Ryan Heshka's pulpy RADIO SCIENCE FUNNIES will be on display tonight at The Secret Headquarters in Silverlake. For those who can't make it, here's a gallery to pop your eyeballs in pulpy retro pleasure.

Secret Headquarters
3817 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323.666.2228
www.thesecretheadquarters.com

Big Honkin' News...

Pay attention to this.
This speech, if not the actions after it will have major effects on the television business.
Baby steps, but steps nonetheless.

In Stores Today...

And also on Amazon.

Website here.

Don't Listen To Me...

Listen to the New York Times report on the profitability (read: power) of DVD Premiere movies.

"The number of direct-to-DVD films has grown 36 percent since 2005 with 675 released last year, according to Adams Media Research. The business totals about $1 billion in annual sales. (All DVD sales came to $15.7 billion last year.)

So many studios and top-level filmmakers are flirting with the direct-to-DVD business that it risks mirroring the troubled theatrical landscape, where movies that were once sure-fire moneymakers are having a harder time breaking through because of a glut of releases. The producer Joel Silver, known for the “Matrix” trilogy, recently signed a deal to produce 10 direct-to-DVD titles. Ashley Tisdale, a teenage actress known for her roles in Disney’s “High School Musical” blockbusters, just completed a DVD movie called “Picture This.”

“Real stars and real filmmakers have started giving DVD exclusives a shot,” said Scott Hettrick, former editor of the trade publication Video Business, “but with more product hitting store shelves I think we’re going to see less consistency in sales.”

Factor in the effect of more and more media moving around and you have a good idea of where the industry is going. Especially as now various organizations are seeing the potential in the web.

More movies and TV debuting in a variety of formats - DVD, internet, cable and theatrical.

Tools You Can Use: Sundance 2008 and Sony

Scott Kirsner from the very enlightened and knowledgeable blog Cinematech has posted important tidbits from his Sundance panel. Especially interesting business-wise are the lessons that Paramount learned when it released JACKASS 2.5 online.

What they experienced was something they call "scraping" in the online world - that is, someone scraped your content off your site and put it up on theirs. This happens all the time in the online world - I scrape and acknowledge this very story - and it is a methodology that the studios will have to understand and brand around. That means making sure everyone knows where the source of the media came from through url's, etc... posted through the content.

You can read it here.

There's also a discussion in Scott's story about grabbing the viewer right away - in the first ten seconds - or risk having them click off the window on their computer.

That means give 'em the pulp early, people!

Another quiet yet major bit of business that happened this week was Sony announcing its move to create a MOD (Manufacturing on Demand) component to its DVD business. What this means is that Sony will compete with Amazon.com's Createspace, LuLu.com and others for the niche DVD business. What it also means is that you have the marketing power of a major studio behind you if they acquire the rights to manufacture your DVD. This has major implications as to how the business will shift in the coming years...especially since Sony is pacting with HP.

All this has major implications for those of us building our online studios. Yes, I am building an online studio and other folks you and I know are doing the same.

Welcome to the future. Learn it. Live it. Love it long time.

For Your Pulp Bookshelf

Writing Drama

In every person’s library there are those books that you haven’t "read", but have there on the shelf. Encyclopedias of all sorts, histories, biographies and of course, the writing reference. Yves Lavandier has written just such a book - a reference that you should pick up when the occasion demands, but not something that is your evening nightstand read.

WRITING DRAMA is (as the cover says) a comprehensive guide for playwrights and scriptwriters. Comprehensive is a word and a half word here as this book is jam-packed full of anecdotes and specific examples of various techniques and craft used in our trade. I don’t recommend that you “read” it, but skim through some of the examples that he uses, and use those to spark solutions to those problems in your own work.

Having a problem with the structure of your script - it doesn’t feel right, thematically it doesn’t hit a right beat, a character doesn’t fit with the motif - then this is the reference book for you. Need an example that will polish off some story problems? This is your book.
Need something light to read? Get something else.

One aspect to this book I like is Lavandier’s use of plays (European and American) as examples. It forced me to look up some of the works he references, and expanded my resources I pull from when I sit down to write my pulpy prose.

One note I would give to the publishers is to reformat the book in a mode conducive to the usage I describe above. This is a reference work and should be made with accessibility in mind.

Have a good weekend.

Some Things You Just Can't Explain...

And some things you just don't need to explain.

Enjoy.

Heroic Derring-Do ...

Tonight on Geekerati. If you like these guys pictured, then you'll want to tune in and listen to us discuss Old Time Radio and the goings-on over at Decoder Ring Theatre (Featuring the exploits of The Red Panda (pictured) and Black Jack Justice). My friend Gregg Taylor and I will also spill some behind-the-scenes secrets about our upcoming radio mystery-drama, The Knightmare.
So join Christian, Shawna, Eric, Gregg and myself for some pulpy OTR fun.

Edit to add: We had a great time last night. Gregg was a remarkable, very eloquent guest who is obviously very familiar with speaking to groups. Take a listen from the player in my sidebar and you'll hear my amateurish reading of the first page from The Knightmare radio mystery. One interesting sidenote is the fact that Gregg edits his shows on freeware that he found online. 4GM in effect - yo!

Pulp Radio for Sunday and Beyond...

Francesco Francavilla, the killer pulp artist whose Pulp Sunday blog is a regular "read" of mine, has moved around a bit from Shadow radio dramas to incorporating The Green Hornet. He very kindly gives me a shout out for pointing him in the "right direction."

I can't wait to see his version of Captain Midnight!

Cloverfield and Pulp Filmmaking

Several folks have pointed this out to me over the weekend, that as cool as CLOVERFIELD is, you don't see much of the monster - not in the ads, the poster and certainly not that much in the movie. So why did the movie do so well?

With a $25 - 30M budget -- well, you really can't see that much of the monster can you? You can't afford to show it. My friends didn't quite get it. How can you have a monster movie where you don't see too much of the monster?

Then I pointed them to this post of mine here from back in 2005.

Remember - Nothing beats an audience's imagination.

(A lesson that is being constantly drummed into my head as I rewrite this draft of The Knightmare radio play)

What Does it Mean if Your Words are Like Moonshine?

"My works are like water. The works of the great masters are like wine. But everybody drinks water."
– Mark Twain

(stolen from the is week's Creative Screenwriting Newsletter)

Paul Dini Breakfasty Goodness...

Paul Dini breaks down the template for the modern animated theatrical feature at his blog King of Breakfast.

Sarcasm aside, understanding that this is what the animated feature has devolved into allows you the opportunity to play with the parts a bit and reassemble it into a story that "... seems familiar, but in a new way..." (to use Exec-speak).

(Hat tip to Heidi and rockin' illustration by Darwyn Cooke)

Big News (without that pesky box)..

IMDB - the Internet Movie Data Base - has announced they are acquiring Indy Film resource website Withoutabox.com. This, in essence allows IMDB's parent company Amazon.com a bigger footprint in the "non-traditional" film distribution business.

Without A Box has a service that connects filmmakers with film fans and make arrangements for theatrical screenings on demand. Combined with Amazon's Createspace component this would allow them to provide a unique, one-stop service whereby you could conceivably make the film, market the film, arrange for theatrical screenings, film festival premieres, online downloads and sell DVDs and merchandise. Combined with the huge member list of IMDB, this is a distribution channel/network all unto itself.

Things are changing. Fast.

It's Primeval...

So, I caught up and downl... er, watched the premiere episode for the 2nd season of PRIMEVAL. For those few of you who aren't familiar with the show its premise is really simple:

Dinosaurs. Time portals. Present Day United Kingdom. Hijinx ensue.

Shake it up and pour into a glass. Rim the glass with a good bit of sugar and lime - ha! (see what I did there? England? Lime? Never mind...)

Series 2 is every bit as good as Series 1, and contains enough meta hooks to carry over - Where's Claudia (whose existence appears to have been written out of the timestream, or has it)? What's causing these time anomalies in the first place? How much does Helen Cutter know? What happens if the public finds out that dinosaurs are breaking through the time barrier and ravaging people everywhere..?
For those of you out there who like dinosaurs and such this is a no-brainer. Good TV special effects that are part of the story. For those that like Doctor Who type adventure (although different) this is also a gimme. For those of you who want to watch that cute, platinum-blonde young lady from S Club 7 fight dinos, then there's that. (To be fair to the ladies there's plenty of beef and nerd-cake too...)

Seek it out. It's a lot of fun.

The Revenant Strikes!

Coming soon (today?) from Image Comics' Shadowline imprint/label comes a pulpy tale from writer Rob Worley:

---------------------------------------------

I've got a new comics project in stores soon that I wanted to let you know about! It's called The Revenant (JAN08 2052) and its a supernatural tale of crime and severe, brutal punishment as a gunslinging ghost visits unholy revenge on the gangsters that wronged him.

I wrote the book from a story and concept by none other than Keith Giffen and Shannon Eric Denton (the guys who brought you "10" and "Zapt!"). Mateus Santolouco ("2 Guns") provides the artwork and the stunning covers! It's published by Image under Jim Valentino's Shadowline imprint. It's been savage, fun to work on and I hope you'll dig it too! Go to TheRevenantComic.com for more info and previews and all the latest news.
------------------------------------------
Here's a five page preview!

Speaking of Stories...

Our good friend of Pulp 2.0, Jill Golick released her new web storytelling experiment yesterday called Story2Oh.com.
This is a hybrid form that incorporates text and video and web pages and is the story of Simon. Jill tells the story and the premise much better than I do:

TORONTO –

Story2Oh! is a sexy peak into the lives of the internet generation.

Simon Beals has a blog and a video podcast about his adventures in dating. Ali Barrett blogs about knitting, relationships and sex. Their lives are about to collide.

Is it the beginning of a great romance or a disaster in the making?

Follow their story through Facebook and Youtube videos. Or read their blog posts and check out their Flickr accounts.

“We have to find new ways to tell stories for this new medium,” says Story2Oh! creator Jill Golick. “We're going to try to tell the kinds of ongoing stories we tell in series television. But we're not going to ignore the fact that they screen you're at has a mouse and keyboard. And that you may only have attention for the story in smaller bursts."

Story2Oh! heralds a big change from on-line series such as lonelygirl or quarterlife.com, which post episodes. Story2Oh! takes storytelling to the next level.

There are no on-line episodes, mobisodes or webisodes. You follow the story by following the characters on-line activity: reading their blogs, watching their vlogs, checking out their social bookmarks.

Viewer participants can leapfrog through the Internet with Simon, Ali and their friends by following a trail of links, RSS feeds and Twitters.

Story2Oh! viewers can enter the story at many different points and experience as much or as little of it as they choose.

It’d be a real page-turner, if it were a paperback. On the Internet, we aim for “twitchiness.” Like 24, Lost, Heroes and daytime soaps, the Story2Oh! story will have twists and turns, so the audience keeps checking in for the latest updates.

“What’s really cool about this is characters can communicate with the audience in a variety of ways,” says Golick. “You can challenge them to a game of Scrabulous. Write on their Facebook walls and see if they write back. Follow their break-ups and makeups by reading their blogs, but be sure to leave a comment and a link to your own blog, because they may come check you out.”

Story2Oh!'s first chapter, boymeetsgrrl, plays out from Monday January 14, 2008 until Friday January 18, 2008 with new material appearing daily.

Golick hopes to have chapter two up in February.

Enter their world at www.story2oh.com or if you're logged into Facebook, check out the Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6112912021.

Welcome to the future of storytelling.

Astonishing!

I finished my story for Astonishing Adventures magazine. One of those fun ideas I've seen before, but felt I had a small twist on...

No monkeys in it though.

Now that I have that one off the work schedule, I can get back to the Knightmare with a clear conscience (a first!) . Next Monday (the 21st), We will be discussing The Knightmare as well as the Red Panda and Black Jack Justice when the Geekerati crew tune into the exciting web radio-action over at Decoder Ring Theatre.

A Truckload of DiY Awesomeness...

Other folks are finding this video and posting it as well, but I wanted to single out Chopped Nuts for sending this to me. And yes, Scott, this is a perfect example of the DV Rebel philosophy of using time and ingenuity instead of money to get something accomplished.

A Colostomy Bag...

By any other name would be called IN THE NAME OF THE KING.

Yesterday, a group of us went to celebrate Christian's birthday and see this latest cinematic excrement from prolific-yet-still-doesn't-manage-to-improve "auteur" Uwe Boll. The website link above is 1000 x more entertaining than this movie. Boll manages to undercut every selling aspect of this movie - the cast, the special effects, the stunts, the camerawork, the story... everything. The cinematography is out of focus, the editing cuts out of the action too early,

Dear reader, understand that this movie isn't in the "so bad it's good or funny" category of movie. I love those movies. I've made those movies. This is the movie they will show on CIA rendition flights to soften up suspected terrorists before they are thrown in the hole at Gitmo. I would rather have stomach cancer than see this movie again. I will probably get stomach cancer from seeing this movie. I would be blind now from scratching my eyes out if it hadn't been for the strength of Shawna and Christian holding me back.

What's really funny is the fact that this US release supposedly has 30 minutes of footage cut out of it... probably because that much Boll filmmaking induces seizures and spontaneous bleeding from multiple orifices.

Another agonizing aspect to this movie - besides Burt Reynolds as The King - is the fact it cost $60M to make. That's a lot of opportunity flushed down the old crapper there kids. This is yet another example where bigger doesn't mean better and your movie is only as good as your story.

Christian - I hope you had as many headaches as I did last night trying to clear my mind of the images that I. WILL. NEVER. GET. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD. You will receive my therapy and scotch bills in the mail.

My Next Project...

Features these vicious creatures plotting to take over the earth by gnawing at everyone's ankles and crippling them.

What?

At least it's not a vile picture of a cat.

Hollywood Turns to Silicon Valley

The LA Times has a great article here on Aaron Mendelsohn's Virtual Artists and other companies sprouting up during the strike.

Stay tuned, er... logged on.

Well if There's Not Going to be a Joss Whedon Wonder Woman Movie...

Then this is a pretty good second.

But then of course, fandom rears its ugly head.

Here's to Hollywood 2.0

Now I don't necessarily agree with the name because I think the internet itself would do better by staying away from the Hollywood business-as-usual (rape, pillage, plunder, deny, obfuscate, lie, masturbate and dodge) model. As Kay Reindl wrote in her reply to me here, "the internet isn't Tee Vee." However I do like the idea of marrying silicon valley with entertainment production.

Here's Aaron Mendelsohn from the Strike TV seminar on how he's doing his bit to make that happen with Virtual Artists.

I'm still a bit leery of the whole attitude that: "Hey we can do something really cheap on the web, get noticed by the studios, then back the truck up to the bank with all the Hollywood dollars we'll get. " I personally think that approach is going to end more careers than start them.
That said, I like that Aaron and his partner, VC / internet guru Henry Poole are aiming to legitimize the business model for the web to the point where traditional television broadcast isn't needed or desired. There are talented people everywhere who deserve representation and funding, and I'm glad someone is looking for that talent.

Digital Comics Now

Daily Bits has compiled a list of links for 17 completely free graphic novels you can read or download.

(Hat tip to The Beat and Wired for the referral)

But the cool thing is this:

What if every week you received an email reminder that said your comics were waiting for you to download... for free. These are new comic stories by the pro creators you've come to know and loathe in the fan press (oh come on! You know you flame the fanboys turned pros!) , but whose books you buy anyway.

The books would be a PDF or similar format book with ads with links. It would be big - about 48 pages a week with several different characters in each issue... and yes, it was free.
If you wanted a print version it would be available in different editions separating the characters and stories into separate books. Yes, I said books. Not trades. Not magazines.

Books. Collections. Each containing extra material and available exclusively in comic book shops and finer bookstores.

How do you feel about that?

StrikeTV - The Ninja Edition

One of the things that plagues writers and media makers - especially when we are embarking into new territory - is the doubt. You know it:

Can I write this?
Is this really possible?
Am I wasting my time and should I get a real job like my Mom says?

Well, in answer to that question - not only to nonunion writers, but to our union brethren who are only now understanding that they can actual become the CEO’s of their own destiny - I present you with the following video from the first StrikeTV seminar held yesterday at the WGA Theater:

For those of you skipping the video for the moment, this gentleman is Kent Nichols, one of the co-founders of the wildly successful Askaninja.com website and video series. I say this, not as a slap to Mr. Nichols personally or anything, but if he can do this, then there’s hope out there for the rest of us.

Fun Joel goes over the numbers and revenue that Ask A Ninja generates for Nichols and his partner.

So yes, you can write this.
Yes, it is really possible.
You may or may not be wasting your time. If you believe your Mom, then yes - you are wasting your time. If you fight her tooth and nail and keep working on what you want to do then maybe not.

You see, the gatekeepers are gone. Throats were slit wide open by technology. The gates have been flung wide and everyone is free to pursue their definition of entertainment. This has its own set of horrors and honors to go with it.

StrikeTV

When television came to prominence in the late 40’s and early 50’s there was a heady feeling in the air that they were doing something that was entirely new and wonderful:

Pictures and sound together! Live! How wonderful.
Wait, how are we going to make this work?
Aw crap.

What many of the pioneers of early television ended up doing was sucking the marrow out of, errr… emulating, , older forms of entertainment that worked - theater, vaudeville, concerts, and yes radio programs. Your Show of Shows, Playhouse 90 and The Lawrence Welk Show followed the safe and narrow as Television found its legs.

It was after awhile when innovators like Ernie Kovacs and others (who you can see on the PBS program Pioneers of Television) were able to grab hold of the medium that it began to grow muscles and strengthen its character into something distinctive. It was only after they figured out how to pay for television via commercials that it became a truly separate means of telling stories.

It’s with that in mind that I recount my experience yesterday at the WGA Theater attending the first ever Strike TV meeting. I warn the dear reader now that this is going to be something of a bipolar series of posts as there were many things to applaud about this first effort by the WGA to lay the tracks for the internet revolution to arrive (thank you Mr. Deitchman for the metaphor), as well as shake your head at the directions the tracks seem to be heading -- straight into “Indian Territory.” (more on that in my follow up posts).

To start things off here is Ian Deitchman on the history and philosophy of Strike TV. Ian is the video coordinator for United Hollywood and a screenwriter.

More in following posts....

Big Post Tomorrow

I just got back from the Strike TV seminar over at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills.

I have notes, observations, rants and video. Including the ASK A NINJA guy (I suck at names). I have video to edit and upload and sharp-witted editorial to write (possibly a first for this blog).

I also have Fun Joel ... which isn't nearly as gay as it sounds.

(Gregg - this is the stuff that is preventing me from finishing up The Knightmare script. Honest.
Well that and the women...
And the scotch.
But no more than usual. Honest.)

And There Go The Floodgates...

Studio executives site that 2008 will see a "big swell ahead" for professionally produced digital content "driven by improved streaming quality, the proliferation of video-capable devices and the media companies’ need to find new business models for their content."

Brand new distribution that's faster and cheaper. Brand new day for content.
Pulp 2.0 folks....

Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood...

The Golden Globes are canceled. There will be a press conference announcing the winners, but that's it...

My Digital Shadow...

Your digital shadow, we all have one. Wherever we are on the web we cast a digital shadow of our presence. Unfortunately, we also have to manage those shadows to get the most out of them. Kind of like pruning back the rose bushes in order to get fewer, but bigger blooms.

In order to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, consider:

I'm a member of LinkedIn.
I'm on TribeHollywood.com.
I'm part of the Ambrosia Publishing Network on Ning.
I belong to two Yahoo Groups - The Wold Newton Family and The Wildcat Books Group.
I have a Flicker account.
I am on the Done Deal Pro Message Board.
I am also on the Artful Writer Forum...
(and I think I'm still on Script Secrets, but I haven't posted in years)
And I have this blog...oh, and another.

I have been invited to join Facebook, and Myspace and want to balance the effort of setting up and managing webspace against the networking opportunities. I want to be able to manage these accounts with minimal effort and maximum impact.

So where is everyone? What's good and what isn't? Why?

Discuss.

Edit to add: I've also set up accounts on Youtube, Divx, Metacafe, Joost, Spout, etc... you get the picture.

Your Pulp Matinee

Hi Kids --

Just wanted to do something fun for the afternoon, so welcome to Your Pulp Matinee - my occasional digital screening room filled with yesteryear's most thrilling matinee offerings.

So click on the viewer, go get some popcorn, sit back and press "play" and be transported back in time.

The Geekerati Year In Review

Christian Johnson, my esteemed colleague at Geekerati has given us a Year's Best List of our Geekerati Podcasts.

I just want to say it has been my extreme pleasure to work with Christian, Shawna Benson and Eric Lytle on these podcasts and I hope our enthusiasm shows through. I believe two of our personal bests have been the shows with Win Eckert and with Tim Minear.

But please, check them all out.

In 2008 I am going to solicit other members of the blogosphere to be on the show so if you have any suggestions as to who you'd like to actually HEAR from now's the time to do it.

Your Pulp Addiction

can be sated right here.

Raw fiction. Digital delivery.

And lest you think I'm the only cat to do this, go check Miss Jill's 4GM Joint. She's going to be using a more experimental approach incorporating pics, sound, video, etc...

My take on that sort of storytelling will occur later this year.

A Few Things About Pulp...

Any questions?

Krispy Kay Goodness...

Awhile back, I solicited Kay Reindl's comments on an article I saw in the Los Angeles Times regarding how writers were turning to the web. Kay sums up a lot of my feelings with her reply which I am reprinting here in its entirety:

------------------------------------

Bill wonders what I think about this article
from the LA Times.

While I think it's good that writers are looking to the internet, one thing we must be cognizant of is how we're doing it. The internet isn't simply TeeVee on the computer, and it shouldn't be treated as such. Look at QuarterLife. This is a show that was developed for network, and not much has changed since it went to the internet. If all we're going to do is take failed and/or unproduced pilots and put them on the internet, we will not succeed. The potential audience on the internet is a new generation of viewer. Networks have already been freaking out about how the way people are watching TeeVee is changing. Now, audiences don't have to wait for anything. Want a song you just heard on the radio? You can buy it from iTunes moments later. Miss an episode of TeeVee? iTunes, or Bittorrent. You don't even have to be present to record your favorite shows. Just one push of a button programs a Season Pass on your TiVo or cable/satellite DVR. "Spoiler" has become a part of our lexicon. In the far-off past, you had to watch something when it was on, or you missed it for good. But now, you can watch TeeVee at your leisure, so there's no longer any such thing as a water-cooler show. People don't gather to watch shows, not nearly as much as they used to. We used to take it for granted that after watching something on Thursday, we could safely talk about it on Friday. But that's not the case anymore, so it's a lot harder to build a phenomenon. You don't have to rush home to find out who shot J.R. anymore. You don't have to watch commercials (unless you're at the movies, in which case you PAY for the pleasure).
.
And, most importantly, we're living in an instantaneous society that moves so quickly, it gives everything potential meta value. Was the "Leave Britney Alone" guy being serious, or ironic? Doesn't matter. He's now a celebrity. We treat the Lindsay Lohan trainwreck like a sitcom, because it appears alongside the Britney guy. We don't know what's real anymore because reality and meta-reality exist next to each other. The creators of Lonelygirl15 understood this and although the show wasn't entirely successful on a story level, it was insanely important on a meta-cultural level. The debate became less about the plot and more about the question of whether or not it was real. If you turn on the TeeVee and there's a living room with a laugh track, you know you're watching a sitcom. There's nothing the writers can do to make you think otherwise, and the network wouldn't let them even if they tried. "The Daily Show" may approximate a real news show, but you know it isn't, no matter how prescient it is. The act of turning on the television puts you, the viewer, into a familiar box.
.
The internet isn't like that, which is a large part of why people are fascinated with it. Anybody can shoot video and put it up. You don't see a "created by" credit. There isn't that familiar "let us entertain you" vibe that most of us are so used to with television. But the real point is, there's an entire generation that is growing up with MetaLife and it's our stodgy old TeeVee viewing habits which are confusing to them. The reasons they watch have changed. They DO watch with a different point of view.
.
They aren't passive observers. They are involved and invested in their online, "web 2.0" experience. They make anarchist videos from clips they find on the internet and post them on YouTube. They create fake social profiles on Facebook. They buy virtual gold from gold farmers so they can power up in WOW. They create whole worlds of machinimas INSIDE the already virtual world of Second Life. Simply putting a TeeVee show on the internet isn't going to be of any interest to them, unless you speak their language. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay understand this a little bit. Although FunnyOrDie.com is obviously a haven for comedy sketches, the outrageousness of some of the films shows me that they get that the internet is a different animal. They'll do faux "outtakes" from "Knocked Up" that mimic real-life shit that's been on the internet. The viewer knows it's not real, but it's so meta that he doesn't care. So far, comedy has worked much better on the 'net than has drama. But then comedy's always been the first to break the fourth wall.
.
So yes, it's good the writers are turning to the internet. The strike videos have been numerous and, for the most part, really fun and enjoyable. But we have to WANT to go the internet. And right now, it feels like we're being pushed there because of the strike. We need to take a step back and really ask ourselves, How do we do this and make it a great experience for the viewer, as well as for us?
.
My take, anyway.

----------------------------------

Agreed and thanks. We are dealing with a new method of distribution here that will affect how we tell stories. When comics came to life in the late thirties, it changed the way pulp writers who got into comics approached those stories. One only has to look at the work of people like Edmond Hamilton who wrote both to see the changes. The basics were there, but the grammar changed.

What's interesting about today's "readers" of Pulp 2.0 is that many more of them are invested in the whole process and want to become as much a part of that meta as they are interested in being entertained...

And thanks to the web, they can be.

But this also put the burden on us to feed that machine, quickly and fully. To be the personification of pulp and get it out there for the audience to read/watch/listen and then comment. That is an incredible burden and I think it's one that TeeVee and The Web has given us the answer in terms of feeding this machine. I'm specifically thinking of a Writer's Room methodology for web creation of content -- "open source" as Rogers puts it -- and Creative Commons licensing.

For Discussion:

1) The Writer's Room -- a group of like-minded individuals create a property overseen by a "Showrunner." This group is responsible for the creation of all the content - audio, video, prose, art, etc...with a singular vision for the property. The group spreads the work amongst them equally.

2) Creative Commons licensing - allowing the readers to contribute to the overall work via the web. All work written/drawn/recorded regarding certain characters and the universe they inhabit must be hosted on a singular designated site/server in order to be considered "official."

It’s a Brand New Day…

And a brand new year to boot, hence the name change to the blog. We are now Pulp 2.0 instead of DISContent. I am sure this means I will lose some of you in the transition, and if that’s the case I understand. I’m not necessarily your cup o’ tea anymore (actually I’m more of a sippin’ whiskey, but we’ll leave that metaphor for another time). I am shifting the focus of the blog to better reflect my career direction. For better or worse, that means that I’ll be focusing on:

- Pulp writing for movies and television.
- Pulp writing for the web (prose, comics and interactive) and into print.
- Pulp filmmaking.
- Pulp people and what they are doing that affects your entertainment choices.
- Pulp writing for podcast.
- What all that means.

As far as the Pulp 2.0 moniker, that simply reflects the philosophy of a growing segment of media-makers who are writing, producing, publishing and/or distributing it all themselves. DiY People who are quickly putting up pure entertainment for the online masses to appreciate or ridicule. No waiting. No middleman. No, “You can’t do that.”

And that’s exciting.

To be quite frank I haven’t been that excited by what I’ve seen from conventional media for quite some time. With the strike on, television is boring and flat. Movies are too expensive and most don’t have the spectacle to justify the expense. The internet however is prose, video, audio, art and discussion all rolled into one big fat, cheap pipeline that I can control. If the feedback I’m getting is any indication, many people are joining this digital evolution -- people excited by entertainment that flows directly from the creator to the audience and back. People who want to be entertained by a “full whack of story,” and then be able to discuss said “whack.”

(And just so we are clear, I get just as many inquiries from “pro folk” about pulp and 4GM as I do amateurs. This isn‘t just about low budget or guerilla filmmakers or unpublished writers - people to trying to break in. This is about creative people who want to get their work out in front of an audience. Creators who are tired of being developed to death. People who want to create a library of material that they own and somehow defines them.)

I’m still working on my new sidebar links - adding, subtracting, shifting and enhancing the whole affair to make my blog a resource “headquarters” of sorts. You want to know where to go for free online fiction? There’ll be a link. Podcasts? The best short films? Pulpy webcomics? Best pulp in print? Resources to create your own pulp films, podcasts and prose? It will be here -- eventually.

I’ll also be using the blog to promote what I’m doing and make sure the audience knows where they can find my media - prose, films, radio plays, serials and comics. I have a wide variety of interests and material that fits within the “pulp” domain [and we’ll have to discuss this later, but pulp is not a genre].

Pure entertainment. Digital delivery. No waiting.

That’s Pulp 2.0... and it’s the future.

Welcome.

Edit to add: Blame Emily Blake....