Digital Re-alignment 2.0

Kung Fu Monkey John Rogers follows up on my post below with a far more cogent and detailed analysis of the implications of Andreessen's Hollywood via Silicon Valley Business model.

I happen to agree that there is going to be some blow back from the traditional media systems that are in place - creatives, networks, employees and ancillary industries associated with "moviemaking." It probably will take longer than I think and shorter than John thinks to re-align the distribution system. I say re-align (John says bloodbath or rearranging the deck chairs) .

I say re-align because there are several facts in play --

a) Studios and networks distribute television and movies really well. They buy intellectual property and license it really well, but...
b) They don't produce said products very well (in the overall). A lot of money and time is wasted at the studio level. They need a wide margin of demographic groups (4 quadrants) for them to greenlight a film. This tends to take the spice out of the content, and make it palatable for a wide variety of folks.

(gross generalizations to be sure, but nonetheless supported by many examples.)

So the first steps in the re-alignment process would be:

1-- To have the creatives create the shows, build a a reputation and brand for the shows (as well as some revenue) through digital distribution. AFTERWARD have networks distribute the shows via traditional media - VOD, cable and DVD. Very similar to the idea of a comic publisher producing comics on a monthly basis, who then licenses rights to a book publisher (who has greater reach into mainstream stores) who releases a graphic novel.

(We'll come back to this analogy in a moment. Please stand by)

2-- The guilds and unions have "indie -experimental" contracts in place. They recognize the new media and the place for independent media production in relation to their membership. This needs to be utilized more and more, and in this new world agents and managers are going to have to realize this, and not prevent their clients (ha!) from examining offers to work in this new media.

3-- Take advantage of the technological tools at our disposal - in many cases for free - that allow talented individuals or groups to create material without having to mortgage the house. An excellent example is this , which was created on a Mac computer at Darwyn Cooke's home. Broadcast quality at 1/100th the price and headaches.

4-- It's going to have to be a co-operative measure for awhile...creators will create and distribute via the web then license other rights out to traditional media. You can't just yank the cash carpet out from underneath the studios --too many people's jobs are at stake.

There will be bumps along the way...but make no mistake that the studio system, as it exists today, is realigning toward distribution. Production, as it exists today, is realigning toward creators. There will be more limited partnerships for new media along all points of the process. The people who make the shows will be the show's owners. The studios will be the salesmen.

(And to answer John's point about writers who are just damn good writers and don't necessarily want to be producers. Okay, fair enough. That's what partnerships are for. If I don't know something, I partner up or hire those who do specialize in the area where I'm weakest.)

This will be tough for some folks. It will be brutal in terms of convincing people to go ahead and take the gamble, but understand this sort of entertainment media re-alignment has happened before in the early 80's (and earlier) and parallels what is happening today with new media:

(By understanding the history of how distribution affects creation and vice versa we begin to understand the potential of the web, avoid some of the pitfalls, and reasonably predict where some of this is going)

For the longest time, 4-color comics were produced only by the big two- DC and Marvel. Now we have a much more diverse comics market. There are a dozen or so companies that make up a smaller percentage of the market that is still dominated by the Big Two. However, those alternative comics and their smaller niches are still lucrative for the individual creators and companies. I'm looking at guys like Mike Mignola (HELLBOY), Jeff Smith (BONE) Brian Bendis (JINX) and others...this is thanks to the alternate distribution system set up in the market known as the comic book shop direct distribution system.

While it had its fits and starts, the direct distribution system changed the way the market thought about comics. Suddenly, new voices, which were ignored by the Big Two had a way to get their material in front of their audience in a cost-effective manner. It's the system that allowed for the creation and licensing of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. It gave us Image comics, DC's Vertigo Comics line, Boom Studios and CEREBUS THE AARDVARK.

Eventually the system evolved for both indie and corporate companies to co-exist and each grab their piece of the market. It also cross-pollinated the indie world creators with the corporate comics world. Now some creators work on "company material and characters" (the short burst paycheck of work for hire) while also working on their own "creator-owned" work (smaller income, but fueled by ownership and generally creative non-interference). This would never have happened if the creators hadn't taken the chance and self-published through this new distribution system - shown the larger companies that they had an audience and brand identity.

Now what's interesting is the fact that the two of the guys mentioned above - Mignola and Smith - are doing traditional 4-color comics, but with new subject matter. Mignola mines the pulpy horror of Lovecraft, et al with his HELLBOY, while Smith mixes sensitive drama with Pogo-like childish adventure in his comic BONE. Both are so much more than regular comics though they have many of the same trappings...and both have rabid followings of fans.

And I think that's what is going to get the audience to the new media of the internet in sufficent numbers:

New voices and perspectives wrapped up inside the familiar trappings of traditional media - production quality, familiar faces, known writers.

(I almost want to say that we've hit that with QUARTERLIFE, but not quite)

So, I predict, based on the evidence before us, that one day - sooner than John thinks and longer than I think - there will be an "Image Comics" who comes along and truly signals the re-alignment of this new media and distribution...a breakout performer that is financially sound and ongoing and touches a nerve in the audience.

When that happens - watch out.

(Apologies that this is a first draft and reads that way. I needed to get it out and on the boards...)

Edit to add: This is interesting and adds fuel to the discussion.

International Rights: Going the way of the Dinosaur?

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES INUYASHA THE FINAL ACT

SCHEDULED TO STREAM IN THE U.S. SIMULTANEOUS TO AIRING IN JAPAN

Final Episodes Of Smash Hit Anime Based On Rumiko Takahashi Manga To Be Available On VIZ Media’s SHONEN SUNDAY

Web Site Mere Hours After Episodes Air in Japan

San Francisco, CA, September 28, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, delighted anime fans at New York Anime Festival yesterday with an announcement of the near simultaneous Japanese/American simulcast of the action-packed conclusion to the INUYASHA animated series-INUYASHA THE FINAL ACT.

Beginning on October 3^rd, INUYASHA THE FINAL ACT (subtitled) will stream on ShonenSunday.com/anime and Hulu.com mere hours after it airs in Japan. A new episode will air every Saturday thereafter. INUYASHA THE FINAL ACT anime is rated ‘T” teens.

INUYASHA is a hit TV anime series based on the manga by famed creator Rumiko Takahashi, who won the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award for INUYASHA in 2002. Many of the Takahashi titles have been adapted into other media such as anime, live-action TV series, and film. Takahashi’s manga, as well as the other formats her work has been adapted into, have continued to delight generations of fans around the world. Distinguished by her wonderfully endearing characters, Takahashi’s work adeptly incorporates a wide variety of elements such as comedy, romance, fantasy, and martial arts. Rumiko Takahashi is an artist who truly represents the very best from the world of manga. Please visit the new official North American web site for all Rumiko Takahashi-related news and information located at www.TheRumicWorld.com.

When an enchanted well draws her into the past, Kagome, an ordinary modern schoolgirl, finds her destiny tied to the doglike half-demon Inuyasha and a mythical gem called the Shikon Jewel, or "Jewel of Four Souls," of which the smallest shard can grant the user unimaginable power.

Throughout their quest to restore the shattered Shikon Jewel, Inuyasha and Kagome have never faced an enemy more deadly or more cunning than the demon mastermind Naraku. With the Shikon Jewel nearly whole and in Naraku’s hands, the race to collect the remaining shards intensifies and a battle of epic proportions is brewing on the horizon...

Featuring the works of some of the top shonen manga creators in the world today, Shonen Sunday magazine in Japan provides the content for some of VIZ Media’s most impressive new titles. The magazine recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary since its first issue arrived on newsstands in March of 1959. RIN-NE is the brand new Shonen Sunday manga series by Rumiko Takahashi and the first series ever to be published simultaneously in Japan and North America.

“INUYASHA is one of the longest running anime series in North America and we’re very proud to present the final episodes of this epic adventure to fans in the U.S. mere hours after episodes air in Japan,” says Ken Sasaki, Vice President Strategy & Business Development, VIZ Media. “Rumiko Takahashi created a classic with INUYASHA, and ShonenSunday.com/anime will be THE online destination where INUYASHA fans can watch all 167 previously available episodes, as well as follow the newest episodes from INUYASHA THE FINAL ACT!”

VIZ Media publishes multiple series by Rumiko Takahashi, including her brand new manga series RIN-NE, the INUYASHA manga, INUYASHA ani-manga and THE ART OF INUYASHA. For more information on the INUYASHA anime please visit ShonenSunday.com.

This heralds a future when "TV shows" and other media are broadcast simultaneously around the world via the web. No borders or barriers to be thrown up by government interests. International media commerce.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga (graphic novel) publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. Owned by three of Japan’s largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa and is a global ex-Asia licensor of Japanese manga and animation. The company offers an integrated product line including the popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine, graphic novels, and DVDs, and develops, markets, licenses, and distributes animated entertainment for audiences and consumers of all ages. Contact VIZ Media at 295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133; Phone (415) 546-7073; Fax (415) 546-7086; and web site at www.VIZ.com.

For Immediate Release: Knightmare Launches New Pulp Media

Radio Audiences to Thrill to
Internet Adventures of
The Knightmare




Bill Cunningham and Decoder Ring Theatre
network across internet to produce
2-part radio adventure,
"The Murder Legion Strikes at Midnight."

Collaboration launches media company to produce "New Pulp Media"

May 26, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA: Bill Cunningham's New Pulp Media (NPM) announces their internet radio adventure,
THE KNIGHTMARE: The Murder Legion Strikes at Midnight will premiere May 31st, 2009 on Decoder Ring Theatre (www.decoderringtheatre.com). This collaboration marks the first media release for NPM and a new radio adventure program for Decoder Ring which produces The Red Panda Adventures and Black Jack Justice for enthusiastic audiences worldwide.

"The Knightmare is a character originally created by poverty row movie producer Cameron Tyler back in the late thirties. Tyler wanted to create a movie serial and radio drama at the same time so they could promote one another. This is similar famous mystery man The Shadow who leveraged his simultaneous radio and magazine appearances," said Cunningham. "I acquired the rights to the Knightmare character Tyler had outlined, but was never able to complete because Pearl Harbor derailed his plans."

Originally, Cunningham wrote a movie script updating the character, but later decided to lay the groundwork for a new, web-based serial project by recreating the adventures of the original Knightmare for radio. Enter Gregg Taylor, head of Toronto's Decoder Ring Theatre company which had been developing new radio adventures done in a classic style for internet audiences.

"We met on the internet and immediately checked each other's 'geek cred," said Taylor. " We kept in touch and followed each other’s projects, often running along parallel lines like the online Astonishing Adventures! Magazine. The day came when we both realized that several seasons and damn near a million downloads later, Decoder Ring had grown into a swell outlet for the mysterious Knightmare… a way to start the ball rolling on a quest to conquer all media and finally get me a ticket to that movie that I wanted to see so badly."

The Knightmare is a hero cut from the same cloth as The Shadow or The Green Hornet. He is "The Master of Fear" whose catch phrase "I know what you fear" clues audiences in to his mysterious power to overcome evildoers. In this 2-part episode, The Knightmare goes up against Hollywood gangsters, the Police and yes, Nazis - the dreaded Murder Legion - who are here to rob a charity event taking place at the famous Griffith Observatory.

"The Knightmare radio adventure is definitely a ride on the fun train for those fans of old time radio, comics, movie serials and pulps. We've peppered the story with plenty of nods to our childhood influences, but what's really fun about the show is that it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the internet," says Cunningham.

This internet radio collaboration is the launch for NPM, Cunningham's company label for pulp-styled material he and other partners create and distribute via the internet. This includes adventure podcasts like The Knightmare; pulp stories and novels for digital and print; Comics and eventually Video serials. "The pulp publishing model was always "Make it fast, make it inexpensive (I won't say 'cheap'), but most of all make it entertaining," smiles Cunningham.

"Thanks to the internet and its myriad possibilities to collaborate, market and distribute we can produce a variety of entertaining pulp media with a high degree of style, quality and fun. I've been very fortunate to collaborate with people like Gregg Taylor, Scott Godlewski and Matt Bennett who publish Mysterious Adventure Magazine (http://mysterious-adventure.blogspot.com), and dozens of other people creating art, stories and other new pulp media."

NPM has already signed a publishing deal with noted author and filmmaker Donald F. Glut (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK novelization, Gold Key comics' THE OCCULT FILES OF DR. SPEKTOR, and the cult motion picture DINOSAUR VALLEY GIRLS. ( www.donaldfglut.com) to release several of his novels for Amazon's Kindle format as well as collector's print editions through Createspace. "We are collaborating with writers and artists to republish classic pulp in new, definitive editions as well as create new adventures based on the pulp template” says Cunningham. “In addition, NPM is cultivating our fans and our brand very carefully using all of the free web tools at our disposal like our Fans of the Knightmare Facebook Page.

We aim to create an interactive, innovative business model that brings the creators and audience together as part of the company. Scheduled for release later this summer 2009 will be author Glut's 1970's styled horror blaxploitation novel: BROTHER BLOOD (textless artwork by Nik Macaluso) and other higher profile projects to be announced.


(c) 2009 by individual creators respectively. New Pulp Media (NPM) is a trademark of Bill Cunningham.

Nine Inch Nails on a Red Right Hand telling a Story2oh to the Writerboy

It's days like these that I embrace the Scribosphere. By digitally connecting the dots one can see a storytelling epiphany about to happen (which is a good thing)

For those of you who don't know, let me give you the rundown:

Jill Golick's Story2oh project got kicked off of Facebook because part of FB's terms is that all their profiles have to be of real people (Ha!). This was after Jill made a presentation at CaseCamp -- a gathering of new media types to discuss the future.

There was a discussion (aka shouting match) here and here wherein all the new media people were saying that social nets like Facebook require "absolute transparency" because people were upset that they were "befriended" by characters who weren't real people, and want to be sure they aren't being used in some way.

It was all a real pisser because there was suddenly two camps: One that said that there must be transparency (mostly new media folk) , and the other camp that said that the story's the thing (the writers). The new media folks couldn't get past the "deception" aspect of what occurred, and the writers couldn't get past the fact that Facebook has rules regarding deceptive profiles which in essence hamstrings the idea of storytelling across profile pages.

Meanwhile, over in the corner of the blogosphere was Michael Patrick Sullivan posting over his love of Trent Reznor and the Nine Inch Nails Alternate Reality Game/Project YEAR ZERO. I read Michael's post and checked out Reznor's site.

And I was completely blown away by the scope and planning of it all. Year Zero is a Mission: Impossible made flesh (with a constantly remixed soundtrack courtesy of Reznor's licensing scheme). Real life goals and rewards and digital game-play enmeshed like my mamma's spaghetti on a Saturday night.

So it all comes together in my head and I email Denis and Jill and explain that the smoking gun is YEAR ZERO.

Thing is -- People became involved in Year Zero knowing absolutely nothing other than the whole thing was "cool." There was no transparency. In fact, I would go as far to say that it was all Mystery and Conspiracy and 100% Make-believe. It was all one big entertaining game, art project, marketing plan, concert promotion, exercise, political statement.

And the audience, the people who actually matter in this whole storytelling scheme of ours, they couldn't be happier.

So you new media types listen up: Trent Reznor is giving you the finger (with a pointy Nine Inch Nail on it) regarding transparency. Fuck transparency. Because really all that matters is the thing that goes all the way back to cave paintings and campfires:

It's always about entertaining the audience. Always.

For the creative folk : Alternate Reality Games (ARG's) are here to stay, folks. A new form of storytelling that embraces experience as well as plot and character. We won't, can't be just writers anymore if we want to compete in this arena. We have to be careful how we do it, who we do it with, and what the consequences will be if we screw it up.

And next up is this.

And this.

I want to see some ARG's geared to my interest though. I think the video promotion for Icon's KICK-ASS comic book may apply. What sort of stuff do you want to write/produce/create? Would you like to see clues to something intriguing in the next issue of Astonishing Adventures? Integrated video playlists from YouTube? An art contest? A costume contest? An event of some sort?

Speak up.

Pulp For New Media

As an addendum to my post below, I wanted to give my fellow pulpsters a New Years Eve thought or twenty as they contemplate how they are going to jump into the wide weird world of web content. I call my blog Pulp 2.0 because I truly see the internet as a refinement of the pulp publishing model. While you may choose to disagree with me (at your peril) , there are lessons we can all learn from pulp. Many of those lessons have already been applied to other media like TV and radio before it.

So here they are:

Volume:

• Pulp (just like new media) needs a lot of content. You can't just produce one "Home run" and sit back. You must have a lot of base hits to win the game.
  

• That means that the pulp must be easily produced and/or acquired.

• It also means the flow of it must be constant. People are counting on it just like they count on their new DVDs every Tuesday; their new comics every Wednesday; and their new Magazines every Thursday. Pulp must be reliable that way.

• It also means that pulp (and Pulp 2.0) must be prescient and be constantly looking to the future to spot trends and "the next big thing."
  

Marketability:

• Pulp must be easily "sold" to the consumer. It's so high concept you can pitch it in less than 30 words and the consumer "gets it" right away. Ideally you can "sell it" with just the "cover."
  

• Pulp must have an immediate appeal to its audience. It's not complicated or at least the sophistication doesn't show.
  

• Pulp must be translatable from one media to another without losing its core appeal.

Diversity:

• Pulp requires a variety of genres delivered in a variety of ways to satisfy a variety of audiences.

Quality:

• It must be so crafted as to be utterly seamless in its simplicity and solidity. It can't be good one month (or episode) and entirely different (and crappy) the next.
  

• It must be coherent and consistent within its world. As Lee Goldberg says,"It must have a franchise." (CSI - every week you know what you are going to get)

• It must have style, and a point-of-view.

This all runs parallel to my NewPulp declaration, but these are all things that pulp did (does) well, and can easily be adopted by new Media creators for Pulp2.0.

The internet is not about big (the way theatrical movies are big) .
It's about small (short?) and consistent (every week? Update in my email box or RSS Reader?) and most of all, entertaining.

The NewPulp Declaration of Intent:

After this post, I have been thinking about the ideas and ideals of NewPulp and Open Source Pulp.

So I decided to come up with this:

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

NewPulp is a storytelling and media-making movement that recognizes the work and conditions of genre authors and artists of previous generations and builds upon those foundations to create a new, yet familiar brand of populist genre entertainment.

NewPulp crosses both genre and media lines creating a hybrid form of fictional entertainment that embraces the immediacy, variety and economy of the internet as a means of storytelling.

NewPulp is concerned primarily with entertaining its populist audience, and eschews any pretense of “importance.” NewPulp attempts to simply capture the joy of genre fiction storytelling for new audiences and new media.

New Pulp, while aiming first to entertain, also seeks to reinvent how such genre fiction may be created and presented. This includes, but is not limited to: new plot devices and structures; the use of new media; greater depth and variety of characterization; the use of popular cultural references and the application of today’s science, technology, politics and social norms and aberrations.

NewPulp is not concerned with either satire or parody of the form as the conventions of genre fiction from previous generations are well known and easy prey. NewPulp instead seeks to evolve the form so that the storytelling resonates with today’s audiences in a meaningful, entertaining and engaging manner.

NewPulp embraces the heroic ideal in all its forms,but is not limited by it.

NewPulp is by its very nature an amalgam of various genres and forms. It rejects only those strictures that seek to chain the fiction to realism, and is a storytelling movement of entertaining big ideas and ideals.

NewPulp understands and embraces interactivity with its audience as a means to develop material, creators and storytelling media and markets.

NewPulp is meant to be created and shared quickly no matter how the storytelling is accomplished - prose, art, video/film, audio, interactive game, poetry or performance --including cosplay. (edit to add: Just as previous generations of pulp creators wrote quickly in order to be paid for their work, today's NewPulp creators work quickly to feed the internet pipeline which entertains the audience).

NewPulp strives not for strict “perfection,” but for entertainment value in which it finds its “perfection.” It is imperfect and a storytelling predicated upon the willing suspension of disbelief of its audience.

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

Not complete as I am sure I've left some gaping thoughts wide open, but it's a direction.

Paramount Makes a Jackass 2.5 of Itself Online

The New media just keeps getting stronger and stronger as JACKASS 2.5 makes its debut online thanks to Paramount Digital Entertainment's new online business model. Highlighted stuff below are subjects we've discussed before. This is the future and it's happening right now.

High points from the article in today's Variety:

- produced by Paramount Digital Entertainment and MTV New Media, will be the first major studio feature to debut online. Initially, it will stream for free with ads.

- Move makes good on MTV's long-stated commitment to make full-length movies for the Internet. The two divisions began planning a "Jackass" Internet project 18 months ago, when MTV Films production veteran David Gale was tapped exec VP, new media and specialty film content, at MTV Networks.

-Blockbuster has paid the two Viacom units an advance against a cut of the ad revenue for a one-week exclusive window to stream the pic on Jackassworld.com, a new site developed by MTV and Johnny Knoxville's Dickhouse Prods. shingle.

- Thomas Lesinski, prexy of Paramount Digital Media, said the third "Jackass" movie was never considered as anything but a straight-to-Web project.

"We've developed a distribution model that's never been done before," he explained. "Our goal is to prove that there is an audience to watch content online."

Lesinski added that Paramount is already pleased enough... that it's planning to debut more movies on the Net in the future.

- As part of its deal, Blockbuster also has exclusive rental rights to the DVD and to offer digital rentals online.

- Once the exclusive streaming window ends on Dec. 26, sites such as iTunes and Amazon.com will offer "Jackass 2.5" on a download-to-own basis, and other retailers will sell the DVD.

Users will also be able to embed clips from the pic, along with ads, anywhere on the Web.

Blockbuster Online senior veep Aaron Coleman said his company and Paramount will be marketing the pic almost exclusively online, including an application on Facebook.

Internet deal is sure to raise eyebrows with WGA members who are striking in large part over gaining a stake in online revenues. The project, though, has no credited writers.

"Jackass: The Movie" and "Jackass Number 2" grossed a combined $137.1 million domestically for Par.

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

Hat tip to Bill Martell.

Apple of My Eye?

I woke up the other morning to discover Steven Jobs and his crew at Apple Inc. has once again re-imagined how we receive and enjoy our entertainment. Disney has jumped on the bandwagon and joined with Apple to provide content for the new IPod.

Here’s some random thoughts I have on this new IPod (some of these ideas are rather plebeian, but then again, so am I) :

This is a new distribution method and as such will have little impact on the content itself. After all, does your Tivo affect what you watch? No, it affects when you watch it.

This will be a great thing for commuters on trains and busses.

Ratings on this end of the media spectrum will be more accurate because Apple will know immediately who downloads what. This is good news for advertisers.

I’m wondering if the idea of commercials for IPod hasn’t been suggested. If I have to watch two or three commercials, but I get a download for half-price, then I’m going to think about watching those commercials.

This will cause a shift in revenue for theatrical, TV and DVD as VOD (Video-On-Demand) matures.

The technology end of this new distribution method – server farms, fibre optic cable, satellite, etc – will offer opportunity for investors to make some money. Comcast is very happy.

As John Rogers stated here, Apple has locked people using their video IPods into Quicktime which is not exactly conducive to putting the scope of media in the hands of the little guy. We need the ability to quickly upload content from a variety of formats – QT, Windows media, Bittorrent, etc...

We need more minds (from other than Apple) working on this new distribution method to explore its potential applications and implications. The fact is that distributors will still control everything. We need the entire model reworked in order for it to really affect the creators.

The networks are offering these programs after they premiere on television, which is a bit of the old “dragging of the heels” when it comes to launching a new distribution model. Original content for this method will be the mark of whether or not money can be made. That’s going to be awhile and it isn’t going to come from the studios.

I’m not sure if this IPod is the device we should be looking at, but rather the V-casting that we see on cell phones or some of the other devices like those mentioned in Roger's post. V-Cast seems to be more of a new media than this video IPod. It has internet, text components and applications to it that make it a slightly different experience.

There will be more thoughts, musings, drunken ramblings from me on this and how this is going to affect writers. Certainly there is a lot to think about after I do more research.

Stay tuned...or logged on...or whatever it is you kids say nowadays.

Is This It? (Yes, And It's More Than Enough)

In my Deck Chairs post, Deep Structure had the following comment:

thank for you giving a clear definition of how the internet is working for artists. that's about the most succinct explanation i've heard yet.

so i understand that. BUT, i still find myself asking, is that it?

it's hard to believe the entertainment juggernaut of tv and film is going to be replaced by 4min videoboxes of askaninja-types or godforbid, rosario dawson-jawing-at-a-screen-types.

surely there's got to be more to this revolutionary new medium than just a refining of the old process?

Well yes and no. (What, You thought this would be an easy answer?)

Let's look at this from a historical perspective and (attempt to) show how refinement and reconfiguration figure into how cool the internet is in comparison to other, "more traditional" media, and how that's making a major difference in how the economics of the entertainment industry is shifting.

Whew!

In the Beginning:

So, from this historical perspective media has to start with story. That is, communication around the campfire as people begin to connect the dots into imparting information from one person to another. Speaking and singing mainly. Putting together known sounds that always mean the same thing. If you know that sound then you know the idea behind it.

But, then you run into the roadblock that you have to pass your stories down verbally to the next generation so they don't get lost...but gee, they do get lost (in translation) don't they? Nobody tells the same story the same way. Variation and nuance creep in. So how does Alley Oop and co. make sure that their verbal stories stay around for awhile?

They can't. But what they can do is assign a pictogram to a concept and draw that on a cave wall. That way, anyone who understands the pictograms can read the story any time they want. A refinement of the storytelling process.

This leads to sculpture - a three dimensional representation of an idea or story. Again a refinement of the storytelling process. Different, yet...

Eventually, over thousands of years and only in certain parts of the world, pictograms lead to clay tablets, decorative elements on clay pots, alphabets, papyrus and scrolls. Some parts of the world still pass their stories down from generation to generation verbally or through dance. Those stories are told only in groups and you must be presentfor all of it in order to get the whole story. If you are late to the party - you miss out.

Eventually we get to the Middle Ages and the Illuminated Manuscript. Rare things they are. Only for the wealthy or the religious. Locked away from the common man's hands. Until Gutenberg comes along.

Print changes everything:

Gutenberg comes along and invents the printing press, and suddenly books aren't so expensive anymore, and they aren't locked away in nobles' homes or monasteries or cathedrals anymore. They are out in the open for many more people to enjoy and discuss and share.

Then, someone says, "Hey - why don't we print cheaper books, announcements really and we can sell those cheaply to everyone. We'll call them Newspapers. We can have the riders who travel between the towns distribute them."

Eventually that led to a lot of things - more books, more news, newspapers, almanacs, flyers, etc... and of course, the printers needed more content to satisfy the publics need for new and more entertainment. Writers wrote furiously, crafting stories for these papers that were eventually collected into books. The world became a smaller place as stories that were local became regional and eventuallly became national. Ideas, customs and myths were spread all over the planet.

And it spurred people on to read.

Oh, the Drama (and the Music):

Going backwards and parallel a bit... dramatists picked up the mantle and performed their stories taken from myths and scrolls and even clay tablets. Rules began to form on how dramtic stories should be told to best effect...

Butof course, in many cases if you weren't at the play - you missed the story.

But then, when printing finally came around, different theater companies could license a play from the author and perform the work themselves. More and more people could go to their local theater to see a production instead of having to travel far to see some drama of note.

Same goes for music - suddenly a group could buy the music to perform. Of course, as more and more plays, books and sheet music made the rounds via merchant ships, the more culture was seeded and cross-pollinated.

All because a man named Gutenberg decided to refine the process required to create a book.

Creative Engines:

The Industrial Revolution takes hold of the world and as a result, more and more people are working and print costs get cheaper and cheaper as do the costs of shipping a book overseas. Steamships make the journey in less than half the time of sailing vessels. Suddenly, news and entertainment becomes more timely and relevant.

But those geniuses of the time think faster than the speed of print, and invent the telegraph. Suddenly, you don't need to ship news - you can wire it to a place that's hooked up. Eventually, telegraphed news is sent to towns and then printed up by the local papers for distribution.
A refinement as to how papers received their news. Driven by innovation and technology and someone who could make the connections as to how they could use this for their media (an entrepreneur).

Same goes for the phonograph - people suddenly had access to sound the same way they have had access to books. All they needed was a record player. Hmmm... still expensive, but that would change too.

Modern Times:

So here we are in the early 1900's and telegrams give way to telephones (though not right away). Books are classed into two different areas - hardcover books and dime novels. It's not surprising that dime novels are outselling hardcovers about 6 to 1 -- they are cheaper, they come out every month and feature the same characters and they are written and designed with entertainment in mind.

As this is happening, radio comes along and becomes the means of mass-communication for many of the richer folks in the city (those that can afford radios). The newspaper is still the major form for the common man.

That is, until they start playing records on the radio... Then everyone wanted a radio. Wow! Free records! The phonograph industry was in an uproar. "Why, they can't do this to us! Giving songs away for free? Who will want to buy records if they hear them for free on the radio?! It's an outrage!" (and an eventual lawsuit the record companies lost because they failed to prove they lost sales. In fact, their sales tripled within that first year).

Then radio had run through all of the old stuff so they had to create new stuff to take the place of it. Readings of older plays adapted for the radio, Novels read every day. Vaudeville acts. Then of course, they realized they had to create new content - specifically for radio. New plays, new bands, new comedians, new vaudeville acts.

And advertising took off. Soap Operas were born. Sitcoms were born. Radio dramas were born, but all of them had their roots in other media, other storytelling forms.

And of course there was the Nickelodeon. So named because it cost a nickel to turn the crank on the machine. This "new medium" was a refinement and hybrid of stage drama and photography. Thomas Edison tried to get the independent (thieving) film companies to pay him a royalty every time they used his projectors and cameras. So these "entrepreneurs" packed up and moved west to get out of Edison's reach. No more copyright infringement.

Hollywood was born. Those guys who fled the east, became the gatekeepers of who saw what and where. You didn't play ball with them, then your movie would get locked out of many of the theater circuits around the country. They actually became the thing they were fleeing from.

Then television - a hybrid of movies and radio You buy the television you get the programs for free thanks to advertising. Families of several houses would get together and watch programs together (kind of like huddling around the campfire-eh?). This was different than radio and yet the same. We saw things we used to only hear before. Plays were produced on television and ways of producing those plays for the camera (and a live audience) were developed.

But for the most part, if you wanted to make a living telling stories in media, you had to work with these guys somehow someway. You had many hurdles to go through before your show even made it to the air. Things that didn't fit within the narrow margin of the networks wanted were excluded.

Also, as in previous centuries the media was kept separate from one another. Books were books. Radio was radio. Television was television. Movies were movies (unless they were shown on TV and then they were Million Dollar Movies). They each had to be exported or licensed to another country in order to share those stories.

Then it was all refined again.

Welcome to the Future:

The internet is all those media and more, hybridized into this massive web of information and connection all around the world. It has no borders nor boundaries. It is:

Text fiction, art, music/sound, video, animation, communication, information and game play. It's also software and functionality and organization. It's always on. It's free (for the most part) and somehow it all works together.

It is a refinement of all the media that has come before... and it's growing and evolving all the time. It's immediate. It's interactive... and it's mine.

And yes, it's yours.

It's affecting how we tell our stories, and to whom we are telling them. It's affecting distribution because we don't need those networks or studios in order to tell our stories - we are our networks and our studios. And we have access to many experts in many arenas to help us accomplish the tasks we set forth... to tell stories and get paid for it. The business of making media - any or all media - has been refined to this point of being a complex body of story. Remember:

Any body is more than the sum of its parts.

If that isn't more. If that isn't innovative, then I don't know what is...

And Now For Something (not so) Completely Different!

The nominees for the 2006 DVD Exclusive Awards from the DVD Academy:

Overall DVD, New Movie
The Aviator (Warner)
Crash (Lionsgate)
The Incredibles (Disney)
Ray (Universal)
Sideways (Fox)

Overall DVD, Classic Film
Bambi Special Edition (Disney)
Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition (Universal)
King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition (Warner)
Raging Bull Two-Disc Collector's Edition (MGM/Sony)
The Wizard of Oz Three-Disc Special Edition (Warner)

Overall DVD, TV Program
Chappelle's Show: Season Two--Uncensored (Paramount)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004 (Comedy Central/Paramount)
Lost: The Complete First Season (Disney)
Seinfeld: Season Four (Sony)
The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (Fox)

Overall DVD, Music Program
Eagles: Farewell 1 Tour--Live From Melbourne (WEA)
Festival! (Eagle Rock)
Paul McCartney in Red Square (A&E)
The Pretenders Greatest Hits (Rhino)
Smile: The DVD (Rhino)

Overall PSP
Crash (Lionsgate)
Lost: The Complete First Season (Disney)
Oldboy (Tartan)
Sin City (Disney)
Robots (Fox)

Audio Commentary (new for DVD)
Martin Scorsese; The Aviator (Warner)
Brad Bird and John Walker; The Incredibles (Disney)
Ray Harryhausen, Ken Ralston, Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Shoedsack, Ruth Rose, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong; King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition (Warner)
Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker; Raging Bull Two-Disc Collector's Edition (MGM/Sony)
Cast and crew; The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (Fox)

Behind-the-Scenes Program (new for DVD)
"Inside Walt's Story Meetings," director/producer TBA; Bambi Special Edition (Disney)
"Making of The Incredibles," director/producer TBA; The Incredibles (Disney)
"The Making of Jaws," producer Laurent Bouzereau; Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition (Universal)
"RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World," producers Peter Jackson and Michael Pellerin; King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition (Warner)
"Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz," director/producer TBA; The Wizard of Oz Three-Disc Special Edition (Warner)

Deleted Scenes, Outtakes and Bloopers
Chappelle's Show: Season Two--Uncensored (Paramount)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004 (Comedy Central/Paramount)
The Incredibles (Disney)
The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (Fox)
Sin City Recut & Extended Edition (Disney)

Games and Interactivities
"Forest Adventure Game," credit TBA; Bambi Special Edition (Disney)
"Inner Demons Comic," credit TBA; Batman Begins: Deluxe Edition (Warner)
"Search for the Golden Ticket," credit TBA; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Two-Disc Deluxe Edition (Warner)
"Where's Pleakley?"/"Jumba's Experiment Profiler," credit TBA; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
"Invent-a-Bot," credit TBA; Robots (Fox)

Menu Design
Bambi Special Edition, credit TBA (Disney)
The Incredibles, credit TBA (Disney)
Raging Bull Two-Disc Collector's Edition, credit TBA (MGM/Sony)
The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season, credit TBA (Fox)
Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, credit TBA (Fox)

New Movie Scenes (finished--edited into movie or stand-alone)
"Tankman Begins," credit TBA; Batman Begins: Deluxe Edition (Warner)
"Jack-Jack Attack," credit TBA; The Incredibles (Disney)
"The Lost Spider Pit Sequence," producers Peter Jackson and Michael Pellerin; King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition (Warner)
"The Origin of Stitch: Secret File," credit TBA; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
"Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty," credit TBA; Robots (Fox)

Original Music Video
"Band Camp Girls: The Music Video," credit TBA; American Pie Presents Band Camp--Unrated (Universal)
"Hope Has Wings," performed by Brie Larson, director/producer TBA; Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus With 3D (Lionsgate)
"Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride," performed by Jump5, director/producer TBA; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
"I Like to Move It, Move It," credit TBA; Madagascar (DreamWorks/Universal)
"Who Am I?," performed by Tiffany Evans, director/producer TBA; Tarzan II (Disney)

DVD PREMIERE MOVIES

Overall Movie, Animated DVD Premiere
Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus With 3D (Lionsgate)
Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (Fox)
Kronk's New Groove (Disney)
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Tarzan II (Disney)

Overall Movie, Live-Action DVD Premiere
11:14 (New Line/Warner)
The Sandlot 2 (Fox)
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Paramount)
Havoc (New Line/Warner)
The Snow Walker (First Look)

Actor (in a DVD premiere movie)
Henry Thomas, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Ving Rhames, Animal (DEJ/First Look)
Ving Rhames, Back in the Day (First Look)
Barry Pepper, The Snow Walker (First Look)
Paul Hogan, Strange Bedfellows (Screen Media/Universal)

Actress (in a DVD premiere movie)
Hilary Swank, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Pam Grier, Back in the Day (First Look)
Anne Hathaway, Havoc (New Line/Warner)
Samantha Burton, The Sandlot 2 (Fox)
Annabella Piugattuk, The Snow Walker (First Look)

Supporting Actor (in a DVD Premiere movie)
Eugene Levy, American Pie Presents Band Camp--Unrated (Universal)
Terrence Howard, Animal (DEJ/First Look)
James Earl Jones, The Sandlot 2 (Fox)
James Cromwell, The Snow Walker (First Look)
Pete Postlethwaite, Strange Bedfellows (Screen Media/Universal)

Supporting Actress (in a DVD premiere movie)
Barbara Hershey, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Tia Carrere, Back in the Day (First Look)
Bijou Phillips, Havoc (New Line/Warner)
Kiersten Warren, The Snow Walker (First Look)
Monica Maughan, Strange Bedfellows (Screen Media/Universal)

Animated Character Performance (voice and animation in a DVD premiere movie)
Stewie Griffin, voice: Seth MacFarlane, animator TBA; Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (Fox)
Kronk, voice Patrick Warburton, animator TBA; Kronk's New Groove (Disney)
Yzma, voice Eartha Kitt, animator TBA; Kronk's New Groove (Disney)
Lilo, voice: Dakota Fanning; animators: Kevin Peaty and Ritsuko Notani; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Zugor, voice: George Carlin, animator: Bernard Derriman; Tarzan II (Disney)

Director (of a DVD premiere movie)
Pete Michels and Peter Shin; Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (Fox)
Michael LaBash and Tony Leondis; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Martin Scorsese; No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Paramount)
Charles Martin Smith; The Snow Walker (First Look)
Brian Smith; Tarzan II (Disney)

Screenplay (for a DVD premiere movie)
Greg Marcks; 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Alex Borstein, Steve Callaghan, Gary Janetti and Chris Sheridan; Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (Fox)
Tony Leondis, Michael LaBash, Alexa Junge and Eddie Guzelian; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Charles Martin Smith; The Snow Walker (First Look)
Jim Kammerud, Brian Smith, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White; Tarzan II (Disney)

Original Score (in a DVD premiere movie)
Clint Mansell, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Mark Watters, Kronk's New Groove (Disney)
Joel McNeely, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Mark Mancina and Dave Metzger; Tarzan II (Disney)
Mychael Danna and Paul Intson; The Snow Walker (First Look)

Original Song (in a DVD premiere movie)
"Always," performed by Mark Keal'i Ho'omalu, Dennis Kamakahi, David Kamakahi, Hayley Westenra and Johnson Enos; lyrics by Alexa Junge; music by Jeanine Tesori; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
"Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride" end credit version, performed by Jump5; written by Alan Silvestri and Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
"Leaving Home (Find My Way)," written/performed by Phil Collins; Tarzan II (Disney)
"Who Am I?" end credit version, written by Phil Collins, performed by Tiffany Evans, produced and arranged by Matthew Gerrard; Tarzan II (Disney)
"Who Am I?," written/performed by Phil Collins; Tarzan II (Disney)

Cinematography (in a DVD premiere movie)
Shane Hurlbut, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Kramer Morgenthau, Havoc (New Line/Warner)
credit TBA, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Paramount)
David Pelletier, The Sandlot 2 (Fox)
David Connell, Jon Joffin and Paul Sarossy, The Snow Walker (First Look)

Editing (in a DVD premiere movie)
Dan Lebental and Richard Nord, 11:14 (New Line/Warner)
Philip Malamuth and Arthur D. Noda, Kronk's New Groove (Disney)
William J. Caparella, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
David Tedeschi, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Paramount)
John Royer, Tarzan II (Disney)

Visual Effects (in a DVD premiere movie)
Marvin Petilla, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (Disney)
Marvin Petilla, Tarzan II (Disney)
Jamison Goei, Dracula III: Legacy (Miramax/Disney)
credit TBA, The Snow Walker (First Look)
credit TBA, Mulan II (Disney)

For more information on The DVD Academy and the DVD Exclusive awards then go here.

Pulp Philosophy: Create a Damn Good Onion!

Every night before bed, I watch around an hour of television and then settle in under the covers with a book or comic.  I find that in most instances I can feel the sleep overcome me in about 15 minutes and I pull off the spectacles, close the tome and turn out the lights.  This is the general routine that keeps me relatively sane and well-slept.

But there are those occasions where I've watched a show and/or read a book and I am instantly charged with enthusiasm to keep watching or reading until I'm finished. It's rare, but it does happen.  When it does I take note and file it away in the brain pan.  After all, as writers/ creators we are sponges whose mission is to take in and squeeze out a filtered version of what we've ingested.

In keeping track of these events, I've found that a definite pattern emerges - especially when it comes to modern genre fiction, that is built upon all that has come before.

The point is that I'm finding that the best fiction media - movies, TV, books, comics - is based on the structure of an onion.

(No, I have not been watching too many episodes of TOP CHEF or KITCHEN NIGHTMARES)

Let me explain:

We've reached a point in our culture where our genre media is fully cataloged and is accessible 24/7. I can find out any bit of trivia or access a work using a simple wifi connection.  As a result we have a generation or two with a large knowledge base when it comes to the variety of genre media.  We've all seen or know of just about every genre book, comic, game or tv show and movie.

We are really hard to surprise.

So what's come about is that creators are using that knowledge base against us and subverting...no, that's not right... redesigning our expectations to create multiple layers of meaning, depth and breadth to their works.

Now this isn't new, but it is being done in new ways and more frequently. Chaucer and Shakespeare used tropes that were available to them (example: the metaphorical rose motif to signify a woman's genitalia), but in this case creators are using other creators' works more and more to create a greater cultural context.

What's interesting to me is the pop culture metaphors being employed as a means to add meaning and engage the audience.  These pop culture land mines again add new layers of fun and taste... yes, just like a good onion.

Okay Bill - WTF are you talking about here? Give us some examples!

I was reading Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's genuinely excellent LXG: Century 1910 and kept finding new layers to the story thanks to the careful placement of bits of pop culture within the context of the story.  As I saw more elements to the story come into play working in characters like Carnacki and Raffles as well as dates, and the whole of the Three Penny Opera, I began to appreciate the depth of the story in new ways.

Page after page of new story elements came in to create one big blooming onion.

A recent episode of LEVERAGE directed by our pal, John Rogers and written by Geoffrey Thorne had another layer to it that made me laugh out loud. Specifically the computerized security system for the building Parker broke into was called a Steranko.

(Again, you didn't need to know that Steranko the comic artist was once an escape artist, but if you were in the know it added a whole new layer of meaning whenever they mentioned the term).

Now what's really good about both of these examples is the fact that in both cases the additional layers of meaning were left to the audience member to uncover.  They weren't called out to be this monstrous "look how clever we are" moment, but rather were the product of being good sponges. Taking in knowledge and filtering it properly.

(and there are more tidbits in both so I would suggest a rerun of Leverage and a reread of Century:1910)

And if you're in today's genre media game it makes sense to add new levels of meaning to your audience in order to engage them... to add the layers to the onion. It allows you to 'shorthand' and concentrate on plot knowing that certain character or tone elements are set in the audience's mind (if only on a subconscious level). It allows you engage your audience, and it allows you to mine the vast library of culture that's available at your fingertips stroking your keyboard.

Just be subtle about it.

Internet and Serials and Writing - Oh My!

Everyone here knows of my love for serials. I've related my joy over the format on many a blog in the Scribosphere. It's a unique writing challenge to tell a moving picture story in chapters -- short bursts of content that keep the viewer going and asking, "what's going to happen next?"

(Which reminds me to post the next chapter of Radar Men from the Moon)

Much like a novel, the serial has an overall structure and individual chapters which have their own internal structure. It's like television only it's not - it has a definite, particular story to tell. Television has many stories to tell about particular characters.

Well, now the serial format has come to the internet - in a big way. And with all the discussion we've been having lately about In2TV, WB and the BitTorrent, Generate, Itunes and other 4th Generational Media (Hi John!) it seems appropriate that this new serial is debuting on the net and on DVD. That's why I'm discussing it here.

We are in on the ground floor of an opportunity limited only by our creativity and our bandwidth - both of which can be overcome. We are at the dawn of a new age of media that includes traditional scripting for film along with pages and pages of additional content needed to be created for MySpace pages, wikipedia entries, and other types of interactive entertainment and information we haven't realized yet.

All built around around content. All built around branding. All built around entertainment.

Below is an early press release I recieved which got me (re)thinking about all this before I've had my second cup of coffee.

Iron Sink Media Launches Interactive-Webisodic
Romantic Comedy Series: “Soup of The Day”

Unique Hybrid Series/Movie to Debut Simultaneously on Hottest Websites: MySpace.com, YouTube.com, and on iTunes for Podcast

May, 2006 – Los Angeles – New multi-media production company Iron Sink Media is launching a ground-breaking, web-based, hybrid series/movie “Soup of The Day,” it was announced today by Scott Zakarin, one of the co-founding partners of the company.

The interactive-webisodic romantic comedy “Soup of The Day” will launch in May. The show empowers viewers to become involved with the fictional characters, played by actors from improv troupes such as The Groundlings, in three weekly 5-minute episodes over eight weeks. Through the blogs of each of the characters at MySpace.com, viewers will track the round-the-clock comments on their romantic relationships, as well as the on-air stylings of the sexy host of a new Internet video news program now being broadcast at MissileBlast.com.

At the end of its run, “Soup of The Day” will be re-edited with alternate, unrated scenes into a feature length movie to be released on DVD, with hours of additional bonus features.

(Edit: No TV. No theatrical. Profitable)

Online viewer comments will influence the outcome for handsome 28 year-old photographer Brandon Craig, by helping him navigate his way through every man’s fantasy that is also every man’s worst nightmare: simultaneous, heated monogamous relationships with three spectacular young women.

The problem is the certain explosive reaction from the other two girlfriends when he finally chooses one of them.

Will it be his Monday girlfriend Monique, his beautiful but blunt, powerful and demanding boss who will fire him; his Wednesday girlfriend Wendy, a tough and sexy undercover cop who will kick his butt; or his Friday girlfriend Franki, the good-humored host of MissileBlast.com and passionate lover who is so emotionally fragile that a break-up could spark her to severely injure herself. The ending has yet to be written.

Chipping in to offer unsolicited (and often inappropriate) advice to Brandon are his buddies Todd and Rob. At their favorite restaurant/watering hole -- where the favorite soup of the day is so much easier to manage -- Brandon explains to them exactly how he got into this predicament, seen in the “pre-episode” on May 8.

“Soup of The Day” stars Catherine Reitman (Comedy Central’s “David Spade’s Showbiz Report”) as Monique, Patty Wortham (“Closing Escrow”) as Wendy, Tina Molina (“The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story”) as Franki, Jon Crowley (Happy Madison Productions’ “Gay Robot”) as Brandon, Brian Palermo (Bravo’s “Significant Others”) as Todd and Rob Cesternino (“Survivor”).

“Soup of the Day” is served free at SoupMovie.com and the Web’s most popular video destinations, MySpace.com, YouTube.com, and as a free subscription podcast at iTunes.com.

Unfinished pre-episode footage can be viewed online at the following SoupMovie.com.

Produced by Iron Sink Media partners Paul S. Camuso, Rob Cesternino, Scott Hettrick and
Rich Tackenberg, “Soup of The Day” is directed by Zakarin and the show’s “scenarioists” are Zakarin and Cesternino. The executive producers of “Soup of The Day” are Christopher Berube, Paul E. & Marie Camuso, Mark Furia, Christian Gfatter, and Kathy Gfatter.

An online pioneer, Zakarin was the creator of the first episodic Internet serial in 1995, “The Spot,” and a partner with Tackenberg and Brandon Tartikoff in AOL’s original production studio in the late 1990s called Entertainment Asylum.

Zakarin says, “Technology allows mass audiences to enjoy a new form of programming in multiple formats. You can become involved with the “Soup of The Day” characters on your computer or iPod now -- influencing their story for the DVD movie version coming this summer.”

Zakarin was one of the producers of the award-winning “Comic Book: The Movie” and he and Cesternino were producers with Tackenberg as executive producer on the reality series “Kill Reality” for E! Entertainment Television, which resulted in the feature-length DVD movie “Scorned,” released to retailers in April by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

(Edit: Note the following mandate for the company)

About Iron Sink Media

Founded in 2006, Los Angeles-based Iron Sink Media produces original programming for multiple formats, and is developing distribution of original and third-party content on the Internet and DVD.

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

As stated above, Scott Zakarin is one of the guys behind Comic Book: The Movie, and I had the pleasure of writing their presentation at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards Show. Scott Hettrick was the producer of that show and the former Editor-in-Chief of DVD Exclusive and Video Business. I wonder if the origins of this business venture started there?

So if there's something you have percolating in your mind (and on the page) and you aren't quite sure how to realize its potential. Take a minute and rethink it in light of the above - a serial that's later edited as a feature with extras. Also factor in the Myspace pages, maybe comic book webpages and wiki metacontent and you begin to build a universe to call your own.

Hmmm....

Anyway, let the DISContent begin. I look forward to hearing your commentary.

Jon Reis: New Media Order Manifesto

From Indiewire news:

John Reiss, filmmaker turned author of the new book THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE recently gave a speech at the CPH:DOX forum in Copenhagen. In that speech he outlines a manifesto of sorts derived from the work he researched for his book and his own experience:

"But just as a way of introducing myself – I will give you a brief introduction to my own horror story.

In 2007, I was at the Tribeca film festival where I was trying to sell my documentary “Bomb It.” We did everything by the old school book, kept the screeners a secret, we spent $20,000 launching the film at the festival, with the result of packed houses and hundreds of people turned away. After all the excitement, what we had were a few $10,000 all rights deals that we rejected. A week after Tribeca, our film was available for sale on Canal Street — as a bootleg.

A number of lucky films each year will still get overall deals that make some kind of financial sense for them. However these deals are not available to the vast majority of filmmakers at this time. We are in the midst of a new world order or crisis."

I have taken portions of Jon's manifesto and reposted them here. I urge you to go and read the more detailed aspects in the original post on IndieWire.

1. KNOW YOUR FILM/KNOW YOURSELF. EVERY FILM IS DIFFERENT AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH

The studio model of distribution was created because it made sense for large mass market films, and for a time it worked for some independent films as well.

However each film is different, and many independent films did not fair well within the studio machine – because they were not marketed to their unique audience.

2. CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD MARKETING

As an iconoclastic, ex punk rock anarchist neo Marxist who most recently made a documentary about graffiti and the battle over visual public space, I feel that I have come about as far as anyone could come in this embrace of marketing.

I would argue that the biggest problem facing independent film is not one of distribution – it is one of marketing. It is one thing to put your film out into the world, it is another to get people to know about it, and want to watch it.

It is not a matter of changing your work to meet a supposed market. But to consider what kinds of audiences might be interested in your work and seek to cultivate them.

The artificial divide between art and commerce must be eliminated.

3. DETERMINE YOUR AUDIENCES AND HOW TO REACH THEM FROM INCEPTION

Many independent filmmakers for many years have made films without thinking about who the audiences for their films might be. Or their ideas about audiences are much too general. Alternatively the studios have erred on the other side and catered to a mass audience and left any form of specialty taste behind.

START THE PROCESS AT INCEPTION
It can take a long time to engage your audience. As important as developing individual audience members are connections you can make with organizations that will help you expand your reach.

This audience engagement (aka marketing) will be much more organic if you integrate it into the whole life cycle of a film.

By starting during prep and production, you are allowing your audience to be involved in the creation of your work. This in turn invests them with the success of your film. This can happen through crowdsourcing of various creative aspects of the film or through crowdfunding the budget for the film. These engaged audience members will be active core promoters because they will feel a connection with your film.

4. WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR FILM, YOU ARE HALF DONE

Distribution and marketing can take as long and cost as much, or more than you spent on your film. The new 50/50 is not a revenue split but the mental shift that filmmakers must make about the filmmaking process.

Too many filmmakers have no resources for the second half of the process once they finish their films. It is a shame. Why make a brilliant wonderful film if you do not have the resources to get it to its audience.

This is not a hard and fast rule, remember all films are unique. But it is a good guideline when embarking on a project.

- Money for distribution and marketing should be budgeted for, raised and put into escrow. It is far better to have $50,000 to release a $50,000 film than to make a $100,000 film with no way of getting it to an audience.

- We must create new crew positions to be responsible for these tasks.

5. WE MUST TAKE BACK THE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE AND REDEFINE IT AS LIVE EVENT/ THEATRICAL

Many people feel that the theatrical release is dead. It is too expensive and time consuming for independent filmmakers to engage. I believe it should be reborn.

Theatrical has come to mean a paid screening in conventional theaters with built in sound and visual projection that start on Friday – end Thursday with a review Friday in venuses that all sell popcorn.

Any booking of a film into a projected environment that does not meet the conventions outlined above falls into a category of “non-theatrical” or “semi-theatrical”. Given that these screenings are defined primarily in negative terms (non-, semi-,) it is not surprising that they receive a second-class status.

This classification of theatrical markets wasn’t always the case. In the earliest days of motion picture films, screenings occurred in a variety of spaces: storefronts, tents, public parks, churches. Films often toured with vaudeville acts or circuses or on their own.

6. CREATE PRODUCTS PEOPLE WANT TO BUY

Is it a wonder that in the digital era people have stopped buying DVDs? For what is a DVD but a package of 0s and 1s in a crap plastic case.

We should look to musicians who have struggled with this conundrum for longer than we. Just as they are touring, many of them understand the difference between a physical product and a digital product and not only price them accordingly, but create added value to their physical products that cannot be replicated digitally.

Consider items that your fans and audience will want to purchase, it will be different for every film. Consider books of photographs that contain the DVD. Video games, Toys that can be printed on demand with new three dimensional printers.

7. DIGITAL RIGHTS ARE A MINEFIELD – BE CAREFUL


8. ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES MUST MOVE BEYOND OLD WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS

Just as filmmakers must think out side the box in terms of the way they make and distribute and market films, companies need to do this as well.

Everyone is hurting in the birth of this new paradigm, so more than ever it is necessary to work together.

I believe it is important for filmmakers to collaborate with experienced and reputable companies in getting their work seen. Unless you are completely committed to DIY for philosophical reasons, or because you cannot find a company to partner with, I recommend DIY being a last resort. You will still end up doing more work than you can imagine on a release in a company supported split rights scenario.

In turn, companies need to embrace the split rights world we live in and stop being so omnivorous of our rights, if you are not going to provide monetary compensation for those rights or have no plans to you should not demand them.

Companies need to be more transparent about their ways of conducting business.

9. EXPLORE NEW WAYS TO TELL STORIES

We live in a fractured marketplace for media. Audiences have media and consumption preferences. You can’t bend them, you must accommodate them.

We must embrace new forms beyond the short and the feature and recognize that a film can be one part of a larger narrative universe that can be explored in a variety of mediums.

Think of a story that takes place via a feature film, but extends out over mobile devices, gaming consoles, social networks, through websites, text messages, downloadable clips, or iPhone apps. An exciting amount of creative potential awaits adventurous filmmakers.

Further, audiences want to participate with culture. By allowing them to participate, filmmakers open themselves up to a deeper relationship with their audiences.

Don’t be proprietary with your media. Give people assets — footage, sounds, environments. Let them re-edit your scenes.

Not all of your audience is going to engage in this way, but a devoted core who will.

10. WE MUST SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS A COMMUNITY

Filmmakers are lovers of film and our best allies. We must support one another’s work. The more generous you are – the more you will receive in return.

Similarly, if there is a film that you love – support it in other ways. Use your newly developed social networking skills to tell your own fans and followers why they should see the film. They are your followers, they are interested in your tastes and opinions, use that power to the good of the film community.

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Edit to add: Scott Kirsner has an audio interview with Jon here.

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Now - it may interest you to know that the movie that was discussed here (see the video at the bottom of that post) SITA SINGS THE BLUES (which you can watch on YouTube for free) is being released on DVD by Indiepix. From the press release:

"To get any film made is a miracle To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle. Two Thumbs up!"
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

Captivating, mesmerizing, spellbinding"

-- Chicago Reader

"An irrefutable argument for classic 2-D animation as a viable, vibrant low-budget arthouse medium for adults"

-- Variety

THIS DECEMBER, INDIEPIX PRESENTS THE GREATEST BREAK-UP STORY EVER TOLD -- A BEAUTIFULLY ANIMATED MASTERPIECE WHICH HAS PLAYED IN OVER 200 INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS AND CAPTURED 30+ AWARDS

Winner of the Prestigious Silver Bear for Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008 and numerous other awards, the international festival smash (with 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), SITA SINGS THE BLUES makes its DVD debut this December courtesy of IndiePix Films. Available for $24.95srp

Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady ofIndia’s epic the Ramayana and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests. Nina (the filmmaker Nina Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita’s life when her husband – in India on a work project - decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email. Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents – linking the popularity of the Ramayana from India all the way to the Far East - narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.

In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. A tale of truth, justice and a woman’s cry for equal treatment. SITA SINGS THE BLUES earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."

DVD Extras: Director's commentary and interview, the bonus short "Fetch!" and more

Format : DVD/Single

Run time: 82 mins. + extras

Price: $24.95srp

Prebook/Street: November 17/December 15

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This is an example of new media in action. Using free social networking tools and legal licensing tools to create a unique film experience that makes money for the producer. It's different, it's new (sort of) and it's about the manifesto that Jon speaks of above. There are companies out there that are understanding this is the new paradigm - free, split-rights deals, unique marketing, designed packaging, merchandising, letting go and allowing the fans their turn "at bat."