Archive for the 'Internet' Category

Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Home Entertainment

Start building that MySpace fanbase people, because Madison Road Entertainment and Madonna’s Maverick label are preparing to a launch a new internet-based talent competition called Big Shot (think along the lines of a new version of Star Search, except it appears the goal here is to use your online popularity to promote other properties). The show, which will run for 13 weeks and host 91 webisodes, will be dedicated to an assortment of talents which include singing, modeling, stand-up comedy, filmmaking and acting. Each person will be able to upload their profile, as well as a 30-second video showcasing their particular talent, which will then be voted on by a number of people with names like ILoveRyanSeacrest4Eva.

Since most internet surfers have the attention span of a mouse (myself included), there will be a new winner every day. That person will then be flown out to Hollywood and given a chance to audition for a “talent rainmaker” — basically, that’s just a snazzy way of saying you’ll be meeting with some agent’s assistant. At that time, you’ll be given the chance to impress someone live and in person (which, right away, could prove difficult for those who feel more comfortable acting like an ass in the comfort of their own home) and, if your series of cartwheels are enough to get someone to say, “Sure, we can use him/her as an extra on our new FX TV show,” then you could be on your way to red carpet stardom. Subsequently, the folks in charge get to promote their other products (like, for example, the Maverick-produced FX drama The Riches) and you get to say that, well, you had more MySpace friends than the dude who sang The National Anthem upside down. Fear not all you aspiring internet celebrities (yes, I’m talking to you lonelygirl90210), you still have time to prepare; Big Shot won’t premiere until September 10.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Independent, Tech Stuff, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing, Columns

If you’re like me, you loved the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books as a kid. It can be exciting to help shape something you’d otherwise be passively enjoying. That practice is slowly working its way into the film world. The future of filmmaking may give you, the audience, much more say in what kinds of movies get made. “Open Source” cinema occurs when the underlying “source code” for computer software is made freely available, enabling anyone to copy a film, rewrite it, edit it, improve it. It’s sort of like the film version of Wikipedia. Several full-length Open Source films have already popped up online, such as Cactuses, “a drama about youth culture in southern California,” and Boy Who Never Slept, an online dating comedy. This article cites the experience with last year’s Snakes on a Plane as an example that the studios are becoming more open to letting the public shape the films they make.

Open Source filmmaking aims to eventually allow the viewer the opportunity to create alternate endings and cut scenes from Hollywood movies. (So long, Jar-Jar Binks!) A film called A Swarm of Angels is one of the most ambitious Open Source projects, as it includes every aspect of traditional filmmaking, including the financing. The founder, Matt Hanson, wants 50,000 “micro-investors” to chip in $60 to make a movie. 60 bucks buys these investors the opportunity to vote on such matters as screenplay decisions and shooting locations. They can work on filming when it begins, and when the film is finished it will be made available online for anyone to download and edit. If you’ve got cash burning a hole in your pocket, head here to join the moviemaking process.

Continue reading Open Source Movies — Wave of the Future?

Permalink | Email this | Comments

• Lieberman's acolytes in the Connecticut legislature seeks to regulate political blogging. The proposed legislation is so unconstitutional it's laughable, but can you expect anything less from the professional thugs and liars in the Lieberman crowd?

  Connecticut bloggers should target these officials in primaries. Every last one.

• The Philly Daily News polls 2008 general election matchips with Giuliani, Obama, Clinton, and McCain going up against each other. The verdict? Republicans win (PDF) all four matchups.
• The Politico let itself be used by Dan Gerstein to settle old political scores.
• Who knew that Keith Olbermann was killing Democracy?
• The Internet kills.
• James Cameron says he found the Jesus family grave.
• What was the first thing bought on eBay?
• NJ-Sen: With Lautenberg's numbers not looking great (as with the numbers for every single politician in New Jersey), let's encourage Republicans to sink a new round of millions into a state that they simply will not win.

Filed under: Tech Stuff, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing

Like it or not, the option to download films and TV shows from the internet is here to stay. In fact, if things continue as they are it might not be too long before more “traditional” outlets for films and TV shows — such as brick and mortar stores or even movie theaters — are a thing of the past. It’s already happened with the music business. Look around and tell me if you can find a Sam Goody or Tower Records in your neighborhood. You can’t, and one of the biggest reasons why is due to people downloading music from online stores like iTunes.

However, all is not doom and gloom — especially for producers of film and television shows like the major studios. If you happen to be a major studio, things look pretty good for you — unless for some reason you haven’t gotten into the online distribution business yet. If you have, this recent Variety article should make you pretty happy. If you haven’t, well, it might be time to start — that is, if you like to make money. According to the article, the next few years will find the online content delivery business exploding with record profits. Revenue in the U.S. alone from legitimate downloads of films and television programs will go from $538 million last year to $6.3 billion by 2012 — a tenfold increase.

Some of the factors contributing to this dramatic increase are broadband penetration and changing consumer habits. Or, as Adam Thomas, a researcher at Informa, the group which released the revenue projections, puts it: “These trends are now so pronounced that the term ’social revolution’ no longer seems too much of an exaggeration. With social change occurring on such a large scale, traditional media companies are being forced to change their behavior and business models to adapt their offering to consumer demand.” You hear that traditional media companies? Time to change or get left behind.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Autonet mobile, the company responsible for putting the Internet inside of Avis rentals is selling their WiFi car router to the public this spring. The routers plug into your ciggy adapter, and use what sounds like EV-DO via Virgin Mobile. Interesting. Speeds should hit 400 kbps to 1 mbps, as we reported before. But the pricing sounds like it might be the catch.

At $400 for the hardware, it's not exactly cheap. (Monthly is a nice $50, though. )If pricing stays at this level, you might want to get one of those Kyocera WiFi/EV-DO portable routers for less, and have a dedicated card you can use in your lappie outside of the car.–Brian Lam

AutoNet Router [Autospies and Gizmag]