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NYC Film, a New York City film and production blog.
Providing a daily dose of news and features from the world of filmmaking, shooting in NY, and the casting industry for both the consumer and film professional.

Movie Directors the Next Terrorism Threat

Director Mike Figgis spent longer at LAX airport than intended. He'd arrived in Los Angeles, along with half the acting and directing world, for what is known as 'pilot season', when the big studios try out new scripts, directors and actors in a two-week frenzy of auditions and career make-or-breaks. When Figgis was being grilled by airport immigration, he was asked the purpose of his visit. Unthinking and tired after a long flight, Mike replied: 'I'm here to shoot a pilot.' After five hours in an interrogation cell (yes, really), he finally made it into town.

» guardian.co.uk [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

A Fair(y) Use Tale: Disney Characters Explain Copyright

"A Fair(y) Use Tale" mashes up all your Disney favorites to humorously and effectively explain copyright law. The ten minute movie, directed by Eric Faden, came out of Stanford University's Fair Use Project Documentary Film Program. And, well, the movie is damn sure creative, and certainly seems to take the boundaries of fair use about as far as they can go.

Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University created the short film. He "is an assistant professor of Film Studies and English at Bucknell University. His research includes early cinema and digital imagery. He has also made several experimental films that imagine what academic research might look like as a product of electronic (rather than literary) culture."

» watch on youtube.com » mp4 [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

A third NYC store planned for Apple

During this afternoon's financial conference call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced that a third Big Apple store is being planned. It's been suggested that this building at 401 West 14th Street will be the third store's location. At 52,000 square-feet, it would house one heck of a store.

» 401 W14 Street

New York City Film piracy penalty is now a misdemeanor

With the summer blockbuster movie season just ahead, City Hall and the Motion Picture Association of America are warning that secretly videotaping films is now a misdemeanor in New York City.

Days before the highly anticipated "Spider-Man 3" opens across the United States, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a new law on Tuesday that upgrades film piracy from a violation with a $250 (euro183) fine to a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and penalties of up to $5,000 (euro3,675). More than 40 percent of bootlegged films are recorded in New York City theaters, the MPAA says. The duplications are typically sold for mass reproduction or posted on the Internet, sometimes just hours after the movie has premiered.

TV news of the future by Dave Winer

I was drinking coffee, watching the morning news when a story about Virginia Tech came on MSNBC. I really wanted to begin this week without more stories about how they're coping. I know this makes me an ogre, but after listening to On The Media yesterday, my cynicism is validated. And after watching 60 Minutes about life in Baghdad, the first report I've seen to actually go in to get the story, I was aware that people are dying in places outside Blacksburg (and truthfully, the dying is probably over in Blacksburg). Permalink to this paragraph

I had a flash, I want a checkbox that tells MSNBC that I don't want any more Virginia Tech stories.

» interface mockup
» dave winer

DVD rental business has rapidly become commoditized as customers shop by price.

That, at least, appears to be the message Netflix's earnings conference call, on which top execs spent a considerable amount of time from the very start talking about the toll Blockbuster's (BBI) new online offering has taken on its business. Competition from Blockbuster, the company has said, hurt first quarter performance.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he's confident Blockbuster's low prices aren't "economically viable." He added that it's "not a question if, but when Blockbuster will reset prices."

Perhaps, but customers are no dummies. They obviously like the combination and flexibility of mixing bricks-and-mortar with online. More importantly, they have now proven that if service and selection are similar, they'll go with the company that offers the lowest price, margins be damned.

» marketwatch

Digital media proves problematic for hollywood

Simply put, there's no generally accepted way to store digital "footage" for more than a few months. After that the industry is using a hodgepodge of improvised solutions, some rather costly, others not very reliable.

That looked like a small problem when digital filmmaking was limited to low-budget indies, animation houses and tech pioneers like James Cameron and George Lucas.

Now, though, that small problem is growing geometrically as the major studios shift away from film to digital capture. Such recent releases as "300," "Apocalypto," "Zodiac" and "Superman Returns" were shot on digital. Their digital masters could be seriously degraded if the problem isn't addressed quickly.

In fact, the problem is so severe that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Science and Technology Council warned in 2005 that within just a few years films shot with digital cameras could be lost.

» variety

Modern visual effects technology allows directors to adjust actors facial expressions

At the Visual Effects Society’s recent conference, Jeff Okun, the organisation’s chairman, showed before and after versions of one of the climactic shots in the Oscar-nominated film Blood Diamond.

In the “before” shot Jennifer Connolly, the leading lady, was shown talking on her mobile phone. The digitally manipulated “after” shot showed her talking on her mobile phone with a tear rolling down her cheek. Such alterations are becoming increasingly common, but practitioners are discouraged from discussing this work.

“Acting is all about honesty, but something like this makes what you see on screen a dishonest moment,” said a leading technician. “Everyone feels a bit dirty about it.”

» TimesOnline

25+ Million Americans Pirate Movies

Roughly 18 percent of the U.S. online population has illegally downloaded a full-length movie at some point in the past, according to a telephone and online study of 2,600 Americans. A typical movie downloader is 29 years of age, while 63 percent of all downloaders are male, and 37 percent are female. Kaan Yigit, director of the study, observes, 'There is a Robin Hood effect — most people perceive celebrities and studios to be rich already and as a result don't think of movie downloading as a big deal. The current crop of 'download to own' movie services and the new ones coming into the market will need to offer greater flexibility of use, selection and low prices to convert the current users to their services — otherwise file-sharing will continue to thrive.'

» extremetech

MySpace announces trailer collaboration with Lions Gate

MySpace is launching a dedicated video community to debut online theatrical releases, MySpace Trailer, which will premiere 3-6 months prior to a film's theatrical release.

Sony Pictures and Aardman Animations set to announce film deal

The Times reports that it has learned that Sony Pictures will announce on Monday, a deal with Aardman Animations, the maker of "Wallace & Gromit" and "Chicken Run". According to the Times, the deal comes less than two months after Aardman's five-film deal with Dreamworks Animation SKG (DWA) broke down following the disappointing performance "Flushed Away".

Bear Stearns analysts: Online video a 'powerful application'

Citing a new survey analyzing the online video consumption habits of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, analyst Spencer Wang said Friday that online video is "a powerful new application" that is best consumed on a single site with many choices.

According to their research, 57% of respondents watch video online, with 30% streaming content at least once a week. Males age 18-24 are the group most likely to watch content online, with 62% streaming videos at least once a week.

Although many users prefer online video with no ads, 48% of all respondents and 67% of males 18-34 said their preference for monetization of the platform would be a free ad-supported service with 10- to 15-second commercials. Only 4% said they prefer paying $1.99 per video, and 3% answered that they would like a $14.99 subscription to a service.

A central site for videos was important to consumers, with 56% of all respondents and 69% of males 18-34 preferring that option to different sites. According to the survey, with 42% of all respondents and 72% of males 18-34 report that they use YouTube.

Wang and Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck stressed that YouTube remains the "behemoth" of the online video space, and they do not see any serious competitors at this time. Peck agreed with Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt's assertion last month at a Bear Stearns conference that "you tend to see power consolidated in a market leader." For now, Peck said, YouTube remains that market leader, "far and away."

Wang said that News Corp.'s MySpace could emerge as a potential competitor in this space. The "entertainment companies," though, are too slow and bureaucratic at the moment to compete in this platform, he said.

Computational Photography: The next steps in photography could blur reality

When a celebrity appears in a fan-magazine photo, there's no telling whether the person ever wore the clothes depicted or visited that locale.

In one new aspect of computational photography, a dome contains hundreds of precisely positioned flash units. A high-speed camera captures a frame as each flash fires in sequence. Computers can then relight the scene as they reconstruct it. But today's image processing is just a prelude. Imagine photographs in which the lighting in the room, the position of the camera, the point of focus, and even the expressions on people's faces were all chosen after the picture was taken. The moment that the picture beautifully captures never actually happened. Welcome to the world of computational photography, arguably the biggest step in photography since the move away from film.

Digital photography replaced the film in traditional cameras with a tiny wafer of silicon. While that switch swapped the darkroom for far more-powerful image-enhancement software, the camera itself changed little. Its aperture, shutter, flash, and other components remained essentially the same.

» sciencenews.org [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Jodie Foster, teenage chanteuse

Here's a 1977 video of a teenage Jodie Foster singing Je T'Attends Depuis La Nuit Des Temps. She recorded the song and several others for the film Moi, fleur bleue.

» youtube.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Polymer Vision: Organic based rollable displays

Polymer Vision announced its cooperation with Innos to establish the world’s first production facility for organic semiconductor based rollable displays. Manufacturing will start this year to meet the increasing commercial demand for the unique Polymer Vision display technology.

» polymervision.com / PDF download [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Free Blockbuster rentals for Netflix subscribers

Calling all Netflix subscribers: Don't throw away those red flaps you tear off your DVD mailers. Instead, take them to a Blockbuster store for free rentals.

The Blockbuster promotion is an obvious attempt to build a database of potential subscribers to its online service. The service, called Blockbuster Total Access, is similar to Netflix in that it has no due dates, but it gives members the option of exchanging DVDs at one of its retail stores in addition to by mail.

The Blockbuster promotion is an obvious attempt to build a database of potential subscribers to its online service. The service, called Blockbuster Total Access, is similar to Netflix in that it has no due dates, but it gives members the option of exchanging DVDs at one of its retail stores in addition to by mail. The deal runs from now until December 21, so you've got about two weeks to score the free rentals. In the meantime, which service do you like better?

» Search Film-Specific Tags: Netflix - Blockbuster - Total Access
» news.com

Pretty Penny

When "Casino Royale" opens in theaters next week, it will have all the trappings of a James Bond flick — minus one key player: Miss Moneypenny, the star-struck secretary of Bond's boss, M. The film's producers announced the elimination of the recurring witty character last year. Whether the move works for or against the film, it comes at a time when fashion seems just as smitten with the sexy secretary look as Moneypenny was with Bond.

» New York Sun

Tom Cruise to control United Artists

Tom Cruise, the film star fired by Paramount Pictures this summer, surprised Hollywood when he struck a deal with MGM to take over running its United Artists studio.

Source: Tom Cruise to control United Artists

Wall Street Woos Film Producers, Skirting Studios

Since the birth of Hollywood, movie studio chiefs have been makers and breakers of careers, arbiters of taste and gatekeepers who decide which movies are made.

But as Hollywood power shifts more to Wall Street investors, financiers are starting to bypass studio bosses by dealing directly with successful producers.

Now, instead of deals being cut over lunch at Spago or the Grill, movies are increasingly being greenlighted in conference calls to New York.

The reason is a simple desire for more control. Wall Street financiers want a greater say over what movies they finance and who makes them; producers want more artistic independence and a larger share of the profits.

The studios themselves are nudging the trend along, too, since they are making fewer movies.
Via: New York Times

Google Video Strikes Music Video Distribution Deals

Google's purchase of YouTube isn't the only thing making the news for the Internet giant this week, as they also have entered into an agreement with two major music labels to release music videos through the Google Video service. In fact, the blog Toby's Space mentions the irony of these deals being struck for Google Video just as YouTube was purchased by Google, pointing out that Google Video is "a destination that has been utterly dwarfed by now-sister site YouTube."

 

The plan is to provide dual platforms for audience members, one offering the content on-demand in a pay-per-view format, with each video costing $1.99, set by the iTunes price (which seems like a rip-off when compared to getting an hour television show for the same price), while the other is available for free but accompanied by advertisements that the viewer must watch to view the video.

 

The partnership is with Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, with the videos debuting later this month. Both Google and the record labels will share in the profits, and the long-term plan is to make this content available through other Web sites as well, sites that features Google AdSense advertisements. The Sony videos had been available for download since January through the Google Video Store.

 

In addition, according to their recent statement, the company wants to create copyright-safe places for user-generated content, such as a space that would allow them to create videos using footage from the Google music video repository that can be repurposed and then posted to Google Video. In other words, the company is looking to create ways to do what YouTube does without facing the barrage of lawsuits that have been threatened in the past few months.
Via: http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2006/10/google_video_strikes_music_vid.html

Not Many Hoorays in Hollywood: DVD Sales Slump, Digital Distribution Looks Like a Bust

Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: Here’s a good reason for the movie studios to worry: 2007 could be the first year in which consumer spending on DVDs actually declines. Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, addressed that issue and a few others in a research note on Friday.

The basic issue on DVD sales, Greenfield reports, is that there has been a decline in catalog sales, as the “halo effect” from an expanding DVD consumer base is over. In short, almost everyone now has a DVD player, and they’ve replaced their VHS catalog titles - so now the market will be driven largely by the ability of the studios to produce hits.

Greenfield notes that household penetration of DVD players is now over 80%. He says “wholesale pricing is going to come down on DVDs,” the only questions being “how fast and how much.” Meanwhile, he notes that digital film distribution will enable “the ultimate price competition,” pressuring “bricks-and-mortar” DVD retailers. He also notes that digital movie distribution will have to compete against free, pirated versions, as has beeen the case in the music industry.

As for the next generation DVD players - the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats - Greenfield says they will not have a material impact on studio revenues and profits in 2007. “It remains highly unclear which format will win (as both sides continue to make serious errors), not to mention that consumers without 50-inch or large HDTV [sets] are unlikely to appreciate the improvement in picture quality.”

Greenfield says studios with a higher percentage of back catalog DVD sales are more vulnerable to the shifting landscape - he says Warner Brothers (TWX) is “particularly exposed.” He says he would also worry about smaller pure-play movie studios, including DreamWorks Animation (DWA), Lion’s Gate (LGF) and Marvel (MVL). He thinks Disney (DIS) and Fox (NWS) are better positoned, thanks to recent theatrical successes.

On the issue of how the movie business might benefit from digital distribution, he concludes that, basically, it might not.

While the music and television industries are likely to benefit from an increased array of opportunities in digital distribution, it is not clear to us how the movie industry benefits... We believe the inherent value of what a movie is implies that most consumers will want to view most movies in a high-quality experience…the more we think about the movie industry, we keep thinking, what is the benefit from digital? Cheaper distribution and no physical inventory? That sounds great at first, but if the product has to be sold at a discount (comparable to the lower cost to create/disitribute) because it is inferior to physical DVDs (in picture quality and usage restrictions/DRM), how does it help the studio business?

Here’s the bottom line, according to Greenfield:

Keep an eye on 2007 film industry profits, we suspect the risk to expectations is increasingly to the downside, with downside risk growing into 2008 unless there is a notable acceleration in Next-Gen DVD sales and/or a more attractive business model emerges for digital movie distribution.

Via: http://media.seekingalpha.com/article/18035

Apple to Sell Disney Films Online, Introduces IPods With Brighter Screens

Apple Computer Inc. said it will start selling full-length Walt Disney Co. films over the Internet today and introduced a bigger iPod player on which to play them.

Lions Gate Pushed Aside By Big Studios in iTunes Movies Launch?

So, whatever happened to Lions Gate (LGF)? The company whose executives "leaked" weeks ago that it had a distribution deal to be part of iTunes' movie sales was not on the meager list of suppliers announced this week by Apple (AAPL). What happened?

Lions Gate and other independents should be racing to Cupertino to get slotted. After all, Netflix (NFLX) will tell you most of their business is in "long tail" titles, and the makers of those films should be eager for, and fast to act, to take advantage of additional distribution. Frankly, I'm a little surprised the indies aren't already in Amazon's (AMZN) Unbox service.

View Story

Open letter from David Brock to ABC/Disney

I'm writing today in response to ABC/Disney's decision to air the miniseries The Path to 9/11 despite its false, partisan representations of actual events and individuals.

It seems clear that this miniseries, written by an avowed conservative activist, was created with a partisan agenda in mind. The miniseries' lead security consultant, a former FBI agent, quit in protest early in the production because of the inaccurate representations and other errors in the script. After production, review copies of the miniseries and screening invitations were sent out to right-wing media outlets and conservative bloggers, but when Democrats or liberal organizations requested preview copies, they were met with silence or stonewalling.

Media Matters for America and other organizations provided extensive coverage on the miniseries' deep flaws, and thousands of individuals reached out to your network to urge it to edit or delay airing such partisan propaganda until it accurately reflected the historical record.

View Story

Wanted: Blog Talent

NYC Film is scouting for blog talent. Particularly writers who can add to our brand promise mentioned above.

Welcome To NYC Film (tm) dot com

A weblog about the interests, the curiosity, the passions, of New York filmmakers. NYC Film reveals the smart edge of the culture: style, places, things, and trends that intelligent, successful, and independent filmmakers want, need, and ought to know about. It has no limitations other than the imagination and intelligence of its writers. NYC Film is less restricted, less predictable, than any other blog and has as its single goal to thrill and challenge its readers.

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