Some Of What I Read/Watched/Listened To Last Week

This entry was originally published at Hope For Film

It’s become a routine of mine to spend Sunday clearing my laptop of all my half finished articles, podcasts, and videos. I often have twenty or more windows open and I have to find a new system (yes, I use and love InstaPaper, but I need more tools!). I want to find a way to put my bad habits to good use. This is that try.

New Year’s Resolutions For Filmmakers – Scott continues his high level of great posting. Twenty years in, I still find all of Scott’s recommendations useful. Perhaps that is not in spite of, but because of…

Can Art Houses Attract Youth Audiences – Okay, maybe it seems like I am reading my own press (which this is), but with Sundance approaching, I am still thinking of this problem the film biz faces.

The Web Is A Customer Service Medium – Brian Newman tipped me to this latest “Medium is The Message” dispatch from Paul Ford.  I do think how we build the experience around our films is of equal important now as to what is in our films. Yes, we need to make better films, but we have to improve the experience of engagement significantly and urgently.

Nora Ephron On “Going To The Movies” - This is just a few pages from her new book, but captures the poor experience that much movie going now is. Again, we urgently need to address this. It is nice to read that some are.

Building A Festival For Black-Theme Films – This is a good idea and is a model that other genres, niches, and audiences can utilize. Thanks for the tip from @BittahSweet for this.

The Divided Brain and The Making Of The Western World – My wife Vanessa watches the RSA lectures habitually, and they are pretty great. This lecture by Iain McGilchrest is pretty helpful in trying to determine how to focus fully on solving the problems our industry currently faces, both the broad picture and the specific detail.

Hollywood Clicks With UltraViolet – Variety’s reporting on the studio initiative to allow consumers to access content anywhere any how. I appreciate the effort to come up with a system to deal with real consumer behavior, although I remain concerned what happens to the rest of the industry in the process. Similarly I wonder about Technicolor’s MediaNavi consumer platform. Something’s gotta be done when Home Ent sales has dropped for 6th straight year.

KCRW’s The Business: “The Year To Be” – tipped to via Anne Thompson of course.  Whether’s it’s radio or podcasts, I love hearing someone else talking in the background when I am reading the newspaper.

But now I have shut all my windows (except this one), so I am out of here.