“Download to Own” Film Distribution System

IndiePix.net announced “Download to Own” – a unique approach to the electronic distribution of film entertainment for home users. “Download to Own” delivers a commercial quality DVD or Video CD to the home entertainment fan, a disc that can be played on a console through advanced display and sound systems. “We believe that this is how independent filmmakers want their work to be seen,” said Bob Alexander, President of IndiePix, “and we’re very confident that this delivery system will meet indie film fans’ highest expectations for convenience and cost.” LEARN MORE... indiepix.vom

Affordable High-Definition

To bridge the gap between consumer and professional video cameras Sony has created the HVR-Z1U camcorder. It is Sony’s first attempt at designing a compact, cost-effective camcorder that allows HiDef acquisition on a standard DV cassette using the newly introduced HDV format. Aimed directly at the filmmaker, event video producers and news videographers, the Z1 is packed with the widest array of professional features all within a small, prosumer package priced at under $5,000.
LEARN MORE... By Anthony Bottaro for newenglandfilm.com

Dark flickerings

Hollywood loves stories filled with jeopardy, and this year the studios got more of it than they bargained for when a sizable slice of the movie-going audience stopped, you know, movie-going. Last spring's mild dip at the box office turned into a nearly five-month string of lost weekends, at least compared to 2004, and ticket sales will end the year down about 7 percent.
This would be Hollywood's problem alone if the studios hadn't delivered a plague on all our movie houses. There was so much cynical, big-budget tripe on movie screens this year (``The Dukes of Hazzard'' and ``Stealth'' are but two examples that come to mind) that it threatened to make movies our new gross domestic product.
READ MORE... By Bruce Newman for Mercury News

Verizon to offer broadcast TV over cell phones

Video to be sent separately from text and voice, allowing for better quality Verizon Wireless has signed on as the first cellular carrier that will offer a broadcast TV network for mobile phones that Qualcomm Inc. plans to launch in late 2006.
The companies declined to say Thursday what programming might be featured over the MediaFLO system, which will be broadcast to mobile phones over a different portion of the wireless spectrum than cellular calls and data services. LEARN MORE…
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press for msnbc.com; All rights reserved.

Lights, CELL PHONE, action!!!

Film contest offers prize for best movie shot entirely with camera cell phones
"I hope people studying film will take it as my generation's chance to provide a new language, a new way of thinking," says Sudhanshu Saria, a senior at Ithaca College taking part in the cell phone film contest. Ithaca College has invited high school and college students across America to submit a 30-second movie shot entirely with a cell phone, and there is a $5,000 prize offered. The submission deadline is Jan. 10. A winner will be chosen from among 10 finalists and announced online Jan. 30.
About 130 million Americans own cell phones with camera capabilities and approximately half of those camera phones also shoot video, said Roger Entner, an analyst with Ovum, a Boston-based technology consulting firm.
This fall, MTV launched "Head and Body," a comedy series of eight programs created exclusively for cell phone users. Last year, Zoie Films, an Atlanta-based producer of independent films and festivals, ran what it billed as the world's first cell-phone film festival.
And in October, the Forum des Images in Paris held its first Pocket Film Festival, which included everything from 30-second shorts to mini-soap operas to full-length features. LEARN MORE… www.msnbc.msn.com

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

“Once, there were two towers…”
So starts the The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein, and it begins with this breathtaking sentence that at once navigates an ocean of sadness and pushes recent events into the shadow box of myth.
Michael Sporn, diehard traditional animator with his own eponymous film company headquartered in New York, has made an animated short about Philippe Petit and his famous 1974 tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center.
LEARN MORE... By Taylor Jessen for awn.com

Personal Relationships in ScreenPlays

'During the life span of Babyboomers...we have come to be ruled by a shadow (now no longer secret) government of spy agencies, right wing billionaires and military fanatics. Our oceans have been turned into chemical dumps, half the world's rain-forests have vanished, holes have appeared in our ozone layer, and our hopes for the future have been buried under a steadily mounting pile of unimaginable weapons. During the same period, a single topic has dominated the American stage: personal relationships.' -- Joan Holden
LEARN MORE... pubinfo.vcu.edu

Invest in a ZOMBIE FARM

BUY THE FARM -- INVEST/PRODUCE IN ZOMBIE FARM
Contributing Producer: Investor contributes a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $999. This is truly a contribution for the love of the arts and the horror genre. The contributing Producer will receive a copy of the movie and a "Contributing Producer" credit.
Associate Producer: Investor contributes a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $2,499.*
Co-Producer: Investor contributes a minimum of $2,500 and a maximum of $4,999.*
Producer: Investor contributes a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $19,999.*
Executive Producer: Investor contributes a minimum of $20,000.*
*Initial returns are paid on net profits. This is venture capital. Returns are not guaranteed.
LEARN MORE... zombiefarmmovie.com

Super Problem with Superman

Superman's bulge too Super
Is Superman’s bulge too super? Warner Brothers says yes.
Brandon Routh joins the legendary ranks of Colin Farrell and Milton Beryl in the large endowment society, after a report from British rag The Sun saying that his package is too big to fit decently into his Superman suit. Routh you may remember is the unknown cast by Bryan Singer to play the Man of Steel in his upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, ‘Superman Returns’.
READ MORE... movies.monstersandcritics.com

The Man Inside - A new film

Caro, an adolescent amnesiac, is mysteriously dropped off at an exclusive Rhode Island School for boys in the fall of 1965. He becomes the obsession of Miss Wills, a devout former student of the infamous psychologist Dr. Greeb. Miss Wills begins a controversial treatment and, at the brink of curing him, Caro is devastated by a horrible dream and flees, penniless, to New York City. Embarking on a new journey, Caro finds a job, a place to live and an obsession: His Purpose. Before he knows it, he is married to sinister Faye, has a baby on the way and has an eminent catastrophe awaiting him. Broken and busted, Caro flees again in search of new meaning in his life. When he happens upon the small town of Newland, the man who owns the town takes special interest in the young man's unique talent. Screenplay by Kurt Burk & Dennis Greza, based on the 1968 novel by W. Watts Biggers - creator of cult cartoon Underdog.
SEE THE TRAILER... kbafilms.com

SHIFTED

SHIFTED is a character driven story that takes place over the course of one year in David Anderson's life. It details the rise, fall and redemption of a successful young businessman stranded in Los Angeles, when the SEC shuts down the company he works for. After losing his job and the beautiful, but expensive Rachel, his life is turned upside down and inside out. An unusual sequence of events lead David to a new "home", where he makes friends with two unusual men. Marcos is an older black man (unemployed by outsourcing and age) who becomes his first true friend and father figure. Joe, an unemployed writer, is sometimes happy-go-lucky, other times self-pitying and depressed.
LEARN MORE... nelsonmadisonfilms.com

HOWARD’S FIRST SHOT

HOWARD STERN JOINS SIRIUS RADIO
No longer a threat to the Federal Communications Commission, Howard Stern has left the airwaves for cyberspace... For any fans who haven't seen his 2001: A Space Odyssey parody advertisement,
SEE HOWARD’S FIRST SHOT... howardstern.com

Frankie and Johnny are Married

Lisa Chess talks about working with her husband, Director Michael Pressman, separating fact from fiction and shooting a digital movie in her own home.
Q. As an actress, did shooting a movie on a digital format make any difference? If so, what were those differences?
A. Shooting on digital gave the cameraman more freedom to move with the camera, particularly the sequences where he used the mini DV camera, because of its size and weight. This made the work very organic, very improvisational in tone, and very collaborative. I actually felt less aware of the camera- it sort of felt like a part of the scene.
READ MORE… www.frankiejohnny.com

ANIMALS

This independent documentary asks, “Could you kill your own dinner?”
For most of man’s time on earth, we killed what we ate. With the rise of cities, we left the butchering to professionals. But after trading his home in Toronto for a farm in Nova Scotia, Jason Young went back to nature: “If I was going to continue eating animals, I was going to raise them myself.”
So begin the struggles of a fledging farmer with his livestock—and his conscience. The result is a thoughtful film about a stormy issue: eating meat.
LEARN MORE… indiedocs.com

Aristotle’s Incline

For centuries, this has proven to be the basis of any well-written stage or screen paly or book.
ACT ONE: The set up. The characters are introduced. Plot point #1.
ACT TWO: Confrontation. Midpoint & Plot Point #2.
ACT THREE: Climax (Catharsis) & resolution.
The backbone of your play is its plot. Louis E. Catron in "The Elements of Playwriting" describes plot as the master design of the play's conflicts, the selection and arrangement of incidents to achieve maximum impact." He continues by saying that plot keeps the play moving forward with clashes that create dramatic tension."
LEARN MORE... chdramaworkshop.homestead.com

Sell your film

If you want to sell your own films, just take a free classified ad.
Scott Wolpow
myfilm.com

DUMPED the Independent Musical Comedy

"DUMPED" is an indie musical comedy that takes the happy-go-lucky spirit of the great old movie musicals and infuses it with a hip, new, irreverent edge. Where musicals of the past sang gray skies are gonna clear up, "DUMPED!" sings things suck a little less each day.
"DUMPED" is the anti-musical musical. It's for lovers and haters of musicals alike. While it embraces classic movie musical conventions, it also plays on the fact that there's something inherently ridiculous about them. Rather than trying to conjure up the past, it brings musicals into the present, owing as much to "Seinfeld" and "Slacker" as it does to "South Pacific".
With its swinging score, thrilling dance numbers, and a fresh-faced cast that's a total knock out, "DUMPED" is a hilarious, feel-good celebration of rejection, pain and regret. Watching someone get dumped has never been so much fun!
Become an Associate Producer of "DUMPED" for only $19.95.
LEARN MORE... www.dumpedthemusical.com

"Actors and Actresses"

If you are an actor or actress interested in posting your picture, stats and contact information for thousands of people around the world to see, please read the rules/guidlines below our current listings?
If you are an agent, producer or entertainment professional requiring further information or contact with any of these fine people, click on their picture to see if they have a linked website with more information about themselves or please click on the actors' name below their picture to e-mail their representative?
LEARN MORE... www.onlinetheater.com

BLOODHEAD-Creature Of Sunny Side Up Trailer Park

"Coyotes got her."
That is the official verdict on the grisly death of Charlotte Burnell, a cantankerous prospector who lived and died in the California desert. But when Donnie Daniels and Doug McCoy both arrive to stake rival claims to her legacy, they find more than her ramshackle trailer park. They discover an atmosphere of fear, a string of mysterious mutilations, and a sinister, sun-baked cult.
The two antagonists also uncover the secret of the mother they never knew — they are twin brothers, though one is black and one is white. This strange bond of blood fuels their mutual hatred, but it is also the key to an ancient power that has lain dormant beneath the desert for millennia — a power that should never have been disturbed — the power of the creature called BLOODHEAD.
LEARN MORE... bloodhead.com

MACBETH 3000

Macbeth and Macduff were agents of the dangerous kind- America and Britain's finest secret weapons. But when Macbeth and his (semi-platonic) partner Banquo are confronted by three witches who prophesize their rise to power, things become unclear as to the lines of right and wrong. With the naggings of his power-hungry wife, Macbeth is forced to take the prophecy in his own hands... but there is one small problem. LEARN MORE... superguncinema.com

Toshiba To Delay HD DVD Player Until 2006

Japan's Toshiba Corp. said on Thursday it may delay the year-end launch of its next-generation HD DVD players, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market.
The company added, however, any change in the launch schedule would be intended to maximise potential demand for the new products and that Toshiba remains committed to the HD DVD format as the next-generation DVD technology.
LEARN MORE... By Reuters for eweek.com

LEFT FOR DEAD

Williams is an assassin, betrayed and 'Left For Dead' by his erstwhile colleagues. Kelso is a kick boxer, his career violently cut short. Together they must team up to make down the criminal empire that holds their city in a vice like grip!
Independent feature ‘Left For Dead’ is a ground breaking digital feature, directed by cult director Ross Boyask and starring a cast and crew with credits on 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory', 'Batman Begins', 'Sleepy Hollow', Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator', 'The Hitchhikers Guide...,' 'The Purifiers', 'The Silencer', 'A Better Tomorrow 2' and the award winning 'Love Struck'
“Left for Dead is one hell of an action movie… pushing the action to extremes while maintaining an engaging plot”
LEARN MORE... Mark Pollard, Kungfucinema.com

'Knorsong' Music Video

Type 'Knorsong' into Google and watch the hits! It seems when you have something really different, everyone wants to get in on the act.
SEVEN Productions created a music video for the single 'Knorsong', featuring a 2D animated version of Big. Big is the pig half of one of STUDIO 100's children's shows, about a cake-loving girl and a not-so-polite pig. The studio was amazed at how many people downloaded this to see the pig...
WATCH THE VIDEO... sevenproductions.be

PILOT ERROR

I consider myself to be a pretty nice guy, but you know, there are days when I just have to face up to the fact that I'm surrounded by losers, and there just does not seem to be any way to change that. I arrived here at fifteen feeling like the outsider, a Yankee amidst the children of semi-wealthy, but otherwise ignorant land and farm owners and rednecked trailer trash. Then I discovered about a thousand other people my age who felt exactly the same way.
SEE THE FILM… jdmoores.com

Video Compression

More than ten years have passed since the publication of the MPEG-2 standard and Moore’s Law has continued to push the boundaries of semiconductor technology. It is now conceivable to build substantially more complex algorithms than MPEG-2, and achieve a low power solution that can fit high definition video into a palm-sized camera or camcorder. And all of this is accomplished with compression efficiency that can store HD content onto a minuscule solid state device.
LEARN MORE... ambarella.com

Streaming for Holiday Travel

Whether planning to go somewhere exotic or mundane this season, more and more travelers check out the online views and reviews first, opening up new opportunities for Web sites to capitalize on the power of streaming video and audio.
User review sites have been around for several years, providing feedback on everything from cars to cruises. The proliferation of broadband and smaller digital cameras – some of which can be used to capture both still images and short-length videos that are captured in streaming formats such as MPEG-4 – allows travelers to post their experiences and show examples of gripes or benefits.
READ MORE... By Tim Siglin for streamingmedia.com

THE CARVER

Racy Nip/Tuck Steams Up Search Although Entertainment Weekly gave its third season a D+ and it remains under fire from the filth cataloguers at the Parents Television Council, Nip/Tuck shows no signs of a Buzz drop-off. The over-the-top cosmetic surgery soap is up 45% and cementing its spot among our most-searched television shows. Could it be the sudsy, bloody, sexy drama has carved out a place in viewer's hearts forever? LEARN MORE… ew.com

Consumers create unique animated music videos

Yahoo! Music and NVIDIA Introduce Yahoo! Artist Mods
Yahoo! Artist Mods showcases today's coolest music video artists using digitized models of the artists, stage sets, and instruments. To become "virtual directors," with control over backgrounds, lighting, and camera angles , users can download the ModMaker rendering engine from the NVIDIA nZone Web site. Once a new video is finished, users can replay their creation and share it with a friend by email.
ModMaker was developed for Yahoo! Music by Big Bear Entertainment using NVIDIA Quadro(R) professional graphics technology. ModMaker achieves optimal performance when played back on PCs equipped with NVIDIA (R) GeForce(R) graphics. Tony Shiff, president of Big Bear Entertainment, commented: " NVIDIA gave us the power to create fully animated music videos in weeks, rather than months."
LEARN MORE... digitaltoys.consumerelectronicsnet.com

'Super Size Me' filmmaker plans film on conservatives, science

"Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock plans a documentary on conservative US politicians' treatment of science, Hollywood press reported.
Spurlock has purchased the film rights to adapt a book, "The Republican War on Science," according to the entertainment industry newspaper Daily Variety.
The book by Chris Mooney argues that Republican stances on stem-cell research, global climate change and sex education, among other topics, show a conservative bias on environment, health and security issues.
"There was a time when science was respected by politicians and government officials and when the information obtained through unbiased scientific exploration was used for the better of society," Spurlock told Variety.
"Today, all of that is being ignored, manipulated and used incorrectly to further political agendas. We need the real answers to the big questions," he said.
LEARN MORE... AFP for Yahoo news

Bush's '2-0-5'

Energy Prices! Katrina! Insurgents! The late-night TV film debut of "2-0-5" was the fifth for the JibJab brothers since their online short film "This Land," skewering the 2004 presidential candidates, became a huge Internet hit last year.
"This Land," viewed on the Web more than 80 million times, launched JibJab out of obscurity and landed the Spiridellis duo on Jay Leno and in partnerships with Yahoo and MSN. It also led to projects with the Sundance Film Festival and beer maker Anheuser-Busch.
LEARN MORE… at news.com
VIEW THE FILM... at jibjab.com

Welcome to the Daily Script

The Daily Script catalogs a collection of movie scripts and screenplays to serve as a resource for writers and actors and those who simply enjoy reading movie scripts. The movie scripts are presented in proper script format (for the most part) and where possible, multiple drafts are presented. A movie script will be featured daily, (hence the name Daily Script). If the daily script doesn't pique your interest, check out the SCRIPTS section for a selection of other movie scripts. LEARN MORE... dailyscript.com

But Of Corpse!

We're seeing dead people again, thanks to the return of a FilmWise classic. Can you name the flicks in which these fine folks kicked the proverbial bucket? GUESS THE FILMS... www.filmwise.com

Getting Video into the iPod Video

Getting video you may already have lying about to play on the iPod isn't quite as mainstream just yet. Fortunately, it's not terribly difficult, so may we present a brief overview of what you need to know. Theoretically, there's no magic to transcoding video for the iPod , since Apple is quite forthcoming about the video specs of the new iPods. In a nutshell, you can encode to MPEG -4 video or to Apple's flavor du jour, the snappily named H.264. READ MORE... By Kevin Schmitt for consumerelectronicsnet.com

ACTING SCAMS TO AVOID

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”That phrase, in the acting industry, is worth more than a $20 million-dollar, big-budget film contract. If you haven’t experienced a scam yet, you soon will! There is almost no place like the entertainment industry for con and scam artists. That’s partly because people can scam you out of your money legally by taking advantage of your dreams and inexperience. LEARN MORE... www.actingmagazine.com

The Best Free Game Ever

Now here's a game whose creators advise "getting as high as possible," which presumably is a reference to wall-climbing, not hallucinogenic drugs. But we can't be sure. Icy Tower is a climbing and jumping game. According to the designers, "Harold the Homeboy has decided to climb a huge tower. It's up to you to help him get as high as possible without falling down, and collect extra score by doing cool moves on the way." ON TO THE GAMES...
Icy Tower is a freeware computer game created by Johan Peitz of Free Lunch Design, inspired by Xjump.

Advice From Those in the Pitch

Knowing what the networks are looking for is the most important part of developing a show. “I can’t just develop something because ‘I love it’ or think it is a ‘good idea’ or even because I think the merchandising is brilliant and will generate billions of dollars,” says Bill Schultz, co-ceo, MYP/Taffy Ent. “Those are all important. But, one of my key questions is ‘where am I am going to sell it in the key territories?’“ Schultz should know. He is a veteran of development, having worked at Cartoon Network on Ed, Edd and Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog, along with his work at Film Roman on The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Garfield and Friends. As a partner at MYP/Taffy, he has been successful in selling the show, Pet Alien, to Cartoon Network. LEARN MORE... By Jan Nagel for awn.com

Top ipod Downloads

A changing of the guard is coming
This week's chart is interesting because it shows the beginnings of a transition between the Old Guard and some New Blood. iTunes, which has the largest market share of any legal music download service, shows Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You," at Number 1, followed by Eminem's "When I'm Gone" at Number 2. But for whatever reason, the rest of the download charts haven't caught up yet.
READ MORE... Frank Moldstad for consumerelectronicsnet.com

BARAKA

A visual feast like no other, presented in one of cinema’s most powerful formats, will open the Dubai International Film Festival’s program.
Baraka, the first 70mm film to be presented in the UAE in 70mm format, is a dialogue-free film that takes viewers around the globe through a total of 24 countries, capturing both the mystifying natural beauty that exists around the world and the ties that unite all humanity. LEARN MORE... dubaifilmfest.com

Takashi Miike

Takashi Miike is known for being the most prolific filmmaker in the history of Japanese cinema. His films include 'Gozu' (or Gokudo Kyofu Daigeki Gozu) and he has receive several awards including ‘Best Japanese Director’. A contemporary of Shinya Tsukamoto (director of the classic Tetsuo films 'Iron Man' 1989 and 'Body Hammer' 1991), he has shocked and amazed audiences with films such as 'The Audition' (1999) and 'Ichi the Killer' (2001), not to mention his incredible 'Dead or Alive' trilogy (1999-2002), all of which display his fresh and innovative approach towards filmmaking. LEARN MORE... by Alex Ballard for the film asylum

BEST PIRATE MOVIES

In 1671, Welsh pirate Henry Morgan laid siege to Panama City with 2,000 buccaneers and 36 ships. They overran the town's defenses, looted its treasury, and burned it to the ground. For this and other exploits -- he also seized Jamaica from the Spanish and plundered two Venezuelan cities -- Morgan was knighted by the king of England in 1673. SEE THE LIST OF THE BEST PIRATE MOVIES adventures.yahoo.com/

How to Publish an Ebook from your Script

Publishing Ebooks and Edocs can be profitable, IF you have an internet marketing strategy in place. How profitable? Well, when we decided to publish ebook versions of the three titles we currently print through Lightning Source using their print-on demand model, it added about $500/month net to our bottom line. Not a huge amount of money, but no extra work, just a new ISBN number and Lightning Source handled the rest. If you prefer publishing an ebook directly through Amazon, they'll publish your books or brochures as Amazon e-docs for a 50/50 split. The Lightning Source deal is currently better, 75/25 in favor of the publisher, but you need an ISBN number (ie, you need to be a real publisher) to work with Lightning Source. LEARN MORE...
Copyright 2005 by Morris Rosenthal for Foner Books

Burnin' For You

FIRE! FIRE! EVERYWHERE!
It's a pyromaniac's dream! A bunch of things and people and stuff and stuff and more stuff have gone up in flames BUT what movies are the source of these blazes? WILL YOU NEED HELP TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE? GO TO BLAZES...www.filmwise.com

America! Built on a better pill.

KARLY HERT fumbles with love and ethics as she navigates a career with one of corporate America’s darlings…the pharmaceutical industry. Although conflicted on a daily basis by the values within the pharmaceutical industry, an industry driven by profits at the expense of patients; Karly has been seduced by the golden handcuffs of corporate America. LEARN MORE... www.sideeffectsthemovie.com

Voice Acting STUDIO “LINGO”

As with most industries, voiceover has it’s own language that includes terms or phrases that might be confusing to a new-comer. This month, I’ll cover some of the more common terms and phrases to make your experience in the studio a bit less stressful. Some of the more common studio equipment is included as well, since you will often hear the engineer or producer referring to it. Descriptions for some of these terms could easily go on for pages, but here they will only be explained briefly. Once you understand some of these terms, you can casually drop them into a conversation during a session and really impress your engineer and producer.
LEARN MORE...By James Alburger for ActingMagazine.COM

THE INVISIBLES

ARE YOU FILMWISE? Hey, you think you know films? Take a still photo from a movie. Edit out all hands and faces. Now guess the movie. It might be the first time you've seen this but it's been going on for years, so there's a big archive and lots of fun located here. SEE YOUR FAVORITE FILMS WITHOUT THE ACTORS... www.filmwise.com

Dillenger's DIABLOS

A man sits in a chair. Blood pours from wounds opened by razor wire restraining his movement.
A woman runs down endless white corridors. Wyes wide in terror, she flees from a lumbering figure taht keeps pace with her at every turn.
LEARN MORE... www.dillengerproductions.com
SEE THE PREVIEW...

ON BECOMING AN ACTOR

View videos of famous actors giving you advice on how to make it big. VIEW THEM HERE...

HEADSHOTS 101

A lot of actors ask me to look at their headshots.
Then they ask my opinion. Usually my answer goes something like this: "Try again."
Why? Because, while many actors complain that they don’t get very good results from their mailings to casting directors and agents, they seldom connect those results to their headshot. 92.6% of the time, the headshot is the problem. (I make up statistics, so you can't trust me. But that's my guess.) LEARN MORE... By Bob Fraser FOR ACTINGMAGAZINE.COM - Find more info on this author at www.YouMustAct.com

ALIVE in 2007: The BURIED BELVEDERE

On June 15, 1957, a new gold and white 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe was buried in a time capsule in downtown Tulsa, OK. The time capsule was part of Golden Jubilee Week: Tulsa‘s celebration of Oklahoma‘s semi-centennial. The car is buried under the sidewalk in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse. Please take a moment to watch Buried Belvedere. It may take a few minutes to download, but it's worth the wait. WATCH The Buried Belvedere www.buriedcar.com

NETHERWORLD

After sacking a small Latvian village for worshipping a Golgotha demon, all Gabriel the Angel wanted to do was unwind with a warm mug of goat's milk. Fate however, can ruin any evening.
LEARN MORE... www.netherworldmovie.com

Video Journalists Wanted

We have a powerful team of insightful video journalists and researchers which we are expanding. We seek versatile and skilled individuals to conduct on-street interviews and day-shoots (you may apply for on-street, or day shoots, or both). Own a three-chip professional-grade DV camera, external shotgun mic, and on-camera pop-light. LEARN MORE...

Reading Professional Screenplays

Reading screenplays is a far better way to learn this business than seeing films at your neighborhood cineplex. Rreading plays and screenplays require very different approaches...
In screenplays, the 'stage directions' -- as theatre folks might call them -- are everything. You're not reading for Voice, but for the sequence of visual images that tell the story. And you need to read slowly enough to allow yourself to see each image, at least in your mind's eye. LEARN MORE... pubinfo.vcu.edu

TRAFFIC COPS GONE WILD

Police racist sexist video uproar
TWENTY San Francisco police officers would be suspended over videotapes the officers made parodying themselves, gays, homeless blacks and others, the mayor and police chief said overnight.
"This is a dark day - an extremely dark day - in the history of the San Francisco Police Department for me as a chief to have to stand here and share with you such egregious, shameful and despicable acts by members of the San Francisco Police Department," Police Chief Heather Fong said.
The videos, which were posted on a website, show officers ogling women, applying makeup in the middle of a drug raid, and acting in skits involving street persons.
One depicts a homeless black woman making an obscene gesture after police ran her over in their cruiser.
RAW: Controversial SFPD Videos: CHECK OUT ALL 4 PARTS cbs5.com

Brooklyn’s Lobster Boy Kevin Jordan

When I was a kid, my dad would drive from Queens all the way to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn to pick up lobsters from Jordan’s Lobster Dock; it's the only place I’ve ever known my family to buy the tasty sea crawlers. Little did I know how popular Jordan’s Lobster Dock was until Martin Scorsese decided to help release a film about it. Brooklyn Lobster stars Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin, and has already won an audience award at the Hamptons International Film Festival. The independent film hits home for director Kevin Jordan as he tells the story of his family’s struggle to keep their long-running business alive. LEARN MORE... By Joanna Varikos for nyc.indieville.net

Screenwriting NOT an art form; a punishment from God

Screenwriting is not an art form, it is a punishment from God
Film can be an exciting medium for a playwright. And a growing number of contemporary American playwrights have figured out how to live in both worlds. In England, they've been doing this for decades and their style of working both sides of the fence is finally becoming the norm in America.
The best recommendation: figure out how to write a stage play first and then mount your assault on the film industry.
READ MORE... pubinfo.vcu.edu

'THE HAPPY ELF'

Move over Rudolph, Frosty, Grinch. Eubie, The Happy Elf, took his place in the pantheon of Christmas icons with the December 2 debut of his eponymous CG-animated family holiday special on NBC. The DVD release followed on December 6.
Based on an original song from