Do not take your video camera in there without prior permission. They will quickly ask you to stop, drop, and leave. It’s worse than trying to shoot in New York parks with a tripod. But seriously folks, everyone who works there says it’s next to impossible to shoot there. They offered no explanation as to why. I guess it’s just corporate policy. It’s not like I had planned on getting anything interesting there: just Rachel sitting behind her desk answering phones. But that restrictive a corporate policy doesn’t foster warm and fuzzy feelings in my corporation. They still have a chance to redeem themselves by calling me back and asking me for some specifics about what I want to shoot and why. But a flat out rejection with an unsatisfactory or absent explanation means they wouldn’t get NVP’s endorsement, a “special thanks” credit, or any recommendations on our part, and that’s just bad business. That’s their prerogative of course, they can do whatever they want. But if corporations are legal people then Del Frisco’s would not be out of line with my impression so far of New Yorkers.

You can read the official blog on the company’s web site, but personal posts will always remain within my realm. Unendorsed, unsponsored, and unauthorized.

As my readership may or may not know (though I know not whether I may or may not have a readership), I’ve moved to Denver to start a production company. Our first order of business is to produce a short internet reality/documentary show presently called Living the Dream. It’s about my sister and her move to NYC in pursuit of her acting career.

Right now I’m the middle of production for the first episodes: her life in Colorado before the move, the move, and her establishment in NYC. I’ll be here in New York until the end of August, at which time I will hit the road back to the company homebase in Colorado to edit it together. Any post-/production assistance is appreciated, on scene or remote. Specifically: original music, OMF digitranslation, editorial, and such other items can all be done over the internet. If you’re interested in helping out then let me know. The company does not have any money for payment up front just yet, but we can defer for points. 1% on a 99¢ download may not seem like a lot until you factor in the potential size of the internet audience.

I don’t get it. I understand that pro athletes have great abilities: speed, agility, stamina, whatever their particular sport demands. I’m not knocking that ability; I have a great respect for their discipline and determination. But when it comes to professional, televised sports, what’s the big deal? What benefit, besides great entertainment, are they providing to the world? How are their sports playing abilities contributing to a better future for mankind? It’s good entertainment, but I think pro athletes make way too much money for what they do. Why can’t we spend some of that money on medical research or public infrastructure or social services? Because public good isn’t exciting?

Every network TV promo I’ve ever seen included the Eastern and Central time zones. Like, “Tomorrow on NBC at 9, 8 Central.” The 9 of course stands for the Eastern and Pacific time zones. The East Coast and West Coast have separate network feeds, so when it’s 9 pm Eastern time, the people on the West Coast will have to wait three hours to watch the same show. That’s fine and dandy and I can live with that. I can even live with the fact that people living in the Central time zone watch the show off the East Coast feed, which is of course one hour earlier on their clocks. What I don’t like is the way the networks handle the Mountain time zone. Yes, there are people living in that great expanse called “The West.” Sure, we may make up the least populated time zone, but that doesn’t mean they can forget about us. And to make it better sometimes we get the Eastern network feeds and some time we get the Western network feeds, so when the announcer says, “Thursday at 9, 8 Central on NBC.” What he should really say is, “Thursday at 9, 8 Central, 7 or 10 Mountain depending on your local cable or satellite provider.” And I’ll bet the satellite folks could get either.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet: please go see it. It’s not a marvel of cinematic mastery. It does have an agenda, it does have a political view, and Al Gore is longwinded. It’s basically a spruced up version of a multimedia presentation he’s been doing for a long time. He talks too much. It’s not a lot of talking heads, but it is a lot of talking combined with other interesting visuals. But he makes a good point and the movie is not unnecissarily long or unnecissarily longwinded. I never realized until the end of the movie how real and dire the consequences of global warming truly are. And how urgent is the matter.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10011.asp

Presently Google Video seems only to be selling content from large content suppliers: networks, studios, and the like. My company is starting with one show designed specifically for the internet, so how will we sell on Google Video? Will we be forced to sell only directly on our website, losing customers in the process? It’s good for Google that they’re selling ad space in premium content to make it free to the public: I just hope the revenue’s a fair split.

http://www.traffick.com/2006/06/monetizing-google-video.asp

Wexler’s documentary is now available for purchase on DVD. I recommend every production office get a copy.

http://www.whoneedssleep.net/