1. Intro
2. Books For Actors
3. IFC Media Lab
4. NBC'S Comedy Short Cuts Diversity Showcase
5. Our Stage – online video contest
6. Live Mansion - online video contest
7. MyMovieNetwork.com
8. Free Movies Cinema
9. Comedy Central's Crash Course in Comedy
10. Writers of Color Who Write About Green
11. Crew Wanted
12. Desi Lit Magazine Looking for South Asian Submission – Pay

13. Member Updates

14. Articles
A. Independent films going online - Directors bypassing standard
distribution
B. Cannes opening Panel: Cinema: towards the audiences of tomorrow
C. Hollywood writers still mostly white men: study
D Three Things to Do Everyday in Hollywood
E. YouTube, Apple pact for catalog - Deal benefits content creators,
TV networks
F. 4K window to future at L.A.'s new Landmark
G. Female action pics need hero of own

_____________________________________________________________________


1. INTRO

Hello Hola Aloha!

Just an update about my move here to LA from San Diego. Yes, I like
it as I have to drive 10 minutes or even walk for 10 minutes to get to
an audition instead of driving 2 hours on a good day for an audition
(4 hours once on a bad day).

However, as a director/producer it's tougher to get stuff done without
permits. The cops are really savvy about filmmaking and will bust you
sooner and can take away your equipment – or so I've been told by
others. But for acting – I highly recommend it. But ironically, I've
been doing less acting and more filmmaking after the move up here. Go
figure.

I also helped a friend Melinda Augustina with a hilarious short she
produced and acted in (talk about making your own opportunities!).
It's called "Three-Fifty" (written and directed by Maurice Chauvet –
yep the same Maurice who wrote `Owning Mahowny' starring Philip
Seymour Hoffman – and yep this is a name-dropping credit-hungry
industry). I got offered to co-produce a $25M feature based solely
off of my IMDb credits, which is not much, but still it's starting to
add up. Get to know the ropes of adding titles (the hardest part) and
adding yourself onto existing titles (much easier). Learn about it
here: http://imdb.com/help/show_leaf?howdoisubmit

I also highly recommend the book Chris Gore's Ultimate Film Festival
Survival Guide. I wish I read it when Trade Offs was making its
rounds three years ago.

Til next time…

Happy Filmmaking,
Anup

P.S. Oh, I turned down the co-producing offer as I can't stand
producing. Just wanna act write and direct. :)

_____________________________________________________________________

2. BOOKS FOR ACTORS

http://www.booksforactors.com
_____________________________________________________________________

3. IFC MEDIA LAB

…and yet another community like myspace for films. But here you add
films instead of people.

http://medialab.ifc.com/anup
_____________________________________________________________________

4. NBC'S COMEDY SHORT CUTS DIVERSITY SHOWCASE

Comedy Short Cuts showcase is much more than presenting movies, our
goal is to display and celebrate diversity in entertainment.

This is the ultimate showcase for filmmakers, comedians, actors and
musicians from all over the country. Any filmmakers' piece is welcome
provided it speaks to our theme of diversity and is comedic in nature.

Apart from Comedy Short Cuts simply being a showcase for short films,
it is also a competition. The winner will receive a pitch meeting at
NBC, the finalists will all have their films broadcast on NBC's new
broadband channels and more prizes will be announced in coming weeks.

http://www.comedyshortcuts.net/
_____________________________________________________________________

5. OUR STAGE – ONLINE VIDEO CONTEST

http://www.ourstage.com/about/us

_____________________________________________________________________

6. LIVE MANSION - ONLINE VIDEO CONTEST

http://www.livemansion.com/

_____________________________________________________________________

7. MY MOVIE NETWORK

Join the filmmaker community on www.MyMovieNetwork.com

MyMovieNetwork is announcing 3 new Film Contests:
Music Video Contest: The Rise from Music Videocrity.
Big-Hits April Film Contest.
Reel Of The Month - April.

This short video will show you how to upload your film .

Want to showcase your work? Go to MyMovieNetwork to register and
login. Upload your films, give credit to the cast and crew and get
feedback on your work.

http://www.MyMovieNetwork.com

_____________________________________________________________________

8. FREE MOVIES CINEMA

http://www.freemoviescinema.com/
_____________________________________________________________________

9. COMEDY CENTRAL'S CRASH COURSE IN COMEDY

Getting laughs is no joke -- learn the tricks of the stand-up trade
from trained professional comedian Ted Alexandro. Try out your
material on the Comedian Constructor, and enter to win a comedy-filled
trip to NYC.

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/crash_course/index.jhtml

_____________________________________________________________________

10. WRITERS OF COLORS WHO WRITE ABOUT GREEN

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am compiling a list of writers of color who address ecological and
environmental issues. Whether the topic is global warming and its
impact on ice glaciers or lead poisoning in Englewood I want to know
about the author.
I want this list to address all forms of writing, so include poets,
sociologists, scientists, novelists, playwrights, journalists, etc. If
you simply give me their name I will do the rest of the research if I
am hearing of them for the first time.

Thanks, michael

--
Michael Warr
WarrConsulting
312-310-8868 Cell
773-764-1742 Home Office
eFAX 1-801-751-6447
warrzone@earthlink. net
_____________________________________________________________________

11. CREW WANTED

I am forwarding this info on to you from a filmmaker friend of mine
...she is super nice, very bright and a good person to know. Her
email is below. If you are interested (or someone you know), email me
and ill forward you her contact info

She needs contact information, what you do/speciality, any kind of
internet sample that she can view, rates and freelance status e.g. corp

Thanks,
Adam
adamitp@...


-------------------------------


I am starting a new company and am interested in developing a
database of local talent.

Can you provide me with names for the following key positions for
future projects;

Shooters
Sound
Final Cut Editors with After Effects, Sound (Garage Band or
equivalent) Motion, iDVD Studio pro
Compression knowledge of WindowsMedia, RealPlayer and Quicktime
Webdesigners and Graphics

I'd like to have some range of ability and price in order to contact
folks for future projects.

Thanks,
Heidi

-------------------------------

Peaceful Playgrounds is looking for an Editor & Graphics Designer &
Sound Designer


So the deal is we have 3 Educational Dvd's we've been working on
for 2 years. We've had some major work flow issues due to some
inexperience...We have most of the project files in Final Cut Pro, and
the graphic titles in Adobe Premiere.

The way I see the project being completed is a backwards process.
Starting with the DVD Authoring, because it will create less work in
the long run we think. A lot of the editing and graphics we have
already are really for DVD authoring part we discovered.

Step 2 would be going back into the video and replacing the video
with original footage in some parts because there is two video tracks
with text, due to previously mentioned work flow issues...

Step 3Then some graphics fixing. Capitalizations and spacing and
font size adjustments...not hard but definitely time consuming.

Once we have video and graphics locked we can possibly take to a
sound guy we know....if the person takes on sound

Step 4 Complete narration track....Sound Effects, Music and mixing.

It's a fully paid job....

We are looking for someone VERY experienced due to our previous
experiences with hiring people...we've paid people to create more work
for me, and that's been very frustrating. We'd appreciate someone who
would be very honest about their experience level.

Feel free to pass this around to whomever!
Thank you,

Andrea Bossenmeyer
Sales & Marketing
Peaceful Playgrounds
T:877.444.9888
F:310.216.7700
E:andrea@...
_____________________________________________________________________

12. DESI LIT MAGAZINE LOOKING FOR SOUTH ASIAN SUBMISSION - PAY

http://desilit. org/magazine/
_____________________________________________________________________

13. MEMBER UPDATES


ANNIE & ANGIE LEE

"Close Call" now on DVD.

http://www.closecallmovie.com

----------------------

DEBBIE BRITT-HAY

Debbie was in a play in Escondido which received positive reviews.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/26/entertainment/theater/9_46_304_25_07.\
txt

----------------------

GRETA VALENTI

Hey guys,

I need to put together a film investors proposal with a full budget
for a feature documentary ASAP. DO either of you have any resources
(forms or people) that could help me achieve this?

Any help would be great!! I need to have this done in the next 2
weeks! Yikes! J

-Greta

Also check Greta out on MTV's Human Giant as a Paris look-alike:
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?type=1576&id=1559879&vid=149801

----------------------

JOSEPH POWELL

I was recently filmed at an open mic in Venice and the footage was
sent to YouTube. Check it out and let me know what you think. Now I'm
going to go by the phone and wait for Russell Simmons to call.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75btpm7OzI

Peace,

Joseph

----------------------

KAPIL RAJ

http://www.amazon.com/ZEON-MESSAGE-PASCAL-KAPIL-RAJ/dp/143031477X/ref=sr_1_3/103\
-9865206-6718233?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178304231&sr=8-3


http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=57003333&srchTerms=zeon+\
the+message+of+pascal&mediaType=1&srchType=Keyword


soon to come on Barnes & Nobles

----------------------

MELINDA AUGUSTINA

Check out the trailer.

Synopsis:
A video store customer's "little white lie" to weasel out of his late
fees brings major consequences to his life. This film is a hilarious
look at late fees, privacy rights and how much information is
available at just the touch of a button.

http://www.myspace.com/threefiftythemovie - add 'em to your friends,
por favor.

----------------------

RYAN SINGH

Producing a talent/pageant show in San Diego in August. Looking for
talent and crew positions.

More info: singh.ryan@...

_____________________________________________________________________


14. ARTICLES

A. INDEPENDENT FILMS GOING ONLINE
Directors bypassing standard distribution

By ANNE THOMPSON

Somewhere over the rainbow is a place where indie filmmakers use the
Internet to sell their movies all over the world. They don't have to
spend a fortune on prints and theatrical distribution; they sell their
movies online directly to their target audience, and pocket a hefty
cut of the revenues.

That magic moment may not be far off, says producer Linda Nelson,
whose microbudget crime drama "Shifted" is available as a video
download, a DVD or rental at www.Unbox.com.

While the pic's sales to date are nowhere near that of a major studio
release, Nelson is on a mission to get filmmakers away from
established distribution -- to remove what she sees as greedy
intermediaries from the system. Nelson Madison Films has launched
Indie Co-op, a subsidiary, to help filmmakers self-distribute their
films on the Internet.

"This could break up the logjam and allow more content to flow out,"
she says. "A lot is falling into place right now."

Nelson co-wrote "Shifted," a bare-bones thriller about a homeless man,
with her business and life partner Michael Madison, who directed.

Filmed under a SAG indie contract with deferred actors' salaries,
"Shifted" cost about $100,000 to make. "It stinks," admits Nelson.
"(But) for what we had, it's amazing."

While the movie has tallied less than $1,000 in sales on Amazon Unbox,
Nelson says she's applying what she's learned to help other indie
filmmakers release their films without giving away the store to
distributors.

Since arriving in Los Angeles in 1980, the former overseas investment
banker and computer systems analyst has had an adversarial
relationship with the movie business. She ran up against at least one
shady business partner, and her ambitious plans to renovate eight
movie palaces for large-screen formats ran afoul of both Imax and the
'90s exhibition bust. She and Madison gave up on large formats after
they failed to close the DVD rights to their 2002 Iwerks concert doc,
"INSYNC: Bigger Than Live," which grossed $1.8 million in North America.

Unable to raise funding after two years for a slate of indie features,
she and Madison finally "got brave," she says. They picked themselves
up and shot "Shifted," a picture they couldself-finance and control.

The film's producer and director of photography, Nelson bought a light
Canon XL S1 camera and shot with Madison, who doubled as her director
and leading man. They filmed inside a self-storage facility they were
managing.

After many rejections from film festivals, "Shifted" was accepted by
L.A.'s Dances With Films in July 2006, where it scored positive
reviews from FilmThreat.com, SilverBulletComicbooks.com's Don't Call
Me Fanboy blog and CBS Radio.

"We knew we didn't have the quality to stand up to a theatrical
release," Nelson says. "But we got five offers from DVD distributors."
Nelson, however, was shocked by the deal terms, which were typical: No
advance without a star or a decent budget. No piece of the backend.
The distributor hangs on to its rights for seven to 10 years. And when
they sell the DVD on the Internet via Amazon or Netflix, the distrib
takes 25% of the gross and subtracts all expenses, including
replicating and supplying DVDs and marketing. (Netflix won't take any
films without a distributor.)

Nelson was amazed, too, by the distributors' lack of accountability.
"They send quarterly reports by country," she says, "But they don't
tell you how many units they sold. They don't keep track by film. They
don't have systems or bookkeeping capabilities. There's no such thing
as making money. What you get upfront is what you are going to see."

But this situation won't last much longer, Nelson predicts.
"Everything is changing," she says. Any neophyte filmmaker faces a
huge puzzle when it comes to selling theatrical, TV and video rights
around the world. But it's nothing the right software can't solve.

Nelson found a do-it-yourself-DVD distribution company called
http://www.CustomFlix.com, which was bought by Amazon in July 2005,
and started supporting Amazon's video download service in December
2006. "Shifted" was the first CustomFlix movie to be sold on Amazon Unbox.

Nelson sent CustomFlix her movie, uploaded her artwork, figured out
how much she wanted to charge, and posted her trailer, pictures and
posters. All she had to do was click a box, and "Shifted" was for sale
on Amazon Unbox.

Unlike other DVD distribs, Amazon Unbox and CustomFlix offers a 50/50
deal: Half of the revenue goes to the filmmaker. Even if the money has
yet to add up to $1,000, "I get a check every month," says Nelson.

On the Amazon Unbox "Shifted" Web page, the film is available to rent
for $2.99 for 30 days, for video download for $8.99, or for DVD sale
for $14.95. The "studio" is listed as CustomFlix.

Another Nelson discovery is http://www.inDplay.com, a
business-to-business application for buyers and sellers of film rights
and a digital marketplace. "It's fabulous software, a DRM management
system that is usable by anyone," Nelson says.

Via inDplay, filmmakers can create, edit and approve contract offers,
and list their film libraries. Nelson hopes that inDplay will soon
work with CustomFlix to stream movies for free for distributors, doing
away with mailing clunky DVD screeners.

At long last, as Nelson chases her vision of a nimble do-it-yourself
future for filmmakers, she seems to have found her niche.

To see Anne Thompson's blog, go to www.ThompsonOnHollywood.com

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117963017.html?categoryid=2508&cs=1

----------------------

B. CANNES OPENING PANEL: CINEMA: TOWARDS THE AUDIENCES OF TOMORROW

On the opening day of its 60th anniversary, Wednesday May 16 from
2:30pm to 5:30pm, the Festival de Cannes is offering a moment of
reflection on the opportunities and challenges of the next decade by
holding a conference focused on the evolution of audience practices
and on the ties between cinema creation, new promotional and broadcast
platforms.


Film industry representatives, new media players, journalists and
sociologists will share their experiences and views on how the fast
evolving digital economy is shaping new roles for directors, producers
and distributors while offering exciting opportunities to creators and
audiences. They will debate the following questions:
- From an audience perspective, how has the digital revolution changed
the way films are selected, viewed, watched, interpreted and
communicated? Will the film theatre continue to be the reference for
cinema viewing?
- What will the new medias for cinema and the audiences of tomorrow
be: Web 2.0, screenings on demand, DVD-HD, VoD, Social communities,
Blogs, Vlogs, Mobile Media, Virtual Worlds...?
- Will tomorrow's marketplace be split between different categories of
films: blockbusters, film-events, author films, niche films…? What new
promotional tools are being developed and what are the new business
models that are emerging? What could the role and the implication of
the duo creator-producer be and what will the impact on the role of
the distributor be? How can film festivals play a positive role in
accompanying creators in this new environment?

Guest Speakers:
Colin Brown, Editor-in-Chief, Screen International will moderate the
discussion between the following guest speakers:
Danah Boyd, Ethnographer and researcher of social media networks and
doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of
California-Berkeley (USA)
Emmanuel Ethis, Sociologist in cinema and cinema audience, University
of Avignon (France)
Michael Gubbins, Editor, Screen International (United Kingdom)
Thomas Hoegh, Founder and Chairman, Arts Alliance Media (United Kingdom)
Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama Mobile (India)
Adrian Sexton, EVP Digital, Participant Productions (USA)
François Yon, Founder and Partner, Films Distribution (France)

The conclusions of the Opening Forum will be reported by Philippe Dana
to the European Ministries of Culture on the occasion of the European
Day taking place on Saturday May 26.
http://www.filmfestivals.com/cgi-bin/shownews.pl?obj=ShowNews&CfgPath=ffs/filinf\
o&Cfg=news.cfg&news=festival&text_id=30539
----------------------

C. HOLLYWOOD WRITERS STILL MOSTLY WHITE MEN: STUDY

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - White men continue to dominate Hollywood
screenwriting despite efforts to open up the industry to women and
minorities, the union representing film and television writers said in
a report on Wednesday.

The Writers Guild of America, West, found that while more than 30
percent of the U.S. population is nonwhite, less than 10 percent of
television writers employed between 1999 and 2005 were nonwhite.

Lack of ethnic diversity among writers, directors and others in the
creative community has long been the subject of complaints from civil
rights groups such as the NAACP.

In 2000, U.S. television networks NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox unveiled plans
to boost minority hiring.

But the Writers Guild report predicts the situation will worsen before
it gets better, in part because of the recent merger of the UPN and WB
television networks into the new CW.

That move resulted in the cancellation of minority-themed sitcoms that
employed a disproportionate share of minority television writers.

In the film business, the share of minority writers was 6 percent in
2005, unchanged since 1999.

Women held 25 percent of the overall industry's writing jobs, the
report said. In TV, women were employed in 27 percent of the writing
positions. In film, the figure was 19 percent, up only 1 percent from
1999.

Reuters/Nielsen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070510/film_nm/screenwriters_dc


----------------------


D. THREE THINGS TO DO EVERY DAY IN HOLLYWOOD!

Making Lists:

As you all know, for years I have advocated making
lists of your creative assets, such as your talent,
your looks, your abilities, your tenacity, your work
ethic, your creative relationships, your support
structure, your past efforts, your experiences which make
you stronger and wiser, and just about any
asset that can keep you moving forward and staying
in the game.

And as you know, I have advocated that you list
your liabilities, which in this case is just about
any obstacle that needs to be overcome for your
career to move forward. Plus, in the case of a creative
individual, it may be those types of family relationships
where our family members want to sabotage your career
for their own purposes, many time claiming that
they just don't want you to be disappointed...

Now there is a LIST that I suggest to you to make DAILY...

Whoever invented the post-it note was brilliant...and the
main reason I say that is that the notes were originally
designed to be 3 inches by 3 inches, which is the PERFECT
size to write a list of THREE things to put on your
refrigerator on a DAILY BASIS...

So, get yourself some post-it notes and here's what
you should list on it. THREE THINGS.

1. "Warm-ups and cold reading". Every day, I encourage
you to do your daily warm ups and practice your cold
reading. Somewhere I read that Jackie Stiles, the basketball
player in the women's final four, would on a DAILY basis
shoot and MAKE 1000 jump shots per DAY... She started that
when she was 12 years old, and now she is the highest scoring
guard in the NCAA. Now, as you know, a jump shot is the easiest
and quickest shot in basketball. So if she could develop
such a high skill level by just shooting jump shots for
an hour or so per day, imagine how just practicing your
warm ups and cold reading for an hour per day would increase
your skill level. Need material, any book, any script, any
newspaper will do.

See the list below of how the ACTORSITE helps you achieve
the goal of STAYING IN SHAPE EVERY DAY by hosting member
workouts 10 times per week as a perk of membership (FREE FOR
PAID UP MEMBERS) Remember, if you don't practice every day
and stay sharp, your competition will and YOU KNOW WHAT THAT
MEABS...THEY are more likely to book!

2. "Collaborate"...Every day, you should plan to work with
another actor, or a writer, director, or any creative person
to help develop something bigger than the two of you. Or if
you can, get together a group to work on your skills together
or work on a creative project together. Remember, here in
LA, if you just go to the post office with a script in your
hand, someone will talk to you about it. So this is the place
where ANYTHING YOU DO CREATIVELY WILL OPEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES..
Get together with others and DO! Don't just sit and complain...
DO! Develop a film, a TV show, a stage play, a sketch show,
an improv show, or just get together and bounce ideas around.

At the Actorsite, we have an interactive forum where our members
constantly discuss creative projects and help each other
get them done! It's all a perk of membership in the Actorsite.
Remember, all creativity in Hollywood is COLLABORATIVE! Nobody
does EVERYTHING on a project, they always need creative help.
Become that help and others will help you to build something
that is bigger than your individual goals and career and will
enhance your individual goals and career!

3. "Build Relationships"...You have an opportunity to find
and build relationships with other creative individuals in
Los Angeles. This can mean casting directors, filmmakers, or
any individual who may later find a reason to help you
achieve your goals. Our networking workshops at Actorsite
are only one of MANY ways to do this...USE THEM ALL. Just
remember, this is a town where your success comes from
your ability to get out there and let others see you in a
creative light. Don't be needy and clingy and creepy by
asking those you meet for personal help with your career...
SHOW YOURSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL...listen and learn...when you
have a chance to work, KICK BUTT!...

As you already know, at the Actorsite we host Casting Director
workshops and because our members work at such a high level,
you are immediately put into a HIGHER CATEGORY of actor when
you attend workshops at the Actorsite. Of course everyone starts
somewhere, and when you get your cold reading skills sharp,
it's time to audition for the Actorsite so you work at a
much higher level than other workshop venues...

ALWAYS RAISE THE STAKES! It's always about the work!

NOW WHAT TO DO WITH THAT POST IT!

So take your post it and list those three things on it...
and under each heading...list one thing that you can do
TODAY and every day to move yourself forward under that category.

Now get busy!!!!

All the best,

Jack

http://actorsite.com/

----------------------

E. YOUTUBE, APPLE PACT FOR CATALOG - DEAL BENEFITS CONTENT CREATORS,
TV NETWORKS

By MARC GRASER
All those videos of cats playing the piano and Mentos-powered Diet
Coke geysers will soon be available on your television.

YouTube has brokered a deal with Apple that will see the online video
service's entire catalog uploaded onto the Apple TV set-top box
beginning next month.

Apple TV owners will be able to browse YouTube's offerings and save
their favorites shorts using the device's built-in hard drive.

Thousands of YouTube videos will be made available starting in
mid-June, with thousands more added each week until the company's
entire catalog is uploaded by fall.

Deal should benefit content creators, as well as TV networks, which
are uploading their programming on YouTube, a service attracting some
20 million unique visitors per month. It would also give the major
studios and consumer brands another marketing tool with which to
promote their films or products.

Apple TV, which hit retailers in February at a cost of $300, uses
iTunes to wirelessly transfer video content, music, photos and
podcasts from a computer and the Internet to an HDTV screen.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966022.html?categoryid=14&cs=1


----------------------


F. 4K WINDOW TO FUTURE AT L.A.'S NEW LANDMARK

By Carolyn Giardina

May 31, 2007
The debut of Landmark Theatres' new flagship complex called the
Landmark, which opens Friday at Los Angeles' Westside Pavilion,
prompts a closer examination of 4K resolution digital cinema, which
represents four times the picture information found in today's
commonly used 2K digital cinema resolution.

The Landmark opens with three theaters equipped with Sony's SXRD 4K
digital cinema projectors. These -- and one at the Landmark-owned
NuArt -- represent the only screens in Los Angeles that offer 4K
projection for paying audiences.

Landmark already has ordered about 25 4K projectors from Sony, which
is the only manufacturer offering 4K digital cinema projectors to
theater owners. In addition to Los Angeles, there are installations in
Landmark theaters in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis,
New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington. Plans are
to also install 4K technology in Baltimore and Denver.

The 4K dialogue in the film community extends well beyond projection,
including production, post and mastering.

Landmark Theatres -- part of the Wagner/Cuban Cos. co-owned by Todd
Wagner and Mark Cuban that includes Magnolia Pictures, Magnolia Home
Entertainment, HDNet Films, 2929 Prods., HDNet and HDNet Movies -- is
looking at the bigger picture. Cuban said he selected 4K projection
technology "because cameras were being developed that did 4K and we
wanted to be ready for them.

"4K to 4K is the best quality available," he said.

Of course, this requires a steady flow of 4K content. Sony Pictures
and Warner Bros. Pictures have created select 4K deliverables, but
today's digital cinema content is typically available in 2K.

"(4K content) is being developed as we speak," Cuban said. "HDNet
plans on actively using 4K for productions and for distribution of
content beyond just 4K theatrical." He said that some of the upcoming
films he is producing would be mastering and distributed in 4K, though
he declined to reveal details.

Citing the aforementioned 4K content from Sony and Warners, Andrew
Stucker, director of Sony's digital cinema systems unit, said: "It's
still an expensive proposition. While 4K is coming, we expect the
majority of the content will be 2K."

Stucker predicted that this would be the case for at least another
year. "There needs to be a healthy number of 4K projectors out there.
We hope to take care of that over the next year," he said.

Pointing to the added cost of 4K rendering and digital intermediate
work, Stucker added: "There is a dollar difference. As those costs
come down in the next 12-18 months, we hope to see 4K Digital Cinema
Packages going out the door."

It appears that initially, Landmark theatergoers will get a look at 4K
imagery through select trailers as well as clips of 4K content that
will be supplied by Sony as preshow content. "The idea is to give
audiences the visual concept of what 4K will mean for them when it
finally does get going," Stucker said.

The Landmark opens with a total of 12 auditoriums, three with 4K
projection, three with Panasonic 2K digital cinema projectors and all
12 with film projectors. Dolby Digital EX Surround Sound and Klipsch
speakers will create the audio experiences. Digital cinema
deliverables would be received via hard drives on files, though Jason
Hudak, vp technology at Landmark Theatres, said the company is looking
into broadband delivery options.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ibdf0b7dd533b3de\
6716364f0439b6d2b


----------------------


G. FEMALE ACTION PICS NEED HERO OF OWN

By Borys Kit

May 31, 2007
When Robert Rodriguez signed on last week to direct Universal's
"Barbarella," it marked a rare instance of a female-led action film
getting off the ground.

Rodriguez is dipping his laser gun into a subgenre where Hollywood has
been traditionally gun-shy. Recent history has left a graveyard of
tombstones reading such names as "Elektra," "Catwoman" and "Aeon
Flux," while mausoleums house "Tank Girl" and "Barb Wire." There are
exceptions, of course, such as the "Tomb Raider" and "Underworld"
movies, but their sequels failed to capitalize on any goodwill created
by the first movies.

One manager says it doesn't take X-ray vision to see studio sexism as
part of the trouble. Female-oriented action movies, he reasons, take a
hit when one fails, whereas a male-oriented action movie that misfires
bounces off a studio's back like a bullet off Superman.

"The studio translates those failures into, 'It doesn't matter if
those were bad movies, female-led superhero movies don't work," says
one manager, who has clients wanting to write those movies but says
"studios won't touch them with a 10-foot pole."

But television is another story.

On the small screen, female-starring genre stories become buzzworthy
cult hits, such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Alias" and "Veronica
Mars." The fall season will see a new crop of heroes in the form of a
new "Bionic Woman" on NBC and Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a
spinoff of the "Terminator" movie series.

"Going back to 'Police Woman' in 1974, it's been far more accepted for
a woman to carry a show than it was for a woman to carry a movie,"
says DC Comics senior vp Gregory Noveck, who is developing titles for
both the big and small screen.

Part of the problem is that most female actors dip one foot into the
action genre and then move on, especially after a flop, as Jennifer
Garner did post-"Elektra." But male actors keep coming back again and
again.

The other problem, according to many writers and executives, is that
there hasn't been that knockout feature script starring a female
action hero. If "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon is let go for not being
able to nail a "Wonder Woman" script, what hope do lesser mortals have?

The issue is the writing, says David Eick, a writer-executive producer
on "Battlestar Galactica" and also a showrunner on "Bionic Woman."
Feature film screenwriters tend to allow gender to cloud character and
plot development, he says, whereas TV avoids that trap.

"The best female action stories in my opinion are the ones in which
the role isn't written for a girl, it's written for a hero," says
Eick, adding that heroes shouldn't be written any different whether
male or female. "In the television medium, the best female action
characters are written as heroes first, and female second."

Noveck isn't ready to give up on what he sees as a genre still in its
infancy. To him, studios are willing to put up with such failures as
"Hulk" and "Remo Williams" to find such genre-defining hits as "Die
Hard" and "Superman," whereas female action film aren't given enough
chances.

Says Noveck, "When you only take four or five shots, you better take a
whole bunch more shots before you write off a whole genre."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/columns/e3i7d3077802389\
0879e5b8b5cf663f3a72

_____________________________________________________________________

This is just a test to see if video embedding works with yahoo group:

<a
href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=20272\
60628">Three-Fifty
The Movie</a><br><embed
src="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf"
flashvars="m=2027260628&type=video"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="430"
height="346"></embed><br><a
href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.addToProfileConfirm&vide\
oid=2027260628&title=Three-Fifty
The Movie">Add to My Profile</a> | <a
href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.home"> More
Videos</a>