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Film and the Arts
Round One of the 2014 Oscar Predictions
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Trends
- Published on Friday, 11 October 2013 00:43
- Written by Matt Oakes
As 2013 races to a close, it's time for the first round of Oscar predictions. 2013 started with a whimper with a truly slumping spring season that moved into a relatively disappointing summer slate of blockbusters (at least from a critical perspective). But the fall season hopes to make up for any inadequacies of the rest of the year with a lump sum of certifiably great films. Although some of my predicted contenders have yet to see the light of day, there are now enough pieces in play to make a fair judgement as to what may and may not make the cut come the year's end. Come join us to discuss our first round of 2014's Oscar predictions.
I've personally only seen a few of the big contenders for Best Picture (Gravity, Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips), some have played their way through the festival circuit (Inside Llewyn Davis, Saving Mr. Banks, 12 Years a Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis) and the remainder have yet to be seen at all (The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, The Monuments Men). But even for these unknown qualities, all you have to do is look at the talent and directors and a shoe-in is the rule rather than the exception.
Peter Christian Hall Wants YOU To Sell "American Fever"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Trends
- Published on Friday, 04 May 2012 14:10
- Written by Renzo Adler
The latest novel from author/filmmaker Peter Christian Hall is American Fever: A Tale of Romance & Pestilence. It follows a blogger in New York writing about the world five years after a devastating bird-flu pandemic had laid waste to much of the United States.
And now YOU get to help him sell the book!
Publisher Arterial Witness is offering a $1,000 prize to the filmmaker that can create a 73-second video trailer for American Fever that also uses an original song by Gang of Four’s legendary guitarist, composer, and producer, Andy Gill.
The contest is embracing the rise of crowdsourced projects and taking an almost egalitarian approach to advertising.
Hall said in his email, “There’s a world of enterprising talent out there in film schools and tiny production companies — scouring magazines, websites, and the great DSLR blogs -- itching to make an fast impact with great images.”
In an age when a book can start off as a fan-fiction for a popular series about vampires and be launched to literary stardom (as in British author E. L. James with her 2011 hit erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey), the world is taking a new approach to the creation and selling of books.
Some would question this approach, but I find that since the story is told through blog posts that this is an appropriate means of conveyance for the story. In a way, it’s a continuation of the narrative themes laid down in Bram Stoker's Dracula, a story told through journal entries and news articles.
To learn more, go to http://arterialwitness.com/video-contest/video-contestabout/ or http://www.americanfeverbook.com/
And American Fever is actually already available to read online for free at www.americanfeverbook.com
TheShowt.com Shoutout
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Trends
- Published on Wednesday, 09 March 2011 10:00
- Written by T. Terry Mahoney
The backroom bar at the new Hell's Kitchen hotspot Industry was packed with the movers and shakers of Manhattan's 
LBGT community on January 20th at a launch party for www.TheShowt.com, an upscale website described by its founders as "the new gay lifestyle guide for New Yorkers."
The site is available free of charge to all "sophisticated urbanites" following a painless and non-intrusive registration process.
The launch event was co-hosted by GLAAD and was billed as a benefit for that national media watchdog organization. Representing GLAAD at the event was Richard Ferraro, Director of Communications.
Also on hand was TheShowt co-founder Josh Siegel, a self-described "foodie," who was accompanied by his lovely fiancée.
