End of the Year

 Find The Bliss Within (The Buddha of El Cerrito)

I've been quite busy (happily) this past quarter and have been a little light on postings (one of the few rules I do have about this endeavor is that I promised myself I would not post just to post).  Most recently, I completed work as a colorist on the documentary feature, For I Know My Weakness by John Dentino.  It's an intense, personal documentary which he's been working on for 7 years.  It's always humbling to be the person who has been chosen to help finish such a long, intense journey.

As we approach the end of the year, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog.  I am constantly amazed that there are people out there who take the time to read what I write.  The past couple of months have been heavy on technology and media and less on the art form.  I am hoping to balance that a little bit more in the new year.  Ultimately, none of any of this matters unless there is ultimately something created which moves, challenges, confuses or entertains us.  Thanks to all the amazing people this year who have done that for us all.  Particularly those who will never be famous, but bring us stories because they have to do it, not in a search for fame.

Instead of a holiday video, this year I'm posting a link to a holiday song.

The Spiritual Four Quartet in 1941 at the Fort Valley College Folk Festival. Amazing. I've been unable to locate any pictures of the group.  Check out the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress recordings, I've been working my way through them the past year or so. There's so much amazing American music there, and it belongs to all of us.

Have a great New Year!

Whoa, Sony and Panasonic

Wow, I knew Sony was doing badly in its consumer division, but this article in SplatF shows just how much money they are losing in their professional division as well.  Combined with Pansonic losing $5.5 BILLION (much of it in their consumer TV division) this year, it really shows how much the landscape is changing at the top of the food chain.  Sony, however, did make a profit in their film division.  Panasonic will be closing facilities which will affect LCD and plasma production.  I still have not seen a break out of the financials for the professional products division at Panasonic.  What does all this mean for the era of professional quality gear with better and better specs at ever-cheaper prices?

For Lovers Only- $.99

This week the Polish Brothers movie I discussed previously, For Lovers Only, is available as an iTunes rental for $.99.  It's a good chance to see a good movie and to check out the iTunes Store rental experience at the same time.

The film was made with only a cast and crew of three, the two Polish brothers, one on camera  (a 5D) and the other an actor, and one actress.  It is being self-dstributed online only for now.   It's been getting a lot of press lately in the film world.  It's an interesting experiment, as cameras become ever light sensitive the whole idea of what is needed in a film crew will evolve.  It is also a lot more honest than asking a whole host of people to work for free.  Although, I did finally meet for the first time someone who worked on a "spec" project who got paid (a small amount, ten years later) when the project got picked up by a cable channel.

Here's the trailer, again:


for lovers only... from Polish Brothers on Vimeo.

Google, Pay TV?

What's the hype?

Matt Rosoff is doing a good job on concisely focusing on Google and what they seem to be doing as far as becoming a content distributor.  This piece complements the other stuff that I've been posting about Google recently.  As an armchair quarterback, to me it seems what will ultimately determine Google's success in the longterm is whether they can recognize that online TV is about more than how content is distributed. They do have the social platform in place for complementing online content, but it's a big if as to whether they can position Google Plus as a product that is so ubiquitous, like Facebook, that it becomes a natural extension of any online distribution products they create.

From Rosoff's article, it seems as though they're taking a cable TV-centric view of what they're doing.  Here's to hoping that they don't end up just recreating what already exists, only more and through a different portal.  Otherwise, it could end up in the Google Graveyard.  Strangely, this list doesn't include Buzz or Orkut.

The History of Improving TV

Just a short post, I want to point everyone to this funny article by Matt Rosoff: a pretty definitive list of "iTV Failures."  Ah, the memories, Web TV in the 1990's.....wait a minute...it's still supported by Microsoft!.

Loose Ends

Give me that old time rock n' roll

As an addendum to my last post (To Free or Not to Free), I see that Fast Company in their piece 20 Riskiest Business Moves of 2011 has listed as the 19th riskiest business move Music Labels Surrender to Spotify.  The main risk: jeopardizing paid sales with the freemium model.

Also, the recent update of Google TV and the announcement Friday that Google will be acquiring a lot more original content for YouTube should pretty much clarify where they are headed.  If you thought that 900 cable channels was amazing, get ready for hundreds of thousands or maybe millions delivered online.  As I've said before, there will be more content than ever. There's a tremendous amount of opportunity out there to those who can visualize and take advantage of this new order.  As the curse goes, may you live in interesting times...."

To Free or Not to Free, That is the Question

Pre-IPO

The subject of whether every entertainment product should be available for free just doesn't seem to die, particularly in the music industry.  There is always some new company out there that seeks to disrupt an already disrupted marketplace with a new offer of free.  All these years after Napster, well, there are new companies out there offering free, with business models seemingly TBD, or at least fully explained.  Where will this never ending dream of achieving marketplace dominance of free finally end up?  Who will be the proverbial last man standing?

This article from the Business Insider is a brief, intelligent look at the state of the streaming music business and one company's (Rhapsody) attempt to hold tight to making people pay.  Interestingly, there's no mention of Pandora in the article.

Several months back I attended a respected film industry event and nearly swallowed my tongue when one of the speakers said that they thought "we were through the worst" of competing against free.  I hope that they're right, unfortunately, I have my doubts.