Toluu

CinemaTech

CinemaTech focuses on how new technologies are changing cinema - the way movies get made, discovered, marketed, distributed, shown, and seen. (With occasional forays into other parts of the entertainment economy.)

Great Reading from the TimesYesterday

In late November, the NY Times published a special edition of its Sunday magazine called the "Screens" issue. There's so much in there.... a great piece by Kevin Kelly on "screen literacy," a piece about Netflix's recommendation technology, and interviews with David Lynch and Jennifer Aniston. Also an A.O. Scott piece about whether the movie theater is endangered.

Here's the explanatory intro:


And in today's paper, Laura Holson has a piece headlined, 'Who Needs a TV? I'm Watching on a Laptop'

Just as more and more people have abandoned land-line telephones for their cell phone, it seems that the next trend is abandoning your home cable connection (and TV) for laptop video viewing.

'Inventing the Movies': Video, Magazine ArticleDecember 2

Fora.TV attended a book presentation I gave in October at the Hillside Club in Berkeley, CA, and they've just posted the video on their site.

And CIO Magazine recently published a piece based on the book, headlined "What CIOs Can Learn from Hollywood." Here's the opening:


The book's Web site is here.

Invite Only: NFL's 3-D Demo This WeekDecember 2

Too bad that sports fans can't buy tickets to see Thursday's game between the Raiders and the Chargers in 3-D. It's for invited guests only.

From the Wall Street Journal:


The Hollywood Reporter adds:

Pioneering Download Site CinemaNow: Worth Just $3 MillionDecember 2

(Of course I didn't abandon my beloved CinemaTech... just took a long Thanksgiving vacation.)

Feels important to note that earlier this month, the pioneering digital download site CinemaNow was sold for a piddling $3 million to Sonic Solutions, a company that makes DVD-burning software. Founded in 1999 (before Movielink, and way before iTunes), CinemaNow had raised more than $30 million. Lionsgate Entertainment had been the main investor in the company, which offered rentals, downloads, and also the ability to burn some movies to a DVD.

Earlier this year, Curt Marvis, the long-time head of CinemaNow, shifted over to a digital media gig at Lionsgate.

Here's the official press release.

Video: 'Inventing the Movies' talk at GoogleNovember 18

Google just posted the video from my "Authors@Google" talk last month. It focuses on (what else?) Hollywood's love-hate relationship with new technologies. It was fun to give it at Google, of course, since they're in the midst of being sued by Viacom over copyright infringement on YouTube... one of the biggest media vs. tech cases since the Betamax.

Thanks to Kim Weisberg and Ross Peter Nelson for hosting me and treating me to lunch in one of the Google-terias!

(Please rate it and post a comment if you are so inclined!)