“I am the Dragon. And you call me insane. You are privy to a great becoming, but you recognize nothing. To me, you are a slug in the sun. You are an ant in the afterbirth. It is your nature to do one thing correctly. Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe.”

Red Dragon, the third and final film in the Hannibal series that is worth rewatching. Again, the writing, characters, acting and sets are magnificent. The direction could use a little work, but if you told me, “the guy who did Rush Hour and Xmen 3 is making the film of Red Dragon I would have slaughtered families. But no, he did a lot better than could be expected based on his other films. Rush Hour is fine, amusing, but it really doesn’t cut the mustard.

Anyway, despite the fact that I had previously felt it was my favourite, I’d say it is maybe the weakest of the trilogy (I’m not meaning to be insulting to Hannibal Rising, but it’s not worth including. Also, I’m not meaning to say that I don’t insult it, I’m just not doing so now.) The character of Francis is amazing, very well done by Ralph Fiennes, as usual. Same with Graham, I think he is a great character and Edward Norton does a really good job. Anthony Hopkins doesn’t need to be mentioned since he and Hannibal are really in another league, though in this film I can see the direction on him.

So, in hindsight, I’d say that Silence of the Lambs is definitely the best made, with probably the best Hopkins performance of the three. I still really adore a great deal of Hannibal, with only a few moments that aren’t dealt with well, plus some of my dislikes for the story which I don’t think can be avoided. I’d put it in a close second after Silence, only put back by some weak filmic techniques. Red Dragon comes in at a very memorable third, it is still a great film, but the book is not completely translated to the film. The feel is not there and while Ratner didn’t do a bad job, I would put some blame on the direction.

Anyway, all are great films, very worth a watch, very worth a read. Read and watch Hannibal Rising just because you should, but do not let it ruin the others for you.

Qui a Latveria, siamo dei ragazzi semplici. Ci piace leggere i fumetti, andare in birreria, limonare duro e andare al cinematografo. Quando qualcuno decide di trasportare su grande schermo le imprese di qualche nostro beniamino, noi siamo più che felici di andare a dare dei soldini a qualche annoiata cassiera. Anche se tutti ci fanno notare che abbiamo una certa età, che siamo laureati, che ormai siamo delle persone quasi rispettabili e che il panettiere del quartiere ci riconosce e ci tiene via il pane nei giorni di festa… insomma, ci siamo capiti… nonostante tutto questo, noi giovani e semplici ragazzi di Latveria, non vediamo l’ora di sederci al buio di una sala per vedere dal vivo, dal vero veramente, ciò che su carta ci ha emozionato per una vita intera… E spesso, quasi sempre, usciamo sconfitti, delusi, arrabbiati che ci viene da sbavare, roteare i pugni vero il cielo, sbarrare gli occhi e urlare “Perché? CRISTO, MA PERCHÉ?”

La redazione è dunque fiera di fare i nomi e i cognomi dei colpevoli dei 15 più orribili crimini contro l’umanità mai commessi in ambito fumettistico-cinematografico. Come ai tempi di Dj X & Maurizio Seimandi, andiamo con ordine, calma e parsimonia: oggi andiamo a scoprire chi c’è dalla posizione 15 alla 13…

15- Superman Returns, Bryan Singer, 2006

Il problema con i film di SuperMan è che gli si fa solo spostare-evitare-aggiustare-modificare oggetti inanimati e mai gli si lascia la libertà mollare due ceffoni. E dire che Supes nella sua carriera fumettistica non si è risparmiato in ceffoni.
Nonstante ciò (Do you know Bizarro? Mongul?…etc) nei film il suo unico grande avversario è sempre e comunque (con dovute ma anche risibili eccezioni) una pietra colorata. Non si parte benissimo.

SuperMan alla fine agisce come una gru blu e rossa. Un film in cui non fa altro che sollevare qualcosa.

I grandi avversari e sfide di SuperMan in SM Returns:

Solleva aerei, globi di metallo e donne in carriera (senza provocare upskirt)!

Naturalmente anche il gran finale del film è costituito da una scena in cui SuperMan solleva qualcosa, in questo caso una Capri di Kryptonite.

Tutto questo senza fare riferimenti all’irritantissime storie sul figlioletto di Superman (mai bambino fu più irritante) e su Lois che si spupazza Ciclope.

Attore di pregio che qui mette a rischio la sua carriera:
Frank Langella

14- X-Men: Conflitto Finale, Brett Ratner, 2006

Mentre Bryan Singer era alle prese con il sollevatore di ferro di cui sopra, le redini del terzo e atteso film sui nostri mutanti prefe di sempre, passa nelle manone tozze di Brett Ratner. Il regista di tanti video di Mariah Carey, colui che ha rovinato la carriera di Jackie Chan in terra americana, ce la mette tutta per girare un film all’altezza dei primi due. Sfortunatamente le ambizioni del film si scontrano e si sfracellano contro una sceneggiatura orribile, attori costretti a dire a fare delle cose che li rendono stupidi (il povero Hank McCoy per esempio qui ne esce malissimo) e un regista che giustamente adesso fa i video per Miley Cirus. Si riesce nella difficile impresa di buttare in vacca tutta, TUTTA, la Saga della Fenice Nera. Il bambino “cura” Cameron Bright fa venire voglia di invadere la Polonia. Unica cosa notevole: l’inseguimento tra la nostra amata Kitty Pride (interpretata da Ellen Page) e il grande Vinnie Jones aka Jaggernaut (il Fenomeno in italiano). Infatti…

Attore di pregio che qui mette a rischio la sua carriera:
Ian Mckellen

13 – La Leggenda degli Uomini Straordinari, Stephen Norrington, 2003.

Già dal titolo si capiscono un paio di cose: dagli Straordinari Gentiluomini del libro di Moore, siamo passati ai ben più ordinari Uomini Straordinari di Norrington. Per la cronaca, il nome completo di questo straordinario cretino è Stephen Norrington. Che a confronto Stephen Sommers è Otto Preminger. Ci si nasconde dietro a un “liberamente tratto” per non incappare in denunce da parte di Alan Moore . il quale ovviamente si è tenuto lontano da questa mega cazzata – e poter poi fare di testa propria. Con la simpatica conseguenza di aver rovinato uno dei racconti metaletterari più divertenti e intelligenti degli ultimi anni. Oltre ad aver aggiunto ad cazzum due personaggi come Tom Sawyer e Dorian Gray, si brancola nel buio cercando di trovare almeno una storia da raccontare. Con scarsissimi risultati. Sean Connery col toupé ai minimi storici. I soldi per gli effetti speciali devono essere finiti dopo i primi tre giorni di produzione per cui, dopo una sequenza iniziale con almeno un po’ di verve (leggi: qualche esplosione), il resto sembra brutta televisione. Una nota per coloro che hanno curato l’edizione italiana: Graphic Novel non si traduce Novella Grafica (perché io ve lo giuro, nei titoli di testa c’è scritto così…). Dovreste ridarci i soldi. O almeno la decenza di cambiare lavoro.

Attore di pregio che qui mette a rischio la sua carriera:
Sean Connery

Adriano & Fede MC

Disclaimer: I have never been to New York City.

After seeing New York, I Love You, I’m dying to go. Inspired by Paris, je t’aime, New York, I Love You follows a very similar formula.

11 filmmakers, 11 stories, and a Robert Altman size cast (including Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, Shia Labeouf, Orlando Blooom, Robin Wright Penn, Eli Wallach, and Chris Cooper), bring New York City to life in this anthology film.

Critical praise has been mixed, many agreeing that the film is an inconsistent, plot-less film.

Well there lies the beauty.

The stories (each directed by a different director) intertwine with one another and connections are made from character to character. Remarkably, the fragmented storyline is still able to keep viewers captivated.

The film is simply about fragments of time and how characters interact with one another throughout life.  Although the film is a tiny glimpse into the character’s lives and cultures, New York, I Love You paints a realist world that hasn’t been seen since the Italian neo-realist movement.

The remarkable performances of Ethan Hawke, Natalie Portman, Shia Labeouf (what a shock?!), and Orlando Bloom really bring the film to life.

Bloom’s performance is the centerpiece of director Shunji Iwai’s segment.  Without a doubt my favorite storyline, Iwai’s story of the hopeless, writer romantic (Bloom) and the unlikely girl next door (Christina Ricci) is something every girl would call “cute” and every guy would have to fight off emotion to hide it.

Even hack director Brett Ratner directed a segment that had heart (something he has never done, outside of TV’s Prison Break).

If you are looking for a three act plot with a singular storyline, forget about this film. If you seek a story that is foundationally simple, yet sophisticated in its realism and heart, New York, I Love You would be a wonderful choice. The fragmented storyline won’t give you a singular storyline, but it will paint a vivid picture of life and a small period of time: a period of time so small that if you blink, it could be lost for good in the Big Apple.

(3 out of 4 stars)

I Love You,

-Nolan Wilson Goff

Check out the trailer below:

After the Sunset è un film azione/commedia del 2004, diretto da Brett Ratner.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Avventura | Azione | Brett Ratner | Pierce Brosnan | Salma Hayek | Woody Harrelson

Ranya Batal

A Star-Studded Night For Celebrity Charity Work And An Evening Of Cool Jazz and R&B Live Musical Performances Highlights The First Annual Noble Awards

A long list of A-Celebs turned out for the red carpet affair and First Annual Noble Awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. It was an event to honor celebs who have done noble work in charitable organizations. About a dozen charities handed out awards.  Morgan Freeman received a Lifetime Achievement. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell

One of the highlights of the first annual Noble Awards Monica – who’s not only a Grammy Giant, but has a hit show Still Standing on BET. It was the last live performance with a lasting impression:

Even under the weather Desperate Housewife Actress Teri Hatcher appeared to get her Noble for work with Childrens Hospital LA

Lionel Richie made it a family affair for his daughter Nicole Richie who attended with long time love Joel Madden

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented a Noble award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too. The Noble Awards creators Executive TV Producer and his wife, Celebrity TV Anchor Janeen Mansour were pleased with the star-studded turned out of celebrity humanitarians and both are optimistic that it will be televised much like the Oscars and Grammys annually.  Access Hollywood’s Billy Bushintroduced Janeen Mansour,founder of  The Noble Awards.

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history.

Brian McKnight

McKnight has released 11 albums to date, 7 of them have gone platinum, with several going 2 and 3x platinum, and has sold over 20 Million albums worldwide. He just released a new album last month and perform one of his songs live.

McKnight was introduced by Actor Dennis Haysbert.

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performed live at the Noble Awards show. She was introduced by Noble Awards Founder Janeen Mansour.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

Julio Iglesias Jr. also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr. was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler.

The two-hour event seeks to annually honor up to a dozen charities and celebrities who actively support them, elevating awareness of these organizations and the impact of their work.

For a slideshow of the The Noble Awards show visit (more)

For more information, please visit:  www.TheNobleAwards.org.

A világ nemrég attól volt hangos, hogy a közkedvelt animációs háziasszony Marge Simpson tündökölt a Playboy magazin címlapján. Végül kiderült, hogy Simpson nem az egyetlen szépség, aki a férfimagazin borítóján szerepel, mivel a megtiszteltetésben Alina Puscau szupermodellel osztozott. Puscau, aki az “X-Men” rendező, Brett Ratner barátnője, az első román Playboy címplaplány.

New York, I Love You (2008)
★★ / ★★★★

I’ve been waiting for this movie to be released in theaters for more than a year so I was really excited to see it when it finally was. Unfortunately, out of the ten segments (presented in order of appearances on screen–directed by Jiang Wen, Mira Nair, Shunji Iwai, Yvan Attal, Brett Ratner, Allen Hughes, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman, Fatih Akin and Joshua Marston) only about five worked for me–the second (starring Natalie Portman and Irrfan Khan), the third (Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci), the fourth (Ethan Hawke and Maggie Q), the fifth (Anton Yelchin, Olivia Thirlby, James Caan and Blake Lively), and the tenth (Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman).

I really wanted to love this movie as much as “Paris, je t’aime.” What made the first one so great is the fact that even though we encounter so many different genres and tones throughout the picture, it felt cohesive because we truly get a sense of who the characters were in under five to seven minutes. In “New York, I Love You,” it all feels a little bit too commercial. I felt as though it wanted to impress all kinds of people so much to the point where it held back emotionally and avoided taking risks. I’m also astounded by the fact that there were no homosexual storylines, barely any segments consisting of African-American or Latino characters, and most of clips consisted of a person falling in love or lust with another person. There are many dimensions of love (love for the city, love for a pet, love for oneself…) but it didn’t quite think outside the box. Those missing qualities are crucial to me because New York is supposed to be a melting pot of ethnicities, sexualities and mindsets yet we got to see the same kinds of people time and again. With “Paris, je t’aime,” we get diversity and in more than half of them, there was not a happy ending, which I thought was closer to real life than the stories presented in this film.

The five segments that I thought were standouts had a certain passion in every single one of them, whether it’s about a woman who doesn’t quite feel comfortable about getting married; an artist struggling to read one of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s books and whose curiosity of a woman he’s only met through the phone bothered him to the core; a man who thinks one way about a woman turning out to be someone completely different than we all expected; a teenager who goes to prom with a blind date unknowing of the fact that his date is unlike anyone he expected; and a couple celebrating their marriage that lasted for more than sixty years. Those are the kinds of stories I want to tune into and dissect because hidden layers are embedded in them. What I don’t want to see is someone supposedly falling in love unless he or she has something truly significant or different to contribute. The other five segments that I didn’t quite like should have been taken out and replaced by stories from other genres such as horror or science fiction, or they could have had a different mood or perception such as in a black-and-white reality or featuring a person so wasted in drugs–a way in which we could see the world through their eyes. That would have made more sense to me because we are essentially a drug culture. Or it could have featured at least one fashion model or a fashionista because New York is one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world. Instead of really embracing to tackle issues mentioned previously, the movie was way too safe with those other segments.

Having said all of that, I have to admit that I’m particularly hard on this picture. Since I don’t do half-star ratings, it must be said that I consider this a solid two-and-a-half star movie. When I came out of the theater, I was certain that I was going to give it three stars out of four but after thinking about it a little bit, it made me realize how much potential it didn’t use to create a truly magnificent project. For such a fascinating place like New York City, you just can’t play everything safe and get away with it. At least not with me because I’m big on seeing diversity and reality in certain kinds of films, especially in slice-of-life cinema. I’m not saying at all to not see this in theaters. By all means, please do to support a film released only on limited release. But what I want you to take away from this review is the awareness that what’s being presented on this film is not the gritty and dirty New York but the clean, nice New York we see on a prime time television shows.

Hopefully, the next project from this film series would not be as afraid to branch out.

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: It took filmmaker Brigitte Berman to get the ball rolling, but after the Toronto International Film Festival premiere

DOWNEY JR: Playboy material?

of her documentary on Hugh Hefner, a major Hollywood biopic is finally going ahead. Producer Brian Grazer (24) recently met with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody about the project, and Brett Ratner (X-Men) is apparently lined up to direct, with Robert Downey Jr. favoured to play Hef … shhhh, it’s a secret, but my spies tell me irresistible funny girl Monica Parker is currently fine-tuning a new one-woman show cunningly called The Weight Is Over.  Can’t weight, uhhh, wait … and Rick Mercer and Rush rock legend Alex

LIFESON & MERCER: indoor skydiving

Lifeson go skydiving tonight — the hard way — by attempting to float atop 225 km/h winds generated by a jet engine (!!!) at the Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving challenge. And believe me, ‘freefall’ is the word for it. Catch them tonight at 8 pm on the Rick Mercer Report on CBC.

UP IN ARMS: On Thursday night Toronto theatergoers will see the Canadian premiere of Strange News, a 30-minute multimedia work about the plight of

SWANK: as Amelia Earhart

child soldiers. The work, composed by Norwegian Rolf Wallin with text by Belgian actor/director/writer Josse de Pauw, is narrated by the young Ugandan actor Arthur Kisenyi, and comes to us after breaking theatrical ground in Oslo, Birmingham, Porto, Chicago, and Copenhagen. Filling out the bill is a performance of Igor Stravinsky¹s classic A Soldier¹s Tale, narrated by the legendary Martha Henry and directed by Peter Moss. For tickets call the St. Lawrence Centre box office at 416-366-7723 or just click here.

FLICKERS: Why does news of a Tribeca Film Festival in the Persian Gulf remind me of a New Yorker cartoon? Nonetheless, the 31-film festival opens this

DE NIRO: in Doha

week in Doha, Qatar’s capital, with Robert De Niro, Tribeca’s co-founder, expected to be on hand for the opening film, the Hillary Swank-Richard Gere opus Amelia. Unlike red-carpet filmfests in Dubau and Abu Dhabi, Doha is looking to showcase independent films (Steven Soderbergh’s Informant, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story) — but hey, it’s still the middle east. Both Doha and Abu Dhabi programmed Bahman Ghobadi’s No One Knows About Persian Cats, a film shot covertly in Iran, but none of the Gulf festivals have programmed a film from Israel, and if your passport is Israeli, you can’t get there from here. Intrigued? Yeah, me too. To catch up with Larry Rohter’s report in last week’s New York Times, just click here.

GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT, HOT, HOT: Finally got a chance to see Brad (Love & Human Remains) Fraser’s new comedy about family secrets at

KEELEY & STEWART: hit show

Factory Theatre at a packed Sunday matinee, and now I know what all the fuss is about. Everything about this witty, provocative production is absolutely top-notch, from Bretta Gerecke’s cleverly engaging set to playwright Fraser’s fast-paced cinematic staging and direction. Ashley Wright and Julie Stewart are spectacularly good as the parents, Andrew Craig and Susanna Fournier are outstanding as their confused offspring, and David W. Keeley’s subtle but sly portrayal of the returning restauranteur who unhinges all of them makes this laugh-out-loud dramedy work brilliantly. Don’t miss it. But you will if you don’t act now, because counting tonight there are only six (6) performances left. To snap up your last-chance tickets just click here. And enjoy!

TOMORROW:

Come to the Cabaret.

1980’s Mother’s Day is a semi-classic exploitation film, and one of Troma Studios’ best-known works. Filming recently wrapped in Winnipeg on the Brett Ratner-produced remake/reimagining, with Rebecca De Mornay in the role of Mother. Repo! The Genetic Opera’s Darren Lynn Bousman directed. Here is Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman talking about the new version of Mother’s Day.

Director(s): Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner & Randall Balsmeyer

“New York, I Love You” is the second of five anthologies in a project produced by Emmanuel Benbihy. Using big name actors and prolific directors from across the world, these globe-trotting experiments serve as love-letters to their settings. Each short is about some form of  love, whether it be maternal, sexual, and so forth. The first effort was “Paris, Je T’aime”, and Rio, Jerusalem, and Shangai are the proposed final installments. Like any omnibus film, however, the lesser installments stick out like a sore thumb.

Each short film is completed with the following expectations: they will be shot in two days, edited within a week, and run eight minutes in length. This effort boasts an impressive cast (everyone from Shia LaBeouf to Julie Christie), and has contributions from world-renowned directors like Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding”, “Amelia”) and Fatih Akin (“Head-On”, “The Edge of Heaven”).

It’s interesting then, having utilized such a diverse field of talent, that the film is so homogenized. Each effort portrays New York as overwhelmingly white, young, middle class and heterosexual. Each involves a chance encounter and a twist ending. I’ve never been to New York, but having seen films by the likes of Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, this film felt like another planet entirely.

There are a few that work quite well. Yvan Attal’s short, starring Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, Chris Cooper, and Robin Wright Penn is sharply written and beautifully performed. Allen Hughes’ is a stylish look into the day after a one night stand. Joshua Marston’s short, about a couple that has been married for 63 years, is also charming and quite funny. Compared to “Paris, Je T’aime”, however, the mean quality throughout is significantly lower. None of these shorts comes within an arm’s distance of Alexander Payne’s effort from the first film.

For an effort that promises to introduce wildly new material every ten minutes or so, it’s stunning that such large chunks of “New York, I Love You” are a complete bore. This homogenized New York doesn’t represent any city in the world – the beautiful, young hipsters are more plausible citizens of a film school’s lobby. Hopefully the last three installments make full use of their diverse voices and paint a portrait of the heart of their assigned city, warts and all.

Digital Hollywood, the standard by which all digital media conferences are measured, a gathering at the intersection of film tv music gaming social mobile, an intense, exhilarating, deliriously exhausting brain squeeze where the brightest in the business try to piece it together while moving faster than the speed of light.  On stage and off were blockbuster producers, award-winning filmmakers, showrunners, web-celebs, network execs, festival programmers, publicists, press and brands. Even other stellar confabs (Westdoc, NY Television Festival, Digital Media Wire, SanFranMusicTech) were there soaking it in.  Co-located with the Variety Summit, Gerber Rigler Content Summit, EPPS Summit and CodeSpace Summit, infused with fresh and compelling happenings like a pitchfest with acquisition executives and screenings of the Interactive Emmy nominee reels and a Sundance winner.  The networking was outstanding, the information gold, and there was never a dull moment.  So many speakers and surprises, it wasn’t possible to get it all.  Luckily, the video is up at www.digitalhollywoodlive.com.  And the Twitter stream at #DH09.  Below is just a small summary of what was said:

Neil Stiles, Variety
WSJ estimated YouTube earned $250mm on $1B in storage costs/year, puzzled by this, just don’t get it.  Hulu is trading analog dollars for digital pennies, CPMs gravitating to zero, when it gets to 5000 channels, everyone is a producer.  Every blogger is 9 years old, throw it up quick without regard to accuracy, leaving it to the wisdom of the crowd to clear mistakes. Web revenue will never be as attractive as print, if you spend money creating TV film content someone has to pay, consumers will pay for engagement, for what they can do with the content.  New models of content as a service, pay once, use in whatever form you want.

Orly Adelson, Dick Clark Productions
Our brand is our award shows, putting embeddable preshow online to drive interest onair.   There are an infinite number of eyeballs to attract so why not put it everywhere. Social media is a great filter, fans see something they like, they pass it around. With the Country Music Awards, there is a 200% spike in music sales the day after CMAs because viewers tell friends to check out the songs featured.  Would love to put  So You Think You Can Dance online but too expensive because of music rights.  Make great content and they will come…Paranormal was made for $11,000, now in 160 theatres, at that cost there is no risk, my kids said it was scary, when a film evokes a strong reaction like that you’re going to have a big draw.  Many are watch shows online because they don’t know when it’s on air, it’s easier to find them online.

Peter Guber, Mandalay Entertainment
Technology was not born 4 years ago, it was born thousands of years ago.  One of the largest owners of baseball teams and stadiums in the US.  Teaches class at UCLA.  Today you need to be a renaissance person, cant just be movies, or just be music. Started out in 1968 at Columbia Pictures when there was an elitism, tv didn’t speak to film or music, today is the greatest opportunity that ever existed to bring audience directly to the artist.  Can no longer think of yourself as a movie guy, landscape is changing too rapidly, the rate of change is 3D omnipresent, no longer linear, how do you stay present, its the beginning of the beginning.  Now things are being pulled by you, by interest, we’re in a sea change, can’t have linear philosophy.  We are no longer talking to one monolithic audience of a million, rather we are talking to an audience of one, a million times over. Will watch dailies on iPhone but not Forest Gump.  Regarding interactivity, may not be interested in changing the outcome of the story but might want to buy that thing on the show, so there will be an integrated benefit.  The opportunity to talk back and intersect with the host, the immediate audience reaction changes the outcome, similar to what happens when your onstage and you make a bad joke, you move on.  The medium will dictate.  Can’t be without a phone.  When producing a product you go after a niche.  Paranormal, the new Blair Witch, was made for $15,000, Avatar epic is closer to half a billion sitting in theatres side by side, does it make sense to charge the same ticket price?

Carson Daly, Last Call with Carson Daly @carsonjdaly
Launched TRL in 1998 in response to how bad music videos were on MTV, wanted to empower viewers to choose, in a way it was the beginning of social media on TV when we turned the programming reigns over to the viewers.  If only Viacom would have bought MySpace would have been able to get a deeper connection with the kids.  Now at NBC and at the end of the day it comes down to money, NBC is owned by GE, we need to get paid.  We still don’t see lonelygrl15 driving around in a Porsche. Last Call with Carson Daly breaks bands. Artists are fueled by ego.  Many older musicians don’t have much of a digital footprint, they want to know what’s the play, is it worth their time, takes a lot of time to post (Miley Cyrus, eh), make more money elsewhere, they want to know where is Twitter’s value? Post 20x/day to 38,000+ Twitter followers for #militarymondays, like the idea of microblogging but not that into it personally.  Would post a picture of my mom but never of my kid.  In 2006, got Kevin Reilly’s backing to take a fresh spin on AFV with IYS, It’s Your Show.  Went to the web for talent, lots of tastemakers online, recruited those with big followings, one was Brookers, the most viewed female on YouTube.  But the NBC.com people never met the programming people and it didn’t go anywhere.  At the end of the day, the bills have to be paid. As for integrations, used to hate the Coke on Idol as a blatant sell out but now I get it.  The DVR has killed the 30 second spot, so now selling integrations, pitch Chevy on Mary J. Blige getting out of a Chevy truck at MSG.  As long as you’re selling stuff that relates to my wheelhouse, that’s relevant to me – golf, girls, guacamole, guns, beer – no problem.  As far as cost, content creators need to start factoring into production the way content is being consumed.  Why spend to shoot in panoramic, why not tv ratio.  25y ago you could spend $40,000 to create a show for a guy and hope he watches but now that guy is not just watching tv, he’s gaming, he’s tweeting, he’s elsewhere.  Richard has invited me out to Hanger 8 but have an exclusive with NBC, so can’t, but if I was out of work would be at Hanger 8 filming, why not.  Fox has done things for $15,000 as well as $.5B successfully.  There is a cyclical nature to film that circles round CGI and Arthouse…I want to feel a movie again.  In some ways I miss the days of the movie star, as SNL’s Seth Myers puts it, today celebrity just means mammal.  Balloon Boy is a celebrity.  Go to Starbucks everyone is talking to each other but no mouths are moving, noone is looking at each other.  The good news is the value of the live social experience is on the up.  (More from CD at #w2s, here onstage with Mark Cuban)

Richard Rosenblatt, Demand Media, @demandrichard
Serial entrepreneur built over $1.4B in internet media companies, credits include MySpace and Demand Media.  In the old days they’d pay 400x profit for future platforms but it was early.  This is a great time now, we are finally at the point where digital and hollywood come together.   This is the first time ever the audience is telling you – who is that guy and what he wants.  In 2004, MySpace profiles weren’t real for fear of who was reading it, now on FB everything is real, pictures of kids, family, there is so much personal information on FB profiles. (Carson – it’s a big mistake, trusting too much) But you can now find 100,000 people interested in bocce ball, culling for niches has never been easier.  Even Yahoo is going open and shared.  When you know what people want, you can connect them to the stuff they need.  That’s why I bought eHow.  There are 100,000/month looking to make homemade detergent.  1mm articles, 200,000 videos on long tail topics with Digg features, etc.  Demand’s Livestrong.com has 6mm visitors/month allows Lance to bypass media, at the Tour de France he was tweeting from his bike.  Wife Brooke has Modern Mom show.  See Comcast/NBC as a good move, Comcast is very progressive.  Follow trends, to see where we’re heading you must immerse yourself in the technology first, FB, Twitter, try different things but make the right choices where to focus time, you can’t follow every company TechCrunch, PaidContent, Variety writes about, pick game changing trends, if a lot of people are doing it, there’s something to it.  Twitter works great for celebrities and marketers, great way to send links and filter information.  A great example is the movie Couples Retreat, critics hated it but friends were recommending it and caused a spike despite bad reviews.  Follow 5-6 people you trust, see what they say, with 70mm on the mobile web and 100mm tweets a day, a good search engine can filter valuable information like what’s skiing like on Mammoth today.  Twitter search is better than Google.  Sun Valley Media Conference chatter – 31% of retail companies are using FB connect.  People buy in their network, what to see what friends are shopping for.  As soon as advertisers can figure out ROI, the whole market will open up.  Regarding Chris Anderson’s Free, there’s always someone paying whether its the user or the advertiser.  If time is a scarce resource would its good to have the choice to pay then spend time watching commercials.

Stuart Levine, Variety
A lot of great shows this season:  Modern Family, Glee, Biggest Loser, Sons of Anarchy.  More watching NCIS than going to Transformers.  There is an enthusiasm for TV.  Personally have 37 season passes on AppleTV, watch 7 days later, some great shows cancelled due to bad time slots.  Mark Cherry has been talking about Desperate Housewives – when is it going to end (Lost similar), some shows have a limited life, want to go out with a bang. / What was a 22 episode season, we are now seeing more 10-12-13 episode mid-seasons. / The broadcast 18-49, 25-54 demo is antiquated, Viacom has it as 18-24, 18-34, everyone calls it something else as they sell to different niches.

Marc Graboff, NBCU
TV has a 90% failure rate, but the networks need to get out of the way and provide a platform for creatives vision.  People don’t realize networks don’t get paid for shows that are TiVo’d.  The numbers are off  full rating points because the DVR causes a 4 week delay.  DVR usage hurts more than streaming.  Networks don’t get compensated for time-shifting.  25% The Office and 30% of Heroes are time-shifted.  Being worked on by CIMM, the Council for Innovative Media Measurement, comprised of 14 advertisers, agencies and TV companies, who are developing cross-platform metrics intended to measure total audience consumption on any platform anytime. / At NBC mid-season orders not happening, difficult to accumulate enough stuff to sell in backend, 13 episodes is not enough. USA, TBS, TNT largest 3 cable networks take couple of hundred episode order, 5 22-episode seasons.  That said, with windows collapsing, perhaps 13 episodes can be monetized instantaneously.  Why delay syndication pot of gold for four years, why not take little bags of gold along the way.  / Audience is so fragmented, hits no longer pay for losers. Have to retool because of a change in consumption.  / Glad we’re equity owners of Hulu, remember Hulu was an antipiracy move, if it wasn’t on Hulu 24 hours after it was on air it would be pirated.  Hulu as a destination site for quality fully produced masters of the show.  Just wish we weren’t training viewers to watch programming online with so little ad viewing.  FOD windows, pay to watch earlier.  NBC.com is a superfan site, place to go when show is not on to interact with characters, creators, stars, chat, blog.  Then there is the blogosphere, twitterverse where viral word of mouth spreads fast, its a phenomenon.  Bruno had huge numbers Friday night, word of mouth was bad and numbers fell off on Saturday. / Regarding Leno it’s too early to tell, doing better than projected, will evaluate in 52 weeks, not affecting House at 8 or Law & Order at 9.  It’s a transitional year for NBC, Jay happened last December, didn’t want to lose Jay or Conan, wanted comedy to counter the crime/dramas on the other networks, this was the solution.  Impact on local news, everyone is down in the 11pm slot:  CBS 10%, ABC 11%, NBC 12%. / Higher CPMs with more targeted audiences, still need to aggregate eyeballs.  / Cable model is robust, subscriber base is there, free TV syndication not, cash license fees on barter, 30 Rock syndication all barter whereas The Office years ago was all cash.  / We’ve been guilty of derivative reality shows like everyone else.  Looking for next big tent pole watercooler reality show, not drama, comedy or next ABT, Biggest Loser.  Something fresh.  (Marc Graboff, NBCU also delivered EPPS Keynote later in the conference:  http://www.mobilizedtv.com/nbc-entertainments-marc-graboff-keynotes-at-digital-hollywood) Advertising scatter market strong sell in the last minute, % held back from summer upfronts.  For many years we were #1, not fun being #4, great projects in development with Bruckheimer, Abrams.  On the right path creatively.  ABC was #4 for awhile now ahead with Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey, CBS Survivor, CSI, Fox has Idol.  NBC wants a big fat reality shows that drives 20mm+ viewers an episode into the network.  NBC has its brand of comedies 30Rock, The Office.  Want a quality drama in the aftermarket.  A million great ideas, it’s in the execution.  Partnering with experienced  showrunners who can deliver 22 episodes of quality TV year after year.  / Branded entertainment – Bud Golden Wheat sponsored entire SNL episode and there were 9 minutes less commercials as a result.  Harkens back to Texaco Star Theater.  Product integration can’t compensate for loss of 30 second spots.  12-15% decline in upfronts will never recover.  Biggest shift in ad spending is from TV to cable.  Don’t know if it will ever come back.  Luckily NBC is in both.  TV is still the best way for big reach, mass audience – Olympics, Superbowl, 25mm weekly watercooler show.  Making shows available online has been additive, not cannibalizing.  Most avid viewers only watch half the episode.  Online gives a chance to catch up. And a chance to sample to other shows like Dexter.  The Office came alive on iTunes and made it a hit.  ABC.com, NBC.com, Fox.com stream online first before there was a Hulu, Hulu was the answer to piracy.  Safe legal environment to stream shows, not bootlegged rough cuts.  Hulu 4th most trafficked site.  Now its bolstering its economics. TV windows are collapsing, not watching Mash by default anymore because there is nothing else on.  No middle class anymore, hit tv drives revenue. Hits like Seinfeld will survive collapsing of windows.  Twitter and the blogs great place for instantaneous feedback, can’t control messaging, word of thumb.  Twitter killed Bruno, made Paranormal.  Glee @ Fox hit show because of tweeters, released pilot early.  Some tweeters are from the networks, plenty of that goes on.  Rebecca Marks at NBC culls social media on NBCU execs and shows.  Have to treat bloggers as journalists.

Mark Koops, Reveille
The Office the first season didn’t have the biggest ratings, but it did well for the network and they supported Greg Daniels with press, promotion, marketing, not telling him how to write a script. / Would have loved to have had Millionaire, the first $B failure continues to live on in syndication as a $B franchise.  / Talking about the cycle model, Biggest Loser took 2 cycles to increase ratings, now attracting marketing partners and advertisers on a more consistent basis, high-end sponsors:  Subway, General Mills integrations.. The only one showing up to watch Project Runway in the beginning was Laura Zalaznick.  / People turn up and watch The Biggest Loser and The Office because they know when its on, when you move the time slot the message to the audience is forget it.  / Mercy great scripted show on NBC, well cast, well written series, hope they stick with it.  / When you watch 24, you know you’re getting 24 original episodes, no more 3 originals with a repeat a week, with Biggest Loser (Tu you know you’re getting 32 weeks of original programming.  / House business model works, control cost of it, powerful storytelling.

John Landgraf, FX Networks
Don’t have a huge slate, 11 scripted series, still read every script, watch every rough cut.  Creative stuff is fragile, need to baby it and nurture it in its infancy til its grows to be a robust adult.  / Damages viewing is up 80% from DVR but don’t get paid for it.  Nielsen needs to be revamped, follow viewers where they are, FOD cable partners cant track it and sell it, as viewing experience changes, measurement needs to chance too.  Now viewing over weeks and months, not over 3 days.  / Knowing when show has reached its potential, this is the last season of The Shield (Th 9)/ Seinfeld was an acquired taste, an unusual show leading 25mm into it./Now when we market to live-only viewer, make it an event for the viewer.  They know FX will repeat it or can catch up on iTunes or VOD but they’ll never get back to it, a decision delayed is never made, need to eventize and market the show. / Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Th 10) is a hit show after 5 years, up 70% in ratings.  FX is not a network known for comedy, model is about less expensive shows perhaps taking a loss on the first run, but having patience to to grow it 5 years and turn it into a compelling product.  FX owns Sunny, and took it off of Hulu to make it available for DVDs and syndication.  Damages value to leave it up forever.  But Hulu helps with discovery of previously obscureshow, wasn’t originally in heralded group of comedies, Hulu elevated it.  At first made all 50 episodes available to find audience.  The Hulu ecosystem even with a hybrid of ads and subs can’t replace linear airing to DVD to syndication, need to protect ability to create hits or don’t have a business. / FX caters to a yunger generation, but no one really knows who is watching, multiscreen challenge of tracking elsewhere, STB data not accurate. /Audience is not as attached to big ticket, The Shield and Sons of Anarchy have proved you can stick to your overall budget.  If changed production value on 24 audiences would notice, needs to be the same storytelling, intimacy of characters in the bedroom, less car chases, explosions. / Every network needs a healthy balance, look what Idol did for House/ Look How I Met Your Mother, a single camera sitcom with no middle, no buzz, is going strong thanks to Neil Patrick Harris as the breakout star. / Want 100 episodes, when you get to 80, you’re in good shape.

Dana Walden, 20th Century Fox Television
Can’t have a mid-level hit get to 4 seasons anymore, need to have a property people want to watch again for a viable DVD, syndication, international, EST and digital platform business.  Depressing when you get a bad time slot.  Joruneymen – highest testing pilot since 24, plum time period after Heroes, no longer enough, see it with Lie to Me, got best time period, best audience, audience found clicker and its premeired poorly.  Arrested Development was ahead of its time, sure Fox would love it on air now.  FBC didn’t have right fit for it, it was a bit narrow. / Big hit in the ratings:  Sons of Anarchy, successful 13 episode oder international and home entertainment, big eventized shows on lesser orders/  Its not one size fits all, need to be facile, business changing quickly, don’t want to burn out new revenue streams / X Files released favorite episodes in one million different ways, consumers will pay for cult shows/ Talking end of life – Ideally you want a show that is highly serialized but not episodic like Law & Order with an outstanding cast. For a show like Prison Break, how many prisons can they break from, if you try to stretch beyond its limits you creatively hurt the show long term, that incredibly bad ending memory of an asset in its afterlife of syndication, etc.. Prison Break is hugely lucrative DVD, International people want to collect it, own it. / DVRs make it hard to monetize videos. / We have two great shows:  Glee and Modern Family, and the luck of them being scheduled against each other.  Miss one, watch the other the next day on Hulu. We support Hulu and are part of NewsCorp which has an equity interest in Hulu but it’s personally challenging to have shows available so quick after airing.  The priority is to watch on air, then watch completed master in living room via Hulu, better than bootleg.  / Meanwhile in the past 2 years cost of production has escalated out of whack.  Need to make changes.

Mike Farah, Funny or Die
Specializing in celebrity content (Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy, Neil Patrick Harris, Mandy Moore, Christopher Lloyd, Renee Romjin..).  No celebrities are compensated for FOD, can’t pay for content but video producers can insert their own pre-rolls, FOD has ads on the site, brands buy into the entire slate, higher end productions that get seen, free publicity, cheap effective celebrity content shot on short notice, not much to crack the code, look for quality and quantity for good diversions from work, training ground for UCB groundlings, hands-on uber-control, cost effective,

Mike Polk, Break.com
Known for nutcake videos, skateboard stunts, rodeo donkey, whatever is entertaining for millennial men, try not to turn off advertisers.  Site has series and one-offs. Branded content for Cheetos, Mountain Dew.  Produced hilarious video:  Cleveland, II.

Josh Spector,Comedy.com
4mm monthly uniques, now a guide to what’s funny right now.

Maria Kermath, ATT Interactive
Rebranding Yellow Pages for those born after 1977: Have to Eat, Drink, Snack, Pee.

David Zucker, Secret Secret Service, Airplane, Scary Movie..
Brand is zany comedy laugh-out-loud spoof.  Movies are in Oscar-free zone, get joke onscreen.  Shooting in HD – makeup has to be better.  Like to make people laugh, target audience is 4-11y, slapstick humor.  Classic 70s film aesthetic embracing new tools, with pre-vis make movie before you get to the set so you can show cast and crew what you are thinking of before they perform it.  Remaking Kentucky Fried Movie. Airplane didn’t lend itself to being a franchise but Paramount wanted a franchise. Naked Gun by contrast lent itself to unlimited adventures.  Uncomfortable doing R films, for brand of slapstick want to take it down to PG.  Mentors – Frank Wells, USC Film School, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ted Turner, Weinsteins.

Brett Ratner, Beverly Hills Cop IV, X-Men
Billion dollar director known for Rush Hour Trilogy grossed $800mm worldwide. Brand is action thriller but tastes are eclectic.  Would like to make a ronatic fantasy film too.  Old school, stuck on film, not embracing digital yet.   Likes Canon better than Red.  Spielberg said Dreamworks sends list of top 50 YouTube videos a month.  Hollywood is looking or fourth quadrant – fun, family-oriented films.   Paranormal Activity  incredible film – huge box office like Blair Witch, it’s all anyone is talking about.  Also use pre-vis to show actors and crew how to move Golden Gate Bridge in Xmen, all action sequences were animated.  Mentors:  NYU professor, Dino de Laurentiis, Bob Evans “The Kid Stays in the Picture.”

Bob Osher, Columbia Pictures
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs just hit $100mm mark.  Brand is good stories with good characters well told. Character driven even when its for kids.  New kids every 7 years.  Don’t want to have a studio style, want it to feel fresh and original.  Animated films rely on A-list talent voices for marketing.  Pixar uses shorts program to develop young directorial talent.  Sony too.  Sony Imageworks 3D pre-vis tools allows for real-time re-rendering so we only animate what we’re going to use.  Even show pre-vis to marketing team.  Proprietary right now but soon enough will be a tool on Apple for 9y to use.

Ondi Timoner, We Live in Public, Dig! (Sundance winners)
Big Brother is not one man, rather Big Brother is our collective consciouness.  Internet is so insidious, technology is alienating, humans have a desire not to be alone, to go off the grid and have live experiences.  When born, the cord is cut, and we spend the rest of our lives reconnecting.  Secured all music rights in perpetuity for We Live In Public including track from Spoon, all music is on DVD. Oscar-qualified – abiding by windows – scheduled invitation-only screenings online.

Josh Harris, Wired City
Serial entrepreneur that proved early has little to do with sustained success.  Fan of Truman Show, edges between real and virtual, in 5 years it will all be on. Founder of Jupiter Communications, created chat for Prodigy, worth $80mm, blew it all on excesses of next ventures, escaped to Ethiopia during dot com bomb, festival circuit resurrected him, now living in pool house of Jason Calacanis, Mahalo.com, repped by WME, pitching Wired City, a competitive celeb-reality multiplatform game show.  In LA to learn how to do reality at scale with partners like Endemol, Reveille, Fremantle.  Maybe he’s got the next Intervention for Rob Sharenow, A&E.  We Live in Public Show in the 90s had an engaged online community of 1,000 – small even for niche.

Jeffrey Gordon, Writers Boot Camp
Email, texting, listmaking is writing.  5 story components:  main character, dynamic character, third party opponent, adventure, genre.  Beat out beginning middle end.  Write first draft quickly.  Need progressive dredge material.  Don’t quit day job to write.  Can do it PT, 10hr/wk, 6 months.  Too much free time not good for writers, writers need experience to make it more lyrical.  Plot needs to be character driven to care.  Talked about Ylse.com, high production value not easily monetizable.  See portals as marketing vehicles, companion websites to define and extend brand.    Don’t have to write a tentpole  franchise to be successful.  High concept romantic comedy is hot, action adventure fantasy and supernatural thrillers.  Seek sponsors, sell $100 ads/month to 10 people, or create content for other brands.

Kevin Yen, YouTube
Topped 10B video streams in April.  For $5-10/day buy search keywords to rise above the din on YouTube, allows you to put your video right in front of the person searching for it.  Not interested in being a gatekeeper, it’s becoming harder to tell the difference between UGC and premium.  Rightsholder should max rev from consumption of content.

Russ Schafer, Yahoo! Connected TV
Right now SDK is invite-only.  Public post CES, 1Q10.  Just had web/mobile/tv developers conference in NYC.  Everyone in household has their own personalized dock.  NBC widget allows for relevant personal ads, only serve stuff relevant to you, profile makes it a more personal experience.  In time, allow different economic models – pick shows a la carte or by subscription, all models can coexist.

Jared Tobman, Reveille
Reveille making money with branded entertainment, activate people around an idea, not a shill or product placement.  Promotion is the metric that drives success. Guarantee distributions when ad-supported with paid promotion.  CPA ads.  What percent of digital copies can be monetized depends on convenience, quality, immediacy – people will pay different amounts.  Better ways online than the 30 second spot you can TiVo passed.  Leverage talent across distribution channels, bring known quality online.  YouTube will build a model for reach and frequency, get redistributed in viral marketplaces and make viral video monetizable.  TV Everywhere is walled garden.

Keith Quinn, Paramount Pictures
Product strategy – hybrid of transactional and ad-supported.  Dr. Horrible was available for free on Hulu and paid on iTunes at same time, and people bought it.  Choice for consumers is good.  Windows breaking down in distribution.  A brand cuts above clutter.  Top 3 iPhone apps are brands.  Social networks are a great place to launch, mass opinion, curation from friends.  Add in microtransactions, FB will be pretty powerful.  $30-40mm made on Paranormal.  5-6 of iTunes Top 100 are cover tunes or mashups from Glee.  Journey is in the Top 100 because of Glee.

Jessica Schell, NBCU
Social media is incredibly important now, viral marketing complements reduced budgets, need it to get bigger audiences, making it portable to enable fans to share with networks, talent on shows engage fans and viewers, have that direct connection, bringing community onto NBC sites.  Go to NBC.com, USAnetwork.com for the network brand, go to Bravo, Sy Fy, USA for the show brand.  Loves FB Connect!  Port identity around web with you, warm welcome, when want a deeper experience with the show, notion of portable community, you can see your friends from FB when you show up on NBC sites, shows up on feed, lowers barriers to entry, no need to reenter information and create new profile.  Seek great tech partners via Peacock Equity Fund like EveryZing voice to text SEO product makes live TV searchable, provides transcript.  Moving beyond metadata to real-time data, valuable for an unscripted show like CNBC where you don’t know what they’ll talk about ahead of time, huge library of clips.    You don’t see a lot of cable content on Hulu, more braodcast content, TV Everywhere will have to figure out how to protect dual revenue streams for content producers.  Still early days, need to be a business model to support premium content without watching 5x the ads.  Kindle opens new revenue streams for content producers.

Kenneth Hertz, Goldring Hertz & Lichtenstein LLP
FB connect powerful platform, increased Jib Jab’s transaction flow.  Web levels playing field to get content to market but its the tyranny of transparency, content still has to be great: U2/BB didn’t move the needle on record sales.  Paramount’s Pranormal #3 watershed, went direct to consumers.  FB 80mm US, 266mm WW in 2 years.  Can’t launch new content widely in walled garden.  Gatekeepers were all about shelf space, challenge now is discoverability, how to get marketing and promotion to rise above the din.  How does good content find audience to be monetized.  Hulu earned $120mm, no profit.  Market is $100B in US.

Felicia Day, The Guild
Loves sponsors and are transparent with fans whereas McFlurry on 30 Rock seemed very sneaky, not sure whether it was paid product placement or not.  Become sensitized to it.  Prefer pre-roll, more honest.

John Fasano, Woke Up Dead
Have no problem with integration only wish Kodak wouldn’t have taken cameras back.

Michael Oates Palmer, West Wing
Mad Men genius at making product placement feel organic to story.

Eric Berger, Sony Pictures Television
Go where customers are, set up branded environments, embed video player on YouTube, provide DRM, control the user experience, incubating shows online.  Angel of Death went on to SpikeTV, DVD, put through pilot program online.  Crackle has 150 movies, classics, dip in dip out strips, take advantage of windows where content wasn’t monetized before, minisodes keep the story arc beginning, middle, end but super condensed, using the web to unlock library value.  Started partnership with What the Buck, has 25y under young female audience.  Doing well with $4-5/movie rentals on Sprint.  PPV does millions.  In mobile there is a willingness to pay, ringtone wallpaper, subscription movie service.

Neil Tiles, G4
G4 is owned by Comcast, 5-6y old.  Not highest rated in network space, niche.  Different programming tv to web.  Need to protect cable source of revenue.  From a scripted standpoint, web enhanced tv experience, partner with Stickam to bring in viewers, live to itneract with guests, talents.  Why does Discovery have Cash Cab? Has little to do with the brand.  Dynamic ad insertion tool help advertisers find the people amidst theis fragmented media.  Difficult time to plan because we don’t know what platform is next.  Can’t pull full shows online.   Rights issue.  Np presence in full episodes based on deal structure.  Force Hulu to put some free content behind paywall.  Comcast cable ops win writing checks to G4.  Bud TV sucked, BK doing it right.  Microtransaction is so key.  iPhone is conditioning people to do it.  Dialing 411 was a microtransaction.

Sab Kanaujia, NBCU
Solution is to aggregate eyeballs on the backend in order for the content to go everywhere. Seamless to the audience.  Valuable analytics to advertisers.  Get more uniques with distributed widgets, than on destination website.  Top Chef or Heroes widgets, deliver ads against them.  Mobile is different than web or tv, need to create content from scratch.  Value of compelling storytelling not going away, reaggregation is a huge issue in industry now.  Mass media has been dead for years except tentpoles like the Superbowl.  Need to reach out to one individual at a time.  85% sold out on video network, the rest sold through remnant ad network, other through bundled ad buys.  User authentication via TV Everywhere will lead to higher CPMs.  People will pay for gret content, microtransactions let you pay where you consume.  Watch FB, people will pay for what they like.   (Average cable home watches 15 channels, brands are comfortable knowing what they’re going on which is why soap opera model worked for so long, brands haven’t really migrated yet.)

Albie Hecht, Worldwide Biggies
Kids & Family animations, winner of two Oscars, launch, iterate, find audience, leverage to new media, 30% are kids under 3y.  30% of iPhones are sold to kids under 17y.  Going from web to inanimate objects, connected toy biz will be huge.  Manipulate action figure watch it onscreen.  Toys are a new medium.  Youth oriented virtual worlds interaction with real world action figure.  Future is interoperability of avatars, take monkey to another world with wallet and status.  Hybrid models:  media sponsorship, subscriptions, per use, micropayments, distributed hosted economies, gifts, apps, casual mmo, VW, if the digital wallet is easy to use, people will pay more.

Greg Goodfried, EQAL
Lawyer by background, partner is doctor, financed start of EQAL.  TMZ started online as a totally different production.  Need to treat mediums different in content creation business.  New platform:  UMBRELLA low cost monthly subscription, currently in beta, enables content producers to publish to website and simultaneously post it everywhere.  Arrington is the voice of TechCrunch so there is a huge added benefit to go back to the site.  Hub + Spoke approach.  Content can go everywhere with ads baked in. Paula Deen established broad style guide, brand look, rules across properties.  Umbrella will allow a blogger with a Flip who gets millions of views to make money with ads served.

Danae Ringelman, IndieGoGo, @gogodanae
Helps artists do it with others, provides free online audience-building tools.  Offer DIWO Live every Friday at Noon, a free conference call to ask questions.  Internet gives filmmakers direct access to fans, 1B WW, finance with crowdfunding, use the festival circuit as launchpad (bring DVDs, merchandise, take advantage of publicity), be everywhere your customers are, savvy sm outreach, Ted Hope’s power of $1, provides market validation, increases chance of pick up.  Participatory culture-offer value and incentives, know the basics: audience sizing, ID comps, production vs P&A, start now, production is the new promotion, capture emails, identify assets, VIP perks, post web presence, create pitch clip, determine trailer strategy, cross-platform engagement with audience, have a dialogue – ask questions, run a poll.  Engage audience via website, blog/rss, email, reaching out to bloggers, influencers, orgs, FB, MySpace, Twitter, Stumble, Digg, widgets, house parties, festivals, ask fans to request screenings.  Theatrical distribution:  Festivals, Fathom.  DVD/VOD – CreateSpace, NeoFlix, DiscMakers.  Online Aggregators – New Video, Cinetic, Indieflix, Film baby. Josh Kornbluth (Haiku Tunnel) using IndieGoGo to raise $15,000 for Love & Taxes.  Video sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, Metacafe, Revver.., Analytics:  TubeMogul, YouTube Insight Tracking Tool, FB, MySpace, Bebo, hi5, Twitter, Digg, Yahoo Buzz!  Email:  Vertical Response, Constant Contact, iContact.  Influencer search tools:  Technorati, Blogger.  Use Google alerts to track buzz.  Press: HelpaReporterOut.com.  Daily reads:  www.indiegogo.com/blog, www.workbookproject.com, cinematech.blogspot.com, www.peterbroderick.com, www.indiewire.com, www.kk.org/thetechnium.  Lance Weiler’s $8000 film grossed over $4mm.

Matt Tyrnauer, Valentino
Clips posted on IDA, www.documentary.org.  Couldn’t have been made with film. Needed a small unobstructive camera for small friend to stand with under desk with boom to allow for intimate conversations.  Has done $1.7-2mm theatrically in NA over a 6m run.  Got a seven figure guarantee at TIFF.  Platform release in 4 cities DIY classic model, #1 grossing film for three frames for 3w in a room.  $1.2mm production + legal fees, flying crew from NYC to Italy, dress code, glamour crew, spent on helicopter to get a beauty shot of yacht.  Expected ancillaries to be everything – intl audience, DVD.  Don’t cut too deeply, spend if you think it will help you.  Niche: nationwide sewing groups, marauding hoards of midwestern ladies.  Valentino has 6 pugs, another niche film appealed to.

Courtney Sexton, Participant Productions
Food, Inc., The Soloist, The Informant.  Have social action teams to promote film.  Deal with Magnolia.  Often use filmmaker as celebrity.  Need a powerful sizzle reel.  Twitter was a huge part of Food,Inc.

Rebecca Yeldham, Anvil
LAFF director.  Shooting on video was a revelation.  Amazing what you can catch when you’re not thinknig ca-ching!  Not obsessed accumulating hundreds of hours of footage.  Forged connection with Digital Domains to find audience for film.  When Anvil presented at Sundance in 2008 docs were declared dead.  All art houses had folded.  Now market is alive again.  Had to convince people it wasn’t about heavy metal, but about friendship, not letting others define you, and never giving up on a dream.  Devastated after Sundance, had Lips and Robb Reiner as assets and wonderful director Sahca Gervasi.  Had to wait 8m til TIFF.  Became festival sluts because team was dying, incredible experience at LAFF, gave DVDs away to tweeting talent, generated enormous buzz.  VH1 executive saw it in Prague, fell in love with it, got sizable six figures, film was self-financed.  Screened for specialty divisions, spent a week at Angelika.  42 West excellent publicity.  Every attendee became a walking ad.  Reviews reverbed.  Fertile year cultivating word of mouth.  150 cities, still screening. Anvil was on Conan 2weeks ago, opened for AC/DC at Giants Stadium.  Doing a 40 city tour in January where the band does 3 songs at the end of the film, eventizing the screening, calling it the Anvil Experience.  Keep production costs as low as possible without compromising aesthetic, $300-400,000 doc budget for a 90min feature.  Epic quality not inexpensive.  But the lower it goes the better chance for upside.

Marina Zenovich, Polanski:  Wanted and Desired
Emmy-nominated.  Every film has its sotry, took 5y tomake, sold to HBO and Think at Sundance, Weinstein for international.  Think is now defunct.  HBO did a great job.  Conscious decision not to go theatrical.  Needed to pay back investors.  Had a small theatrical just to expeience it on the big screen.  Tragic brilliant historic figure, a holocaust survivor, called a malignanttwited dwarf, perfect villian, made big money, famous, controversial, legacy of wife’s murder behind him.  Must have interesting characters or its boring.  Not all films are meant to be theatrical.  Gets as much content as money.  When the topic is controversial, not many want to take the risk.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy, The Garden
Oscar-nominated, always retain rights to sell DVDs, have them at first screening, $25. Need strong story every step of the way.

David Gale, MTV
Not a golden age of anything, we’re at the dawn of the digital media revolution.  Last piece in the puzzle is distribution.  Amazed at the pitchfest, everyone had something worthwhile, democratization of media, for the longest time the hollywood gates were shut, now allowing people with true talent to get in.  Seeing new talent hadn’t seen before, more willing to take a chance, it’s not the same level risk at issue, question now is how to create a sustainable business.

David Tochterman, Versatility Media
Fuuny or Die just sold a show to HBO commercial cable.  Kold Kast, Warner 2.0, 15 gigs, Babelgum.  Longer episodes with mainstream extensions.  Guild, Dr. Horrible, Secret Girlfriend.  Revision 3 is now on Roku.  Funding, Audience, Metrics, Revenue.  Katalyst HQ and NBCU’s Community debuted on FB to large audiences.

George Ruiz, ICM
Atom, Crackle, Paramount, Revision3, Next New Networks, Microsoft are all paying for content. Big fan of Roku, interesting way to get content into the living room.  Seek talent with significant online followings.  The Guild was a great script targeted to a large online audience of gamers.  Also represent  Amber Mac, Girls Go Geek on Xbox LIVE, and Hoodlum, won Emmy for ABC Lost companion.

Justine Bateman, fm78.tv
20 scripts in development and were in talks with many brands including P&G and IBM, distribution partners including Hulu and blip.tv, but not CBS TV.com yet. Spend little, don’t incur overhead, don’t pay salary, completely mobile, do own PR.   Started studio during the writers strike when traditional distribution bottomed out as a workaround.  Creating something magical, know many directors, actors, formed many partnerships to monetize online web series.  Present sponsors with an ROI spreadsheet showing them the economic value of celebrity, ability to draw traditional press vs. how much that would cost as a half-page ad in People, a cover is priceless, you can’t buy the cover, what’s the reach 56mm people, a 15 minute spot on Letterman vs. how much a TV spot costs, $.64mm value for example, what the sponsor gets for their money, how they can reach their targeted demographic.  On finding sponsors:  Got in a room with Digitas, they liked what we were doing, met P&G and IBM on a panel.  When Nestle at the doorstep said I’m not carrying you over the threshold, we went to Candy Convention and met brand managers for Mars.  Had good luck with cold-calling CMOs and CEOs, chatting them up.   A TV show without promotion doesn’t work.  People won’t mistakenly stumble upon your hub url.  It’s a joke that the basis for the industry’s currency, the Nielsen ratings are determined by a poll.

Kim Evey, The Guild
The Guild owns IP, Microsoft has exclusive window, using New Video for other windows as well as Amazon, YouTube.   Microsoft profited day one from The Guild.  When Felicia goes on Jimmy Fallon she always thanks her sponsors MS, AMazon, Sprint.  They find it very thoughtful of her, that she values the business relationship.   Date My Avatar made it to #1 both on iTunes and Amazon with George and Kim on Twitter egging on 1.5mm fans – we’re at #2 let’s get it to #1, and a Josh Whedon blog post helped too.  When needed a retail store to line up in front of for a shoot, the natural choice was Game Stop, approached them and said what’s it worth to yo and they paid a fee for the integration and let them shoot in a shop.   Thanked them by showing it at Comic-Con in front of tweeting passionate eyeballs.

Paul Kotonis, For Your Imagination
Aggregators are the only ones that make money from CPM, not producers.  Not all views are created equal, a view from The Guild is not counted the same as a Rev3 view or YouTube view.  When does it count, 15 sec into it, 100% viewed, what about auto-play.  Have no idea what rate of completion is on YouTube.  Views don’t equal people.   (Edelman – Use media buys to drive views and engagement back to online, success metrics are is consumer making connection to brand.  ManiaTV – Need 1000 shows online to get critical mass online, need a quantity of programming)

Amber J Lawson, Babelgum
Where frat boy comedy ends, and evolved hipster comedy begins, political, timely, topical, female, sci-fi, celebrity, animation.  Looking to acquire content with brilliant concepts from producers with proven track record of building loyal audiences.

Kate Neligan, Lionsgate
Mobile messaging movies, can pre-order for TV.  Factor in budget for niche title to market home video, go to Ning, Fear.net for reach.  When it goes FOD (free video on demand) the advertising is entertainment.  Connected TV provides more on demand orders.  Stuff virally via Comcast VOD, push iTunes, Xbox in digital space, MOD focuses on the customer instead of blockbuster, not just push title but include platform.  FiOS widgets – what’s hot on demand, DirecTV apps.  From a PR perspective, have to drop content in and let fans use it the way they want to. Don’t know what the next best thing is.  It’s about listening, and putting stuff out there.  Try to influence and immerse, let them move it for you.

Gary G-Wiz, Public Enemy
Raised over $50,000 from fans for new album with the fan funding engine, www.SellABand.com. Aiming for $250,000 by end of year.  Artist direct to fan platform.  Like to see advances in media like ringtone consumption, IMAX – can’t be pirated, have to go to the theater to experience it.

Julie Supan, Ning
Ellentv.com, TwilightSaga.com is on Ning.    180,000 organize fan movements on Ning.  Incorporating game mechanics into platform, connect more emotionally in publicity campaigns, watch for virtual gifting, looking at Nokia feature phones, iPhone is only 10% of the market and on the high end.

Thomas Hughes, MGM
42000 little movies, 10000 hours of television.  Bullish on the space.  Aggressively distributing libraries in FOD, mobile, EST, can experiment more with deeper library titles.  Also heads up clip and still licensing.  Had a great summer with FOD.  Fall is tougher because new episodes are back.   Don’t oversee DVDs.  Stargate saw very little erosion in EST (iTunes) when added FOD (Hulu). People that want to own still download.  FOD is a supportive platform of EST.

Adam Powers, Rovi
Young guys 18-34y have a sense of adventure to play around with the technology which is why they tend to be early adopters.  (90% doing 5% of clickthroughs per emarketer). Current navigation by time and channel is clunky.  Rovi, formerly Macrovision which owns TV Guide, throws away the grid for global search based on name of show.  Total Guide will allow for better STB measurement of online and cable/broadcast content.  $3B investment.

Eric Gould Bear, Monkey Media
Seamless contraction, expansion technology, reduces amount of material needed on DVD for versioning.  1991 Apple shipped QT, 1993 NCSA shipped Mosaic, 1997 Toshiba shipped first DVD player in US, MS acquires WebTV, 1999 TiVo shipped first DVR, Matrix first DVD got people to buy DVD players, 2001 TiVo announced telescopic advertising, 2006 Samsung shipped Blu-Ray, 2008 Tru-Two Way, Comcast TiVo DVRs.  Build affinity within the context of the program.  Interactive advertising will drive functionality of the boxes.  (Right now it’s so clunky that by the time you buy the sweater the show is over, UK has the red button for interactivity.)

Geoff Katz, ATAS Interactive Emmy Winners
(metric of FB fun, $4 value of one fan)
- Stephen Andrade, NBC, SNL, Jimmy Fallon, The Office, 30 Rock
- Lisa Hsia, Bravo Digital Media, Top Chef
- Michael Benson, ABC, Lost (Flash Forward FB app)
(Alison Moore, HBO Voyeur)

Josh Weltman, Mad Men
Ad consultant that sits in writers room to make sure agency work is accurate, products integrated into story, some exist, some are made up.  Don’t know which are actual deals, not told, church/state, brands have no approval on how portrayed in storyline, everything is beholdent to the story, second season seeing more flexible brands.  Knows what brands want and how to integrate them to maintain integrity of brand and story.

Mark Ely, Sonic Solutions/CinemaNow
Understanding platform payment pain threshold.  Windows digital distribution EST, VOD, rethinking how to merchandise content, 10,000 sme free, portability is key, android app, iPhone app in development, not on PS3, Xbox or US Wii but on Wii in Japan.

Jason Rubenstein, Redbox
Movies are only 1% of video consumed on internet.  Windows collapsing won’t happen overnight.  Millions opt-in for email/zip code, double digit open rate, $1 a day DVDs, can reserve DVDs, return to any box, working on 30 second digital download on SD card.  Goes anywhere, don’t have to return it.  won’t always be a kiosk play,

Doug Sylvester, Avail-TVN
Fear of piracy causing the collapsing of international windows, used to be 6m or 1y, now same as domestic, but still need to pony up larger guarantee for earlier window. (60% watch 10-15 channels)

Ted Mundorff, Landmark Theaters
Some festivals are markets.  Game has changed, no one wants to make a film deal first time seen at festival.  Filmmaker needs to be patient.  Can always get someone to release it but can’t always get someone to market it.

Laura Kim, I Wake Up Screening
Theatrical marketing for NatGeo.  Was at Warner Independent, spent 18 years at Sundance, TIFF, Cannes, EFM, Telluride (since 1992-3).  Sundance is not hte best for business, 99% come back with no distribution.  Love LAFF, buyers, filmmakers well treated.  Slumdog world premiered at Telluride, great word of mouth festival, curatorial process makes it prestigious but little business is done. Sundance can be very expensive.  LAFF body of films are a joy.  World premieres balanced with audience satisfaction.  Want to show film with engaging filmmaker who will win you over.  Sometimes with the festivals its better to be highlighted than spotlighted.  Be generous with screeners, make it as easy as possible for buyers.  They buy because of critics not buzz, too risky otherwise.

Amy McGee, Sundance Institute
Most filmmakers feel they have made it if they show at Sundance.  Mission is to support the artist beyond the 10 days throughout the year with distribution opportunities.

Rebecca Yeldham, LAFF
Anvil was the centerpiece of LAFF last year.  Premiered, played teh Ford Amphitheatre, connective tissue betwen the industry, filmmakers and audience.  Hone identity of festival – balance blockbusters with experimental.  LAFF is LA’s secret treasure, largest festival in LA to a different level of prominence.  Sundance is a rapturous experience, programming from the heart.  Was at Sundance, doesn’t bow to industry.  Days of 7 figure offers are gone.  With 5000 submissions, surely you miss stuff.   In LA, the festival experience has to be compelling enough to get everyone off the sofa.  Not a destination like Sundance.  They live and work in this town.

Sharon Swart, Variety
Covers the markets – Cannes, EFM (market/fests), AFM (killed Mifed)  LA is a company town, Cannes is arty, less pictures.  TIFF is a defacto market for press, oversees buyers and sellers.  There used to be a stigma 5-6y ago direct to VOD but no longer.

Rooftop Comedy, MGM, Fox…
http://www.mobilizedtv.com/marketing-hollywood-cross-platform-branding
http://www.mobilizedtv.com/digital-holllywood-discussing-broadband-content

International Academy of Web Television
In addition to all that was going on at Digital Hollywood there was also the inaugural meeting of the IAWTV.  Festively gathered were Felicia Day of The Guild, Ned Cantu of NYTVF, Tim Street of French Maid TV, George Ruiz of ICM, Dina Kaplan, of blip.tv, Drew Baldwin of Tubefilter, Jim Louderback of Revision 3 (releasing first scripted comedy series, Web Zeroes), Justine Bateman and Dominik Rausch of Easy to Assemble and many others.  The IAWTV is putting a call out to grow its 100+ membership to better process Streamys submissions, 100,000+ were submitted for 2009.  Dues are free through 2008, $90 for 2010, benefits include peer groups, voting, tickets, directory listing, industry events discounts, job listings, newsletter..  2010 Streamys tentatively set for April 11, venue TBA.  (1300 attended the first at the Wadsworth Theater.)  Next meeting is at NATPE in Vegas.  For membership details, email membership@iawtv.org or visit www.iawtv.org. Here’s video from the follow-on Hollywood Web Television Meetup: www.stickam.com/tubefilter.

Perhaps the coolest link ever posted here: TONE MATRIX.

Favorite headline of the day: Balloon boy’s father ‘wanted TV fame before the world ends in 2012.’ I think he got it.

Solar system’s edge surprises astronomers.

Just the most awesome wolf picture ever.

Though this wolf picture is pretty awesome too.

(though it’s probably not a wolf, but whatever.)

40+ lurid, bizarre science fiction dream sequences.

Brett Ratner and the paraplegic sex encounters that are personal to him.

Cop sees aliens at a crop circle.

J.J. Abrams on the coincidences and logical problems of his Star Trek.

Iran and Israel attend secret meeting in Cairo about a nuclear-free middle east.

from here.

Study says: Humans are still evolving.

30 years of Social Distortion.

Your favorite landmarks as planets.

I’m kind of digging the new trailer for The Wolfman remake.

Church denounces African children as witches.

Let’s get a bunch of bees, and a bunch of cocaine, and…

See how few missions to Mars actually succeeded.

“Do you remember that time when you were the girl from Mars?”

Abusive rabbi to be extradited to Israel.

ESPN and sexual depravity.

WTF is dairy drink?

The trailer for AMC’s remake of The Prisoner.

Hyperreality and The Real.

Where will NASA send astronauts next?

“She thinks she missed the train from Mars, she’s out back counting stars.”

You could be swingin’ on a star…

Janeen Mansour and Morgan Freeman at Noble Awards

The First Annual Noble Awards

The event honored Morgan  Freeman – Lifetime  Achievement Award

A Star-Studded Night For First Annual Noble Awards

“It was a successful night, everyone who contributed and participated in the event came away with a warm feeling in their heart,” said Creator and Founder Janeen Mansour of The Noble Awards, held (Sunday, October 18^th) at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the first awards show, and he himself was also honored for his dedication as a board member and hustling fundraiser for the Lollipop Theater Network. They bring magic and movies currently in theaters to children confiened to hospitals nationwide due to chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

The event honored  Morgan Freeman with a Lifetime Achievement Award and dozen other celebs received recognition and a Noble Award for charity work.

Despite being a little under the weather for running a Trianthalon in the name of charity Terri Hatcher accepted her award from Actor James Denton, America’s favorite plummer also on Desperate Housewives.

Other celebs included  Norman Lear,  Lionel Richie, Laila Ali, Nancy O’Dell, Joel  Madden, Brett Ratner, Kenny Babyface  Edmonds, and Annalynne McCord. There  were some surprises, too like America’s  Got Talent Nick Cannon as one of the presenters.

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

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too.-

The first awards show came off without a hitch and the live music performances enhanced an inspiration evening. It was an evening of entertainment and celebration that honors charities, celebrities and the tremendous work that they do.

‘This event and movement should inspire the next generation to be noble throughout their lives,” said Mansour.

One of the highlights of the musical performance that brought the house down was Monica, introduced by Bill Bush. Born and raised in Atlanta, Monica Denise Arnold is a talented R&B / pop singer, songwriter and actress.  She became the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Both songs from her three-times-platinum debut, “Miss Thang,” topped the Hot 100 chart and sold one million copies each. In 1998,

“The Boy Is Mine” was released and had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles. The title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts and eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Additionally, the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards.

The inaugural NOBLE AWARDS event, produced on behalf of the non-profit Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a 501c3, has a mission to unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, philanthropists, media and every day citizens to create
an effective forum for change and service.

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performaned live at the Noble Awards show.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs. Giving and charity are very important to Emily and a portion of the proceeds from all CD sales are donated to charity foundations such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Children’s Hospital, among others. Her latest CD “Always True” is now available in the Store. Her first three CDs, “Five Years Wise”, “The Love In Us” and “Once Upon A Wish” are also available.

The Lion’s King’s Timothy Mitchell also sang and played a powerful song on piano sounding much like Steve Wonder with a great stage band backing him up.

Each year the Noble Awards will recognize and honor philanthropic organizations and the celebrities that make considerable contributions to them. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell for Best Buddies International, AnnaLynne McCord for The Blind Project, Teri Hatcher for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Brett Ratner forDoSomething.org, Billy Bush for Lollipop Theater Network, Whitney Burditt for Playing for Change, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds forStand Up To Cancer, Laila Ali for Women’s Sport Foundation and a charity very close to my heart, The Art of Elysium honoring Joel Madden.

Julio Iglesias Jr.also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr.was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. He moved to Miami, Florida at a very young age, a place he now considers home.

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented this award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.  It was evident in his beautiful and humble acceptance speech where he expressed his heartbreak at the thought of a child spending one second inside of a hospital.  A moment that was also extremely moving was when his twin brother Benji (who has spent many days with The Art of Elysium teaching guitar and participating in music workshops) shared his love for his brother with a music dedication.

Nicole Richie (who has also dedicated her talents to the charity) looked on lovingly while her Father introduced Joel and thanked him for loving his daughter so much.  The love, support and generosity that was shown by all members of Joel’s family are the true roots that can help take The Art of Elysium’s mission to every child that spends that terrifying one second in a hospital.”

Creator Janeen Mansour was thrilled to see her dream come true.

“The goal of the Noble Awards was to highlight the charities there that night and celebrities that champion them,” she said. “Our goal reached far beyond my expectations. The purpose of the Noble Awards is to create awareness and send out a call to action. I feel everyone in the room was inspired and moved and understood the message we were trying to convey. That message is to be a Noble.”

The First Annual Noble Awards

The event honored Morgan  Freeman – Lifetime  Achievement Award

A Star-Studded Night For First Annual Noble Awards

“It was a successful night, everyone who contributed and participated in the event came away with a warm feeling in their heart,” said Creator and Founder Janeen Mansour of The Noble Awards, held (Sunday, October 18^th) at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the first awards show, and he himself was also honored for his dedication as a board member and hustling fundraiser for the Lollipop Theater Network. They bring magic and movies currently in theaters to children confiened to hospitals nationwide due to chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

The event honored  Morgan Freeman with a Lifetime Achievement Award and dozen other celebs received recognition and a Noble Award for charity work.

Despite being a little under the weather for running a Trianthalon in the name of charity Terri Hatcher accepted her award from Actor James Denton, America’s favorite plummer also on Desperate Housewives.

Other celebs included  Norman Lear,  Lionel Richie, Laila Ali, Nancy O’Dell, Joel  Madden, Brett Ratner, Kenny Babyface  Edmonds, and Annalynne McCord. There  were some surprises, too like America’s  Got Talent Nick Cannon as one of the presenters.

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

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too.-

The first awards show came off without a hitch and the live music performances enhanced an inspiration evening. It was an evening of entertainment and celebration that honors charities, celebrities and the tremendous work that they do.

‘This event and movement should inspire the next generation to be noble throughout their lives,” said Mansour.

One of the highlights of the musical performance that brought the house down was Monica, introduced by Bill Bush. Born and raised in Atlanta, Monica Denise Arnold is a talented R&B / pop singer, songwriter and actress.  She became the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Both songs from her three-times-platinum debut, “Miss Thang,” topped the Hot 100 chart and sold one million copies each. In 1998,

“The Boy Is Mine” was released and had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles. The title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts and eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Additionally, the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards.

The inaugural NOBLE AWARDS event, produced on behalf of the non-profit Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a 501c3, has a mission to unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, philanthropists, media and every day citizens to create
an effective forum for change and service.

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history. He has released 11 albums to date, 7 of them have gone platinum, with several going 2 and 3x platinum, and has sold over 20 Million albums worldwide. He just released a new album last month and perform one of his songs live. Brian McKnight (Video)

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performaned live at the Noble Awards show.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs. Giving and charity are very important to Emily and a portion of the proceeds from all CD sales are donated to charity foundations such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Children’s Hospital, among others. Her latest CD “Always True” is now available in the Store. Her first three CDs, “Five Years Wise”, “The Love In Us” and “Once Upon A Wish” are also available.

The Lion’s King’s Timothy Mitchell also sang and played a powerful song on piano sounding much like Steve Wonder with a great stage band backing him up.

Each year the Noble Awards will recognize and honor philanthropic organizations and the celebrities that make considerable contributions to them. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell for Best Buddies International, AnnaLynne McCord for The Blind Project, Teri Hatcher for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Brett Ratner forDoSomething.org, Billy Bush for Lollipop Theater Network, Whitney Burditt for Playing for Change, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds forStand Up To Cancer, Laila Ali for Women’s Sport Foundation and a charity very close to my heart, The Art of Elysium honoring Joel Madden.

Julio Iglesias Jr.also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr.was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. He moved to Miami, Florida at a very young age, a place he now considers home.

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented this award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.  It was evident in his beautiful and humble acceptance speech where he expressed his heartbreak at the thought of a child spending one second inside of a hospital.  A moment that was also extremely moving was when his twin brother Benji (who has spent many days with The Art of Elysium teaching guitar and participating in music workshops) shared his love for his brother with a music dedication.

Nicole Richie (who has also dedicated her talents to the charity) looked on lovingly while her Father introduced Joel and thanked him for loving his daughter so much.  The love, support and generosity that was shown by all members of Joel’s family are the true roots that can help take The Art of Elysium’s mission to every child that spends that terrifying one second in a hospital.”

Creator Janeen Mansour was thrilled to see her dream come true.

“The goal of the Noble Awards was to highlight the charities there that night and celebrities that champion them,” she said. “Our goal reached far beyond my expectations. The purpose of the Noble Awards is to create awareness and send out a call to action. I feel everyone in the room was inspired and moved and understood the message we were trying to convey. That message is to be a Noble.”

The First Annual Noble Awards

The event honored Morgan  Freeman – Lifetime  Achievement Award

A Star-Studded Night For First Annual Noble Awards

“It was a successful night, everyone who contributed and participated in the event came away with a warm feeling in their heart,” said Creator and Founder Janeen Mansour of The Noble Awards, held (Sunday, October 18^th) at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the first awards show, and he himself was also honored for his dedication as a board member and hustling fundraiser for the Lollipop Theater Network. They bring magic and movies currently in theaters to children confiened to hospitals nationwide due to chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

The event honored  Morgan Freeman with a Lifetime Achievement Award and dozen other celebs received recognition and a Noble Award for charity work.

Despite being a little under the weather for running a Trianthalon in the name of charity Terri Hatcher accepted her award from Actor James Denton, America’s favorite plummer also on Desperate Housewives.

Other celebs included  Norman Lear,  Lionel Richie, Laila Ali, Nancy O’Dell, Joel  Madden, Brett Ratner, Kenny Babyface  Edmonds, and Annalynne McCord. There  were some surprises, too like America’s  Got Talent Nick Cannon as one of the presenters.

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

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too.-

The first awards show came off without a hitch and the live music performances enhanced an inspiration evening. It was an evening of entertainment and celebration that honors charities, celebrities and the tremendous work that they do.

‘This event and movement should inspire the next generation to be noble throughout their lives,” said Mansour.

One of the highlights of the musical performance that brought the house down was Monica, introduced by Bill Bush. Born and raised in Atlanta, Monica Denise Arnold is a talented R&B / pop singer, songwriter and actress.  She became the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Both songs from her three-times-platinum debut, “Miss Thang,” topped the Hot 100 chart and sold one million copies each. In 1998,

“The Boy Is Mine” was released and had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles. The title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts and eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Additionally, the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards.

The inaugural NOBLE AWARDS event, produced on behalf of the non-profit Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a 501c3, has a mission to unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, philanthropists, media and every day citizens to create
an effective forum for change and service.

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history. He has released 11 albums to date, 7 of them have gone platinum, with several going 2 and 3x platinum, and has sold over 20 Million albums worldwide. He just released a new album last month and perform one of his songs live. Brian McKnight (Video)

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performaned live at the Noble Awards show.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs. Giving and charity are very important to Emily and a portion of the proceeds from all CD sales are donated to charity foundations such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Children’s Hospital, among others. Her latest CD “Always True” is now available in the Store. Her first three CDs, “Five Years Wise”, “The Love In Us” and “Once Upon A Wish” are also available.

The Lion’s King’s Timothy Mitchell also sang and played a powerful song on piano sounding much like Steve Wonder with a great stage band backing him up.

Each year the Noble Awards will recognize and honor philanthropic organizations and the celebrities that make considerable contributions to them. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell for Best Buddies International, AnnaLynne McCord for The Blind Project, Teri Hatcher for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Brett Ratner forDoSomething.org, Billy Bush for Lollipop Theater Network, Whitney Burditt for Playing for Change, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds forStand Up To Cancer, Laila Ali for Women’s Sport Foundation and a charity very close to my heart, The Art of Elysium honoring Joel Madden.

Julio Iglesias Jr.also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr.was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. He moved to Miami, Florida at a very young age, a place he now considers home.

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented this award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.  It was evident in his beautiful and humble acceptance speech where he expressed his heartbreak at the thought of a child spending one second inside of a hospital.  A moment that was also extremely moving was when his twin brother Benji (who has spent many days with The Art of Elysium teaching guitar and participating in music workshops) shared his love for his brother with a music dedication.

Nicole Richie (who has also dedicated her talents to the charity) looked on lovingly while her Father introduced Joel and thanked him for loving his daughter so much.  The love, support and generosity that was shown by all members of Joel’s family are the true roots that can help take The Art of Elysium’s mission to every child that spends that terrifying one second in a hospital.”

Creator Janeen Mansour was thrilled to see her dream come true.

“The goal of the Noble Awards was to highlight the charities there that night and celebrities that champion them,” she said. “Our goal reached far beyond my expectations. The purpose of the Noble Awards is to create awareness and send out a call to action. I feel everyone in the room was inspired and moved and understood the message we were trying to convey. That message is to be a Noble.”

The First Annual Noble Awards

The event honored Morgan  Freeman – Lifetime  Achievement Award

A Star-Studded Night For First Annual Noble Awards

“It was a successful night, everyone who contributed and participated in the event came away with a warm feeling in their heart,” said Creator and Founder Janeen Mansour of The Noble Awards, held (Sunday, October 18^th) at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the first awards show, and he himself was also honored for his dedication as a board member and hustling fundraiser for the Lollipop Theater Network. They bring magic and movies currently in theaters to children confiened to hospitals nationwide due to chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

The event honored  Morgan Freeman with a Lifetime Achievement Award and dozen other celebs received recognition and a Noble Award for charity work.

Despite being a little under the weather for running a Trianthalon in the name of charity Terri Hatcher accepted her award from Actor James Denton, America’s favorite plummer also on Desperate Housewives.

Other celebs included  Norman Lear,  Lionel Richie, Laila Ali, Nancy O’Dell, Joel  Madden, Brett Ratner, Kenny Babyface  Edmonds, and Annalynne McCord. There  were some surprises, too like America’s  Got Talent Nick Cannon as one of the presenters.

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

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too.-

The first awards show came off without a hitch and the live music performances enhanced an inspiration evening. It was an evening of entertainment and celebration that honors charities, celebrities and the tremendous work that they do.

‘This event and movement should inspire the next generation to be noble throughout their lives,” said Mansour.

One of the highlights of the musical performance that brought the house down was Monica, introduced by Bill Bush. Born and raised in Atlanta, Monica Denise Arnold is a talented R&B / pop singer, songwriter and actress.  She became the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Both songs from her three-times-platinum debut, “Miss Thang,” topped the Hot 100 chart and sold one million copies each. In 1998,

“The Boy Is Mine” was released and had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles. The title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts and eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Additionally, the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards.

The inaugural NOBLE AWARDS event, produced on behalf of the non-profit Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a 501c3, has a mission to unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, philanthropists, media and every day citizens to create
an effective forum for change and service.

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history. He has released 11 albums to date, 7 of them have gone platinum, with several going 2 and 3x platinum, and has sold over 20 Million albums worldwide. He just released a new album last month and perform one of his songs live. Brian McKnight (Video)

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performaned live at the Noble Awards show.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs. Giving and charity are very important to Emily and a portion of the proceeds from all CD sales are donated to charity foundations such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Children’s Hospital, among others. Her latest CD “Always True” is now available in the Store. Her first three CDs, “Five Years Wise”, “The Love In Us” and “Once Upon A Wish” are also available.

The Lion’s King’s Timothy Mitchell also sang and played a powerful song on piano sounding much like Steve Wonder with a great stage band backing him up.

Each year the Noble Awards will recognize and honor philanthropic organizations and the celebrities that make considerable contributions to them. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell for Best Buddies International, AnnaLynne McCord for The Blind Project, Teri Hatcher for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Brett Ratner forDoSomething.org, Billy Bush for Lollipop Theater Network, Whitney Burditt for Playing for Change, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds forStand Up To Cancer, Laila Ali for Women’s Sport Foundation and a charity very close to my heart, The Art of Elysium honoring Joel Madden.

Julio Iglesias Jr.also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr.was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. He moved to Miami, Florida at a very young age, a place he now considers home.

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented this award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.  It was evident in his beautiful and humble acceptance speech where he expressed his heartbreak at the thought of a child spending one second inside of a hospital.  A moment that was also extremely moving was when his twin brother Benji (who has spent many days with The Art of Elysium teaching guitar and participating in music workshops) shared his love for his brother with a music dedication.

Nicole Richie (who has also dedicated her talents to the charity) looked on lovingly while her Father introduced Joel and thanked him for loving his daughter so much.  The love, support and generosity that was shown by all members of Joel’s family are the true roots that can help take The Art of Elysium’s mission to every child that spends that terrifying one second in a hospital.”

Creator Janeen Mansour was thrilled to see her dream come true.

“The goal of the Noble Awards was to highlight the charities there that night and celebrities that champion them,” she said. “Our goal reached far beyond my expectations. The purpose of the Noble Awards is to create awareness and send out a call to action. I feel everyone in the room was inspired and moved and understood the message we were trying to convey. That message is to be a Noble.”

The First Annual Noble Awards

The event honored Morgan  Freeman – Lifetime  Achievement Award

A Star-Studded Night For First Annual Noble Awards

“It was a successful night, everyone who contributed and participated in the event came away with a warm feeling in their heart,” said Creator and Founder Janeen Mansour of The Noble Awards, held (Sunday, October 18^th) at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills.
Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush hosted the first awards show, and he himself was also honored for his dedication as a board member and hustling fundraiser for the Lollipop Theater Network. They bring magic and movies currently in theaters to children confiened to hospitals nationwide due to chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

The event honored  Morgan Freeman with a Lifetime Achievement Award and dozen other celebs received recognition and a Noble Award for charity work.

Despite being a little under the weather for running a Trianthalon in the name of charity Terri Hatcher accepted her award from Actor James Denton, America’s favorite plummer also on Desperate Housewives.

Other celebs included  Norman Lear,  Lionel Richie, Laila Ali, Nancy O’Dell, Joel  Madden, Brett Ratner, Kenny Babyface  Edmonds, and Annalynne McCord. There  were some surprises, too like America’s  Got Talent Nick Cannon as one of the presenters.

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

The awards were sculptured by Antonio Banderas the children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children with the guidance of The Art of Elysium volunteer/actor/sculptor David Grieco.   Joel Madden said, “The artists at The Art of Elysium” should get an award, too.-

The first awards show came off without a hitch and the live music performances enhanced an inspiration evening. It was an evening of entertainment and celebration that honors charities, celebrities and the tremendous work that they do.

‘This event and movement should inspire the next generation to be noble throughout their lives,” said Mansour.

One of the highlights of the musical performance that brought the house down was Monica, introduced by Bill Bush. Born and raised in Atlanta, Monica Denise Arnold is a talented R&B / pop singer, songwriter and actress.  She became the youngest female artist ever to have two back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Both songs from her three-times-platinum debut, “Miss Thang,” topped the Hot 100 chart and sold one million copies each. In 1998,

“The Boy Is Mine” was released and had three consecutive No. 1 Billboard pop singles. The title track with Brandy spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts and eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B listing. Additionally, the duet earned Monica a Grammy to add to her American Music, Soul Train and Billboard Awards.

The inaugural NOBLE AWARDS event, produced on behalf of the non-profit Celebrity Charity Awards Corporation, a 501c3, has a mission to unify the efforts of charities with celebrities, philanthropists, media and every day citizens to create
an effective forum for change and service.

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history. He has released 11 albums to date, 7 of them have gone platinum, with several going 2 and 3x platinum, and has sold over 20 Million albums worldwide. He just released a new album last month and perform one of his songs live. Brian McKnight (Video)

Another of the highlights of the evening was eight-year old Emily Bear, who performaned live at the Noble Awards show.

8-year old Emily Bear – Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for three years, but at just eight years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. Emily’s songs were are all written and composed at age seven.

She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs. Giving and charity are very important to Emily and a portion of the proceeds from all CD sales are donated to charity foundations such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Children’s Hospital, among others. Her latest CD “Always True” is now available in the Store. Her first three CDs, “Five Years Wise”, “The Love In Us” and “Once Upon A Wish” are also available.

The Lion’s King’s Timothy Mitchell also sang and played a powerful song on piano sounding much like Steve Wonder with a great stage band backing him up.

Each year the Noble Awards will recognize and honor philanthropic organizations and the celebrities that make considerable contributions to them. This year’s honorees, who attended to accept their award included Nancy O’Dell for Best Buddies International, AnnaLynne McCord for The Blind Project, Teri Hatcher for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Brett Ratner forDoSomething.org, Billy Bush for Lollipop Theater Network, Whitney Burditt for Playing for Change, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds forStand Up To Cancer, Laila Ali for Women’s Sport Foundation and a charity very close to my heart, The Art of Elysium honoring Joel Madden.

Julio Iglesias Jr.also provided some soul soothing live singing at the event. Julio Iglesias Jr.was born in Madrid, Spain to well-known singer, Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. He moved to Miami, Florida at a very young age, a place he now considers home.

Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art of Elysium, presented this award to Joel Madden with Lionel Richie, Allison Beck and Stacey Price: “As both an artist and a father, Joel truly embodies a sincere passion for both music and children.  It was evident in his beautiful and humble acceptance speech where he expressed his heartbreak at the thought of a child spending one second inside of a hospital.  A moment that was also extremely moving was when his twin brother Benji (who has spent many days with The Art of Elysium teaching guitar and participating in music workshops) shared his love for his brother with a music dedication.

Nicole Richie (who has also dedicated her talents to the charity) looked on lovingly while her Father introduced Joel and thanked him for loving his daughter so much.  The love, support and generosity that was shown by all members of Joel’s family are the true roots that can help take The Art of Elysium’s mission to every child that spends that terrifying one second in a hospital.”

Creator Janeen Mansour was thrilled to see her dream come true.

“The goal of the Noble Awards was to highlight the charities there that night and celebrities that champion them,” she said. “Our goal reached far beyond my expectations. The purpose of the Noble Awards is to create awareness and send out a call to action. I feel everyone in the room was inspired and moved and understood the message we were trying to convey. That message is to be a Noble.”