SASS: Up Over Down Under

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Nikki Finke & SAG Membership: Keeping It Classy

If you host a major online forum and if that is your sole job you are responsible for the type of discourse you allow in your comments.  Nikki Finke, the creator/author/editor of Deadline Hollywood Daily, moderates the comment section of her blog but she should be ashamed of what’s happening there today.

Today it was announced that Nick Counter, the longtime President of the Alliance of Motion PIcture & Television Producers (AMPTP), passed away at the age of 69 after a long illness. He is apparently survived by a wife and children. I should say that I did not know Nick Counter and his negotiations had little to do with what I do. I know that, as the person on the other side of big labor issues, Nick Counter was deeply disliked by a lot of people in Hollywood, particularly the SAG hard-liners. It is also important to note that Nikki is a longtime supporter of the most radical, hard-line elements within SAG.

Below is a selection of comments on her blog which she is allowing to be published under an entry ironically titled “R.I.P. Nick Counter“. While the views of blog commenters I don’t think should be attributed to the blog owner, the comments you allow to be published do reflect the level of discourse you endorse. It should also be noted that there are people in the comments chastising these people, but they appear to be few and Nikki is not one of them.

I will also note that I think these comments epitomize why SAG has been such a wildly ineffective union in its negotiations of late.

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Scum bag. Thanks for ruining so many families. There is more to life than winning and big money – too late for you to understand that you POS. – Comment by TOOLATE

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Hate to say it, as one should refrain from speaking ill of the dead but good riddance. This guy was human shit… – Comment by wideeyedraven

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let him rot in hell. - Comment by couldn’t happen to a nicer guy

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In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be sent to the WGA and SAG welfare funds… which has great need of it because of this greedy, fuck-wad asshole. Rot in hell, Nick… - Comment by Brian

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So long asshole. – Comment by working actor #274

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Burn in hell you piece of shit. – Comment by Hank Yablonski

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Good luck on your first day of work, Nick… negotiating for Satan. – Comment by Al Taurus

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Welcome to hell, Nick. – Comment by Satan’s Little Helper

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Best wishes in your new job, Nick: running Hell. – Comment by wga writer

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F**k Nick Counter. Glad he’s dead. Wish it had been sooner. – Comment by Dave

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what a great way to start the day – Comment by thj

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Okay, I’ll only say good of him.

It’s good that he’s dead. In fact, it was great of him. – Comment by anotyherwgamember [sic]

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How To Make Enemies And Alienate People

The New York Times has a piece revealing that the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother Wali is not only a major heroin trafficker, but also has been on the CIA payroll.  There has been a great deal of histrionics among commentators in the US who are, naively, aghast that we would be supporting such a nasty character and paying him to boot.

I think everyone’s missing what just happened.

Apparently various US officials in Afghanistan have been frustrated by this guy and haven’t been able to do much about it. Well guess what? I think they just solved their problem.

By leaking that he’s tied to the president and involved in opium they get the US news machine interested. Being in the opium trade means he’s close to the Taliban who use opium to finance their operations. This is all pretty basic. Then, saying that he’s on the US payroll a couple days after a number of US soldiers and three DEA agents were killed in Afghanistan turns up the media interest. Once that information is leaked it hits the news wires.

The problem is, you really don’t want to be Wali right now. He’s been trading opium with the guys the US are fighting with and we just told them that he’s on our payroll.  I don’t think he has a long career with them, do you?

Clever move by someone leaking that.

The Rich Die Richer

Earlier, I saw a small AP newswire piece about a guy named Jeffry Picower who was found at the bottom of his swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida today. Police are investigating the circumstances of Mr. Picower’s death, especially as he was accused of profiting to the tune of $7 Billion from Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme. Picower definitely seems like a shady guy and his death is no exception. So, why do I bring this up?

A little, un-noted line in the article:

“Picower suffered from Parkinson’s disease and had “heart-related issues,” said family attorney William D. Zabel. He described Picower’s health as “poor.”"

Why is that interesting? Well Bill Zabel wrote a book, ironically titled: “The Rich Die Richer And You Can Too“

I guess he was right…

Ghost In The Machine

The only known footage of Anne Frank.

Zen & The Art Of Digital Collaboration

This is a sampling of a beautiful project put together over at InBFlat.net.  Play these videos all at once, or any set of them – in any order, start them & stop them, adjust the volumes. Put on a good set of headphones or a great pair of speakers and enjoy. I just lost myself for about half an hour in building gorgeous soundscapes. This is a really nice crowd sourced project which connects to my previous post about a crowd sourced music video.

I love this stuff. Enjoy!

Context Is Everything

Perhaps its that I’m in the midst of a big project involving partners scattered around the globe and hence we’re relying on a bevy of online collaboration tools, including Skype, Dropbox, and BaseCamp, but I thought this was hysterical.

There is something personally dramatic when you check off that last to-do but somehow it is a very banal act.  The folks at 37Signals just finished a project and managed to convey the drama (or I suppose melodrama?) of it with some editing and soundtrack. Enjoy:

What’s Old Is New (And Now It’s Gone)

Today marks the end of an era. It may not have been an era you cared about, and you may not know it ended, but it deserves acknowledgement.

On January 25th, 1937 a 15-minute radio play debuted on NBC radio. Ten years later that show moved to CBS radio and on June 30th, 1952 it moved to CBS television. The show would be broadcast on CBS from then until today – September 18, 2009, when the last episode aired. The show wasGuiding Light and it was the longest running drama in broadcast history with an astounding 72 years on television.

The following actors all had roles on Guiding Light over the years (to name a few):

Kevin Bacon, Tammy Blanchard, Ruby Dee, Taye Diggs, Calista Flockhart, Allison Janney, James Earl Jones, Melina Kanakaredes, James Lipton, Hayden Panettiere, Jimmy Smits, Mira Sorvino, Christopher Walker and Billy Dee Williams.

On a personal note, the very first job I got in film was on a sister soap opera, Another World. I got an interview for that job courtesy of the father of a friend who is a legend in daytime and at that point was the Executive Producer of Guiding Light (I believe it was his second stint as EP there) and I have always had a warm feeling about the show because of that (though I was not a daytime soap watcher).

What’s interesting for us today is to note that Guiding Light (and Another World and As The World Turns) was owned and produced by Proctor & Gamble. It was, and remained until today, the original branded content. Branded content is not new, it is, in fact, very old.

You may not have watched it and it may not have been what you would make, but the idea of a show staying on the airwaves (or on the wires) for nearly three quarters of a century is an astounding accomplishment.

Congratulations to them.

Update:

Guiding Light was apparently groundbreaking in transmedia as well! Not only was it on radio and television but there was a graphic novel tie-in by Marvel featuring the cast of the show teaming up with The Avengers. (hat tip: DKO)

Blogging Independent Film Week at Filmmaker Magazine

Independent Film Week is on in New York and we have our film FREE IN DEED taking part in No Borders.  Several of us were asked to blog about our experiences during the week for Filmmaker Magazine and my first post is up. Check it out, read the others and check back for more updates.

Jane Fonda Apologies For Toronto Petition

After realizing how self-destructive the Toronto Boycott Petition was, Jane Fonda has apologized for signing it.  From her piece on the Huffington Post:

“I signed the letter without reading it carefully enough, without asking myself if some of the wording wouldn’t exacerbate the situation rather than bring about constructive dialogue…

“it can become counterproductive to inflame rather than explain and this means to hear the narratives of both sides, to articulate the suffering on both sides, not just the Palestinians. By neglecting to do this the letter allowed good people to close their ears and their hearts.

“The Israeli-Palestinian story cannot be reduced to a simplistic aggressor-victim relationship. In order to fully understand this, one must be willing to come together with an open heart and really hear the narratives of both sides. One narrative sees 1948 as the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their land. Another sees it as the birth of a nation. Conceivably it was both. Neither narrative can be erased, both must be heard.”

I applaud her for having an open mind, listening, and ultimately realizing the mistake in this type of protest. Now, if only other signatories would feel the same.