October 2008 Articles, News Items, Product Reviews, Book Reviews, etc

Kangaroo complainants living in dream world - from Broadband TV News
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade has launched a stinging attack on companies who believe the proposed online TV service Kangaroo is in breach of competition rules. Speaking to the Broadcasting Press Guild he invited them to join the commercial broadcaster in the production of original content

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Hulu apparently has some admirers over at Viacom's MTV Networks. MTV launched a music-video service at mtvmusic.com today that's a dead ringer for Hulu, the joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corp. FULL ARTICLE

You want to see some great HD video delivered over the Internet? Check out the ELEVATE Film Festival, the fastest growing single day film event in the World. They are using Vusion’s HD Video Streaming service. Not only do these high definition videos look great full screen (assuming you have a speedy enough Internet connection and up to date computer) but the videos themselves are great, funny and extremely well made. Check them out at the Elevate Experience.

Do you want to be an Internet Star? Leading Digital Agents -  TelevisionWeek looked at the leading Hollywood talent shops to find the new generation of digital dealmakers. The five players atop this first survey of top digital agents focus on talent rather than brand packaging, having inked deals for either Web-bred stars or stars from the television world who are making a mark on the Internet video scene.

This is the synthesis of TV and the net. CBS Interactive is launching what they call Social Viewing Rooms that will allow TV fans to watch the most popular CBS Network TV shows online at the same time as their friends, and interact as if they were all sitting together in the same room. This is really cool and may actually work. CBS will first launch Social Viewing Rooms for Primetime, Daytime, and CBS Classics. While in a Social Viewing Room fans can chat, make comments, and throw or animate customized virtual objects on the screen.  Viewers will see a list of everyone else in the room, and can chat with any or all of them directly during the show, thus increasing viral aspects through chat and interaction. Read the Press Release

How to pull focus like a pro - an excerpt from Paul Martingell’s "Better Location Shooting", How to Keep a Moving Subject in Focus - Real World Tips and Tricks. This is great if you need to keep moving actors in focus in a shot. Real world advice from an experienced shooter

FIRST LOOK Adobe Soundbooth Beta for the new Adobe CS4 - Soundbooth is the easy to use audio editing component of the Adobe's Creative Suite collection of design and development tools for print, video, and web. More

Josh Covitt’s ‘Talk to Kids PSA’ Cracks up Crackle and Sony Pictures Television Execs 

Josh Covitt’s short sketch comedy film, “Talk to Kids PSA”, was inspired by a real public service announcement he saw while watching the World Series, which encouraged abstinence-only sex education teachings. He decided to spoof the advertisement, creating his award-winning film. More

Adobe announced the Creative Suite 4 product family, a milestone release of industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow.  The release includes Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design editions, Creative Suite 4 Web editions, Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Adobe Master Collection, as well as 13 point products, 14 integrated technologies and seven services  more

15 Online Video Movers and Shakers

The editorial staff at FierceOnlineVideo is pleased to announce the Fierce 15 "Online Video Movers and Shakers." Read more >>

http://hothardware.com/articles/Dell-Studio-Hybrid-Desktop-A-HotHardware-Video-Spotlight/

Metacafe and Microcinema International Unveil MetaFest 2008 Finalists - 26 GREAT Films by 23 Filmmakers from 10 Countries - The best in international creative and contemporary short-form video entertainment.  Short-film enthusiasts are invited to vote for their favorite between now and October 31, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. PDT at MetaFest Finalists.  Read the Press Release

LARRY DOBROW

I won't hold Ikea's "Easy to Assemble" or Topps' "Back on Topps" against either company. I will continue to tout the virtues of their product offerings and core brand characteristics (value, niceness, rainbows). I will pretend that these two aggressively unfunny web video series never happened. FULL ARTICLE

YouTube User's Video of Letterman Outdraws CBS Clip Tirade Against McCain Gets 10 Times as Many Views

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Sen. John McCain's snub of David Letterman last week may have deprived the "Late Show" host of some needed star power last week, but it's given him a hit on the web. So far, video of Mr. Letterman's tirade against Mr. McCain, who bowed out the day of the telecast, has generated more than 3.5 million views on YouTube. One problem: CBS is barely making a dime from the clip.

FULL ARTICLE