“ It it’s about a lonely writer, who falls in love with his newly purchased operating system….
— Spike Jonze and Joaquin Phoenix are enamoured by Siri in new film project
Spike Jonze’s newest project is set in the near future and revolves around Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and his love for a Siri-type operating system “designed to meet his every need.” - The tentatively titled ‘Her’, is described as an exploration of ‘the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.’ Besides Phoenix, the impressive cast includes Rooney Mara, Samantha Morton, Olivia Wilde, and Amy Adams.
“Her” is the first feature film on which Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are) is listed as the sole screenwriter. His earlier directing efforts were written or co-written by talented scribes like Charlie Kaufman and Dave Eggers.
“ Why it works? - It’s a miracle.
A look inside the writers room of #Homeland:
The pilot of season 2 proved that Showtimes critically acclaimed drama deserved the Emmy sweep, collecting 4 awards including ‘Best Drama’, ending a four-year winning streak by AMC’s “Mad Men”.
In what was one of the strongest second season comebacks, ‘The Smile’ picks up 6 months after Carrie’s psychotic breakdown and Brody’s failed suicide attack. The writers throw the characters right back into turmoil after they had seemed to settle into calm lives - Carrie as an ESL teacher, Brody as Congressman. But ‘Nothing is as it seems”.
The season 2 pilot delivered 1.7 million total viewers for Showtime and a total of 2.1 million including Sundays re-runs — giving the show its highest viewership total ever and a 60% jump compared to the Season 1 premiere last year.
“ Choose the people you travel with long before you choose the route
Mark BURNETT on how much of his success is attributed to his crew
Have you got the TE-X-FACTOR?
You know tech is ready for primetime when will.i.am teams up with X Factor creator Simon Cowell to search for the next Mark Zuckerberg.
“Singing and performance create a couple of jobs. But this will create lots. It’s about getting in touch with youth and giving them a platform to express themselves — whether that’s in science or mathematics,” told will.i.am the Sun about the joined project.
First obvious signs that technology is graduating to the mainstream, came with a hint of Hollywood at techconferences. Ashton Kutcher, Adam Grenier and Jessica Alba took to the TechCrunch Disrupt stage, whereas super agent Ari Emanuel has been a returning (and wildly entertaining) guest star at Web 2.0 and D!.
Now, the tech-crowd hits the home screens. This is not the first attempt to bring the drama of Silicon (V)alley to tv screens. Bloomberg first aired „TechStars“, where a camera followed the ‚cast’ of New York’s most high-profile incubator programme.
Bravo has teamed up with Randi „Mark’s Sister“ Zuckerberg for „Silicon Valley“. The show is still in production and due to air this fall, but has already garnered criticism from the ‘legit tech crowd’ that it might make the start-up scene appear like a nerdy version of Jersey Shore – “except without the tan”. Kevin Rose was apparently hit up with a general invite email from the show’s casting director.
oh boy, a new “silicon valley reality show” yuck, please stay in LA: twitpic.com/6vp80w/full
— Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) October 5, 2011
Fear is, that with a loaded last name like Zuckerberg attached as exec producer, the non-insiders might mistake this for the real deal. So, be warned. Even Randi Zuckerberg admitted in her Facebook post that “This is a reality tv show, not a documentary”. “The show isn’t meant to represent all of Silicon Valley, but to authentically follow the lives of a few young people trying to blaze their own trails.”
But there are good examples as well: Dragon’s Den, the veteran entrepreneurial programme that originated in Japan in 2001 and came to fame on BBC2 in 2004, is already in its 10th season. The show is (smartly enough) not limited to geeks & gadgets and focuses on the ‘risky business pitch’ as such - and does so successfully with 23 local adaptations of the format.
Mega-producer Mark Burnett adapted the Dragon’s Den format back in 2009 for US television with the extra portion of American spice and competitiveness. Aptly called “Shark Tank”, the successful show with judges including Marc Cuban and Barbara Corcoran is back this fall for its fourth season.
It will be interesting to see which angle Cowell and will.i.am will take on the format to make the primetime audience care for code.
“ We really view YouTube as a technology platform that gives all content creators a voice.
We speak with Matthew GLOTZBACH, Managing Director YouTube EMEA, as he comes off stage at medienwoche in Berlin.
As there was some confusion in the audience about the difference between Google TV vs YouTube (apparently a common mix-up) he sets the facts straight, explaining that Google TV is an internet tv operating system whereas YouTube is a technology platform for content creators.
YouTube’s goal is to attract a wide range of video makers from companies to individuals, and help them create a content business with the audience reach and engagement tools that YouTube provides.
One successful German showcase he gave to the crowd in Berlin: Sami Slimani, better known as ‘Herr Tutorial’, who turned his beauty & lifestyle video endeavours into a fully fledged business on YouTube.
For more information how to get the best out of YouTube as a content creator, check out the Creator Hub. Follow Matthew here on Twitter and Google.
At MIPCOM, Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s Global Head of Content Partnerships, will focus on a new breed of original content creators and financiers — and how they collaborate to create and distribute great content. Content strategies of these ‘Original Creators’ will be unveiled at MIPCOM.
Oh Canada! - MIPCOM’s Country of Honour
MIPCOM, the flagship event for the entertainment industry, is shortly descending upon the Croisette. This year’s country of honour: Canada. As part of this tribute, Quebecor Inc.’s Pierre Karl Péladeau & Bell Canada’s Wade Oosterman will deliver two keynote addresses. Canadian master classes, business matchmaking events and screenings will be held throughout the entire event. Eagerly-awaited is the “Fresh TV from Canada” presentation of the hottest and most innovative content from Canada, hosted by The WIT’s CEO, Virginia Mouseler.
MIPCOM’s Media Mastermind sessions will see heavyweight producers Harvey Weinstein and Mark Burnett take to the stage, alongside Hulu’s Jason Killar and YouTube’s Global Head of Content Partnerships Robert Kyncl.
Harvey Weinstein’s keynote speech comes on the heels of the launch of The Weinstein Company’s (TWC) International Television Sales Division and we can expect Weinstein to announce the company’s new slate of TV shows for 2013.
—-
We will continue our series Media Masterminds from mipcom.
D! - Dare To ASK: Media MasterMinds
“ The basic question in Entertainment Science is ‘Why do human beings pay so much attention to stories and characters that don’t even exist? Why are stories so important to us?’
We meet David Graham of entertainment consultancy Attentional — and learn about mirror neurons, instinctive empathy for stories and characters, why Sorkin’s Studio 60 had to fail, and what kind of programming he would love to see in Europe.
//BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS 2012// — 150 experts join the anniversary edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus #10 — including Mark Cousins, Alex McDowell, Thomas Demand, Tony Gatlif, Uli Hanisch, Brillante Mendoza and Keanu Reeves
For the tenth edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus, 150 experts from all over the world will join the Campus to meet, talk, mentor and intensively coach 350 filmmakers from around 90 countries at the Hebbel Theater am Ufer (HAU) between February 11-16, 2012.
Spotlight on: The future of filmmaking — The question of the future of filmmaking runs like a red thread through the six-day programme, including the panel Building Narrative Worlds: Digital Design for Cinema on Monday, February 13. Renowned production designers Alex McDowell (Minority Report, Fight Club), Uli Hanisch (The International, Cloud Atlas), Habib Zargarpour (The Bourne Identity), and acclaimed German visual artist Thomas Demand will be moderated by Andrew Shoben and discuss the current state of production design, in which the ability to create entirely new digital worlds and alternate universes; offering exciting perspectives for screenwriters, directors and artists when it comes to storytelling (Monday, Feb 13, 2pm, HAU2).
//TUNE IN// - Live #GRAMMY weekend video stream kicks off Friday, Feb. 10 - with the Social Media Rock Stars Summit
Moderated by Topspin Media CEO Ian Rogers — with CEOs of GetGlue, Shazam, Turntable.fm, and Spotify’s First Artist-in-Residence D.A. Wallach of Pop Duo Chester French. On the agenda: How Musicians Monetize Through Social, Mobile & Gaming.
One focus of last year’s panel was the use of mobile location services like Foursquare to connect audiences closer with live music venues.
//SUPERBOWL - Madonna x Cirque du Soleil x Moment Factory// — The team behind Madonna’s epic half-time show projections was Montreal-based Moment Factory — who also created Chris Milk’s amazing project for Arcade Fire’s Coachella show.
Creative Director Sakchin Bessette on the gigantic show experience: “On TV people didn’t get the whole thing because of the way the shots were cut. In a way, we had to almost create two shows—one for the audience in the stadium and the other for the viewers at home. We worked very closely with the TV producer to make sure that everything we were doing on the field would translate to the screen.”
TOUCH-DOWN & TUNE-IN: Shazam live check-in drives record Super Bowl Engagement — “The Super Bowl was our first major live network television event where we enabled people to interact with all aspects of the game, including the ads and the spectacular halftime show,” said Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher. “Knowing the size of the Super Bowl audience, we had high expectations for how many people would be engaged during the event and with the numbers in the millions we were blown away.” — In the coming months, viewers can expect to see a number of exciting events, new ads and other shows that incorporate Shazam, including the 54thGRAMMY Awards on CBS on Sunday, February 12th.
