Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
Canadian gov’t gets the internet?
by Warren
Welll..no. But this guy seems to understand that changes are afoot, ones that could be potentially fantastic for Canada.
Welll..no. But this guy seems to understand that changes are afoot, ones that could be potentially fantastic for Canada.
It’s not often that the Three Who Rule spend more than a minute dismissing Torchwood out of hand, much less being interested in a new series of everyone’s tolerated younger, ganglier cousin to Doctor Who. But that strange event is precisely what happened (explained away with string theory and many a complicated equation, most likely), along with some pre Comic Con banter and oh yes, a commentary on The Empty Child.
The LA Times is reporting that a lot of studio funded companies dedicated to creating web video are shutting down. Why this comes as a surprise to anyone is beyond me. It reminds me of the abortive attempts in the 90’s to merge Hollywood and video games, with predictably disastrous results.
Studios don’t like the short-form format prevalent on the web, and they’re used to pouring money at a problem, with webisodes costing anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 per episode. That sort of thinking is patent madness, of course, and is currently being shown up by any number of people making shows in their basement for no money…and succeeding at it. Since I’ve got some skin in this game, I’m hoping Hollywood continues to stumble forward. THey should stick to what they do best, which is huge, effects-laden spectacles that no indie web creator could ever hope to mach.
Steven, one mighty pillar of the tripod that is the Three Who Rule, doesn’t often succumb to the base emotions. Indeed, compared to the gutter-dwelling antics of Pedantor and the frankly borderline illegal conduct of Warren, Steven’s unflappable facade is nigh-invulnerable. But when the fate of Pete Tyler in “Father’s Day” comes into play, all propriety goes out the window. Tune in and hear his descent into madness…if you dare.
Battlestar Galactica and Caprica creator Ron Moore took time out of his busy schedule to talk with me (in my capacity as a reporter at the Banff TV Festival for Techvibes) about technology, AI, webisodes, and the incoming awesomeness that is Caprica. Additional questions from Kris Krug, who also took some great pictures.
Just a little something I put together for Launch Party 7, a Vancouver event where startups strut their stuff for the tech community and VC types.
So the biggest newspapers in the US got together recently to figure out how to charge for their content. It boils down to “our business model is broken, so let’s go with that and hope for the best.” Seriously, I know newspapers are losing money hand over fist, but has the recording industry taught them nothing? About the only glimmer of hope in the whole report is that papers will become more consumer-centric online….but even then specialized blogs will likely end up eating their lunch.