I like to pretend that my art has nothing to do with me.
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"Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics & Men" on Showtime now. It's totally something to f*** wit.
(Showtime)
Monday - May 13, 2019 Mon - 05/13/19
rantnrave:// The first lesson you learn when you start working in HOLLYWOOD is that everyone you know has an opinion to offer on the content. I know I do. It’s unlikely that Netflix’s development executives offer advice on the company’s encoding technologies, or that HBO’s casting directors have suggestions about AT&T’s 5G rollout, or that APPLE’s line producers offer derivative trading strategies to their banker friends. But the reverse is almost always true. Few people know about encoding, 5G or derivatives – but everyone has opinions on TV and film; it’s the most intensely and widely consumed medium on the planet. And given the opportunity, few can resist weighing in. Distributors of content tend to be evaluated on the basis of their content. But focusing on Netflix's "quality" is a mistake. Not only does the notion barely exist, it mistakes Netflix's "job to be done". MATT BALL dives in on "'Quality' Is a Distraction – If It Exists at All (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 6)"... Because Netflix operates as a content business, it tends to be assessed principally on its content. This leads many to think that Netflix is perpetually on the precipice of being crushed or squeezed out of the market. Netflix-killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est. For a plethora of reasons: Its content is rented. Or competitors are coming. Or the best stuff is produced by third parties. Or they spend too much money. Yadda yadda yadda. Well, Netflix has faced many challengers over the past decade, but growth hasn't slowed. Many more are about to come. But the effects are likely to be neutral at worst. "Netflix's Competitive Resiliency Is Here to Stay (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 7)"... I’ve been eager to see what video service QUIBI (meaning: quick bites), led by MEG WHITMAN and JEFFREY KATZENBERG, would do in the content arena. They've got lots of talent and content deals booked. They've got sizeable budgets ($100k/minute) and unusual creator ownership deals, both magnets for them. The hypothesis? Long-form content told in serialized short-form chapters that ultimately add up to a length of a movie. I talk a lot about how important product is to video start-ups and yet that was an area I didn’t inquire about in the past. So, I went to see the head of product TOM CONRAD last week. I wasn’t surprised but I was impressed. Yes, you’ll see the familiar yet very sleek interface and video navigation. But the things that really moved me? They’re thinking about the form factor of the phone and how that translates into new ways of creating and displaying content. They use the horizontal and vertical orientations of the phone to change the layout of news content without losing anything in the frame. Directors like DOUG LIMAN are shooting and editing specifically for each orientation. Again, without losing anything. The coolest thing I saw was a pilot following a sinister package delivery man and the victim he is trying to get to inside the house. All from the POV of the victim's phone, the RING video doorbell and applications like FACETIME. The POV of the narrative is controlled by the orientation of the phone. It was so well done that you lose sight that you’re not in the narrative because the interface is so familiar. You can spend 30 minutes changing the POV and thus revealing more of the story and different scenes that were not available in one or the other. The medium is respected and not just edited for. Much of what they are working on will likely be adopted and standardized by creators within a year of launch. Very, very cool stuff. Normally, you'd look at a company like this and see the common strains between differentiated cultures of HOLLYWOOD and SILICON VALLEY show up in the product. Just not on the same page. I saw a two-way street here where both were considered and both influenced the other. Maybe something to do with Meg and Jeffrey melding? Good start… Happy Birthday to PAUL GREENBERG, AMANDA CUTTER BROOKS, MICHAEL ALEX, BRIAN GARRITY, STEVE MUMMOLO, ETHAN BEARD, and DAVID AARON. Belated to KYLE HELLER, JAMES ANDREWS, ZACH SIMS, DEREK BROES, JULIA SCHULHOF, RALPH DAVIDSON, MATTHEW HILTZIK, LYNDA MURRAY, KATERINA HANTAS, MICHELE JAMES, JAMIE HOROWITZ, JENNY GALLUZZO, JESSICA LESSIN, DAVID KINES, and YVETTE ALBERDINGKTHIJM.
- Jason Hirschhorn, curator
oye, game of thrones
recode
MUST LISTEN: REDEF CEO Jason Hirschhorn watches a lot of TV and he says Netflix has sucked him into watching less of everything else.
by Peter Kafka and Jason Hirschhorn
Disney+ will not be a 'Netflix killer' because at this point, nothing can kill Netflix
REDEF
REDEF Media ORIGINAL: 'Quality' Is a Distraction – If It Exists at All (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 6)
by Matthew Ball
Distributors of content tend to be evaluated on the basis of their content. But focusing on Netflix's "quality" is a mistake. Not only does the notion barely exist, it mistakes Netflix's "job to be done."
REDEF
REDEF Media ORIGINAL: Netflix's Competitive Resiliency Is Here to Stay (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 7)
by Matthew Ball
Netflix has faced many challengers over the past decade, but growth hasn't slowed. Many more are about to come. But the effects are likely to be neutral at worst.
Vox
Facebook is a capitalism problem, not a Mark Zuckerberg problem
by Ezra Klein
Regulating social media is more important than breaking up Facebook.
REDEF
REDEF MediaSET: Movie Oral Histories, Vol. 7
by MediaREDEF
Facts: The iconic red Swingline stapler was made specifically for "Office Space." Jon Heder couldn't wash his hair for "Napoleon Dynamite's" entire 22-day shoot. After watching "Cruel Intentions," Selma Blair's mother wondered if maybe she'd used too much tongue in that famous kiss. Straight talk from casts and crews.
The Guardian
Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island
by Matthew Bremner
In 2001, a smugglers’ yacht washed up in the Azores and disgorged its contents. The island of São Miguel was quickly flooded with high-grade cocaine -- and nearly 20 years on, it is still feeling the effects.
Studio 360
American Icons: '2001: A Space Odyssey' -- Part One
by Kurt Andersen, Doug Trumbull, Keir Dullea...
A half century later, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still shaping our future. With no help from CGI, the movie predicted private space travel, artificial intelligence and half of Apple’s product line. It showed the promise and perils of technology and explored life’s biggest mystery: Are we alone in the universe?
Hollywood Reporter
Gavin Polone: This Is the Beginning of the End of TV Agents
by Gavin Polone
A culture change is happening in Hollywood as old-school networking and technology are making television lit reps obsolete and tipping the WGA-ATA fight in favor of the writers.
The Cut
The Tinder Hacker
by Francesca Mari
When I asked Sean about his hobbies, I wasn’t prepared for what he said.
Reuters
Taliban fighters double as reporters to wage Afghan digital war
by Abdul Qadir Sediqi
KABUL (Reuters) - Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's chief spokesman and editor-in-chief of the insurgent group's daily news bulletin, starts every day by collecting reports of overnight fighting with U.S. and Afghan forces. Mujahid says he gets his team of writers to cross-check facts shared by some of the hardline Islamist groups fighters, who double as reporters in the 34 provinces across the country.
has gone hollywood blockbuster
GQ
The Russo Brothers Break Down the Biggest Marvel Moments
by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
MCU directors Anthony and Joe Russo go over some of their favorite moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and discuss what went into building their epic conclusion in "Avengers: Endgame."
Bloomberg
TikTok Is the New Music Kingmaker, and Labels Want to Get Paid
by Lucas Shaw
They’re seeking a better deal after they missed the rise of the social video platform and sold music rights for a flat fee.
Rolling Stone
On the Trail With Bernie Sanders 2.0
by Matt Taibbi
Can the Vermont senator win over Trump voters and harness his grassroots army to transform the Democratic Party?
Wall Street Journal
Why Amazon Is Gobbling Up Failed Malls
by Carlos Waters
As the decline of brick and mortar retail rolls on, commercial real estate developers are left with massive abandoned properties. Who will fill that underutilized space? A series of recent acquisitions by associates of Amazon in Northeastern Ohio provides some clues.
strategy+business
The kidtech is all right
by Daniel Gross
Dylan Collins, CEO of SuperAwesome, describes how his six-year-old company is hitting a growth spurt by leading the charge on digital privacy for children.
The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show: Contrapoints on taking the trolls seriously
by Ezra Klein and Natalie Wynn
If you’re over 30, and you don’t spend much time on the platform, it’s almost impossible to explain how central it is to young people’s media consumption. YouTube far outranks television in terms of where teens spend their time. It’s foundational to how young people -- and plenty of not-so-young people -- form their politics.
AppleInsider
Can Apple News+ kill 'fake news' and save journalism?
by Daniel Eran Dilger
Apple's News+ subscription service threatens to kill the open web's surveillance advertising clickbait model of fake news engagement to save journalism. Why would Apple want or care to do that? Here's a look.
CBS News
Crime victims confront perpetrators
by Scott Pelley and 60 Minutes
The Restorative Justice Project arranges meetings that can change the lives of both victim and convict.
Literary Hub
Is It Still Punk When the Musician Makes It Big?
by Vivien Goldman
"Here, try it on!" the punk poetess Patti Smith urged me. Together with the photographer Dennis Morris and her guitarist Lenny Kaye, we were sifting the racks of a Japanese store, unusual for the times, in West London's Notting Hill Gate. (Excerpted from "Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot," by Vivien Goldman.)
Vox
Esther Wojcicki explains how she raised the CEOs of YouTube and 23andMe
by Kara Swisher and Esther Wojcicki
Wojcicki talks about her new book, "How to Raise Successful People," on the latest episode of Recode Decode with Kara Swisher.
The New Yorker
Jackie MacMullan Is the Great Chronicler of Basketball’s Golden Age
by Louisa Thomas
The acclaimed N.B.A. writer on her days as the only woman in the locker room, and the evolving challenge of reporting on sports.
TechCrunch
Friend portability is the must-have Facebook regulation
by Josh Constine
FTC must pave the path to competition.
MUSIC OF THE DAY
YouTube
"Muy Tranquilo"
Gramatik
“REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’”
@JasonHirschhorn


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