Song: Alice. (Pogo)
Music and video taken almost entirely from Alice in Wonderland. Beautiful. Vocally, it's evocative of Bjork's Disney-esque Vespertine album. The rhythms of this artist are a bit more conservative than Bjork's, but still very beautiful. It's own thing, really. I almost apologize for the comparison.
Song: Oceania (Bjork)
(Special "Women's News" guest Tina Fey on Weekend Update. Apologies to folks outside the US, NBC may be blocking the video, as they do not enjoy free marketing in your country.)
Due to its relatively short production-cycle (pretty much one week), Saturday Night Live is the first thing on tv to have new content since the WGA strike ended.
This, combined with (this week's host) Tina Fey's cult following meant that lots of people were excited for the show this week, myself included. How'd it go? Tough to say. The show was above average, but I didn't really feel that Tina's presence made much of an impact. I didn't feel the Tina, nah'mean? Except for once, during Weekend Update, which was awesome. (Video above.)
It's the kind of movie Tina and Amy would rip on on Weekend Update. But I forgive them.
Today Ze Frank brought up an interesting item about decline in the Studio profits, and how it's more than partly due to them paying more and more money to "top" directors, producers, and actors in participation deals. Participation deals give top stars a cut of revenue, not the profit, so even a movie that does not make a profit can be obligated to pay out tons of money to participants.
[New York Times]
...the real killer was the growth in participations. Their precise amount is difficult to reckon, because deals vary and details are seldom disclosed publicly. But Global Media noted that at Disney — unusual in that its financial reports break out annual outlays for participations and residuals — the figure had grown at a compound annual rate of 37.6 percent for the last five years, to $554 million. If the other companies are spending at a similar rate, said the researchers, they are paying out shares worth $3 billion, while piling up an almost $2 billion loss on their new films.So the short version according to this in-depth 6 month report by Global Media Intelligence, is that revenue has gone down a little, but payout on participation deals as gone up a lot, way more than the decrease in revenue. So that even if DVD sales, etc., were at break even, or even slight growth, movie studios would have a financial problem on their hands.
Another good video from United Hollywood, this one about the inconsistencies on behalf of the Studios regarding the Internet.
OK, it's not surprising that writers can put together a pretty snazzy video. Bravo! But sheesh guys, at this point it's like you're attaching yourself to an abusive spouse, insisting he get better. Leave him! (And read Marc Andreesen's posts regarding same.)
[update: Don't even read this post and instead read Marc Andreesen's Rebuilding Hollywood in Silicon Valley's Image)]
Above you'll see the Writers Guild's very specific, informative video on what they're asking for in contract negotiations.
