Film School on Your Laptop: George Mason University Takes Their Filmmaker Lecture Series Online

Posted on March 30, 2020 at 4:08 pm

George Mason University’s Visiting Filmmaker Series is going online. Anyone can attend!

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Dennis Boni, Director of Photography
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: A Conversation with Jennifer Baichwal, director of Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
Thursday, April 2, 2020 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Doug Spearman Masterclass in Directing
April 6, 2020, 1:30 PM to April 23, 2020, 3:00 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Tony Marquez, director and filmmaker
Tuesday, April 7, 2020 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Panel Discussion on Unions in Filmmaking
Wednesday, April 8, 2020 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Christelle Matou, Costume and production design
Monday, April 13, 2020 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Henry Ogunjimi, documentary filmmaker
Tuesday, April 14, 2020 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Kwanza Gooden, filmmaker
Tuesday, April 14, 2020 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Steph Garcia, actor, writer, comedian
Wednesday, April 15, 2020 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM

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Visiting Filmmakers Series Online: Akiva Peñaloza, writer, director
Monday, April 20, 2020 1:30 PM

MINNO — A New Christian Streaming Service

Posted on December 16, 2019 at 8:42 am

Families who find the content on television, cable, and streaming services like Netflix and even some of the films on Disney Plus troubling for family viewing have a new alternative with extended Christian content, called MINNO (from the Greek for “to abide.” Their slogan: Stories kids love; values parents trust. The founders say, “We are parents, church volunteers, ministry leaders, developers, writers, and technology and entertainment executives with one mission: serving you, as Christian parents, in raising the next generation of believers…. our goal is to help families connect with God through amazing stories, books, and resources.” Viewers can find classics like Veggie Tales and programs like “What’s in the Bible?”, “3-2-1 Penguins”, and CBN’s “Superbook.”

And now three are two ways to share it;

1. Buy a Minno gift card! E-gift cards are now available for 1, 2, and 3 year subscriptions. A Minno subscription makes a great Christmas gift for a special family in your life.

2. Join the Minno High Five referral program and you’ll have immediate access to everything you need to share Minno with your friends through email and social media. As an added bonus, when a friend subscribes to Minno through your link, you’ll get a $5 e-gift card to the store for your choice.

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VOD and Streaming

Netflix Thinks You can Speed-Read a Movie — Filmmakers Do Not Agree

Posted on October 29, 2019 at 10:59 am

Podcast listeners sometimes use the option to speed up the audio to get the information more quickly. Now Netflix is trying the same thing with video. Entertainment Weekly reports:

What if you could watch every episode of Breaking Bad and Stranger Things 50 percent faster?

That’s a feature that Netflix is quietly testing, and it’s quickly drawn a big backlash from Hollywood creatives.
First noted by Android Police, savvy mobile users of the streaming service spotted a new feature on the Netflix Android app that allowed subscribers to speed up (or slow down) playback without muting the volume (to playback speeds 0.5x, 0.75x, 1.0x, 1.25x or 1.5x, respectively). The feature is not unlike what most podcast and audiobook apps already have and is used by some listeners to consume content more quickly (or, in some cases, to slow it down if they have a difficult time understanding it).

The first-blush response from industry creatives, however, was not good. Turns out filmmakers don’t like the idea of viewers watching their painstakingly crafted work on Chimpmunks mode.

Now That You’ve Seen All of Russian Doll…..

Posted on February 12, 2019 at 8:02 pm

I totally binged “Russian Doll,” the new Netflix series starring Natasha Lyonne, who also co-wrote, co-produced, and directed the last episode. And when I was done watching the story of a 37-year-old New Yorker who dies repeatedly only to find herself resetting back to her birthday party at a friend’s apartment, I wanted to understand more about it. If you’ve seen it and are ready for some in-depth (and I mean DEPTH) discussion, start here:

Comparing the time loop rules of Russian Doll and Groundhog Day

No Easy Answers

Russian Doll Easter Eggs You May Not Have Noticed That Will Make You Want to Watch it Again

Russian Doll Used Men in the Supporting Roles Usually Reserved for Women

Interviews with Charlie Barnett (Alan), Nadia’s stunt double, and writer/director Leslye Headland, and mastiff-pup-lover Lizzie

Trailer: Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television*, Season 2

Posted on January 15, 2019 at 11:20 am

I signed up for YouTube Red to see the first season of Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television*, and am really looking forward to Season 2, which starts January 30. It is smart, fresh, and very funny, with great guest stars, a lot of sharp, knowing, meta-commentary on pop culture, and a lead performance by Hansen that is so resolutely self-involved lesser-Hollywood bro it is almost impossible to believe it isn’t real.