Troma’s Free Film School

Posted on November 17, 2012 at 8:00 am

Troma Entertainment has launched a brand-new, free YouTube channel dedicated to sharing decades of filmmaking expertise with aspiring filmmakers, Troma president Lloyd Kaufman announced today. Troma will post free secrets to financing, producing, and selling movies which Lloyd Kaufman has gained over 40 years in the film industry, along with segments featuring the film industry’s leading producers, directors, and actors, such as, James Gunn, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Eli Roth, Penelope Spheeris, Stan Lee, George Romero, Jenna Fisher, Roger Corman, David Cronenberg, and many more.

Based upon Kaufman’s hit Make Your Own Damn Movie! book and DVD series, a brand-new filmmaking lesson will be posted every Friday via Your Own Damn Channel. “This is film school on YouTube,” said Lloyd Kaufman. “We have thanked our fans for keeping us in business for 40 years by making 250 of our best movies available on YouTube for free, and we are keeping up with that tradition by offering this companion piece to my book and DVD series free of charge as well.”

Established in 1974 by Yale friends Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma Entertainment is one of the longest-running independent movie studios in United States history, and one of the best-known names in the industry. World famous for movie classics like Kaufman’s The Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Class of Nuke’em High, Mother’s Day and Tromeo and Juliet, Troma‘s seminal films are now being remade as big budget mainstream productions by the likes of Brett Ratner, Richard Saperstein, Akiva Goldsman, and Steven Pink. Among today’s luminaries whose early work can be found in Troma’s 800+ film library are Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Jenna Fischer, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Fergie, Vincent D’Onofrio, Samuel L. Jackson, James Gunn and Eli Roth.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Game Makers Push for Consistent Ratings on Multiple Platforms

Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:59 pm

Television has parental guidance ratings that go from TV-Y (all audiences) to TV-MA (mature audiences). Movies have the MPAA rating system, from G to NC-17. The recording industry has a parental advisory label. Games are rated EC (early childhood) to A (adults only). All of these ratings have problems — for one reason, they are all imposed by the industry itself, which creates conflicts of interest. The procedures and criteria should be more transparent. And it is confusing to have so many different standards.But there was good news this week when John Riccitiello, the head of Electronic Arts, made a presentation to top government officials calling for a significant improvement in game ratings — consistency across all platforms. When the ratings were developed, games were played on computers and stand-alone devices. Now they are played on a much wider range of options including smartphones and social media. “We must move beyond the alphabet soup of game ratings and consolidate behind a single standard that consumers will recognize and, ultimately, demand,” he said. A good step in the right direction.

New Report on Children, Teens, and Entertainment Media

Posted on November 9, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Common Sense Media has issued a new research report, Children, Teens, and Entertainment Media: The View from the Classroom. Findings include:

Most teachers think that use of entertainment media has impaired ability to learn and perform in the classroom by decreasing attention span and hurting their critical thinking ability. The greatest area of concern is about the impact of media use on writing ability. The media most often cited as problematic are texting, social networking, video games, and television, depending on the students’ age. While teachers praise the benefits of media in teaching multi-tasking and researching information resources, overall they were concerned about the impact it has, not just on learning but social interaction.

The Poem from “Skyfall”

Posted on November 8, 2012 at 3:55 pm

M (Judi Dench) quotes a stirring passage from “Ulysses,” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall.”

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.