More on Austin Kleon and mindmapping

This is the kind of thing that attracted me to Austin Kleon in the first place! His mind mapping!!! He's so great at it - and it's a remarkable kind of process/document. I first just saw a drawing from an event via email. Then I sat next to him when David Simon was at John's UT Master Class -- and I marveled even more. I couldn't believe how he could get to the essence in real time sketching those words and pictures. Cool stuff! I'm itching to try ...but I don't have the skill or artistry he does. I haven't read this post close enough to assess whether he thinks it's in the reach of everyone. Or not. It could be an amazing discipline. I really like the idea of it as a sharpening tool. Another add to my to-do list.

Great New Instructional Salsa DVD from Everyone Can Salsa

I'm so proud of Azucena and Carlos! My kick ass incredible salsa instructors just created their first instructional DVD in the series: Everyone Can Salsa. And it's fantastic! Check it out here!

Brian Newman with some interesting updates on the Long Tail

We talk a lot about the Long Tail in this house. If you can call it talking. It's a lot of debate and discourse, and wondering where the reality is. So I was glad to read this interesting update from the always smart and interesting Brian Newman.

Long tail not so debunked after-all

There’s been much ado about Anita Elberse’s article in the Harvard Business Review lately – where she seriously questions the validity of the long-tail theory. The press (and that includes bloggers, and me) love anything that runs contrary to a popular opinion in business and culture, and Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail, has certainly been influential. Within days of the issue hitting the stands, I started receiving emails from people making sure I had read it – mainly because they know my organization has launched a project working somewhat off the long-tail theory. I nuance this with the “somewhat;” however, as I’ve never agreed with most of what the adherents of the long-tail seem to believe. Pretty much everyone in the film world who has read it, and I meet someone everyday who hasn’t, seems to think that it says that obscure, niche content can now make more sales. These people believe that by building a better web system, doing more niche marketing or whatever, that their small movies can now become much bigger. This is false, of course, but became a popular belief because, hell, every filmmaker is in need of some golden business rule that can help them sway investors that their little movie can someday be big. A few people have even accused me of thinking this in relation to Reframe. (Which has never been true.)

But what they all miss, and what Elberse’s article doesn’t really address, is that the real truth of the long-tail is simply that in a business environment that allows for more long-tail content and transactions, more value will accrue to those companies that exploit an aggregate of long-tail content. Not more than hit-makers, but more than they made before the web. No single niche title (yes, there are a few exceptions) will become much more popular, but if you aggregate many of them, you can add up those small sales to something approaching profitability. This isn’t refuted by Elberse, and I’m still pretty bullish on the aggregate model; in fact, even more so in relation to this new study. (more)

A perfect Saturday night going to see Hud at the Paramount

Hud. Man I love that movie! I've always loved the movie. It's just perfect. Watching it tonight, again, in awe, again. Saturday night at the glorious Paramount Theater in Austin watching a great movie that takes your breath away.



A couple of weeks ago it was Harold and Maude. Another movie I loved in its time that holds up amazingly well. So many astounding movies...

Very sad Taveuni story, boy dies when coconut falls on his head and the power's out at the hospital

This is a terrible story. It illustrates so much of the current Fiji reality. When we lived there, we used to joke about getting hit on the head by a coconut - (an event much more serious than it sounds) but it was still funny to think about, and there was electricity most of the time in the newly built hospital. The last coup resulted in an interim government back by the military. Now the economy, which was never strong to begin with, is falling, has totally fallen apart. Services are at an all time low. Tourism is down. Local newspaper publishers have been ushered out of the country. It's not business as usual, and it's heartbreaking for a country we grew to love, who even at its best, had little material wealth. The whole situation has grown much more dire.

What's interesting too about this article, it displays the exact kind of daily difficulty experienced everyday in Fiji: no electricity so the Rotary Club willing to donate a generator, but the Works Department needing to use their own electrician for the hook-up, and not doing so. Ah....

Student dies: Coconut falls on boy's head at school

Sunday, July 13, 2008

A STUDENT felled by a coconut on the head on a school playground on Friday died after being sent home because there was no electricity in an island hospital.

The Class Seven student of Somosomo District School, on Taveuni, was rushed to hospital but relatives were told to take him home.

Sources on Taveuni say the dead boy comes from the chiefly tribes in Somosomo Village. His name could not be divulged.

"They were playing when a coconut hit his head and he fell down a steep hill close to the school," the source said.

Police spokeswoman Ema Mua confirmed that, saying police could not reveal the identity of the 12-year-old student.

On Friday our Northern bureau reported that a State policy had left the Taveuni Hospital without any electricity.

That prompted medical officials there to close the mortuary. Sub-divisional medical officer Taveuni Doctor Hlathein Thein said because of continuous electricity supply problems experienced since the beginning of this year, they decided it was best to use a generator donated by the Rotary Club of Taveuni.

"But before we can change to using our own generator, the Works Department needs to do all the clearance. They need their own electrician to do this," he said.

"For the past week we have been without electricity. Emergency cases have been referred to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva," Dr Thein said.

However, Ministry of Works spokesperson Sainiana Waqainabete denied such a policy, saying the hospital had every right to change generators if the PWD generator was damaged.

"There is no such policy ... hospitals anywhere in Fiji can use their own generator if they wish when it comes to such a situation. We don't need to clear anything or have our own electrician to do clearance work," she said. (continued)

Where the Hell is Matt? Yeah, now, finally me too watching.

Ok, to again expose how out of it I can be. I just finally saw Where The Hell is Matt? Wikipedia filled in the details of what a huge internet star he is, and for how long. But hey, we discover things when we do, yes? I clicked on the link (courtesy of my friend Tommy's Myspace blog which I almost never remember to visit anymore...not Tommy's blog, Myspace in general!) with a bad attitude. I expected to be annoyed. And was for a second. Before I broke into a huge grin appreciating the beautiful simplicity of this dramatic gesture. A simple dance, all over the world, sometimes alone, sometimes all the different locals joining in. Really humanity at its essence. Really a beautiful thing.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Ah, genetics...

Love this!  Particularly since I'm the mother of an 18 and almost 21 year old.  Love these ages.

Thanks to Thompson on Hollywood

Hilarious Ze Frank 2007 SXSW Web Awards

OK, so I'm a little slow.... I just stumbled onto this video and awards patter by Ze Frank for the SXSW 2007 web awards. Which is hilarious. Even though it's been around for awhile. Made me laugh - and each time I replayed it, I laughed more.



This YouTube version of the initial video cuts in a little late -for the full version, in better res, go here.

Joe Swanberg's "Too Many Nights and Weekends" over at Variety

This little post by Joe Swanberg for Variety's Fest Circuit blog really made me laugh! Look at the brilliant way Joe spins:

Upon arriving, I had lunch with a few of the other American Independents filmmakers who were on my flight. I had never heard of any of their films, and they hadn't heard of mine. That fact made me equally proud and nervous to be an American Independent filmmaker, working in a country that produces so many films and filmmakers, and has so many festivals and screens, that it's possible for several of these filmmakers to have festival and theatrical success without any idea that the others even exist.

Talk about spin! Everyone else is bemoaning the deluge of too many films! Too many films numbing the audience, exhausting the critics, and crowding out the arthouses. It's a kind of cannibalism! John and I have been debating this subject for years - how democratization is great for an individual's creative impulse but deadly for the marketplace. But I digress. I'm not prepared to get into all that. This post was just inspired by Joe, and his charming Variety post, and how he puts it all out there into the world.

Fun Times at LAFF and great eats at Animal

I had a great time out at LAFF last week, although I neglected to take more than one filmy blog photo.


Anne Cecere (BMI), George Shaw (Film Composer),

 (Damn, what was her name!!), Peter Paul Basler (Producer, Big Heart City.)

I had a great time catching up with the very excellent 2008 sxsw premiere, Medicine of Melancholy. I was thrilled to be there supporting the two Austin-made LAFF premieres: Trinidad and I'll Come Running. (I'm particularly proud to have a prominent "Thanks" in the Trinidad credits. I fell in love with this doc early on, so remained an active, vocal rough cut screener. I think all involved -- directors PJ Raval and Jay Hodges, editor Kyle Henry, composer Frank Alexander, and executive producer Matt Dentler did a great job on a really fascinating subject.) Enjoyed the doc Paper and Plastic, and Sundance narrative, Frozen River. And what I really went crazy for was the fantastic new Werner Herzog doc, Encounters at the End of the World. As I've written before, I've a deep soft spot for Herzog. I love the sound of his voice, I love his narrative voice. This recent doc in Antartica is a particular delight. I highly recommend it.


~Encounters at the End of the World~

I was out at LAFF in my new festival programmer role - catching up with films, but really more, this time of year, catching up with old and new contacts. There were plenty of filmmakers, press, and industry - all easy to see, and wonderful to engage with. I attended the Financing Conference, the Texas Film Commission Brunch at Spago, the Austin Film Society party celebrating the Austin films, lots of moments in the Target Red Room, The Cinemocracy Party, and IFC Film's particularly fabulous soiree at the Sunset Marquis, celebrating their two recent sxsw premiere acquisitions, Medicine for Melancholy and The Pleasure of Being Robbed.

Lots of conversations. Lots of time management. At the AFS party, I was deep in talk with Eddie Schmidt and AJ Schnack when I kept spotting IFP's Amy Dotson out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't break away. Finally, as the party was ending, I managed a quick, "You hungry?" and next found myself in a car with Amy and two strangers on our way to Fairfax, two doors up from Cantors. It turns out one of the "strangers" was producer Sarah Hendler, and Animal is her boyfriend's new restaurant. It was delicious!! The company and conversation were grand, but the three of us newbies went crazy for the food. Definitely worth the trip.


Producer Sarah Hendler and Chef Vinny Dotolo at Animal