Hollywood Babble On& On #1031: The Art Of Revenge!

There are doings a transpiring at the Century City Mall, otherwise known as the unofficial parking lot of the powerful Creative Artists Agency.

Rival mega-agency William Morris Endeavor Agency is accused of posting a new interpretation of the CAA logo turning it into CAAN'T. They also had a CAAN'T website and snuck someone with the CAAN'T logo into the on-camera crowd at the Today Show.

Now you know that this blog is usually a bastion of maturity that wouldn't normally condone such behaviour....

However, part of me would love to see this degenerate into a childish prank war straight out of a 1980s frat-house comedy.

Why, because I love seeing the rich, pompous, and self-important knock each other and themselves down a peg, and if it involves the hoisting of petards, all the better.

So let's all collaborate on what CAA can do for revenge, and when they get that revenge, let's give ideas to WME.

Why?

So that helpfully this whole thing escalates to an unbelievable size that plunges all involved into untold depths of humiliation and embarrassment.

Plus, we're talking about top tier Hollywood people and as a community they're not really known for their imagination.

I'll get the ball rolling with:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MANAGEMENT OF CAA

Dear sirs.

I'm pretty sure it's all going to be "sirs" am I right? Yeah, I'm right.

But seriously fellas... 

Are you just going to take this shit from WME?

Because if you do, then you're going to look weak and waffling, and you don't want that. The smell of your blood is in the water, the sharks are gathering, and the only thing to get rid of it is revenge!

That's why I'm here to help, and I've made a short list of...

WAYS FOR CAA TO GET REVENGE ON WME 

1. Overnight CAA poaches all of WMEs assistants by offering them a living wage. The next morning will be pure carnage as top agents are unable to find the source of their non-fat chai-mocha lattes.

2. Send Game Of Thrones spoilers to WME agents, because you can be pretty sure they didn't read the books. 

3. Get the WME bosses on the mailing lists of Republican PACs and conservative Christian groups.

  

4. Post the e-mail addresses of top WME bosses on erotic fan-fiction and slash-fiction forums saying they're "Open To Submissions," and that attachments are welcome.

____________

If anyone else has any ideas feel free to leave them in the comments.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1030: Tony, Oscar, Shilling & Suing

TONY VERSUS OSCAR

Last night I did something I haven't done in a long-long time.

I watched an award show without flipping to something else.

Okay, I only watched 2 hours of said awards show, but since my previous record of the past decade is less than 30 minutes, it's bordering on a miracle.

How did this miracle occur?

I think it was because it was the Tony Awards.

Now I know some of you live in caves, so I'll do a little explaining.

The Tony Awards is the show honouring the best in American Theatre.

Okay, technically not American theatre, since only shows in New York can qualify. Also, it's not only New York theatre since to qualify for a Tony Award the theatre your show is performed in must be in the theatrical district accepted as "Broadway."

Now I don't really follow Broadway, and my knowledge of the Broadway scene is limited to a dichotomy of musicals for tourists visiting New York City, and straight-forward plays geared toward the upscale New Yorker community.

So why did I sit through more of 1 night of the Tony Awards than I have for over a decade of Oscars combined?

The opening number might illustrate my point...

(Update: CBS has had the video pulled because they believe that people seeing the best commercial they ever had to watch the Tony Awards on CBS violates their copyright. Smart.)

To sum it up, the Tony Awards show was something the Oscars haven't been in a very long time.

Entertaining.

The show moved quickly, only had a few minor missteps in the humour department, and for the most part the speeches were quick and even sincere for a change. No one tried to prove they were better than the audience, and a whole bunch of other things that the Oscars either do badly, won't do, or overdo to the point of annoying.

So why do the Tonys work better than the Oscars?

Probably because Broadway knows a little more about putting on a stage show than people who normally do movies, but I think there's a secret ingredient they don't really acknowledge...

Attitude.

You see there is no reason for CBS to air the Tonys aside from winning viewers. They aren't connected by various corporate inbreeding to most Broadway producers. Dropping the Tonys won't annoy major media conglomerates with big advertising deals the way dropping the Oscars would.

This means that aside from any statement they must make, the Tony Awards must be entertaining first. Meanwhile the Oscars take themselves way too seriously, and must impress upon the world just how important they are before taking that step into the realm of entertaining.

That's my theory, what's yours?

FTC VS TWITTER

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly interested in investigating celebrities like the assorted Kardashians on social media like Twitter and Facebook to see if their frequent product placements is a violation of trade and advertising laws.

I have two problems with this.

1. I'm leery of the government regulating what someone says, even if they're just pitching shoes on social media.

2. If these celebs can't shill, then what else do they have? People don't follow them for their wit and wisdom.

PARAMOUNT VS JP MORGAN

Back in 2010 JP Morgan's subsidiary Content Partners LLC. ended their relationship financing Paramount movies by filing a $45 million lawsuit against the studio calling shenanigans on their accounting practices.

Paramount has decided that they're really the victim, and have filed a counter claim against Content Partners LLC. saying they were the ones pulling shenanigans.

Now I'm not going to pass judgement on the merits of either side of the case. What I will pass judgement on is the simple fact that the percentage of investor/studio relationships that end in bad blood and litigation is so high the people running Hollywood should feel shame if they were capable of it.

The whole business is dysfunctional, and seriously needs reform, because eventually you will run out of other people's money.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1029: Random Drippings From My Brain Pan

FLICKER FRAUD

A British filmmaker has been found guilty of defrauding the UK's film production tax credit program by claiming more money than his horror comedy El Dorado 3D actually cost.

Meanwhile the big studio productions that are all flying to London to take advantage of the same tax credit program are calling this guy an "amateur."

But seriously, I wish the independent film business would just get rid of the scammers and the schemers. It's a high risk business even in the best of times and with the best of intentions. The business doesn't need fly-by-night scammers making it not only riskier, but look like a hot-bed of fraud.

KEVIN SAYS HE WON'T KICK

Kevin Smith says that he won't use Kickstarter to fund a movie.

Going by Kevin Smith's past history of statements and actions, he'll probably be launching a Kickstarter campaign sometime next week.

GRUMPY CAT MOVIE?

Tardar Sauce, the foul tempered feline who is the current darling of the internet, has a deal for a movie to be made from its vicious visage.

I won't cast any aspersions on the owners of the Grumpy Cat for making the deal. When money literally falls out of the sky you grab what you can.

However I will drop a hearty "WTF?" to the producers who are spending hard earned money on something that has literally all the odds against it.

The Grumpy Cat phenomena isn't like other properties that have been adapted into films. It's not a novel, a TV show, a comic book, a video game, or even a self-help book, all things that have at least some semblance of a narrative and a creative vision behind them.

Grumpy Cat is an internet meme.

Basically, it's a bunch of pictures of a sour-faced cat that people then caption with whatever cranky joke they feel like doing at that moment.

Unlike Garfield, whose past success the producers are hoping to cash in on, this isn't a comic strip produced with a singular voice, it's literally millions of people doing their own jokes, and they probably won't like yours.

Then there's the whole fad element.

The whole Grumpy Cat fad could be done and dusted while they're still trying to put together a script. People could look at that scowling cat's face & decide that they're sick of the sight of it.

Then what are the producers going to do?

Hope that Gangnam Style the movie hits big?

Hollywood Babble On & On #1028: Who Should Be Who?

Matt Smith is leaving the role of the Doctor in the venerable science fiction institution Doctor Who. He is booked for the November 50th anniversary special, but is set to regenerate at the end of the 2013 Christmas special.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you, I'll do a little explaining.

Doctor Who premiered on the BBC in November 1963 and it's about The Doctor. The Doctor, whose real name has never been revealed, is a 1,200+ year old alien from the planet Gallifrey.  He's what is called a Time Lord, and he has a machine called the TARDIS that is capable of going anywhere and any time in the Universe. By the way, while massive on the inside, from the outside it looks like a blue police phone box.

Former Companion Karen Gillan

Now the Doctor doesn't travel alone, he usually has a companion, who is usually a young attractive Earth female. That's because the Doctor is an alien, he's not an idiot.

The Doctor and his companion then scoot around all of time and space having all sorts of adventures battling nasty aliens like the Daleks or the Cybermen (who were Borg before Trek had Borg) and meeting figures from history and the far future. 

Also for a character who never carries a weapon he's also killed infinitely more people than Captain Kirk and Darth Vader combined having wiped out most of his arch enemies the Daleks and all of his own people the Time Lords.

Now the first Doctor was played by an actor named William Hartnell, and he was plagued with health problems by the third season and couldn't go on. Instead of cancelling the show they revealed that when a Time Lord is on the brink of death they can "regenerate" but the regeneration process changes their appearance and personality, thus paving the way for another actor to take over the part.

The original series ran from 1963-1989 when the BBC cancelled it, but the series was revived in 2005, and Matt Smith is the show's 11th (or maybe 12th Doctor), and his successor will be the 12th or 13th depending on what's revealed in the 50th anniversary special.

Now everyone is speculating who will replace Smith and some are placing odds on who will be next, and I have one thing to say: Most of the speculation about who will be the next Doctor will be wrong.

How do I know that?

History.

All but two of the past Doctors, were relatively unknown or little known character actors when they took the part. Legend has it that 4th Doctor Tom Baker, who played the part the longest still worked his construction job during hiatus for his first few seasons because he thought he'd get fired and be nearly unemployable again at any minute.

The chief reason for casting non-"star" actors is that the role of the Doctor is a great part, but it's also a weird one. Whoever plays the Doctor has to play someone who may look human, but is most definitely not. He thinks differently than normal people, he acts differently, and while his personality may be smiles and quick quips, he possesses a dark-side that is awe-inspiring in its cold cruel power.

An actor can't really come into the part with a lot of baggage. You don't want the audience looking at the Doctor and seeing a bad-ass cop on the edge from another show, or have the character mangled to fit a big star's pre-existing heroic or romantic image. The writers need a relatively blank slate to work their magic on, or it's not the Doctor, just that actor dressed up as the Doctor.

There's also a pattern when it comes to casting actors who play the Doctor. When they're first announced the general reaction is "There's no way he could be as good as the last guy!" and then when he leaves gets a lot of "No one will be as good as he was!"

Now some are saying that the next Doctor must be black or a woman, or both and they say that it must be done in the name of fairness, and if you don't agree with them you must be racist, sexist, or both.

Ironically, those kinds of demands actually hurt the chances of a non-white or female actor being either cast in the part or might hurt their success if they do get the part.

Why?

If the people making the casting decisions are being pressured to make a choice based on race or gender then they and the audience will question that final decision. Was that actor chosen because they were right for the part? Were they picked as a token gesture picked either to silence critics who questioned their political correctness or for cheap publicity because some loud-mouths, a handful being real racists and sexists, will bark about it?

That's more baggage for what should be a blank slate.

I have a suggestion.

Let's not make any demands that whoever gets the part must be this or that because they are this or that, just that the powers that be at the BBC pick the best person for the part solely because they're the best person for the part.

Second Look - Absolute Beginners

I don't normally do reviews here outside of my long neglected Discount Bin Film Club, but I recently got a little blast from the past on Turner Classic Movies "Second Look" series, and decided to post my thoughts.

I'm a child of the 1980s, which was an age of conformity, rebellion, and conformity through rebellion, and rebellion through conformity, and one film attempted to capture it all by making a musical set in the 1950s that was about the 1980s and it was called Absolute Beginners.

The movie, based on the novel by Colin MacInnes, follows a freelance photographer during his last summer as a teenager in London in 1958.  

The photographer, named Colin (Eddie O'Connell) in the movie but nameless in the novel, is in love with a gal with the nickname of Crepe Suzette (Patsy Kensit). Suzette is an ambitious wannabe fashion designer who leaves her true love behind to enter a phoney marriage of convenience with a gay fashion designer named Henley of Mayfair (James Fox). Henley needs  a wife to avoid Britain's draconian anti-gay laws and attitudes which could ruin him, but he more urgently needs her ideas and talent to tap into the burgeoning youth market, on the flip side Suzette needs him to break into the business.

Colin tries to win back Suzette by "selling out" first in the form of working an oily and probably pedophiliac pop-star manager-promoter named Harry Charms, a gossip columnist named Dido Lament, and an advertising kingpin named Vendice Partners played by rock legend David Bowie. 

Both find themselves terribly unhappy in their new lives and find themselves breaking free from the paths set by the older generation and start their adult lives on their own terms.

Meanwhile, the long hot summer brings simmering racial tensions to the boil, as those who felt left out of the economic growth try to blame others based on their race. Unscrupulous property developers start hiring thuggish Teddy Boys to drive out the resident's of Colin's neighbourhood, but they lose control of their thugs and everything explodes in a massive deadly riot at the film's climax.

All of this reflecting attitudes found in all levels of UK society at the time.

The 1950s were a little more jarring for the UK than the USA. Nine years of post-WW2 rationing, cripplingly high taxes, economic stagnation, and general social malaise had only ended in 1954 unleashing a booming economy and an exploding youth culture where one had not existed before. However, the Caribbean immigrants and European refugees who were brought in to help with war time and post-war labour shortages.

The 1980s in the UK were similar but on a less dramatic scale. Youth culture in Britain had stagnated in the 1970s because of a combination of the over-indulgence of the 1960s generation, and the nationalization of industries putting the country in a chronic recession.

These conditions led to the arrival of punk rock and new wave pop music, a massive recovery in the economy, and an stern authority figure to rebel against in the form of Margaret Thatcher.

The filmmakers no doubt thought the similarities in the zeitgeist meant that it was the right time to bring Absolute Beginners to the big screen.

Now like most people I didn't see the movie when it came out in theatres. In fact, it's troubled production, and its failure at the box office helped sink co-producer Goldcrest Films after years of box office success and critical acclaim. I first saw it on a rather grainy pirated pay-tv signal in 1988, then I read about its troubled production in a book about the rise and fall of Goldcrest Films.

Three production companies pitched in to make the film, but each producer had a different vision of how the film should be made and what the film should be, with director Julian Temple stuck in the middle. Money troubles plagued the production, often causing it to shut down for days or weeks at a time, sometimes in the middle of making a scene.

And you can see all that in the finished film.

The film has ambitious ideas and themes, but it lacks the cohesion to present those ideas and themes in a coherent way. The film is being pulled in different directions. Should it be a glossy and glamorous fantasy like the MGM musicals of the 1950s setting, or should it be gritty and political more in tune with the vibe of the time it was made? Should it be nostalgic for the 1950s, or should it make a statement about the 1980s?

It looks like they couldn't quite decide. Creating jarring lurches in tone and style that might have been made smoother had there been a singular vision behind the film. 

Also you get the sense that someone was trying to cram as much music as possible into the movie. Sometimes the songs expand on the story and the characters, but a lot of the time they're just there for the sole purpose of being there and the editing just plops them in there with little or not transition or introduction.

It also hurts the storytelling. We are introduced to characters and story-lines that seem interesting, only to have the song end and we never see them again. The most telling is the appearance of Kinks lead singer Ray Davies in the role of Colin's downtrodden dad. He's stuck in a loveless marriage with an unfaithful wife, working on detailed personal history of his family and his community because it helps him remember happier times. All of this is introduced in his number "The Quiet Life" where he expresses, amidst the camp antics of his wife, her paramours, and his boorish stepson, that, despite what everyone thinks, he does know how pathetic his life is, but doesn't dare challenge the status quo because he's afraid of the unknown that change will bring.

He's an interesting character, obviously scarred by his wartime experiences and his miserable family life, but as soon as his song ends, he's gone, never to be seen or even referred to again. You get the sense that he was originally intended to be a much larger figure, as he was in the original novel, but was mostly cut out during the development process.

However, it's not all doom and gloom with this film.

It's a strangely compelling and yet melancholy experience, keeping your attention, which makes the missed narrative opportunities and tonal lurches more stinging because you want more story over songs. The pacing is quick, with very few slow patches, and the cast is charming with an overall good chemistry between them, especially the leads.

There are also these clever little touches and visual gags included in the films. Like how almost every building in  Colin's neighbourhood of Napoli in Notting Hill have little plaques explaining how they were once important landmarks in the history of British culture, but are now semi-bombed out slums. There are also character cues, like how Colin goes from being a spontaneous chronicler of his neighbourhood and its people when he's unknown, to trying to impose himself on his subjects by forcing poses on them, just like how his new patrons try to use his talent to their ends.

I think you could classify Absolute Beginners as a noble failure and an 80s curiosity worth investigating.

Indie Film Spotlight: Radio Free Albemuth

Tired of rich celebrities dominating Kickstarter?

Want to toss a little love to some really independent filmmaking?

Then you should take a look at this...

Radio Free Albemuth is an independently produced feature film adaptation of the Phillip K. Dick novel. The plot is simple on the surface. 

It's set in an alternate universe in the 1980s. A realm of paranoia and lies, where even the President himself might be a Soviet spy. A record store clerk from Berkeley is being given visions by a mysterious alien entity, that first make him a successful record executive, but also put him on a collision course with the increasingly repressive state.

Of course, as with all of Dick's work, it's much more complicated and mind-bending than that. Which is why the people behind the project have been so passionate about it.

Radio Free Albemuth's cast includes Shea Wigham (Silver Linings Playbook, Boardwalk Empire), Multiple Grammy Award Winner Alanis Morissette, Jonathan Scarfe (Perception, Grimm), Katheryn Winnick, (Vikings, Stand Up Guys), Hanna Hall ( The Virgin Suicides, Halloween ), Ashley Greene (The Twilight Films), Golden Globe nominee Scott Wilson (The Ninth Configuration, The Walking Dead), and Oscar nominee Rosemary Harris.

"Engrossing! Delivers satisfying intrigue and suspense.  Should connect strongly with Dick's fanbase and upscale auds seeking sci-fi with political and philosophical substance." -- Richard Kuipers, Variety 

"In our view, the best adaptation of PKD’s work to screen by far!"  -- Louis Savy,  Sci-Fi London  

"Five stars!  This film has soul!  You don’t have to be a fan of Philip K. Dick or science fiction to enjoy.   Don’t miss it! " -- Leon Marvell,  Arts Hub Australia

Despite the good reviews, and the support of the Phillip K. Dick fan community the film has only been available at film festivals and special event screenings because many of the big distributors consider thought provoking science fiction films a risk.

This is where you come in.

The producers would like you to help them raise the money they need to get the film a nationwide theatrical release.

Give what you can, and you can qualify for these rewards:

Pledge $5 or more

MINORITY REPORTER - Thank you for joining our grass-roots Movement! You’ll get personal tweets from the team, Facebook mention, listing on the RFA Website and exclusive content only for backers.

Estimated delivery: Jul 2013 

Pledge $10 or more

BLADE RUNNER - All of the above plus Hi-Res Digital Photo from the movie and email from the director. You choose which character you want in the frame. Or we'll follow PKD's example and let the I-Ching decide for you!

Estimated delivery: Jul 2013 

Pledge $25 or more

RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH INSIDER - All of the above plus RFA Digital Download! For anyone planning on owning the movie anyway, your donation now helps us raise the money for distribution. VALIS will shine its pink light on you! Download outside the U.S. may be at later delivery date.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013 

Pledge $35 or more

TOTAL DICK-HEAD - Digital Score, Digital Poster and pdf of Screenplay. If you are a PKD fan, you’ve probably got his novel Radio Free Albemuth on your bookshelf. Now own the screenplay - with the director’s essay on the challenges of adaptation. Plus all the above.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013 

Pledge $50 or more

ARAMCHEK CELL LEADER - All of the above. Plus - Be the first to own the DVD! Your own “SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION” copy personalized with inscription by writer/director John Alan Simon. Signed and numbered. Delivery outside U.S. may be at later delivery date.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013
Add $10 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $70 or more
12 backers All gone!
RFA REPORTER - Extra! Extra! In addition to the limited edition DVD and all of the above - Add an actual prop from the movie! Newspapers created for RFA with headline “ARAMCHECK ALERT’ OR “RUSSIANS SHOOT DOWN ALIEN SATELLITE.” Suitable for framing.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013
Add $10 to ship outside the US

Pledge $75 or more

ARAMCHEK ARTISAN - For One-Sheet collectors. Radio Free Albemuth poster (27 “x 41"– standard poster size.) Suitable for framing, autographed (if you want) by RFA Team. PKD fans love Christel Thompson’s design. Now you can hang it on your wall. Plus TOTAL DICK-HEAD Package.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013
Add $35 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $75 or more

PHILIP K. DICK’S FOOTSTEPS - In addition to the DVD, you’ll experience PKD's Berkeley haunts with a guided walking tour by noted PKD scholar David Gill (totaldickhead.blogspot.com). Includes all premiums in ARAMCHEK CELL LEADERS. Does not include travel to San Francisco.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013
Add $10 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $85 or more

ARAMCHEK BIBLIOPHILE - Collectors item for your library. Limited Edition bound book of Radio Free Albemuth screenplay with original hand painted color ink or watercolor artwork insert by writer/director John Alan Simon. Each one is unique. First 26 receive LETTERED with C.O.A. (Certificate of Authenticity). After that, NUMBERED with C.O.A. Includes all the perks in TOTAL DICK-HEAD Package.

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013
Add $25 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $100 or more

RFA CONSPIRATOR - See your name on the big screen, DVD and downloads in “SPECIAL THANKS” listing in the end credits. (May even boost your rating on IMDB!) Includes TOTAL DICK-HEAD package. Plus a personal thank-you phone call from one of the producers.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013 

Pledge $250 or more
ARAMCHEK CONNOISSEUR - Collector’s Item from the set. One of only two beautiful mounted 27” x 40” poster with the Progressive Records logo from the company where Nick Brady (Jonathan Scarfe) and Silvia Aramchek (Alanis Morissette) work. Design by art director Prisciilla Elliot. Includes ON SCREEN and Social Media thanks, Website listing, digital poster, script, score and Digital Download of RFA.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013
Add $40 to ship outside the US

Pledge $350 or more
1 backer Limited (1 of 2 left)
PHILIP K. DICK FANATIC - The Shirt off Philip K. Dick's Back. Worn by Phil (Shea Whigham) in the movie on the night he’s arrested . size: XL. Plus ON SCREEN and Social Media thanks, Website listing, digital poster, script, score and Digital Download of RFA.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013
Add $15 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $350 or more
2 backers All gone!
ALANIS/SILVIA EXCLUSIVE - Black satin vest OR green blouse worn by Silvia (Alanis Morissette). This one’s for for the Alanis fans. .Size: Small. First to pledge chooses which item. Photo still included. Plus ON SCREEN special thanks Credit. Includes Social Media thanks, Website listing, digital poster, script, score, and digital download of RFA.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013
Add $15 to ship outside the US

Pledge $350 or more
1 backer Limited (9 of 10 left)
DIRECT VALIS COMMUNICATION - Hour-long one-on-one skype conversation with RFA producer of your choice: Director John Alan Simon, Chip Rosenbloom, Steve Nemeth, Elizabeth Karr. We’ll do our best to make your first choice available. Talk about Radio Free Albemuth, Philip K. Dick, writing, producing, directing, acting, philosophy of life – or even yourself. Plus ON SCREEN special thanks credit. Includes Social Media thanks, Website listing, digital poster, script, score, digital download of RFA and DVD.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013 

Pledge $400 or more
0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)
PROGRESSIVE RECORDS CEO - Private Master Class two-hour session with Radio Free Albemuth composer Ralph Grierson at his studio. Discuss the scoring of RFA – or your own film project with composer/musician whose credits include Half Nelson, A Bug’s Life. Includes ON SCREEN special thanks credit. If you can’t get to LA, you can meet via skype. Plus Includes all premiums in ARAMCHEK CELL LEADERS - DVD!

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013 

Pledge $500 or more
2 backers Limited (8 of 10 left)

RFA INNER CIRCLE - Hollywood Lunch with director John Alan Simon or producers Steve Nemeth, Chip Rosenbloom, or Elizabeth Karr. Radio Free Albemuth picks up the check. You need to get yourself to Los Angeles. We’ll do our best to make your first choice of lunch host available. Includes Special Limited edition DVD and all of the above except limited number items.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013 

Pledge $500 or more
0 backers Limited (1 of 1 left)
PRESIDENT FREMONT OVAL OFFICE “PORTRAIT” - Exclusive One of a kind! Large 5’ x 4’ mounted poster of Pres. Fremont/Scott Wilson as seen on screen. There’s only one and it can hang on your wall. If Fremont is one of your favorite PKD villains – or you’re a fan of Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene in ‘The Walking Dead’ or his Golden Globe nominated performance in “The Ninth Configuration” and ‘In Cold Blood,’ vote quickly for this one! Plus Special Limited edition DVD and all of the above except limited number items.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013
Add $100 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $550 or more
0 backers Limited (40 of 40 left)

ARAMCHECK SECRET SUMMIT - Exclusive Private Party at Composer Ralph Grierson’s house with director John Alan Simon and producers and surprise special guests in attendance. Listen to RFA composer virtuoso play the score on his grand piano and discuss the director-composer collaboration. You need to get yourself to LA! Includes ON SCREEN special thanks Credit, Social Media thanks, Website listing, TOTAL DICK-HEAD package, and Special Limited Edition DVD.

Estimated delivery: Aug 2013 

Pledge $600 or more
0 backers Limited (1 of 1 left)
FREMONT PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM PATRON - Exclusive one of a kind plaque as seen in the movie! Wood framed, (2’x 3’) glass-enclosed pictorial of the President’s (Scott Wilson) boyhood (2’ x 3’). There’s only one and it can hang on your wall. Includes ON SCREEN special thanks Credit, Social Media thanks, Website listing, TOTAL DICK-HEAD package, and Special Limited Edition DVD.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013
Add $100 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $750 or more
0 backers Limited (50 of 50 left)
VALIS LIGHT ANGEL - Movie Premiere and Party! 2 tickets to the NYC or LA premiere of Radio Free Albemuth. (Travel and accommodations not included.) Hang out with the RFA team on this big night. Includes ON SCREEN special thanks Credit, Social Media thanks, Website listing, TOTAL DICK-HEAD package, and Special Limited Edition DVD.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013 

Pledge $1,000 or more
1 backer All gone!
PROFESSIONAL TORTURER EXCLUSIVE - Alanis Morissette Lyrics for “Professional Torturer.” 30” x 48” cue card signed by Alanis. From the set, shooting the vision sequence night club scene. This was a personal gift from Alanis to the director, who wants you to have it as special thanks for helping release RFA in theatres.. Plus ON SCREEN special thanks Credit, Social Media thanks, Website listing, Total Dickhead package, and Special Limited Edition DVD.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013
Add $40 to ship outside the US

Pledge $2,500 or more
0 backers Limited (8 of 8 left)
A PROJECTION DARKLY - Host a private screening of RFA in your own home or other private venue of your choice for you and your closest friends with director John Alan Simon personally in attendance for special Q&A. Plus all of the above (except limited items).

Estimated delivery: Oct 2013
Add $1,500 to ship outside the US 

Pledge $5,000 or more
1 backer Limited (4 of 5 left)
VALIS ASSOCIATE PRODUCER - Associate Producer credit on a Philip K. Dick movie! ON SCREEN and IMDB. Plus ALL of the above rewards except One of a Kind and props. You get Premiere screenings with Cast and Crew, one-onpone lunch and Skype session, autographed Script, Limited Edition DVD, RFA Poster, Party.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013 

Pledge $10,000 or more
0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)
VALIS CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Co-Executive Producer credit on Radio Free Albemuth. ON SCREEN and IMDB. Plus ALL of the above rewards (excluding One of a Kind props)… Premiere screenings with Cast and Crew, lunch & Skype session, autographed Script, DVD, RFA Poster, Party. * If you'd like to give more than 10K, Message us personally and not only will you be our hero but we'll custom create incentives for you that will be out of this world wonderful.

Estimated delivery: Sep 2013 

Check it out, and if you like what you see give what you can to get a really independent film into theatres.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1027: Canadian Protectionism & Alien Bigotry?

PROTECTIONISM & FAVOURITISM?

Congratulations to Simon & Schuster Canada on being allowed by the Canadian government to publish Canadian authors in Canada.

Hmmm.... That doesn't make much sense... I think I need to do some explaining.

Simon & Schuster Canada, the North of the Border division of big international publisher Simon & Schuster, was restricted by the Canadian government. In the name of protecting Canadian culture S&S Canada was, until recently, only allowed to distribute American titles, but were not allowed to publish Canadian authors in Canada, even though the company obviously wanted to.

How did the old regulation that denied S&S Canada the ability to publish Canadian authors protect Canadian culture?

Terribly.

In fact, it probably did more harm than good.

When you want your culture to be vital and alive, the arrival of someone with deep pockets and an interest in investing money, time, and effort into putting more of your nation's authors on bookshelves should be seen as a good thing. 

Not in Canada.

Or to be more specific, not in certain offices in Toronto.

You see, the regulation had nothing to do with protecting Canadian culture. You see, Canada has a lot of space, but not much population, and the bulk of that population is laid out in a strip alongside the border of a massive pop-culture juggernaut called the USA. That means that in the areas of pop culture, movies, television, and books, already have natural market forces tipped against them.

In music and television things got really screwy with radio and TV broadcasters refusing to air anything Canadian made. In radio this included songs that were huge hits in the USA and UK, but couldn't get any airplay in their native country.

That all changed when the government imposed the Canadian Content regulations (AKA CanCon) which said that if they wanted a license to broadcast in Canada, they needed to air a certain amount of Canadian made material. This caused an explosion in Canadian music and television actually reaching Canadian audiences. At first a lot of the television was pretty crappy, but a lot of great music was finally able to find a domestic audience.

Now that's protectionism structured to protect Canadian culture, and you would think that an international publisher wanting to do business in Canada would follow similar guidelines. You would expect them to say to S&S Canada to say: "If you want to put out American books in Canada a percentage of your output should be Canadian authors."

But not so.

Why?

Well the answer is simple. The regulation wasn't about protecting Canadian culture, it's about protecting the elite group of Toronto publishers who were in positions of influence with politicians and bureaucrats when the regulations were put into effect. Those publishers didn't want competition for government arts grants and hopefully avoid paying fair market prices for Canadian authors.

But with the whole Random/Penguin merger there was an opening, and S&S Canada was allowed into the club.

IS DOCTOR WHO RACIST?

That's a question no one has ever asked until a group of Academics did and the answer is YES!

The Doctor, last of the Time Lords, is more than just a raging Dalek-aphobe, these experts say he doesn't like black people because he plays cricket... or something...

The whole thing doesn't make a lot of logical sense since the Doctor is an alien, and fictional, and the knee jerk reaction to this report is to say that the authors should save a seat at the funny farm.

But the authors are not crazy.

They're not right, but they're not delusional.

This whole thing reeks of cold opportunistic calculation.

Let's look at these 3 basic facts:

1. The BBC is an obsessively politically correct bureaucracy. If someone who happens to belong to one of their pre-approved socio-economic-ethnic demographic groups says they were offended by something on the BBC the Beeb will bend over backwards to win their forgiveness.

2. Doctor Who is one of the BBC's biggest exports bringing in millions in sales to foreign networks as well as DVDs and merchandise.

3. The BBC is notorious for arranging lucrative sinecures with their myriad boards, commissions, and bureaucratic offices for people who provide some sort of political advantage for the BBC.

It's simple math, attack the BBC's biggest cash cow with the BBC's own liberal guilt and the BBC will have a nice little freak out. Fighting it too hard will only make the critics scream louder which makes the pale princes at the top of the BBC food chain feel bad about themselves so that's out of the question. This leaves BBC management two permissible options they must either plead guilty and cancel Doctor Who, losing all that sweet, sweet revenue, or save their money-maker by essentially buying off the critics.

I fully expect the authors of the damning tome to get well paid low work jobs at the BBC that have the word "Diversity" somewhere in the title.