Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Tipping Point
I just finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I'll have more to say about it in a later post but wanted to capture my initial thoughts.
Already it has profoundly changed the way I think about how to handle the marketing of my business to the public. I know now it's not a matter of reaching the largest number of people with my message. I'll get the most bang out of my modest marketing dollars by targeting a small very specific group. Seems obvious but it really isn't.
If I get a chance today I will be mapping out my strategy to reach reach 150 filmmaker and 150 film lovers. Will it pay-off? We're about to find out.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Give the Man a Crack Pipe
I read a story today about how the municipal government in Ottawa has decided to continue to fund a crack pipe program. The program is designed to provide clean crack pipes to fellow citizens that care to partake a little more than most. Ensuring (in some cases) that the less responsible folk are only destroying their own brains and not spreading one or more incurable diseases around.
At first I almost filed the story in the "Here We Go Again: Wild Spending" file but I began to warm up to the idea as I read on. I actually believe that it's important for a society to be constantly thinking of ways to relieve the suffering of it's hopeless souls. A blanket here, a little warm food and a clean crack pipe there it's the very least we can do. Give them a sign that no one has turned their back on them.
So that's fine about the spending but there was a far more interesting side to the story. I began almost instantly thinking about what went into the design and construction of a government issue crack pipe?
At first I can imagine that there must have been years or research. Followed by a series of prototypes and testing. The next step would be contract bidding. Dozens of Canadian manufactures clamoring to be the winner of the crack pipe contract. Once the highest priced most inefficient manufacturer was chosen I can imagine the work was swiftly outsource to a Chinese factory.
Five years later the first Government sponsored crack pipe hits the street. It cost .10 cents to build, and Ottawa pays $30 a piece. Crack heads are generally pleased by the performance of the device. It ranks much higher than the pop can but slightly below the safe pin and Bic pen tube.
Christian Values Take a the Backseat When Defending Christmas
Here's a heart warming story from our nations capital. Ottawa school threatened after Christmas song cuts.
Nothing special in the story really other than a few exceptional citizens spreading Christmas cheer. It's the type of thing that has become typical in the "War on Christmas" that has been going on for a few years.
The greatest thing (for me) about this battle is that it's a war where the enemies of society seem to be defeating themselves. Every time they claim that their right to celebrate has been threatened, and every time they say Canada is a Christian Country they loose ground. The defenders of freedom (the government in this case) sit back from their side of the fortifications watching the enemy bleed from the feet.
I must admit I'm really only into the kinds of stories that show people reacting of behaving badly. I'm a bit of a sensationalist in that regard. In this case however I would like to hear a little more about the motivations of the attackers. What are their demands? What do they care so deeply about that they would verbally assault a school teacher?
Could it be that they believe that tradition should always outweigh progress? Perhaps they think publicly funded institutions should play favorites? I'm going to dig a bit into this because I really can't make sense of it.
What ever the callers motivations were I would loved to have heard the actual phone call. Lets imagine for a second that we were right there with the teacher as she answered the phone.
Have a very Merry Tuesday!
An elementary school in Ottawa was flooded with hateful and threatening e-mails and phone calls after media reports that it had removed the word "Christmas" from a song to be performed at its Christmas concert. link
Nothing special in the story really other than a few exceptional citizens spreading Christmas cheer. It's the type of thing that has become typical in the "War on Christmas" that has been going on for a few years.
The greatest thing (for me) about this battle is that it's a war where the enemies of society seem to be defeating themselves. Every time they claim that their right to celebrate has been threatened, and every time they say Canada is a Christian Country they loose ground. The defenders of freedom (the government in this case) sit back from their side of the fortifications watching the enemy bleed from the feet.
I must admit I'm really only into the kinds of stories that show people reacting of behaving badly. I'm a bit of a sensationalist in that regard. In this case however I would like to hear a little more about the motivations of the attackers. What are their demands? What do they care so deeply about that they would verbally assault a school teacher?
Could it be that they believe that tradition should always outweigh progress? Perhaps they think publicly funded institutions should play favorites? I'm going to dig a bit into this because I really can't make sense of it.
What ever the callers motivations were I would loved to have heard the actual phone call. Lets imagine for a second that we were right there with the teacher as she answered the phone.
"Howdy, my name is Jack Johnson. Why my little Peggy just come home an toll me you dun changed the words to that there song Silver Bells! That true?" and so on.
Have a very Merry Tuesday!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
God and Lesbian Atheletes, A Match Made in Heaven
While I was cruising a Christian news site reading a little sports related humor I got a better offer from the other big G.
"Meet Lesbian Athletes For dating, workout partners, friends, roommates, and more"
I wonder what the "more" means? Late night bible readings? Sexy white t-shirt baptisms? Does God only want me to meet Athletic Lesbians? What's wrong with average build lesbians or even heavy set lesbians?
None of it really mattered anyway. When I followed the link I couldn't find any lesbians that wanted to meet me. They were mostly uncomfortable about my nonathletic build sexual orientation.
Religious Peanut butter, Funny on so Many Levels!
YouTube is such a wonderful place. I found this while looking for something else:
The best thing about it is I can't tell if it's a joke or not. I want to say it's not because of the completely dry manner in which it's shot. Never an out of context wink or reaction. Here is a group of people that can dress themselves, drive a car to the studio and operate cameras. From all outward appearances they are delivering a subject that they believe is true. It's unfathomable but it appears as though they are completely convinced.
If it's done as a piece of performance art I'd say it's brilliantly done. I am struggling with the implications of it being real and I'd have to say that it's a pretty impressive feat for any single piece. I have to believe it's fake because of my faith in man but I'm forced to believe it's real because of the delivery. A piece like this leaves me begging for more but the artist(s) was so complete in her work that she never left a trace of herself.
So in closing Bravo you unseen genius or Fuck us, there's actually people who believe this shit!
The best thing about it is I can't tell if it's a joke or not. I want to say it's not because of the completely dry manner in which it's shot. Never an out of context wink or reaction. Here is a group of people that can dress themselves, drive a car to the studio and operate cameras. From all outward appearances they are delivering a subject that they believe is true. It's unfathomable but it appears as though they are completely convinced.
If it's done as a piece of performance art I'd say it's brilliantly done. I am struggling with the implications of it being real and I'd have to say that it's a pretty impressive feat for any single piece. I have to believe it's fake because of my faith in man but I'm forced to believe it's real because of the delivery. A piece like this leaves me begging for more but the artist(s) was so complete in her work that she never left a trace of herself.
So in closing Bravo you unseen genius or Fuck us, there's actually people who believe this shit!
Which Came First, The Cavendish or the Man Who Made It?
I recently watched this classic YouTube gem for the first time last night:
If you haven't seen it before you might have to watch it a couple time to get the joke. Of course the joke is that these guys are being serious. Well serious in the same way that a used car sales man is when he tells you "This is the best deal in town". They're not specifically lying but they are providing somewhat misleading data to get you to arrive at their preferred conclusion.
One of my favorite things about the video is Cameron's reactions to the data his friend is giving . It's classic douche bag. The whole thing reeks of a sales pitch. Reminds me of an infomercial.
If you haven't seen it before you might have to watch it a couple time to get the joke. Of course the joke is that these guys are being serious. Well serious in the same way that a used car sales man is when he tells you "This is the best deal in town". They're not specifically lying but they are providing somewhat misleading data to get you to arrive at their preferred conclusion.
One of my favorite things about the video is Cameron's reactions to the data his friend is giving . It's classic douche bag. The whole thing reeks of a sales pitch. Reminds me of an infomercial.
Calgary is my New Home!
I've reached a very important point in my personal life today. I took me by complete surprise. To make clear what I'm talking about I'll have to give a bit of background.
About 7 or 8 months ago I lost my job at a factory in the small Ontario town of St Thomas. St Thomas is the type of place where you're either working at a soul crushing factory or a minimum wage fast food place. None of the options available to me seemed particularly inviting so I was faced with making a big decision.
Prior to getting fired FilmRiot had been spun off of Cambrian House and it was starting to gain momentum. I had always dreamed of being able to move out west and work at the company that I had helped to create but I needed the support of my family to make it happen.
I begged, I pleaded, I created tonnes of worst case scenarios, I made a deal with the devil and finally my wife said yes. In fact it was much easier then I thought, a little too easy as it would turn out.
As the day of the big move got closer and closer I could see that my wife was having second thoughts. It was clear that she had made the decision a little too quickly and that she wasn't fully prepared for the stress that a cross country move would bring. She started missing Ontario before we left and she began to dread the event completely.
Needless to say the actual move did not go off without a hitch. Lots of our worldly possessions got cut at the last second and travel plans changed going into the last few days. To top it off we ended up at an apartment that we had to be out of within three months.
For as hard as she tried to keep a stiff upper lip my wife was negatively effected by the whole process. Separation from friends and family weighed on her immediately as she tried to get her barrings in a city much larger than she was used to. She felt isolated and I was much too busy at the time to ease the pain for her.
Her anxiety began to manifest as an underlining hatred for everything that represented the difference between this life and the life we lived in Ontario. I do mean everything. License plates were ugly, back allies were disgusting, the weather was unbearable. All I could do was tactfully remind her that we hadn't moved to a different planet but I felt totally useless to her during this time.
Three months later. You'd think that I'd be telling you at this point that she gathered the kids and hopped on a plane back to South Western Ontario, but no. I walked in the house today to smiling faces and holiday cheer. My wife acknowledged for the first time out loud that Alberta is a beautiful province and we're extremely lucky to have the chance to live here. She wasn't exactly screaming it from the roof tops but it was something. Beyond just knowing it she now feels that our family has a future here. That's a pretty wonderful state of mind to be in where ever you are.
About 7 or 8 months ago I lost my job at a factory in the small Ontario town of St Thomas. St Thomas is the type of place where you're either working at a soul crushing factory or a minimum wage fast food place. None of the options available to me seemed particularly inviting so I was faced with making a big decision.
Prior to getting fired FilmRiot had been spun off of Cambrian House and it was starting to gain momentum. I had always dreamed of being able to move out west and work at the company that I had helped to create but I needed the support of my family to make it happen.
I begged, I pleaded, I created tonnes of worst case scenarios, I made a deal with the devil and finally my wife said yes. In fact it was much easier then I thought, a little too easy as it would turn out.
As the day of the big move got closer and closer I could see that my wife was having second thoughts. It was clear that she had made the decision a little too quickly and that she wasn't fully prepared for the stress that a cross country move would bring. She started missing Ontario before we left and she began to dread the event completely.
Needless to say the actual move did not go off without a hitch. Lots of our worldly possessions got cut at the last second and travel plans changed going into the last few days. To top it off we ended up at an apartment that we had to be out of within three months.
For as hard as she tried to keep a stiff upper lip my wife was negatively effected by the whole process. Separation from friends and family weighed on her immediately as she tried to get her barrings in a city much larger than she was used to. She felt isolated and I was much too busy at the time to ease the pain for her.
Her anxiety began to manifest as an underlining hatred for everything that represented the difference between this life and the life we lived in Ontario. I do mean everything. License plates were ugly, back allies were disgusting, the weather was unbearable. All I could do was tactfully remind her that we hadn't moved to a different planet but I felt totally useless to her during this time.
Three months later. You'd think that I'd be telling you at this point that she gathered the kids and hopped on a plane back to South Western Ontario, but no. I walked in the house today to smiling faces and holiday cheer. My wife acknowledged for the first time out loud that Alberta is a beautiful province and we're extremely lucky to have the chance to live here. She wasn't exactly screaming it from the roof tops but it was something. Beyond just knowing it she now feels that our family has a future here. That's a pretty wonderful state of mind to be in where ever you are.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monster Cops on FilmRiot
Although I promise not to make this blog 100% about FilmRiot, I will be blogging about interesting projects when they come up.
Monster Cops: Shadow Company
Here's a bit from their project profile:
It's a mockumentary look into the world of a secret government agency dedicated to killing monsters called Shadow Company. It's The Office meets Ghostbusters. It's Reno 911 meets The Blair Witch.Plot Outline: Shadow Company is the secret government agency dedicated to protecting the human world from the hidden world of monsters. As Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies lurk in the darkness, it's up to these elite officers to defend us from the creatures of the night. Witness the horror, the action, the comedy and the surprisingly endearing moments in the lives of the Monster Cops.
The trailer is a lot of fun. I find their budget requirements to be a bit aggressive for what we're going to be able to provide initially but I do trust their ability to deliver. I'm sure things can be scaled and normalized once our full version has released.
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FilmRiot.com Goes Live!
It's been a long time coming but finally FilmRiot has been released to the public.
There's lots of bugs and general ugliness going on with the site right now but we're hard at work getting things ready for V1.0. We're considering the current offering a public beta launch. As it sits users can set up a user account, publish a project profile and browse our directory of users and projects. There is also a few communication tools that are up and running. Users can comment on almost everything as well as private message each other.
This release is a huge deal for me personally. So far this has been a journey that began with me posting a simple idea to the Cambrian House Idea Warz tournament. Since last November it has lead me and my little family 3500 kms across the country and to a few events and meetings that I previously only dreamed about.
The best part of all is that we're far from done. We're set to go to the Slamdance film festival in a little over a months time. More connection, more stories and best of all more features and functionality to the product. I can't wait!
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