Guest Post by Tyler Weaver

The ingredients that have thus far made up the concoction I call a  career can be described, in a word, as “mucho.” Drummer. Orchestral percussionist.  Composer.  Film composer.  Filmmaker.  Add in a dash of non-profit management and my newest seasoning – critic – and the pierogie that is my hyphenated mish-mash of a career takes on a distinctly saucy turn.

Since September of 2009, I have cast a critical eye on J.J. Abrams’ FRINGE and David Shore’s HOUSE for Anthony Schiavino’s Pulp Tone website.  Last month, I began reviewing the new Mark Valley/Chi McBride/Jackie Earl Haley-starring series, HUMAN TARGET.  They are three distinctly different shows (though not without their similarities), and reviewing…

What happens when a network affiliate goes rogue and decides to air a college basketball game instead of LOST? Well it ain’t pretty. The following announcement appeared on WWAY-TV’s website under “Programming Notes”.  The station is an ABC Affiliate in Wilmington, North Carolina.

We will be airing an ACC game Tuesday night from 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm (UNC  vs. Georgia Tech)
Lost will air at 1:06 am Tuesday Night / Wednesday Morning.
The Forgotten will air at 2:06 am.
You can also watch these shows Wednesday via the ABC Video Player – which is on the top right side of www.wwaytv3.com.

Clearly the station has lost their way because the post received a flurry of negative comments, like the one listed…

By Tyler Weaver
Tyler is a filmmaker and a writer.  This article first appeared in MULTI-HYPHENATE a  blogazine he created,  featuring articles by the new wave  of creatives.

Judy Berman’s article from Flavorwire, “Why is Indie Film Dying While Indie Music Thrives?” has, to say the least, stirred some argument, such as Filmmaker Magazine’s Scott Macaulay in his response “How Cool is Indie Film?” and all over the Twitterverse.

I don’t think “indie” film is dying at all.  I think it’s being reshaped – the very definition of “indie” is undergoing transformation in that there really is no single definition.  Everyone has their own.   “Indie” film has a bright future, but I think one thing needs to happen before that…

A PSA (public service announcement) is an advertisement to the public and its purpose is to modify the public’s opinion about a particular subject.

Ad Agency’s have been producing pro bono PSA’s for decades and I wondered if they had any effect on the subjects they featured, so I did a little digging.  According to the Ad Council of America many of their most famous campaigns have actually gotten results.

Since 1944 Smokey The Bear has been telling us “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”  The campaign was developed to educate the public at a time when accidents accounted for nine out of ten forest fires.  It’s really not hard to imagine, think back to the “Mad Men” episode featuring the Draper family picnic…

MTV revolutionized the music video.  As I’ve said before, many of my friends began their careers at this upstart network devoted to music 24/7.  They not only revolutionized the definition of a niche cable network, they revolutionized the look with their logo.  The logo designed by Frank Olinsky and his team was commissioned by Fred Seibert. Fred was MTV’s first creative director; he was also the President of Hannah-Barbera Cartoons, and the creator of NextNewNetworks.

I had the pleasure of working with Fred when I was producing for the first over the air subscription based TV network. He developed the logo, promotion and the marketing.  Those were the heady days of cable television when anything…

by Tyler Weaver

I hate remakes.

Well, OK.  That’s not a hundred percent true.  I love some of them – Huston’s MALTESE FALCON, Carpenter’s THE THING, Scorsese’s CAPE FEAR, Cronenberg’s THE FLY, and Hitchcock’s remake of his own THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (of which Hitch said, “the original was the work of a gifted amateur; the remake the work of a professional”).

All that said, I’m doing a remake of one of my own works here.  No, not a film. I’m not going to remake THE FOURTEEN MINUTE GAP (though I don’t deny wanting to tinker with it again).  I’m going to remake – revisit – an article I wrote for my MULTI-HYPHENATE blog, waaaay back in the day when it was a…

Their cup runneth over
If you’re familiar with the TV show “Fringe” or the film “Star Trek”, then you’re probably familiar with writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.  They’re launching their own TV production company under the 20th Century Fox umbrella.   No strangers to tight production deadlines, in November 2007 the duo was working on finishing four movies simultaneously: “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Star Trek,” which they co-wrote, and “Eagle Eye” and “The Proposal,” the first films developed through their company that they produced. Add to that the “Fringe” pilot, which they were shepherding with co-creator J.J. Abrams at the same time.

So – what can we learn from this?  Give the job to a busy person – they always seem to get…

Follow up post from yesterday by King Is A Fink.

Yesterday, Jessica King, from the filmmaking duo of King Is A Fink wrote an article (see below) about how they make films and tell stories.  Today, on their blog is  an insightful follow up on how they discover what works and what doesn’t when making a film.

Art speaks to the human experience. It also encourages interaction. We share it, look at it, link to it, and talk about it. What’s ironic is that, for many, art production is often a task carried out in private. Not for Julie and I – for us, filmmaking offers the opportunity to explore stories with other people, not only after the film is finished, but during the development and production.

Wouldn’t it be easier if the two of us just wrote our movies and filmed them without input from our friends, actors, composers, props people, etc.? Possibly. Maybe it’d be even smoother if one of us wrote the movie and then the other directed it. Less talking, more filming. But then our final product wouldn’t…