DVrepublic News

'Twitters' beat media in reporting China earthquake

Fri, 16 May 2008 07:12:16

]]> The world had real-time news about China's massive earthquake as victims dashed out "twitter" text messages while it took place, in what was being touted Tuesday as micro-blogging outshining mainstream news.

As the earth shook with tragic consequences, people in the parts of China that felt the quake used their mobile telephones to send terse messages using the service provided by the San Francisco-based Twitter Inc.

News of the deadly catastrophe reached Twitter devotees such as blogger Robert Scoble in San Francisco even before the massive temblor, which killed more than 12,000 people in Sichuan province, was reported by news organizations and the earthquake-tracking US Geological Survey.

"Several people in China reported to me they felt the quake while it was going on!," Scoble wrote in his popular Scobleizer blog.

Twitters are abbreviated text messages that can be instantly posted on online bulletin boards and personal websites and sent to the mobile telephones of selected friends.

They were at the forefront of a gush of quake pictures and video swiftly posted online via services such as Yahoo's Flickr, Google's YouTube, and French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur's fledgling Seesmic, which has been called the "Twitter of video."

Twitter reportedly became a source of information for major news organizations covering the China earthquake.

"This event has the potential to bring mainstream media into the Twitter world," Alec Saunders wrote in his Personal Soapbox blog.

Twitter launched in March of 2006 and ignited a "micro-blogging" trend by letting people share their every move, mundane or dazzling, with friends every moment of the day.

Twitter users get a maximum of 140 characters a message; ironically, Twitter designer Biz Stone envisioned its potential as a communication tool by a "tweet" warning he received about a California earthquake while about to board a train last year.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey told AFP in a 2007 interview that inspiration for the service came from his experience writing software for courier and emergency service dispatchers that need to route people between locations.

"It was an immediate pulse that sums up the zeitgeist of Twitter," Stone told AFP.

Twitter's role spreading word about China's earthquake seems to have won others to Stone's camp, but skeptics remain.

Search Engine Land blogger Danny Sullivan called it "absurd" to suggest that Twitter users knew of the Sichuan earthquake before the US Geological Survey, which uses seismic equipment positioned around the world to record such events, and then after a scientist's review sends out notices of the events.

"Reading some of the accounts, you'd get the impression Twitter seemed to alert the USGS to the news," Sullivan said.

Agence France Presse

A Sex and the City guide to the entertainment industry

Thu, 15 May 2008 03:58:53

]]> It may not take a lot to make the New York Post, Rupert Murdochs city tabloid, grumpy but the four actresses of Sex and the City, the new film of the television series, certainly provoked it this week.

The Post was dubious about the hat worn to the films premiere by Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays the lead character Carrie Bradshaw in the drama about the lives of four Manhattan women. Even worse than this faux pas, she wore the hat in London, where the films world premiere was held.

After London, which the Post dismissed as the wrong city, the quartet is hitting Berlin tonight before returning to New York for yet another glitzy launch event in two weeks. New Yorkers must make do for now with posters of Carrie and her friends plastered around the city.

Even in its absence, however, Sex and the City is part of the Zeitgeist. Both the drama itself and the way it is being marketed say a lot about the future of film and television. In fact, here is my Sex and the City guide to the entertainment industry.

First, the world is bigger than the US. Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha are jetting around Europe for the same reason that the Cannes film festival, which opened on Wednesday, includes the premiere of the planned summer blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That is where the money is.

US films earned $17bn at the international box office last year, compared with $9.6bn at home. As a result, studios are becoming loath to invest in films that do not travel, such as dramas based on baseball. Because SATC is heavily identified with New York, the producer New Line Cinema hedged its bets with European premieres.

Second, paid-for is bigger than free. That sounds strange in the era of the internet, but entertainment for which consumers rather than advertisers pay is growing more powerful. Americans used to spend many more hours with media such as radio and broadcast television than with DVDs and video games but they are switching.

SATC is a prime example because it was a subscription cable television series made by Time Warners Home Box Office. Indeed, along with The Sopranos, it was part of the Sunday night line-up of original programmes that turned HBO into one of the most powerful forces in entertainment, with annual revenues of about $4bn.

HBOs formula, which has since been mimicked by pay channels such as Showtime and even free cable channels such as AMC, the maker of Mad Men, was to make expensive and intelligent dramas that viewers could not find on broadcast television. SATC was too raunchy, The Sopranos was too dark and violent, Six Feet Under was too morbid etc.

It did not care about decency, or whether there was a broad enough audience to draw advertisers, because it was funded by 29m subscribers. Meanwhile, broadcasters switched to reality shows that were cheap to make far cheaper than the $2.5m per hour a top-rank drama can cost and reached big audiences.

That made sense in the moment but it means that HBO and Showtime, which makes Dexter and Weeds, hold more valuable long-term properties. The deal struck by HBO with Apple this week to charge $2.99 for episodes of The Sopranos and Rome on iTunes (and the standard $1.99 for SATC) shows its pricing power.

Third, the small screen is bigger than the big screen. Box office receipts of $9.6bn in the US last year were easily outstripped by the $23.4bn of DVD rentals and sales. Digital technology allows studios to exploit new forms of distribution, including iTunes and video-on-demand. Some 20 per cent of HBOs revenues come from reselling its dramas.

Furthermore, the power of pay television is not only biting into broadcast networks but is posing a challenge to Hollywood. Subscription channels used to rely almost wholly on re-running Hollywood films and, even now, 70 per cent of HBOs output consists of studio films. The transfer of SATC from the small to the big screen is a symbol of a shift in the power balance.

A decade ago, actors, directors and scriptwriters far preferred to work in film. Complex and sophisticated dramas were found in cinemas while television was a forum for soap operas and bland drama. The rise of HBO and Hollywoods switch to making blockbusters for the 12-24 year-olds who comprise 41 per cent of frequent film-goers is changing that.

The rise of pay television as an artistic force is matched by a decline in the value of run-of-the-mill films in the secondary market. Three Hollywood studios broke away from a deal with Showtime last month to form their own pay television channel after the latter complained that it was paying too much for films and could make its own dramas.

Fourth, adults are bigger than teenagers. Young people have held sway over Hollywood in recent years because they can be relied upon to go to the cinema. But pay television has tapped an adult audience that has been under-served by film studios and can now watch dramas at home on high-definition televisions.

That is breathing life into dramas made for adult niche audiences rather than big teenage and college-student cohorts. Hollywood studios are responding to this. Studios are being much more deliberate about choosing demographic targets and developing films for them, says Geoff Sands, a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

As adult targets go, you do not get much better than SATC. It started out as a quintessentially American television series and has ended up as a film seen first by Londoners and Berliners. Romance, promiscuity, fashion and all, it is the very model of a modern media enterprise.

john.gapper
The Financial Times Limited 2008

EarthLink Ends Philly Municipal Wireless Service

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:26:05

]]> EarthLink Inc. says that it is pulling the plug on its Philadelphia municipal wireless Internet service, one of several citywide projects that have faltered in recent months amid disappointing financial performance, unexpected costs and flawed partnerships.

"This was about a business model that simply didn't work," said Rolla Huff, chief executive of the Atlanta-based Internet services provider. "It's very important for EarthLink to move on from this. It was a great idea. It wasn't a great business."

Will Smith to star as superhero in summer action flick

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:31:58

]]> The first weekend in May kicked off the Hollywood summer movie season, which got off to a rousing start. The industrys first event movie Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow, opened to a whooping $104.2 million domestically and a total of $201 million worldwide.

But Iron Man isnt the only superhuman to hit the big screen this summer. In fact, the summer of 2008 is expected to be a season of superheroes. In addition to Iron Man, moviegoers can also get their fill of The Incredible Hulk; the Batman sequel, The Dark Knight; Hellboy II: The Golden Army; and Hancock, starring box-office phenomenon Will Smith. Hancock opens July 2 in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

Superheroes are as American as Hollywood itself. Take the box-office success of such franchises as Superman, Batman, X-Men, and The Fantastic Four. America has long had an infatuation with the men and women who can right societys ills, keeping the world safe for the upstanding good guys.

But black superheroes in Hollywood are a definite rarity. Robert Townsend made an earnest, yet ill-fated attempt at being a superhero in his 1993 film, The Meteor Man. That film, in which Townsend was the star, director, producer, and writer, made a paltry $8.3 million. Wesley Snipes scored favorably with the Blade trilogy, based on the comic book series. That franchise, beginning in 1998, has grossed $417.9 million worldwide. Then there is Halle Berry, who continues to reprise her role as Ororo in the superhero ensemble of the X-Men franchise. Berry also landed the title role as the bad girl and heroine in Catwoman, which was a 2004 box-office disappointment. And lets not forget Michael Jai White as Spawn back in 1997.

Now its Will Smiths time to show off his super fetes. Its no accident that Smith has been dubbed Mr. July. Its a title hes earned to the tune of a combined $2.5 billion at the box office thanks to such summer spectacles as Independence Day, Men in Black, Men in Black 2, Bad Boys I and II, and I, Robot. This summer, Smith gets a chance to dazzle audiences in Hancock, which is described as an action-comedy.

The movie is directed by Peter Berg, who most recently was behind the 2004 football film Friday Night Lights and 2007s The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx. Smith and his longtime producing partner James Lassiter are also producers on Hancock.

The films tagline on Internet Movie Database says, "Meet the superhero everybody loves to hate." Hancock tells the story of a homeless alcoholic (Smith) who possesses superpowers. A publicist (played by Jason Bateman) tries to rehabilitate and revitalize the career of the washed-up superhero who returns the favor by having an affair with the publicists wife (Charlize Theron).

Hancocks less than Mr. Nice Guy persona has been considered a rather dicey move for Smith given his long history, since his days on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, of playing likable characters. But if anyone can handle a gamble, its Smith, a face global moviegoers have come to worship. His worldwide gross totals nearly $5 billion. And Hancock is already expected to be a big blockbuster hit: Entertainment Weekly has predicted that the film will make $280.4 million.

If people with special powers arent your thing, dont worry. Look for African Americans in other films at theaters this summer. You can catch Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Get Smart, opening on June 20; Eddie Murphy and Gabrielle Union in Meet Dave, opening July 11; and Ice Cube and Keke Palmer in The Longshots, on July 25. Yes, summer is here and its time to get out to the cinema.

George Alexander's column on the business of entertainment appears weekly at blackenterprise.com. He is the author of "Why We Make Movies" (Random House, $15.95).

Jon Stewart is No Substitute for 'Real' News

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:08:43

]]> A journalism think tank studying "The Daily Show" doesn't believe many people get their news from Jon Stewart because otherwise they wouldn't get the jokes.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism also said it was surprised at how much the Comedy Central late-night program resembles "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hardball" and other cable news shows in content.

The Washington-based organization asked its researchers to study a year's worth of "The Daily Show" tapes hardly a grim assignment after hearing the frequent claim that many young people learn about the world from Stewart instead of more traditional news sources.

Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director, said he doubts this is the case. He considers "The Daily Show" more of a political satire in the tradition of newspapermen like Art Buchwald, H.L. Mencken and Russell Baker.

"They're not making jokes about Dan Quayle is dumb or Gerald Ford is clumsy," he said. "They're not making jokes that you could get if you live in the country but don't read the news ... . You can't get the jokes if you're not watching the news. The jokes are designed to make you think more about the news."

A Comedy Central representative had no immediate comment on the study. Stewart has consistently ridiculed the idea that he's somehow a newsman, saying he's just a comic.

Politics, government and the Bush administration's policies in Iraq accounted for about half of the show's content, making it quite similar to the focus of serious cable news shows, the study said. About 8 percent of the show's time is spent looking at the behavior of the press.

The show is actually making some very serious political commentary, "but they use humor to do it," Rosenstiel said.

With some stories in no way conducive to humor, "The Daily Show" ignores certain big events. The Minnesota bridge collapse wasn't mentioned on the show, and the Virginia Tech massacre was largely ignored, the study said.

And, of course, sometimes the news gives way to pure comedy. On a January day when traditional newscasts led with severe winter weather gripping much of the country, "Stewart began his show by pondering what drink would be best to wash down a Jimmy Dean pancake and sausage on a stick," the study said.

The verdict: Gatorade.

While Stewart aims most of his firepower at Republicans, the show is actually pretty balanced in its bookings, the study noted. Of the clearly partisan, 15 guests were conservative and 18 were liberal. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain was a guest on Wednesday's show.

"The fact that the lineup of guests is actually even surprised me," Rosenstiel said. "I thought going in that there weren't that many Republicans who would be willing to go on the show."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DoJ Ruling On Satellite Merger 'Contradicts' FCC

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:03:16

]]> Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth and RAB Chairman Peter Smyth have challenged the Department of Justice's ruling that the market in which XM and Sirius Satellite Radio competes includes AM and FM radio, HD Radio, and cell phones.

"The Department of Justice's conclusion about the 'market' in which XM and Sirius compete directly contradicts the FCC's recent decision when it decided not to relax its broadcast local ownership caps," Smyth said in his monthly From The Corner Office column, posted on Greater Media's website. "DOJ concluded that XM and Sirius compete for listeners with traditional AM/FM radio, HD Radio, iPods and cell phones. The FCC, on the other hand, found that these alternatives were not good substitutes for listening to radio."

If the FCC follows DoJ's lead in this reasoning, Smyth believes broadcasters should be afforded similar regulatory relief. "If DOJ is right that there is broad competition for listeners, then the FCC should relax the multiple ownership rules and permit companies to own more than a handful of stations in any given market," he says. Otherwise, he says, "If the FCC is correct, then the merger must be denied since it would indisputably create a monopoly in the satellite radio market."

If the FCC does grant the merger, Smyth believes the FCC must redraw some of its rules to compensate the burgeoning HD Radio market. "The radio industry is at a critical juncture right now with respect to the implementation of HD Radio," he said. "We have spent millions of dollars to convert to digital. Consumer awareness is growing, but the number of HD receivers in use is still low. To support broadcasters' efforts to convert to HD and help provide a relatively level playing field, if the FCC permits XM and Sirius to merge, it should require the new company to subsidize or license receiving equipment only if it includes HD tuners and allows users to switch easily between the satellite and AM/FM bands."

However, like most broadcasters, Smyth's preference would be for an FCC denial of the combination. "I firmly believe the FCC should enforce its long-standing and well-reasoned prohibition against a satellite radio monopoly, which it established in 1997 when it granted the spectrum licenses to XM and Sirius. The policy underlying this prohibition -- to provide an opportunity for a competitive satellite service to benefit consumers -- is every bit as valid today as it was back in 1997."

US Census:Black population now surpasses 40 million

Sun, 11 May 2008 15:47:18

]]> According to the latest estimates just issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's black population increased by 539,686 persons between July 2006 and July 2007. That brings the total black population in the U.S. to 40,744,132 or 12.8 percent of the total population.

Blacks remained the nation's largest racial minority group.

The nation's Hispanic population increased 1.4 million to reach 45.5 million on July 1, 2007, or 15.1 percent of the estimated total U.S. population of 301.6 million.

With a 3.3 percent increase between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, Hispanics were the fastest-growing minority group. However, the fastest growing segment of the Hispanic population is black Hispanic. Their numbers increased for the same period by 4 percent to more than 2 million.

Other highlights from the data released:

- Blacks were the largest minority group in 24 states, compared with 20 states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group

- New York had the largest black population in 2007 (3.5 million), followed by Florida and Texas (3 million each). Georgia had the largest numerical increase between 2006 and 2007 (84,000), with Texas (62,000) and Florida (48,000) next. In the District of Columbia, the black population comprised the highest percentage (56 percent); Mississippi (38 percent) and Louisiana (32 percent) were next.

- The black population in 2007 had a median age of 31.1, compared with the population as a whole at 36.6. About 31 percent of the black population was younger than 18, compared with 25 percent of the total population.

- The Asian population rose by 2.9 percent, or 434,000, between 2006 and 2007.

- The American Indian and Alaska Native population rose by 1 percent or 45,000, from 2006 to 2007.

- The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population rose by 1.6 percent, or 16,000, from 2006 to 2007.

Byron Allen enters deal with MySpace

Sun, 11 May 2008 12:44:10

]]> Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Inc. has partnered with popular social networking site MySpace to become the single largest provider of video content to its MySpaceTV Web portal.

Under a deal announced last week, Allen�s Entertainment Studios will provide several hours per week of original video content that will be broadcast on 10 separate MySpaceTV Web channels. Users will be able to receive regular updates from the channels, and share episodes by using blogs and adding videos to their profiles. Videos will be up on MySpaceTV "within a few weeks," according to the company. Full terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Entertainment Studios produces 15 television programs, including Entertainers with Byron Allen; The American Athlete; Urban Style; Comics Unleashed; and Beautiful Homes & Great Estates, all of which will be updated regularly for the MySpaceTV channels.

"MySpace made a sizable commitment to promoting our channels to their users, which will generate a great deal of traffic and awareness of our channels on the MySpace platform," says Allen, a comedian and talk-show host.

Allen says MySpaceTV was his first choice as an online partner because it is able to launch content on multiple channels simultaneously and it had the technology that could accommodate the bandwidth to handle Entertainment Studios content at one time.

"Entertainment Studio's content is fresh, proven, of quality, and has a unique look and feel about it, and our users responded well to the content," says Jason Kirk, vice president of MySpaceTV. "Entertainment Studios content is extremely compelling not just for the African American audiences, but a wide variety of MySpace users."

"We are highly confident that it will be a profitable venture for both of our companies," says Allen, who would not provide revenue projections.

Because it can be hard to track, "no one knows what the ultimate revenue for these kind of things are," says Brad Berens, chief content officer and editor-at-large for iMedia and ad:tech, two companies that produce events and develop interactive marketing strategies.

What is known is that more people are watching videos on the Internet. More than 10 billion videos were viewed online in February, an increase of 66% from the same period last year, according to market research company comScore. Researcher eMarketer estimates that U.S. online advertising spending will reach $25.9 billion this year, and $41 billion by 2011. "The issue is how much of that will come from video content?" Berens says.

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., has close to 110 million users worldwide, and MySpaceTV delivered 171 million minutes of video in February 2008. MySpace provides a dedicated audience to advertisers who are concerned about falling revenue as digital video recorders and interactive media allow viewers to bypass commercials.

Fifteen years ago, when he started Entertainment Studios, Allen had no idea that he was building a strong foundation for interactive media.

"We have content that is perfect for the Web, because it is in segments that are four to six minutes. It is the perfect fit at the perfect time," says Allen, who was featured as one of BE's top Hollywood moneymakers. This is the first time Entertainment Studios has entered into an agreement to distribute its content globally online.

Since the deal with MySpaceTV is non-exclusive, Allen has already targeted other online partners and mobile phones as the next profitable platform to distribute his videos. "We definitely plan to do more of these deals on this level going forward. This is just the first of many distribution agreements to come down the pipeline."

BLACK ENTERPRISE.COM

Making A Powerful Noise

Sun, 11 May 2008 12:20:26

]]> BET co-founder Sheila Johnson produces documentary on triumphant women around the world

BET founding partner Sheila C. Johnson is accustomed to attending red carpet premieres. But the one slated for April 30 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York will be remarkably different. This premiere is for A Powerful Noise, a documentary that Johnson executive produced. Directed by Tom Cappello and produced by independent filmmaker Scott Thigpen, the feature-length documentary follows three women from around the world, each facing gender barriers. One of the women is an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam; another is a survivor of the Bosnian war; and the third is a woman who works in the slums of Bamako, Mali.

"While this film was not connected with what I do as global ambassador for CARE, whose mission is to fight global poverty, it is in the same vein," says Johnson, who has entered into several philanthropic endeavors. "And as I traveled all over the world for CARE, I am struck by the need to empower women to fight against poverty. In this film we meet three women who have turned their struggles into a positive fight to help their communities battle AIDS, to rebuild, and to educate girls."

The film developed from discussions Johnson had with filmmaker Thigpen about the urgency to highlight the needs of women in poverty worldwide. "The concept to find three women from very different parts of the globe making sustainable change in their communities was invigorating and daunting," director Cappello says. "Dr. Johnson has been the preeminent ambassador for the women's empowerment movement. Her vision for supporting a film that drives at the emotional heart of why this movement can reverse global poverty is the sole reason our team had the opportunity to make this film. Her business savvy and reputation has opened doors for this film."

Johnson says her goal now is to create and champion films with a humanitarian message. "I've been bitten by the [film] bug," she says. "And I like documentaries. I think they can be a powerful tool in educating the public about what's going on in the world. I want to use entertainment to deliver a relevant message." Her hope is that the film gets seen by as many people as possible. "While we would of course love a theatrical release, our main focus is to get the message of the film out. We want to have it in as many film festivals as possible and possibly hold public screenings."

A Powerful Noise is actually Johnson's second foray into filmmaking. She also produced Kicking It, another entrant in Tribeca. "It's also a very inspiring story," says Johnson. The film documents homeless soccer players who make their way to Cape Town, South Africa, to represent their countries in the 2006 Homeless World Cup, where some 500 players from 48 nations compete.

Johnson is CEO of Salamander Hospitality, L.L.C., a portfolio of luxury properties and lifestyle businesses. She is also president and managing partner of the WNBA's Washington Mystics and a partner in Lincoln Holdings, L.L.C., which owns the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals.

Melvin Van Pebbles "Behind the Screens"

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:56:19

]]> Transcript of legendary independent filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) discussion lead by DVRepublic Founder Warrington Hudlin during the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha, written and directed by Van Peebles. Confessionsofa chronicles the adventures of a man who, armed only with a can of contingency cash, swims his way to New York, joins the merchant marine, romances women of all ages (and an amorous gorilla), and dances for his life in the court of Zampoughi.

Before the screening of Confessionsofa, Tribeca programmer Aaron Dobbs welcomed Van Peebles to the stage. The always humorous and candid Van Peebles laid out some ground rules to the audience saying laugh a lot and white folks dont have to be scared or nothing.

Confessionsofa has been my favorite film I've seen so far at Tribeca. It's hard to put a finger on exactly how to describe this film. It's sort of an epic low-budget experimental comedy musical filled with Van Peebles's trademark charm and bravado, but with less of a political message than previous works.

At the conclusion of the film, festival volunteers collected ballots from the audience for the Cadillac Award. Dobbs then welcomed back Van Peebles to the stage along with Hudlin. This is the second time this year Ive been to a discussion that Hudlin moderated. The first was back in February at a Tribute to St. Clair Bourne at the Museum of the Moving Image, which Van Peebles also attended. Hudlins moderating style remained the same, that being of a more participatory nature by allowing members of the audience to jump in anytime.

Hudlin: Other black filmmakers stand on the shoulders of Van Peebles who literally founded black cinema. You paved the way, but how did you find your own way?

Van Peebles: Im known somewhat as a fighter. People ask me, how did you know you could beat this guy? I didnt know. A courageous person is never without arms.

Hudlin: You went ahead and did it your way. What is your creative process?

Van Peebles: In an old Mad Magazine, there was a section called Things youd like to see in the movies. I just make the things Id like to see. I dont try to be clever about it. I just try to say what I have in mind. If somethings funny to me, how can I put that funniness in cinema?

Hudlin: In both Sweetback and Confessionsofa, there seems to be this character off camera. What resonates with you in having this character?

Van Peebles: This makes me think of a funny situation. [Before Van Peebles continued to answer, he asks his cast & crew to stand.] Momma told me to praise the bridge you stood on. Paul, my second assistant editor, a young white man from Minnesota who doesnt have a lot of hood in him, called me the other day. I told him to add in a lot of um hmm into the film. I just put in what Im thinking. This movie was on a constraint with finances. I thought it would be easier to do the music first. Music is an integral part of the story. I find it interesting to let people see the trajectory and evolution of it. My choice is not me, but clarity for the subject.

Hudlin: A lot of your films titles allude to the anatomy. Is this a coincidence?

Van Peebles: The title explains the story. The memoirs of a wanderlustlets translate that to Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha. I like the iambic pentameter and the cadence of it. A question I often get is what is the message? There are a lot of subliminal messages. People will pick them up at different levels in their life.

Audience Question: Why does the opening title sequence give credit to the Diaspora?

Van Peebles: A zillion people helped me make this movie and theyre not all on camera. I wanted to do a shout out to those folks. I had a huge amount of assistance all over the world.

Audience Question: Where are we now in terms of black cinema?

Van Peebles: I am pretty much a loner and a maverick. What I wanted to do was no just open the door for black cinema, but for all independent cinema.

Audience Question: Was the sex scene with you and the character Rita uncomfortable?

Van Peebles: I liked it. When you shoot sex scenes, there are always problems like; I have to make sure the lighting is right. When I made Sweetback, I caught the clap, but thats beside the point.

Audience Question: How long did it take you to do this project?

Van Peebles: 75 years, duh!

Audience Question: How did you use technology to paint this film?

Van Peebles: The credits at the end say edited and painted by. Its like a painting to me. I started as a painter and sculptor. The texture, color and shading tell the story subliminally. All these tools are there. Why fight a battle with one hand? You have a zillion hands. People dont use them.

Audience Question: What were some of the challenges in making Confessionsofa versus Sweetback?

Van Peebles: This technically was much more ambitious than Sweetback. This time I didnt have to carry a gun. Everything was a challenge.

Audience Question: How did you go about casting? Has your process changed since Sweetback?

Van Peebles: No, sometimes you cast people for their experience and sometimes for plasticity. Sometimes you take a person who doesnt have acting experience, but they can play for the character.

Audience Question: Why did you premiere Confessionsofa at Tribeca?

Van Peebles: Tribeca is in New York and Im lazy. Tribeca is a great vessel. Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro funded Panther when no one else would.

Hudlin: Tribeca has a sense of mission of international diversity thats distinct from other festivals. Peter Scarlet (Artistic Director) really gets that were a world community. As Tribeca continues to grow and mature, it will be a premiere festival.

Audience Question: When will you make your next film?

Van Peebles: Thats dangerous. I open the door and all these ideas come out, so I slam the door shut. Im hoping to make my novel The True American as a film next. Im harnessed by the finances. Confessionsofa had no financers or distributors. I wanted this film to be made this way. When I sell it, then Ill do another one.

Audience Question: Have you developed a strategy to get past constraints?

Van Peebles: My strategy is not a single way. I started off writing. The great advantage of writing is its not that expensive. As a writer, I didnt know why people were so difficult with me when I pitched it to them. Learn your craft so you can do what you have to do and how to manipulate your media, then make it within the confines of your budget.

Hudlin: If you watch what he does, theres a DNA in his work. He takes people that are off camera and takes them on a journey. He lets black people win. Sweetback is a perfect example. He fights the power and prevails. Thats the lesson we as filmmakers have to take.

FILMPANELNOTETAKER.COM