Honey, I Shrunk the Media Ownership Club!

Flipping through the 500+ channels on my digital cable box can be very misleading. Sure, there are hundreds more TV channels now than 25 years ago, but who owns them? Viacom, GE, Rupert Murdoch, Disney, Discovery, Hearst, Time-Warner. There are a few others, but none that provide the news and public affairs programming that the Big Six do.

Granted, in the past we only had 3 television networks to get news from, but we also had multiple, independently owned newspapers in every town. Beyond the small screen today, we have the internet, but much of what passes as news on the web is hearsay and unsubstantiated guff. Besides the fact that a good percentage of the population have no access or have never been online. So what other media outlets do we have?

Look at your local newspaper. I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has at least 4 major papers with large writing staffs. When I travel the country, I always make it a point to pick up a local paper rather than USA Today. What I have found is disturbing. In almost every case, the local paper has maybe 2 or 3 articles written by local staff writers and the rest is filled in with stories ripped from AP, Reuters ,and other services. No local point of view.

Which means the vast majority of American's get their news served up from a few central sources that tell them what is going on from an outsider's point of view. No wonder the major cities are "blue" and the rural counties are "red". "Blue" population centers get many different sides of a story. "Red" populations get a very narrow point of view from sources owned by large corporations looking out for their own bottom lines rather than than the good of their readers.

And now these media conglomerates want to own more? As a pure business play, this makes sense, but America is more than just a market for big business (at least I like to think so, however naive that may be). A thriving democracy needs a free and open exchange of ideas and a means to communicate them. That's what mass media is all about. Regardless of whatever perceived bias they have, we still need them - and plenty of local, indepent outlets.

How does a democratic republic stay free of tyranny if so many people have so few sources of information vital to the democratic process? This Tuesday, the FCC will hold hearings in Los Angeles to listen to testimony from the media 'elite' and independents alike. Let's hope the independent voices are heard and the FCC is not just playing for future pay from deep pocket communications giants.

It's A Small, Small World

This evening I had the unique opportunity to meet and 'talk shop' with a small group of filmmakers from the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. The group was in the U.S. as part of a fact-finding tour of Washington, DC and New York. The Kennedy Center and U.S. State Department arranged for the group to take in as much of the American documentary production scene as possible during their brief stay.

During the hour-long meeting the Kazakhs told of the freedoms they now have since the fall of the Soviet Union and the hardships they face in raising funds and finding distribution for their work. They explained that only 30 percent of films in Kazakhstan are home grown, while 70 percent are from Hollywood and thought Hollywood was more ‘artistic’ than the Kazakh film market. We all chuckled at that one! Their films have been honored at international film festivals, but they are still in search of a business model that will allow the Kazakh film community to grow.

They eagerly listened as we told them the situation in the United States is pretty much the same: the difficulties in obtaining funding, getting a distributor, and earning enough money to stay in business for the next film. We pointed out their good fortune of having the U.S. as a foreign market should they get funding in their home market. In practical terms, this is actually a better situation than many U.S. filmmakers have.

Kazakhstan, a country of 15 million (roughly the population of metro NY), is a major oil producer in central Asia, and has money. They pointed out how it was easier for them to get money from their oil wealth if U.S. or European producers were involved. Filmmaking in Kazakhstan is considered an art, not a business, so it is not a full-time profession. They all have day jobs to pay the bills while they cobble together films as best they can.

Unfortunately, I can totally relate to this business model.

The translators were a huge help, but it seemed like we knew what they were saying just by their expressions and tone of voice. In any language, we all agreed that our passion is well worth the hard work and effort and that working together in the future would be well worth our time... and bottom line!

I Want My MTV!

I mean, reeeally! What ever happened to all music videos, all the time, sprinkled with the oddball vee-jay and some music news? I can't remember the last time I turned on the TV and actually saw music on Music TeleVision. Or VH1, MTV2, FUSE, yada, yada, yada.

Nothing.

Bummer. It's not like I'm looking for 1980's vids, but the prograaming model ROCKED. It appears we've gone from "video killed the radio star" to "reality programs killed the music video stars". But why?

And the scary thing is MTV is not the only ones forsaking their brand identity. Just try and get a detailed weather report on The Weather Channel between 8p and 11p any given night. You won't get your local forecast. Instead, you'll get a sexed-up documentary on old weather: Storm Stories. Again, I ask: Why?

PLEASE! Someone, STOP THE INSANITY!

I don't want to have to log on to Yahoo! music to watch my music videos. PC viewing doesn't do it for me. Something just doesn't fit.

I WANT MY MTV!

Writing To Your Own Tune(s)

It's funny how my wife uses the TV as backgound noise while she reads and I prefer music while I write. I just can't concentrate on my characters' actions when someone else's are blaring out of the tube at me. On the flip side, my wife is a musician who can't concentrate with music while she reads because she keeps timing the music. C'est la vie!

I'm embarking on my next screenplay, which means it's time to locate music that fits the mood and atmosphere of my story. My last writing 'soundtrack' included Catch Me If You Can and Road to Perdition. I think Cinderella Man and Gangs of New York might be it this time.

I know some writers who listen to rock or punk or country while they write. Although I have tried before, 'radio music' just hasn't been able to put me into that cinematic storytelling mode. So for now, I'll stick to what works. A good, dramatic cinematic soundtrack.

Now, enough procrastinating...back to work!

Loglines

Everyone agrees you need a great logline to get your screenplay 'in the door'. It's a plain and simple fact. And the shortest and most succinct are the best.

But when to write this all important logline? That is a subject I've seen debated all over the internet.

I, for one, think the logline should be written first. Others argue it should come after the script is done. My response to them is: Why wait? If you have a story that's just screaming to come out, why wait to write the logline. If you know what the story is about - the general 'gist' - then write it down. That's your logline!

Since nothing has been written, and your mind is telling you what the story is about, jot down the plot, protagonist, and threat that he or she needs to overcome. Viola! You have a logline.

Waiting to see how the story plays out on paper will only lead to an obtuse, unfocused logline that will leave the reader thinking your screenplay will also be unfocused. You risk alienating the reader from your story before the first word is read. That's not the way to start.

If you don't know the gist of your story before you start writing it, you're in trouble anyway. So why set yourself up for a meandering, rudderless screenplay whn you could have a guiding beacon - your logline - staring you down as you start down that pointless tangent.

Write the logline first, it will keep you focused on what your story was in the beginning. The result will be a well focused script in the end.

Comedy Central Laughing All the Way To the Bank

With the WGA and AFTRA standing in line right behind them.

The news coming from the Laugh Net this week has been heartening to non-fiction 'staffers' across the dial. On Monday (8/25), the WGA East came to terms with the prodco of Comedy Central's Daily Show to represent 14 writers. Then on Wednesday, AFTRA announced that Comedy Central came to terms on a new contract for its members that will raise minimims at the network across the board.

Maybe, just maybe, now that one of basic cable's big guns has decided to pay their talent and creatives a fair wage the others won't be too far behind.

Maybe.

Now if there was just a way to get the rest of the creative staff, the "producing team" if you will, to be represented at the bargaining table. With the broadcast and cable nets routinely violating minimum wage and work rules on non-fiction programs, the WGA stepped in to help Producer/Writers at America's Next Top Model, the results of which are yet to be seen. For the rest of the non-fiction world, the ungodly hours and working conditions will continue to be a plague unless someone steps up to the plate.

Here's where a strong Producers Guild of America would be helpful.

Unfortunately, since the PGA membership incudes both workers and EP/owners, they cannot be a collective bargaining union like the WGA, DGA, AFTRA, and SAG. Until such a union comes about, the PGA needs to look at ways to get the nets, studios, and prodcos to recognize some sort of standard in wage and work rules for non-fictioners.

Current PGA President, Marshall Herskovits, addressed this issue in a recent article in Produced By magazine. The PGA East Documentary Committee and PGA West Docu/Reality Committee are looking at ways help.

As Co-Chair of the PGA East Doc Committee, I can tell you we are dead serious about doing something for the Producers Team. In the coming weeks and months, we plan on bringing the 'best and brightest' together to discuss what strategies are available to the non-union workers.

Hopefully, by mid 2007, the PGA will be well on its way to bringing the situation under control. Perhaps something as simple as policing its own EP/owners as an example for the rest of the industry to follow. But will that be enough, or even reasonable to ask?

Maybe.