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Posts tagged as “Behind the Scenes”

OMFG

Let’s start with 2 strange pick-ups from the last couple of days.

HBO has ordered a series adaptation (as in real series, not mini) of George R.R. Martin’s 7-book “A Song of Fire & Ice”, titled “Game of Thrones”.
Each season would represent a book, so it could go on for about 7 seasons, if it is picked up that is.
Did I forget to mention that “Game of Thrones” is in fact a fantasy series?
As in, magic and dragons.
On HBO.
In primetime.

Ridley Scott on the other hand is going to direct a movie adaptation of…wait for it…Monopoly.
The script is going to be penned by Corpse Bride/Monster House‘s Pamela Pettler and should be reminiscent of Blade Runner with its futuristic feel.

Meanwhile, Fox just ditched MadTV and NBC has canceled My Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle.
But no real surprise there.

Did you guys also hear?
The war in Iraq has ended, says the New York Times.


Oh but wait…
It’s a hoax.

And just because I’m a sucker for technology, and “the future is now”:
RED just announced today its massive new line of product and accessories, including the awesome $55,000 EPIC 617 Mysterium Monstro camera.
Just how awesome is it?
28k awesome.
That means it shoots at 25FPS images with a res of 28 000 x 9 334.
With the ability to also shoot 3-D.
Yeah, you read that correctly.

Sure, it’s only going to arrive in like 2 years, but who cares.
It’s revolutionary.

FOX v. FCC

Let’s turn our attention towards the US Supreme Court for a sec.
Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the Fantasy Supreme Court Justice pool I’m running.
Instead, I’ll bore you with one of the current cases being made in front of the Court.
I am of course talking about possibly one the biggest FCC case ever: FOX v. FCC.
It’s the first time in 30 years that the Supreme Court is reviewing broadcasting indecency standards.

The case deals with swearing on live TV:
In March of 06, the FCC fined FOX for Cher and Nicole Richie saying “shit” and “fucking” during the 02 & 03 Billboard Music Awards, all due to a “new” FCC policy that allowed penalization even if the expletive is made only once, and live.

The case worked its way up to the Supreme Court and on Tuesday were heard the oral arguments for the case.
And, no, no one said “shit” or “fucking”.
They did use cute euphemisms however, such as “the s-word” and “the f-word”.

3 Justices out of the 7 appear for now neutral, while 2 seemed to be leaning towards the FCC and the other 2 towards FOX.

If the case ultimately goes towards FOX, the prior “expletive case” in 1978 (following the George Carlin monologue) could be overturned and the win could severely diminish FCC’s role in policing the airwaves.
But on the other hand, if the FCC wins, it would validate FCC’s regulations even more and perhaps strongly reduce First Amendment rights (mainly free speech) on broadcasting networks.

Back in March, in an editorial, the New York Times commented:

“We hope the Supreme Court does not authorize the F.C.C. to return to its censorial policies.”

Most of the Justices are pretty conservative so there’s definitely a good chance they will favor the FCC.

The current Court term ends at the end of November, so a decision should be issued by then.

Meanwhile, if you’re into reading legal papers, there’s a bunch of those on the case here.

Scary business

Remember that news about NBC cutting costs?

Well CBS may also do that in the very near future as they announced yesterday a third quarter loss of $12.5 billion (linked to a $14 billion write-down) with ad revenue declining in its main divisions, including television.

Incidentally, digital revenues have rose 6% this year with a 12% increase regarding Internet display ads.

As for their revenues, they are up 3%, thanks primarily to CSI: NY’s cable syndication.

All in all, CBS is now in the top 10 Internet company and the “#1 producer and provider of premium online content”.

No wonder they are trying to cash in on the future.

Meanwhile, Yahoo Video is now the (distant) second in video streams with a 56% increase (to about 265 millions).
Still, Google’s YouTube is very far ahead with 5 billion video streams in September.
Let’s not forget though that most Yahoo Vids have ads in them (= money = good for the company).

Speaking of, Lisa Klink has posted about “[trying to come] at the TV biz sideways”. Meaning that wannabe TV (and for that matter any) writer wanting to break in will have better chance of doing that by trying various other “creative outlets”.
TV writing is becoming increasingly more competitive due to a number of reasons, including strong cuts in budgets, therefore creating a smaller gap for people to squeeze in.
Any kind of “out of the box” success will definitely be a plus, distinguishing you from the rest.