Jeff Bigler’s “tact filter” theory | 43 Folders

For the second year in a row, the SXSW Interactive Festival is working the panel picker to help determine what panels and content get programmed into the festival. The deadline for voting on panels is tonight at 11:59pm…and there are over 730 panels to pick from. So, get picking fast.

As I mentioned in a past post, I spent this past weekend in Toronto at the Toronto International Film Festival. First, I have to say…wow…first time being in Toronto and I think it is a really great city – very diverse, culturally attuned and smart. My confession for the day though is that this was my first time in Canada too. That fact serves as a little piece of embarrassment to me, which is only magnified when you come to know that I have lived in Michigan since 1976…it is a roughly 6 hour drive from my house to downtown Toronto. Anyway…back to some comments about the panel.

The panel was held at the Royal Ontario Museum, a building whose most recent expansion (designed by architect Daniel Libeskind and Bregman + Hamann Architects) draws more than a little attention when you turn the corner. The other panelists and myself sat on stage in front of a few hundred people in the underground theater (which was a real testament to their dedication to the festival considering the gorgeous weather that day) and had a very informal conversation.

Scott Kirsner, our moderator and the author of Cinematech and The Future of Web Video, kept the discussion moving by having us focus on three main topics:

• What is social networking? (posed to Christine, Jason and myself)
• What is the potential of the internet for filmmakers? (mostly posed to Sandi and Corey)
• What digital tools are their to use? (posed to the entire group)

Certainly a good way to get the conversation kicked off (and Scott did a great job as moderator). What really got my interest piqued as a panelist though, were two specific questions we got from the audience. Paraphrased, they were:

1. What is the formula/set of best practices you use when promoting your film online?
2. What is the return on all of this investment in time to the filmmaker?…does it directly result in more sales?

I guess what kinda surprised me is that all of the panelists basically agreed that…1) there is no formula and 2) we’re not sure it can be measured in dollars today…but we are all betting that it soon will.

“The aspect of destroying is not the most important one in my work. Let’s say it is a catalyst to unleash and study this transformation. The hardest part of my work is to smash so many figurines until I find one that truly is showing me something new. I am in that sense a sculptor, but I have only a 5000th of a second to build my sculpture.”

Interview between Rosecrans Baldwin and Martin Klimas in The Morning News.

TIFF ’07

I’ll be headed to the Toronto Film Festival next week and participating in a panel discussion entitled, “Social Networks: Connecting Filmmakers to Audiences.” According to Scott Kirsner, the moderator, our discussion will explore two areas:

• What are the tools, technologies, and strategies that filmmakers/
  producers/studios are using to build an audience for their work?
• How will the process of building an audience for a film change in
  the future?

I’m really looking forward to participating as the other panelists include:

• Corey Marr, Producer, Corey Marr Productions, www.coreymarr.com
• Christine Moore, Content Producer, Myspace, www.myspace.com
• Sandi DuBowski, producer, A Jihad For Love, www.filmsthatchangetheworld.com
• Jason Klein, President and CEO, Special Ops Media, www.specialopsmedia.com

Follow by flickr account or mobile blog for updates…as well as my round-up commentary after the panel on SpoutBlog.

Finally, after having the DVD since early March, I set time aside to see The War Tapes. I received this DVD as a part of the gift bag for attending TED this year, which my be the reason I haven’t watched it until now. The War Tapes follows three National Guardsmen during their tour of duty in Iraq. Filmmaker Deborah Scranton gave all three video cameras so that they could create a diary of their experiences. Deborah presented a scene during TED and discussed a little bit about what it was like to make the film and it’s impact on the Guardsmen themselves. What results on film is at times poignant, raw and completely honest. I think I held off watching it until now because I knew how “real” it would be – graphic, emotional…everything.

Check out more information on this film at it’s site or on Spout and then watch it.

Why did I leave TypePad after 3 years as a loyal (and sometime evangelizing) customer? Honestly, the biggest piece was due to WordPress’ overall flexibility with their design. I simply love my new four column design and a much simpler administrative interface. However, WordPress certainly has a ton of limitations (as I’m beginning to find out):

• limited ability to post video
• fewer widgets to choose from
• no apparent automation with Technorati for tagging
• …and I am sure there are others that will present themselves over the next few weeks

I think my issues are mostly due to the fact that I am using the .com version of WordPress instead of the .org version…or it could be the fact that I sometimes (oh so wrongfully) fancy myself a design/entry level developer and get in way over my head.

If anyone has some suggestions or recommendations on how to get better use from WordPress.com, please let me know. I’m all ears.

Interesting map that the fine folks at Information Architects Japan pulled together a few weeks ago. According to them:

In house, we use it as a consulting tool. It has helped us exploring, defining and explaining the Internet strategy and positioning of all of our clients since we first introduced it in January. Each website on the map stands as a (more or less) successful paradigm for an interactive brand, design or business model. In order to position yourself, you need to know your place on this map.

Indeed. You gotta know where you are before you can pick the right direction to go. Don’t know if this is the right map, but it sure is a compelling start.

eMusic

I signed up last year for an eMusic subscription. Actually, it was through a promotion I found in Paste Magazine…something like 50 free tracks as a test of the service. One year later and I have downloaded music from 76 artists, nearing 800 individual tracks. I don’t think I have ever consumed so much music, not even during my angst ridden teen years. The result?

• In addition to the rest of my music collection, I now have 3429 track representing 13.54 GB of music in iTunes
• I am much more aware of newer music trends across an array of genres
• Sometimes I find myself consuming to consume…mostly due to eMusic’s subscription model and my desire to get what I paid for
• I had the realization that I really dig DRM free music
• I wish that Last.FM worked with eMusic because the former is a much better tool for getting music recommendations than the latter

Here is the list of artists and albums I have become acquainted with over the past year (if we ever share a wifi connection, give these things a listen):

A Girl Named Eddy – A Girl Named Eddy
Andrew Bird – Listen – Armchair Apocrypha
Archer Prewitt – Archer Prewitt Live at Schubas 08/14/2004
Bad Religion – Suffer
Badly Drawn Boy – Hour of Bewilderbeast
Bebel Gilberto – Bebel Gilberto
Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Big Ass Truck – Who Let You In Here?
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Capital Records Rehearsal 1973
Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene – Live at Radio Aligre FM in Paris
Califone – Roots & Crowns
Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country
Cat Power – The Greatest
Charles Mingus – Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus
Cold Play – Brothers and Sisters
Colin Hay – Man @ Work
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle Volume One
Damien Jurado – On My Way To Absence
Dogs Die In Hot Cars – Please Describe Yourself
Eels – Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
Field Music – Tones Of Town
Gomez – How We Operate
Half-Handed Cloud – Thy Is A Word And Feet Need Lamps
Iron And Wine / Calexico – In The Reins
Ivy – Guestroom
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Global A Go-Go
John Coltrane – Lush Life (Remastered)
John Coltrane – Fearless Leader
Johnny Cash – The Complete Sun Singles, vol. 1
Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
Marian McPartland / Elvis Costello – Piano Jazz
Mates Of State – Team Boo
Mike Doughty – Haughty Melodic
Miles Davis Quintet – Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (Remastered)
Moby – Hotel
Modern Skirts – Catalogue of Generous Men
Modest Mouse – The Fruit That Ate Itself
Moonbabies – Moonbabies At The Ballroom
My Morning Jacket – The Tennessee Fire
Nancy Sinatra – Boots
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case – Blacklisted
Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane, Over The Sea
Ornette Coleman – The Music Of Ornette Coleman: Something Else!!!
Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Patty Griffin – 1000 Kisses
Robbie Fulks – Georgia Hard
Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
Sergio Mendes – Timeless
Spoon – Gimme Fiction
Spoon – Telephono/Soft Effects
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon – Sister Jack
Stephen Malkmus – Face The Truth
Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
Sufjan Stevens – Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State
Sufjan Stevens – Songs For Christmas
Sun Kil Moon – Tiny Cities
The Broken West – I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On
The Chameleons – Live at The Academy Vol. 2
The Clientele – Strange Geometry
The Decemberists – Picaresque
The Kinks – Come Dancing With The Kinks
The Mountain Goats – The sunset Tree
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
The Pixies – Surfer Rosa / Come On Pilgrim
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
The Rakes – Ten New Messages
The Twilight Singers – She Loves You
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
The White Stripes – Elephant
Thelonious Monk – Riverside Profiles
Thievery Corporation – The Mirror Conspiracy
TV On The Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Ursula 1000 – Kinda’ Kinky
Dressed In Black: A Tribute To Johnny Cash
The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered (Disc 1 : The Covers)
Independent Music Awards Winners 2007
Monterey International Pop Festival
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland Soundtrack
Voxtrot – Raised By Wolves EP
Voxtrot – Your Biggest Fan
Voxtrot – Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Zuco 103 – Tales Of High Fever