Wga Videos

Writer Alan Katz, strike captain for the WGA, was a guest on my last podcast "The Writers Strike Chronicles". I met up with Katz at the SAG Solidarity Rally on 9 June 2009. More info at http://bravenewmedia.tv

This was originally recorded for Word Sushi but I know a lot of PCH listeners are interested in what's going on with the writer's strike so I figured I should put it up in this feed as well. Published author, TV producer and entertainment industry blogger Chad Gervich talks about the WGA strike, the industry and his new podcast Morning Call Time . Click HERE to listen Morning Call Time - Listen to the latest entertainment industry headlines Script Notes - a Writer's Digest Blog by Chad Gervich Subscribe to WORD SUSHI Word Sushi MESSAGE BOARDS Come check out the blog at: wordsushi.com GoDaddy Coupons/Promo Codes NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET IN PRINT!!! - February 24th! Click here for the latest N1B info.  

* FCC launches auction of coveted analog spectrum today. * NBC clarifies pilot season stance. * MINDSHARE research shows impacts of strike on TV viewers. * CBS unveils ad-supported on demand music via Last.fm. * NETFLIX beats earnings and reaches 7.5 million subscribers. * MYSPACE to add BBC video content. Get the full story at http://www.Media30.com.

THE DGA strikes a deal with the AMPTP. TIME WARNER CABLE to raise prices for heavy downloaders. COMSCORE releases November online video stats. YAHOO joins OpenID alliance. DOUG LIMAN launches digital production company with WGA deal. Get the full story at http://www.Media30.com.

The writers begin to question their role creating propaganda for Iraq, and decide to drink beer and discuss their sexuality. They contemplate a writers strike of their own like the wga but decide to play spin the bottle instead. Rik Havoc deals with a mysterious visitor questioning his control, because he let the guys smoke pot. Amy gets drunk and flashes her boobs in a game of truth or dare. Produced by ViralFilmVideo.com produced by ViralFilmVideo.com

Truth or Dare continues with Lisa and Bill in a closet contemplating boob touching, sex and remember their youth. The writers decide to write Rik Havoc of their decision to quit. Produced by ViralFilmVideo.com

CHINA has issued draconian new rules restricting the broadcast of online video to state-owned and state-controlled sites. The regulations go into effect on January 31st and major online video companies are waiting to see how tightly the government will crack down on independent video sites. A YouTube spokesman called the developments a cause for concern. JAY LENO is drawing complaints from the WGA about his scripted monologues for The Tonight Show. During Wednesday s show Leno said he was writing his own monologues. Leno claims Guild West president Patric Verrone gave his personal approval of self-written monologues, while Verrone says otherwise. The Guild now claims Leno is in violation of strike rules and risks being brought before the Strike Rules Compliance Committee. MOTOROLA will introduce a new dedicated mobile television device at CES. The DH01 will play live TV using the DVBH standard and allow users to pause live broadcasts for up to five minutes. The device will also offer on-demand video and the ability to play content stored on a DVR. The DH01 will officially launch sometime this month. SAMSUNG and STARZ are teaming up to allow users of the Samsung P2 media device to download content from the Vongo service for mobile viewing. Vongo offers access to 2,500 titles for $9.99 per month. The P2 will join seven other media players with support for Vongo, including players from Archos, Creative and Toshiba. ALBUM SALES dropped 15% during 2007, falling to 500 million albums after a 2006 total of 588 million. Meanwhile, album downloads jumped 53% to 50 million. DVD unit sales fell 4.5%, the first major decline in the history of the format. Get the full story at http://www.Media30.com.

Wondering what to do now that there's a writer's strike and there's nothing on TV but reruns? Don't fret. There's a world of great shows that are only found online Shoot us an email at Zanzibar19@gmail.com and we'll send you the list.

THE FTC has approved GOOGLE s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, but the deal still requires acceptance by the European Commission. In conjunction with its decision the FTC released a set of guidelines for the burgeoning online ad industry, recommending greater consumer control over privacy and online tracking. Privacy issues have been a major concern surrounding the merger, as Google builds an ever-larger collection of consumer data. European officials, however, say the law limits them to considering the anti-competitive ramifications of the deal. The EC s final decision is expected by April 2nd. AOL has completed its acquisition of targeted advertising company QUIGO. The deal will give AOL expanded ability to place contextual ads on its own properties as well as third-party sites. Quigo is now a fully-owned subsidiary working under AOL s Platform A division. COMEDY CENTRAL will resume production for both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on January 7th. The shows are planning to return without writers, another major blow to the WGA strike. The Guild issued a statement criticizing Comedy Central for resuming production. In related news, the Guild granted a waiver requesting WGA writers for the Independent Spirit Awards, just days after denying a similar request for The Golden Globes. A waiver request is still pending for The Oscars but the Guild has indicated it will be rejected. VEOH claims to have grown from 2.5 million unique monthly viewers to 21.5 million during 2007 - a 760% increase. According to company figures, Veoh served 30 million hours of content during November alone and is seeing 900,000 installations of VeohTV per month. However, the most important statistic may be this: Veoh says that 40% of its views occur during prime-time TV hours. LIFETIME is planning to embrace online video for three new reality shows dedicated to fashion, dating and party-planning. MyLifetime.com will feature supplemental short clips as well as full-length streaming episodes before the shows premiere on TV. Video fashion tips, online chats and more will offer increased engagement for viewers. Previews will also be available on iTunes and Yahoo. Get the full story at http://www.Media30.com

NBC has decided to use reruns from USA Network and internationally-produced shows to help fill the void created by the writers strike. The network will air the Monk and Psych reruns on Sunday during prime-time. According to Ben Silverman, two shows are currently being produced for NBC outside the US using foreign writers not bound by WGA contracts. CBS is also considering the use of reruns from Showtime, according to Les Moonves. DAVID LETTERMAN will follow Leno and Conan back to work on January 2nd and he plans to bring his writers with him. Letterman s independently-owned production company Worldwide Pants is planning to sign an interim deal with writers before Jan. 2nd. ABC s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel will return on Jan. 2nd without his writing staff. THE FCC approved changes to media-ownership rules, making it possible for companies to own both a television station and a newspaper in the top 20 markets. Those markets must contain eight independently-owned and operated media voices. The Commission also approved a rule to prevent individual cable companies from controlling more than 30% of the TV market. That new cap should restrict the growth of Comcast, which currently has 27% market share. SPECTRUM BIDDERS are now known to include Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Paul Allen s Vulcan Inc. and an investment firm run by Roy Disney. Qualcomm, MetroPCS Wireless and US Cellular Corp. have also registered to bid on the valuable 700 MHz spectrum, which will become available for use when analog television shuts down on February 17th, 2009. The landmark auction is set for January 24th. MTV NETWORKS will enlist Jerry Bruckheimer to head a new MTV Games studio that will receive over $500 million in funding. The studio will be staffed with video game experts, artists and storytellers. As head of the unit Bruckheimer will focus on strong storytelling to create compelling, interactive titles. IAC will use BRIGHTCOVE as its platform of choice for all IAC sites. Brightcove technology will soon appear on Ticketmaster, Citysearch and humor site 23/6. IAC is a minority investor in Bightcove. * Get the full story at Media30.com *

GETV pops down to Los Angeles to see how geeks can help support the striking television and movie writers of Hollywood. Solidarity through double-clicking or not double-clicking, that is the question. Irina catches up with writer and actor Seth Rogen, Chris Provenzano,Phil Rosenthal and Richard Potter on the picket line to find out from them how we geeks can help. Episode links: United Hollywood, WGA, Seth Rogen, Chris Provenzano, Phil Rosenthal, Richard Potter, Strike Dancing

STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS have broken down, signaling a turn for the worse in the ongoing labor dispute. The AMPTP claims the current problems stem from radical demands being made by the WGA, such as the right to join strikes on behalf of other industry guilds. The producers are insisting that the WGA remove certain demands before talks can resume. The WGA says it rejects that ultimatum, as the strike enters its sixth week. NBC will be giving cash refunds to advertisers this holiday season because they have no inventory left for make-goods. In fact, inventory is tight across all of the broadcast networks. The CW has been out of sale for weeks and CBS, ABC and Fox will be doing make-goods in the first quarter of next year. WALT DISNEY s Steamboat Ventures has invested $6 million in content delivery network EdgeCast. A Steamboat spokesman said that optimizing online delivery of digital content is a strategic imperative for Disney. Steamboat provided funding for Move Networks earlier this year. DIRECTV has seen positive results for YES Interactive, an application that offers on-screen stats and extra camera angles during Yankee games. Newly-released stats show that 42% of households with access to Yes Interactive used it consistently during the 2007 season. On average, interactive users watched games for 54% longer than standard viewers. The feature will return in 2008 with increased advertising support. THE NBA will begin using MICROSOFT s Silverlight platform to deliver video content for NBA.com, WNBA.com and NBADevelopmentLeague.com. NBA VP of Interactive Steve Grimes said Silverlight will integrate with existing Flash applications and offer higher quality video playback. The NBA will begin using Silverlight video after the holiday season. IMEEM has struck a deal to give users free streaming access to UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP music and videos. In exchange, Universal will take a cut of advertising revenue on the social networking site. Imeem now has deals in place with all four major record labels. * Get the fully story at Media30.com *

FACEBOOK made further concessions in its war against user privacy. Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized on the company blog for a lot of mistakes surrounding Beacon admitting the company did a bad job with its release. Most importantly, he announced that users will now be able to completely opt-out of Beacon. VERIZON has rolled out HD VOD on FiOS TV in five markets, making 75 HD titles available. Three more markets will receive the service soon and it will available to all FiOS TV subscribers next year. The company is aiming for 1,000 hours of HD VOD and 150 HD channels by the end of 2008. COMCAST said it will lose video customers in 2008 due to increased competition from IPTV services from Verizon and AT s counter-offer to the AMPTP included a slight rollback of demands for online revenue sharing, asking that 2.5% of gross only be paid on revenue after the first year. During the first year of a release, payment would be tied to the number of streams a piece of content generated. Payment would be based on blocks of 100,000 streams and counting would be restarted every quarter. MOVIEBEAM will shutdown on December 15th. The company has been contacting customers to inform them of the shutdown and offering some of them refunds for recently-purchased MovieBeam boxes. The on-demand movie service used wireless signals to transmit movie rentals to customers. It was originally started by Disney. * Get the Story at Media30.com *

The American version of the BBC's "The Office" has established itself in 3 (and 1/4) seasons as a unique and daring comedy. With the WGA strike continuing, fans of "The Office" had to go into SL to get a fix of Dwight and the gang. Draxtor Despres met up with regional management!

Mitch Hedberg's opinion on a guy who reads scripts.

* YAHOO licenses SONY BMG music for UGC. * DGA reaches tentative agreement with major networks. * APPLE may have to unlock the iPhone in Germany. * ABC STUDIOS in agreement to pay writers for webisodes of Lost. * NEWSPAPERS suffer more ad declines. Get the Story at Media30.com.

Dog talks turkey...fluently. Plus a brief commentary on the Writers Guild of America strike! Unleashed is an animated comedy show that follows the trials and tribulations of animal actors in Hollywood. A new episode every Monday, here and at http://www.Unleashed.tv

A memorable (and timely) rant from the upcoming feature documentary on Harlan Ellison, DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH . Go to www.dreamswithsharpteeth.com for more excerpts!! See the full trailer here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dmfzKKM49uY