Kids and digital storytelling: Who will teach them? (via schlomo)
This is a great piece. It describes the natural inclination to tell stories and affinity for technology that we’re trying to foster in some of California’s most under-served student populations at the Media Center for Art, Education, and Technology.
viiv:
I’m amused.
Me too. It’s nice to have real people in the White House.
The “obscure” comic strip from the “early 1960s” that Mad Men is “based on.”
They do sell it pretty well. Three more at Vanity Fair.
Vulture ran a great interview with Community star (and former 30 Rock writer) Donald Glover about the new album from his rapping alter ego, Childish Gambino.
From the last track on the album, “The Last”:
This next part sounds like nonsense
But I swear to God Tina Fey gave me confidence
Taught me everything good comes from honesty
Everybody’s got a voice, you just gotta follow it
She on her role model shit
From the day that I shook her hand
I knew that I’d never die a broke man
So I could try this rappin’ shit out again
The game need change, I’m a part of it
People tell me I should spit under Donald Glover
But I try to keep my real name undercover
Cause if you hear my name, then you think it’s jokes…
I rap about my life not “I’m on a boat”
‘Cause this joke rap shit’s gotten outta hand
Only one’s who do it well is Lonely Island
So, yeah, this ain’t joke rap. But he does manage to slip in a few other comedy references, including how he “makes paper like Dunder Mifflin” and how the audiences at his “shows are more mixed than Rasida Jones.”
It’s good, brainy rap and it’s free to download at http://www.culdesac-album.com/
Not likely when embedding is disabled.
Collegehumor’s “You Became a Meme”
Weekend farmers market dish:
Iacopi Farms English shelling peas and Achadinha Cheese Company feta with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.
BYU students take a page from the W+K Old Spice playbook to promote their library.
Nice work, Harold B. Lee Library Multimedia Lab.
Showing my 97-year-old aunt her house on Google Streetview on an iPad.
Party Down: Some Amateur Accounting
“Party Down” got canceled yesterday and that’s a huge bummer for me and at least 17 other people.
In July of 2008, I was working on a piece for Tilzy.tv (now Tubefilter) about the economics of “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” and I reached out to Rob Thomas, creator and executive producer of the also canceled-too-soon “Veronica Mars” (and subsequently of “Party Down”) for comments. His response wasn’t really relevant to the post I was writing (which I never finished), but it’s interesting, if a little sad, to read now:
As we speak, I’m downloading Dr. Horrible. I’m curious about how it turned out.
I suspect that Joss has the resources to back this sort of venture that I don’t have. I’ll be curious to see whether he’s able to make money doing it.
I did just shoot a self-financed half-hour comedy [Party Down] in my house. I made it for $150,000, but everyone was doing it at “favor rate.” We’ve put together the numbers, and it would cost $500,000 in real wages if it were to go to series. At the $150,000 cost per episode, I might be tempted to make episodes and sell them on iTunes. At a half-million, the risk is too great, and I simply don’t have the resources to be my own studio. (And, incidentally, those figures are with me making zero dollars.)
We have a cable network offer to put ten episodes on the air, though there are a few more hurdles to cross.
Even if 1) Thomas had been able to sustainably produce “Party Down” at $150k/episode and 2) the 74,000 people (according to Nielsen) who watched it on TV, plus another 25,000 (unfounded assumption) Netflix streaming viewers each payed $1.99 for each episode on iTunes… that’s only $199,000 gross. If iTunes takes 30%, now we’re at $139,000…
A Soup ‘R Crackers franchise would be a better investment.
So, lesson learned (again). Next time an awesome show hits the air (or the web for that matter) let’s not wait ‘till it gets canceled to start evangelizing, k?
