Hollywood2020

GREENPEACE SAYS BARBIE DOLL CAN BE 'TOXIC GENDER BENDER'

GREENPEACE SAYS BARBIE CAN BE 'TOXIC GENDER BENDER'

What's a girl to do? Now a new report from Greenpeace says that ordinary play things like the Fashion Fever Barbie Doll may be toxic to the health of our kids. Directly from Greenpeace.org Link here for a very scary press release about superheroes  Here's an excerpt:

<--------all the styles of Fashion Fever Barbie

New tests reveal toys have highest levels of toxic chemicals

Brussels, Belgium — Barbie and Superman dolls can be toxic playthings, according to the results of tests commissioned by Greenpeace Italy. Gender-bending hazardous chemicals that build up in the environment and in our bodies were found at their highest levels in everyday articles designed for children and babies.

New test results commissioned by Greenpeace reveal that consumer goods aimed at children and babies contained the highest levels of toxic substances, out of a shopping basket of everyday articles. Dolls Spiderman flip 'n zip and Mattel's Barbie Fashion Fever contained high levels of phthalates, according to the tests. Greenpeace Italy commissioned the laboratory tests on chemical additives in a shopping basket of 12 common consumer items, including toys, T-shirts, DVD players and baby body care products [1]. The tests were carried out by Dutch laboratory TNO Environment and Geosciences. "Some manufacturers deliberately add hazardous chemicals to children's products without regard to the fact that the young are most vulnerable to their effects," said Helen Perivier, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. "As long as governments fail to require companies to use safer substitutes for such chemicals, they are leaving children ......Link here for a very scary press release about superheroes 

What I don't understand is why single out the Fashion Fever line of Barbie? And why point out the Spiderman flip n' zip?  Is there something especially dangerous about these toys? See Greenpeace.org for more information or click on the 'scary press release' link above.

DOUGLAS ADAMS: UNPRODUCED APPLE COMMERCIAL: Hitchhiker's Guide To the Mac?

The day I met Douglas Adams....

The Douglas Adams book "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" is hitting screens and that reminds me of the time that I met Adams at Internet World in Los Angeles. I believe the year was 2000 --if anyone remembers otherwise, let me know. Anyway, those of course were the heyday of "DOTMANIA" and I was stunned to see Adams standing in a a booth (or maybe it was the conference bookstore) almost alone. He was signing copies of books and posters...and all I could think to ask him during that brief couple of minutes was whether he had a website or not? Quite frankly, I don't even remember the answer -- I was just so thrilled to be near the guru. What was amazing was that hords of his fans were more enthralled in doing deals than meeting the famous author......

DOUGLAS ADAMS: A MAJOR MAC FAN:

Adams was such a major Apple Macintosh Fan, appropriate to mention on the launch of TIGER that he came up with an idea for an Apple commercial-- alas, it was never filmed. Here's the gist of it:

Apple MacIntosh -- we may not have got everything right, but at least we knew the century was going to end". Douglas Adams, author of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY on his proposed commercial for Apple.

"SCREENAGERS" WANT THEIR TV2GO --125 MOBILE TV USERS BY 2010

TV2GO: ALMOST 125 MILLION BROADCAST MOBILE TV USERS BY 2010

The best story I saw on this new report from Informa Telecoms and Media was on the Telecomskorea.com site. Here's the link. That trade story closes with this happy note which is almost a disclaimer explaining what factors are necessary to reach this figure.      

"The success is also dependent on the availability of desirable, popular content to the end user which will depend to a large extent on how fast consumers adopt the services and devices. There is a definite need for the industry to decide what formats will work for users while they are on the move and what services will be attractive to mobile subscribers, bearing in mind current viewing habits. This is further dependent on the availability of quality handsets, providing users with a large high resolution colour display, a good user interface, and lasting battery life."

TV2GO Story by Joyce Schwarz in TV WEEK April, 2003

Faithful readers of my columns and stories may remember that I wrote a featured piece for TV WEEK (formerly known as ELECTRONIC MEDIA) back in April 2003. At that time, I quoted Mark Desautels, VP For CTIA saying, "Broadcast TV to phones is still 12 to 18 months away".

The article in TV WEEK --okay give me a break-- it's paper and its 2 years old--lucky I could find the paper copy at all--so it's a little wrinkled--that doesn't happen with digital does it? Anyway, I'll be glad to send you a digital version if you request it by emailing me at [email protected].

One of my better lines in that story was featured as a 'pull-out' quote in bold face"

     "New products are evolving for the next generation of 'screenagers' who want their TV anytime and everywhere." Joyce Schwarz TV Week, April 14, 2003.

THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT: HOLLYWOOD2020 TRADING ON BLOGSHARES.COM

THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT NOW TRADING ON BLOGSHARES.COM  yes --you can bet on the future of entertainment and on this blog by going to the above link and start trading. Here is what it was first evaluated as being valued at $275, now today, it's listed at $366.77 a share-- wow and that's even before I add their button to my blog, so no I have not paid them off. What a scheme-- fun and fabulous. THE NEW NEW THING www.blogshares.com a web trading portal in the Blogosphere can righten up an entrepreneur's tough end-of-month day by telling me that my blog in the virtual world, read by real people in the real world is worth virtual dollars:  

Top 100 Incoming from April 27 listing at Blogshares.com click for more info

This is a list of the most valuable incoming links at the time OTHER blogs are indexed. It is indicative of FUTURE value not CURRENT value.

1. NEW MEDIA MUSINGSlinkto NewMediaMusings here(B$9,102.27)
2. MASTER NEW MEDIA (B$2,483.02) link to blog here
3. Robin Good' Sharewood Tidings -- Spanish (B$470.96)
4. Mental Kudzu/Opensource for Working Writers (B$368.52)
5. Hollywood2020 ($366.67)
6. bitcoras.org (B$334.68)
7. TheE-mediatorblog (B$250.23)
8. Eventlab (B$250.14)
9. Nerdantici (B$241.77)
10. Rosskolore (B$179.97)

NOW YOU CAN "SEE' RADIO COURTESY OF INFINITY BROADCASTING

VISUAL RADIO? WHAT'S THAT? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

adds digital still photo, lyrics & more.....

Watch for Visual Radio courtesy of Infinity Broadcasting too. What's that? It's a new service that allows listeners to tune in to FM radio over their mobile phones while receiving artist data and interactive services.

The system was developed by Nokia and will be hosted by Hewlett-Packard. For the HP press release click hear.http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2005/050418c.html .

visual radio format is very different

DEALMAKERS NOTE: To give you some idea how big this development is note that the quotes come from Joel Hollander, chairman and chief executive officer, Infinity Broadcasting.. and on the Nokia side: "Nokia is delighted to welcome Infinity Broadcasting into the family of Visual Radio broadcasters," said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president and general manager, Multimedia, Nokia. The HP contact with Nokia quoted in the Nokia/HP press release is: Vikki Pachera, vice president of global alliances and business development, HP.

Adding to their listening experience, users can view the title and artist of a song playing, check upcoming concert dates, purchase ring tones or other content from the artist, and participate in radio station promotions. For radio station operators, Visual Radio can increase listener loyalty and advertising revenue. For mobile carriers, Visual Radio provides an opportunity to increase data services usage and revenue, as well as MORE ARPU (average revenue per user).

"Here's an industry that's really old and becoming threatened by new technologies," says Vikki Pachera, vice president of strategic alliances and business development for HP. "We're able to help them create a relationship with customers they've never had before, and a revenue stream they've never had before.

Outside of the United States, radio station operators such as Virgin Radio (UK), SBS stations such as Kiss FM (Finland), The Voice, Mix Megapol and Rockklassiker (Sweden), and FFH Hit Radio (Germany) are creating Visual Radio content to deliver it to listeners with Visual Radio-enabled Nokia mobile phones. For more info on Visual Radio go to: http://www.visualradio.com/

Note that this photo from the Visualradio.com site hints that there is a public space arena for Visual Radio also -- adding perhaps to a merchant's piggyback at point of sale or for the hospitality/restaurant industry?

Now if only my iPod looked like that??

SPAM IS "A HAM" IN SPAMALOT: BROADWAY'S NEW BRANDCASTING

"BRANDCASTING" HITS BROADWAY : Spotlighting product placement on the Great White Way.....

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"This little piggy went to the market and this little piggy stayed home"...but one little piggy had stars for eyes and told Hormel to license the name of a Broadway Show called SPAMALOT and the house did not blow down....

Classic fairy tale adapted by Hollywood2020 blogger Joyce Schwarz to reflect latest trend in product placement--Broadway Show spots & more...

**********************************************************************************************

Sometimes you have to go across the pond to see what's happening on the homefront...."There's no business like the product placment business" according to a story in the UK Telegraph online dated 4/23/05. 

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely marketing opportunities for major brands." maintains writer Tom Leonard in New York.

In the story, Leonard talks about:

*How product placement has come to Broadway

*Why product placement on stage is sparking fears that the integrety of productions will be compromised.

*How for the first time ever, in two new Broadway shows, their products have actually been written into the script.

*How Yahoo approached producers of "Monty Pythen's Spamalot" -- a new Broadway show to tie in with the production's quest theme...

*How Hormel, the maker of canned Spam agreed to license the Spamalot brand name -- yep you got it right-- Hormel is licensing the name FROM the producers not vice/versa...

    Spam what'am....www.spam.com

TURTLEWAX MY BOARD DUDE......

And if all of this doesn't strike you as 'crass commercialism' -- consider other Broadway deals that Leonard points out including Hilton Hotels sponsoring Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Turtle Wax endorsing The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations -- deals estimated to be worth 1/2 to $1 million depending on the length of the run and the prominence of the advertising.

SWEET CHARITY --- Scotched out by Gran Centenario Tequila?   When the Neil Simon musical opens on Broadway next month the production will feature Gran Centenario Tequila because the brand paid an undisclosed sum to producers so that a waiter now substitutes the written line "A double Scotch again, sir?" for new custom-branded wording "Gran Centenario,the tequila?". Don't miss the tequila logo stamped on crates in that dance sequence later either....

and on and on and on........

.....hmmm food for thought...with the right deal maybe it could be "SWEET N'LOW CHARITY" ....and the Beach Boys GOOD VIBRATIONS could be brought to you by....well, let's just not go there right now......

SALUTING 10 YEARS STREAMING AUDIO: REMEMBERING DAY IN THE LIFE OF PARIS WEBCAST

SALUTING A DECADE OF STREAMING AUDIO: REMEMBERING A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PARIS

This post on Slashdot.org reminds me of one of the first marketing webcasts I ever produced with a fabulous team of experts in Paris, France, 1996: Ss Old writes "This month, streaming audio turns 10. Though first introduced by Real, streaming multimedia is so commonplace today it's hard to believe that it didn't even exist 10 years ago. In line with one of their previous press releases, RealNetworks has released a mysterious website and letter from CEO Rob Glaser celebrating 10 years of Internet streaming audio, as well as announcing a yet-to-be-revealed 'revolution' in digital media. 'On April 26, we are changing the rules of the Internet again, and digital music will never be the same.' Here is their press release from 1995 (when they were still Progressive Networks) announcing the first streaming Internet multimedia."

Posted by Zonk on Sunday April 24, @02:28PMfrom the now-more-than-ugly-pixels dept.
SlimySlimy

C'est La Vie un BON JOUR January, 1996, Paris, France

As chairman and organizer of the Paris, Francie Internet/ITV conference from 1995 to 1997 I had a great opportunity to meet and greet the VIP's in the earliest multimedia arena and to actually test some of the earliest 'new tech". In January, 1996 when my marketing client online website IFNET (think a cross between SECOND LIFE and TRAVELOCITY and SLATE) wanted to me to organize something 'special' to justify their trip to speak at my conference, we came up with the idea of doing a WEBCAST for a full day from PARIS, FRANCE.  Thanks to my pal media guru Mary Duda, Duda Designs, Liz Heller, then a top exec at Capital Records and a small group of techies, we created one of the first streaming audio webcasts lasting 16 hours. With real-time interaction from viewers around-the-world. The webcast garnered attention on CBS NEWS, the front page of the LONDON TIMES EUROPEAN EDITION and scores of other radio, television and online interviews globally.

Here's The LONDON TIMES jpeg along with some of the sponsors that we got involved with IFNET online and off. 

DAY IN THE LIFE OF PARIS: webcast 1996 included:

*Breakfast at the Cordon Bleu-- including omelet making demos.

*Lunch at Planet Hollywood Paris

*Martinis at the Hemmingway Bar at the Ritz (yes, that Ritz)

*Fashion shopping at Yve St. Laurent couture house

*Dinner at an Air France charity benefit

*Live chat with Parisian singles and California chicks/dudes.

*Downloadable and real time digital photos

*Streaming audio -- real-time

*Real-time email replies

*Chat group

*Followup discussion board

*Jazz and cabaret at the Meridian Hotel, Paris --live streaming tunes/music and interview with cabaret singer.

for more info, email me at [email protected] and I'll reveal the details of one of the most fascinating experiences of the early web.

Talking to Business Week....via blog post back and forth..

I WRITE BUSINESS WEEK'S NEW BLOG BLOGSPOTTER....AND THEY WRITE BACK

One of the joys of blogging and posting on blogs is that you can enter a conversation with someone you might never meet in real life and actually do a meaningful back and forth volley. Here's one of my first documented experiences in that sphere. I read the BUSINESS WEEK story (see above post) and then I read their new BLOGSPOTTER.com blog.  Here's my post on their blog (see below). Read down and then I'll insert the post from the Business Week blogger who is also one of the reporters for the magazine who co-wrote the article on Blogs....

Joyce Schwarz posted this on the BLOGSPOTTER.com blog late last night:

Wow, it seems to me that the evolving mix of user-generated content and mainstream media opens a Pandorra's box of questions on copyrright, Intellectual property, journalistic standards and even privacy invasion issues. The nature of blogging, podcasting and even PSPcasting (retrofitting the PSP for videocasts)is 'on-the-fly' -- it tends to lead to linking, tagging and even grabbing of text and images in real-time with only 'implied' or no permissions from rights holders. In an era where IP rights are so controversial my concern is that the Blogosphere is a Tinder Box ready to explode. All too often bloggers report 3rd,4th & 5th hand...even responsible reporters don't always use what they used to call in Journ 100 -- "proper attribution" and because bloggers tend to be one-man/woman bands -- they are fact checker, reporter, researcher, writer and editor all rolled in one. I know as a blogger www.hollywood2020.blogs.com I write faster and post faster than I do as a columnist for an online pub I write for. The good news is I can update my posts almost instantly. The bad news is that they are RSS'd out almost instantly too. So who owns what becomes almost a mute question or does it? If I'm posting to BLOGSPOTTER am I giving Business Week -- the magazine rights to reprint my post in the print edition. By logging into post am I 'opting' in for BUSINESS WEEK spam? Where are the privacy statements and the eTruste organization for blogs? If there are no picture captions where do you put the photo credits? Or do you? Not to point fingers but where did you get your TRAINSPOTTING photos? Believe me I share the challenge 4 years of journalism school, 2 years of graduate film school and now with a quick screen-grab or an excerpt of some other blogger's post I could be concerned with a lot more than just accuracy. Hopefully, I made it to enuf of the 8 am. Journalism law classes to keep me on the straight and narrow...but what about the blogger who hasn't even taken newswriting 101 -- he/she may not feel any moral responsiblity to even spell my name right, let alone get the facts correct. Who owns what in the blogosphere seems to be akin to the Wild West land grab era-- this time it's just a content rush.Posted by: Joyce Schwarz at April 22, 2005 08:21 PM

Then today I got a response --written on her blog by the blogger herself (of course, that's the way it works in the Blogosphere-- no writing to the EDITORS and then hoping your letter might appear in print and you'll get a form letter of acknowledgement some day via snail mail....nope those days are over. Here's the response I got today.

Hey Joyce-- Really interesting comments, at least to me. Thanks for sending them along. These are exactly some of the things that I wonder about. For example, exactly to your point, I grabbed the photos on our blog from Flickr because they were open for sharing. But I absolutely hesitated a little bit because of the IP issues.

And I can see how it's easy to shorthand names and titles, which is something you couldn't do for BusinessWeek. I guess you just learn to approach all of this differently, applying lots of triangulation, in terms of facts. It truly is different behavior. Posted by: Heather Green at April 23, 2005 03:26 PM

HAIL THE RISE OF THE PROSUMER.....

THE POWER OF THE WEB....the wonder of the BLOGOSPHERE....and the excitement of Mainstream Media IN CONVERSATION with the audience....yes, audience because the concept of just having readers/listeners or viewers is just so 20th Century....hail the rise of the PROSUMER -- who wants to produce and consume media. 

BUSINESS WEEK COVER HOGS MAINSTREAM MEDIA SPOTLIGHT WITH BLOGS COVER STORY

BUSINESS WEEK HOGS MAINSTREAM MEDIA SPOTLIGHT WITH BLOGS COVER STORY MAY 2, 2005

NY TIMES, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, YAHOO and more are featuring stories about the story in BUSINESS WEEK's upcoming print issue dated May 2, 2005 that hit the web this week chronicling on how blogs will change business. Link here for online article, note print editioni includes 8 page spread.

WHY DOES IT MATTER TO MEDIA, ADVERTISING  & ENTERTAINMENT PROS & PUBLISHERS?

*"Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you later" (BUSINESS WEEK opening graph).

* There are some 9 million blogs out there, with 40,000 new ones popping up each day.(Note, other estimates are as high as 34.5 million once you add in non-English speaking blogs, European blogs and others. according to BLOG HERALD posts see details here

WHY BLOGS ARE IMPORTANT TO BUSINESS:(from BUSINESS WEEK article)

*Businesses get an up-to-the minute read on their brands and services.

*Movie studios are scanning blogs to cash in on early buzz on films.

*Advertisers are tracking responses to their campaigns.

but most of all -- look at the demos -- blogs reach a coveted target audience:

Blog readership data from CNN, USA Today and Gallup

CNN, USA Today and Gallup uncover some interesting data about blog readership in the US in their latest poll.

Highlights are:
*Just 7% of US Adults are very familiar with blogs
*Blog readership highest among younger people
*Older people are a receptive audience since they have the highest propensity for news consumption
*33% over age 65 use the Net
*28% of Net users over 65 read blogs
*95% of adults 18 to 29 years old use the Net
*44% of these young adults read blogs( detailed summary is available at: eMarketer)

So almost one-half of 'young adults) read blogs.

WISDOM FROM BRANNON BRAGA,Co-Producer STAR TREK--NEXT GENERATION -- A Decade Ago.

Wisdom from Brannon Braga, Co-Producer Star Trek--the Next Generation

1995 - 2005 -- A DECADE OF MULTIMEDIA ....we've come along way baby!!! A decade ago Multimedia was a HOT term. I remember giving workshops, seminars and speeches on "HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH MULTIMEDIA"....this time ten years ago I had just returned from my first year as organizer and chair for the Paris, France, Multimedia Conference at the Palais de Congres in where-else Paris.  My book MULTIMEDIA: Gateway to the Next Millennium (Harcourt Brace/AP Professional) was in Barnes & Noble and on bookshelves of some of the Hollywood executives who were more forward thinking.

Note those audio cassettes and the videocassette which include segments from my early Cable Show "TURNED ON HOLLYWOOD" and conference proceedings from the Paris MULTIMEDIA SHOW.

Preface by Brannon Braga, co-producer STAR TREK --The NEXT GENERATION. Yes, really the preface to "Multimedia: Gateway to the Next Millennium was/is by Braga.

This post is more a tribute to that era and time and to my fellow writers and co-editor Robert Aston. Note you can still order the book on Amazon.com and it is being used in at least a dozen colleges and universities in the new media  department as an alternate textbook.

What a decade it has been....and continues to be.....

From the preface by Brannon Braga, StarTrek....

"If only we could travel through time and glimpse the future. Unfortunately, this isn't STAR TREK where people jump through time like it's a jaunt to the corner market--but you do hold in your hands the next best thing. MULTIMEDIA: GATEWAY TO THE NEXT MILLENNIUM expores the future of telecommunications, film, and broadcasting and the impact of technology on education, entertainment and the world at large.

It is a seminal book.

Never before has such a comprehensive range of multimedia technologies been covered in a single compendium, their relationships explored and potential clarified in a timely manner. And thank God for it, because never in the history of mankind have so many technologies emerged all at once, all with the potential to define the way we live and think...for the good or the bad.

Will the real future be like STAR TREK? I hope so. The moment we lose sight of our humanity and the idea that multimedia technology should enhance our existence but not replace it, is the moment we're in danger of becoming a new and disturbing animal...at worst, an interconnected mass of mentalities like the "Borg" to put it in TREK terms. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you will very soon. Just start reading...."

(above is a picture of BORG in case you've forgotten how they look).

Here's the link to the book on Amazon.com.....or email me and I'll send you a longer excerpt. Email at [email protected]. Click here for book on Amazon.com. Right here or if it does not work go to the old-fashioned link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0120656256/qid=1114111241/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0253309-3571932?v=glance&s=books