spot.com.mentary
Displaying 81 - 90 of 432
Friday, Apr. 15, 2011
spot.com.mentary
Reality TV, the local television news, song lyrics or the lack thereof, mean-spiritedness that passes for acerbic wit--the list goes on and on of those factors that both spur on and/or are symptomatic of a dumbed down society. But true to the grammatical and mathematical proposition that two...
Friday, Mar. 25, 2011
spot.com.mentary
This week's lead story, "A Crude Awakening," chronicles the chilling effect an appellate court ruling in the case Chevron vs. Berlinger could have on documentary filmmakers. While this column often serves as home to my individual opinion, this time around we thought it apropos to provide a platform...
Friday, Feb. 18, 2011
spot.com.mentary
Audience fragmentation and the erosion of major network viewership are an accepted part of the media landscape. Diminished viewership, though, can at times result from concentrated media ownership and/or greed (arguably a redundancy). And I wonder how the advertising/media community feels about...
Friday, Jan. 21, 2011
spot.com.mentary
The title of this spot.com.mentary installment is that of a seminal book by Vance Packard. Released in 1957, The Hidden Persuaders contended that a significant percentage of advertising was insidiously manipulative, deploying consumer motivational research and other psychological techniques,...
Friday, Dec. 17, 2010
spot.com.mentary
Last month's 50th Anniversary Issue of SHOOT included assorted reflections on mentorship. Consider this column an addendum to that coverage, the bookends being the induction back in March of Mike Hughes into The One Club's Creative Hall of Fame, and last month's hiring of Fabio Costa, formerly a...
Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010
spot.com.mentary: Anniversary Vision
While hindsight is 20/20, I wouldn't trade it for the 32/50 vision I've enjoyed as a contributor to SHOOT's coverage of the industry for 32 of the past 50 years. This publication continues to be a great perch from which to view an evolving community both in terms of art and commerce. SHOOT helped...
Friday, Oct. 15, 2010
spot.com.mentary
I find myself in the awkward position--particularly during tough economic times--of criticizing a policy that is significantly increasing the number of commercials being made. It's counter to numerous stands we have taken over the years to stimulate spotmaking and branded content opportunities as...
Friday, Sep. 24, 2010
spot.com.mentary
This column has been a strong proponent of commercials and branded content gaining eligibility for tax credits, rebates and other filming incentive programs. Thankfully a growing number of states has seen the prudence of such inclusion yet ironically California--long regarded as the film/TV...
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010
spot.com.mentary: John Urie
After a long illness, John Urie passed away on June 26 at his home in Santa Paula, Calif. He was 83. The loss of his life has been felt by assorted people throughout the industry because he gave life to so many of their careers and made so many friends along the way. Before the web and new director...
Friday, Jun. 18, 2010
spot.com.mentary
Coach/philosopher John Wooden recently passed away at the age of 99. He is generally regarded as the finest sports coach ever, not just for improving his players' basketball games but more importantly for helping them to improve as people. His life lessons have often taken the form of so-called "...