Entertainment - Thursday, November 19, 2009 9:17 - 1 Comment
Old People Discuss Young People’s Facebook Habits (Again)
Is Facebook about to jump the shark? Is the world’s new favorite past time heading for the shady alleys that make up MySpace and LiveJournal’s 1990s giffable weirdness? It seems like only yesterday I was freaking out with joy when Mark Zuckerberg opened up his world of stalking to high schoolers, and my sister called me from GW to tell me I’m not in college so I shouldn’t be friending her.
Five or so years later we have non-stop news feeds, branded fan pages and an average 16-year-old with over 1,600 tagged pictures. The popular trade pub AdWeek decided to bring the topic up this Monday in an article titled, “ Is Facebook Getting Uncool for 18-24s?”
AdWeek’s Steve McClellan cited a comScore report that said, “as it has gained a broader audience, the older teens and twenty somethings that drove Facebook’s initial popularity are using it less.” The other anti-Book report was from giant WPP’s Mindshare that said, the “group is reevaluating the site’s worth as a tool for developing friendships. Lastly, Huw Griffiths from Interpublic Group’s Universal McCann said, “when you start getting friended by your grandmother, I think that’s when it starts to lose its cool.”
Entertainment - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 14:41 - 0 Comments
Gossip Girl Goes Tisch (Whatever That Means)
The truth is that Gossip Girl’s “The Last Days of Disco Stick” was pretty bad. Chuck still has no storyline (and no life), Jenny is as pointless and annoying as ever, and the fact that they needed a threesome with Vanessa to get Hilary Duff off the show is pretty sad. But of course, the Tischisms from this episode were pretty funny. Here’s a few:
- Dan discloses that he wants to apply to Tisch for screenwriting next year so he gets Olivia to get him into a special Tisch Cabaret event where Dan has to write a short play.
- To impress the Tischies, Blair gets Lady Gaga to host a private concert. Gaga’s red dress, sheet, or whatever you want to call it was hilarious and we all know how much NYU has been obsessed with her recent success.
- All the Tischies represented seemed to be rich, snobby and egotistical about their field of study and talents. In that sense, #gossipgirlfail.
- Nate is finally back in the picture, but still no mention of Columbia. He and Serena almost hook up only to be interrupted by the Tripp’s silly storyline. There may yet be some hope left in this show, but all this randomness has got to end.
Entertainment - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 11:30 - 3 Comments
VH1 and DoSomething Prove that Celebs Aren’t So Bad After All
Thursday Nov. 19th at 8 p.m. VH1 will premiere the “ Top 20 Celebs Gone Good.” According to VH1.com, “with the help of DoSomething.org, VH1 will examine lists of hundreds of philanthropic stars from data compiled by established research institutions, and then narrow the list down to the 20 celebrities that have had the most charitable impact.” I attended DoSomething.org’s celebration at Mocca Lounge to enjoy the open bar and try and feel out what kind of excitement there was for a VH1 show not about drunk has-beens.
Here are what some of the key players involved in this project had to say. And after the jump, watch the trailer and let us know if you plan on tuning in:
Tom Calderone, President of VH1, had some nice and honest words to say about the new show: “Some people will be obvious” about the philanthropy they do, while some will surprise us. Some of the celebs we’ll see are there because the work they do is “actually a part of them.” He recommended checking out David Arquette.
Nancy Lublin, CEO and Chief Old Person of Do Something has quite an interesting title and a pretty cool job description. Her bio says she “turned the organization from a debt-ridden, ‘old school’ not-for-profit with offices in multiple cities nationwide, to a fast-moving internet-y company capturing the attention of a generation of doers.” She told me about DoSomething’s texting to get involved program, which is easily accessible via their homepage. Also, she’s a graduate of NYU School of Law.
Entertainment - Thursday, November 12, 2009 7:56 - 14 Comments
The Top 5 Best New Fall TV Shows
With November sweeps rolling around we thought we would watch TV for you to tell you about all the great new shows this season. Here are the top-5 breakout hits that may just be giving some hope to all those Boomers who still think broadcast has a future:
1. Modern Family – This fall’s hands down winner is ABC’s new Wednesday night comedy about a family “that comes in all shapes and sizes.” ABC.com’s description:
“Jay recently married Gloria. Now Jay is trying hard to keep up with his much younger and hotter Colombian wife, along with her passionate pre-teen son, Manny. Claire is having a hard time raising her own family. Her husband Phil is great, except that he thinks he’s “down” with their three kids, much to all their embarrassment. And, Mitchell and his enthusiastic partner Cameron have just made a major life change by adopting a Vietnamese baby named Lily.”
Entertainment - Monday, November 9, 2009 12:20 - 1 Comment
Keep Up With Web Series
As a follow up to the best web series piece I wrote last week, I wanted to share some quick tips and suggestions about how to keep up with this emerging industry:
Web Video Channels: is the network that hosts The Burg. They provide advertising from brands like Johnson and Johnson, Warner Brothers and Progressive Insurance. A few nights ago I got the chance to meet some of blip’s founders at a “bash” they held at Mocca Lounge in Tribeca. I first spoke with Dina Kaplan, blip’s COO, who explained to me how blip is very different from YouTube. While YouTube is known for viral videos, blip looks for great content from independent web series makers. She also said they often work with YouTube to provide content. She recommended Momversation and Smosh. Next I spoke with Tom Reynolds, a blip Content Relations Associate. He mentioned that the SAG strike from two years ago caused a surge in a new web series. Finally I chatted with Charles Hope, blip’s Director of R&D. He told me that the nature of Web series relies heavily on word-of-mouth and that when new pockets of people discover these shows, the business grows even more. He recommended Geek Entertainment TV. Revver, the network that hosts iChannel, is another important company to keep tabs on.
Continue…
Entertainment - Thursday, November 5, 2009 11:55 - 3 Comments
NYU Web Shows Have Come to Take Over Your Bandwidth
Could it be that NYU is on the cusp of a potentially booming Web Series industry? It certainly seems that way.
This past Tuesday night Craig DiFolco, the creative mind behind iChannel, came and spoke to my Producing Essentials class about new media. He told us about the best web series and about the emerging web series industry that is slowly but surely becoming profitable.
Here are some of the best web shows, many of which have NYUers involved.
1. iChannel is a web series that was posted on YouTube in November 2006. The cult hit is described as “a guy wakes up in his apartment to realize his life is being filmed across the world wide web.” Michael Izquierdo, the main actor who plays “I,” is a NYU acting alum. Craig describes it as “The Truman Show” for the web.
Entertainment, Featured - Wednesday, November 4, 2009 11:19 - 19 Comments
Under the Arch Wants to Make Your Reality TV Dreams Come True
We know the primary reason you came to NYU was for a shot at getting on The City, MTV’s sad excuse for a Hills NYC remake. Well, burgeoning reality stars, your time as come! According to a New York Post article and a Wall Street Journal blog from last week, Under The Arch, a web series started in October 2006 by NYUer Sean Patrick Murray, is hosting an “open call” for the second season of the show they describe as “nine NYU students living their dream.”
If you think you have a special enough life at NYU to make us watch the second season, head on over to David Barton Gym (yes that’s the new gym on Astor Place that looks like a nightclub for yoga lovers) from November 16-20. The trailer they released is pretty good. Murray’s honesty with his project, which MTV has rarely been with its pop-realities, was best described in this quote from WSJ:
Although he strives for realism, Murray says that there is an unavoidable element of artifice that goes with the show, so that the cameras know where to be to record what’s going on. “We’ll get together once a week and talk about the stories we want to tell in the same way that anyone who creates a play or movie does,” he says.
On Campus - Thursday, October 29, 2009 8:28 - 10 Comments
How to Never Again Lose a 10 Page Paper Because You Spilled Beer on Your Laptop
It has happened to all of us. One day your computer is working fine, and then all of a sudden (or perhaps after a Blue Moon sprays all over your keyboard) five years of pictures, music and documents are gone forever. Or worse, a tech data retrieval center wants to charge you $1,000 to just attempt to fix it and retrieve your files. We are setting ourselves up for professional and emotional disaster by relying so heavily on our finicky hard drives.
When I ask my friends if they have a system set in place to consistently back up their stuff, 99% shrug it off and admit that they’re probably going to regret it. You think it won’t happen to you…until it does (DUN DUN DUN). Our generation needs to start a responsible data protection revolution so 1,000 years from now people can still listen to Britney Spears songs and look at frat party pictures. Here are some simple and efficient ways to ensure this:
Entertainment, Featured - Tuesday, October 27, 2009 13:03 - 3 Comments
How Gossip Girl Can Stop Sucking and Actually Pretend It’s at NYU
Gossip Girl goes Halloween was far from what it could have been. The stories are becoming so convoluted that I’m beginning to wonder what the point of this season is. With some of the characters at NYU, some in high school, some at Columbia and some on their gap year (Serena), it feels as if the writers are just conjuring up situations where all the characters can interact together.
Also, has anyone else noticed that there has been significantly less sex and drugs this season? What’s up with that, aren’t they in college now?
NYU Local’s Samantha Moore saw things differently. She thought last night’s episode was a spectacular return to form with Gossip Girl doing what they do best: A lavish party, a run-in with the law, several plot twists, and romantic plot lines. She also correctly pointed out how awful Jenny is becoming (and pretty much always has been). Despite our divergent opinions, we decided to come up with some suggestions on how the show can stop sucking:
- Stop avoiding college! The whole greatness in the drama they created the first couple of seasons was that they were in high school and high school is by default dramatic. Show the damn dramas of college. We need more parties, classes and dorm situations. Also, where the hell is Columbia?
- Stop ignoring Nate! He’s barely in the show and he has stupid storylines. It’s time for Serena and Nate to hook up again. Everyone knows deep down they’re going to have a serious thing, at some point, before this show dies. It’s time. Continue…
Entertainment - Thursday, October 22, 2009 13:31 - 1 Comment
Fancy Report Finds That College Students Use the Internet
As NYU students we have access to eMarketer through the library. eMarketer is a leading internet/digital market research firm, and last Tuesday they released a report called “College Students: Connecting With the Connected Crowd.”
The “executive summary” of the report was that “95.7%” of us (19 million college students in the U.S. for fall 2009) “go online at least once a month.” (To which we respond: who are the 4.3% who don’t?) Although this was not the only “duh” stat from the report, overall it’s a very extensive and informative analysis of how young people are consuming the internet and different kinds of media.
After the jump, old people’s discoveries about young people, broken down into bite-sized portions to please our internet-addled brains.
