Pop Culture

I’m fond of finding ways to fund projects that don’t involve traditional investors or advertisers.  One of those avenues is Kickstarter, a crowdfunding resource for creative endeavors.  It lets a project’s audience become its investors. So I thought I’d give it a try. The Backstory In 2003, I created Something to Be Desired, a web [...]

Continue reading about The Baristas: How I’m Using Kickstarter to Fund My Next Creative Project

In January, I started bookmarking articles and videos I thought were exceptionally insightful, entertaining or relevant.  Reviewing them all at the end of the year would be too daunting, so here are some of the highlights I stumbled across in the first 3 months of 2010.* (NOTE: I expected to summarize January through June here, [...]

Continue reading about (Some Of) The Best of 2010 – January through March

Justin on June 28th, 2010

Screenwriter John August recently blogged about the Bechdel test, a (somewhat) tongue-in-cheek way to determine a film’s level of feminism.  It consists of three questions you can ask about any film: Are there two or more female characters with names? Do they talk to each other? If they talk to each other, do they talk [...]

Continue reading about Diversity in Media: How the Web Wins

Justin on June 21st, 2010

I don’t know anybody who loves pop radio. I know people who listen to it ironically, as though they’re not comfortable admitting they don’t entirely hate Lady Gaga.  And I know people who admit to liking just Lady Gaga, or just Usher, but still insist they “hate the radio.” But why do we (claim to) [...]

Continue reading about The Popularity Paradox: Why Do We Hate Pop Culture?

I just finished the first book I’ve devoured in more than a decade. Mark Harris’s Pictures at a Revolution details the making of the 5 Best Picture nominees at the 1968 Academy Awards, from their initial concepts through their critical and public reception.  Two of those films, In the Heat of the Night and Guess [...]

Continue reading about The Secret to Media Success: Making the Audience Care