3D Summit: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Sony Chris Cookson Speech, Lunch With Producers

The 3D Entertainment Summit is a great place to be in on the ground-level conversation about an industry in its infancy. The overall concern, paced by DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, is one of quality. No one of the movie players in this room at the Hilton Universal City wants to be known as the one who makes the next Clash Of The Titans.

Clash Of The Titans is the now infamous 2010 remake of the 1981 movie about a conflict between a god and a man-god, Originally created in a 2D format, Warner Bros execs rushed to do it in 3D after seeing the box-office revenue from Avatar.

Scott Hedrick moderates panel
 on 2d to 3d monetization

The result was a 3D version that was so bad it spawned complaints from, of all people, Avatar producer and director James Cameron. It was Cameron who specifically called out the movie as an example of bad 3D.

That episode in the short history of 3D has driven the conversation here at the 3D Summit. The issue, even right now, is getting a good quality 2D to 3D conversion.

One bit of information for theater operators: execs like Katzenberg are calling for brighter lighting lamp levels than what is common for screen projection at theaters.

Oh, and this blogger's video of Katzenberg will be up by Thursday. On that note, Katzenberg responded to my question about the Comic Con 2010 response over the news that Cowboys and Aliens would be made as a 2D movie. Jeff said the he was at Comic Con, but didn't hear any displeasure with their 3D products or the use of 3D.

Really? Well, yes, Comic Con goers loved the movie trailers, but there was an occasion when they took time to express their preference for 2D over 3D.

Let's play that video again from Comic Con:



A Speech Too Long

The only glitch in the 3D Summit is that the producers feel the segments run too long. That's borne of the fact that the whole show started about 10 minutes behind schedule. Ignoring that, Chris Cookson, President of Sony Pictures Technologies Sony Pictures Entertainment, gave a long, really droning on and on speech, that he admitted he knew cut through our lunch. Did he have a lot to say? Well, yes.

He says that Sony's working with "the playstation people" on a kind of 3D application, though he did not give a specific release date.

More later!

3D Summit Day 1 - before panel

This is the view from my seat this morning at the 3d Entertainment Summit.   It starts in 6 minutes with an opening speech.  Then Jeff Katzenberg is at 9:15.

It is mostly older men; not much of the young demographic one might expect to see.  

The media accomodations are OK if you are in print media.   New Media?  Bring batteries.   

More soon

3D Summit: Bob Dowling On Change in The 3D Business

8:40 AM PDT, Universal City, CA - Bob Dowling is a kind of grandfatherly seer, and a legend in the Hollywood media business. Long associated with the growth of The Hollywood Reporter, he saw the possibilities with 3D and jumped in early.

Now, he says that the only way for the industry to grow is to convince the consumer. Which is an interesting point, because at Comic Con 2010 there was a kind of backlash against 3D.

Dowling says the summit will identify the drivers in the industry - that's a systems thinking term.

He now introduces Charlotte Jones, Senior Analyst, Film and Cinema.    Some notes:

- In 2010 - 60 cinema releases and $5.5 bil in revenues.

- 3d cinema screen base increased 40 percent from 15,000 to 22,000 in one year, from 2009 to 2010.

- 20 percent of all screens are now converted to 3D.  North America screen developments are rising, but internationally, it's leveling off.
- Avatar caused a three-fold increase in 3D screens, and now it's five-fold in growth over the last two years.

Dinner Recipes: Broccoli Cheese Soup by Tina

This soup is delicious for lunch, served with saltine crackers. It can also be a great, quick meal to have on a fall night, with the wind howling outside. Keeps you warm from the inside out!

2 tbsp margarine
1 c diced carrots
1/2 c onion, diced
2 tbsp flour
8 oz Velveeta cheese, cut in cubes
14 oz chicken broth
9 oz chopped broccoli
1 c milk

Sauté onion and carrots in margarine until tender in saucepan. Add flour and remaining ingredients and continue to cook on medium heat. Do not boil. Works well in a double boiler. Serve immediately with crackers or fresh bread.

Fall Baking: Pumpkin Pie Crunch Recipe by Tina

This is a sweet treat to have for dessert after a nice family meal!

1 yellow cake mix
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 16 oz can solid pumpkin pack
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 /2 c sugar
4 t salt
1 c chopped pecans
1 c butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spice and salt. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle dry cake mix over top, and then sprinkle with pecans. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely and serve with cool whip. Store in
refrigerator.

Morning Tailgate Recipe: Overnight Blueberry Coffeecake by Tina

No matter if you have a third grader playing football on Saturday morning, if you are heading out to tailgate before the noon kickoff of the college game or if you have a brunch tailgate before the NFL game, this coffeecake recipe will get you off to a great start. Make it the night before, throw it in the fridge and bake it the next morning while you are in the shower. Goes fast at tailgate parties, you might want to make two!



1 egg
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 c milk
3 tbsp butter
1 c blueberries

Beat the egg and sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add with milk to sugar mixture and beat well, then stir in butter. Fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Cover and chill overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Heidi Montag's Boob Comes Out Of Bikini In Costa Rica

Also: Inez Sainz pictures and scandal.

Heidi Montag's Boob Comes Out (Pacific Coast News) 

Heidi Montag, who earlier was devastated to learn of the passing of the man who gave her new boobs in a now famous 10 surgery procedure, Dr. Frank Ryan, had one of those creations pop out of her bikini while she was in the water in Costa Rica.

And on top of that, the former Hills star had it happen in full view of photographers.

According to The Daily Mail, Heidi Montag complained that her breasts were too big and she was thinking of getting a reduction. Montag observed that life was difficult with them, and that was before the Costa Rica slip.

The money shot reveals a quite beautiful figure for the 25-year old who's going through an equally weird set of issues with her former husband Spencer Pratt.

But back to the boob issue: Heidi should take up women's bodybuilding to at least firm up her chest.

I seriously doubt she gets a reduction considering the attention she's getting. And in entertainment, attention equals money.

Inez Sainz, Christine O'Donnell and Sexual Hypocrisy in America

YouTube, Yahoo, DailyMotion, Blip.tv and Viddler

Inez Sainz and Christine O'Donnell may not have anything to do with each other at first glance, but both are at the epicenter of sexual hypocrisy in America.

Christine O'Donnell

Tea Party Member Christine O'Donnell, a marketing consultant, beat Delaware GOP Senator Mike Castle for the right to represent the Republican Party in that state's Senate Race. Now, according to Rachel Maddow, Christine O'Donnell has some weird issue with sex. In 1996, she campaigned against masterbation.

That's right. She had an anti-masterbation campaign.

Now, Christine O'Donnell is a marketing consultant? Marketers specialize in using sex to sell, right?

Well, let's correct ourselves here. I just ran across Christine O'Donnell's Linkedin profile.

She lists herself as a media consultant, not a marketing consultant.

But guess what? Everyone's calling her a marketing consultant! So, she's not using sex to sell anything. But her anti-masterbation campaign is accurate and still calls into this into question: if she was against masterbation, why even talk about it?

In other words, was it so on her mind and she was so cloistered that she was sexually frustrated, and so went on this crusade? See?

So, she's still a hypocrite! Heck, an even bigger one after all that. One has to think about sex all the time to have the major issues O'Donnell exhibits. Yowza!

Inez Sainz 

Yowza is what Inez Sainz is. As this blogger wrote before, she's the focus of a sexual harassment investigation against the New York Jets, that the hot TV reporter didn't start, but is milking for all of the attention she can get.

But explain these photos where she's measuring the muscles of these NFL players.

 You know, if a guy was measuring a woman's biceps someone would claim he was objectifying the women.

Well, isn't that what Inez is doing with the players?

Inez at Super Bowl Media Day 2009

So Inez can have her sexual fun, but no player can say that she's hot? Ok. Catcalls are not a good thing (that's what Jets players are accused of doing), but Inez brings a sexually-charged approach to her work. Take a look at what she said recently - a quote that's getting around the Internet:

I guess I never really give it any thought when I’m working in a locker room, the radio TV studio or anywhere in which my path crosses with an attractive female colleague…but I do have an opinion on it though and it is not PC. My feeling is that if you are a sexy, attractive female that can use you looks, figure, attire or sexy attitude to do your job better, do what you need to do.

I think the NFL needs to take that into account in its investigation.

I close with this question: why can't male reporters go into women's locker rooms?

More on this later.

Ines Sainz Is The Tila Tequila Of Sports

Inés Sainz, Tv Azteca broadcaster, originally uploaded by jrsnchzhrs.

Did you get an eyefull of those legs? Well, they belong to Ines Sainz and get they get her a lot of attention and access to, for example, Matt Leinart (who's biceps she's measured a while back) or Terrell Owens (who she gets access to when others don't).

At first this blogger wasn't going to weigh in on the Ines Sainz issue. If you don't know, Ines Sainz is the female broadcaster who accused the New York Jets players of sexual harassment, or more to the point, inappropriate looker room behavior.

My conclusion is Ines Sainz is the Tila Tequila of sports. She loves attention and will do almost anything to get it, but is also a competent player in her industry. She knows what she's doing. She didn't start this harassment issue, but she's going to keep it going for as long as she can. Look, Inez was on the Today show Tuesday!

Reportedly, Inez, who's known for wearing shorts skirts and low-cut blouses into male locker rooms, did it again. In waiting for the New York Jets' Mark Sanchez (think about that one), Inez was subjected to catcalls by Jets players. She ignored them. Inez doesn't care - she knows she gets a reaction. Plus, she's gets her to players that don't want to talk to the media.

Like Terrell Owens.

Two years ago, when T.O. didn't want to talk to the media, Inez had no problem getting access to Terrell. He called her over. See the video:



Now, here's the deal. Inez did not issue a complaint: another female reporter did. I'd like to know who did it. The reason is that my bet is the female reporter who made the complaint was jealous that Inez was getting the attention, and angry at the men who gave it to her.

Inez didn't launch the investigation.

Look, Inez has been in this situation for years. She's been called one of the sexiest women in sports. She is a one-person media show, and she knows it. It works for her and because of her looks, she gets access. For anyone to deny that is to admit a joke.

Now, a player should be used to seeing a woman in a man's locker room by now, so the Jets' players need some training. But what are you going to do in the process? Send a woman with a mini-skirt in and a camera in and test them? Just asking.

Also, what happens in a locker room in Mexico? I'd bet she's not allowed in a man's locker room. Which reminds me: why can't I go into a woman's locker room and get an interview?

Just asking.

There's a great deal of hypocrisy not too deep down in this story. But then, there's a great deal of hypocrisy in American culture.

Stay tuned.

99ers need a Tier 5 extension now

The 99ers need a Tier 5 unemployment extension now, but is Congress listening? Despite hopes that Debbie Stabenow's Americans Want to Work Act S3706 will make its way through Congress and to the President, currently this bill is not even on the Senate docket.

We are dealing with an election year and there could be many distractions along the way. One thing is certain, it cannot become law until it gets to the floor for a vote.

99 weeks are not enough for millions of unemployed Americans and so Stabenow's bill will add an additional 20 weeks. This, of course, is only a temporary measure. To combat the long-term problem, Stabenow suggests offering tax incentives to businesses who hire long-term unemployed workers.

This bill is vital for the basic survival of millions of Americans, so be sure you fight hard for S3706 if you need the Tier 5 unemployment extension.

August brought reports of a decreasing job market, increase in new claims for unemployment benefit and reports that the economy is slowing with the possibility that our country could be on the cusp of a double-dip recession. All this has left many economists asking can we afford to extend benefits to those whose benefits have run out, but can we afford not to?

Whether or not the extending unemployment benefits will help the economy is a hotly debated subject, arguments on both sides have merit, but what about the human cost of not extending their benefits, what are families to do, starve to death?
One side of the debate believe that 99 weeks of unemployment is already excessive and as it was only 26 weeks for many years and the nation survived, so why extended it now. Another argument is that extending the benefits will encourage people wait until they find that ‘perfect job’

That perfect job theory is ridiculous and flawed, when it comes to the 99er Nation. The 99ers have not had any benefits since March 2010, so it is not as though they are waiting around for the perfect job. The fact is, if jobs were available for the 99ers to take, they would not have to beg Congress for a Tier 5, a fight that so far has been ongoing 7 months.

The other side of the debate believes that extending the benefits will have a far greater impact on the economy than what is being publicized. As the unemployed are still consumers, they have bills to pay and groceries to buy, which ensures their money benefits local business thus helping to stimulate the economy.

With 5 million Americans in the 99er Nation, if you use an average UI weekly benefit of $300 dollars, that would put 1.5 Billion dollars into the American economy immediately! Anyone who cannot see the merit in implementing the Tier 5 extension now, just does not understand economics.

The debate needs to end soon and action needs to be taken, with a shrinking job market and employers seeing upwards of 8 applicants per new job offer, means the reality of a job for everyone is history and being on unemployment benefits for years has become the new reality in America. With millions of American 99ers going hungry and homeless every day, Tier 5 MUST be treated as the true humanitarian issue that it has become.

What can you do to help? Contact your Senator and every other Senator you can to demand we get this Tier 5 bill (S3706) voted on NOW. A complete list of legislators can be found at: http://joblessunite.yolasite.com/legislators-list.php

Call the White House comments line to demand the same. White House Comments Line 202-456-1111 Comment line is only open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday EST. ***REMIND the President that this is an emergency.

Do not forget the Jobs with Justice Rally in Chicago tomorrow, September 15th! Sound interesting? Give them a call at (312) 738-6161 or send an email to susanh@jwj.org! You can visit their contact page to get in touch! http://www.chicagojwj.org/contact

Or just show up! JWJ Rally Wednesday September 15th Meeting up for a press conference and rally at GOP HQ at Randolph and Wells at 4 pm. Be there!

Dinner Recipes: Stuffed Chicken by Tina

This is a quick and easy dinner recipe that your family will love!


4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained or enough fresh to make 1 c cooked
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1/2 c mozzarella cheese
oregano
salt
pepper
1 bag baby carrots
1 c chicken broth

Blend the cheese, herbs and spinach in a bowl. Make a deep slit in each breast and pack it with stuffing.

Sauté the chicken breast on each side for 3 minutes. Put in a casserole dish with carrots scattered around.

Pour broth over top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fall Baking: Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe by Tina

This delicious cheesecake recipe can be used at gatherings, for Thanksgiving, Halloween or even as a dish to pass for a potluck.

Crust:
1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c melted butter

Combine and press into bottom of a spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Filling:
3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/3 c pumpkin
2 eggs
2/3 c evaporated milk
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add pumpkin, eggs and milk. Stir well and add starch and spices. Pour into
crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until edge is set.

Topping:
2 c sour cream
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine and gently spread over cheesecake. Return to oven for 5 minutes.
Cool on wire rack. Remove sides gently and chill overnight before serving.