Wanna stay connected to what we're doing at Cinetic Rights Management? There are gonna be some big announcements and developments coming public in the next month, so this is a great way (besides this blog of course) to stay tuned. Click here to join our Facebook group, where we will continually post articles, updates, and discussion topics. See you there!

Hancock may not be winning over the critics right now, but even the most skeptical folks out there assume it will be a big blockbuster with audiences. Let's hope so, especially now that Sony has decided to take an uncoventional approach for a major film release: shortly after the film's theatrical window expires, Hancock will be made available to consumers directly over their Sony Bravia Internet connection. In other words, it will make the film available for direct download on home televisions, before it arrives on DVD or pay cable.

This news is particularly interesting when you consider that of all the companies out there, Sony is the one with the biggest stake in keeping the DVD market stable, what with their Blu-ray technology the soon-dominant force in that market. Like all things in the entertainment business, if this works, expect a tidal wave of followers. From Tim Arango's New York Times piece on the announcement:

Sony lost a first battle to Apple and its iPod in the drive to create a digital music device for the masses, despite the predigital age dominance of the Walkman and Sony’s ownership of one of the largest music companies in the world.

With its Internet-connected televisions and content from its Hollywood studio, Sony is aiming to avenge its loss to Apple in music by being a dominant player in home entertainment of the future. (Apple, incidentally, also has designs on home entertainment with its Apple TV device.) “One of the most interesting things about this is putting the television front and center in the living room,” [CEO Howard] Stringer said, as opposed to having a computer or a hand-held device as the center for watching streamed video.

I was thrilled to sit down and chat with Fred Schruers from Portfolio, while I was in L.A., to try and shed some more light on what it is we do at Cinetic Rights Management. The extensive article includes a WireImage photo that looks like I'm about to eat your babies (my fault for not supplying a new photo). Otherwise, good stuff.

YouTube is starting to embrace video content that lasts longer than the site's normal 10-minute running time. This comes in the form of The Screening Room, a service "that will host indie film, and offer tools to help producers build an audience and generate revenue. YouTube will add four new indie films every two weeks - including some that have appeared in film festivals and others that have never been seen before." (according to Silicon Alley Insider, which also has the complete press release).

David Silverberg of Digital Journal spoke with Janet Brown and myself, about Cinetic Rights Management for a feature on what we're doing as a service for indie filmmakers. From the recent article:

So how can an indie film attract eyeballs before its release? CRM is pursuing deals with various portals, although Brown is tight-lipped about specifics. Dentler mentioned the firm will try to get word-of-mouth buzz to prominent bloggers, while also embracing online-video campaigns to release scenes, outtakes and trailers on various media. Some strategies may involve podcast interviews with directors; others may use offline screenings to help build momentum. “These aren’t new tools,” Dentler admits, “but we’ll apply them correctly to the films that best fit them.”

Brown says CRM will focus on all films where the digital rights are cleared. Back catalogue titles can be spread virally, as well, such as the 1994 classic Hoop Dreams. Dentler envisions those kinds of films garnering new audiences. “There are younger fans who have never seen Hoop Dreams so if they heard about it online, maybe they’d want to rent it somewhere,” he says.

“We bring a specialized skill set,” Brown says. “We get these films to audiences who want to see them.”

Easier said than done. CRM is trying to stay on top of social media and blogosphere trends in order to give producers a much-needed digital boost. But it has to promote films online without irritating Web surfers and give audiences something fresh and exciting. The real challenge to promote a new film comes when the public is being bombarded by billboards and trailers from the major studios, stiff-arming less expansive campaigns by smaller films.

“The easiest way to not go viral is to try going viral,” Dentler says, half-laughing. “There’s no perfect science in how to market and brand films. We’re hopeful our deals with major portals will lead to a satisfying and enjoyable experience for everyone – filmmakers, studios and movie fans."

How better to celebrate the Internet, than to do a bunch of stuff offline? I'm kinda kidding, but that's precisely what Internet Week is all about, and it's happening right now in New York City. There are parties, panels, screenings, and it all climaxes with the 12th annual Webby Awards on June 10. The gang at Cinetic Rights Management is gonna be out and about for a few events, and you can catch CRM's Janet Brown moderating the "Where Internet and Film Collide" panel featuring Saskia Wilson Brown (Current TV), Brendan Choisnet (Director, Cult of Sincerity), Alex Johnson (formerly of Deep Focus), and Ted Hope (Indie Film Producer), on June 8 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Apple Store in Soho. Be there!

I've realized recently that many Americans assume that whatever is available over the Internet, must be available in every country. That's not the case, especially when it comes to consuming entertainment. A major development has been announced this week, as iTunes confirms that it will launch its Movie Store in the U.K. This is the first launch of iTunes Movies outside of America. Variety has the details of the deal here.

Blockbuster Inc. CEO James Keyes sheds some light on his company's planned in-store kiosks, which will allow for the download of films onto portable devices. From Georg Szalai's article in The Hollywood Reporter:

The download time of the kiosk, designed in its pilot version by NCR, which also builds airline ticketing kiosks, is targeted to get down to 30 seconds over time as Blockbuster is striving for an ATM-like experience, Keyes said.

As demonstrated by the CEO in the annual meeting Wednesday, the kiosk allows store visitors to search and browse for downloadable films, watch trailers and buy or rent movies with a credit card or pre-loaded Blockbuster card. Over time, it will also allow them to subscribe to kiosk or other service usage.

Keyes later told reporters he could envision a monthly subscription fee of $10 along with a free device give-away down the line.

Will this work to help get consumers in their doors?

The new Weezer single (reportedly written after a negative meeting with their record label) is catchy and confident. I never gave up on Weezer altogether, but my patience for a new great album is wearing thin. Their next LP (the self-titled "Red Album") hits stores on June 3, and the new video for "Pork and Beans" is a clever stab at getting some attention online. Why? Because the video stars a circus of viral video all-stars including Tay Zonday ("the Chocolate Rain guy"), Miss South Carolina, Chris Crocker, and many many many more. Plus, it's a well-edited and executed rock video (which is also important). No shock that it's obtained almost 4 million YouTube views in less than a week:

Chris at NewTeeVee has posted this week's Top 20 TV shows accessed (illegally) from BitTorrent, according to media analysis company Big Champagne. It's an important week to pay attention, because it was the last big sweeps week for networks as most shows featured their season finale episodes (except for number one Lost, go figure). What's really interesting, and possibly telling, is the fact that the majority of these shows (especially in the Top 10) are found on ABC, CBS, and The CW. In other words, content found on networks that have yet to embrace ad-supported online video like NBC and Fox have (most notably, through Hulu). So, does this tell us that consumers are willing to watch official downloads of their favorite shows through ad-supported models over illegal downloads, if it's made easy? I think so.

I probably can't think of a better week to finally make the permanent move to New York, than one starting with a feature in the Sunday New York Times, about my new job. Click here for Brooks Barnes' article, called "Indie Films, Coming to a Small Screen Near You."

The much buzzed-about Netflix set-top box is out. Now. This version was created by Roku, with the LG version coming later in 2008. Consumers and industry alike have been anxiously awaiting this, as Netflix will now make 10,000 videos (movies and TV shows) available to stream just like it's part of your digital cable. The cost is $100 for the hardware, and any Netflix subscriber with the $8.95 plan or higher, gets access to the library. Here's a summary of the early reviews, which are mostly positive:

From PaidContent:

The first Netflix box by Roku is a 5-inch-by-5-inch device that will have access to about 10,000 videos, including movies, which means it is about 10 percent of total Netflix DVD catalog. Also, as Crave points out, only two of Netflix’s top 100 DVDs are available for streaming, for now: March of the Penguins and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The plus point is the price: it retails for $100, and delivers unlimited streaming to any Netflix subscriber on the $8.95 plan or above, without any additional charge. It is also simple to install and basic: it isn’t HD movie playing, like what Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) TV or Vudu offers, though those are pricier services. The LG Electronics box is expected to include the streaming capability in a Blu-ray DVD player, and is launching second half of this year, the company says.

From NewTeeVee (which includes photos of the device):

The whole setup is small and fits easily into a TV cabinet. Since it’s delivered over the Internet there is some pixelation on some action scenes, which Twerdahl says is the result of the compression used by Netflix to deliver the service to PCs. For the most part, however, content looked fine on my TV.

Other than the pleasures of instant gratification, the experience had a few nice features, such as the ability to fast-forward and rewind while looking at images of the action rather than moving a slider bar.

The other night, I was trying to find the last few episodes of CBS' How I Met Your Mother. And, instead of visiting CBS.com, I found what I was looking for on Veoh. CBS has a deal with the video site, offering up episodes of their shows with limited advertising. So now you can easily watch Britney Spears' uneven (acting) performance on this otherwise entertaining episode.

Have you visited Joost lately? There's a lot of great content on this "Web TV" destination, tons of movies and episodes from great TV shows. CNET checks in on the current state of things at Joost, especially since everyone is busy talking about their competitor, Hulu. From the CNET article:

Joost, founded by the team behind Skype and Kazaa, wants you to know it's still going strong. The company announced Monday that it now has more than 7,000 hours of video programming available and that it has hired former Dailymotion employees Danny Passman and John Schultz. They have joined the video start-up as global head of programming strategy and director of programming strategy, respectively. Both are also MTV Networks veterans.

The company has also made a number of other executive hires in recent weeks, from chief architect to chief financial officer... [Joost currently has] 400 TV shows and 1,200 movies and short films in its line-up. That's a lot more than Hulu, which has 250 TV shows and 100 full-length movies, as well as clips from an additional 150 TV shows and 50 movies.

Liz Gannes at NewTeeVee breaks down some of the best options available to download video content off the Web. As she writes, "Streaming web video is great and all, but every once in a while you find something that you just want to save and cherish for always." You can review her helpful toolkit here

IFC is launching a bunch of new episodic content that will exist both on broadcast and broadband. Some of it will look very familiar (season three of Young American Bodies, the hit news show Lunchbox), but there's a new show that has my attention: Wilfred. A popular Australian series, it has been re-formatted and delivered to American audiences as a Web-based program. The premise? A pot-smoking dog (played by a grown man in a fur suit) will stop at nothing to sniff out the flaws in his master's new boyfriend.

It's big news in the world of online entertainment today: HBO is reportedly in final negotiations with Apple, about bringing its current and former original programming to iTunes and thus, Apple TV. This, by itself, is big news. Potentially larger news for the industry, is the rumor that HBO may have figured out a way to make Apple flexible on the pricing of content to consumers. This is precisely why NBC claimed to take its content off of iTunes: they wanted a better deal, and Apple wouldn't budge. Supposedly, HBO was more effective, though perhaps that's because HBO programming is premium cable. In other words, consumers are used to spending a little more time and money to get HBO shows, compared to network shows like The Office on NBC. According to the original report from Portfolio:

Details of the agreement are not yet known, but it is clear that HBO was able to secure better terms from Apple than other content providers, they said. One possibility is that HBO programming will have a higher retail price than the flat $1.99 fee Apple currently charges for video content; another is that HBO will receive a larger cut of the same flat rate than other iTunes content providers receive. Apple and HBO spokespeople did not return calls for comment on the deal.

NBC pulled its programming from iTunes last summer after Apple refused to charge more than $1.99 for that network's shows. In May, NBC struck a deal with Microsoft to sell its shows on the Zune website.

The HBO-Apple agreement is a strategic coup for both companies. Apple is trying to increase sales and awareness of its new Apple TV, a device that allows viewers to rent movies and buy content from your television. HBO wants to profit from its archive by letting fans buy old episodes of shows like Deadwood and The Larry Sanders Show.

The terms of this new deal could open a Pandora's box for iTunes. With the advent of pricing variation, movie studios and musicians will want to charge more for their big hits. Apple could be pressured to accept variable pricing for other content, a change it has resisted in the past.

Big news in the world of VOD film distribution this week, as The Hollywood Reporter claims that Apple's iTunes is making a pact with many more companies for rights. This means that titles will become available to download off iTunes when they are released on DVD, a model that has already been embraced by Disney, MGM, and Paramount. Joining the club are: Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, New Line, Magnolia, and Image. Click here for the full story.

CNET reports that AT&T is planning to launch AT&T Mobile TV, in the next few days. From CNET's write-up:

At launch, the service will offer eight channels of programming--CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC 2G0, NBC News 2Go, and Nickelodeon--as well as two AT&T-exclusive channels called PIX and CNN Mobile Live. PIX will have shows from Sony Pictures Television while CNN Mobile Live will feature 24-hour live streaming of CNN. As a special offer, AT&T is also offering CNCRT, a special concert channel delivered by Control Room, for the next 60 days. It will air one of about 30 concerts from artists like Sheryl Crow and Jay Z.

Video-on-demand site Jaman announced a new deal with Arts Alliance America (formerly Hart Sharp), to host a selection of the company's titles. This will include Morgan Spurlock's Oscar-nominated hit, Super Size Me, as well as films released under the "Morgan Spurlock Presents" banner of Arts Alliance America: Confessions of a Superhero (a SXSW 2007 premiere), Chalk, Czech Dream, Class Act, and Future of Food. Read more about the deal here. These titles are available to download/stream now, and typically cost around $1.99 per rental.

Big, big, big news in the world of film distribution and new media models: Viacom/Paramount is leading a charge with Lionsgate and MGM in tow, to launch a brand new pay-TV, VOD service by next year. What does this mean? The studios will cease delivering their new movies to traditional pay-TV channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz. No word yet on what other studios may join the pact, but you can expect similar deals to come once current pay-TV contracts expire. In Dade Hayes' Variety article on the announcement, there's not much public concern over at Showtime (though they are part of the Viacom family, so that has to kinda burn a bit) since they are now focusing on original series content as the number one priority.

Which makes sense, all around. How many times recently have you tuned into HBO or Showtime to watch a feature-length film? Me neither. So, having a service that will provide this content exclusively, should be a valuable proposition. Meanwhile, Chris at NewTeeVee has some questions and concerns for this new endeavor. My big question: will this new channel also open up to independent films that don't otherwise have a VOD home? It's a new world, much sooner than we expected.

Laura Locke chats with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe, about the recently announced launch of MySpace Music, an MP3 retailer and apparently much more. How will MySpace Music compare to iTunes? And, how long until there's a film equivalent on the popular social networking site? From the Wired interview:

Wired: Will feature-length movies and TV shows also be sold via MySpace?

DeWolfe: I think it's definitely a possibility, but when you're running a site of this size you sort of have to pick and choose what your strategic objectives are, and music has always been a part of MySpace's DNA.... In terms of doing this with other content, we may, but this is a major step.

Wired: Four years ago, MySpace conducted focus groups with users to find out what their "dream music service" might look like. Based on that user feedback, is MySpace's community willing to pay for music downloads?

DeWolfe: Definitely. We have 110 million unique users [per month], so it's not really a niche community. Virtually everyone I know on MySpace has an iPod; there's no reason they wouldn't be buying music. I think one of the issues in the past has been people have been engaged in piracy and stealing music because it was really convenient. To download a song on MySpace Music will be so convenient, we believe they will pay for it.... There's going to be a lot of impulse buys.

My old pal Chris Albrecht recaps a recent report by Oliver Wyman, that found "consumers would be willing to spend $7 to $9 for an HD movie on demand if released at the same time as the DVD." Chris also takes a poll to see if $8 is a reasonable price. Of course, you can access IFC (and some Magnolia) theatrical titles on demand (though not in HD) the same day as they come to theaters, for like $6.

It's been a few months since I checked out NBCU and News Corp.'s new online video destination, Hulu. So I decided to surf the movies portion of the site. All I can say is, "wow." I just finished watching the first 15 minutes of Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, though the entire feature is on there. You can also watch 28 Days Later, The Big Lebowski, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Hollywood Shuffle, The Jerk, Monty Python's Meaning of Life, Requiem for a Dream, and TONS more. Plus, there's plenty of film clips also available instead of the feature-length versions.

The interface is surprisingly easy to use, easy to navigate, and easy on the eyes. The picture and sound quality are top-notch. The advertising is minimal: if you wanna skip ahead to a certain point in the film, you may have to wait for a 20-second ad to play while you wait for it to load. Hulu, I love you.

A recent study concludes that 9% of TV viewers in 2007 got their content primarily off their computer (and likely hooked into their HD monitor). While that may seem small, it's up from last year, and research forecasts that it will continue to grow. The conservative estimate has 25% of TV viewers getting it off their computer by 2010. How this translates to film viewing, I'm not sure yet. But it's the same technology that people can utilize to watch feature-length content on Netflix, Amazon, and Jaman, to name a few.

There's some very encouraging news coming out of the CTIA wireless trade show this week. After a slow start, mobile providers are gearing up to unveil a slew of promising services for video. And, this summer is when American consumers will have more video entertainment than ever in the palm of their hands. From Chris Albrecht's NewTeeVee summary:

Fox Mobile Entertainment launched the aptly-named Fox Entertainment Mobile Network, which will feature content from hit shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Nip/Tuck and The Dog Whisperer.

After launching The C-Spot on through Verizon yesterday, Sony Pictures says it will also offer full-length movies on AT&T phones in May. The movies will be streamed on a loop though, and not available on demand.

When I blog about tech stuff, it usually has some connection to the entertainment business. Not so much with this story, but I still found it highly amusing. According to Engadget, a computer data center in Uitikon, Switzerland will use the excess heat from the machines to be piped through an exchanger and help warm a nearby swimming pool. In a weird way, this seems eco-friendly.

NBC is letting you embed episode highlights from Saturday Night Live, which is very smart since you can rarely find them on YouTube. For example, check out this amusing Digital Short from this weekend's Ellen Page-hosted episode:

Wanna utilize our nifty SMS updates? Wanna build an iCal schedule of screenings and panels? Need a custom SXSW widget? Click over to our SXSW Tools page, and see which features work for you and your festival needs. It's all part of our goal to make the SXSW experience as convenient and tech-friendly as possible.

Apparently, the U.S. Air Force is gonna stop allowing their troops to read most blogs. I don't think I ever had much of a readership in the armed forces, but for those of you in the Air Force, it was great having you here while it was allowed. Stop by next time you're back home and not under the watchful eye of the military. And, as we part ways, I will leave you with this:

As a young and naive small-town Texas boy, I had no idea how television worked in Europe. It wasn't until my first year in film school (RTF 305, professor John Downing) that I learned about the UK policy of "TV taxes" and the fact that in England, there's a certain sense of entitlement when it comes to television access. This is part of the reason, I would later learn, that BBC and Channel 4 original programming is often so damn good. So, how will the UK system of television programming adjust to the very American monetization of content? Not well, it seems.

Very recently, it was announced that BBC programs would be the first UK broadcast shows made available for sale on iTunes. No big deal, right? Americans are used to it, and shows like The Office, 30 Rock, and South Park have thrived on this. According to The Daily Mail, however, there is outrage in England over this new deal with the BBC. From Paul Revoir's article on the situation:

Critics said they have already paid, through the licence fee, and downloads should be free. Around ten series will initially be made available on Apple's iTunes site by BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm. They include Torchwood, Spooks and Robin Hood.

In future, episodes of classic shows such as Porridge and Only Fools and Horses may also be offered for downloading. Recently - shown programmes will be made available first on the BBC's iPlayer internet service, and on iTunes later.

The decision to charge for downloads is the latest in a line of controversial moves by BBC Worldwide. Since the BBC received a lower than expected licence fee, the commercial arm has been charged with upping its profits. It has been criticised for buying travel publisher Lonely Planet and launching TV and radio channels around the world.

John Beyer of TV pressure group Mediawatch UK said: "The idea that people will be charged for this service seems inconsistent with the BBC's free downloading it has been widely promoting."

Of course, in the States, TV networks have been doing both (free streaming and selling episodes) for some time now. Also, one could argue that with this same logic, Americans should feel cheated for buying episodes of basic or premium cable shows they are essentially already paying for. Are Americans too easy to win over, and missing the point? Or, are the Brits too picky?

The world of webisodes grows, as IFC announced today plans to launch a new topical Web series called Lunchbox. Oh, and IFC is gonna be all over SXSW as you can read in this Hollywood Reporter story.

The latest episode of Joe Swanberg's new series, Butterknife, has arrived on the Web and I think it's the best one yet. Check it:

The WGA strike may be coming to end very soon, but that doesn't mean we won't still find ourselves discovering new episodic content online, as a result of out-of-work talent. That's the crux of Dave Itzkoff's terrific piece in the Sunday New York Times, where he samples some of the more popular comedy bits finding an audience through the Web. Among them: David Wain's hilarious "Wainy Days," Brad Neely's "Baby Cakes," and even the infamous Jerry O'Connell parody of Tom Cruise. As I've blogged before, one of the real tangible effects of the WGA strike will likely be a greater appreciation of digital short-form content. And, it looks like the genie is out of the bottle. From Itzkoff's article:

Others who remained gainfully employed during these months have been happy to take advantage of their friends’ and colleagues’ sudden availability. While the strike did not prevent David Wain, the comedian and filmmaker, from finishing his directorial duties on an untitled comedy feature for Universal, he has used the time to recruit idle writers and actors for “Wainy Days,” a Web program he produces and stars in for MyDamnChannel.com.

One recent episode, titled “The Pickup,” a merciless satire of the VH1 series “The Pickup Artist,” written by the screenwriter Jon Zack and starring Paul Rudd (the “Knocked Up” star) as a pompous lothario named Alias, has been watched more than 1.7 million times on YouTube alone. Mr. Wain pointed to this as a creative achievement he might never have accomplished if not for the strike.

“It’s been great,” said Mr. Wain, a Writers Guild member. “We can call up almost anyone, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I thought I would be making these things by myself on my laptop, and now it’s like I’m running a whole TV series.”

The viewership numbers generated by these Web sites, where success is still measured in the hundreds of thousands, rather than millions, do not yet pose a threat to traditional broadcast television. But several executives and industry observers said that in recent months they have seen a stratification of Internet humor.

“We’re sort of in the cable-television era of Internet entertainment,” said Sam Reich, the director of original content at CollegeHumor.com, a Web site owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp.

An exciting announcement comes this week, with the formation of Cinelan, a content publisher that will distribute short-form non-fiction pieces via mobile, Internet, digital cinemas, and TV. Among the award-winning filmmakers on the Advisory Board are: Steve James, Eugene Jarecki, Morgan Spurlock, Ross Kauffman, and Jessica Yu. From Ali Jaafar's Variety article:

The startup's syndication partners include U.K. publishing group Guardian News & Media, leading indie U.K. exhib chain Picturehouse Cinemas and Arts Alliance Media's digital distribution specialist Vizumi Network. Cinelan is backed by London-based venture capital group Arts Alliance.

"Cinelan represents a new way for smart nonfiction films to reach mainstream audiences," said Spurlock. "It excites me as a filmmaker to know that avenues like this are expanding to reach global audiences with movies reflecting real information and original viewpoints outside traditional media."

While sites such as YouTube.com thrive on user-generated content, Cinelan will offer a multimedia distribution platform for professional and top-tier aspiring filmmakers.

The season premiere of Joe Swanberg's latest Web series, Butterknife, is now live. Hosted by the good folks at Spout, the series gets off to a promising start as we are introduced to our main characters, portrayed by real-life husband and wife, Ronnie and Mary Bronstein. Check it out:

Hey, all you video-makers out there: don't forget the first-ever Greenlight Awards at SXSW 2008. You can submit your pilot for a new Web/digital series and maybe get a deal with ON Networks (which includes cash, prizes, and more). The deadline is February 15, so perhaps there's something happening Valentine's Day that will make a good show. Click here for all the details.

The Techland blog reports from CES that things are heating up between companies, when it comes to watching television programs via the Web. From Yi-Wyn Yen's dispatch:

Last month Veoh, an Internet TV startup that offers shows from “30 Rock” to “The Young and the Restless” online, discovered a telling statistic about consumers. Of the 23 million viewers who visited the site, a whopping 40 percent of them were watching shows on the Web during prime-time hours.

“Given the option, instead of sitting in front of the TV watching cable or satellite broadcasts, they were sitting in front of their computers watching Internet shows,” says Dmitry Shapiro, founder and chief innovation officer of Veoh.

“It’s the dream of every lazy employee to watch episodes of “Lost” at work,” says Shapiro. “But really, the better value is the ability to watch shows at any time. Whether you’re sitting at Starbucks with your laptop or watching TV in your living room, people want access to the same content. And they want it now.”

That message rang clear at the Consumer Electronic Show this week. TV manufacturers like Samsung, Sharp, and Panasonic all announced deals to stream content from companies ike Google to wireless televisions in an effort to bridge the gap between TV and the Internet. HP (HPQ), which along with Sony (SNE) began offering Internet-enabled flat-screens in 2006, announced that all future HP televisions will be wireless.

The slow but steady transition from DVD to VOD, has taken one giant leap further. Apple and Fox are reportedly joining forces to launch an online video rental service via iTunes. If this takes off, which it should, the implications are huge. Anyone, like us, who dedicates time to watching Netflix rentals online (thanks to the company's new Web-based service), can tell you that it's seamless. If I could rent movies on iTunes, you better believe I'd sign up instantly. The next big possibility, however, is the chance to "rip" DVDs onto your iTunes video account. Imagine that: doing for your DVD collection what iTunes has done for your CDs. Expect more hard facts to come with Steve Jobs' annual keynote at the January Macworld Expo. For Business Week, Arik Hesseldahl gives us an update on this deal-in-progress:

Apple may have resolved disagreements over how best to protect copyrighted work by agreeing to license its FairPlay digital rights management technology to Fox. Until now, Apple has been loath to license FairPlay, a technology that keeps music and video content tied to a customer's computer, iPod, and iPhone players. It also limits the number of computers to which the content can be copied.

Terms of the agreement concerning FairPlay are as yet sketchy, but reports say Apple will allow future Fox DVD releases to be "ripped" to iTunes collections in much the same way that music can be ripped from a CD. While it's already possible to do that with existing third-party software such as HandBrake, studios generally consider such actions the equivalent of piracy. Making FairPlay available to Fox might indicate Apple's willingness to make it available to other studios, which might in turn be more willing to sell and rent their movies on iTunes and to make their DVDs iTunes-ready. To date, only Disney (DIS) sells new movies on iTunes, while studios like Lionsgate (LGF), Paramount, and MGM sell movies mostly from their back catalogs.

Also unclear is how widely and how long movies will be usable. Earlier rumors had said that movies would be playable for 30 days for a price of $2.99. Presumably the same time limits would apply to use on a computer as on an iPod or iPhone.

What's got the adult film business sad these days? That thing that helped it become a multi-billion dollar industry: the Internet. The Guardian has a report on the growing popularity of "amateur" sites like YouPorn and Pornotube, and the competition they've given "mainstream" adult filmmaking. Here's part of Edward Helmore's article:

Last week, Vivid Video, one of the largest porn studios, took legal action against Pornotube, a website the company claims is depriving the industry and its performers of legitimate revenue by allowing the streaming of copyrighted material. According to surveys, sites such as YouPorn and Pornotube draw more internet traffic than CNN. Like YouTube, the phenomenally popular, Google-owned website, X-rated sites depend on users streaming videos to the site - and YouPorn is adding 15 million new users a month.

'The adult entertainment industry is starting to get aggressive,' says Farley Cahen, an editor at Adult Video News. 'The problem is that more and more people are finding out about these sites and that they can get this free content.'

After a decade of double-digit growth, the porn industry is seeing sales of DVDs - its biggest money-maker - slip. Last year, total sales were down 15 per cent. The industry says it is laying off workers.

Legendary studio Hammer Films is back, thanks to MySpace. The UK-based company, best known for some amazing and amazingly camp horror flicks, has signed a deal to bring its latest production to MySpace as 20 four-minute webisodes. Owen Gibson has more on the story, via The Guardian:

The company, revived this year after 25 years by a consortium headed by Big Brother creator John de Mol, is also planning to release the film on DVD after it has been shown on MySpace. [Hammer chairman Simon] Oakes insisted that the film would not be too violent to be shown to a general audience, but the DVD release would probably be re-cut as an 18-certificate movie. Hammer also has two more conventional movies going into production next year but Oakes said Beyond the Rave was a way of getting its first production out quickly and bringing the name to a new audience.

"There's a demographic out there that don't know Hammer in the way my generation do. I saw that MySpace could bring us to a global audience online and it's also a great way of finding new young talent."

Guess what... ON Networks is now accepting submissions for the Greenlight Awards, which will culminate at SXSW 2008. Here's the announcement:

ON Networks, in partnership with the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival, today announced it is now accepting submissions for the recently announced Greenlight Awards at www.thegreenlightawards.com.

The Greenlight Awards competition is the industry’s first to recognize the next great, original and episodic digital series. Finalists will compete in two categories – best concept and best show – and will be judged by a panel of prominent industry judges who represent independent content creation, digital distribution and new media. Among them are actor Luke Wilson, writer/director Richard Linklater, and Zadi Diaz, co-creator and host of the hit web series EPIC-FU. Additional judges will be announced later this month.

The winners of this exciting new media challenge will be recognized at the Greenlight Awards event during SXSW 2008, March 7-15. They will receive cash awards of $2,000 and $10,000 and an opportunity to develop and distribute their shows through ON Networks. Submissions will be accepted through February 15, 2008. Details on the awards submission criteria can be found at www.thegreenlightawards.com.

What does a busy person do when they're on a flight? You have limited options, it's really the last frontier where you can't be bothered with emails, IMs, blogging, and the Internet. But not for long. As I've blogged about in the past, JetBlue is leading a charge to enable their passengers to have some access to such communication. For the Techland blog, Michael Lev-Ram reviews the test flight this week for JetBlue's new endeavor:

Once the airplane reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, we were allowed to turn on our laptops and Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry smartphones and connect. It took me several tries, but a few minutes later I was able to log on to the simplified Yahoo Mail interface on my browser. After that, it was easy to send and receive e-mails.

The biggest drawback is that the service only lets passengers access Yahoo’s (YHOO) e-mail and instant messaging. Still, it’s hard to complain about a free service and many passengers aboard the flight tested the Internet service with their laptops or Blackberries.

David Kubersky, a tech consultant from New Jersey who flies JetBlue regularly to the San Francisco Bay Area, said the company’s Internet service was a little bit slow but most of his e-mails went through easily.

“Usually this is my time to catch up on TV,” said Kubersky, pointing at the small seatback screen in front of him. “But it’s nice to be able to have some form of communication back to the ground.”

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I kinda like being out-of-touch for a few hours. I like being able to watch some TV, or read a book/magazine, listen to my iPod, or whatever. This could create either much more productivity, or many more distractions.

Did Silver Jew director Michael Tully actually create the idea for the upcoming Spout Web series, Butterknife? And, was Joe Swanberg just too fast for him? Someone call a lawyer. Or, just watch this:

I Watch Stuff has a break-down of the eight new Web sites based around aspects of next summer's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight. Everything from a Joker-inspired quiz to the Gotham City newspaper online, to information about the Gotham police department. Proceed to infer plot points at will.

When I heard a bunch of A-list actors were getting together to film Speechless this week, I thought, "Finally someone is remaking that 1994 romantic comedy with Geena Davis and Michael Keaton!" I was surprised to find out that this was not the case. Instead, "Speechless" is a video campaign spearheaded by filmmaker George Hickenlooper. Go figure.

I've been tuning into Nikki Finke's exclusive hosting of the "Speechless" campaign all weekend. She's published online video clips starring notable actors/actresses that share the "speechless" theme as a united front supporting the WGA strike. After viewing the first nine, I must say that Rod Lurie's clip starring Kate Beckinsale and David Schwimmer, might be the best one so far. Most of the others are pretty uninspired, which maybe is the point: after all, without writers what story is there to convey? Beckinsale and Schwimmer do a great job in just 45 seconds. Another great clip, is the Holly Hunter video, which plays off the premise that Hollywood will need call centers and outsourcing to get screenplays written in the future.

As a comparison to these, check out the Sean Penn video or the William H. Macy/Felicity Huffman video. Lame. Yet none of these are as earnestly awful as the Ugly Betty cast video. Sheesh. As I said, if the intention was to dull us into wanting writers back, mission accomplished. But as far as an effectively interesting video project goes, Lurie/Beckinsale/Schwimmer and Holly Hunter, got it right.