Thompson on Hollywood

Check Out New IPad Magazine 'Backstory': Long, Gorgeous and Deep

Interviews

You've got to applaud the chutzpah of ex-Creative Screenwriting senior editor Jeff Goldsmith, who has plunked his life savings down on bimonthly iPad publishing experiment: "Backstory." The gorgeously mounted magazine champions scriptwriters by telling their behind-the-scenes stories. Airily designed for the iPad, which doesn't need to cram columns of print into a small space, "Backstory" is easy to read via free iPad app. The first double issue is still available for free, and starting this month with new issue Number Two, the newstand sale is $4.99. A year's subscription is $24.99. "It feels like an eBook on crack," says Goldsmith.

By Anne Thompson
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August 7, 2012 3:35 PM
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Magnolia Pictures Buys US Rights to "Steve Jobs: The Last Interview"

News

Not wasting any time as Walter Isaacs' bestselling Steve Jobs biography continues to fly off shelves, Magnolia Pictures has acquired US rights to documentary "Steve Jobs" The Lost Interview."

By Anne Thompson
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May 2, 2012 2:47 PM
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Media Watch: Google Opens Digital Music Shop

News

In order to compete with iTunes and Amazon, Google has boldly launched a series of music features, including a digital music downloads store, reports NYT's Media Decoder. This marks Google's intention to expand as a social network and entertainment source.

By Maggie Lange
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November 18, 2011 2:56 AM
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AFM News: Freestyle Digital Media to Focus on Digital, Cable, VOD Distribution

In case you were wondering, VOD distribution is here to stay. Look at JC Chandor's $3.5 million Margin Call, which lured a strong ensemble of name actors led by Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Zachary Quinto, and has passed the $1.5 million mark theatrically in limited release, as it was also available day-and-date on VOD. More and more people are learning, as Netflix had hoped, to download and stream movies from their cable companies or through Roku, iTunes, PS3 or TiVo. Several folks I know picked up on the publicity and ad noise surrounding Margin Call and watched it on its second weekend in theaters, at home. It's significant, too, that theater owners are lowering ticket prices for a change.

By Anne Thompson
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November 3, 2011 2:26 AM
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Media Watch: Isaacson's Steve Jobs Biography, Reviews, 60 Minutes Profile

Clearly, we can't learn enough about the late Steve Jobs, so his official biographer Walter Isaacson's new book Steve Jobs--over 600 pages--which is published today, two and half weeks after his death, should help to feed our hunger for more details about the fascinating co-founder of Apple. Here's an excerpt about Jobs and Gates.

By Anne Thompson
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October 24, 2011 8:18 AM
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Steve Jobs: The Story of His Adoption, Search for His Biological Parents, Sister Mona Simpson

The person who invited me, back in my Premiere days, to have lunch with Steve Jobs, was press agent Harry Clein, who was doing some PR work for Pixar. He recounts what it was like to work for the demanding executive.Steve Jobs hired my firm to work with Pixar right after Toy Story became a big hit. Disney was taking all the credit for its success and he wanted people to know that Pixar had not just been the technical end of Toy Story but also the creative source.

By Harry Clein
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October 9, 2011 4:23 AM
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Remembering Steve Jobs, VES Summit and Bill of Rights, Geeking out with John Gaeta

In this week's Immersed in Movies column, Bill Desowitz remembers meeting Steve Jobs, recaps the Visual Effects Society Summit and geeks out with John Gaeta at the Palo Alto International Film Festival. The passing of Steve Jobs on Wednesday underscores, more than anything else, the crucial importance of technological innovation, creative freedom, and entrepreneurial spirit. Jobs was the leading visionary of our time, and we need those attributes now more than ever.

By Bill Desowitz
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October 7, 2011 8:15 AM
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RIP Steve Jobs, Who Deserves the Word Visionary: Obits, Links, Clips

I once had lunch with Jobs at an excellent Japanese restaurant in Beverly Hills. He wore his trademark black turtleneck and jeans; he was serious, accessible. We talked about Pixar, which he also deserves credit for. Sadly, Jobs has died at age 56 of pancreatic cancer, which he had been fighting since 2004.

By Anne Thompson
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October 6, 2011 1:14 AM
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Apple's Tim Cook Unveils iPhone 4S, Fails To Live Up to Steve Jobs

Yesterday at the "Let's Talk iPhone" conference, Apple changed things up. Rather than announcing the iPhone 5, they announced a phone that looks no different than their current model, and only distinguishes the new product with an S added after iPhone 4. However, while the iPhone 4S appears to be no different, its capabilities are innumerable (Apple numbered them at over 200).

By Maggie Lange
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October 5, 2011 4:32 AM
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Pre-Premiere of Fox's New Girl, Nick Nolte Talks Bender, Stoll on Hemingway in Paris

By the time Fox's New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel, premieres, it won't seem so fresh off the presses. Variety reports that the network will allow viewers to watch the whole series before it is broadcast Sept. 20th on live TV. Viewers will have access to the show through various outlets, including an unprecedented pre-primetime viewing on iTunes. The network hopes that through this new strategy they can access sampling opportunities. Before the launch, the show will be available for free on iTunes, Hulu, Fox.com, and Deschanel's Hello Giggles blog.