Thompson on Hollywood

YouTube Strikes Movie-Rental Deal with Paramount, Acquires 500 New VOD Titles

News

Clearly, Viacom's 2011 $1-billion lawsuit against YouTube is water under the bridge. Now Google Inc.'s YouTube has struck a movie-rental deal with Viacom's Paramount, adding 500 new titles to its expanding online library. YouTube's rental library now has more than 9,000 titles, which range from recent ("Hugo") to classic ("The Godfather").

By Beth Hanna
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April 4, 2012 1:19 PM
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Michael Fassbender Joins Ridley Scott's Your Film Festival as Juror and Co-Executive Producer; Video

News

Ridley Scott just got a mighty fine partner in crime for his new Your Film Festival, naming its first winner at this year's Venice Film Festival; Michael Fassbender will help the director-producer co-executive producer and choose the Grand Prize Winner of the Your Film Festival competition...

By Sophia Savage
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February 28, 2012 12:57 PM
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First Look: YouTube Short Film Competition Aims for Venice Film Fest

Festivals

YouTube is the place for randomly generated hilarity: falling cats, Rebecca Black ballads, and singing toddlers. But YouTube wants to change this perception. By launching a short film competition, YouTube is making an effort to find new talent, as opposed to accidental meme-generators.

By Maggie Lange
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January 19, 2012 6:30 PM
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Media Watch: Huffington Post's Worth Exceeds AOL, More on Google YouTube, Madoffs on 60 Minutes

- Chalk one up to Arianna Huffington. A study from General Sentiment shows that in 2011 The Huffington Post brand is worth $358 million versus AOL's $156 million in terms of "Impact Media Value," reports Forbes. "Impact Media Value" is the exposure, both positive, negative, and neutral, of a media brand.

By Maggie Lange
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November 1, 2011 4:16 AM
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Media Watch: Amazon Prime Instant vs. Netflix, Selling YouTube at Denny's, Zuckerberg's Regrets

Able to report some much-needed good news, Netflix renewed its contract with ABC, adding more shows including Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. After losing 800,000 domestic subscribers after its recent price increase and the controversial fissure between streaming and sending DVDs, the company is doing its best to please their remaining consumers. However, Netflix's primary rival Amazon is making its own moves as Netflix’s primary competition with Prime Instant, a video library that will include over 800 titles from Disney-ABC including Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and Felicity. Prime has also secured licensing deals with CBS, Fox, NBCUniversal, PBS, Sony and Warner Brothers.

By Maggie Lange
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October 31, 2011 4:28 AM
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First Look: REM Remix The End of TV As We Know It

This YouTube REM Remix captures the frenetic pace of obsessive screen-watchers. Like me.

By Anne Thompson
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September 22, 2011 12:09 PM
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Video: Before They Were Famous

Matt Damon made his on screen debut in the 80s coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza. He had one line, spoken to his mother while eating lobster: "Mom, do you want my green stuff?"

By Anne Thompson
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August 18, 2011 5:47 AM
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Video: Hitler Reacts to Hollywood Reporter Film School Rankings

The gift that keeps on giving. It works every time. See the newly subtitled Downfall video. This time Hitler reacts to the news that The Hollywood Reporter has placed AFI ahead of USC in its Top 25 film school rankings.

By Anne Thompson
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August 6, 2011 5:05 AM
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Sundance Institute Pushes Deeper Into Digital Distribution Alternatives--Analysis

Festivals

Two things pop from this week's announcement from Robert Redford's Sundance Institute about their "Artists Services Initiative." First, who it's for--Sundance Institute filmmakers only--and second, how it contrasts with Robert De Niro's for-profit New York-based Tribeca Films, which picks up films to release, some of them from its own festival.

By Anne Thompson
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July 29, 2011 8:51 AM
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Video: A Quick Look at Google +

I have not been invited yet to Google +, although frustratingly, others have invited me to join. But Google had to shut down that option after too many people rushed to sign up. Check out Google's demonstration video for Google +. If you're like me, Facebook has become this huge mass of disparate folks ranging from close family and friends to work colleagues and acquaintances and people I don't even know. Twitter is easier--anyone can follow me, and I can select who I follow. But when one group starts live-tweeting a movie or football game--that could be done as a Google + hangout without either imposing it on disinterested Twitter followers or asking people to temporarily unfollow you.