Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Farewell Clips & Quips...
It's odd and strange and a little sad and a little exciting that Clips & Quips is coming to an end. I had a lot of fun with the show; met a lot of interesting people and got access to a lot of places and opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to experience. And when I say interesting people, I don't necessarily mean the "celebrities" I've interviewed, (in fact, some of them were pretty boring). From the always accommodating publicists at International House of Press and Falco, to the contact people at JetBlue, Ramada, and Thrifty, (who made our Sundance trip possible), to our pals at Furilla, Pass the Pigs, and Kazoobie Kazoos, (who made sure we always had plenty of fun toys to give people). Clips & Quips was only a success thanks to these and other people who believed in our show and helped us out in many ways.
Clips & Quips started as an answer to the frustration that Evan and I had over the lack of student programming on college tv stations across the country. We had worked together on On the Cusp, a weekly late-night talk show that aired on NYU TV for three seasons, and during that time created a show that not only occasionally entertained, but also started a dialogue between NYU students and created a little community of viewers on the often isolated NYU "campus." We wanted to take what we learned from that experience and go national with a show that incorporated student ideas and content, provided entertaining segments, and brought college students across the country together... or something like that. The show launched in January 2005 at a dozen or so schools with an episode chock-full of student filmmakers and musicians and interviews with Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Tara Reid, and others. By the beginning of the second season the next fall, we were airing at over forty schools and scoring awesome interviews with the likes of George Clooney, Keira Knightely, Pierce Brosnan, and others. People were really starting to hear about us and we were developing a serious web presence with upwards of 100,000 hits per month. We covered the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, and interviewed a slew of fascinating filmmakers, writers, and actors. It seemed like good things were happening, but we still had a big problem- we weren't making a profit. I like to think of myself as a creative person, but I'm the first to admit that I'm not quite as effective when it comes to making things profitable. I sent out tons of proposals and made many phone calls, but I couldn't find someone to provide the show with a budget. Working on the show was so much fun though, that I figured as long as we kept on creating a fun product that money would follow.
As we started the third season, we toned down the affiliate front, (because self-distributing a national show was taking a lot of time and getting expensive), and concentrated on the weekly web show. I contacted many new potential sponsors, and although there were some promising leads, in the end nothing solidified. It soon became clear that unless some funds suddenly appeared this would be the last season of the show. We wanted to go out with a bang though, and we covered some more LA junkets, (thanks to Evan's persistence), and covered another action-packed Sundance Film Festival. We even had some reunions when I interviewed Rainn Wilson and Ryan Gosling for the second time and Paul Rudd for the third and fourth time.
Clips & Quips changed quite a bit from the initial idea that Evan and I came up with, but I think we stayed true to the spirit of our mission. And what is that spirit exactly? I'm not exactly sure. But I always tried to treat my interviews as conversations, and interact with the interviewees as I would with any other person. I think if you watch the interviews we get at junkets versus what the "other shows" get, you'll find that our interviews are more honest, less "canned," more casual, sometimes more awkward, but always more genuine. I never really knew if viewers noticed this, but thanks to youtube comments and emails it's clear that people do notice the difference. Sometimes they don't like it, like jlisashaw on youtube who commented:
"you have no control of the subject or the interview," but then there are others like ummxduhh, who commented on a Rupert Grint interview: "Rupert seems so much more comfortable in this then he does in other interviews." And Chopin65 posted: "Its amazing how stars come off as just regular folk when you talk to them in the way you do." Then a few hours ago, I got another email from Deniz, a viewer in Germany, who wrote, "This kind of interview is really needed and unique. Keep doing it like that!" So at least some people get it- right?
But I think the end of Clips & Quips comes at exactly the right time. If I had to attend another NY press junket, I think I might throw-up in the impeccably clean Regency Hotel bathroom. Yes, junkets are a great way to gain access to actors whom I otherwise would not have the opportunity to interview, but they're also a great way to make you feel like cattle. You're stuck in a room, (where there's often not even enough room for everyone to sit), waiting at least an hour for a four minute slot, (five minutes if you're really lucky), with a person who often feels as trapped as you do. It's the worst possible situation for an interview, yet that's where most of them are happening. I don't know if I have a solution or any helpful suggestion to fix the junket situation, but I'm just glad I'm getting out before they cut the interview time down to three minutes.
It's weird to think that I've interviewed literally hundreds of authors, actors, musicians, comedians, filmmakers, chocolatiers, toy inventors, and other interesting individuals. And although most of them probably wouldn't remember me, I think I remember most of them. Clips & Quips has been an incredible learning experience, and I have a feeling that the groundwork and friends we've made through the show will keep playing a role in my life.
So what happens to the blog now? I'm not really sure... I'll be pretty busy this summer, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post and I'm not sure what I'd post about. Any ideas? Write in and let me know.
Clips & Quips started as an answer to the frustration that Evan and I had over the lack of student programming on college tv stations across the country. We had worked together on On the Cusp, a weekly late-night talk show that aired on NYU TV for three seasons, and during that time created a show that not only occasionally entertained, but also started a dialogue between NYU students and created a little community of viewers on the often isolated NYU "campus." We wanted to take what we learned from that experience and go national with a show that incorporated student ideas and content, provided entertaining segments, and brought college students across the country together... or something like that. The show launched in January 2005 at a dozen or so schools with an episode chock-full of student filmmakers and musicians and interviews with Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Tara Reid, and others. By the beginning of the second season the next fall, we were airing at over forty schools and scoring awesome interviews with the likes of George Clooney, Keira Knightely, Pierce Brosnan, and others. People were really starting to hear about us and we were developing a serious web presence with upwards of 100,000 hits per month. We covered the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, and interviewed a slew of fascinating filmmakers, writers, and actors. It seemed like good things were happening, but we still had a big problem- we weren't making a profit. I like to think of myself as a creative person, but I'm the first to admit that I'm not quite as effective when it comes to making things profitable. I sent out tons of proposals and made many phone calls, but I couldn't find someone to provide the show with a budget. Working on the show was so much fun though, that I figured as long as we kept on creating a fun product that money would follow.
As we started the third season, we toned down the affiliate front, (because self-distributing a national show was taking a lot of time and getting expensive), and concentrated on the weekly web show. I contacted many new potential sponsors, and although there were some promising leads, in the end nothing solidified. It soon became clear that unless some funds suddenly appeared this would be the last season of the show. We wanted to go out with a bang though, and we covered some more LA junkets, (thanks to Evan's persistence), and covered another action-packed Sundance Film Festival. We even had some reunions when I interviewed Rainn Wilson and Ryan Gosling for the second time and Paul Rudd for the third and fourth time.
Clips & Quips changed quite a bit from the initial idea that Evan and I came up with, but I think we stayed true to the spirit of our mission. And what is that spirit exactly? I'm not exactly sure. But I always tried to treat my interviews as conversations, and interact with the interviewees as I would with any other person. I think if you watch the interviews we get at junkets versus what the "other shows" get, you'll find that our interviews are more honest, less "canned," more casual, sometimes more awkward, but always more genuine. I never really knew if viewers noticed this, but thanks to youtube comments and emails it's clear that people do notice the difference. Sometimes they don't like it, like jlisashaw on youtube who commented:
"you have no control of the subject or the interview," but then there are others like ummxduhh, who commented on a Rupert Grint interview: "Rupert seems so much more comfortable in this then he does in other interviews." And Chopin65 posted: "Its amazing how stars come off as just regular folk when you talk to them in the way you do." Then a few hours ago, I got another email from Deniz, a viewer in Germany, who wrote, "This kind of interview is really needed and unique. Keep doing it like that!" So at least some people get it- right?
But I think the end of Clips & Quips comes at exactly the right time. If I had to attend another NY press junket, I think I might throw-up in the impeccably clean Regency Hotel bathroom. Yes, junkets are a great way to gain access to actors whom I otherwise would not have the opportunity to interview, but they're also a great way to make you feel like cattle. You're stuck in a room, (where there's often not even enough room for everyone to sit), waiting at least an hour for a four minute slot, (five minutes if you're really lucky), with a person who often feels as trapped as you do. It's the worst possible situation for an interview, yet that's where most of them are happening. I don't know if I have a solution or any helpful suggestion to fix the junket situation, but I'm just glad I'm getting out before they cut the interview time down to three minutes.
It's weird to think that I've interviewed literally hundreds of authors, actors, musicians, comedians, filmmakers, chocolatiers, toy inventors, and other interesting individuals. And although most of them probably wouldn't remember me, I think I remember most of them. Clips & Quips has been an incredible learning experience, and I have a feeling that the groundwork and friends we've made through the show will keep playing a role in my life.
So what happens to the blog now? I'm not really sure... I'll be pretty busy this summer, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post and I'm not sure what I'd post about. Any ideas? Write in and let me know.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The End is Near
A few more days to go before the Clips & Quips blog closes up shop... So in honor of the occasion, here's my top list for my favorite Clips & Quips moments-
• Covering the Sundance Film Festival for the first time in 2006. I saw over a dozen movies, interviewed dozens of filmmakers and actors, crashed a party, got lots of free drinks and snacks, got a free razor for biting into a fuzz-covered kiwi, and got hugged by Steve Carell, (which was then reported on incorrectly by New York Magazine). Click here for a clip of some of the action.
• Going behind the scenes of Family Guy, and hanging out with Mila Kunis for an hour (while doing dramatic readings of her fan mail). Click here for the clip.
• Wearing footsie pajamas to the premiere of Night at the Museum, and getting a lot of attention from Ricky Gervais because of the outfit. Click here for the clip.
• When Judd Apatow wrote into the Clips & Quips blog.
• Teaching Peter Sarsgaard, Sam Mendes, and others to play kazoo. Click here for the clip.
• Interviewing Ira Glass for a whole twenty minutes and then hanging out with him at a Showtime party at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
• Sharing puns with anyone who will listen.
• Getting stranded on Liberty Island during the doomed-from-the-start premiere of Fantastic Four, (complete with pouring rain, lightening, giant flying bugs, and panicked crowds).
• When after finishing up a fun interview with Sam Rockwell, he genuinely commented "That really made my day. Thanks." Yes, this sort of stuff has happened more than once, but for whatever reason this one is particularly clear in my head.
In non Clips & Quips news, here's an awesome band that does covers of TV theme songs. Maybe they want to do a cover of our song?
• Covering the Sundance Film Festival for the first time in 2006. I saw over a dozen movies, interviewed dozens of filmmakers and actors, crashed a party, got lots of free drinks and snacks, got a free razor for biting into a fuzz-covered kiwi, and got hugged by Steve Carell, (which was then reported on incorrectly by New York Magazine). Click here for a clip of some of the action.
• Going behind the scenes of Family Guy, and hanging out with Mila Kunis for an hour (while doing dramatic readings of her fan mail). Click here for the clip.
• Wearing footsie pajamas to the premiere of Night at the Museum, and getting a lot of attention from Ricky Gervais because of the outfit. Click here for the clip.
• When Judd Apatow wrote into the Clips & Quips blog.
• Teaching Peter Sarsgaard, Sam Mendes, and others to play kazoo. Click here for the clip.
• Interviewing Ira Glass for a whole twenty minutes and then hanging out with him at a Showtime party at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
• Sharing puns with anyone who will listen.
• Getting stranded on Liberty Island during the doomed-from-the-start premiere of Fantastic Four, (complete with pouring rain, lightening, giant flying bugs, and panicked crowds).
• When after finishing up a fun interview with Sam Rockwell, he genuinely commented "That really made my day. Thanks." Yes, this sort of stuff has happened more than once, but for whatever reason this one is particularly clear in my head.
In non Clips & Quips news, here's an awesome band that does covers of TV theme songs. Maybe they want to do a cover of our song?
Friday, May 18, 2007
Phone Conference Phun
Yesterday I listened in on the FOX phone press conference where they announced the upcoming Fall season. It was sort of exciting to hear from Peter Liguori, (pictured at left), head of Fox, as he went through the lineup. Then journalists could ask questions, (by simply pressing *1, the conference call coordinator explained). It was sort of reminiscent of some of my NYU classes. There were the persistent reporters who kept asking the same questions again and again trying to get the answer they want, (Are you worried that American Idol has hit it's peak? Are you a little concerned about the ratings of American Idol? How do you respond to the drastic drop in American Idol's ratings in Buffalo, NY?), then there were the reporters who tried to make issues out of nothing, (Are you worried that by putting Family Guy one half hour earlier you'll corrupt more children?), and then there were the ones who asked questions that they knew they wouldn't get answers to, (So what are the drastic and surprising changes they've hinted at in the coming season of 24?). Listening to the conversations, it's clear that the heads of the networks are sort of freaked out. Their market shares are shrinking by the day and they're trying anything to get people watching. Luckily, that might also mean better and more interesting programming for us.In Clips & Quips news, next week we'll be throwing a big C&Q blowout right here on the blog. We'll be hearing from people who've worked on the show as well as fans and maybe even some past interviewees. So make sure to come by and if you want to participate in the festivities and write your own tribute you can send me an email at boaz(at)clipsquips(dot)com. Also, if Ken Marino is out there, maybe he can finally tell us how he broke his rib. Ken- are you there?
P.S. The question about the American Idol ratings drop in Buffalo, NY was a real question.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Hillary's sorta funny!
Until recently, Hillary Clinton has always come across as sort of distant to me, but not anymore. Yesterday, she posted this video on youtube, looking for advice:
She really does seem sort sort of likable now. They have a list of 9 possible campaign songs on her website, but they also let you write in a suggestion. I think she should commission the O'Funnigan Brothers to write a campaign song for her. They could even go on the road with her and be the opening act. Haven't you heard of the O'Funnigan Brothers? If not, then click here. And then go to Hillary's website and write them in.
She really does seem sort sort of likable now. They have a list of 9 possible campaign songs on her website, but they also let you write in a suggestion. I think she should commission the O'Funnigan Brothers to write a campaign song for her. They could even go on the road with her and be the opening act. Haven't you heard of the O'Funnigan Brothers? If not, then click here. And then go to Hillary's website and write them in.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Kids say the darndest things... when they have to start a new society
I'm a little obsessed with this new reality show that CBS announced yesterday. It's called Kid Nation, and it's basically a Lord-of-the-Flies-style show in which 40 kids are dropped off in a New Mexico ghost town to fend for themselves. Well, I guess they do get some supplies, but it's up to the kids, (ages 8-15), to cook, clean, and form a functioning society complete with government, businesses, and a justice system. Doesn't it sound exciting? I'm enthralled and terrified at the same time. And you can watch a very melodramatic preview here. My favorite quote from the preview is delivered by a do-rag wearing youngster at a dramatic town meeting: "What I'm really missing is my brother because he's in a wheelchair." And at every meeting someone wins a gold star, and I'm not talking about the "lick and stick" kind. Stay tuned for Kid Nation airing at 8PM Wednesdays on CBS in the Fall.And then there's Lost. It was a dramatic episode, though it was mostly set-up for next week's season finale. There wasn't a lot of new information, but maybe I missed something. I'll have to check in with Jeff Jensen's recap when he posts it on EW.com. They kept advertising a two-hour finale next week, but I wonder whether it's really a two hour episode, or whether it's an hour of recap and one hour of new stuff. They've played that trick before...
And look what's on sale at Key Food this week:
Cameos, Cars, and Cavemen
So last night at 8PM, I sat down in front of the TV for the last Gilmore Girls episode ever. I was a fan in the earlier years, and last night was just another reminder of why I stopped watching. Everything happened sort of predictably and there were a few too many moments of forced nostalgia or wistfulness. When they were filming this one they weren't sure whether it would be a series or season finale, but they definitely covered their bases. And they threw in the most random cameo ever when Christiane Amanpour happens to be staying at Lorelai's in, and after a very brief and generic chat with Rory she decides to give her a business card and offer to help her, (even though Christiane prefaces it with, "I usually never do this, but..."). And now it's all over- Lorelai finally got together with Luke and Rory's on the campaign trail with Barack Obama.Today in Park Slope they're filming Baby Mama, a movie starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. According to imdb:
A single professional woman (Fey) opts to hire a surrogate mother (Poehler) so she can have a baby and keep her career on track.
I didn't spot Tina or Amy, but I did see these trailers:
Maybe they're inside one of them?
It's an exciting week in TV as all the networks are announcing their fall lineups. ABC even put up a site where you can watch previews of all the upcoming shows. I'm surprised, (and slightly embarrassed), to say that the preview of Cavemen, (based on the popular Geico ads), is actually pretty funny. On the ABC website, they call the show a "thought-provoking social commentary on race relations in today's America." You can decide for yourself here.
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