What’s New with Wu

Wrote a piece for Slate — “Is Sundance Obsolete?”

The basic idea underlying it is a theory of what film festivals are.  Read the piece to find out.

Project Posner now has page numbers!

By the way, some of tastiest tidbits in the project posner database are the “dog decisions.” Check out this one, for instance..

For example, Hilton v. Wheeling, 209 F.3d 1005 (7th Cir. 2000):

For the last seven years Hilton and his neighbors in an apartment complex in a blue-collar district of Wheeling have been locked in a feud that began when Hilton was seen beating a Rottweiler puppy (appropriately named “Rommel”) with what a neighbor who called the police described as a baseball bat, though Hilton claims that it was merely a rawhide chew stick. When the police arrived he explained that he had broken his arm (Hilton’s arm, not the dog’s) beating Rommel the previous evening. Hilton was cited for cruelty to animals and fined $ 500.

The subsequent history of Rommel is interesting, though perhaps not strictly germane. Hilton tired of Rommel, took him to a veterinarian, and told the veterinarian to kill the dog. The vet refused, saying that the dog was healthy (Hilton’s savage beatings had failed to injure Rommel) and that he wanted to put him up for adoption. Hilton agreed, but later decided he wanted Rommel back, and when he could not get him back protested at an open hearing of the Wheeling village council, dragging the empty leash behind him to punctuate his plea.

Check it out here.

Went to see this film, Four Eyed Monsters, in New York’s Cinema Village this Monday.

Actually I was invited, kindly, to speak to the audience after the film, about net neutrality and alternative distributions channels.

The film is important in two ways. First, the film itself is an experience, tons of innovative types of shooting, and the first film I’ve seen where online dating, SMSing, Myspace, and so becomes so much a part of the film. It’s kind of the Web 2.0 version of Annie Hall. If you’re over a certain age, you may have no idea what’s going on.
Second, the film distribution is testing the limits of alternative distribution models. If a Festival film isn’t picked up by a major distributor, is there still any hope? Four Eyed Monsters says yes.
Finally, we’re so used to watching giant productions in a physical theatre that it feels odd but nice to see video that feels more internet.
Meanwhile I watched parts of Clerks on Youtube, and that seemed to fit.

Click here to see more episodes!

In my spare time, I am helping out a venture to distribute films independently. The target is Film Festival films that have trouble finding a distributor. There are a ton of great films that for one reason or another are impossible to get a hold of outside of actually going to a Film Festival.

The venture is called “The Film Annex,” and its a great idea.

Film Annex needs about 100 films to launch. The question is, what’s the best way to get yourself the non-exclusive distribution rights to 100 films people want to see? Talking to producers and programmers, obviously, but perhaps there are others.

Ongoing…

On Friday, launched Project Posner — in the course of an introduction of the real Richard Posner at Columbia law school.

Project Posner has all of Posner’s 2100+ opinions, fully and easily searchable. As I said Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing

“The law supposedly belongs to the people, but it can be surprisingly hard to find. American case reports — which are the real law of the nation — are hard to get at, and even when on the internet, rarely searchable. To get real access you generally need a Westlaw subscription which costs a small fortune. Wikilaw is a great effort to try and change this, but it is still primitive.”

Posner said that he was relieved that the “cat” search turned up more than “dogs.” I told him it was because he liked the phrase “cat’s paw.”

Thanks to Stuart Sierra who the heavy lifting.