Have you changed? This is a great effort at political video marketing. I didn’t see it coming until it hit me. And, boy, did it hit me hard. But I have one beef.

Sally Anthony missed a great opportunity at not allowing viewers of her video to embed the video on their websites. She would get a lot more exposure, not to mention back links, for her video if other website owners and bloggers could use the video on their websites. I, for instance, would have embedded the video here on this blog if I’d had that ability. The benefit to Sally Anthony would have been greater exposure, links back to her website from my blog and others, and increased traffic to her site.

She’ll still get some traffic from the link above, but not as much as she’d get if my viewers could see the video on my site. It’s a lesson to learn for all would be video marketers, political or not.

The Smoking Gun reports that Paris Hilton is an overpaid media whore. Well, they didn’t exactly use those words, but they might as well have. The issue is that Hilton, an over-sexed, over-hyped billionaire heiress who can make it through life on her name alone (she doesn’t even need that body she’s got!), pulled in a full $1 million on a video movie dud. That money represents 1/3 of the production budget for the film. And she’s being sued by the film’s producers for not adequately promoting the movie. Well, imagine that. Would you?

Think about it. If you are guaranteed $1 million for just showing up and putting on next to nothing, would you do any more than you had to? The company’s contract, under the subparagraph titled “Promotion; Publicity Restrictions:”, states that Hilton shall perform “reasonable promotion and publicity services” at the company’s request “subject to Artist’s professional availability” and “Artist’s reasonable approval of behind the scenes interviews.” OK, that’s real simple. What is considered “reasonable?” And, just for the record, if promotion is subject to the artist’s professional availability, all it would take to get out of the obligation is to arrange for the artist to not be available. “Sorry, I was filming a porn flick in the jungles of the Amazon. Couldn’t make it out that night.”

It looks to me like Paris Hilton got the better end of a sucky deal. That’s a National Lampoon story in itself.

John Cusack, Hollywood leading man, decided to cut a film about the profiteering of war. It certainly isn’t the first time someone made that claim, and it likely won’t be the last. General Smedley Butler, one of the most decorated Marines in history, right after World War I, went public with his anti-war message and called War Is A Racket. Oh, my! What nerve.

Of course, Hollywood has always been liberal, right? So why then did John Cusack, a Hollywood insider feel it was necessary to bypass the Hollywood movie-making machine and produce an independent film? Could it be because Hollywood isn’t so liberal after all?

Well, there are myths and then there are myths. The liberal nature of Hollywood is one of those myths. That journalists are liberal is another one. The truth of the matter is that studio owners and newspaper conglomerate heads tend to sway to the conservative side. Talk to any leading journalist and he’ll tell that his boss is likely a Republican. California, too, is a huge Republican base, and Hollywood has a lot to do with that. It’s because moneyed interest, which Hollywood movie-making is to a large degree, usually swings the way of whomever is perceived to favor profits more. And being against the war in Iraq, a profiteering enterprise for Republicans, is not a cool thing. We don’t want to piss of the people with the money and the power to do us in, do we?

Well, no, and it’s not likely that the big gang of liberals in Hollywood are going to gang up on the Republican minority in films and make it difficult for them. But it is possible for Republican power elites in film to make it difficult for liberals who go too far with their politics. And I think that is why John Cusack opted for the safer bet of going it alone, because someone else might just as well had taken an axe to project.

Howard Dean the Movie? Why does Howard the Duck keep coming into my mind when I read this?

DiCaprio, Clooney to team up for Dean movie
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Howard Dean didn’t make it to the White House, but could some form of him make it to the big screen?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney are in discussions to join forces for a movie loosely based on the former governor’s meteoric rise and fall in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries.

I have it on good authority that Leonardo DiCaprio got the part based on his ability to growl really loud.

The Rest of The Story here

Great artists never die. But we will surely miss Ingmar Bergman. The great Swedish film maker inspired millions from his own generation and those that followed. Every actor and actress, film director, scriptwriter, and anyone aspiring to be involved in the film industry at any level in any genre in any country studied Bergman. He was a master of the art. And we love him for it.

Woody Allen said he was the greatest film artist. The source notwithstanding, many of us would agree. Although many have said this of Alfred Hitchcock. It’s a very close race.

One thing I didn’t know about Bergman that makes me boost my respect for him all the more is that he challenged the Swedish authorities on taxes. As a result he exiled himself to Germany (go figure!) and lived there for nine years before returning to Stockholm. Interesting anecdote. I love tax protesters. Especially creative artists who are tax protesters. Ingmar Bergman will live forever and I pray that his soul will rest in peace. God gave us a good one.

See a list of Ingmar Bergman films.

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