Why the World (Including Hollywood) Needs AnyClip

Movies are the world’s most influential communication medium.   They catalyze conversation in countries all over the world.  Films teach history, tell stories, and make people laugh until their bellies and faces ache.  Moving pictures are for the young, old, rich, poor, educated, and the illiterate.
Etched in each moviegoer’s memory is a panoply of great scenes [...]

Entrepreneurial Lessons from David Ben Gurion

Three weeks ago, I visited David Ben Gurion’s grave.  Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, chose to be buried near his retirement home on S’de Boker, a kibbutz in the Negev  — a beautiful, desolate endless stretch of rocky hills and sand.  His final resting place overlooks a Grand Canyonesque valley facing a great expanse [...]

The AnyClip Plot

Imagine a web service where you can find every moment of every film in pristine quality.  You can search by dialogue, tag, actor, or any possible data source you can name.  You can cut any moment of less than 2 minutes and post it, send it, tweet it to anybody anywhere in the world.
You can [...]

The Problem of Piracy

For the past six weeks, I’ve been creating a new business plan for a platform that legally aggregates, distributes, and monetizes movie scenes.   We’re calling this new company AnyClip and you can read about it here and here.
Today YouTube is providing a  valuable service to consumers by hosting a massive number of movie clips.  Type [...]

Funny Passover Schtick

This comes courtesy of Heeb Magazine which I really love.  Nice tribute to Woody Allen and his rhythms.  Still, at 5 minutes it shows how difficult it is to make really consistently good comedy.  Especially animation.  You have to be so crisp to be good.  Makes me appreciate Family Guy and South Park all the [...]

Why we Need Newspapers

I read some really dumb stuff in the newspapers today.  More than anything I’m bothered by the Wall Street Journal’s slouch towards the New York Post.  The WSJ’s big headline today is that Jesse Jackson might be a part of the Illinois political scandal.  It’s the entire above the fold article space.  Come on, how [...]

Sam Zell Hammered in Washington Post

Thanks to my old friend Betsy Befus Feigin, I’ve been forwarded this savage attack on Sam Zell on the WashingtonPost.com.    I’m disseminating the information because I want my readers to have it.  I want to think and read more about the Tribune situation before I publish anything myself.     There is no question leveraging employee pensions [...]

Pray for Newspapers

The WSJ reports that Tribune has retained Lazard to help restructure its debt and that Tribune may seek Chapter 11 Protection.  A month ago I met Bruce Toll (Toll Brothers) at a cocktail party.  Toll is the Chairman of Philadelphia Media Holdings and had helped lead the deal to buy the Philadelphia newspapers from McClatchy.  [...]

Conde Nast Superstar Editors Live in Past

I have a hero and his name is David Remnick. He’s the prolific editor of The NewYorker.  He edits magazines and writes books better than anybody. Unfortunately, He’s blinded by his values and what he’s known and this position threatens the future of our cherished magazine.
Here he is at a breakfast at the SI Newhouse [...]

GM, Ford Management Must Go

The current Venture Capital Road Trip (literally Wagoner and Mullaly are driving from Detroit to Washington in hybrids; Nardelli reserves the right to fly) reeks of prepackaged public relations.   These guys presided over huge destruction in shareholder value and been very well compensated for it.   The WSJ now reports that Ford will speed up production [...]