Tag: VRP

“Okkupert” is a Norwegian political thriller TV series in ten episodes that premiered on TV2 Norge on October 5, 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg.

With a budget of kr 90 million (USD 11 million), the series is the most expensive Norwegian production to date, and has been sold to the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It is also streamed by Netflix in Australia, the United States, India and Canada, where it currently holds a four and a half star rating out of five.

“Okkupert” depicts a fictional near future in which Russia, with support from the EU, occupies Norway to restore its oil production. This is prompted by a Europe-wide energy crisis caused by Norway’s Green Party coming to power and stopping the country’s oil production.

“Homeland” Withdrawal? This Series From Norway Is Your New Favorite Geopolitical Thriller | Vogue | Jan 29, 2016
In a not-so-distant future, Norway has elected a radical branch of the Green Party, and its charismatic new prime minister shuts down the country’s supply of oil and gas to continental Europe. Despite an impending climate crisis, the EU is none too pleased with this overnight weaning from petrol, and invites Russia to offer Norway “technical assistance” in restoring its fossil fuel production. Russian gunships descend on Norway’s oil platforms. America, having withdrawn from NATO, is nowhere to be found. And so begins a slow, doublespeak-laden, Putin-style escalation into occupation.

In a dramatic style characteristic of Scandinavian film and television, the characters, which are drawn from every faction of the political situation and include the prime minister, a Norwegian double agent, a newspaper reporter, his restaurateur wife, and even the de facto Russian governor of Norway, are all portrayed sympathetically. And as a viewer, it’s impossible to take sides, or even to see through the fog of war to what a good outcome might be.

Occupied is Norway’s most successful (and expensive) TV series ever. Coproduced by the Swedish company behind The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Wallander, the show has garnered a wide audience across Europe—and strong objections from the Russian embassy in Oslo, which condemned the show. Netflix has just begun streaming Occupied, and though it’s unclear if the American audience will embrace an episodic with subtitles, this viewer, at least, found the series most binge-worthy.

Erik Skjoldbjærg, who directed Prozac Nation and the original, pre–Christopher Nolan Insomnia, is one of the show’s primary writers, and also the director of the first two episodes. Skjoldbjærg recently spoke with Vogue.com by phone from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, where he was momentarily stranded after missing a flight to Oslo.

How closely is Occupied related to what you and the other writers see in the real-world geopolitical situation?
Well, the Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbø came up with the idea back in 2008. I got involved a bit later on. And we obviously looked at the political situation in a number of different global conflicts. But we didn’t define it based on a single one. The day we started shooting, the Russian invasion of Crimea happened. And a lot of people have pointed to the similarities there. But obviously what happened in Ukraine couldn’t have been an inspiration. The season had already been planned.

But looking at the world, it’s obvious that at some point we are going to have an energy crisis, and with it an environmental crisis. And those two factors are going to, for sure, create some serious social changes. So in that sense, the series is realistic and mirrors the world’s current situation.

A lot of similar shows, even Homeland, have been criticized for creating a sort of false notion of good vs. evil. But with Occupied, I think most people will find themselves rooting for every character, even some of the Russian occupiers.
I’m glad you say that, because I always like to defend my characters to the bitter end. And I like actors who defend their characters. The really interesting conflicts are ones where you can understand both sides. It’s just a matter of what you emphasize. I don’t believe in evil, and I don’t find evil characters that interesting. In this show, everyone is trying to do their best, trying to do good in whatever situation they’re in. It boils down to their perspective and what they view as their task. And I think that’s part of why the world, why a lot of conflicts in the world, don’t have easy answers. But unfortunately we have to deal with them.

In some ways the show’s premise—a developed Western nation being invaded—is a bit far-fetched, and yet it all unfolds in quite a real-feeling way.
If our democratic rights were taken away from us, how would we react? I believe the vast majority would not take up arms. And I think, statistically, that is proven in both World Wars and in other conflicts with occupations. Most people would focus on their family, their jobs, their economy, their social status. These things are even more important than freedom of speech and other rights, at least for a while.

That was kind of our premise for the show. Follow these characters and see how they react. The myth is that people resist with everything they’ve got. Whereas the reality—if you look at it yourself and ask, What would you do? I’m not convinced I would take up arms and do, for instance, what the resistance group Free Norway does on the show.

During production I happened to hear that Kris Kristofferson song “Me and Bobby McGee.” You know, with the line, “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” Janis Joplin sang it, too. Anyway, when I heard that, it felt like a tagline for the whole series.

Are you excited to be picked up by Netflix in the U.S.?
In a way, when you come from a small country, you are just happy to get something distributed. It’s already played above expectations, so that makes me feel confident.

Does that mean there will be a second season?
Yes.

Occupied is available to stream now from Netflix.

TV drama depicting Russian invasion premieres in Norway | The Guardian | Oct 2, 2015
Russian commandos have kidnapped the prime minister. The Russian tricolour is flying over the capital. Citizens must decide whether they will collaborate with the occupation, or resist.

The scenario of Occupied, a Scandinavian thriller that premieres in Norway this weekend (Sunday 4 October), and in western Europe during the autumn, is likely to tap into fears of Russian aggression – and perhaps, according to critics, inflame them.

Based on an idea by the bestselling Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø, the series imagines that an environmentalist government has come to power in Norway and ceased to supply Europe with North Sea oil, forcing the EU to call on Russia to come to its aid.

This is a big-budget production with backing from Arte, the Franco-German TV network, and produced by the Swedish studio behind the Wallander TV series and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movies.

Russia has condemned the series for pitting Scandinavians against Russians “in the worst traditions of the cold war”. Although its creators claim that it is obviously fiction, the global context has been upended since Occupied was originally conceived – Russia’s occupation of Crimea last year and the civil war in east Ukraine have fuelled the worst crisis in relations with Moscow for a generation.

“When I presented this idea about two years ago, they said the problem is it’s a bit far-fetched,” Nesbø told the Guardian this year. But events in Ukraine have proved him right, he believes.

Marianne Gray, the series producer, said:“The timing is insane given what is happening in the world.”

For many in the Nordic countries, the possibility of Russian aggression seems an all too clear and present danger. Governments are ramping up their military spending in step with their rhetoric.

Sweden’s military has been instructed to call up thousands of reservists for refresher training “to increase the operational effectiveness of our units in response to the changing security situation in Europe”, said Maj Gen Karl Engelbrektson, an army spokesman. Sweden’s home guard, which mobilises some 22,000 volunteer reservists, says it has seen a large increase in people wanting to join since the Ukraine-Russia conflict broke out.

Earlier this year, Sweden’s government declared it was returning troops to the strategic Baltic territory of Gotland amid suspicions that Russia had conducted war games to seize Swedish, Danish and Finnish islands. The Swedish defence minister, Peter Hultqvist, announced an inquiry this autumn into reintroducing conscription, a move he himself favours and which is popular in the polls.

Urban Lindström, whose Facebook campaign to bring back conscription last month surpassed 10,000 followers, said: “It is imperative that not only the professional army, but also the home guard receives soldiers with adequate training – we can only achieve that with a sufficient number of conscripts every year.”

Opinion surveys suggest a new and growing plurality in favour of joining Nato – “insurance against occupation”, as some politicians call it. According to a poll in September, 41% of Swedes were in favour of Nato membership – up 10 percentage points since May – and 39% against.

Until recently, Finland was emphatically opposed to Nato membership, but its new rightwing government said in May it reserved the option to apply for membership “at any time” and was calculating the potential costs and implications.

Hannah Smith, a specialist in Russia at Helsinki University, and a supporter of Nato membership, said: “Since the beginning of 2014 the average voter’s concern about Russia has increased massively. A lot of the younger generation has been infected by the older generation’s suspiciousness.”

Suspicions about Moscow’s intentions towards Denmark have been fuelled by incursions into Danish airspace, with fighters scrambled 58 times in 2014 to intercept Russian aircraft. Denmark’s military intelligence alleges that In June 2014, Russia mounted a dummy attack on the Danish island of Bornholm while the country’s political elite were gathered there.

The choice of the Danish title – The Russian Ambassador – for Norway’s new TV series carries a particular resonance given the furore this year caused by Mikhail Vanin, Russia’s ambassador to Copenhagen, when he told a newspaper that Danish warships would be “targets for Russian nuclear missiles”, if the country chose to join Nato’s missile shield. The series airs in Denmark next week.

Vanin said: “History shows that aggression has always originated from the west of Europe. It is sufficient to recall the Teutonic Knights, Swedish expansion, Napoleon or Hitler. Do not forget about their modern successor – Nato. In this context, we have no positive sentiments about the forthcoming premiere of Occupied.”

Oslo’s relations with Russia have also turned frosty. In September, Norway unveiled the first of up to 52 F-35 fighter jets it is purchasing from the US, saying the stealth aircraft provide an important counterweight to Russia in the region. Announcing a boost to military spending, the defence minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide said: “Russia has shown both the ability and willingness to use military force to achieve its strategic objectives.”

Public opinion has also shifted. An opinion survey of 41 countries by Gallup last year found that Norwegians topped the poll as the most negatively disposed towards the Russian leadership, with 89% disapproving.

“In Norway many people used to be moderately positive towards Russia, but the developments in Ukraine have driven a big shift,” said Indra Øverland, a professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. “Some of those who were neutral have turned negative, and the negatives have gone super-negative.”

How will the new fictionalised TV version of Russian occupation play among the Scandinavian public? “Lots of people will watch it, but it is more an expression of what has changed rather than something that will influence opinion,” Prof Øverland said.

When Geir Pollen, a lecturer in Norwegian at St Petersburg State University, wrote an article condemning the series for resurrecting cold war stereotypes, some of his Russian students wrote him letters of thanks.

“When I see how much they love Norwegian and work on the language and are so dedicated, but then we give them such rubbish, I am very much ashamed,” Pollen said. “The series contributes to a black and white picture of the Russians. It is very irresponsible.”

Occupied will show on Sky Arts in the UK early in 2016. The series airs in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Belgium this autumn and in the new year.

Russia Criticizes War-Themed Norwegian TV Series “Occupied” | The Hollywood Reporter | Aug 28, 2015
Russia’s embassy in Norway has issued a concerned statement about the new Norwegian television series Okkupert (Occupied), which tells a fictitious story about Norway being occupied by Russia.

“Although the creators of the TV series were at pains to stress that the plot is fictitious and allegedly has nothing to do with reality, the film shows quite specific countries, and Russia, unfortunately, was given the role of an aggressor,” reads the statement, quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.

With a budget of 90 million kroner ($10.8 million), Occupied, created by renowned Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbø, is Norway’s most expensive television series ever made.

Set in the near future, the series tells a story about Russia occupying Norway on behalf of the European Union, due to the fact that the newly elected environmental friendly Norwegian government has stopped the all important oil- and gas-production in the North Sea.

“It is certainly regretful that in the year when the 70th anniversary of the victory in the second world war is celebrated, the series’ creators decided to scare Norwegian viewers with a non-existing threat from the East in the worst Cold War traditions, as if they had forgotten about the Soviet Army’s heroic contribution to liberation of Northern Norway from Nazi occupants,” continues the statement.

The first episode of Occupied, is scheduled to be aired on Norway’s TV2 on Sept. 27. The TV series was picked up by French-German network ARTE, according to the Nordic Film and TV Fund.

Marcy Carsey is a groundbreaking independent producer who has shaped network programming for twenty-five years, with an emphasis on independence: “When you share your financial risk with a studio, you give part of your creative control, too.” She and her professional partner Tom Werner are responsible for some of the defining situation comedies of the 1980s and nineties, including The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and That ’70s Show. For Carsey and Werner, story and star go hand in hand: as network executives in the seventies, they argued strenuously for the casting of relative unknowns like Robin Williams and Tom Hanks, and later as executive producers, for Roseanne Barr and John Lithgow as comedy leads. According to Carsey, when negotiating, “The real power lies with the person who has the deep faith and creative vision.” Carsey is known for being persuasive and convincing at all levels. Case in point: if she had not persuaded Bill Cosby to play a doctor instead of a limousine driver as he originally wanted, The Cosby Show might never have taken off in the phenomenal way it did. She and Werner are also credited with reviving the dying comedy genre and the NBC network. Warren Littlefield, vice president of comedy programming at NBC in the eighties and nineties once quipped, “Without them, I would be behind a counter saying, ‘Would you like fries with that?’” Having produced two thousand episodes, Carsey-Werner has syndicated shows in over one hundred and seventy-five countries that have been translated into fifty languages.

She was born Marcia Lee Peterson and grew up in the middle-class town of Weymouth, Massachusetts, twelve miles south of Boston. Because of the cold winters, she gravitated to television, especially Father Knows Bestand Maverick. She admitted, “I was always interested in TV, but I didn’t yet understand the breadth of jobs there were.” After college, she held various positions on the periphery of the industry: NBC tour guide at Rockefeller Plaza, gofer at the Tonight show, and program supervisor at an advertising agency. She and her fiancé, comedy writer John Jay Carsey, journeyed to Los Angeles where she acted in commercials and served as a script reader.

In 1974 Michael Eisner, then-president of ABC, hired Carsey when she was pregnant—something that was unheard of at the time and still unusual today. Carsey was invigorated by the “scrappy” network where she “figured I would succeed wildly or get tossed out in a year.” By 1978, she was promoted to senior vice president for prime-time series, a job she kept until the end of 1980. During this time, she was overseeing popular shows like Mork & Mindy, Soap, and Bosom Buddies. However, Carsey was frustrated with management and was looking for other career options: “I didn’t want to run the television division of a studio and I didn’t want to work at another network, so the only thing to do was to go out and produce. If I was going to do that logically, the only way to do it was independently.” As a result, she started her own production company, Carsey Productions. A year later, in 1982, she convinced, or “harangued”—in a good way, according to him—Tom Werner to leave ABC to form an independent company with her: the Carsey-Werner Company.

The Cosby Show was their first big hit, debuting in September 1984 on NBC. Like other series to follow, Carsey and Werner built this family show around a strong, recognizable lead. Carsey did everything she had to, including mortgaging her house, to get Cosby on the air. Cosby stipulated that the show had to be taped in New York, so it was a real sacrifice for Carsey to leave her family during production. The Cosby Show certainly was worth it and became one of NBC’s most profitable shows, leading to the beginning of NBC’s dominance of Thursday night that would last for eighteen years, as well as a syndication bonanza for the producers.

A slew of successful situation comedies followed: A Different World, Roseanne, Cybill, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and That ’70s Show. Carsey has tried to continually reinvent the family genre with eccentric, non-mainstream formulas: from an aging actress whose professional and personal life is in crisis (Cybill) to a “family” of aliens studying the ways of Earth (3rd Rock From the Sun). In their heyday, Carsey-Werner were able to balance success with such notable failures as Chicken Soup with Jackie Mason and their ill-fated attempt at reviving the quiz show, You Bet Your Life, starring Bill Cosby. Carsey described what she strives for in television comedy in the New York Times: “A great series requires wonderful talent on and off camera, terrific performers, a flash of comedic brilliance somewhere. You have to have terrific writers, direction, and a vision. It should be more than the sum of its parts. It should be an original of some kind.”

In 1998 Oprah Winfrey, Geraldine Laybourne, and Marcy Carsey (as a principal of the then Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Company), along with Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach, launched the Oxygen Network—the prominent cable channel for women, and in 2003 Carsey-Werner made a deal with Paramount Pictures for a three-year film development deal. In July 2005 Carsey and Werner announced that because of the changing environment of producing and owning shows they were scaling back development and beginning to work independently of each other. They had produced approximately two thousand hours of programming, including hit shows on all four major networks, and have received many awards for their work, including an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1985 for the series that started it all, The Cosby Show.

Let’s Go to Prison  Executive Producer   2006

Carsey-Werner’s success has been guided by the philosophy instilled by founding partners Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner over 30 years ago: “Quality over quantity – every programmust be worthy of its airtime”.

That philosophy has earned Carsey-Werner the highest accolades, receiving over 150 top awards and nominations including Emmys, Golden Globes, People’s Choice, Humanitas, DGA, Peabody and more.

Carsey-Werner had a top 5 program on multiple networks for 11 consecutive seasons, which is the longest run over the past 50 seasons.

Its programming and distribution has global impact, reaching more than 175 countries, in 50 languages, across every platform.

IMDBpro: https://pro-labs.imdb.com/company/co0030713/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carsey-Werner_Company/

In the Media: 
Producer Marcy Carsey to Chair UCLA’s Hammer Museum (Exclusive) | The Hollywood Reporter | Nov 6, 2013

The “Cosby Show” and “Roseanne” veteran takes over for former U.S. Sen. John Tunney, who’s retiring, but she tells THR she might not be done with Hollywood yet.

Producer Marcy Carsey, responsible for many of TV’s biggest comedy hits (The Cosby Show, Roseanne), will become its board chair in January, taking over from former U.S. Sen. John Tunney, who is retiring. “If I can just extend the work [Hammer director] Annie [Philbin] and John Tunney have done, I will be thrilled,” Carsey tells THR. “They’ve established the museum not only in the art it curates but also in the things it does for the community.”

Carsey and Philbin, both University of New Hampshire graduates, first met a couple of years ago at an alumni event held at the Hammer. Carsey, a longtime fan of the museum’s variety of community programs, joined its board shortly thereafter. However, she was hesitant when Philbin first approached her about assuming the chairmanship. Although Carsey co-owns a folk- and outsider-art shop, Just Folk, in Summerland, Calif., she doesn’t consider herself an art collector. “What I put in my house is lots of weathered old American furniture from the 1800s, velocipedes, pull toys, old whimsical things,” she says. “Collectors keep doing it and change their wonderful collections, I really just needed to furnish my house with stuff that made me smile. There are so many people who are avid students [of art] and have been for decades, and collectors that are deeply knowledgeable in ways I am not.”

But Philbin was confident that Carsey was the right person for the position. “She’s a fearless leader, and I will benefit from her years of being a major producer and the knowledge she has gained from that,” the director tells THR. “My measure of a great leader is that they are a great citizen of this city and have an impulse to enrich the life of the people in Los Angeles.”

At the Hammer, which is currently featuring exhibitions by photographer James Welling and painter Forrest Bess, Carsey will work closely with board president Michael Rubel, a managing partner at CAA. “Michael and Marcy are thoughtful and brilliant people for us,” Philbin says. Although she adds that it’s “who they are as leaders,” not their Hollywood connections, that make them fit to lead. Carsey and Rubel headline a board with plenty of ties to the entertainment industry, including UTA’s Peter Benedek and Jeremy Zimmer, WME’s George Freeman, Gersh’s Bob Gersh, producer David Hoberman and media investor Dean Valentine, as well as actress Susan Bay Nimoy (wife of Leonard) and auctioneer Viveca Paulin-Ferrell (wife of Will).

Carsey is unsurprised but pleased with Hollywood’s embrace of the L.A. art world. “When I came here in the ’60s, it felt like the gold rush days. Nothing had taken root and everything felt new and transient,” she says. “But something has changed. Now the movie and television industry has traditions and longstanding citizens, and I think they have a deeper pride in Los Angeles as a city that in many ways is great and in many ways aspires to be great. And a strong arts community and a strong awareness and support of the arts always make a city better and greater.”

As for her own involvement in the industry, Carsey has been inactive since That ’70s Show went off the air in 2006 and she and producing partner Tom Wernerdecided to shutter their hugely successful independent production company. “The business had shifted so that it was almost impossible to stay independent,” she says. “Now, oddly enough, it’s probably possible again, with all these extra ways to distribute product.”

So would Carsey consider a return to Hollywood, then?

“Sure, anybody who has taken great joy in any creative field never loses the love for it,” she says. “The joy of making something out of nothing that maybe gets people thinking or laughing, it’s a thrill. You never stop loving that.”

Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, Marcy Carsey call rape allegations against Bill Cosby “beyond comprehension’ | The Boston Herald | Nov 21, 2014

The producers behind “The Cosby Show” have weighed in on the controversy over the rape allegations levied by multiple women against Bill Cosby.

“The Bill we know was a brilliant and wonderful collaborator on a show that changed the landscape of television. These recent news reports are beyond our knowledge or comprehension,” Marcy Carsey and current Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said in a statement Thursday.

The pair are the first prominent showbiz figures to speak out regarding the allegations from multiple women levied against Cosby.

Carsey and Werner built an independent production powerhouse, the Carsey-Werner Co., in the 1980s and ’90s on the strength of “Cosby Show’s” success on NBC in the 1980s. Werner had been attached to exec produce the NBC family comedy project that Cosby had been developing until the network pulled the plug on Wednesday. Carsey has been retired from the biz since 2005.

As the accusations against Cosby mount, there has been much discussion among industry insiders about how much Cosby associates knew about the alleged incidents, particularly for those in positions of authority. The statement from Carsey and Werner appears to be offering a measure of support to the embattled star as well as to assert that they had no knowledge of such alleged activities.

“The Cosby Show” cemented Cosby’s status as one of America’s best-lived entertainers. A week of nearly non-stop news coverage of three women recounting disturbing allegations of being drugged and raped by the comedian has already taken a huge toll on Cosby’s legacy.

Lawyers for the comedian have denied the charges as “discredited allegations” and in one case “a fabricated lie.” But Cosby himself has remained silent amid the storm.

‘Roseanne’ Producer Marcy Carsey Gives $20M To Alma Mater UNH | Business Insider | Oct 3, 2013

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Emmy-award winning television producer Marcy Carsey has donated $20 million to her alma mater, the University of New Hampshire.

The Carsey School for Public Policy will train future leaders in the United States and around the world to use research to solve problems.

Carsey teamed up with Tom Werner to form Carsey-Werner and produced long-running and popular shows that included “The Cosby Show,” ”Roseanne,” ”Third Rock from the Sun” and “That 70s Show.” She is frequently named as one of the most powerful women in show business.

The gift builds on her 2002 gift of $7.5 million that established the Carsey Institute, which conducts research on vulnerable children, youth, and families and on sustainable community development.

Carsey graduated from UNH in 1966 with a degree in English.

Micah Green 

Micah Green co-leads the Film Finance and Sales group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). While there, he has worked critically to finance and sell many films including “A Most Violent Year”, “Her”, and “Looper”. He has also repped Morgan Spurlock.

Over the past four years, Green has become an outspoken advocate for the Los Cabos Film Festival, citing it as an important emerging market for film distribution, financing, and sales.

Green co-founded the film financing and sales company Cinetic in 1998 and left seven years later to join CAA. He attended the USC Gould School of Law.

Past Film & TV

Cop Car Domestic Distributer (adviser) 2015

A Most Violent Year Special Thanks 2014

Her Thanks 2013

Finding Vivian Maier Special Thanks 2013

All Is Lost Thanks 2013

Blue Caprice Special Thanks 2013

Looper Special Thanks 2012

Chernobyl Diaries Special Thanks 2012

The Imposter Distribution Advisory Services 2012

Machine Gun Preacher Thanks 2011

The Black Tulip Talent Agent 2010

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Thanks 2009

Crude Special Thanks 2009

18 (Short) Very Special Thanks 2009

Tell Them Anything You Want:

A Portrait of Maurice Sendak (TV) Thanks 2009

The Bridge Thanks 2006

Independent Lens (TV) Sales 2006

Murderball Executive Producer 2005

Nearing Grace Thanks 2005

Super Size Me Special Thanks 2004

Trigger Happy Associate Producer 2001

Clients

Rian Johnson  Looper, Star Wars: Episode VIII

Antoine Fuqua Training Day, Southpaw, Olympus Has Fallen

J. C. Chandor A Most Violent Year, All Is Lost, Margin Call

Neal Dodson A Most Violent Year, All Is Lost, Margin Call

Mark Kassen Puncture, Before We Go, Jobs

Aaron Berg Section 6, G. I. Joe 3

Anna Gerb A Most Violent Year, All Is Lost, Margin Call

Christopher Dillon Quinn God Grew Tired of Us, I Animal, Eating Animals

Craig Haffner Modern Marvels, History Channel Presents, Left Luggage

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-green-a8114b4

IMDBpro: https://pro-labs.imdb.com/name/nm1964548/

E-mail: mgreen@caa.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/micah.green

In the Media

 

Los Cabos Film Festival Creates Exclusive Atmosphere for Dealmaking | Variety | November 16, 2015

The organizers of the Los Cabos Film Festival keep trying to come up with another way to describe the November event beyond “the Cannes of Latin America,” but the comparison fits so well, they just might have to give up.

The five-day festival at the tip of Baja California – just a two-hour flight from Los Angeles – has quickly become a relaxing place for Hollywood power players and their international colleagues to talk co-productions, acquistions and future partnerships after a hectic AFM.

TV is a major focus this year, with reps from Netflix, HBO, SundanceTV and others attending. Plus, Amazon Studios exec Scott Foundas served on one of the film juries. The TV execs have their eyes on finished series like Argentina’s “Chromo,” series in the works such as Canada’s “Merciful” as well as feature films for digital platforms.

With filmmakers also on the west coast for the AFI Festival last week, the charter flight from L.A. to Cabo is full of people catching up on scripts and planning upcoming shoots. Each year, CAA’s Micah Green brings a number of agents and producers to the fest. The American contingent included execs from Annapurna, A24, Fox Searchlight, the Weinstein Co., UTA, WME and dozens more companies.

Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jared Leto and Alexander Skarsgard were among the actors who came to the festival, but the focus tends to be more on the art and the business of film than on celebrities.

“It’s so productive,” explains Canadian producer Nicole Irene Dyck, marveling that it took a trip to Mexico to bring together two Canadians for a meeting. “We had amazing meetings,” agrees “Picking Cotton” director Jessica Sanders.

The official Meet Your Neighbors and Discovery co-production forums yield fruitful talks – Dyck closed a production deal with Canada, for instance – but festival director Alonso Aguilar explains that “The real Los Cabos Film Festival happens behind the curtains.”

This year, many of the execs were holed up at the stunning, tranquil Marquis Los Cabos hotel. “That’s why we put these people together in the same hotels, we want them to socialize,” says Aguilar.

And with Latin American and especially Mexican filmmakers are increasingly in demand around the world, it’s also the place where talent is spotted and signed. Two years ago, Jose Manuel Cravioto was signed by Paradigm while at Cabo with “Mexico’s Most Wanted,” and then went to Sundance with “Reversal, “for example.

XYZ Films’ Nate Bolotin says that the key difference at Los Cabos is the way it has aligned with key industry executives and filmmakers, which enabled it to quickly make a serious name for itself. “The undeniably breathtaking setting” is also a big draw, Bolotin admits.

For Mexican producers, there’s huge potential in tapping into the massive Spanish-speaking U.S., and Aguilar says the fest can also help foster more commercial projects. “Instructions Not Included” actor Eugenio Derbez was there to talk about his new film, “How To Be a Latin Lover.” “Club de Cuervos” helmer Gaz Alazraki also used Los Cabos to announce his next, period comedy “Alomst Paradise.” Both projects are very high-end by Mexican standards.

“We need to find a key to open the Latin American market in the States,” Aguilar says.

The scenic coastline and high-powered execs aren’t the only thing Cabo has in common with Cannes. Just as it sometimes seems easier to schedule drinks with a contact at the Majestic Bar than all year long in Los Angeles, the same goes for Cabo. So several bizzers said they managed to find time to meet up with people from their own city who were harder to pin down at home.

Now, the challenge is to preserve the intimacy of the festival while carefully growing its stature. “We can invite more producers, financiers and agents and make this a really classy, industry pro festival,” says Fabrica Cine’s Gaston Pavlovich.

“There are so many seeds planted in Los Cabos,” says Aguilar. “They grow the whole year.”

CAA Clout Making Los Cabos Festival a Must-Stop for Hollywood | Variety | November 14, 2014

CAA’s co-head of film finance and sales Micah Green was talked into going to the first Los Cabos Film Festival in Cabo San Lucas three years ago mostly as favor for an actor client who was working with the founders to try to make sure the first edition had a decent turnout.

Though Cabo is still recovering from the big hurricane Odile, with scaffolding everywhere and several major resorts still undergoing repairs, the festival continuing full-steam ahead with the hopeful hashtag #unstoppable much in evidence.Three years later, he’s such a convert that he’s brought a delegation of about 30 assorted agents, producers and financiers to the five-day long festival based in the Mexican resort town.

Discovering or meeting with the talent showcased at screenings of some 40 features is one major part of why Green is here; the other is his belief that it’s the ideal place to grow an industry event that’s as focused on high-level finance meetings as it is on gala screenings and parties.

“I became a complete believer in what could be created here,” says Green. With an easy direct flight from Los Angeles and hundreds of hotels at every price level, the beachside location has the infrastructure to handle a major event.

Festivals are focused on launching premieres for the press and public while markets are mainly about film sales. But how do those films get made in the first place? Green says the third thing that’s increasingly important is the interplay between financiers, producers and agents that often gets done over drinks in a festival setting — preferably with palm trees and an sea view. “It’s emerged as a fantastic addition to the landscape,” he says.

Execs also have the chance to work with up-and-coming actors and filmmakers while mingling at screenings and parties. At last year’s fest, “Miss Bala” director Gerardo Naranjo’s first English-language film was packaged with Dakota Fanning attached to star. Among the Hollywood contingent here this year are Basil Iwanyk and Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill, partners at Molly Smith’s Black Label, who are teaming on Mexico-set “Sicario” directed by Denis Villeneuve; “Lone Survivor” producer Spencer Silna and CAA co-head of film finance and sales Roeg Sutherland.

Festival head Alonso Aguilar says making successful deals starts from a human approach. When he became director, the fest remodeled the competition to focus on the North American triumvirate of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. “It allows us to have a place in the international arena,” says Aguilar.  And while American agents do business at high-end resorts, international producers along with 12 heads of national film funds are doing “speed dating” meetings which already have a strong track record, with three of the co-productions seeded last year ready to be announced at Cannes a few months later.

“We want to sharpen the industry tools,” he says.

It’s a very serious festival, says Green, with “really strong, informed cinematic programming.” Buyers are here too, including Magnolia, Goldwyn, Ray Strache of Fox Searchlight and sales companies like FilmNation and IM Global, along with reps from the other major talent agencies.

They’re looking not just for films to acquire, but to make contacts with talent, because while foreign language film is a small niche in the U.S., foreign directors are can be much bigger business.

Specialty Box Office: ‘Comic-Con Episode IV,’ ‘Damsels In Distress,’ ‘The Hunter,’ ‘We Have A Pope’ | Deadline | April 6, 2012

Among the upcoming Easter weekend’s new specialty releases is a feature about a fictional election of a reluctant pope, a fan’s view of a uber popular summer festival, a Willem Dafoe starrer set in one of earth’s most remote corners and a long awaited return of Metropolitan director Whit Stillman. Morgan Spurlockexplains why he firmly remained behind the camera in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope. IFC Films is playing up the humor factor in its latest Cannes release We Have A Pope. A producer from The Hunter explains how the harsh elements in one of Australia’s most remote areas posed both a challenge and a reward for their production and Damsels In Distress producer Martin Shafer offers insight on the slow but evolving process to bring Stillman’s latest to the screen.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope

[article continues…]

Academy Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen recently launched Bruce Cohen Productions, adding live events, theater, and new media to his existing film and television businesses.

Most recently, Cohen produced the Academy Award-nominated film Silver Linings Playbook. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and was the first film to be Oscar-nominated for the four acting categories since 1981. The blockbuster grossed over $236 million worldwide, more than eleven times its budget.

Along with producing partner Dan Jinks, Bruce produced Milk, starring Sean Penn as “Harvey Milk.” The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was also nominated for Best Picture by the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) and the Producer’s Guild (PGA), and received the PGA’s Stanley Kramer Award.

Bruce and Dan won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2000 for producing American Beauty. The film, which won a total of five Oscars, as well as the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and PGA Award, was the first film produced through The Jinks/Cohen Company. Their second film was Down with Love starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, followed by Big Fish, which was nominated as Best Picture by both the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs. Other films include The Forgotten, starring Julianne Moore, and The Nines, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis.

In television, the pair executive produced the acclaimed ABC series Pushing Daisies, which won a total of 7 Emmys and was nominated for a Golden Globe as best comedy.

Before his partnership with Dan, Bruce produced The Flintstones and the prequel, The Flintstones: In Viva Rock Vegas, as well as Mousehunt. He executive produced To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar! and co-produced Alive. A graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983, he began his film career as the DGA trainee on Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple and went on to serve as the associate producer and first assistant director on Spielberg’s Hook.

Along with James Moll and Dan Jinks, Bruce produced A Timeless Call, a film tribute to veterans, directed by Spielberg for the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver. He was appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles to the Mayoral Transition Team in 2005, and Bruce and his husband, Gabe Catone, were the first LGBT couple to be married by the Mayor at City Hall in May, 2008. He is on the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind the federal case to have Prop 8 declared unconstitutional and on the Advisory Board of the Harvey Milk Foundation.

Bruce recently finished up his second term as Vice President of Motion Pictures of the Producer’s Guild. He is on the Executive Committee of the Producer’s Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and produced the first ever Governor’s Awards for the Academy in November 2009.

Silver Linings Playbook  Producer 2012
8 (Video) Executive Producer 2012
The 83rd Annual Academy Awards Producer 2011
Pushing Daisies (TV Series)  Executive Producer 2007 – 2009

Education & Advocacy
We offer a full range of affordable distribution, educational and marketing advice and advocacy to independent filmmakers looking to reach out to traditionally underserved audiences.

Law firm of Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson is spearheading the program, availing itself for a flat fee rather than billing by the hour.

‘The Invisible War’ to Be Distributed by Cinedigm and New Video | The Hollywood Reporter | March 5, 2012

Kirby Dick’s look at the rape epidemic in the U.S. military won the U.S. documentary audience award at the 2012 fest.

Cinedigm Entertainment Group and New Video have jointly acquired North American distribution rights to The Invisible War. Directed by Kirby Dick, the film won the U.S. documentary audience award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in January. It will receive a theatrical release this summer.

TAPP TV

– Subscription TV connecting super-fans to the personalities they can’t get enough of

TAPP is building online video channels around celebrities, allowing super-fans close-up access to the people they adore. Fan-supported subscription channels you can watch on any device – your phone, tablet, pc, or TV.

Location: San Francisco

Size: 11-50 employees

Funding: Round in 2014 (Unknown Amount)

Markets: Digital Media, Television, Subscription Businesses

Type: Privately Held

Founders: Mike Greer, Jon Klein, Jeff Gaspin

Sarah Palin’s Tapp Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTp8qdzlLWw

(From TAPP’s website) BRAINCHILD OF TWO LIFELONG DISRUPTERS

Jeff Gaspin and Jon Klein first met 20 years ago while pioneering reality television at NBC and CBS, respectively. They were ahead of the curve then, and they’ve stayed there – helping to usher in the era of online video in the 2000’s, and now turning their sights to media’s next frontier: subscription television.

Digital media enables stars to reach their biggest fans directly on a smartphone or tablet – eliminating the network, studio, and cable system middlemen. Plummeting production costs mean that subscription channels built around ultra-niche personalities and their super-fans can become highly profitable in a very short time. Glenn Beck, Louis CK, Jon Stewart, Rand Paul, and WWE, among others, have all entered this lucrative arena.

Now imagine a single platform featuring scores of these subscription TV channels, showcasing the biggest names in endless niches all the way down the long tail. A niche Netflix. Sirius for subscription television. Generating big data troves about viewer behavior. That’s TAPP.

For personalities, we supply soup-to-nuts service – creating and producing their channels, distributing them over the Web and on apps, handling the marketing, and managing the back-end technology, payment processing, and data analytics. For consumers, we’re making a fantasy come true: the chance to watch micro-channels built around their interests and their idols.

For the television industry as we know it today, it’s a major disruption. Just as reality TV and online video were when Jeff and Jon blazed those trails.

TAPP – LIST OF SERVICES

-Preogramming Strategy

-Production (provide studio space and crew)

-Back-end Technology (Updates and enhancement on platforms; lower streaming cost)

-Front-end UX Design

-App Development (apps for each channel)

-Payment Processing

-Marketing

-Distribution

-Customer Service

Channels:

The Sarah Palin Channel

https://sarahpalinchannel.com/

The Sarah Palin Channel is a member-supported online channel offering supporters of the candidate for Vice President of the United States and former Alaska Governor unprecedented access to and interaction with Governor Palin.

Governor Palin serves as executive editor, and oversees all content posted to the channel, which includes timely videos and her commentary on important issues facing the Nation. Additionally, the channel offers subscribers a behind-the-scenes look into Sarah’s personal life as mother, grandmother, wife and neighbor.

The Sarah Palin Channel is a community where Americans who share her ideals can share ideas, discuss the issues in-depth, and find solutions. Channel members will also have the ability to post their own videos, send questions to Sarah and participate in online video chats, where they can talk directly with her and other subscribers.

New Life TV with Steve Arterburn

Steve Arterburn is an American author, speaker, counselor and radio talk-show host. His popular radio call-in show, New Life Live, features Arterburn, a human relationship expert, and his co-hosts, dispensing Christian-based advice to three million weekly listeners who call in on a variety of problems—marriage, anger, grief, anxiety, abuse, addictions and other issues.

New Life TV delves into subjects such as Life Recovery, Sexual Addiction, Relationships and Marriage, and Counseling, teaching one how to live a better, more fulfilling life. New Life TV offers members the opportunity to interact with Arterburn and his co-hosts during regular video chats.

Steve has a large and very passionate following of fans who are hooked on his radio show, devour his books, flock to his workshops – and are eager to see more from him. He talks about things you just can’t discuss on traditional television. His shows on New Life TV are more jarring, honest, and emotional, thanks to the authentic connection he has with his audience.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAPP_TV

TAPP TV – “TAPP” stands for TV APP – is a subscription-based online video content network, home to individual “channels” built around public personalities with large followings. It was founded in 2013 by Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBC Universal Television, and Jonathan Klein, former president of CNN US. Michael Greer, former CTO of the Onion, is TAPP’s co-founder and CTO.

TAPP TV subscribers pay $9.95 per month or $99.95 per year to receive daily video content from subscribed video channels. Each channel is sold separately.

TAPP TV’s investors include Discovery Communications and Demarest Films, as well as individual investors including Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, and investment bankers Ken Moelis, Peter Ezersky and Michael Huber. In addition to Gaspin and Klein, the TAPP TV board includes Sean Atkins, senior vice president and general manager, Digital, at Discovery Communications.

In March 2014, Gaspin and Klein announced plans to launch of roster of channels on the TAPP platform in 2014. TAPP launched its first channel on March 20: New Life TV, featuring Steve Arterburn, an American syndicated radio host with 2 million weekly listeners to his New Life Live program. Arterburn is a Christian counselor, author and motivational speaker, focused on relationships, family and addiction. He is the founder of New Life Ministries and Women of Faith.

TAPP’s founders have cited Glenn Beck’s Blaze TV (http://www.theblaze.com/tv/), which launched in 2012, as one inspiration for their business model. Reports have put The Blaze’s subscriber base at 300,000 people paying $9.95 per month.

In The Media:

TheGrill: Innovators Talk Opportunities, Pitfalls for Video Content in the Digital Age (Video)

10/7/2014   The Wrap

http://www.thewrap.com/thegrill-innovators-talk-opportunities-pitfalls-for-video-content-in-the-digital-age/

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9FBBP2Pa8

Traditional programmers “really have to throw out the playbook and start fresh,” Jeff Gaspin tells TheWrap’s annual leadership conference

Creating digital content in the age of digital can be an extremely liberating experience for young filmmakers — but it can also pose numerous challenges when digital and traditional media are still trying to reach common ground and a mutually beneficial way of working together.

That was a big topic at the innovators’ panel at TheGrill conference at the Montage Beverly Hills on Tuesday, where MiTu Network Beatriz Acevedo, BuzzFeed Motion Pictures president Ze Frank, TAPP co-founder Jeff Gaspin and indie film producer Sev Ohanian discussed the opportunities and stumbling blocks as they attempt to bring compelling video content to an audience with entirely new viewing habits than the previous generation.

The panelists were among the pioneers from TheWrap’s second annual Innovators List, which acknowledges rule-breaking, risk-taking mavericks who are thinking differently about the rules of film and television production.

As someone who’s had his feet in both traditional and digital media, Gaspin, the former NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman, offered his perspective on what challenges making the tradition entails.

Hint: It requires a lot of adjustment.

In the past, Gaspin noted, programmers were in the position of defining what viewers watched. It’s a whole different ballgame these days.

“That has changed 180 degrees in that the viewer will watch only what they want to watch,” Gaspin noted.

Those with backgrounds in traditional programming “really have to throw out the playbook and start fresh,” Gaspin said — adding that he envied his fellow panelists because “They don’t have the same learnings that I have that I’m trying to unlearn.”

Acevedo conceded that she too had experienced a teachable moment or two in the development of MiTu. She recalled one early project where “we made the classic mistake” of hiring traditional talent that, according to conventional wisdom, should have worked. But didn’t.

“After two views we learned that this show was not very successful,” Acevedo recalled. “We decided we needed to take a cue” from young content creators.

Frank, whose BuzzFeed recently expanded into mid-form and long-form video, said that he views such “oops moments” as an essential part of the growing process.

“For us, it’s constant; it’s literally our process baked in, is that you fail,” Frank said, “So yeah, there’s a lot of oops moments, but it’s kind of critical to the process.”

But while there are plenty of potential pitfalls to navigate, the rewards can be plentiful — particularly for the new breed of content creators, who find themselves not only to be able to make the content they want without creative restrictions, but also receive outside support while doing so.

“These latino millennials have been craving new content for a long, long time we do have our soaps and our game shows and our soccer, and that is fantastic, it still does really, really well on broadcast, as you all know. But we still craved something else,” Acevedo said. “These latino content creators decided to take it into their own hands and create the content they’ve been craving themselves. We wanted to be that new generation media company with MiTu who would sort of nurture them and foster them and help them grow. And this is the principle with which we have built MiTu.”

“As a young filmmaker — only a couple of years ago I was making YouTube videos in my backyard with my friend — what Ze and Beatriz are doing now is shocking,” noted Ohanian, who made headlines earlier this year with “Seeds,” a short film that was shot on Google Glass. “It’s literally mind-blowing to people who are just starting off to be able to make their own content and have that freedom, but have the support that comes with both of your respective companies — that’s not a small point for us at all. I think that is incredibly admirable, and the fact that you guys are giving opportunities to young filmmakers who are just starting off and giving them the support that they would never have otherwise — that’s huge.”

TheWrap also named to its Innovators List TAPP co-founder Jon Klein, Seriously CEO Andrew Stalbow, Whisper CEO & co-founder Michael Heyward, Techstars managing director Cody Simms, actress-director-philanthropist Angelina Jolie, “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, General Assembly CEO & co-founder Jake Schwartz, and Is or Isn’t Entertainment founders Dan Bucatinsky and Lisa Kudrow.

TheWrap’s 2014 Innovators List: 11 Thought Leaders Who Are Changing Hollywood

10/1/2014   The Wrap

http://www.thewrap.com/thewraps-2014-innovators-list-11-thought-leaders-who-are-changing-hollywood/

Jeff Gaspin & Jon Klein, Co-Founders, TAPP

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-IdEyhu-GM
TAPP Chairman Gaspin (formerly of NBCUniversal) and CEO Klein (formerly of CNN and CBS) see a TV future ruled by subscription channels.  The two long-time friends launched TAPP (short for “TV App”) as a subscription-based, online video platform for big personalities such as Sarah Palin.  For $9.95 a month, Sarah Palin Channel subscribers get to watch the former Alaska Governor and GOP VP nominee discuss everything from Obamacare to her “award winning BBQ salmon recipe.”  TAPP’s backers include Discovery Communications and Google’s Eric Schmidt.  While it’s not yet clear how many people will pay $9.95 a month for such programming, TAPP is targeting a range of personalities in categories like sports, politics, religion, entertainment and fashion. – Jon Erlichman

Sarah Palin Launches Her Own Channel Online

7/27/2014 Variety

http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/sarah-palin-launches-online-video-channel-1201269982/

Sarah Palin — former governor of Alaska, erstwhile candidate for VP of the U.S. and polarizing public figure — has unveiled a new subscription-based Internet TV network that promises direct access to her and her supporters.

The Sarah Palin Channel, which costs $9.95 per month or $99.95 for a one-year subscription, will feature her commentary on “important issues facing the nation,” as well as behind-the-scenes looks into her personal life as “mother, grandmother, wife and neighbor.” Palin serves as executive editor, overseeing all content posted to the channel.

“I want to talk directly to you on our channel, on my terms — and no need to please the powers that be,” Palin, who is also a Fox News contributor, said in a video announcing the channel. “Together, we’ll go beyond the sound bites and cut through the media’s politically correct filter.”

Palin is producing the channel in partnership with Tapp, the online-video venture formed by Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBCUniversal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN U.S.

The conservative pol’s online network is modeled on TheBlaze, the online-video network and website that ex-Fox News host Glenn Beck launched in 2011. TheBlaze TV is now also carried on Dish Network and regional cable systems.

Subscribers to the Sarah Palin Channel will have the ability to post their own videos to the website, submit questions to her, and participate in online video chats with her and other subscribers. The site includes a national debt ticker, and a countdown clock showing the number of days left in President Obama’s second term.

Active U.S. military members can subscribe free of charge, according to Tapp. For both monthly and yearly subscription plans, the first two weeks are free and users can cancel at any time during the trial period.

Gaspin, Klein and co-founder Michael Greer, former CTO of The Onion, announced Tapp in March 2014. The company’s first channel is Steve Arterburn’s New Life TV, hosted by the relationship counselor and radio host. According to Tapp, the Arterburn channel became profitable less than four months after launching.

Tapp investors include Discovery Communications and individuals including investment bankers Ken Moelis and Peter Ezersky. They were recently joined by Luminari Capital, a venture fund founded by Daniel Leff focused on digital video investments.

Other TV personalities that have jumped to the Internet include ex-CNN host Larry King, who now has an online talk show produced with Ora.tv, and Katie Couric, who joined Yahoo as global news anchor. Paula Deen, who lost her show on Food Network after racial comments that she made came to light, is planning to launch her own cooking channel online this fall.

Is Sarah Palin the founder-in-chief of her own TV channel?

3/17/2014 Upstart

http://upstart.bizjournals.com/companies/media/2014/03/17/is-sarah-palin-launching-tv-channel.html

The UpTake: Sarah Palin may be about to prove her entrepreneurial spirit once again but by seizing yet another media opportunity.

Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is preparing to launch her own TV channel, according to a report on Friday by Capital New York, a blog that covers New York business.

The channel, tentatively called “Rogue TV,” will be hosted by Tapp TV, launched last week by former CNN chief Jon Klein and former NBC Universal entertainment executive Jeff Gaspin.

Capital New York’s source told the site that Palin’s channel, which is expected to cost $10 per month, and will be like a “video version of her Facebook page,” including video commentaries from the former governor herself, discussing current events and political issues.

In spite of resigning from her role as governor of Alaska and losing in her bid for the vice-presidential office with presidential candidate John McCain, her endorsement among other political candidates remains sought after.

Already this year she has endorsed Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.); Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R), who is running for governor of the Texas; and tea party politician Katrina Pierson, according to a Huffington Post report.

Sarah Palin plans ‘Rogue TV’

CAPITAL 3/14/2014

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/03/8541966/sarah-palin-plans-%E2%80%98rogue-tv%E2%80%99

Fox News contributor and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be launching her own digital video channel, tentatively called “Rogue TV,” a source familiar with the project told Capital.

The channel will be available through Tapp, the digital video service founded by former CNN chief Jon Klein and former NBC Universal entertainment executive Jeff Gaspin. Subscriptions will cost $10 per month.

Rogue is expected to launch in April or May, and it would be one of the first of the digital channels offered by Tapp.

Palin’s channel will feature video commentaries from the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, discussing current events and political issues.

It will also have advice and guidance from Palin, such as tips for parents and recipes. There are also tentative plans to have subscribers engage in regular video chats with Palin.

Representatives for Tapp did not respond to a request for comment on the plans.

Palin’s large social media presence (four million Facebook fans, one million Twitter followers) is probably a big factor in Tapp’s recruitment of her. She may not have a daily radio or talk show, but she clearly has loyal fans.

The New York Post reported early this week that Palin was approached by Gaspin and Klein, but that she hadn’t committed to doing the channel for Tapp. In fact, our source says, production has already started on her channel, and she has recorded a number of segments.

Palin is currently a contributor to Fox News Channel, after re-joining the cable network last June. She also hosts a reality show for The Sportsman Channel called “Amazing America.” Rogue is a different beast, however, with daily updates, focusing on more personal messages. It isn’t clear whether Rogue would affect either of Palin’s existing deals.

The addition of Palin raises questions about what sort of content Tapp channels will feature.

The W.W.E. and Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze have confirmed that subscription digital-video products can be good business. But the wrestling company has decades of archival video and hours of original content each week to fill its channel, and TheBlaze has hours of original content every day, including shows hosted by people other than Glenn Beck. Both also hew to high production values in their products. In other words, successful implementations of the business model have also demonstrated a significant commitment of time from talent—and money from the backers—in the long run.

What other talent Tapp is lining up has not yet been revealed, but we hear that Tapp has been casting a wide net, seeking out both political personalities like Palin, as well as entertainment and lifestyle personalities.

The company’s website paints a picture of what to expect, with a word-cloud featuring topics like “paranormal,” “faith,” “relationships,” “fantasy sports” and “science.”

TAPP Scores Funding From Eric Schmidt For Subscription Video

3/12/2014

http://www.socaltech.com/tapp_scores_funding_from_eric_schmidt_for_subscription_video/s-0053987.html

Los Angeles-based TAPP, a new startup co-founded by Jeff Gaspin, the former Chairman of NBC Universal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN/U.S., said this morning that it has scored funding from a number of high profile investors. TAPP said that its investors include Discovery Communications, Demarest Films, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, as well as Ken Moelis, Peter Ezersky and Michael Huber. Details on the funding and backing of the startup were not anounced. According to TAPP, it will offer up a subscription video platform featuring “thought leaders” in the areas of sports, politics, religion, relationships, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, and fitness, offering up daily content and subscription-only access to those thought leaders. The company also said its co-founder and CTO is, Michael Greer, who was head of technology and product development for The Onion.

(Jon Klein interview) Amazon Wants You to Fire Your TV Provider: Klein

4/3/2014

http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2014-04-03/amazon-wants-you-to-fire-your-tv-provider-klein

Former CNN, NBC Execs Want to ‘TAPP’ Palin for New Streaming Video Service

3/11/2014

With an appearance on Bloomberg TV Tuesday, Former CNN president Jon Klein and former NBC entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin announced their new online streaming video venture called TAPP, short for “TV App.” As for the types of personalities the pair hopes to feature on the service? According to Klein, Sarah Palin is exactly the type of person they are looking for.

“We are not talking about specific talent,” Klein said in response to rumors that they have been in talks with Palin about the venture. “I will tell you that Sarah Palin is the kind of personality who has a massive social presence, and a core group of followers and supporters who hang on to her every word. That is exactly the characteristic that these channels are looking for.”

Similar to Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze.com, TAPP will consist of multiple channels and shows that users can stream online for somewhere in the $10/month range. “Everybody’s got someone, one person at least, that they would pay $10 per month to get more of,” Klein added. He envisions a world in which “everyone has a TAPP channel” the way anyone can have a YouTube channel today.

TAPP’s initial batch of investors includes Discovery Communications, Demarest Films and Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt.

(VIDEO) Former CNN, NBC Chiefs Launch Video Channel ‘Tapp’

3/11/2014 Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/former-cnn-nbc-chiefs-launch-video-channel-tapp-5IsVQhFRS6Kp6QLludit_A.html

CNN, NBCU Alums Jon Klein, Jeff Gaspin Team Up for Online Video Venture

3/1/2014 Variety

http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/nbcu-cnn-alums-jon-klein-jeff-gaspin-team-up-for-online-video-venture-1201129490/

Sarah Palin reportedly target by firm for channel akin to Glenn Beck’s the Blaze

Two of the biggest names sitting on the sidelines in the media business are teaming up for an online video venture.

Jeff Gaspin, formerly chairman of NBC Universal TV Entertainment, and Jon Klein, previously president of CNN, are launching Tapp, a series of digital subscription channels that will be built around particular celebrities.

“Not every celebrity or talent out there has the ability to get on cable but they still have rabid fans,” said Gaspin, who will serve as chairman of Tapp, which will be run day-to-day by CEO Klein. “We think this will allow all those people to have an outlet.”

Former vice presidential aspirant Sarah Palin was identified as one such individual they were approaching, according to a report Monday in the New York Post. Gaspin and Klein declined comment on any specific individuals being courted.

Such a venture is not unlike the Blaze, a successful subscription service launched by former Fox News Channel personality Glenn Beck. Given the challenges of monetizing ad-supported content, paid channels are becoming more in vogue, from YouTube’s own experimentation with that format to the Chernin Group’s investment in Crunchyroll, a company that specializes in that business model.

Gaspin and Klein have lined up well-known investors including Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, Discovery Communications and Demarest Films, in addition to investment bankers Ken Moelis, Peter Ezersky and Michael Huber. Tapp’s founders dclined to specify the level of investment but made clear it will be a lean operation.

“This is my third startup and you learn early that you want to spend as little as possible to make sure as much of that investment ends up on the screen,” said Klein, who counts the Feed Room among the companies he’s started.

The first of what they describe as dozens of channels will be launched in the coming months. Talent involved will range from household names to more niche attractions.

For $9.95 per month, or $100 a year, per channel, Klein and Gaspin are betting on luring enough subscribers to make Tapp a booming business. “Glenn Beck and the WWE are proof that passion drives subscription,” said Gaspin. “We’re very confident that the fans who feel the most passionate about certain personalities will pay for access to a high-quality product.”

Gaspin exited NBCU in late 2010 after Comcast acquire the conglomerate. Klein left CNN in 2010, and was later succeeded by Jeff Zucker — who happened to be Gaspin’s boss when he led NBCU as CEO.

In addition to the Discovery investment, the company also has the company’s senior VP and GM of digital, Sean Atkins, sitting on Tapp’s board. Klein indicated that the Discovery, which knows a thing or two about personalized channels from its launch of OWN, could collaborate with Tapp in the future.

Jeff Gaspin, Jon Klein to Launch Online Video Platform TAPP

3/11/2014   The Hollywood Report

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeff-gaspin-jon-klein-launch-687588

The television veterans are building a subscription video platform around personalities with super-fan followings.

Two longtime television executives are making a bet on digital with the launch of online video platform TAPP.

Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBC Universal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN, tell THR that the subscription-based platform will be centered on personalities with super-fan followings. TAPP, which stands for “TV App,” will launch its first channel in the coming weeks.

“We really wanted to come up with channels that were talent-based and that were really geared toward the super fan,” says Gaspin. “As opposed to long-form scripted or reality content, we really wanted an intimate experience between the channel lead and the fan base.”

The New York Post on Monday reported that Gaspin and Klein were courting Sarah Palin for one of those channels. They tell THR that they are not ready to announce the personalities that they plan to work with, but they envision a wide-ranging group that comes from lifestyle, sports, politics, arts, sciences and other backgrounds.

Initially, each personality will have their own channel available on mobile devices, laptops and Internet-connected smart TVs. The company plans to eventually create a TAPP hub where someone could subscribe to and watch multiple channels.

TAPP is acting as a full-service shop for its talent and will provide back-end technology, app development, production, marketing, distribution and data analysis.

“There are a lot of stars that have an intense following and would like to connect with that following and monetize it in more ways, but they don’t know where to start,” says Klein. “We’re trying to provide an end-to-end solution for them. That leaves the stars free to do what they do best, which is delight their biggest fans.”

Klein and Gaspin have assembled a robust group of initial investors that includes Discovery Communications, Demarest Films, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and investment bankers Ken Moelis, Peter Ezersky and Michael Huber. Sean Atkins, Discovery senior vp and general manager of digital, has joined the TAPP board.

The online video space has become densely populated in recent years with players such as Google’s YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and others. But Gaspin says that TAPP sets itself apart through its talent.

“You can’t duplicate our personalities,” he says. “We believe having a series of personalities keep us in a separate and distinct marketplace.”

Adds Klein, “Unlike YouTube, we’re not trying to create stars out of total unknowns — we’re trying to take stars and give them a foothold and presence on a whole new platform. I think everybody is looking for what the next big disruption in media is going to be. Our investors see TAPP as uniquely positioned to lead that next big disruption.”

What This Former CNN Head Learned From Glenn Beck About One-Person Media Brands

Co. Creative

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3028412/what-this-former-cnn-head-learned-from-glenn-beck-about-one-person-media-brands

Jon Klein doesn’t care that you haven’t heard of Steve Arterburn.

That might seem surprising, since Arterburn is the first personality to anchor a “channel” of online video content on Tapp, Klein’s newest venture. Impressed by the success that personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Glenn Beck have had by striking out on their own to create personal TV channels, Klein–a former president of CNN–teamed up with former NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin to create Tapp.

The long-term vision of Tapp is to build a digital platform that serves as host to many such personality-driven channels. Earlier this month, Tapp launched its first channel, centered around Steve Arterburn, a syndicated radio host and the founder of New Life Ministries. New Life TV, the new Tapp venture, is a subscription-only digital channel that viewers can access for $9.95 a month. Currently incarnated a standalone website, New Life TV launched with such programs as “Bible Integration” and “Women Can be Holy and Horny.”

All of which brings us back to why Klein doesn’t care if you’re not an Arterburn fan, and are therefore unlikely to shell out more than a Netflix monthly subscription rate to saturate your life with his thoughts. All that matters to Klein is: Enough people are. Arterburn has a strong enough base of “superfans”–people who simply trust Arterburn to parse the world more than anyone–to make an Arterburn-centered channel a viable business proposition.

And the world is saturated with countless Arterburns, niche celebrities you can expect to see launching Tapp channels soon.

We caught up with Klein to learn more about Tapp, the echo-chamberization of media, and why Glenn Beck is the ultimate example of the modern celebrity-as-network.

FAST COMPANY: What’s been the most eye-opening thing you’ve experienced since launching Arterburn’s channel this month?

JON KLEIN: The fervor that superfans feel for their idols. What we’re trying to do is connect superfans to the people they adore by using the medium of online video and membership in this exclusive club. But what’s surprising is how personal the audience feels that is. One subscriber was so moved she asked if she could do a Skype chat with Steve on the channel. She went and did that. She told a story about how she was in love with her pastor, and though she felt he was in love with her, they can’t hook up. She was feeling a lot of pain from that, and wanted Steve’s counsel. The reason she felt comfortable doing that was because of the exclusive nature of the channel. She knows exactly who the audience is, where they’re coming from–it feels like a safe environment for her. And that happened on Day Two of the channel’s existence. It bears out a hunch that superfans are out there yearning for a deeper connection to the people they admire most.

When did you first start thinking about superfans as a niche market?
I was at Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver and was walking around with one of our CNN contributors, Roland Martin. Though Martin was very good on air, he wasn’t a household name. But we were stopped every five feet by someone calling out his name, people hugging him, stopping him to say how much he affected their lives. I thought, “Wow, there’s a breed of person out there for whom Roland Martin, of all people, has taken on a special meaning.” Soon after that I was in the office of Sanjay Gupta, the noted chief medical correspondent. Sanjay had a hundred ideas, many of which had nothing to do with television–projects he wanted to start, books he wanted to write, films he wanted to make. By the time I left, I thought, “Boy, it’s gonna hit Sanjay at some point that he no longer needs CNN as much as CNN needs him. He has his band of followers, and technology enables him to reach that audience and monetize it.” I was worried a company would come along and create that, and lo and behold, that’s the company I created.

People already worry about media silos–that we have two Americas only listening to their own echo chambers. Doesn’t this take that to a new level?
That phenomenon is happening with or without Tapp. There’s no fighting a trend. When you watch Jon Stewart, you don’t think you’re in an echo chamber. You think he’s right. And that is true of everybody inside their own echo chamber. Our theoretical subscriber is a blend of both: they’re paying eight bucks a month to Netflix for a wide variety of input, they’re probably also going to a general news source online as a starting point, and then they’re also indulging their appetite to drill down more deeply, to burrow down into a silo. Tapp channels a form of online binge viewing, giving you as much material as possible from the person you most idolize.

What metrics do you look at when deciding to approach someone for their own channel?
We look at some quantifiable indicators, and some ineffable ones. We look at things like, not only the size of social footprints, but also the engagement: the Klout score and other signs of a highly engaged, motivated fanbase. We look at what their fans pay for. And then we look at the “burn” that the talent has. How driven are they to communicate and stay in touch with their biggest fans? How much of this is a way of life, not just a calculated business decision? Lots of fan sites and fan clubs crop up, then die quickly, because they lack the soul of the celebrity they were built around. They come off as arid, cynical spaces. Then you look at people like Glenn Beck, who just throw themselves into every touchpoint with their followers, with everything they’ve got. It’s that spark, that passion–that sense that they don’t know how to do it any other way.

This interview has been condensed and edited.