Live from New York...
Hello!
Day 1 of the New York Television Festival is done (at least for us- it is definitely time for bed!). Here's how it went:
First and foremost, the NYTVF is held at the New World Stages, which is a beautiful theatre with striking architecture. It almost looks like a decidedly polished approach to a warehouse, with the entrances to the various stages screen printed on glass which is bolted to stainless steel. I've got some pics, but bear in mind they're taken with my cell phone, so the lighting isn't wonderful...
This is just a shot of a hallway, freshly gussied up before the show started. (We arrived early, so I had a minute to take a picture). I think it was around this time that the reality of the festival set in. It's one thing to plan a trip, it's quite another to be there, in the mix. Right around the corner from this shot was the red carpet, where all the various big-ups from the networks were later interviewed.
This shot was taken about two hours later after the first panel (more on that in a moment). If you look in the upper left-hand corner, you can see what I was talking about earlier with the screenprinting on glass. It actually provided a neat effect, though it also occasionally reminded me of the Alien films. Neat, either way. Shortly after this shot was taken, it got completely crowded. It was nice, though! We made a point of speaking with some of the folks from the other pilots, and even though this is ultimately a competition, there really was a sense that we're all in this together, that we're all pretty much at the same point in our careers, and that we all want to see everybody succeed equally.
The panel, of which I unfortunately did not take any pictures, was sponsored by ABC and the William Morris Agency, and had the producers of Desperate Housewives, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, and Samantha Who? as their panel members. The panel brought up a good point: Television is at a crossroads, right now, as shown in the recent WGA strike. The advent of online streaming, combined with the fact that televisions and computers are rapidly merging into a single unit (think Apple TV, think Hulu.com) means that the landscape for television is changing, and changing rapidly. The question was asked: is the future of television going to be managed much in the same way that Google manages their ads, where a crawler looks through your emails or possibly just pays attention to what sites you visit and then delivers television to you, tailored exactly to your tastes? Imagine being able to tell ABC, "I don't like ___, don't show it to me anymore," only to have ABC listen to and agree with you? It's a fascinating concept, because for so many years, television has united us as a society. The number of people who watched the series finale of M*A*S*H was, for the time, a record. Think of how that would change if I looked at you and said, "M*A*S*H? What's that? Never heard of it; must not be in my interest list."
Let's see...oh!
From left to right, these fellows are: Hayden James Weston, Tim Nash, and Lucas Crandles. They are the writers (and some of the voices) in Wentworth and Buxbury. Obviously, we met up with them, too. Tragically, we had a bit of a mishap (of the "where on Earth ARE we?" sort) in getting in from Newark to Manhattan, so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we wanted, but of course we'll make up for that in the coming week.
For the record, every one of them is 1.) Australian, 2.) Terribly nice, and 3.) at least 37 feet tall. Seriously, I don't know what they've got going on in the water down there, but they were all taller than me, and I tower over most everybody. I would resolve to wear stilts for the rest of the trip, but I don't think they'd allow me to take them into the subway.
Alright, one last photo and then I am turning in for the night:
Macy's at Penn Station. I intend to get a proper picture of Penn Station during the day, but this was a neat enough site so that I couldn't pass it up.
All in all, New York is amazing. It's hard to not feel very small, here, but at the same time that feeling of smallness almost gives you more freedom. It inspires exploration. I can't wait to do more.
Day 1 of the New York Television Festival is done (at least for us- it is definitely time for bed!). Here's how it went:
First and foremost, the NYTVF is held at the New World Stages, which is a beautiful theatre with striking architecture. It almost looks like a decidedly polished approach to a warehouse, with the entrances to the various stages screen printed on glass which is bolted to stainless steel. I've got some pics, but bear in mind they're taken with my cell phone, so the lighting isn't wonderful...
This is just a shot of a hallway, freshly gussied up before the show started. (We arrived early, so I had a minute to take a picture). I think it was around this time that the reality of the festival set in. It's one thing to plan a trip, it's quite another to be there, in the mix. Right around the corner from this shot was the red carpet, where all the various big-ups from the networks were later interviewed.
This shot was taken about two hours later after the first panel (more on that in a moment). If you look in the upper left-hand corner, you can see what I was talking about earlier with the screenprinting on glass. It actually provided a neat effect, though it also occasionally reminded me of the Alien films. Neat, either way. Shortly after this shot was taken, it got completely crowded. It was nice, though! We made a point of speaking with some of the folks from the other pilots, and even though this is ultimately a competition, there really was a sense that we're all in this together, that we're all pretty much at the same point in our careers, and that we all want to see everybody succeed equally.
The panel, of which I unfortunately did not take any pictures, was sponsored by ABC and the William Morris Agency, and had the producers of Desperate Housewives, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, and Samantha Who? as their panel members. The panel brought up a good point: Television is at a crossroads, right now, as shown in the recent WGA strike. The advent of online streaming, combined with the fact that televisions and computers are rapidly merging into a single unit (think Apple TV, think Hulu.com) means that the landscape for television is changing, and changing rapidly. The question was asked: is the future of television going to be managed much in the same way that Google manages their ads, where a crawler looks through your emails or possibly just pays attention to what sites you visit and then delivers television to you, tailored exactly to your tastes? Imagine being able to tell ABC, "I don't like ___, don't show it to me anymore," only to have ABC listen to and agree with you? It's a fascinating concept, because for so many years, television has united us as a society. The number of people who watched the series finale of M*A*S*H was, for the time, a record. Think of how that would change if I looked at you and said, "M*A*S*H? What's that? Never heard of it; must not be in my interest list."
Let's see...oh!
From left to right, these fellows are: Hayden James Weston, Tim Nash, and Lucas Crandles. They are the writers (and some of the voices) in Wentworth and Buxbury. Obviously, we met up with them, too. Tragically, we had a bit of a mishap (of the "where on Earth ARE we?" sort) in getting in from Newark to Manhattan, so we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we wanted, but of course we'll make up for that in the coming week.
For the record, every one of them is 1.) Australian, 2.) Terribly nice, and 3.) at least 37 feet tall. Seriously, I don't know what they've got going on in the water down there, but they were all taller than me, and I tower over most everybody. I would resolve to wear stilts for the rest of the trip, but I don't think they'd allow me to take them into the subway.
Alright, one last photo and then I am turning in for the night:
Macy's at Penn Station. I intend to get a proper picture of Penn Station during the day, but this was a neat enough site so that I couldn't pass it up.
All in all, New York is amazing. It's hard to not feel very small, here, but at the same time that feeling of smallness almost gives you more freedom. It inspires exploration. I can't wait to do more.
Labels: Dark Heart Productions, NYTVF, Wentworth and Buxbury