Some thoughts on piracy from a creator...

On the 20 February 2014 the creator, writer and actor in the hit television show Sons of Anarchy Kurt Sutter made some interesting comments on the piracy of his work on Twitter. I love Sons of Anarchy.

Every year thousands of people search the Internet to illegally download television shows.

Research from Torrent Freak.com stated in 2012 there was no central database for the results of searches on the search engine BitTorrent for pirated television shows, but kat.ph one of the top three torrent sites shared their visitor results. Sons of Anarchy rated 20. 

On his official site Kurt Sutter wrote on piracy…

"hey @google how come when I search for soa downloads, 5 out of the first 6 are illegal, off-shore pirate sites who steal my shit. 
hey @google you think folks know that your deep commitment to a  “free internet” also happens to protect your billions in traffic revenue.
we can’t stop you from pirating our art, that’s between you and your black heart but we can stop the corporations who enable it. #wftgoogle 
 there are legal and illegal ways to watch. google enables the criminals that give you the  means to commit the crime.this isn’t me protecting my life style. 
if piracy continues unhindered it will unravel the infrastructure that provides quality content.
every time you hit the download button on a torrent site, you make criminals richer, monopolies stronger and erode artistic freedom.
illegal downloads are like listening to a great street musician for an hour then thanking him by taking money out of his guitar case" (no copyright infringement intended)

Every year Google and pirated sites are making millions of dollars of advertising revenue.

“Pirated sites generate $227million in ad revenue a year” by Ernest on Torrent Freak published 19 February 2014 (no copyright infringement intended).

A new report published by the Digital Citizens Alliance estimates that the top "pirate sites" generate $227 million in annual ad revenue. The major torrent sites have the highest profit margins and earn over $6 million each per year, partly funded by major brands such as Amazon, McDonalds and Xfinity.

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It’s no secret that running a torrent portal, linking site, or cyberlocker can be highly profitable. Thus far, however, only a few have attempted to quantify the money that flows into these businesses.

This week the Digital Citizens Alliance is trying to fill this gap. The group released a new report titled “Good Money Gone Bad: Digital Thieves and the Hijacking of the Online Ad Business,” which aims to offer insight into the ad dollars that end up at pirate sites.

The term “pirate site” should be used loosely here, as the sample is based on all websites for which Google received more than 25 takedown requests during the third quarter of 2013. Foreign sites and sites without ads were removed from the sample, bringing the total number of sites down to 596.

The report divides these sites into three sizes based on the number of unique visitors per month; large (>5 million), medium (1-5 million) and small (<1 million). They are further classified into different categories, including torrent portals, linking sites, streaming sites and direct download sites.

Based on the number of ad positions, page views and estimates of the various ad-rates, the report gives an overview of the advertising income of the sites in the various segments.

In total, the sites are estimated to generate $227 million in annual ad revenue. More than half of this flows to the 30 largest sites and the top torrent sites earn the most, over $6 million per site per year.

"The 30 largest sites studied that are supported only by ads average $4.4 million annually, with the largest BitTorrent portal sites topping $6 million. Even small sites can make more than $100,000 a year from advertising," the report reads.

In total half of all ad-revenue goes to torrent portals, which make up less than a quarter of the total sample.

Based on an estimate of the operating costs, torrent sites are also believed to be the most profitable, with profit margins up to 94.1%.

It has to be noted, however, that ad revenue is often the only source of income for torrent sites, where direct download hubs and streaming sites have secondary revenue streams through subscriptions and affiliate deals.

According to the report some of the world’s most respected brands are funding pirate sites. The report shows that a large percentage of the ad revenue comes from premium brands, including Amazon, American Express, Dell, Ford, Lego, McDonalds, Xfinity.

“Premium brand ads appeared on nearly 30% of large sites, highlighting the ineffectiveness of current approaches to protecting the brands’ reputation and value.”

Most of these ads are sold and resold through various channels, so the brands themselves are not aware of these placements. However, according to Digital Citizens Alliance the association with these pirate sites can result in damage to the brand’s reputation.

“Premium brands are those easily recognizable companies familiar to most consumers, and which suffer reputational damage when their ads appear on content theft site, often alongside ads for illicit sites and services,” the report explains.

All in all the report provides some interesting insight into the profitability of so-called pirate sites. How accurate the estimates are is unknown, but with the top sites serving hundreds of millions of pageviews a month, the figures don’t seem unrealistic.

What’s more problematic is that not all of the sites listed are “pirate sites.” Many sites have perfectly legitimate uses, and a site such as vcdq.com doesn’t host or link to infringing content at all.

Digital Citizens Alliance, however, concludes that their findings should be a wake-up call for advertisers and ad-networks. They urge the various parties involved to increase their efforts to prevent ads from being displayed on questionable sites and services.

“Advertisers and ad agencies, networks and exchanges can start by enhancing their voluntary best practice standards. The technology and services to identify and filter out content theft sites are available and should be adopted in the online advertising community,” the report reads.

“Just as brands do not advertise on porn or hate sites, they can take steps to assure they are not on content theft sites,” it concludes.

 

Sons of Anarchy writer, producer and creator Kurt Sutter from www.deadline.com (no copyright infringment intended).

A community in their own words and images…

Our beloved Great Big Sea is taking a hiatus and its members Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett, Kris McFarlane and Murray Foster are busy with their individual projects. For those of us who follow Alan Doyle on social media know he has been writing and producing music for his next album and has been doing his community work for great causes. Causes close to his heart and home and sharing them on social media and in the traditional media along with other members of the community. These included the Bannerman Park skating loop, a school fundraiser, raising awareness and funds for the Shorefast Foundation at Fogo Inn on Fogo Island Newfoundland and a speaking engagement at the Newfoundland Hospitality Conference in Gander.

Alan Doyle, The Bannerman Park Official Facebook page, the schools involved social media pages and community have shared some beautiful photographs and words from the events. Alan Doyle shared some photographs and words on his official webpage Alandoyle.ca, and via Twitter. Other participants in the Shorefast Foundation event on Fogo Island including photographer BrianRicks@BrianRicksPhotos shared some amazing images on Twitter and on his official photography site of a working kitchen in black and white. There was also an article in the local media about Alan’s attendance at the hospitality conference copied below. Together the community created and share the stories in a way they wished to share.

@lyndahere was also there at the Bannerman Park skating loop opening and at a school fundraiser bootlegging and taking photographs which she loaded up onto her YouTube site and shared links to via Twitter and social media. Although I did not pay to go to the school fundraising event, I did watch a 15 minute video of Alan Doyle performing some people’s favourite songs including Thunderstruck by ACDC and Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield. It was I must say Alan Doyle with Stickman Tak (his guitar) at his best, informal and funny in front of his home crowd and among friends and family. Alan Doyle was totally brilliant.

As much as fans like me love hearing about what our favourite guys have been up to during their hiatus from Great Big Sea, when do we over step the boundaries and become invasive and voyeuristic? Basically I believe I had no right to be there even though it was bootlegged by @lyndahere at a respectful distance. It was an American determining what the world should see about this community. And although the bootleg was primarily about Alan Doyle performing it was also about the community as well. The bootleg allowed the world in fact, and people who did not attend and who were not part of this community to make comments about the community. Lots of images were also copied of this video and circulated. I believe those involved in a fundraising community event should determine what they want to share and how it should be shared whether via the traditional means of newspapers, radio or television and through social media. There are somethings that should remain private and with the community. Because the person doing the performing is well known doesn't mean it should be circulated. And if they choose not to share events with the world then that is their choice and it should be respected.

 


@alanthomasdoyle No attitude from us here. None at all @vocmopenline. 9 Feb 2014

Sometimes all it takes is one photograph to tell a story. This is one of them. A fun photograph from the official Twitter page of Alan Doyle at theVanier School fundraiser. (No copyright infringement intended)

No ordinary dayBottom of Form Great Big Sea frontman promotes province’s uniqueness by Kevin Higgins in the Advertiser at www.gwfadervertiser.ca © Kevin Higgins photo published 3 March 2014 (no copyright infringement intended)

NOT ORDINARY – The message musician/actor Alan Doyle had for the delegates at Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador’s annual Conference and Trade Show in Gander last Thursday was simple — Newfoundland and Labrador is unique, and it’s this that makes it attractive to tourists. The lead singer for Great Big Sea also passed along some steps of success the band has followed during the past 21 years.

Alan Doyle has travelled around the world and rubbed shoulders with men and women from all walks of life — that’s just an ordinary day for the lead singer of Great Big Sea.

However, his love and pride for his home province is not so ordinary, and he expressed his sentiments very clearly Thursday to delegates attending Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador’s annual Conference and Trade Show in Gander last week.

Doyle, who was born and raised in Petty Harbour, said the best thing about Newfoundland and Labrador is its uniqueness — a uniqueness that makes it stand out globally.

“The more I talk to people (about Newfoundland and Labrador through my travels) the thing I get most often if I ask ‘Why are you going? Why are you here? What’d you think of it?’ They say it’s different…they love it because it’s different,” he said. “That’s so amazing. We have something that’s different than anywhere else. We have something that’s like nowhere else in this day and age, when everything is like everything else.

“I’m blown away with what we (Newfoundland and Labrador) have. The experiences we can offer people in music, geography, weird places to stay, weird meals to eat that they never had before, stories, acting, drama, bars, streets, hikes…the product, the material, the heart of what we sell to people we don’t need to make up, and I think almost everyone (else) needs to do that.”

He said those involved in the hospitality and tourism industries in the province are so lucky to be from a place where the heart of what they sell is readymade.

“It’s key for us (in the tourism business) to be ourselves…people love that and it’s why they come,” he said.

To illustrate the point Doyle recounted a conversation he had with his good friend, Russell Crowe, during one of the actor’s visits to this province.

Crowe is a world-renowned actor, producer and musician, having starred in such films as Gladiator and Robin Hood.

“I wrote a song with Russell, after I asked him why he comes here, and he said he feels like he comes to a different place…he said, ‘I’ve been in Canada (Toronto and Hamilton) and now I’m in a different place…I don’t feel like I’ve been in the same place…I don’t feel that I’ve been anywhere like this place before…That doesn’t happen to me very often’,” said Doyle. “The song (Where We Belong) speaks to the heart of the unique place we’re from.”

 Working advice

Doyle’s address was not just filled with anecdotes, but sprinkled with suggestions.

He offered advice on how people in the hospitality industry can keep visitors coming.

“Make a plan, be organized, and work with people —not have people work for you or you work for people,” he said, referring to some advice that was handed to him, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett from Sean’s father, Ed McCann, when they first formed Great Big Sea.

Doyle compared the entertainment business to the hospitality industry in the fact that every day a hospitality operation is open for business is showtime — just like in the music or movie industries.

“They both have a showtime, and there’s nothing more important than to be ready for showtime,” he said, noting this is something he has been more aware of since becoming friends with Crowe.

“You need to be ready. Getting ready is something you can do nine times out of 10. The most successful people are ready for what they have to do. You can’t fake being ready.”

Doyle told the audience of a recent experience he had requiring a level of readiness from a hospitality operator that proved just what he was saying about readiness brings success.

Just a few weeks ago he was stranded at the Inn when the ferry didn’t run.

However, he said, the operators of the Inn are ready for such incidents, and he was flown to St. John’s so he could meet his other obligations, while an Inn staff member drove his vehicle back to St. John’s.

“They’re ready, and I can’t stress it enough that you need to be ready.”

The third bit of advice he passed along was that in the world of business you need to do whatever it takes to be successful.

“You need to do whatever the days asks of you, not what you would hope the day would ask of, not what you thought it would ask of you, or not what is convenient, ” he said. “People need to do the good and the bad stuff…it’s the small stuff, if they go wrong, that results in big problems. You need to do whatever it takes.”

These have been three of the strategies followed by Great Big Sea, and himself, have followed to earn success.

“I wish you luck with it all,” he said in closing. 

 

Paying for a meet and greet…

A couple of days ago CBC Canada Newfoundland and Labrador news services reported a local motorcycle club had reportedly been scammed by a ticket operator promising to deliver Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnan for a personal appearance. The fans paid $250 for the meet and greet last November, the star didn’t arrive and fans still don’t know whether or not they will meet the star or get their money back.

Today when actors from one of my favourite television shows come to my city for a convention I have to pay for an entry fee into the event, to meet them, have a photograph taken and something signed. It can be an expensive event. Now is seems common practice for not only actors in popular television shows to attend conventions and arrange tours around the world charging fans for meet and greets, photographs and autographs but also celebrities, musicians and artists.

Years ago my favourite actors from my favourite television show would come to my city to promote their show and meet the fans for free. We would wait in a cue for hours, have a few words, our photographs taken with them and get our merchandise signed. It was great fun being with other fans and we would leave very happy fans and continue to watch the television show. It would create a lot of good will.   

I have been very fortunate when it comes to meeting my favourite celebrities (actors musicians and sporting stars). I have met my favourite television show actors and sporting stars walking down the street in the city where I live, music groups in airports and sporting stars at official meet the player days and training sessions. Most of the meetings were by accident. It is hard to describe what it is like meeting your favourite celebrity or sporting star walking down the street in your city or by accident. On most occasions they don’t mind giving you an autograph or posing with you for a photograph. They are very gracious and nice even after years of meeting fans and some of them very annoying I imagine.

In the country where I live sporting teams organise official meet and greet days for free. Some days are for members only and other days are open days for members of the public. Official members and members of the public can do sports workshops with the players, get merchandise signed, have photographs taken and have a chat. The clubs and players get to show their appreciation for the support they are receiving, and it makes fans feel like an important part of the team. Meet and greet days create a lot of good will as previously mentioned. There was a kind of an unwritten agreement if players do these meet and greets they will then be left alone to get on with doing their job, that is training, playing the game and winning without being bothered by fans during the season. Of course there will always be fans who step outside of these opportunities, and bother the players when they are off the duty and out in private. While players and clubs recognise fans are very important part of the club, they like their down time.

On social media I noticed a number of fans in the fandoms were meeting the musicians socially. After looking at The Cocksure Lads official site I saw there were opportunities to pay for a meet, greet and a drink to help support the making of a movie. Fans were paying for meet and greets with the musicians and artists. (This is distinct as attending an event for a small fee and meeting them or meeting after a concert or accidentally). As a consequence the musicians and artists get to know these fans. If a fan has money, they can increase their status within any fandom by buying access to the artists and musicians concerned and then share their experience on social media and engage in social media interactions. In some cases these meet and greets can increase a fan's status within the fandom very quickly.

While this is all good and fine for fans who have the money and time such as @lyndahere, but what about the fans who can’t pay for access in this way and where does it leave them in the fandom. Many musicians and artists don’t like charging for meet and greets as it distinguishes between the rich and poor with the poor being excluded. In the case of the sporting teams where I live it is inclusive as those without a lot of money may be able to watch the games on television and buy the occasional piece of merchandise but not attend games. The free access to the players and these events can create inclusion of members of the public who may not be other wise able to afford to attend.

As a fan I draw the line at paying for autographs, photographs and meet and greets (unless it is part of attending a play or an event for a small fee and everyone has the same opportunities). I feel that if I watch their television show, pay for concerts, CDs, DVDs and merchandise then that should be enough. While the product they make gives me heaps of pleasure in my down time to be honest meeting these people won’t make much difference to the quality of my life. In a year or two it will most likely be someone else and they will be a distant memory. This however is not the case for all fans who meet celebrities.

I found a great article called ‘Celebrities charging fans to meet them. Is it pure greed?” by Alison Boshoff in the UK Mail Online. She discusses how artists and musicians who are charging fans thousands of dollars for meet and greets and provides a list of the number of the musicians and artists doing it.

Not so long ago, if you wanted to meet your musical idol backstage after a concert, there were only two ways to go about it — to win a competition, or to sneak past the burly security guards into their dressing room.

Now, however, if you have deep pockets then pretty much anything is possible. The Mail can reveal that a lucrative ‘meet-and-greet’ industry has grown up around pop stars such as One Direction, Justin Bieber and Cheryl Cole.

Meetings last only seconds before fans are sent packing with a photo of themselves with their idol (and a poster and T-shirt if they are lucky), but they pay hundreds of pounds for the privilege.

And it isn’t just teen pop stars getting in on the act — even veteran artists such as the Beach Boys are joining in. Tickets for these ‘meet-and-greets’ start at around £100, but ticket touts are snapping them up, often selling the tickets on for eye-watering sums.

This money-spinning industry hit the headlines last week when Cheryl Cole was criticised for charging £350 to meet-and-greet concert goers. But insiders insist the trend is driven by fans — not stars.

As music PR Stuart Bell, who represents Sir Paul McCartney, says: ‘Some stars’ fan bases are used to engaging with the stars directly through social networking. There is a sense in which they kind of expect to be able to get direct physical access to them as well.’

But he conceded: ‘It’s true that with record sales going down, you have to look at every bit of revenue that you can.’

Meet-and-greets can add up to £600,000 to tour revenues, if you assume two dozen per show on a 50-date tour. It is notable that most pop stars who have been in the business for a few decades don’t do ticketed meet-and-greets.

Neither Sir Paul McCartney nor Rod Stewart offer such packages. Nor does Kylie Minogue. However, they all offer VIP or Platinum packages which allow fans to attend the soundcheck — like a private concert — and get guaranteed front-row seating, gifts and food or a party, too. Rod Stewart sells a ‘Hot Legs’ package along these lines for £1,250.

Fans should be aware that most meet-and-greets tend to be delivered very much on the terms of their idols. In 2010, Sir Elton John sold a meet-and-greet package that came with the warning: ‘Photographs are at the discretion of Sir Elton.’ In other words, if you don’t behave yourself, he jolly well won’t pose for a picture.

Superstar Beyonce has a ‘no hugging’ rule and her security team sternly advises her fans of this before they are ushered into her presence. Some stars object to meet-and-greets on moral grounds, believing they favour richer fans over poorer ones. British band Coldplay believe the system simply enriches ticket touts and agents, and opt to auction their own meet-and-greets directly to fans.

This usually raises around £1,000 per ticket, which the band donates to the homeless charity Crisis.

Cheryl Cole’s PR representative Sundraj Sreenivasan says the star plans to donate the money from the planned meet-and-greets on her current tour to her charity, the Cheryl Cole Foundation.

Stuart Bell adds: ‘The old guard like the Stones and Sir Paul McCartney do occasional meet-and-greets with competition winners or for charity, which is how it always used to be. When Sir Paul was touring we had competitions to find the biggest fans in each territory and then he would meet-and-greet ten fans in Belgium, ten in Mexico and so on. It wasn’t for money — they were not paying for it — but he was pleased to do it.’

Although stars stand to make hundreds of thousands of pounds from these meetings, there are risks, too. X Factor winner Leona Lewis was attacked by a fan at a book signing in 2009. The older crop of artists, who may remember John Lennon’s assassination in 1980, are generally wary of getting too close and personal with the public. Usually fans are supervised throughout by experienced security guards.

While it is clear what pop stars get out of the arrangement, fans are increasingly left disappointed by the meetings. After a minute — at most — with the star, some superfans post the picture on their Facebook profile and declare they have had the best day of their lives. But others are not so impressed.

Debra Phillips of Newcastle paid £270 so her daughter Cassie could meet her idols, pop group JLS, backstage in May this year and have her photo taken with them — but was devastated when her favourite singer, JB, was cut out of the image, which was blurry. But then, these very lucrative brief encounters do have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quality.

ONE DIRECTION: Tickets for VIP meet-and-greets on their current tour of North America were on sale through concert promoters Live Nation for £225, but are all sold out. Ticket Agency USA is offering a meet-and-greet with the boys when they play in Dallas on June 23 — for £1,160 per ticket. That will enable fans to attend the band’s soundcheck, take home a gift and a commemorative laminated pass, meet the band and have their photograph taken with them.

JUSTIN BIEBER: The 18-year-old has an army of devoted fans, and while meet-and-greet tickets are said to be on offer for £350, they are sold out. Fans who want to meet their idol in October in LA will have to pay £1,932 for a single ticket via event specialist American Ticket Broker — cheap compared to meeting him in Minneapolis this October for an eye-watering £2,725.

JESSIE J: For £110, fans of The Voice judge could purchase a Very Important Heartbeats package that includes tickets near the stage and a chance to meet their idol before the show and a signed print and a souvenir pass. Now sold out, they are available on the eBay auction website for up to £600.

MADONNA: She so rarely holds meet-and-greets that there is a single ticket available for her Hyde Park date in July. The cost? £1,195. It includes a ‘guaranteed photo’ with the star and one signed item.

WESTLIFE: The Irish band’s ‘farewell tour’ is very popular and many meet-and-greet packages are sold out. But for £433.50 via ticketweb.co.uk, fans can buy a ticket to meet them on June 19 at the SECC in Glasgow, with a ticket to see the show from the first five rows, a photo opportunity, autograph, a watch and a laminated  pass.

RIHANNA: Fans who bought the ‘platinum experience’ on her Loud tour earlier this year had a chance to meet the Barbadian singer. Tickets, priced at £340, included a photo, a signing opportunity, a watch and a laminated pass.

KATY PERRY: The American pop princess offers meet-and-greets to competition winners and those who purchase the VIP package on sale for £319 — which includes a gift bag, laminated pass, free parking and a photo opportunity.

LIONEL RICHIE: Meet-and-greet packages are available on his tour. You can say Hello to the soul star — and pick up a commemorative laminated pass and a gift in September in Dublin for £405.

BEYONCE: She caused controversy when she asked for £1,100 for meet-and-greet tickets on her 2009 tour — a big jump from her 2003 tour when they were £285. Only ten fans were allowed to meet the star before each one and they had to observe a ‘no hugging’ rule.

CHERYL COLE: Fans can buy tickets for special Platinum Package meet-and-greet backstage after-shows for her solo A Million Lights tour. The package includes a photo with Cheryl, a gift, a commemorative laminated pass and an autograph, all for £350.

THE BEACH BOYS: You can buy a ticket to their June 29 show in New York — part of the band’s 50th anniversary tour — which includes a meet-and-greet, admission to the soundcheck, a  T-shirt, poster, laminated pass and front-row tickets for £241.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Britney released some meet-and-greet tickets on her Femme Fatale tour in 2011, for which one fan paid £644 for one in Jacksonville, Florida, and declared herself thrilled with the experience which included a photo opportunity and signed merchandise.

Happy Valentine's Day and Winter's Tale...

“Winter’s Tale teaches us that everyone is destined to share a miracle with someone special—that magic from the heart can accomplish the impossible” Jaime Lubin Huffington Post.

(Image from musiccontact.com no copyright infringement intended)

Okay, so I admit it. I can’t wait for Valentine’s Day this year. Not because I am madly, passionately in love with the man of my dreams and it is the most romantic day of the year, but because I get to spend it with some best girlfriends, a bunch of  my favourite fellas, a box of popcorn and a good old fashion romantic fairytale at the movies. The movie is Winter’s Tale. 

For many fans the reunion of the cast from Robin Hood on the big screen with Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand has been a long time coming. While many of us would have probably preferred Robin Hood 2 or have attended an Indoor Garden Party somewhere in the world, Winter’s Tale is perhaps the next best thing. We have followed the making of the movie on social media and the moment is finally here to see it. Happy Valentine’s Day to all the fans watching this beautiful romantic movie today or tomorrow, where ever you may be.

The information available tells me Winter’s Tale is a love story set in New York City that transcends time. To find out a bit more about the plot and making of the movie I watched the official trailers and visited the official Winter’s Tale webpage. The webpage provides visitors with a synopsis of the story, the cast list and some of the most beautiful images. I could even construct and send a Valentine’s Day card. If I was in New York City and needed anything for Valentine’s Day it was all there. While all this is totally delightful and exquisite, there isn’t much about our favourite boys Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand (Russell Crowe being the actor he is has his own little blurb).

So I checked out the information on the movie site IMDb film. This movie site provides an extensive range of information from plot synopsis, photographs, technical film credits, reviews and a cast list. According to this site there are 114 people in the cast of Winter’s Tale. While the Hollywood heavy weights like Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Connelly and Will Smith are mentioned, so are our boys and their characters, Alan Doyle as Dingy Worthington, Scott Grimes as a carriage driver and Kevin Durand as Ceasar Tan. In the critical review section there were only three out of ten reviews available in English. None of them it seems has seen the movie and were waiting for opening day.

The director Akiva Goldsman has given many fine interviews in the media recently describing the joys and difficulties of transforming the book into a movie and making the movie in a place like New York City. Jaime Lubin, a regular Russell Crowe Indoor Garden Party and Alan Doyle concert goer and reviewer from the Huffington Post has written a wonderful review. After reading some of these interviews I am finding Goldsman as much a star of this movie as any of the cast. There is this fine quote from Goldsman on the need for adult fairytales in modern life “My affection for grown-up fairytales is real. I tried to tell the story out of my own hope that everything happens for a reason, that the loss you experience today you may one day understand was a gain somewhere else…I think love stories are what has led us on to continue in the face of adversity…”

Jaime then goes onto to discuss Goldsman's ideas “We need adult fairytales, we need them presented in just this way, to remind us that the intangible wonders are absolutely plausible, because in the most fantastic of stories there is always some basic truth about human nature. So whether you are in New York or finding a path through another city of dreams, remember:love may be “impossible to find”—but once found is worth travelling to hell and back for”.

I am off to see Winter’s Tale tonight. I have included a copy of this review to remind me of a wonderful movie, the words of Goldsman and why we need modern day fairytales in our lives. (No copyright infringement intended).

Winter's Tale : The Lovers, The Dreamer's, and Mythical New York. by Jaime Lubin posted 12 February 2014 for the Huffington Post. 

It takes a brilliant wordsmith and fantasist to adapt Mark Helprin's epic novel Winter's Tale for the screen, and luckily Akiva Goldsman is both. But the Oscar-winning screenwriter (A Beautiful Mind) has added another element that transforms his feature directorial debut into a story for the ages: A steadfast belief in true love.

A passion project years in the making, Winter's Tale teaches us that everyone is destined to share a miracle with someone special -- that magic from the heart can accomplish the impossible.
Set in a mythical 1916 New York, Winter's Tale follows the unusual journey of a thief named Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) who falls in love with the wealthy and ethereal Beverly Penn (a radiant Jessica Brown Findlay) after a botched attempt to burglarize her house. The couple quickly realize their happiness will be brief -- she is dying from consumption, while he has a price on his head, courtesy of the demonic Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) and his Short Tail gang. When Pearly, Peter's former mentor, determines to destroy his protege once and for all, fate intervenes to send Peter Lake across centuries. Transported to the present day, Peter finds himself still enmeshed in the deadly battle between good and evil; only time will tell if his efforts to protect Beverly can prevail.

Though fans of Helprin's 800-page chef d'ouevre will note some major departures from the book, Goldsman has done a masterful job of distilling the winding, somewhat ambiguous narrative into a resolute and rapturously beautiful film. From the grand, sweeping shots of New York's skyline (accompanied by Hans Zimmer's triumphantly affecting score) to the most intimate vignettes between Peter and Beverly where nothing else seems to matter but their divine connection, Goldsman has created a feast for the senses. His detailed dedication results in a world presented so exquisitely that one hopes to crack the screen open and crawl around in its deliciousness. Outstanding credit goes to production designer Naomi Shohan and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel for creating a three-dimensional universe that doesn't need the bells and whistles of commercial 3-D. This is what movies are supposed to be.

Goldsman says: "My affection for grown-up fairytales is real. I tried to tell the story out of my own hope that everything happens for a reason, that the loss you experience today you may one day understand was a gain somewhere else...I think love stories are what has led us on to continue in the face of adversity".

That idea of predestination regarding loss and love cuts deeply for Goldsman (one can see hints of his personal struggle borne out in Peter Lake's experience), but the cast gathered for Winter's Tale celebrates a different kind of affection just as powerful -- friendship. The film enabled Goldsman to reunite with such former collaborators as Crowe (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), while rounding out the ensemble with stars galore: William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint, and Matt Bomer all appear in pivotal roles. Sharp-eyed viewers can also spot quite a few colleagues of Crowe and Goldsman's in blink-and-you'll-miss-it parts.

"It was a beautiful collision of actors and actors' souls," Goldsman notes.

"Everybody loves Akiva," producer Michael Tadross (Sherlock Holmes) comments. "They all came to work with Akiva. His script was one of the greatest I've ever read, and his vision for it was so clear, his enthusiasm so evident, and that made it such a pleasure for all of us."

Naturally a great deal of the movie's magic lies in the setting, New York City. Whether in 1916 or 2014, Goldsman gives us the City That Never Sleeps as we wish it were, full of guardian angels and all-revealing light. Still, because production took place in and around the city itself -- controversially not long after Hurricane Sandy -- every location retains complete realism (I found myself finger-counting places: "I've been there, I've been there, I was just there yesterday...").
Goldsman confirms, "The story blends a reality-based environment with the unexplained that exists behind the world we see. It's a straightforward emotional narrative, yet within that naturalistic world is a world where magic happens and people live for centuries."

Indeed, where in our world is there a more liminal space -- liminal meaning "transitional" or "crossing a threshold" -- than the Big Apple? This enchanted island, where we walk around cloaked in our own and others' history, has always been the primary destination for the Earth's dreamers. No wonder that Goldsman chose such a site for the ultimate war between angels and demons. (And of course, New York becomes my own city of miracles all the time, for where else could I have gotten the inside scoop on the production from the Short Tails themselves?)

Though Winter's Tale seems at the surface a black-and-white morality story, each character is nuanced enough to provide spellbinding shades of gray. Take Farrell's Peter Lake, who steals objects without any compunction but repeatedly risks his life to save the innocent. Or the angel Gabriel (Finn Wittrock), who has voluntarily fallen from grace to stay on an imperfect Earth. If you enjoy rooting for the villain, as I often do, you will find no better entertainment than Russell Crowe as Pearly Soames. The agent of chaos is bad to the bone, but even his rage-fueled obsession with Peter Lake is understandable from a certain point of view.

Goldsman compares the onscreen showdowns between Farrell and Crowe to a ballet: "A fight is like a dance for them, the way they learn the steps and execute them as if they've known them their whole lives. It was pretty awesome, what these two men could do with their fists".

The tide of moviemaking appears to be turning toward Goldsman's brand of magical realism; films like Winter's Tale give us a reason to hope that we can surmount any odds as long as our heart is in the task. We need adult fairytales; we need them presented in just this way, to remind us that the intangible wonders are absolutely plausible, because in the most fantastic of stories there is always some basic truth about human nature. So whether you are in New York or finding a path through another city of dreams, remember: Love may be "impossible to find" -- but once found it is worth traveling to hell and back.

The Great Big Break Up…some reflections

A lot has been said about the decision by Sean McCann not to tour with Great Big Sea any more. When Sean announced his decision before the last leg of the tour he refused to elaborate at that time. Sean’s parting gift a song called ‘Farewell My Old Friend’ was placed on Sound Cloud and fuelled a lot of rumours by fans. It is several months since then. Sean has released another solo album ‘Help Your Self’, and has done a string of interviews with various media including radio, newspapers and television to promote it. He elaborated on the reasons behind his departure from Great Big Sea.

In an interview with Melissa Tobin on CBC Central Morning Newfoundland and Labrador (4 February 2014) Sean discusses his decision to leave Great Big Sea (paraphrased).

…”Great Big Sea hadn’t been focusing or agreeing on things in the same way we had which is natural and normal. For the past five years it had been an uphill battle on getting anything done and we agree on things using a consensus and we didn’t see things in the same way… After three to four years of trying to push a rope around, the best thing to do was for me to remove myself from the situation. We decided on this last January... At the end of the tour we didn’t actually talk about it or didn’t address it all…Great Big Sea has a specific mandate and is more of a brand than a band. When bands make it big they tend to become more brands than bands. As a song writer I had difficulties in being in the confines of a very structured band…

He goes on to make some very interesting comments about the role of managers, agents and record companies and the future of music in influencing his decision to go it alone. 

In an interview with Bob Mersereau for East Coast Music CBC New Brunswick, Sean McCann said on leaving Great Big Sea (4 February 2014),

“Leaving Great Big Sea is discussed in detail in Wish You Well, a classic break-up song except it's a band, not a lover: "I don't care to start a fight, don't care who was wrong or right, but I'm not gonna waste another Saturday night pretending we're all right." McCann is quick to point out it's not a personal attack in any way at his bandmates, but more at the music business in general, and he was thinking as much about Steve Jobs, Apple and iTunes changing that business as he was about leaving the band when he wrote the song. He says the split came a year ago: "Last January, we sat down, we'd done a big tour and made the box (the 20th anniversary collection, XX), but we couldn't agree on a number of things. We weren't going in the same direction, and its not a good time (in the music world) to not be focused, so I just felt it was the best thing for all of us, and we all agreed, that I remove myself."

In the interview in The Telegram in St John’s with Tara Badbury Sean McCann said….

“Over the past five years, McCann says, he found himself focused on different things than his bandmates, and it became a source of frustration. He struggled to get his ideas in line with theirs, but in the end, it didn’t work”...

“I’m not comfortable delivering the same message over and over. From what I hear, from smart people who are business people, branding is all about staying on message and Great Big Sea has been really successful at that. I’m not as interested in that anymore”...

He hasn’t had much conversation with the other guys in Great Big Sea, but insists they’re not enemies, just ex-partners. He chuckles when he mentions his departure from the band didn’t make it to the news section on their website”...

“My departure was really met with silence. There was nothing. That hurt a bit,” he says. “I don’t know what the reason is for that, but fair enough. Maybe feelings were hurt, I don’t know. I’m over it now. I wish them the best, I honestly do, and knowing Bob and Alan, they’re already well on their way.”

Leaving the band is like getting a divorce, in more ways than one, McCann says, and he’s having a hard time letting go.

“Maybe me exiting that band will be the best thing to ever happen to it,” he says. “When I was the most useful and the most happy in Great Big Sea was when I could contribute songs and we did a lot of work, but that faded away over the last five or six years. The stuff I was interested in went away.

“I don’t know where this will go, but what’s important to me is this reality,” he explains. "That there’s truth in it and that I’m saying something that means something larger. Is it brave or is it insane? I don’t know. As proud as I am of being in Great Big Sea, that’s not the only legacy I want to leave behind.

(The interview from the Newfoundland Herald was not available online to the best of my knowledge).

While Sean McCann made comments in the article about his departure not being mentioned on the official Great Big Sea webpage, the Great Big Sea webpage posted a picture and link to Sean McCann’s new album on the 29 January 2014. “The wait is over! Sean McCann’s new album, Help Your Self is available. Head to greatbigsean.com to order now and in case you missed it check out the video for the title track”.

On Twitter Alan Doyle contacted Sean McCann congratulating him on the release of album. @alanthomasdoyle “Congrats to @greatbigsea on the launch of the new CD today. Check it out at greatbigsean.com”. @greatbigsean responded “thank you @alanthomasdoyle…for everything. 29 January 2014.    

Alan Doyle commented briefly on Sean's new album in an interview he did for kickasscanadians.ca on the 8 February 2014 “At the moment, Great Big Sea is taking a hiatus so they can recharge from their XX Tour and deal “administratively and creatively” with the fact that Sean McCann recently left the band (totally amicably, for the record). “We’re all kind of going back to our solo personal projects, whether it’s music, or movies or management” says Alan. “Sean just released a record last week called Help Your Self that he made with Joel Plaskett’s that’s super awesome...the remaining members have no plans to disband, but they are looking forward to a breather”.

To me it was very nice to see Alan Doyle’s graciousness and support for Sean after he left the band.  

But the biggest surprise for me came from Sean McCann himself after I watched the Help Your Self movie on YouTube to supplement the newly released album. Sean McCann further elaborated on his departure and relationship with Great Big Sea. He stated he was no longer a ‘shareholder’ in the band and there may be a possibility of them working together in the future. 

For fans like me who love Great Big Sea in their purist form we can continue to hope there will be a reunion and some new music in the future, possibly.

Springsteenism in Australia...

"The great E Street Band and the people of Perth, the two of us are about to make magic." Bruce Springsteen. PerthNow (Sunday Times) by Jay Hanna, music writer from PerthNow February 06, 2014 6:33AM

Although this blog is not about Bruce Springsteen, his Australian tour or his fans I have been reading a range of professional articles about the recent concerts on the west coast of Australia. I absolutely love what I have seen and what has been made available for fans who went, those who are about to go or those who were unable to go and who are following the tour from where ever they are in the world.

I have read some lovely professional reviews of the concerts complete with photo slide shows, brief videos and news reports. (Viewers unfortunately had to watch part of an advertisement to view them and the amount of advertising affected their access). I have read some articles about fan interaction and how dreams came true for fans singing and playing music with Bruce on stage. Today in the daily newspaper The West Australian, a journalist reflected on appropriate fan behaviour at concerts. Then there was the unfortunate incident of desperate fans wanting tickets getting caught by ticket scalping.

The Bruce Springsteen concert has moved on to the east coast and Sydney and Melbourne. So I went to Bruce’s official website to see what was available. Wow. There is an amazing experience for fans on his official web page. There are short exerts from the road about what happened at each concert in Perth, accompanied by some absolutely brilliant photography by Jo Lopez. The thing I noticed about the photographs (approximately 10 for each concert) was how inclusive they were of Bruce, the E-Street Band and his fans. I loved it and all of it legal.

Below are some articles from the local news, a review from a happy concert goer journalist, the experience of a fan who played guitar with Bruce on stage and how some fans were stung by a ticket scalper. No copyright infringement intended. Pictures of the concerts are available at the articles online or on the Bruce Springsteen official website.  

“Bruce Springsteen. Turns it on for adoring Perth fans". PerthNow (Sunday Times) by Jay Hanna, music writer from PerthNow, February 06, 2014 6:33AM (no copyright infringement intended)

Still there were no hard feelings as Springsteen kicked off the show by addressing the packed house and asking us to rethink some basic mathematics.

"Hello Perth, it's great to be in the most remotest place on earth," he said.

"And the great E Street Band have travelled f**king thousands of miles to prove one and one is not two.

"In love, in art, in rock 'n' roll one and one makes three.

"The great E Street Band and the people of Perth, the two of us are about to make magic."

And that we did.

Fuelled by his "vegemite sandwich" the Boss kicked off a relentless three hour plus show with Frankie Fell in Love, High Hopes and The Saints' cover Just Like Fire Would from his latest album High Hopes, released last month.

High Hopes in particular was a rip-roaring live number that saw Tom Morello shredding the guitar with his teeth.

The Rage Against The Machine guitarist initially came on board to cover for Steve Van Zandt for the Wrecking Ball tour, but now seems an integral part of the band.

And Van Zandt doesn't seem to mind the competition happily hamming it up for his very own 

"Stevie's Angels" cheersquad. The group of five, in their pink bandannas, later got invited on stage to dance and bum wiggle with their idol.

Badlands was the first taste of vintage Bruce, before singalong Hungry Heart saw the evergreen 64-year-old crowd surf backwards to the stage from a walkway in the middle of the floor.

The 17-piece E Street Band seemed to be having the time of their lives as they showcased their incredible talent and occasionally joined Springsteen for a spot of line-dancing.

The setlist was everything and more. A 27-song blend of party-starting hits, classic album tracks and ballads. From E Street Shuffle and Death To My Hometown to The River, American Skin (41 Shots) and the brilliant Because the Night, which had guitarist Nils Lofgren spinning in circles while rocking out.

Morello helped breathe new life into The Ghost of Tom Joad on the High Hopes record, and live he was even better, as he sang along with Springsteen and the two battled it out on their axes. It was an incredible display.

A master at whipping the crowd into a frenzy, the match-fit singer had everyone roaring after Wrecking Ball.

"I'm on the edge of the world, you've got to make more noise than that."

And so we did. The house lights were on and Perth Arena felt like a sauna, but we didn't care as everyone was on their feet for Born to Run.

The band backed it up with Dancing In The Dark.

A lady in a sequinned stars and stripes waistcoat got to live out her Courtney Cox fantasy, but then she strapped on an acoustic guitar and rocked along with the Boss.

Springsteen stripped down to his sodden wet t-shirt and jumped on the piano for Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. The image of late, great E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons appeared on the big screen behind the stage while Springsteen worked his way into the crowd once more, paying tribute to the big man as he went.

The energy exploded for an amazing rendition of Shout that saw the whole band lined up at the front of the stage. Springsteen called their names one by one and the crowd roared their appreciation.

"Perth, thanks for a wonderful night. It's not that far away," Springsteen yelled as the band took their bows.

"What does one and one make?"

"Three," we bellowed.

The Boss ended the show in solo mode performing the glorious Thunder Road. More than one or two audience members were reduced to tears.

What a man, what a show, what a night.

We laughed, we cried, we danced and we cheered. And we floated out of the Arena on cloud nine.

Was this the best show Perth has ever seen? Quite possibly. At least until he does it all again tomorrow night.

“Bruce Springsteen fan Vel Holland's 32-year dream comes true at Perth sell-out show.”

by Claire Moodie. Updated Thu 6 Feb 2014, 8:42pm AEDT at abc.com.au

Long-time Bruce Springsteen fan Vel Holland has achieved a 32-year dream to dance with her idol at the musician's first concert in Perth.

The 63-year-old from Balcatta was invited onto the stage by Springsteen for Dancing In the Dark, as part of the encore at the rock star's WA debut.

Ms Holland, who has been worshipping the Boss since Born to Run was released in 1975, is still basking in the euphoria.

"I snogged him and I wouldn't let go," she said.

"I told him I loved him with all my heart... and I always will.

"And he said, 'I know'."

Ms Holland, who has a room in her townhouse dedicated to Springsteen, told the ABC before the concert that her ambition was to dance with Springsteen.

She says the musician has seen her through some tough times.

"No matter what comes and goes in your life, like friends, relationships, there's one thing that's still there all the time," she said.

"I love him better than anybody."

Springsteen's first Perth visit a sell-out tour

Springsteen and the E Street Band played in Perth for the first time on Wednesday, with the Boss telling the 16,000-strong crowd: "It's great to be in the most remotest place on earth".

The sell-out concert was the first of three in Perth, with Springsteen again proving that you are never too old to crowd surf.

It is Springsteen's epic live shows that get fans hooked, according to Sydney-based music critic Stuart Coupe.

"It sounds like a cliche but there's nothing like a Springsteen concert," he said.

“He’s always been about glorifying the so-called ordinary the day-to-day lives of people who they’re not all that special. Music critic Stuart Coupe”.

"I don't think there's been a live performer as great as Springsteen and I struggle to imagine that someone will be better.

"Now he's in his 60s and he's still ridiculously exciting."

A self-confessed rabid fan, Coupe first met Springsteen in Paris in 1981 and says if anything, the rocker's following is growing.

"I think he's probably more popular just because you've got more generations of Bruce nutters," he said.

"They become sort of life-long obsessive converts to this thing called Springsteen-ism.

"He has a particular hold over his fan base and part of that goes back to what makes Springsteen so attractive in the first place.

"He's always been about glorifying the so-called ordinary, the day-to-day lives of people who think they're not all that special."

Queensland fan Graham Atkinson, camped out at the Perth Arena before the concert and says the three Perth gigs follow last year's Wrecking Ball tour, when an estimated 5,000 fans travelled from WA to attend shows in the eastern states.

"[Springsteen] knew how many people had flown from the west coast to the east coast to see him," Mr Atkinson said.

"And he has honoured all those Perth-Steens by coming over here.

Meanwhile Ms Holland has added a precious item to her collection of Springsteen memorabilia, after the rock star handed her his harmonica at the end of playing The River.

She has tickets to all three Perth gigs because she believes this could be Springsteen's last Australian tour.

"I hope he doesn't leave this planet before I do," she said.

"I don't know what I would do, honestly."

‘Ticket Scalping’ The West Australian. 11 February 2014. (no copyright infringement intended).

Police are a hunting a man involved in a concert ticket scam, with the fraudster believed to have pocketed thousands of dollars from desperate WA fans chasing tickets to sold-out shows on websites such as Gumtree.

The fraudster, who has no fixed address, creates stories to trick would-be buyers into transferring money into his bank account for tickets that do not exist.

In one case, it is believed the man conned a young Rockingham One Direction fan for $1000 for tickets to the teen group's concert last year.

A Perth woman paid $720 for two tickets to the Rolling Stones concert next month after responding to the man's advertisement on Gumtree, but the tickets did not exist.

It is understood WA Police know the name of the fraudster and believe he has been scamming would-be concertgoers on Gumtree since 2010.

Police have told his victims the man allegedly scammed about 300 people across Australia. The figure could be higher because of the number of unreported incidents.

The man has told his victims that he lives in the Goldfields town of Norseman. It is not known if he lives in WA and it is believed he travels between caravan parks.

Ashly Evans, 27, paid $720 into the man's bank account for two tickets to the Rolling Stones concert as a present to her mother.

The man said he had "tongue pit" tickets for the Rolling Stones Adelaide concert and was going on a "road trip" there with friends, so no longer needed the Perth tickets.

"In hindsight, I feel pretty silly," Ms Evans said. "But at the time the story was so believable and I thought it would be a great present for my mum. I transferred the money and two days later I called but his phone was switched off."

WA Police said the man has conned Perth people for AFL tickets and entry to a Wiggles concert.

The scam is the dark side of a lucrative ticket black market emerging in Perth, with tickets to sold-out shows selling for more than 10 times their face value.

Tickets in the tongue pit for the Rolling Stones' Perth Arena show, which had a face value of $1300, were being advertised for $13,706 each on online site Viagogo. Other sellers were offering the tickets for $2112.

Tickets for US comedian Dave Chappelle's show this month, which sold out in seconds at $100 each, were on offer at $500 each.