The Inquisitr » Kyle Brady

Black Friday? Amazon Always!

Kyle Brady — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:13:56 +0000

In case you don’t live in America, or you do and choose to ignore social calendars, this week holds the holiday of Thanksgiving on Thursday, a mixed-message celebration of the arrival of the Pilgrims, and is followed by what is known as “Black Friday”. What better way to celebrate the arrival of our poor, hungry, puritanical ancestors than to participate in a heathen festival of money throwing and retail gorging?

Sorry, but the cake is a lie.

For the last decade, Amazon.com has positioned itself as the de facto online retail destination where almost all products can be found on the cheap – even those you didn’t know you wanted. It started with CD book sales and has rapidly expanded to include everything you can buy in a brick-and-mortar store: electronics, clothes, music, gardening supplies, kitchen utensils… everything.

This is why Black Friday is on its way out.

Black Friday occurs either one of two ways, from a retailer perspective: either they mark up the prices so high that a “50% off” deal is really more expensive than the item was a week prior, or they make very small profit margins off each item while hoping for large volume. The problem here lies in their inability to use a crystal ball – not only have retail sales been declining recently because of the Great Recession, thereby erasing any low-price-high-volume ideas, but they had also stagnated prior to the economic catastrophe of 2008.

The reason for this is obvious: Amazon’s sales have been skyrocketing ever since 2003, and in a world where teenagers, young adults, and the otherwise youthful-at-heart prefer to spend their shopping time getting what they want or need, for low prices, in a matter of moments, retail seems doomed. As a busy, budding adult of almost-22, it’s far easier for me to order anything I need via Amazon and have it appear two days later at my apartment door than it is to find it at some store, fight the unwashed masses, and wait in line for two hours to overpay.

It is my belief, which is founded upon raw data and the sage knowledge of the informed young, that Black Friday 2009 will be a catastrophic disaster, and may actually be the last time it’s promoted so heavily. People don’t have money, and aren’t spending as much as they normally would, so does fighting over a “Tickle Me Elmo” in Walmart at 6am really seem that appealing? That fistful of cash could easily pay for some of the economic farce that is fuel, or maybe help me upgrade my food for a day from tomatoes and rice to flavorful baked beans.

The proof will be in the pudding, as it were, but if the economic indicators and societal mood has shown anything in the last year or more, it’s that Americans are no longer willing to spend money willy-nilly, and corporate greed has become one of their pet peeves.

Now if only Goldman Sachs had a Black Friday sale, they might be pushed to legitimate bankruptcy…

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

A Free Idea For The Movie Industry

Kyle Brady — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:12:03 +0000

Netflix, despite the protestations of movie studios, has done wonders for the industry, resulting in millions of Americans that now watch DVDs on a regular basis who would otherwise probably watch whatever made-for-TV movie was on AMC; however, this revolution has been limited almost strictly to DVD delivery, unless you have a penchant for weird (or old) movies.

Hulu, the television networks’ answer to the Internet, has also flourished, but with an entirely different model: rather than paying a monthly fee for unlimited access, Hulu provides unlimited access to both fresh and archive content in exchange for some pretty hilarious, and comparatively short, commercials. There has admittedly been some network pushback, because Hulu is becoming a victim of its own success – as more people use Hulu, the actual television viewers continue to drop, and networks don’t get the big-ticket revenue they typically could have expected.

But, at the end of the day, both industries have come to realize that they need to adapt, and quickly, in order to survive in any recognizable fashion. TV networks are toying with the idea of different delivery models via Hulu, such as “all content, always” and “only the most recent episodes”, but they’re trying.

Movie studios, however, are not.

Hulu was a joint-venture by industry giants, and was only a success because it was given true independence and freedom – it’s not a service that can likely be replicated by the movie industry, especially since Hulu appears to have somehow gained the love and support of nerds that is a prerequisite for Internet-based success. It is for this very reason that the movie industry should embrace a twofold online-delivery approach: Hulu and Netflix.

Out of a $10 (USD) movie ticket, the studios receive a portion of sales, as well as a fee for the theater actually showing the film – this is an unsustainable model in the modern world of other, cheaper options. If studios could receive $5 per online viewing of new movies, with a larger audience, would they not be happy to comply? The theory is simple: allow Hulu to show New Release movies as soon as they appear in theaters, with a pre-roll ad that results in the needed income-per-viewer, which is honestly no different or more annoying than the twenty minutes of previews and ads moviegoers are currently subjected to.

Furthermore, Netflix’s mass-audience should be leveraged to their providers’ streaming benefit, either through a similar pre-roll advertising model or with an extra monthly subscriber fee to allow Netflix members access to the New Release content via streaming, much like paying for a movie channel on a cable TV plan – but is actually useful.

The music industry was forced to adapt, much to their undying hatred, and they have suffered greatly for it – this is why they continue to try to restrict listeners’ rights while also increasing profits. If the movie studios choose to adapt, much as television networks have been halfheartedly attempting to, they could fare far better in the end than they do even now. The pay-per-stream movie distribution idea, through iTunes or Amazon, was a valiant attempt but has proven to not be of interest to most consumers, likely because of its expense and DRM-related difficulties.

FOX, Lionsgate, and all the others: this idea was free. The next one will cost seven figures – the check can be made out to “Kyle ‘Awesomeguy’ Brady”.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

The Epic Wordpress + MediaTemple Failure

Kyle Brady — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:53:40 +0000

A week ago I, Kyle the Invincible!, was hit by an injection attack on the majority of my own sites, and it took a large handful of hours to even figure out what was wrong. Once I discovered that a file had been somehow uploaded to my server, which executed itself and inserted malicious code onto my site’s pages, I wrote about it – in fact, you can find the full technical details on my blog and some more details on the Wordpress bug ticket.

Everything seemed like it was OK afterwards, since MediaTemple (my host) had worked pretty heavily with me to find the problem and determine the solution – I even wrote about how I was happy with the interaction and name-dropped the techs who had helped me. But then when my post on the issue started getting popular, because this is apparently a common problem at the moment, they stopped talking to me, especially when I started pushing for more answers.

The key to all of this is that a file is somehow uploaded to the server, which I had initially thought might be a fault of my CMS. Wordpress claims it isn’t their fault, but they released a security update (2.8.6) pretty quickly after my security and bug reports on the issue. MediaTemple claims it’s not their fault either, because Wordpress is “notoriously insecure”. But when the same issue started appearing for other users that don’t even use Wordpress, I became concerned – even more so when I learned most, if not all, of them are MediaTemple (gridserver) customers.

I’ve been pressing them for answers for the last four days, since I decided it was a hosting security issue, and have been ignored pretty stoically. But imagine my surprise today when I notice that I’ve been hit by the exact same attack, just a week later, this time running Wordpress 2.8.6.

If there’s a security issue floating around, you’d imagine that those behind the problem would be extremely interested in fixing it as soon as possible… right? Well, apparently not. It seems to be more important for both Wordpress and MediaTemple to act more like the Camel Lights camel rather than Boris from Goldeneye, and this is absolutely unacceptable from a user standpoint. Any vulnerability that allows unauthorized access to data, breaks a site, makes a huge list of SPAM links to porn, and redirects links to a malware distribution site is entirely not something to laugh at.

This is not a chain mail letter you can ignore without repercussions – this could effect a very big swath of the Internet, no matter who has caused the security hole.

I’ve been relatively happy with the (gridserver) plan from MediaTemple, and I know most people have been too. If this keeps up, however, I’ll be leaving them for someone who’s more interested in my data security than they appear to be, especially since all evidence points to this being a server issue rather than that of public-level software.

MediaTemple: step up, and do what we pay you for. If not, there will be a user reckoning.

Wordpress: you need to make an announcement. If it’s not your fault, that’s fine – but recognize the issue publicly, publish steps to fix the issue, and make a definitive claim against MediaTemple; however, you better have concrete evidence that it isn’t your fault.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Let’s Stop The Nonsense, OK?

Kyle Brady — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:05:43 +0000

The “bleeding-edge” segment of the Internet has gone full-on crazy, so it’s time to give them their medicine… and fast.

First of all, let’s make some definitions:

“technology” does not include only the Internet
“the Internet” does not include only so-called “social networking” sites
“groundbreaking” does not include every minor change or release from X’s favorite site Y

With me so far? Good.

If you’re one of the people that goes insane and hyper-joyous over things like Twitter Lists, you need to seek medical help – these “features”, used in the loosest sense of the software term, are not something to get overly excited about. Facebook Chat opening to external clients is not “groundbreaking” or a “gamechanger”, because that IM process is used for an extremely different purpose than, say, regular instant messaging – in fact, the only real operational difference is that I can be connected to some people I don’t want to talk to via Pidgin. Twitter Lists, small changes to Google’s algorithms, and the like are included in this “excited about nonsense” category.

Furthermore, if you’re someone who claims to “love technology”, but what you really mean is that you’re a Facebook addict, a Twitter whore, and an iPhone fanboy, I have some news for you: you don’t love technology. If you really loved technology, you’d be more interested in real technological items like working space elevator prototypes, the multiple industry revolutions that are fast approaching, or even just software that has real and useful purposes. Reading a few blogs about the Internet and going to Twitter conferences do not make you a technogeek – try PhysOrg.com, almost-science-journals like New Scientist, or even some self-education on the things that make your favorite software or gadgets work.

So when you’re retweeting your favorite self-proclaimed geek pundit’s semi-legible statement about a “groundbreaking” release from “the Internet” using brand new “technology”, stop for a moment to think about what you’re saying – how often do you think Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs cry tears of joy over the latest incremental update from FarmVille?

That’s right – never.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Mainstream Media’s Death – Pending

Kyle Brady — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:10:10 +0000

Everyone has seen it coming but those effected by it: the mainstream media has been in a long, slow slide that will inevitably end in its death, and they have long since decried this as outrageous – but the cracks are beginning to show. Newspapers are asking for federal permission to collude as an industry, magazines are failing left and right, and all forms of publishing media has seen extensive layoffs and the closure of “extras” like non-local bureaus.

But what about the venerable media institutions that fall somewhere in-between newspapers and magazines? These are the TIME Magazine’s, Newsweek’s, and U.S. News‘ of the world.

TIME, along with it’s weekly brethren, typically has historically had more journalistic integrity per paragraph than any newspaper does per page – this is common knowledge, and it was assumed by many that they would weather the perfect storm of media collapse better than most. This, apparently, was an incorrect assumption.

Looking over the last three issues, disturbing trends begin to emerge.

The November 9th, 2009 issue of TIME has 64 pages: 25 are ads, and 11 are the beginning filler nonsense no-one reads – that’s over half the magazine, and another 5 pages are dedicated for entertainment “news” that doesn’t belong in a publication like TIME. But here’s where it gets good: there’s two “book adaptation” articles that total 6 pages. All told, that leaves just 17 pages for true journalism, half of which are actually commentary pieces.

The November 2nd, 2009 issue has 80 pages: 44 are ads, 11 are introductory filler, 10 are entertainment “news”, and there’s another 5 for commentary – leaving just 10 pages for journalism. The trend continues in the October 26, 2009 issue: 64 pages in length, 17 are ads, 5 are full-page “infographics”, 12 are intro filler, 3 are full-page pictures, 5 used for entertainment, and another 5 for commentary – 17 for journalism.

Did TIME think its readers wouldn’t notice? That people who care enough about politics and world issues to read lengthy stories are somehow too busy or ignorant to realize the content they pay for is dwindling substantially? The content I personally pay for now only represents somewhere around 20% of the magazine each week, and this is somehow supposed to be acceptable?

There was a time, just a few years ago, where the magazine took well over an hour to read – and it was an enjoyable, informed, educational timesink. Now it takes less than half an hour of mostly brainless reading, depending on the week’s content, because the majority of the magazine gets ignored. It’s understandable that such publications are going through tough financial times, due to a decreased readership and a number of other issues, but the way to increase your membership, or even maintain the status quo, is most definitively NOT to follow TIME’s current behavior.

To all the media moguls out there, here’s an important point you might want to write down for future use: when you need to increase your publication’s readership, replacing content with ads and journalism with reprints or filler is not going to net you the results you desire. This, in all honesty, should be common sense.

It goes without saying that I am not only disappointed in TIME for such behavior, but also that it deserves to fail in a miserable and public fashion, because it has proven itself incapable of making rational editorial decisions when threatened with existential questions. Since I don’t subscribe to Newsweek or U.S. Magazine, it’s hard to say definitively whether they are acting similarly, but this industry has proven to be very open to groupthink…

In short, let TIME and its ilk die the slow, painful death that they deserve.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

A Very Wordpress World

Kyle Brady — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:05:52 +0000

Since 2003, an open source, Internet-oriented software package has done what is exceedingly rare within that community: becoming not only immensely popular and wildly loved, but also profitable. Matt Mullenweg has managed to turn what began as a fork of an aging content management system (CMS) into a worldwide empire that doesn’t even technically have a central office – Automattic’s Wordpress.

And there’s more coming.

Wordpress has evolved into one of the leading CMS packages in the world, in large part thanks to its many features and intense focus. Over the years it’s morphed from a rough-around-the-edges, but useful, software tool into a fully featured and easy-to-use content management endpoint with de facto deployment status. With built-in features like automatic upgrade, an increasingly intelligent editing interface, and an extensive plugin system, it’s easy to see why, and viewing the list of features in the upcoming 2.9 release is evidence enough that they’re moving toward a singular goal, given their prior history.

One of the complaints with Wordpress has always been relatively simple: while it’s easier to use than Drupal or Joomla for non-programmers, a basic familiarity with programming and advanced “Internet skills” are necessary to establish an enjoyable and highly functional site/blog. Themes use direct PHP references, plugins (until recently) had to be uploaded via FTP, and content was typically written externally – none of these facets of software lend themselves to attracting the proverbial Grandma as a user. Yes, the interface is more slick and friendly than their competitors’, but the Wordpress team still has far to go.

Wordpress 2.9 will supposedly see public access to easier rich-media embedding, inline image editing, and an operating system-like Trashcan – these are the most standout features of the impending upgrade, and they are definitively GUI- and Grandma-oriented. For some time now, Automattic has been playing both sides of the coin by enhancing the software backend and functionality while simultaneously smoothing over the user experience for the world-at-large, and this is admirable. It is, therefore, not a significant stretch to assume that Wordpress is intended to one day have rich functionality and extensibility, but with an interface that caters to the general public – the Gmail, Facebook, or Firefox of CMS packages.

There is, however, a problem.

Unless a user chooses the watered-down, hosted version, a site/blog using Wordpress in any fashion still requires significant setup and configuration – hosting, databases, and the initial software setup are all required elements to achieving functionality, and they all require some technological knowledge. Even worse are those sites that use Wordpress and begin to see traffic, because there is still a significant memory/load issue at its very core. The Inquisitr uses Wordpress, and I’ve always used it for my own site, business, and clients, but it is almost always heavily modified for any popular or load-bearing use.

All of us use some sort of content caching option, but a step further is still required: in my case, all sites are hosted with MediaTemple’s (gridserver) plan, with extra database-only memory resources, but in the case of the Inquisitr, an extensive hosting solution, involving Amazon’s AWS products, was necessary for the site to remain functional. How is this still a problem for Wordpress installations?

For Wordpress to achieve its high-minded goals, it needs to begin work on the core immediately. Given that Automattic has been slowly acquiring plugins and other software that advances its ideals, it would make more sense for Wordpress to come prepackaged with certain features, not as plugins, in order to enhance its basic usability – page caching should be first on the list.

Matt Mullenweg, Automattic, and Wordpress, I salute you. You’ve done an admirable job and the world generally loves you – but it’s time to step up to what you’ve created, and do things right.

You don’t want to become the Microsoft of content management systems, do you?

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

The E-Reader’s Future

Kyle Brady — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:24:33 +0000

The latest Internet tech pundits’ obsession has not been related to the ADD-laced “real time web” proclamations that some are so annoyingly fond of, but of a much older format…

Books.

News has been slowly leaking out regarding Barnes & Noble’s “Nook” e-reader device, and the more that surfaces, the more it sounds like a surprising and wonderful device that could prove to be the harbinger of the e-reader’s/e-book’s watershed moment. It’s based on the Android platform, has a substantially better feature set than any of its predecessors, holds comparatively extreme battery life, and implements what appears to be a slick user interface.

And it’s being produced and sold by a book retailer chain.

Until now, e-readers have been something of a pipedream, since Sony’s Reader has been a nonstarter and the Amazon Kindle is inherently flawed – but all of this may quickly change. It’s intriguing that Barnes & Noble managed to understand the market’s needs so well, such as supporting a litany of formats and replicating real world book features like “sharing”, when this is something that Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) loves to claim as his own. Amazon may have cornered the market in numerous areas by using their leverage to lower prices and make deals, but they failed in the areas of digital reader rights and the all-important digital discount.

If the statistics on wholesale book sales from the International Digital Publishing Forum, which are typically half those of retail, are to be believed, e-book sales have approximately tripled within the last twelve months – the data coincides with Amazon’s entrance into the market, as expected. But with the debut of Barnes & Noble, one of two monolithic North American book retailers, as both a hardware and e-book retailer, these numbers will likely grow at an even faster rate.

Borders, Barnes & Noble’s only true competitor, has been weakly promoting the Sony Reader for years to very little effect – so what happens when one of the book giants has a product that it has invested substantial R&D in, and wants desperately to succeed? It’s highly probable that the Nook will be prominently featured in all of B&N’s locations, with slick salesmen/promoters attached, and will remain a central focus of their website for all of the foreseeable future.

When a brick-and-mortar company puts their substantial sales/promotion weight behind a product, including their $4.5 billion from in-store sales (2008), they almost always have a noticeable effect on the targeted market. Amazon is the king of product sales, but the sad fact is that a modern online powerhouse doesn’t have the marketing clout needed to push an unfamiliar item into the mainstream. However, if B&N’s power is combined with the apparent greatness of the device, a breakthrough to the masses becomes possible.

If they play their cards right, Barnes & Noble may be remembered as the company that produced the first “next generation” e-reader that was close enough to perfect for it to be popular with mainstream consumers – Amazon, Sony, and a few others will have their place as innovators, but there will be a distinction between the two. This innovation/breakthrough dichotomy is not uncommon, and can be easily found in the history of the Internet itself: the companies that were innovators (and faded/failed/went bankrupt) versus those who were able to make mainstream breakthroughs.

All of this, of course, depends on the device being more-or-less as described, not to mention functional and without any major hardware or software bugs – their success is contingent upon getting this right the first time. If they fail, they probably won’t have time for a second chance.

But I have my fingers crossed… And I already want one.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Interview, Part II

Kyle Brady — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:05:20 +0000

This is a part of a series on George Norman Lippert, “America’s JK Rowling”, creator of the spinoff “James Potter” novels set in the Potterverse and often compared to the original “Harry Potter” .

GNL Series: The Story – The Interview, Part I – The Interview, Part II

Recently, it seems that Warner Brothers Studio has contacted you regarding James Potter – regarding what?

I received a rather lengthy email detailing some new requests for how I should present and promote the James Potter stories. Specifically, the lawyer requested that I change the James Potter logo, since they feel it is too similar to the Harry Potter film logo (although I did work to make it merely similar, and not a direct copy). Also, the lawyer requested that I remove references to my own original books from the James Potter-related website. Finally, they asked for more and larger disclaimers.

Regarding the logo issue, I can’t help wondering why this has suddenly become a problem, since my initial dealings with Warner Bros. legal (during the releases of both books in the series) bore no reference to any issue with the logo. The logo does, in fact, appear in many places (many of them fully animated and rendered using computer graphics), and will require a very substantial investment of time, but I suspect it is a change I will have to make, nonetheless. I have already begun work on it.

Regarding the references to my own books, I also feel I have no choice but to comply, although I can’t imagine why the presence of my own stories on the website should constitute any confusion, since my name is clearly visible on the covers of all the books, including the James Potter stories.

What is your response and course of action going to be?

I pride myself in being an honest, above-board kind of person, therefore when someone implies that my actions are sneaky, underhanded or outright illegal, I take the allegation very seriously. I have said from the beginning that if Ms. Rowling wished me to take down the website and the James Potter stories, I would do so immediately out of respect for her creation. While I do not understand or agree with some of the requests of the Warner Bros. lawyers, I do mean to keep my interactions with them as amicable as possible, for the sake of my own conscience, if nothing else. Therefore, over the following weeks, I will work to make the changes they have requested, although it will probably affect the release of the third James Potter story.

My primary reaction to Warner Bros.’ concerns is one of confusion. Basically, aren’t we both two entities trying to promote the same creative universe? I’d much rather pool our creative resources than continue to function as combatants, or worse, as a mere legal nuisance.

Since WB only holds the rights to movie productions, how do you imagine this conflicts with the interests of Rowling?

I will surely incite a letter of admonishment from someone for saying so, but as the original creator of the Harry Potter universe, I suspect Ms. Rowling would view my stories exactly as I intended them—not as a legal threat or a “dilution of the brand”, but as a compliment and a creative homage.

I don’t view Warner Bros. as the bad guy in this instance, but I do view them as merely a gigantic business protecting an extremely valuable asset that they have paid a lot of money for. I don’t expect them even to consider (as I believe Ms. Rowling would) that my stories might be creatively interesting, evocative, or even complimentary to their end goals. Which is a shame, really, since I think that if they did, we might be able to make something very cool.

What are your plans for the future? Will the James Potter series continue to the expected seven books? Do you intend to write outside of the Potterverse in the future, or remain loosely on the edges like “The Girl on the Dock”?

I have an entire seven book series in my head at this point. I know what the “mega-plot” of the full series is, and book three, which is due out on December first, will set that fully into motion. However (and that’s a big however) I don’t know if I will write all seven books. This may be the last one, primarily because it is increasingly tiresome to invest such time and energy into a project that continues to be viewed, by the powers that be, as a threat and an annoyance. It has only been the consistent encouragement and high hopes of the worldwide cadre of James Potter readers that has led me to write book three. From here on out, I can’t guarantee anything (even though book 3 will, in effect, end on a monstrous cliff-hanger).

I am writing my own original work, however. Between JP2 and JP3, I wrote a novel called “The Riverhouse”, which I am dubbing a “grown-up ghost story”. It is intended for a rather different audience than the James Potter books, although I suspect there will be a large degree of cross-over. For now, I am seeking literary representation for it, with the hopes of getting it published.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Interview, Part I

Kyle Brady — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:05:38 +0000

GNL Series: The Story – The Interview, Part I – The Interview, Part II

Could you give a quick intro on what the James Potter series is (ideas, themes, inspiration, etc.)? Most people consider it high-quality fan-fiction, but what do you label it as?

When I first discovered fan-fiction (and this was AFTER finishing my first James Potter book) I was bored with how so much of it was just a rehash of the original characters and stories. Being satisfied with Harry’s tale, I wanted to explore the wider magical world.

For instance, in a world split between Muggle and magical, wouldn’t there be a contingent of people intent on breaking down that separation? If so, would their intentions be good or bad? And what about this character that is barely mentioned in the DH [ed.- JK Rowling’s “Deathly Hollows”] Epilogue, Harry’s firstborn son, James? What would it be like to grow up as the son of the most famous wizard of all time? How would that effect this boy’s personal development? Further, on a greater scale, what about the rest of the wizarding world? What are magical schools and locations like all over the world? How do Muggle cultures affect the magical world that operates within them? These were the themes I wanted to explore.

Thus, the James Potter series is a logical extension of the Harry Potter universe, branching off from the epilogue of J. K. Rowling’s final book. But while it originates from the tree of the original series, it expands into some new areas, exploring entirely new themes, characters and locations.

As far as how I think of these stories, I hate the term “fan-fiction”. I call it that, for lack of a better word, but to me, it’s more like when a band does a cover of another band’s hit song. It sounds familiar, and yet, if done properly, it is still fresh and unique. “Cover fiction” is possibly a better term for what I try to write, although I doubt the term will catch on.

From what I can tell, both installments of the James Potter series have had an explosive effect on the Harry Potter reader community… is this true? Good reactions, bad, or mixed? Do you have any numbers on readers that might be useful in understanding how your works compare in community reach to JK Rowling’s?

When the first James Potter story was released, I was completely unprepared for the worldwide response it generated. During the first week, there was a wave of fairly rabid hate mail, mainly from those I’ve come to think of as the Canon Police. These individuals claimed that I was “ruining Harry Potter”, based on the fact that my story, in many ways, broke away from the familiar fan-fiction model. I was coloring outside the lines of the Potterverse, it seemed.

The second wave of reader response, however, was much larger and almost uniformly positive. Those who, like me, had been sad to see the end of the magical universe, seemed quite happy with my new perspective on it. Apparently, they felt that I had kept just enough of the old to make it familiar, but introduced enough new themes and characters to keep it fresh. This wave of reader response has continued to the present. I receive emails every day from readers all over the world, encouraging me to write more.

As far as hard reader numbers, this is very difficult to pinpoint, mainly because the story is hosted in so many languages now, from so many websites completely independent of me. Based on my own website numbers, and those I have gathered from a few other sources, my guess is that the stories have been read by at least a million people (the English versions, added up, have been downloaded over 750,000 times).

The interesting thing to me is that the James Potter stories have reached a large demographic of people that do not read fan fiction. That’s what flatters and pleases me the most.

You comment in both books that your work is set inside Rowling’s universe and uses similar characters, but are not endorsed by Rowling herself – you even include a character-tribute to Rowling in “Curse of the Gatekeeper”. What’s the reaction been from her and her legal advisers? How about from Scholastic?

During the initial media response to my first James Potter story, both Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling’s agency were asked if they were responsible for the website and the stories. When that happened, I felt I had an “in” with them, and I contacted them. I was worried that they would attempt legal action against me, but Ms. Rowling’s agency (The Christopher Little Agency) was very encouraging and cordial. They agreed to view a preview sample of the story (although, for understandable legal reasons, Ms. Rowling herself did not view it) and declared that they had no legal issue with the free release of stories such as mine, so long as they were not attributed to Ms. Rowling. Warner Bros, at that time, agreed, merely asking that I not use any of the Harry Potter film score in the promotion of the James Potter stories. I agreed immediately, of course.

Regarding the character of Juliet Revalvier, in “James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper”, she is, of course, an affectionate homage to Ms. Rowling herself. Since these tales are all derived, ultimately, from the fertile garden of her imagination, I have always had great respect both for her work and her proprietary ownership of it. I was, in fact, very vocal about my disdain for Mr. Steve Vander Ark during the whole “Harry Potter Lexicon” legal brouhaha. Regarding Scholastic Books, I have heard no word from them.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Of Harry Potter, James Potter, and Warner Bros. Studios – The Story

Kyle Brady — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:05:52 +0000

GNL Series: The Story – The Interview, Part I – The Interview, Part II

Harry Potter is one of the most dominant international sensations of all time, existing in printed word, on film, and in countless languages, and has captivated the minds of countless millions of readers. JK Rowling completed her series and gave the world what was allegedly the final piece in her Potterverse assemblage in mid-2007, to the joy and dismay of fans worldwide – the story was complete and their curiosity had been satisfied, but for many it left a gaping hole in their hearts and minds.

It should come as no surprise, then, that a rabid fan-fiction community developed around the Potterverse, courtesy of the Internet, as a way to cope with those whose lives had become so deeply enmeshed with Harry Potter and his adventures. Some of the fan fiction was decent, as long as you stayed away from the disturbing subgenres that prefer a more adult and mentally damaging tone. But none of it stood out as anything more than amateur writers copying the behaviors of someone they idolized with an almost religious fervor.

Enter George Norman Lippert – early August, 2007.

Like many others, he finished “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” and was emotionally lost, so he began writing. In his first sitting, he wrote what would become a piece of his first fan-fiction novel (or “cover-fiction”, as he calls it), and showed it to his wife. After her encouragement, he continued writing, and completed “James Potter and Hall of the Elders’ Crossing” relatively quickly, followed by a release on December 1, 2007. Since then he’s released a sequel (“James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper”), is preparing to release the next in the series (“James Potter and the Vault of Destinies”), wrote a related standalone book (“The Girl on the Dock”), and produced a slew of other Potterverse related pieces.

And along the way he’s had contact with JK Rowling and Warner Bros., with mixed results.

By GNL’s calculations, over a million people have read his stories – not quite the 400 million that JKR has achieved, but still highly impressive. Rowling herself has said, via her agent, that she has no qualms about fan-fiction, so long as it’s not the previously mentioned deranged version, and specifically has no problem with the James Potter material.

Warner Bros., the rights-holder to the movie versions of Harry Potter, had the same initial reaction: the James Potter logo, use of characters, etc. was agreeable to them. However, they seem to have had a change of heart, and are demanding changes in the representation of the material and GNL’s website. It’s intriguing that they feel the need to not only contact, but attack, a creator of media in an entirely different form than what they produce, especially when it’s more of a tribute than a detraction. Even more curious, WB seems to think it will damage their branding of Harry Potter, while evidence shows that it would likely bolster sales. Why didn’t they go after countless movies and books that have emulated the iconic logo in one fashion or another? The Golden Compass, The Dark Is Rising, and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief are just three easy examples of such allowed behavior – perhaps the studio power behind these three movies makes the difference?

It is truly sad that copyright claims are being used in an attempt to stifle such creative and lovingly crafted work that approaches its subject with the feel of JK Rowling and a twist of originality. The fans have embraced them, the Queen of the Potterverse gave her blessing, and Scholastic (the American print publisher of Harry Potter) seems to have no objections – it’s only the overzealous movie studio that seems to take affront to GNL’s actions. While they are demanding changes that are largely of presentation and self-promotion, the leap to requiring the removal of the James Potter novels from public view is not a large one, especially given the known behavior of frightened media behemoths.

George, however, understands that this honeymoon period may not last much longer, and admits he may not fully complete the expected seven-book series because of the increasing effort necessary to produce further installments. Instead, he has his sights set on being an author in his own right, outside of the world of Harry Potter, and is currently “shopping” the manuscript of “The Riverhouse” for publication.

Whether the James Potter series is completely finished or not, it is safe to say that George Norman Lippert has distinctly enriched the lives of countless Harry Potter fans and even the Potterverse itself. His works have shown that not only can a fan with talent significantly enrich the source material without resulting to pale imitations, but that it’s still possible to rise from obscurity to fame within the literary world – all without an agent, a marketing campaign, or SPAM’ing forums.

To quote a dryad from “James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing”:

You must beware, James Potter. Your father’s battle is over.

Yours begins.

GNL can be found on the James Potter series website, on Facebook, and on Twitter; the James Potter novels are available for download [1] [2], his novel can be found on Amazon, and the next chapter in the epic saga will be released December 1, 2009.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Comicbook Publishers’ Untapped Market

Kyle Brady — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:59:36 +0000

Imagine, for a moment, that Amazon has announced the next release of their Kindle product: the Kindle DX II (pronounced “dee-ex two”), and while it includes a long list of upgrades and improvements, the single most important development is its ability to display full-color, when necessary, via a dual-mode rendering process.

Continue the imagination process for a moment to understand what new opportunities this would bring: digitized issues of National Geographic, full-color covers for all Kindle edition books, and comicbooks. Wait, what? Comicbooks!?!?

The two largest comicbook enterprises, Marvel (now owned by Disney) and DC, have been experimenting with the digital revolution for their core business, to varied levels of success – Marvel has a “digital comic” subscription, are experimenting with “motion comics”, and even provides some online for free; DC has freely available origin stories for most (all?) of its characters, and provides previews of its upcoming comics (like Blackest Night: Superman #2).

The unsaid assumption throughout all of this, however, is that printed comicbooks will never actually leave this world, because the experience is too unique, and “motion comics” are likely just a supplement or even a novelty. Cue the digital book revolution, stage left.

As e-readers continue to evolve, their core technology will undoubtedly reach a point where they are both feature-rich and cheap enough that it is no longer possible to ignore them – much like the iPod’s entrance a decade ago. Color display options will undoubtedly be a feature of a future release, if only for the added market possibilities and display of illustration, since color eats away at battery life, to to mention unnecessary in black-and-white printed word display.

When e-readers have a color display option, comicbooks will likely become a market that explodes with growth and helps bring the devices to a more visible position in public life – who wouldn’t want their comicbook collection available on the train commute to work, or at school during boring classes? The Kindle’s size and design would lend itself, almost uniquely, to comicbook usage and the actions of comicbook publishers suggest they would embrace the new, untapped market with open arms.

So, Amazon, if you really want to make the Kindle the reading device of the future, you need to target those who will gladly pay to make your dreams happen: nerds.

And nerds love comicbooks.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

An Open Letter to the Movie Industry

Kyle Brady — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:10:49 +0000

Dear Movie Industry,

We love you – just to clarify, “we” is most of America and large portions of the world-at-large. But you’re quickly becoming prey to your own scheming and need to be saved before you collapse from the weight of your own self-indulgence.

We’re here for you.

Over your history, you’ve produced alot of good, quality movies of all types, genres, and styles. Recently, however, you’ve become more interested in print-to-film adaptations, sequels, and reboots than true originality or creativity – just look at the recent list of sequels announced: Boondock Saints II, Spider-Man 4, Transformers 3, and Indiana Jones 5. This may ultimately be your downfall.

Don’t get us wrong, we love some of your sequels. And we love the movies you’re making sequels of – Transformers 2 may not have had the approval of the critics, but us fans seemed to love it. The problem is when you assume that the financial success of certain types of movies (like action, scifi, or thrillers) means there not only should be a sequel, but that we somehow demand one and will support it through the end.

This inevitably results in disasters like Spider-Man 3, where the series concept takes a turn for the worse and throws dirt on its own good name. The “they just don’t live up to their predecessors or expectations” label can applied to many sequels, like The Matrix movies – although they were still pretty awesome.

Between your sequel-happy trigger-fingers and the fact that only a few months can go by before yet another comicbook is announced as being adapted into a film, it would seem that you have lost your stride. Yes, District 9 came out recently, but guess what? You didn’t support the script, and Peter Jackson had to step in to help raise independent financing – good move. Gamer was an original script, sure, but it also wasn’t the best movie you’ve ever produced. Going down the release roster for the last few years doesn’t produce too many original or creative gems of genius either.

It’s time for you to bring back the creativity. The Matrix, Star Wars, The Boondock Saints, and the rest of your biggest successes (both financially and those with cult status) have typically been original works of creation, not adaptations – The Dark Knight is an outlier, as The Watchmen so deftly proved. Choosing a screenplay for production, or even an idea, should be based on its actual strengths and weaknesses, rather than whether it’s associated with previously successful movies, toy franchises, or highly successful graphic novels.

Don’t stop the sequels and adaptations, though – just make sure they’re warranted.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

An Ode to Childhood Lost

Kyle Brady — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:44:26 +0000

The future of intelligent children’s television programming just became significantly darker, and it truly saddens me – “Reading Rainbow”, a staple of both PBS and bright children nationwide, has been canceled after a wonderful run of 26 years.

I grew up, as a child of the late 80’s, with “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, “Reading Rainbow”, and “Sesame Street”, all of which significantly influenced my life for the better, but only one remains. My childhood was full of thought, imagination, and mental stimulation – there was no “Dora the Explorer” or “Blue’s Clues” (neither of which even begin to compare), and “Barney and Friends” came a bit too late to be relevant.

It was through these three television programs, along with my parents, that my early-childhood intellectual interests were initially developed, quickly becoming a lifelong obsession with reading. I was often read to as a child, and always had an active (some might say overactive) imagination, but it was the efforts of Fred Rogers and LeVar Burton that helped to internalize reading and imagination as valued character traits.

“Mister Rogers’” was a program, shown on PBS for 31 years, devoted to teaching sharing with others, the importance of imagination, and assisted in defining the real world to entire generations of children through the use of fantasy lands, monologues, and colorful puppets. Through his half-hour interactions with his young audience, the beloved Fred Rogers managed to address difficult topics without appearing false, while also showing the clear demarcations between fantasy and reality. He encouraged the use of imagination in everyday life, and very clearly showed how it could be both enriching and entertaining – a powerful message for children who often feel a strong need to “be normal” and “fit in”.

Another PBS flagship program, “Reading Rainbow”, was similar in audience, but different in intent: where “Mister Rogers’” encouraged children to think and imagine, LeVar Burton was the voice for the pleasure of reading. Books were read on the program by celebrities, reviews were given by other children, library trips were encouraged, and relevant workplaces were featured – all with a heavy emphasis on not only reading, but reading for personal pleasure. Burton’s voice and presence was of a comforting, familiar nature, not altogether different from Fred Rogers’, and many children over its 26 year history came to see him as a relatable figure in their lives that told them reading was both fun and “cool”.

The death of Fred Rogers in 2003 was a sad experience that dredged up memories of early childhood I didn’t even know I had, and I discovered I was still fond of the man and his commitment to well-rounded children. The recent cancellation of “Reading Rainbow”, due to a lack of funding, is no different: I knew intellectually that the show existed no longer, but it was not until I heard LeVar on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” that I discovered how truly devastated I felt by the loss of such a cornerstone of my childhood.

While “Sesame Street” is more focused on learning, even in today’s watered-down version, “Reading Rainbow” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” were yesterday’s key to building a child’s interest in reading, fostering imagination, and encouraging children to be comfortable with themselves – a niche that has yet to be filled by other programs, and likely won’t be for some time. The discovery of reading for pleasure is something that should not be left to chance, nor should the fostering of imagination.

Books, as many readers quickly discover, have qualities that cannot be found in other mediums: for every mood, for every interest, for every purpose, books are there. Books have the ability to stir up emotions, build escapist fantasies, or inform, and they are always available – like a best friend that’s only around when you need or want them. Combined with the power of immersive imagination, the power of reading, at any level, can be a truly moving, personal, and influential experience.

It is truly sad that in an age dominated by both violent and mindnumbing entertainment, the fostering of children’s mental stimulation is no longer a central focus of attention. “Power Rangers”, “Pokemon”, and “Wizards of Waverly Place” absolutely do not inspire their viewers to greater heights, nor will such programs ever elicit higher-order behavior. The void left by the death of two of the most influential television programs in all of history, and the castration of their puppeteering brethren, will be felt for years to come – neither children nor parents may realize what is missing from their lives, but those of us who grew up with Mister Rogers asking “won’t you be my neighbor?” and LeVar Burton’s promise of “I’ll see you next time” will know.

The saddest, most emotionally catastrophic realization of all is that my children will never know “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” or “Reading Rainbow” – instead, they may grow up with colorful, singing, robot-fighting, Spanish-speaking dinosaur-based television shows that have no intellectual value.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

“Gamer” As a Lens For the Future

Kyle Brady — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:21:57 +0000

The new scifi/action movie “Gamer” didn’t do well with critics, but it wasn’t expected to – the movie caters to the popcorn action flick audience that appreciates, or is a part of, geek culture. It’s a violently brutal mindtwist of a movie that offers more substance, self-reflection, and cultural criticisms that even the best indie art films cannot compare to, and leaves the audience with lingering philosophical questions about modern society. This is its strength, and it is through this lens that we are allowed a glimpse into a future that may very well one day be ours.

The movie opens with an ultra-realistic battle scene reminiscent of a WWII movie recast in the near future, but the audience quickly realizes something is different, courtesy of static-frame inserts and other clues that hint at a digital connection. As the opening scene progresses, references are made to popular modern videogames, like Halo, via “teabagging” (achieving a kill and repeatedly crouching over their dead body) and the double-foot obstacle jumping common to such action/shooter games. In the almost-full theater I was in, the only laughter at these references came from me – did the audience not understand, or just not find it amusing?

Regardless of the many attempts at referential humor that presumably fell flat on most audiences, the movie is a bastion of darkness in the gaming world, because it is largely a condemnation of the continuing digitizing of the modern world’s lifestyle. The essential premise is that real, live humans can have their brain transformed into a control center that gives remote access to paying customers – the war simulation, “SLAYERS”, and the social simulation, “society”, are variations on a theme for this style of game. “society” is a real-world version of “The Sims Online”, where individuals are paid to become willing avatars for remote control, completely subject to the usually malevolent will of their players, while “SLAYERS” is a real-world version of the common war game, where the so-called avatars are condemned criminals that experience actual death and injury.

Watching this movie, it’s hard to miss the condemnation of the current gaming culture and the potential future it has – everything from the very premise to the dialog contains references, biting criticism, and allegory. But is it unfair to say this is a possible future? Absolutely not.

Every year, more and more violent, realistic games reach the market (in and of itself not an problem), and an ever-younger audience pays to play them. With the rise of online gaming, “trash talk” has become common, along with defamation practices like the previously mentioned “teabagging”, which are not only confusing but unintelligible to outsiders. Losing a game now somehow warrants any and all insults that the player can imagine, and any sensible, intelligent, or coherent discourse is impossible at any point during the game.

If the modern gaming culture of living vicariously through avatars with absolute control continues, it’s not difficult to imagine the transition from “games” to “real games”. In the movie, the technology arises through a failed military project that resurfaces in the corporate world as a way to support the crumbling American prison system – given the current state of prison privatization, this scenario sounds eerily familiar.

The ultimate condemnation, however, is not of the gaming culture but of modern humanity itself, asking: when did it become acceptable entertainment to watch others live, suffer, and succeed in lieu of actually living your own life? When did it become entertainment to watch from afar actual people die or be injured? The realistic escapist fantasy began with video games decades ago and continues with both their distant relatives and the unending slate of mindnumbing reality television programming. When the two finally merge…

Perhaps the world will have it’s own version of “SLAYERS”.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Marvel and Disney Together Is a Bit Weird

Kyle Brady — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:42:58 +0000

By way of introduction, Marvel is now owned by Disney. Yes, as of yesterday, the decades-long king of children’s entertainment, the reinventor of fairy tales, and clearing house for all things Mouse has ownership of one of the leading comic entertainment enterprises that is not necessarily known for being child-friendly.

I find this a bit weird.

Marvel’s cornerstones over the last seven decades have been Spiderman, The X-Men, The Hulk, Captain America, and a handful of other big-name titles, most of which have either already seen the silver screen or are slated to in the coming years. In fact, Marvel proved in 2000 that a comicbook-based movie could be not only highly successful but quality entertainment as well, arguably starting the the modern age of book-to-screen transfers that has produced gems like The Dark Knight along with utter abominations such as Punisher: War Zone.

But for Disney to purchase Marvel is a decision that makes me curious: besides the obvious financial benefits of merging two of the most successful entertainment operations of all time, what motivations could the Head Mousekeeter have? Disney’s productions, like Cinderella, The Lion King, and Bolt, are very different from the graphic and dark nature Marvel usually favors.

To be fair, a few of Disney’s arms produce slightly less G-rated material, such as Pixar’s Wall-E or ABC’s Lost, but even then the themes, or visuals, don’t approach the supreme violence of Wolverine, the adult lifestyle themes of Spiderman, or even the complex continuity of the Marvel Universe. So it makes sense that Disney has announced no intentions, for the foreseeable future, of influencing the production staff of Marvel, or even of disrupting the movies-in-progress.

This is good news, so long as they keep their promises – a cheery, joke-telling, lighthearted Logan would be entirely more disturbing than his modern depressive, angry, violent self. Perhaps Disney is truly interested in simply the financial benefits of owning the massively successful enterprise and will truly leave it to operate on its own, much as they have with Pixar.

Or maybe Disney is curious about turning Marvel’s creative talents inward to their own core cast of characters, in order to produce more adult-themed versions of popular titles.

Now that I can get behind.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

iPod Feature Request: Intelligent Listening Transference

Kyle Brady — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:20:59 +0000

Over the last few months, I’ve become a fan and supporter of NPR, a not-for-profit organization in America dedicated to the production and distribution of “noncommercial news, talk and entertainment programming”, distributed nationally via public radio member stations. This came about because typical news sources in America are increasingly focused in advertising dollars rather than informing their audience, and cater more to sensationalism and faux-news than unfiltered, unbiased news – I have no interest in supporting the “infotainment”-ization of CNN.

The problem with NPR, I discovered, is that they have wonderful daily programming that spans a range of interests and topics (read: NPR is not talk radio, but actually closer to a real-time History Channel on the radio) and that the programs can be up to two hours in length. This becomes a problem when:

you’re a busy person
you don’t have a portable radio
you don’t spend a significant and consistent amount of time in the car

But imagine my surprise this week when I discovered that NPR offers podcasts of almost all of their shows, free of charge, that are easily integrated with iTunes – self-updating news and entertainment programs that automatically transfer to your iPod according to rules you create.

This discovery was wonderful – now I could listen to what I wanted on a regular basis without being dependent on the car’s radio! NPR’s Talk of the Nation and Marketplace (via American Public Media), along with assorted programs from the BBC’s World Service suite and PBS’ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, have now become a daily staple for my travels. Sadly, though, All Things Considered does not have a subscription process, and a query to NPR has been submitted.

Although the podcast process is a great modern innovation for on-demand quality programming, and the television industry would do well to take note, there remains a problem: if a podcast is started on an iPod, but not finished, the only way to continue later is to either not listen to anything else or memorize its time position.

So, Apple, here’s a two-fold feature request:

have a default option to remember the listening position of podcasts, and allow it to be restarted where the user left off – similar to a DVD player’s “resume stop” feature, except with persistent memory during other content.
have “intelligent listening transference” from an iPod to a computer’s installation of iTunes, allowing a user to start the podcast on their iPod and finish listening in iTunes.

These two small, but important, new features would make the iTunes method of podcast delivery quite possibly the default distribution method for future “radio” shows and other audio-based programming. But for a media revolution to be successful, the tools in use must first attain a level of usability, in combination with appropriate market/social timing: FM radio and cable television saw this in previous decades, and the “blogging revolution” is currently experiencing this as tools mature and newspapers fail.

NPR, I love you, but Apple could take our relationship to the next level – why don’t you give them a ring?

— — —

Update (8/27/2009 11:50am PST): Word is coming in that most iPods already do this. Mine doesn’t, but possibly because it’s too old. So if this was a new idea to you, try it out – it probably already works for you!

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

The Twisted World of Oz

Kyle Brady — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:20:00 +0000

It came to my attention yesterday that L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is being adapted into another live-action movie, this time under the direction of Todd Macfarlane, the man most famously known for the Spawn series that includes comic books, action figures, and a movie. Obviously it will have layers of darkness, nightmares, and all-around insanity that the famous 1939 film was so desperately missing, but the questions of how his personal tendencies could be incorporated into a largely children-friendly film remain.

Film School Rejects, however, answers that question with a quote from writer attached to the film (Josh Olson) saying it will be “Harry Potter dark, but not Se7en dark”. Say what you will, but this may actually be a good instance of catering to the crowds – a film that resembles a mashup of The Wizard of Oz and the original Saw would probably not be worth seeing, unless you’re interested in horrendous train wrecks of green slippers, torture-porn, and flying monkeys that cause you severe and lasting mental damage.

Contrary to popular belief, the Harry Potter books are actually rather dark, starting slowly with the third novel (Prisoner of Azkaban) and progressing incrementally until the series ends in one of the most bleak, violent, and disturbing novels ever marketed to children (Deathly Hallows). And while many non-fans didn’t appreciate the latest movie (Half-Blood Prince), it was actually rather true to the book’s mood and overall feel.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that the movie won’t be visually very dark, stylized, and twisted – just that the plot and character themes will be less demonic than you might expect. The flair of Macfarlane’s famously stunning visuals combined with a semi-adult storyline should result in a decent, if not good, movie. Since the source material is essentially a children’s story with only a hint of adult themes, straying too far from it would not only be sacrilege to the fans of the novel, but also risky in prohibiting a large demographic swath from even seeing it.

A modern, teenage Dorothy will bring a fresh perspective to the World of Oz, but it needs to be done properly. Dakota Fanning may not be the absolute best choice for the central role, but her acting career allows her to be exactly what the film needs for success: a teenager wiser than her years that is both charming and disturbing by turn – someone the audience can relate to, even while being shocked by the action on the silver screen.

But if Helena Boham Carter were cast in the role, along with a much more adult and twisted script, it would become the very definition of disturbing children’s tales reinventions, and would taint the childhood memories of untold adults for all time.

That being said, it’s hard to decide which would be more fun to see: an appropriately darker retelling, or a disaster of a movie that takes dark reimagining to its inevitable and disturbing conclusion.

I bet we find out.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

District 9: Science Fiction’s Cinematic Savior

Kyle Brady — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:20:16 +0000

Only three times in my life have I walked out of a movie theater completely in awe of the film, with my mind unable to wrap itself around such utter greatness while grinning uncontrollably. First came The Matrix in 1999, when I was twelve years old. Followed by, almost a decade later, The Dark Knight in 2008, at the age of twenty.

District 9 can now add itself to this very short list, me just three months shy of turning twenty-two years old.

Science fiction has astounded people of all nations, cultures, and ages for a century and a half with its grand ideas, visions of the future, and interspecies communication. As a genre, science fiction’s limitations are singularly those of the imagination, while its creators prefer deeply ethical, political, and social issues – choosing to base the core of the story in science and reality, rather than more popular themes, allowing their work to transcend all boundaries.

It therefore is no coincidence that two of these three personally-lifechanging movies are science fiction, and only a matter of semantics keeps The Dark Knight from receiving the same label – some of the most highly praised, gamechanging, definitive movies of cinematic history are science fiction. The genre has brought aliens, the future, space, advanced weaponry, alternative histories, and much more to the silver screen, many times leaking into other genres – space and advanced weaponry are common themes in the James Bond movie series, even though it is considered to be action/thriller.

The Summer of 2009 has been no exception to the draw of science fiction, after The Matrix proved its financial potential, with recent months seeing the release of Terminator: Salvation, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Star Trek, Moon, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even G-Force – the trend of science fiction movies will continue for the rest of the year with no fewer than eight upcoming releases. While this slate of science fiction will no doubt have an effect on the genre’s future, only a few will be considered revitalizations.

If The Matrix brought huge special effects budgets, fancy wire work, and “bullet time”, and The Dark Knight brought disturbing scores, shaky-cam fight scenes, and gritty reality, what does this year’s releases bring in terms of reinvention? Until District 9, the answer was a definitive “not much” – Transformers was enjoyable but not groundbreaking, Terminator: Salvation was a mediocre rehashing at best, and G.I. Joe was strictly about fun. In direct opposition to most modern scifi movies, District 9 was produced with an astonishingly low budget of $30mil, proving that movies can be groundbreaking, compelling, and jawdropping without monolithic budgets.

As the movie continues to garner praise, rising directors, writers, and producers will doubtless look to District 9 for inspiration, and will find countless items to choose from: visually stunning special effects complimented the film, but were not the film itself; the compelling story grabs audiences from the beginning for a wild, emotional ride; the themes themselves are a large feature, the most central of which is an ethical argument; the plot builds continuously throughout, with many unexpected developments and without a single dull moment; and the list goes on.

All of this comes at a time when science fiction movies are once again known for their clichés and focus on special effects rather than storytelling or innovation – Transformers 2 and Terminator: Salvation have only helped to solidify this, especially in the mind of critics. Without much promotion, or even revealing information about the plot, District 9 has managed to be both a critical and box office success, giving hope to the future of science fiction cinema.

If more science fiction movies follow the outright originality and breathtaking scope of District 9, rather than the Transformers model, the coming years could be very interesting for audiences. In a world where the focus lies on quality over quantity or gimmicks, films such as Moon could have larger releases that continue to influence an impressionable generation of children to be creative, original, and thoughtful – instead of flashy, unnecessarily violent, and unintelligent.

Neill Blomkamp, you have managed to manufacture science fiction’s cinematic savior.

Peter Jackson should be proud.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

An Open Letter to the SyFy Network

Kyle Brady — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:00:44 +0000

Not many people will publicly admit this, but I will: there’s a soft spot in my heart for the SyFy Network (formerly “SciFi”), and always has been. But just because I’m sympathetic to the cause doesn’t mean I unilaterally support your decisions, which is why this is being written.

Over the years, you’ve produced alot of great content that’s sadly balanced by a similar amount of trash: Stargate: SG-1 vs. Eureka, Battlestar Galactica vs. Scare Tactics, Warehouse 13 vs. all non-Stargate “original movies”. There are a few mini-series that managed to be decent, but your best content has always been TV shows – not movies, not mini-series.

The main problem lies in potentially good ideas that lack sufficient funding – “Android Apocalypse”, a movie based on a Terminator-like premise, with poor acting, shoddy special effects, and lackluster camera work. But this is not limited to your movies alone; the first season of Stargate: Atlantis, especially the first few episodes, suffered the same fate.

In the Hollywood world, larger budgets generally equate to a better overall product, something you should have realized over the course of your sixteen year history. While this isn’t always true (*cough* NBC *cough*), it does bring more talented actors, more believable special effects, and higher quality camera work – all essential pieces to a successful science fiction release.

You do occasionally get it right though: Battlestar Galactica was all-around amazing from the start, and its already-significant financing obviously increased as the show progressed to its natural conclusion this past Spring. Stargate: Universe looks to be a mix of the different Stargate styles (SG-1 vs. Atlantis) and BSG, with enough money to do it properly – I’m waiting with bated, but excited, breath.

Maybe you should focus on what you’re good at, and ignore the rest: produce quality science fiction television, ignore reality shows, and release only a fraction of the “original movies” you currently do. If you follow this simple equation, you’ll have enough money to fund what people actually want to watch, rather than attracting small, loyal audiences. This flies in the face of the recent name change, something else I can’t agree with, since you seem to be intent on producing more fantasy (read: medieval magic) and paranormal (read: vampires) content, but you should consider it all the same.

Hopefully your dedication to the Stargate, BSG, and other worlds will continue: their shelf-life shouldn’t be dragged out further than necessary, but rather reinvigorated with new chapters in the continuing saga. Just stick with what works, ignore what doesn’t, and keep an eye out for ways to expand your audience without ruining your already precarious reputation – the TV adaptation of Terry Goodkind’s “The Sword of Truth” series would have been perfect for your network, and may have actually been worth watching, as opposed to its current incarnation.

If you learn anything in your new incarnation and quest for ratings, it should be this: a large audience is not necessarily a great audience. Don’t let Battlestar Galactica be the pinnacle of your success, because scifi nerds worldwide are secretly rooting for you.

Sincerely,

Kyle Brady, sympathetic to the cause

p.s. I actually liked “Cube 2: Hypercube”.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.Until then, he can be found at his blog.

The Triumphant Return of Sarah Connor

Kyle Brady — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:00:14 +0000

the following is reposted with permission from “Kyle Brady: A Blog”

…maybe.

Potentially legitimate rumors have surfaced that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be returning to television, presumably with cries of joy from around the world, starting with a direct-to-DVD release prior to the next chapter in the Terminator movie saga, and a TV show potentially following – all starting some time in 2010 or 2011. The network sponsoring the direct-to-DVD process isn’t clear, although the WB was mentioned several times, not to mention the total silence on whether the TV show would appear on FOX. Either way, it seems that the important people in this dance listened to both the praise and wails of fans.

This news, if true, could prove to be a gamechanger for the future of television – TV networks that actually produce intelligent, thought-provoking, and deep shows that fans want, even if they don’t achieve the hyper-success of idiotic nonsense like American Idol. If the WB is the network for the future of Sarah Connor and her band of rebels, which includes one humanoid robot, FOX will be highly embarrassed should the show do well, but if FOX somehow manages to hold on to the baby they threw out the window, they will still have dirt on their face at the end of the day, and be subject to the emotionality of a rabid fanbase.

Even if the show continues thematically mostly on its own, despite rumors of being intertwined with the upcoming movies, TV as a whole will be all the better for it, and so will the Terminatorverse – Terminator: Salvation was a good action movie, and a halfway decent Terminator film, but it fell flat on the expectations of a smart and highly complex film that many hoped would have more in common with TTSCC than T3. The cast itself is critical component of the show’s brilliance: Lena Headey is a much better Sarah than Linda Hamilton ever was, and Thomas Dekker has evolved from a whiny “emo” teenager into a very believable and intensely brilliant John – not to mention the characters played by Summer Glau, Brian Austin Greene, Richard T. Jones, and Garret Dillahunt that make a beautiful small-screen ensemble and help set the tone of the show.

Regardless of the acting prowess of Christian Bale, the simple fact is that barring an extreme change of pace and tone in the upcoming T5 movie, the Terminatorverse is likely to have a longer, smarter, and better future on television. All of that changes if the network behind the TTSCC decides to place demands on the writers, restrict the show’s budget, or act in other stereotypically ignorant behavior that is so often seen at FOX. However, if the show returns in “same or better” form than when it was canceled, fans will flock in droves to any network that cares to finance the triumphant return of Sarah Connor.

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Update (8/15/2009 11:15am PST): Another source confirms this, unrelated to the original.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.