Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter

    Wednesday, July 15, 2009

    Other Coverage of Opening Film

    Following on from the previous post, Gayle MacDonald in The Globe and Mail, and Martin Knelman in The Toronto Star both comment on yesterday's announcement by the festival of Creation as the opening film of the festival. Both note that this is only the third time in the history of the festival that a non-Canadian film has opened, and the first since 1996 (the other two are Fly Away Home and In Country).

    None of the Canadian industry folks interviewed by MacDonald seemed overly concerned by the move, and both MacDonals and Knelman make reference to the fact that some in the industry view the opening slot as less than desirable from a commercial point of view.

    Labels: , ,

    Creation to Open Festival

    The festival announced that Creation, a film based on the life of Charles Darwin and starring real-life husband and wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, will open the festival this year. This year is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.

    As Chandra Menard at blogTO noted (http://www.blogto.com/film/2009/07/tiff_unveils_galas_and_opening_night_film/), this is an unusual choice as it is a UK, not a Canadian film.

    Usually, the festival chooses a Canadian film to open the festival:

    2008: Passchendaele from Paul Gross
    2007: Fugitive Pieces from Jeremy Podeswa
    2006: The Journals of Knud Rasmussen from Zacharias Kunuk
    2005: Water from Deepha Mehta
    2004: Being Julia from István Szabó
    2003: Les Invasions Barbares from Denys Arcand

    Menard quotes Piers Handling as reaffirming the festival's commitment to Canadian film, and that the Canadian lineup will be announced within the next few weeks.

    Labels: , ,

    Ticket Exchanges

    Thanks to Greg from TOfilmfest.ca for pointing out that in the latest mailing to festival goers, it lists that if you want to exchange a ticket to one film for a different film or screening, there is a $2.50 charge per ticket. Tickets can be exchanged up until the day before the actual screening.
    The interesting thing to all this is that the festival general policies on the official site actually currently state that there are no ticket exchanges allowed.

    I'm not sure if this fee will be in effect or not on ticket package pickup day, but I would tend to imagine so. The impact for anyone who has bought one of the "You Choose" type packages is that if you make a backup choice for one of your movie selections, and you get the backup, then if you decide you want to pick something else instead, you may get dinged for $2.50 to make the switch.

    One alternative is to not make a second choice if there really isn't anything else you want to watch in a particular time slot. If you don't receive your first choice and you haven't indicated a backup, then you will receive a voucher that can be used just like cash to purchase a ticket to another film.

    If you haven't participated in the advance order process before, this probably doesn't make any sense to you. As we draw nearer to the festival, I will be posting an updated guide to the process.

    Another alternative is to try and sell off your ticket the day of the screening to someone in the rush line (i.e. someone who is hoping that someone doesn't show up for a sold-out screening). This is a pretty common occurrence, and I've both bought and sold tickets in this situation.

    Labels: , ,

    Box Office Update

    As of July 15, 2009, the following packages are sold out on the festival online box office:
    • Day Package Lite
    • Student Card for Friday, September 11
    • Student Card for Saturday, September 12
    • Student Card for Sunday, September 13
    • Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package
    • Visa Screening Room Mid-Festival Package

    Still available:

    • 10-ticket Package
    • Festival Package
    • Festival Package Lite
    • Day Package
    • Student Card for Monday, September 14 through to Saturday, September 19
    • Sutton 2-Day Package
    • Sutton 3-Day Package
    • 6:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
    • 9:00 PM Visa Screening Room Evening Package
    • Visa Screening Room 2-Day Package
    • Visa Screening Room 3-Day Package
    • City to City Package
    • Wavelengths Package
    • Midnight Madness Package
    • Globetrotter Weekend/Evening Package
    • Globetrotter Daytime Package
    • Festival Experience Evening/Weekend Package
    • Festival Experience Daytime Package
    • Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail

    Labels: , ,

    Additional Films Announced

    Yesterday the festival announced three films for the Gala Presentations programme, and 19 films for the Special Presentations programme. The full press release can be found here:

    http://www.tiff.net/press?newsId=627

    Gala highlights include:
    • Get Low, from director Aaron Schneider, starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, and Sissy Spacek.
    • The Invention of Lying, starring Ricky Gervais.
    • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, starring Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz among others.

    Special Presentations highlights include:

    • The Boys Are Back, starring Clive Owen.
    • Bright Star, a John Keats biopic from director Jane Campion, with Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish.
    • Cracks, with Eva Green.
    • The Informant!, from director Steven Soderbergh and starring Matt Damon.
    • Leaves of Grass, staring Edward Norton playing identical twin brothers.
    • Mother, from director Bong Joon-ho (The Host).
    • Ondine, from filmmaker Neil Jordan, starring Colin Farrell.
    • Partir, starring Kristin Scott Thomas.
    • Solitary Man, starring Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary Louise Parker, and Jenna Fischer.
    • Vengeance, from director Johnny To.

    Labels: , ,

    Monday, July 06, 2009

    Ticket Package Sales

    As previously mentioned, ticket packages are now on sale to the general public (although you can only pay by Visa at this point in time). So far, as of 11:30 AM, everything is still available except for the Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package (which allows you to see 6:00 PM showings at the Visa Screening Room on Sept 11, 12, and 13).

    Normally, the Visa Screening Room and Roy Thomson Hall packages tend to sell out first, most of the others usually still have availability until closer to the festival. Note that any of the "You Choose" packages really should be purchased before the Advance Order Process occurs in late August to take full advantage of them.

    Check out the festival web site at http://www.tiff.net/boxoffice for details on how and where to purchase tickets.

    Update (July 6, 2009, 7:35 PM): The Day Package Lite (15 films before 5:01 PM) is also sold out. All other packages (except for the previously mentioned two) are still available.

    Labels: , ,

    Sunday, July 05, 2009

    Ticket Packages on Sale Monday, July 6, 2009

    Just a reminder that ticket packages go on sale to the general public starting 10:00 AM, on Monday, July 6. 2009. Note that at this point you can only purchase using a Visa card (Visa is a major sponsor of the festival). If you want to purchase ticket packages using cash or debit, you have to wait until 10:00 AM on Monday, July 13, 2009.

    Check out my previous post on packages available for the 2009 festival:

    http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-festival-ticketing-update.html

    Ticket packages either give you tickets to films pre-selected by the festival, or allow you to participate in the advance order process. The advance order process lets you select your own films in late August/early September, before sales open up to the general public.

    If you just want to buy a ticket or two, or don't want to go to the trouble of participating in the advance order process, you can wait until 7:00 AM on September 4, 2009 to purchase tickets.

    Labels: , ,

    Wednesday, June 24, 2009

    Story in the Toronto Star

    Yesterday the festival issued a press release on changes to address customer service and Visa Screening Room issues from last year. This is in line with the letter they sent out a few weeks ago to previous festivalgoers that I already commented on:

    http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/06/service-changes-for-2009.html
    http://tifftalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-festival-ticketing-update.html

    Peter Howell, a film critic for The Toronto Star, asked me for comment on the changes in a story published in today's paper:

    http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/655560

    Welcome to all Star readers who are visiting here for the first time! I know there will probably be a number of people who will not agree with the price increases, but if you generally assume prices for anything will tend to rise over time, I don't think the changes are completely off the chart. And while not perfect, I think the compromise of opening up more Visa Screening Room screenings back to ticket package holders and guaranteeing at least one non-premium screening addresses the problems last year with the venue. In terms of the additional days available for the advance order process, I still think that came from the lateness of Labour Day this year; it will be interesting to see if the 2010 festival retains the same schedule.

    The festival also released the names of some of the films that will be screening at this year's festival:

    http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/filmlist/default.aspx

    Some important upcoming dates to remember:

    July 6, 10am All ticket packages on sale to Visa cardholders
    July 13, 10am All ticket packages on sale for Visa, Debit and cash

    You do not have to buy ticket packages now; you can also buy individual tickets on September 4, 2009.

    Labels: , ,

    Tuesday, June 02, 2009

    TIFF Donors

    In case you are wondering if you should donate to the festival, or how donations affect the Advance Order process, this article describes the benefits and impacts. Full information on the donation levels can be found at http://tiffg.ca/support/default.aspx.

    Notable benefits for donors include:
    • As of June 1, 10:00 AM, donors can start purchasing ticket packages; all others have to wait until July 6.
    • As of August 27, 10:00 AM, donors of $1,000 or more can start purchasing individual premium tickets (i.e. premium screenings at Roy Thomson Hall and the Visa Screening Room); all others have to wait until September 4. A lot of the literature out there seems to imply all donors can purchase early, but the TIFFG site states the benefit is only available to $1,000 donors and above.
    • Tax receipt for donations above $10.
    • Priority in the Advance Order process at the Benefactor level and above (i.e. a minimum donation of $250); priority increases with the donation level.

    Donor levels include:

    • 52/7 Circle Level: $5,000
    • Gold Level: $3,500
    • Silver Screen Level: $2,000
    • Film Club Level: $1,000
    • Associate Level: $500
    • Benefactor Level: $250
    • $150
    • Ambassador Level: $100
    • $50
    • Supporter Level: $25

    I had the chance last year to talk to Jesse Hawken, Assistant Manager of Customer Relations at TIFF about the donor benefits in the Advance Order process. Previously, donors were served out of the industry box office, and had a private allotment of tickets. However, as of last year, the process changed in that any unused donor-allotted tickets were returned to the pool available for the general public.

    In 2008, there were 78 boxes in the draw, with an additional 7 boxes for donors, separated by donor level. None of the donor boxes were full, and each donor box is about 1.5 times the size of a normal box. No screenings were completely cleared out by donor orders.

    One benefit resulting from donations is providing student and senior pricing for screenings at the festival.

    On a separate note, Hawken also talked to the Visa Screening Room, and that the changes there for the 2008 festival were a consequence of not wanting to raise prices. He did say the festival would look at the Visa Screening Room for 2009, and their published commitments so far would seem to indicate they followed through on that, especially the guarantee that there won't be any gala films that can't be accessed by the normal ticket packages.

    Labels: , , ,

    Service Changes for 2009

    The Festival outlined a number of changes to improve service for this year's festival, including:
    • All Gala films will have at least one screening accessible to Festival, Daytime, and 10-ticket Package holders, subject to availability. This was a problem last year, when there were 8 films that screened only at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room and thus could not be selected by package holders who did not have a gala or Visa Screening Room pass.
    • Package holders will have increased access to the Visa Screening Room. This apparently is being accomplished by having about half the screenings at the Visa Screening Room be regular public screenings, while the other half or so will be premium public screenings. Last year, you could not see films at the Visa Screening Room unless you had the Visa Screening Room pass, or bought individual premium tickets.
    • Reduction of wait times for advance order pickups. The Festival is searching out an appropriate location that meets their "needs for traffic flow and access for all box-office functions." This might mean not using the Toronto Life Square location for the advance order pickup like last year. On pickup day on September 3, there will be increased hours of operation, and they will be doubling the number of operators available for the ticket exchange process.
    • Distinct criteria for premium screenings. Premium screenings will always be the first showing of a film at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and have at least one of the following three criteria: be a red carpet event; be at least a North American premiere; include a Q&A with either a director or a principal cast member. Note that the majority of films will have their first screening in a non-premium venue, and many will have a Q&A, even in subsequent screenings.
    • Individual ticket sales will begin on September 4, 6 days before the start of the festival.
    • The film schedule will be released on August 25, and Advance Orders are not due until August 31 at 1:00 PM, which is three days more than last year.
    • Completed Advance Orders will be available for pickup in September 3 (note, this is a Thursday and not a holiday), before the Labour Day long weekend.

    It sounds like the Festival has listened to the feedback coming out of last year's event, especially around the Visa Screening Room. It will be interesting to see how the Advance Order process will work for films there, since package holders will be able to see some, but not all films at the Visa Screening Room (i.e. premium screenings there will still require individual tickets or one of the Visa Screening Room passes). The additional package types for the Visa Screening Room provide a fair bit of variety and do seem to make things more accessible.

    Hopefully the venue chosen for Advance Order pickup will facilitate the pickup process better this year. The one main problem at the Toronto Life Square location in the early part of last year was people cutting in line, since the line started at street level but the box office was three flights of escalators up. By the end of the festival, they had instituted a system that cut down on people cutting in.

    Having additional time for the ordering process and having the long weekend free are both a plus, although I think that may be due in part to the date on which Labour Day falls this year (it's a lot later than normal). Hopefully this will persist into future years as well. On the downside, you will now need to take a vacation day for Advance Order pickup if you expect to have to do ticket exchanges.

    Labels: , ,

    Friday, May 29, 2009

    2009 Festival Ticketing Update

    The Festival has done a bit of rebranding and has a new site at http://www.tiff.net/ (tiff.com was already taken by an Internet marketing company). The Festival has also put up a brochure explaining the ticket packages for the 2009 festival, which I'll summarize below. The brochure can be found here: http://www.tiffg.ca/tiffgalerts/web/docs/awarenessbrochure.pdf.

    Note if you are a donor, you can start buying packages as of 10:00 AM on June 1. Otherwise, Visa card holders can start buying packages as of 10:00 AM on July 6. Cash and debit purchases of packages can be made starting10:00 AM on July 13. This is only to buy the ticket packages listed later in this posting. Single tickets to individual films will not go on sale until 7:00 AM on September 4, although this is now 5 days before the festival actually starts.

    If you buy a ticket package and thus participate in the advance ordering process in August, the festival has increased the time between picking up your package and having to submit your order. Last year, you only had 3 days to complete the process. This year, you have 6 days, from 10:00 AM on August 25 to 1:00 PM on August 31. Completed packages will be available for pickup starting 7:00 AM on September 3, which is before the Labour Day long weekend this year. Note that September 3 is a Thursday, so unlike previous years, you will want to plan to take this as a vacation day if you expect to have to make exchanges.

    The Festival has clarified the difference between Roy Thomson Hall and Visa Screening Room galas, and the rest of the festival:

    Premium Screening: Approximately 6% of all films fall into this category. These are the first public screenings of a film at the festival, occur at Roy Thomson Hall or the Visa Screening Room, and have at least one of the following criteria:
    1. Be a red carpet event.
    2. Be at least a North American premiere.
    3. Include a Q&A with either a director or principal cast.
    Regular Screening: Approximately 74% of all films fall into this category.

    Not sure what makes up the other 20%! Also note that a lot of the regular screenings usually have cast and/or crew show up, and have Q&A's after the film.

    For the ticket packages, there were generally modest increases, although the Festival packages get the biggest bump. The Wavelengths package actually dropped in price; not sure what that means for the programme itself. Additional packages for the Visa Screening Room have been added, including some reasonably priced options that guarantee tickets,but only on specific days. Anyone thinking of picking one of these up in order to see the next Brad Pitt film, might want to be careful, since there's no guarantee on when films will be scheduled at this point. Some packages held in price from last year, like Midnight Madness.

    Packages where you choose the films:

    10 Ticket Package
    $159.14 (up $4.64 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
    See up to 10 films (maximum of 4 tickets per film screening).
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
    Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.
    A single purchaser can buy a maximum of 10 10-Ticket Packages (for 100 tickets total).

    Festival Package
    $524.27 (up $15.27 from last year, $443.93 for students and seniors).
    See up to 50 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film screening).
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
    Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Festival Package Lite
    $386.25 (up $11.25 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
    See up to 30 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film screening).
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall or Visa Screening Room premium screenings.
    Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Day Package
    $201.88 (up $5.88 from last year, $162.23 for students and seniors).
    See up to 25 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film, each must start before 5:01 PM).
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
    Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Day Package Lite
    $139.05 (up $4.05 from last year, no discount for students and seniors).
    See up to 15 films (maximum of 1 ticket per film, each must start before 5:01 PM).
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
    Can participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Student Card
    $19.87 (up $0.58 from last year)
    Can see multiple films on a given day from the first screening to 11:59 PM, up to a maximum of 5 per day.
    Must have valid student ID to both purchase the card and enter screenings.
    When purchasing, must select the date for the student card. Films are selected the morning of the day selected.
    Quantities are limited per day.
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Sutton 2 Day Package
    $699 (no discount for students and seniors)
    2-night stay at the Sutton Place Hotel over the final two days of the festival (September 18 and 19).
    2 tickets to the Closing Night Gala at the Visa Screening Room.
    4 additional tickets that can be redeemed for any regular screening (i.e. not Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films).
    1 Programme Book.
    2 Festival t-shirts.
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films other than the Closing Night Gala.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Sutton 3 Day Package
    $999 (no discount for students and seniors)
    3-night stay at the Sutton Place Hotel over the final three days of the festival (September 17, 18 and 19).
    2 tickets to the Closing Night Gala at the Visa Screening Room.
    6 additional tickets that can be redeemed for any regular screening (i.e. not Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films).
    1 Programme Book.
    2 Festival t-shirts.
    Cannot see Roy Thomson Hall galas or Visa Screening Room films other than the Closing Night Gala.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.


    Packages where the films are chosen for you by the Festival:

    Visa Screening Room Evening Package
    $350 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to Visa Screening room films from September 11 to 18, for either the 6:00 PM or 9:00 PM screening (note you may have to select one time period for the length of the festival).
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Visa Screening Room 2 Day Package
    $35 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to Visa Screening room films on September 15 and 17, between 12:00 PM and 5:59 PM. It is unclear how many screenings this would include, but based on the price, I would guess one per day.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Visa Screening Room 3 Day Package
    $50 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to Visa Screening room films on September 14, 16 and 18, between 12:00 PM and 5:59 PM.
    It is unclear how many screenings this would include, but based on the price, I would guess one per day.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Visa Screening Room Weekend Evening Package
    $131.25 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to the 6:00 PM Visa Screening room films on September 11, 12 and 13.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Visa Screening Room Mid Festival Package
    $131.25 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to the 9:00 PM Visa Screening room films on September 14, 15 and 16.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Double Date Gala Package
    $299.04 (new this year, no discount for students and seniors)
    4 tickets to each of two galas pre-selected by the Festival (for a total of 8 tickets).
    Dates, times, and films to be announced by Thursday, September 3.
    Guaranteed that both films will not occur on the same day.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Wavelengths Package
    $55.40 (down $11.09 from last year, new $47.09 for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to each of the Wavelengths screenings.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Midnight Madness Package
    $156.51 (no change from last year, $100 for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to each Midnight Madness screening.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Globetrotter Weekend/Evening
    $112.53 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    6 films are pre-selected for you.
    Films are guaranteed to start after 5:30 PM on weekdays or anytime on the weekend.
    Also receive 2 vouchers for the fall Cinematheque fall season, and a pound of Starbucks coffee.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Globetrotter Daytime
    $99.23 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    6 films are pre-selected for you.
    Films are guaranteed to start between 8:30 AM and 5:01 PM.
    Also receive 2 vouchers for the fall Cinematheque fall season, and a pound of Starbucks coffee.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Festival Experience Weekend/Evening
    $68.54 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    3 films are pre-selected for you.
    Films are guaranteed to start after 5:30 PM on weekdays or anytime on the weekend.
    Also receive a pound of Starbucks coffee.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Festival Experience Package
    $63.42 (no change from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    3 films are pre-selected for you.
    Films are guaranteed to start between 8:30 AM and 5:01 PM.
    Also receive a pound of Starbucks coffee.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Roy Thomson Hall Closing Night Film and Cocktail
    $180.25 (up $5.25 from last year, no discount for students and seniors)
    1 ticket to the closing night gala at Roy Thomson Hall.
    Invitation to an after-party.
    Only balcony seating is guaranteed.
    There is no guarantee that any celebrities will be in attendance.
    Cannot participate in the Advance Order Procedure.

    Labels: , ,

    Monday, May 04, 2009

    Objectified

    Objectified is director Gary Hustwit's follow-up to his well-received documentary Helvetica. Continuing on with the theme of design, Objectified takes an expanded view and looks at what design is, how it affects people, and where it is going in the future. Hustwit interviews a number of design luminaries, including Jonathan Ive, senior VP of industrial design at Apple and the principal designer of the iPhone among many other products.

    A number of designers talk about what inspires them and the things they come up with. But even though the film celebrates the work they do, it also raises at least some questions about a profession that can at times be at odds with environmental sustainability and really only addresses a small percentage of the people on the planet.

    Objectified is a really interesting documentary that makes you appreciate the beauty and artistry of everything from a laptop computer, to a chair, to even the most mundane household objects that we all take for granted, like a toothbrush or a vegetable peeler.

    Director Gary Hustwit was in attendance and did a Q&A after the film.
    • Hustwit still had questions to ask about design after completing Helvetica, hence the continuation of the theme in Objectified.
    • Hustwit wouldn't reveal specifics because he's still working it out in his head, but his third documentary will also share a design theme.
    • Seeing more about the process of design during the course of filming and interviewing subjects has caused him to think more about why he makes films, but didn't necessarily affect how he made this film.
    • He found it interesting that all the designers he interviewed seemed really interested in their camera gear and that all wanted to try to redesign it and make it better.
    • On their way to interview Jonathan Ive, the airline lost the crew's tripod and boom mike extension, so they had to jury rig ones from stuff they bought at Home Depot, and were a bit embarrassed to show up at Apple with it.
    • Before filming, Hustwit talked to a lot of designers, educators, and writers to get a wish list of topics and people to interview, but he also did have a number of people in mind that he wanted to have for the film.
    • He was intrigued to find out what was on the designers' minds, who they were as people, and what drove them to do what they do.
    • He hopes at some point to be able to make a documentary about Tom Waits.
    • Hustwit has known Kristian Dunn, guitarist for the band el ten eleven, for 15 years, and finds his music clicks with Hustwit's visual imagery, hence the music in the film.
    • Hustwit mentioned that documentaries generally aren't scored since you don't know what the editorial cut will be until close to the end.
    • With Helvetica, he just told musicians he was making a movie about the font, and found it interesting the things he got back.
    • Luke Geissbuhler, the director of photography, also worked on Helvetica, Borat, and Bruno. His father is a Swiss designer.
    • Hustwit says he is learning from Geissbuhler, as he hadn't done any filming before Helvetica, and Hustwit ended up shooting about 30% of Objectified himself.
    • Editor Joe Beshenkovsky has worked on a number of episodes of the cable version of This American Life.
    • Objectified, despite its look, was kind of low budget and a bit of a credit card movie, but hundreds did end up working on it.
    • When asked, Hustwit said that there needs to be a dialog on sustainability, but it does come back to us as consumers; he thinks there is a change going on in terms of patterns of consumption. If more people understand the things behind design, maybe they will think more about what they buy.
    • Designers were asking the question of how you justify making all these things, but the system depends on consumers continually buying things, especially now with all the talk of recession.
    • Everything is designer; it's about re-evaluating and redesigning to make things better. Designers, especially in Europe, are being involved in more discussions about public policy, in part because of this philosophy and methodology of looking at problems.

    Labels: , ,