Peter Jackson doing Donkey Kong next!

Not quite. But King Kong & Lord Of Rings director Peter Jackson is moving into the gaming business with Microsoft. They have jointly set up Wingnut Interactive to create two new series of interactive games exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

"I think we are right on the threshold of being able to design a new way to tell stories," says Jackson. Their first project will be a new chapter in the Halo franchise. Microsoft says the second series will be an entirely original creation aimed at bringing new audiences to the world of interactive entertainment. Jackson will supposedly bring a blend of film and interactive gaming to life, in his own unique way.

In related hearsay, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are trying to court Jackson into directing a new epic remake of Monkey God. Looks like he passed for Donkey Kong instead.

Read More on TVNZ

Delicious Digital!

The new upcoming LEICA M8 digital rangefinder camera is simply delicious. Old Skool Look. Nu Skool performance! The LEICA M8 can be used with virtually all lenses in the Leica M range produced since 1954, and will be available end of November 2006.

Pithy Quotes on Branding

"What"s a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect." - Al Ries

"A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures" - Michael Eisner, CEO Disney

"Brand equity is the sum of all the hearts and minds of every single person that comes into contact with your company." - Christopher Betzter

Read more, and more on AllAboutBranding.com

Branded Content?

What is Branded Content? The next big thing? The solution to ad-drained consumers? The solution to digital tv recorders and skip buttons? The next holy grail for brand royalty and loyality? Read more about it and make up your own mind at Branded Content Marketing Association.

"Can branded entertainment get us invited to the consumer’s private parties?" - More by Bruce Hancock on Ad Asia.

The Design Encyclopedia

The Design Encyclopedia is a user-built source of reference material with the sole intention of defining, describing, chronicling and documenting the world through design in all its implications and manifestations from the visual to the tactile, from the communicative to the evocative, from the cultural to the commercial. Most everything from cars to burgers to movies can be dissected by its design application, use and history. With each entry the design encyclopedia will place common topics, artifacts, events, cities and more within the scope and context of design in order to showcase the influence that design, designers and the designed have in shaping the environments that we inhabit, the tools that we employ and, even, the experiences that we live. The design encyclopedia is about design. About the world.

A hearty effort initiated by UnderConsideration

Plug: The Pitch Blog

Singapore's Marketing Magazine have a new nifty blog "The Pitch" described as "The rougher and readier cousin of Singapore's Marketing magazine. You'll find ideas, gossip, commentary and a touch of cynicism as we flex our journalistic muscles beyond the constraints of our monthly mag."

It's Show Hand!

Apple Vs. Amazon - Steve Jobs finally showed their fruity hand yesterday unveiling Apple's competing movie download service.

"UnBox" Vs. "Unwire"
Amazon named their service "UnBox". Apple says "what box? It's about bytes and UnWire" with their new wireless digital entertainment router/set top box called iTV. (Unbox sounds almost redundant now)

Quantity Vs. Quality
Amazon announced thousands of titles from almost every major studio except for the obvious Disney in a supermarket "put 'em all on the shelves and they will buy" fashion whilst Apple announced only Disney titles but, true to form and brand, focused on quality and ease of user experience in a "this is the content, this is how easy it is to access it and this is everywhere (computer, pod and tv) that you can own and view it (and in Hi-def)" fashion.

One File Vs. Two
Amazon's service gives you 2 files - 1 big one for high definition viewing and 1 smaller one for your portable devices. Apple gives you only 1 file for computer, pods and portables and your TV set. Adding, Amazon's service is Mac unfriendly whilst Apple's is platform independent and we're not just talking operating systems.

Content & Distribution Vs. Content, Delivery & Device
While Amazon covers content and distribution, Apple goes full 360 offering a full user experience from content to device. (Once the other studios board the iTunes system if they do, Apple's concept of a digital entertainment hub will be complete)

Watch the Master of Sales Pitches do his "It's Showtime" Keynote

It's Showtime!

When Apple and good old Steve gives a keynote the whole world wide web stands still, listens, watches and bite their nails in real time. Even the Itunes Music Store is tuneless in awe, like Hal in silent obedient wait for its master's last slide. Talk about military precision and the "2nd Coming". What do these apples, nanos and pods do again??

Portable Film Festival

The proliferation of digital and portable movies continue! Amazon just launched their unbox video download service. Apple is expected to announce their own movie download service in a day or so and with a new video-sized iPod to boot. YouTube is ravaging the world of online video voyeurs. Now, here is The Portable Film Festival!

The Portable Film Festival is an international festival of short films just for portable devices. Sony PSPs, iPod videos, 3G phones, laptop screens, you name it. Sixty films have been pre-selected from 13 countries including Australia, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Romania, Canada, Austria, Hungary, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea. Submissions include video-clips, documentaries, experimental films, animations and regular short narratives. Films will compete through an open vote by punters who will review, argue and score the films online.

Out of portable Auckland of all places...

Why and What is Design?

By Peter Lawrence on FastCompany.com

Design remains the most underutilized and misunderstood tool at the disposal of business.

Design is a user-focused, prototype-based development process that simplifies complexity and achieves success through collaboration.

One way to think of a designer is as somebody who has learned to speak a language that everyone understands but that the designer has been trained to speak.

Design is not art, it is not aesthetics, and it is not engineering. It's not the work of one person and it is not the solution to all of your problems. Although design is not art, it is still written about in the Arts & Leisure section of most major newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, and, to many executives, design is more about art than it is about business. But the truth is that design is "applied art" in the sense that it is applied to solve a particular problem or address a new opportunity.

Small Agency Diary

A blog on Advertising Age for small agencies, contributed by a handful of executives. Live to Work or Work to Live at Your Agency?, The Hiring Headaches of Small Ad Agencies, Has Your Agency YouTubed Yet?, About Agencies Buying Stakes in Emerging Media Companies and other worth while reads...

Check it out : Small Agency Diary

Chinese Movie 'Still Life' wins Golden Lion at Venice

The Chinese movie "Still Life" or "Sanxia Haoren", a surprise entry set against the backdrop of China's gigantic Three Gorges Dam project, won this year's Golden Lion — the top award at the Venice Film Festival.

Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke's "Still Life" or "Sanxia Haoren" was a surprise entry late in the festival, and trumped candidates like Emilio Estevez' "Bobby," about the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and "The Queen," about the week that followed Princess Diana's death.

"Still Life" was shot in the old village of Fengjie, which has been destroyed by the building of the Three Gorges Dam, and tells of people who go back there.

More than 1.13 million Chinese have been relocated to make way for the dam, many of them complaining of bleak prospects in their new homes above the waterline or in other parts of China.

Shopcasting?

As explained by new shopcasting network ThisNext

"Shopcasting is a way for a person to tell a bunch of people about things they love. “Shopcast” is a mashed up word that combines shopping and broadcasting. What “podcasting” did for MP3s is what we’re doing for shopping: bringing to your computer information about things in which you, the shopper, are interested. The information here is the product of a tremendous collaborative effort by tons of people you don’t personally know who have interesting opinions they want to share. Where a “podcast” might be a playlist featuring songs, a shopcast is a product playlist."

Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Go watch - like the many canadians scrambling to at the current Toronto Film Festival - Borat's upcoming and very politically correct film "Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" for if it not success, he will be execute.

This crude funny man is excruciatingly funny as he moores the US and A. Check out the film trailer here : Borat Trailer

Check out also Borat's MySpace Page

Amazon.com launches video download service

Source : Reuters

Amazon.com on Thursday unveiled a widely anticipated Internet service offering movies and TV shows that can be downloaded to personal computers, moving it into a nascent and higher-margin business.

The service, called Amazon Unbox, will offer thousands of titles from six Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., and TV networks such as CBS and Fox and cable channels Comedy Central and E! Entertainment, Amazon said.

Amazon's digital download service launch comes ahead of an expected announcement by Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday that it would sell feature-length films on its iTunes service, which already sells TV shows from major networks.

A quick check at the Amazon Unbox Video page reveals titles such as V for Vendetta, Brokeback Mountain, 24, Matrix and South Park.

Heeereeee's Goopple!

A week after paying Creative Tech a $100Million settlement, Apple interestingly announces that Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt is joining their Board of Directors.

“Eric is obviously doing a terrific job as CEO of Google, and we look forward to his contributions as a member of Apple’s board of directors,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Like Apple, Google is very focused on innovation and we think Eric’s insights and experience will be very valuable in helping to guide Apple in the years ahead.”

The stars align in defensive formation against the impending dawn of Zune and Vista in the not too distant future.

Singapore Biennale 2006

The Singapore Biennale 2006 (SB2006), Singapore's inaugural international biennale of contemporary art, will open to the public on 4 September 2006. This major international contemporary art exhibition will feature more 95 artists and artists collectives from over 38 countries and regions including Singapore.

SB2006 highlights Singapore's prominence as an international visual arts hub, not only providing new opportunities for Singapore artists, curators and arts businesses, but also as a key enabler of exchange and collaborations for the global arts community. The presence of SB2006 is also a significant opportunity for the Singaporean public to develop a stronger relationship with contemporary art.

Find out more

Focus Films joins One Ton on Wisit's Armful

Original source - Liz Shackleton [Screendaily] in Hong Kong 01 September 2006

Hong Kong’s Focus Films is teaming up with Singapore-based One Ton Cinema to co-produce Thai director Wisit Sasanatieng’s upcoming film Armful.

The Chinese-language stylised tragicomedy will feature a pan-Asian cast, most likely from Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Thailand. Set in 1970s South-East Asia, the film’s influences range from Chinese martial arts films of the ‘60s and ‘70s to the gritty revenge tales of today.

Focus will spearhead investment and appointment of a sales agent on the $8m film, which was developed by One Ton and marks the Singapore outfit’s debut feature.

Wisit’s first film, stylised Thai western Tears Of The Black Tiger, was acquired by Miramax while his second, Citizen Dog, was picked up by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp. The much-in-demand filmmaker is also developing a project called Nam Prix for Thailand’s Five Star and EuropaCorp.

Start-up production house One Ton is a spin-off from award-winning creative ad agency Spoon, based in Singapore.

Focus, founded by Hong Kong actor and filmmaker Andy Lau, is also lining up the second series of Focus: First Cuts, following the success of the first six-film series, along with Robin Lee’s My DNA Says I Love You which features at this year’s Pusan Promotion Plan.

Official Armful website: Armfulmovie.com