On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly presents SoundWatch, a new weekly column on the latest in music entertainment available on demand, one of the most popular VOD categories. New contributor, Sky McCarthy, will give readers an inside look at what's happening in music on demand.

Every Monday, SoundWatch will list the most watched music videos on demand as well as the week's new music videos from category leader, Music Choice On Demand (Music Choice, the multi-platform video and music network, delivers its music programming to millions of consumers nationwide through their televisions, online and mobile devices).

Up This Week in SoundWatch: Are Badass Music Videos Overcompensating for the Music? (read below)

What's Hot Now On Music Choice On Demand - Top 10 Music Videos (week ending 8/15/10)

On Demand Weekly's VOD Spotlight highlights stories in the On Demand industry. Adam Schartoff interviews director Robert Bella and actor William H. Macy about the odyssey their film COLIN FITZ LIVES! went on following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997 to being revived by Sundance Selects On Demand, thirteen years later.

ODW: There's been a lot of buzz about the movie Colin Fitz Lives. Like the dead rock star in the title, there's been much mythologizing about this movie in the past 13 or so years. Now it’s finally been resurrected and is currently playing on VOD. Can you give us some of the story background?
Robert Bella: I had never made a feature film before but I just decided to go for it. And then to have people like Bill Macy, Matt McGrath, Andy Fowle, Martha Plimpton and John McGinley agree to participate was incredibly flattering, terrifying and just this amazingly fun roller-coaster ride. Just making the film was a fantasy come true but then when we got into Sundance and it just went to this whole other level.

I was in our office with a few other people from the crew and we were literally packing, taping up boxes, closing things down, thinking, ok we'll get back together in a few months after I get some money to finish the film. The phone rings and it's Geoffrey Gilmore (then Festival Director of Sundance) and he says, "Congratulations, your film is going to Sundance!" After we talk a while, I hang up and say to everyone, “well, it's time to unpack the boxes!”

ODW: And, Bill, how did you come to the project?
William H. Macy: Robert and I both belong to the Atlanta Theater Company. We are both founding members along with Felicity Huffman and Matt McGrath, one of the stars of Colin Fitz Lives. Being in a theater company is like being in a large extended family. When a member comes to you with a favor you can only say yes. It's just the way it is. So, we’ve acted together and I've directed him.

EMAIL EXCLUSIVE

Every Thursday, media savant T Tara Turk goes deep inside cable TV to reveal Video On Demand's Hidden Gems so even the busiest of our readers can get the most out of On Demand TV. Tell Tara what VOD shows you think deserves her attention...

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More of Tara's VOD Hidden Gems

Toddlers and Tiaras

SAY YES TO THE DRESS: ATL

On Demand Weekly rounds up stories affecting the On Demand TV / VOD Industry. Let us know what you think and what On Demand stories are important to you here.
 

Cable Operators Weigh Tech Options for Delivering 3DTV

If 3DTV does become The Next Big Thing, then cable must be a part of it. The new TV capability would follow cable's historical lineage of delivering multichannel television, HDTV, on-demand, interactivity, and other innovations. However, the future of 3DTV on cable holds many challenges that go beyond the issues over 3DTV itself, including the big question of whether consumers are willing to wear special glasses while watching TV... (Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider)

On Demand Weekly asked Craig Leddy (Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider) a few follow up questions.

ODW: Aside from dedicated 3D channels, will VOD be the primary platform MSO's can offer 3D TV?
Craig Leddy: VOD will be a primary platform for MSOs to offer 3DTV. For the near term, the big drivers for 3DTV will be movies and events that will work well in an on-demand delivery environment. Cable operators can use their VOD platforms to test their 3DTV delivery capabilities, determine the level of consumer demand, and build awareness of 3DTV around big-ticket movies, sports or other events.

ODW: What kind of time frame can cable subs expect this?
CL: Comcast already is offering 3DTV content on-demand and more cable companies are expected to jump in later this year. Nobody really knows whether 3DTV is truly The Next Big Thing or just a service with narrow niche appeal. So cable customers should let their provider know if they want 3DTV. - Craig Leddy, Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider

 Entertainment Industry Struggles To Adapt As DVD Sales Decline 

“If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise” is Spike Lee’s long awaited follow-up to the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts”… he was shooting this new documentary on the aftermath and recovery of New Orleans…then something happened along the way…
Email Cynthia Kane

Five years after Katrina devastated one of the last of the steadfast original and cultural centers of this nation, that is New Orleans, Spike Lee returns to the Big Easy. first to document and to observe first-hand her attempted ‘rise from the ashes’. Then in the midst of shooting, the region experiences another violent blow with the BP Oil Catastrophe or as some folks call it the ‘Oil Spill’.

While devastating and shattering as this documentary is, it is also a tribute to the citizens of New Orleans, to their resilience, their faith, to their love of this place they still call home. Yet as a viewer- and a lover of NOLA, I just shake my head, wipe my tears and wonder, just how much do these people have to endure, just how much more can anyone take down there?