#tom bernard

[oldhollywoodholla]

Natalie Wood and Tom Bernard on set of the tv show THE PRIDE OF THE FAMILY (1954)

[vroomvroomveer]

Tom Bernard - Why you Should Invest in the S&P 500

Tom Bernard finished undergrad at Berkeley, he holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business, as well as a Masters in Taxation.He has spent over 3 decades in finance and has taught personal finance at the City College of San Francisco.Born and raised in California, Tom lives in San Francisco with his family and is very close to being a free-birder (as opposed to empty nester).When he’s not…

Tom Bernard - Why you Should Invest in the S&P 500

[gloriousclio]

gettin’ real mouthy up here

I love a local radio station... except the morning show, which I’ve always hated. Apparently he’s gotten worse which is so gross. So I’m boycotting now. 

Here is the letter I wrote: 

Dear Mr. Jameson,

I hope you are the appropriate person to contact with this, if not, please direct it to the person who is most able to act.   I'm writing to complain about Tom Bernard and the morning show in general. I have never been a fan of his, and have opted not to listen to him since I was a child. I have been listening to KQ since I was in elementary school, I love the music you play, and most of the DJs are just fine. I even listened to the station when I was studying abroad and feeling homesick for the music (and Minnesota weather reports, of all things).  The decision not to listen to the morning show was, I thought, simply a matter of taste. It didn't feel worth my time to complain to you when I could simply change the station or throw in Abbey Road for the billionth time.  

However, in the past year, I have heard increasingly disgusting stories that are deeply troubling. And I feel strongly that Tom Bernard's views about, say, Millennials or college professors or white nationalists, are in direct conflict with the music your station plays. The music that came out of especially the 60s and 70s talk about love, tolerance, some are protest songs for the Vietnam War! I for one, am grateful for my college education. I also recall some details of a story he told when I was a child, mocking Mother Teresa. The racism, sexism, and lately fascism, isn't something that deserves my respect. Rather, I was raised and taught (even by my college professors, tell Tom) to fight injustice where I see it. He has a microphone, which makes it even worse. Perhaps Tom Bernard should be a little more respectful of my generation. My parents who listen are getting on in years, you see. And judging by Cumulus' current stock exchange numbers, calling Kevin Garnett a thug isn't doing you guys any favors.

I won't be listening to any of your shows any more, at least until you fire the 'morning crew.' If you need me, I'll be here listening to Dylan, the Beatles, Seeger, and fighting injustice. My recommendation is that you align yourself with them, and not some racist nobody called Tom Bernard.

Sincerely,

Xx

[daily-mcgregor]

Co-President and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics Tom Bernard, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Ewan McGregor, Don Cheadle and Keith Stanfield attend the "Miles Ahead" Premiere during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival at The Marc Theatre on January 22, 2016 in Park City, Utah.

[dbloom]

Future of film looks a lot like the past, but maybe not for long

What I was doing part of yesterday: 

Future of film looks a lot like the past, for now, but maybe not for long

By David Bloom

Technology may provide more options for distributing and watching movies and other video content than ever, but for now, only a few film projects are likely to make sense for a day-and-date release in theatrical and VODchannels, said Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, at a West Hollywood conference today. 

“It’s the best time it’s ever been for someone who’s made a movie,” said Bernard, now in his 20th year running the speciality arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “There’s somewhere you can play your movie.” 

But Bernard, one of the most prominent and thriving survivors of the up-and-down specialty film business, remains a big believer in traditional “windowing” across distribution platforms, starting with the traditional theatrical release. 

“‘Margin Call’ (an early VOD release) left a lot of money on the table,” Bernard said. “It left a lot of awards on the table. (SPC’s) “Midnight in Paris” stayed in theaters for eight months and made almost $60 million. I don’t think it could have done that if it opened on VOD at the same time it opened in theaters.” 

But that doesn’t mean Bernard and SPC aren’t trying new marketing tricks, particularly as traditional newspaper movie advertising collapses in reach and effectiveness. 

With “Searching for Sugar Man,” which this week was named an Oscar finalist for Best Documentary Feature, it opened poorly in August, forcing Bernard and his colleagues to pivot to a different marketing approach.

The film is about a long-lost 1960s Detroit musician named Rodriguezwhose one album stiffed in the United States but improbably became an inspiration and national hit for anti-apartheid activists in South Africa. So SPC reached out to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Detroit native Kid Rock, who all championed the film on Twitter and beyond. 

Sharing copies of the film also paid off with “60 Minutes,” which ran its own story about Rodriguez, and David Letterman, who augmented his house band with a 20-piece orchestra for Rodriguez’ performance on the late-night show, Bernard said. Four months later, the film remains in theaters. 

For small guys, there are new ways to make at least some money. One indie filmmaker in the audience said he even turns his trailers into moneymakers, from revenue sharing based on views of the trailers on Google’s YouTubesite. His posted trailers generate $600 a month for what are essentially ads. 

Conference sponsor Bit Torrent, long the bane of Hollywood anti-piracy warriors, is now billing itself as a friend to film marketers. Matt Mason, the company’s executive director of marketing, presented case studies for two documentaries, Stacy Peralta’s “Bones Brigade: An Autobiography” andVikram Gandhi’s “Kumare.”  

In each case, the company distributed digital collections of trailers and other marketing material across Bit Torrent sites across the world, significantly increasing views of the marketing material and, importantly, click-throughs to ticket-sales sites, Mason said. 

Such options will become increasingly important in the specialty film business, which has long depended on newspaper film critics and display advertising. 

“My biggest fear is the information system, which is newspapers, is going to disappear,” Bernard said. “We have to reinvent how you get your movie into zeitgeist.”

That includes new approaches such as buying video advertising on cable interconnect systems, Bernard said. That advertising allows marketers to target tightly on the geographic area closest to an art-house theater. 

“We can buy (ad time) on “The Daily Show” just in Manhattan. And it’s cheap,” Bernard said. “We don’t have to buy the whole country.”

Though the conference was called the Future of Film Summit, however, it was clear that many speakers aren’t letting go any time soon of the approaches that have long been lucrative, even as the viewing options and delivery and marketing platforms proliferate.

“We believe in the theatrical experience,” said Tucker Tooley, president ofRelativity Media. “We continue to believe that’s the way to go.” 

Among the challenges: getting financing. For now, project budgets are likely to be quite small, though that may ease as more well-made films such as “Arbitrage” and “Margin Call” are released initially at least partly on VOD. 

“Traditional forms of financing that kind of content will evolve,” said David Shaheen, managing director for J.P. Morgan Chase who heads the bank’s entertainment industry group. “It wasn’t all that long ago that banks wouldn’t finance foreign pre-sales.” 

But smarter marketing and new release strategies like will be more and more important as the Baby Boomers who have long filled specialty film screenings age out.

“All I know is we’re screwed when the Baby Boomers die out,” Bernard said. “There is a smarter audience coming up but it’s not like the Baby Boomers, who were brought up on film school.”

The conference, held at the Sofitel in West Hollywood, was sponsored byVariety and Digital Media Wire. For film futurists who want to see whatTwitter users were saying about the show, the conference used the hashtag#FutureFilm.

[deadlinecom]

Future of film looks a lot like the past, for now, but maybe not for long

What I was doing part of yesterday: 

Future of film looks a lot like the past, for now, but maybe not for long

By David Bloom

Technology may provide more options for distributing and watching movies and other video content than ever, but for now, only a few film projects are likely to make sense for a day-and-date release in theatrical and VOD channels, said Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, at a West Hollywood conference today. 

“It’s the best time it’s ever been for someone who’s made a movie,” said Bernard, now in his 20th year running the speciality arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “There’s somewhere you can play your movie.” 

But Bernard, one of the most prominent and thriving survivors of the up-and-down specialty film business, remains a big believer in traditional “windowing” across distribution platforms, starting with the traditional theatrical release. 

“‘Margin Call’ (an early VOD release) left a lot of money on the table,” Bernard said. “It left a lot of awards on the table. (SPC’s) “Midnight in Paris” stayed in theaters for eight months and made almost $60 million. I don’t think it could have done that if it opened on VOD at the same time it opened in theaters.” 

But that doesn’t mean Bernard and SPC aren’t trying new marketing tricks, particularly as traditional newspaper movie advertising collapses in reach and effectiveness. 

With “Searching for Sugar Man,” which this week was named an Oscar finalist for Best Documentary Feature, it opened poorly in August, forcing Bernard and his colleagues to pivot to a different marketing approach.

The film is about a long-lost 1960s Detroit musician named Rodriguez whose one album stiffed in the United States but improbably became an inspiration and national hit for anti-apartheid activists in South Africa. So SPC reached out to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Detroit native Kid Rock, who all championed the film on Twitter and beyond. 

Sharing copies of the film also paid off with “60 Minutes,” which ran its own story about Rodriguez, and David Letterman, who augmented his house band with a 20-piece orchestra for Rodriguez’ performance on the late-night show, Bernard said. Four months later, the film remains in theaters. 

For small guys, there are new ways to make at least some money. One indie filmmaker in the audience said he even turns his trailers into moneymakers, from revenue sharing based on views of the trailers on Google’s YouTube site. His posted trailers generate $600 a month for what are essentially ads. 

Conference sponsor Bit Torrent, long the bane of Hollywood anti-piracy warriors, is now billing itself as a friend to film marketers. Matt Mason, the company’s executive director of marketing, presented case studies for two documentaries, Stacy Peralta’s “Bones Brigade: An Autobiography” and Vikram Gandhi’s “Kumare.”  

In each case, the company distributed digital collections of trailers and other marketing material across Bit Torrent sites across the world, significantly increasing views of the marketing material and, importantly, click-throughs to ticket-sales sites, Mason said. 

Such options will become increasingly important in the specialty film business, which has long depended on newspaper film critics and display advertising. 

“My biggest fear is the information system, which is newspapers, is going to disappear,” Bernard said. “We have to reinvent how you get your movie into zeitgeist.”

That includes new approaches such as buying video advertising on cable interconnect systems, Bernard said. That advertising allows marketers to target tightly on the geographic area closest to an art-house theater. 

“We can buy (ad time) on “The Daily Show” just in Manhattan. And it’s cheap,” Bernard said. “We don’t have to buy the whole country.”

Though the conference was called the Future of Film Summit, however, it was clear that many speakers aren’t letting go any time soon of the approaches that have long been lucrative, even as the viewing options and delivery and marketing platforms proliferate.

“We believe in the theatrical experience,” said Tucker Tooley, president of Relativity Media. “We continue to believe that’s the way to go.” 

Among the challenges: getting financing. For now, project budgets are likely to be quite small, though that may ease as more well-made films such as “Arbitrage” and “Margin Call” are released initially at least partly on VOD. 

“Traditional forms of financing that kind of content will evolve,” said David Shaheen, managing director for J.P. Morgan Chase who heads the bank’s entertainment industry group. “It wasn’t all that long ago that banks wouldn’t finance foreign pre-sales.” 

But smarter marketing and new release strategies like will be more and more important as the Baby Boomers who have long filled specialty film screenings age out.

“All I know is we’re screwed when the Baby Boomers die out,” Bernard said. “There is a smarter audience coming up but it’s not like the Baby Boomers, who were brought up on film school.”

The conference, held at the Sofitel in West Hollywood, was sponsored by Variety and Digital Media Wire. For film futurists who want to see what Twitter users were saying about the show, the conference used the hashtag #FutureFilm.

[pacalin]

LOTR Reimagined - by Tom Bernard