Alfred Hitchcock did not say that actors were cattle. He simply advised that they should be treated as such. OK, it's not that big of a difference, and you've really got to be Hitchcock to get away with this attitude. For independent filmmakers, actors are people...
R&R Consulting principal Sylvain Raynes is quoted in a McClatchy News article on the bonus awarded to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Read the full article by Greg Gordon, "Goldman's Chief Gets Bonus of $9 Million in Stock," in McClatchy Newspapers, February 5, 2010....
I once had a film professor tell me that a paper of mine gave him a "vague sense of nothingness." I learned several things from this experience. First, he was right. I wasn't exactly getting the point of "film theory." Second, the same could be...
Naked Capitalism's Yves Smith makes a compelling case for the need for structural reform. She is spot-on about the significance of disintermediation for the banking industry and the need to decouple risk. Her lament—"I see perilous little grappling with the problem that [Bank of England's...
There are two great things in life: free stuff and stuff that’s almost free. Unfortunately, it seems as if nothing is free in the filmmaking process, and there are plenty of companies looking to make some nice profit from every aspect of the industry. All...
There have been a lot of changes in our society over the past fifty years. Hey, about fifty years ago it was almost impossible for an African-American filmmaker to exist; now it's merely almost impossible for him (or her) to get a distributor. Well, that's pretty...
There are many ways to acquire money for a small-budget film. For example, selling your organs on the black market. That should be good for a few thousand bucks. But once you run out of spare kidneys, you'll have to adopt an alternative strategy. Thank the...
A New York Times articles on the risks and yields of investing in bonds quotes R&R Consulting principal Ann Rutledge, who cautions investors to seek qualified advice and carry out their own research on bond issues. Read the full article by Geraldine Fabrikant, "In Bonds,...
R&R Consulting principal Sylvain Raynes is quoted in a McClatchy Newspapers report revealing further details of the Fed's controversial bailout of AIG. The January 7 report says that in the weeks before Timothy Geithner's confirmation as treasury secretary, his underlings at the Federal Reserve Bank...
The great thing about predictions is that few people ever go back a year later to find out where you were wrong. For example, I predicted a few months ago that Avatar wouldn't necessarily make it past the billion dollar mark. OK, I was wrong....