Books
Give Me the Money and I’ll Shoot! Finance Your Factual TV/Documentary Project by Nicola Lees
Building on the success of Greenlit, this book is the most accessible guide to the traditional, emerging and creative funding models being exploited by factual TV producers and documentary filmmakers in an ever-changing international market. It introduces you to ten different kinds of funder – from international broadcasters to ordinary individuals – and reveals their very different motivations for funding non-fiction films and TV series.
Advice from industry insiders – producers, buyers, media agencies and film funding bodies – is combined with a range of case studies that illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of each source of funding. Packed with practical, actionable tips and examples of successful written proposals and grant applications (along with tales of caution), this book explains exactly what TV commissioners, grantors, brands and investors are looking for in a pitch.
Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art
An interesting video about a Taschen book called Tresspass, which looks at the history of street art by the Wooster Collective. See it here:
Bookshelves of Creative People
It’s Nice That is a website dedicated to all things creative. One of their regular features asks creative types what books they have on their shelves – and they range from Calvin and Hobbes Sunday Pages 1985-1995 to Book of British Birds (Readers Digest) via Roald Dahl’s Kiss Kiss .
Against All Odds by Paul Connolly
Paul Connolly was abandoned as a new born baby and grew up in care at the St. Leonards’ Children’s Home in London’s East End, where the children were regularly abused by their carers. Paul became a boxer and personal trainer, but six of the children he shared his 8-bed dorm with are dead. Against All […]
2:46: Aftershocks, An Oral History of the Japanese Earthquake
2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake is a fast response publication to Kindle that was created by a group of Twitter users to raise funds for the Japanese Red Cross. The book contains photos, artwork and essays from people around the world, including Yoko Ono, and took just over one week to assemble. 100% […]
Prison Reads
Flavorwire has compiled a list of ten books written about the prison system, either as inmates or staff. The list includes: Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg Memoirs from a Women’s Prison by Nawal el Saadawi Read the full list on Flavorwire. […]
Martian Summer
Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days with the Phoenix Mission by Andrew Kessler is his offbeat, warts-and-all account of the summer he spent inside NASA as they prepared for a mission to Mars, after he secured unprecedented access to 130 of the world’s best scientists. The book is published on 15 […]
Are Copy Editors Becoming Extinct?
Has commerce and marketing taken priority over careful crafting and editing of books? It’s a question asked, and discussed at length, by Alex Clark (and some more by the many people leaving comments). Rather inevitably, there appears to be an error the text that hasn’t been picked up by the copy editor. Can you spot […]
TED Books
Are you a fan of TED Talks (and if not why not?). Now you can read about an interesting idea in depth and in a short book form – designed to be intellectually digested in about one hour. Unfortunately if you don’t own a Kindle you are out of luck as that’s the only platform […]
Zehnseiten – Authors Read Ten Pages
Zehnseiten (ten pages) show cases authors reading ten pages of their books so you don’t even have to leave the warmth of your home to trek to a bookshops reading. The videos are starkly simple, in black and white, and somehow (to the non-German speaker, at least) give the impression that they are reading the […]
Why Are You Like a Great Novelist?
How is the development producer like a great novelist? Oh, let me count the ways… “procrastination, writer’s block, the terror of failure that looms over a new project and the attention-sucking power of the Internet”, so says the Wall Street Journal. They asked successful novelists about the way they write their books. Nobel laureate Orhan […]
Movie Books – New Opportunities for Filmmakers?
Soomo Publishing aims to use multimedia to breathe life into learning. In this video they blend historical reconstruction in a pop video format (with lyrics from the hit Too Late to Apologize by One Republic) to engage students in the history of the American Declaration of Independence. It worked: to date the video has had […]
Unconventional Autobiographies
Another literary list from Flavorwire: this time a list of inventive autobiographies that put bland celebrity offerings in the shade. Check out: The Box: Tales from the Darkroom by Gunter Grass, in which he fictionalizes accounts of his life from the perspectives of his eight children; My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard examines the life he […]
Rewriting the Original
Flavorwire has compiled a list of authors who have rewritten classic stories (often with a twist) without ruining the original. Their examples include: On Beauty by Zadie Smith – a retellling of Howards End Weight by Jeanette Winterson – a reworking of the Atlas and Heracles myth The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski […]
Book Themed Dinner Party Menus
Vinegar Hill House, a restaurant reached down a dark and deserted cobbled road at the far reaches of NYC’s trendy DUMBO district held an American Psycho themed New Year’s Eve Dinner. Not to be outdone, Flavorwire have come up with a number of literary dinners, such as: Dracula – featuring tomato soup and blood orange […]
Secret Life of the Prison Library
Avi Steinberg describes life as a prison librarian at the Suffolk County House of Correction, Massachusetts. Prisoners would run to the library as soon as they were released from their cells, but the history of prison libraries is a troubled one. On one side they are thought to be a good thing – educating and […]
American Ruins
Photographer Arthur Drooker’s photos of N. American buildings make them look as if they’ve survived (or decayed) since ancient times. He uses infrared photography to infuse an other-worldliness in industrial landscapes and dilapidated mansions. See them here.
Sick Memoirs
If you enjoy reading about other people’s illnesses you’ll enjoy the list of Sick Lit put together by Flavorwire. Among others, you can choose from books covering everything from cancer to depression and eating disorders: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person by Miriam Engelberg It’s Not […]
The Breakup 2.0
Something else to add to your Things To Do Before I Die list: break up with someone via social networking. Illana Gershorn interviewed 72 people about how they conduct their romances and break ups via voice mail, texting, Skype, Facebook and instant messaging to get a picture of how love is pursued, and terminated, online […]
The Sheikh’s Batmobile
The Sheikh’s Batmobile by Richard Poplak takes readers on a tour of 17 Muslim countries in an exploration of how American pop culture has been embraced and reinterpreted – for example plastic surgery in Beirut, and a video game classified as a terrorist training tool. Read a review on More Intelligent Life.
White Faces on Books Featuring Black Characters
MobyLives investigates a complaint from young adult fiction author Justine Larbalestier, who wrote a book called Liar about a black girl called Micah, but found that the publishers had designed a cover showing a white girl with long, straight hair. It turns out that many publishers have found they can’t sell books with black characters […]
How to Work in a Mortuary
Down Among the Dead Men by Michelle Williams tells the story of a year in the life of a mortuary technician; doing a job many people would rather die than do. It’s full of detail of what happens between unexpected and hitherto unexplained death, and disposal of the body. Just as fascinating are the stories […]
Teens in Solitary Confinement
I Don’t Wish Nobody To Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup by David Chura, who spent ten years tutoring teenaged inmates at Westchester County Jail, New York, describes what it’s like to be a young person committed to an isolation unit. Mother Jones wonders whether isolation does more harm than […]
Patterns for Life
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction is a classic design text written in 1977 bby Christopher Alexander. It ambitiously catalogues, with photos and illustrations, everything in the build environment – from parks to tower blocks to bedrooms – and explains how good design enhances life and community. High-rise apartments and uniform ceilings: bad. East facing […]
The Animal Review
The Animal Review: The Genius, Mediocrity, and Breathtaking Stupidity That Is Nature, by Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash is an objective (and humorous) review of animal species. The king cobra gets A+ and the garden snail D- (although garden snails regularly outwit TV Mole despite regular mass murder attempts in order to preserve the vegetable […]
Meet Mr Haynes – Manual Man
Ever wondered who the Mr Haynes behind the Haynes manuals is? Find out here.
Fifty Cars That Changed the World
Fifty Cars That Changed the World by Andrew Nahum, Principal Curator at London’s Design Museum explores the design impact of classic cars such as the 908 Ford Model T, the 1957 Lotus Elite, and the 1998 Smart Car. Also in the series are Fifty Dresses…, Fifty Chairs… and Fifty Shoes….
Authors in Hiding
Flavorwire has smoked out some of the 20th century’s most reclusive authors in a defense of their refusal of celebrity. Featured authors include Marcel Proust, J.D. Salinger, Cormac McCarthy and Harper Lee. Read their analysis here.
Award-Winning Prison Library
Saughton Prison in Edinburgh has won an award for its library that includes designs and fittings built by prisoners. The library has changed imates’ lives by introducing them to the joy of reading. In one year it had 12,500 prisoners visit the library and vandalism to the books has been reduced from 80% to nil. […]
Criminology Books
Sage is publishing a new series of books on criminology, including Crime and Terrorism, which explores “the often murky interface between organised crime and terrorism” and Crime and Risk that looks at the influence of the excitement of risk-taking on criminal behaviour and how the harm can be reduced rather than risk-taking behaviours controlled. Visit […]
The Museum of Innocence
The Museum of Innocence by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk is about a character called Kemal who collects items from his love in order to construct a shrine to her. This shrine is called the Museum of Innocence, and is complemented in real life by a the author’s own Museum of Innocence containing 83 objects, one […]
Farm City
Farm City by Novella Carpenter is an autobiographical account of an urban farmer trying to raise herbs, chickens, pigs, ducks and bees in amongst freeways, gun fire and abandoned cars in Oakland, California. In amongst accounts of block parties, predatory stray dogs and neighbourhood trading of rabbits, there are also recipes. Check it out on […]
Galley Cat Book Reviews
For you literature lovers – Galley Cat has a daily book review (of books of any genre) and a monthly digest of the best review content. It also includes links, Twitter directories and recommendations. Explore the reviews via Scribd.
The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist relates how the two very different parts of the human brain – the detail-oriented, self-centered left side and the flexible, generous right side – have shaped Western culture and thought. Read a review in The Guardian
Chick Lit Rewritten
Flavorwire suggests the new wave of chick lit might be a little less glossy and aspirational in a response to the difficult financial climate, perhaps providing titles such as: The Devil Wears Vera Wang for Kohl’s Banana Republic Brunettes The Madoff Diaries If you can’t identify the original titles, you obviously having been paying attention […]
Vanity Book Awards
Vanity publishing got a little vainer with the advent of vanity publishing awards. The National Best Book Awards has 150 categories; every entrant is a finalist and some categories have only one entrant. Those lucky winners can then buy a gold star with which to adorn the dust jacket (for a reasonable fee of $69). […]
Consorting with the Rockstars
Flavorwire has revealed the five rockstar “consort” memoirs you must read. They are: Backstage Passes: Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie by Angela Bowie with Patrick Carr Life with My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone with Wendy Leigh Faithfull: An Autobiography by Marianne Faithfull with David Dalton A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of […]
How Reality TV Changed My Life
Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean About the Shows We Can’t Stop Watching by Anna David is a collection of essays by authors, such as James Frey, in which they reflect how they got hooked by reality TV – Big Brother, Survivor, The Real Housewives et al – and how it has shaped their lives […]
Bestselling Books on the Street
If you are looking for a good book to take to the beach, but can’t decide which, take a look at the books most frequently sold by NYC’s street vendors (which may or may not be a good recommendation – are these just the books that people get rid of?). The top four are Ian […]
The Uncomfortable Truth About Yoga
The Great Oom: The Improbable Birth of Yoga in America by Robert Love is the story of how yoga was popularized in America by Pierre Bernard. It’s a rollicking tale of sex, money, midgets and elephants. Read a review in the Wall Street Journal.
Where Good Ideas Come From
Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson (pub: Oct 2010) asks – and answers – a series of qustions such as, ” Why have cities historically been such hubs of innovation? What do the printing press and Apple have in common? And what does this have to do with […]
Sudden Genius
Sudden Genius: Creativity explored through ten extraordinary lives by Andrew Robinson looks at the nature of good ideas – why some people have loads and some seem to have few, if any. And how does a ‘sudden flash of genius’ happen? He explores these questions by examining the lives of five artists and five scientists […]
2030
2030: Technology That Will Change the World by Rutger van Santen takes a look into the future in the company of 20+ world-renown scientists who predict which technologies will be significatn in the realms of infectious disease, financial instability, and climate change.
Book Fair Clothing Controversy
Who knew book fairs could be so controversial? Iran’s clerics are urging the country’s cultural secretary to hand over the running of the Tehran book fair to them as they have been heartbroken on seeing that some women did not strictly observe the hijab, turning the event into ‘fashion salons’. Read more in the Literary […]
My Life as James Bond…and Other Action Movie Heroes
Vic Armstrong is, according to the Guinnness World Records the world’s mot prolific stuntman. He’s stood in for actors playing every action hero from Superman to James Bond for more than four decades. He describes his experiences in a book due for publication in May 2011.
They Dared Return
They Dared Return: Secret Missions Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick K O’Donnell is a never-before-told account of five German-Jews who volunteered to go behind enemy lines to impersonate German officers, gather secret intelligence and blow up trains. One of them is tortured by the Gestapo, but convinces his torturer to surrender his […]
The Boy Who Bit Picasso
The Boy Who Bit Picasso, by Antony Penrose, is an account of the author’s memory of, and relationship with, Picasso who was a childhood friend. He tells how Picasso used to have a goat in a crate outside his bedroom and the two boys enjoyed enacting play bullfights. (Pub: Thames and Hudson, September 2010).
Deaver Breathes New Life into Bond
Best-selling American thriller writer Jeffery Deaver has been commissioned by Ian Fleming’s estate to write a new Bond book set in the present day. Read the full article in The Guardian.
Drainspotting
Remo Camerota is a drainspotter. That is, he photographs Japanese drain covers that have been turned into mini works of art, and his work has been turned into a book. Read more and see some examples on Coolhunting.
Hot Guys Reading Books
So we’ve had property porn and weather porn – here comes new something to fuel your acquisitive aspirations and and put you in awe of the beauty of nature: Hot Guys Reading Books. It is one of those ideas that is so simple and so obvious that it is complete genius (and it’s a blog […]
