BookShorts' Moving Stories Series Premieres on Rogers TV May 1

Host Paul Quarrington On The Film Set in Adapting Books to Screen

Viewers Are Invited to InsideToronto.com To Win Books and More!

Tuesday, May 1 at 8:30pm marks the premiere of BookShorts’ Moving Stories, an insightful new television series exploring the art of filmmaking on Rogers Television and launched in partnership with InsideToronto.com. The 8-episode series is hosted by Award-winning multi-talented artist of film, television, books and music Paul Quarrington, who leads viewers behind the scenes of two different BookShort films each episode, revealing tricks and tips of particular interest to film buffs and to those who aspire to make films, all in keeping with the theme of the books that are the source of inspiration for each of the films. Episodes are broadcast weekly beginning May 1 on Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:30pm; Wednesdays at 4:30pm.

Just some of the book to films adaptations include Douglas Coupland’s JPod; Craig Davidson’s The Fighter; the original BookShort Susan Swan’s What Casanova Told Me and animated films for Mireille Silcoff’s Archetypes, and i-ROBOT Poetry by Jason Christie, a sci-fi comedic treat. The series also features segments on composing music for soundtracks, finding story in the video editing suite; the creative impact of exotic foreign film locations; and making movies for mobile. Each week, viewers who participate in the online games have the opportunity to win the books featured in Moving Stories. For more on this exciting interactive dimension, visit www.insidetoronto.com.

Moving Stories is a co-production of BookShorts Literacy Program and Rogers Television sponsored by Toronto Community News. Produced in Association with Canadian Heritage, Newfoundland & Labrador Film Development Corp., CHUM Access Media Group, Movieola-The Short Film Channel and our filmmakers, authors, and publishing partners. Producer, Judith Keenan; Director, Bert Kish; Host/Story Editor, Paul Quarrington; Editors, Chris Perez, Kerry Biskupski; Broadcast Titles & Design, Crush; Camera , Allyson Reid; Interactive, Irene Duma.

Vincent Lam Author of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures - Giller Video Profile

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Giller Profile: Vincent Lam was named the 2006 winner of The Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada's premier literary prize for fiction, for his novel Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, published by Doubleday Canada, at a gala dinner and award ceremony that drew more than 450 members of the publishing, media and arts communities. Hosted by Justin Trudeau, The Scotiabank Giller Prize was broadcast across Canada in primetime on CTV and, for the first time, live around the world on The CTV Broadband Network CTV.ca.

Of the winning book, the jury, comprised of The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and distinguished Canadian authors Alice Munro and Michael Winter, remarked: This series of inter-linked stories is a profound and meaningful glimpse into a world which seems on the surface to be purely medical, but leads us into the metaphorical. The characters and the situations are unexpectedly bound together and make us, as readers, not just witnesses to, but participants in, the world that has been created for us.

(c) 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize. For more information, visit http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca.

Author Edeet Ravel on A Wall of Light - Giller Video Profile

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A Wall of Light (published by Random House Canada) - Sonya Vronsky, professor of mathematics at Tel Aviv University is about to have a day like no other. It begins normally, with an elaborate breakfast prepared by Kostya, her brother. Sonya is the only one left for Kostya to fuss over and cook for. But her Sleeping Beauty existence comes to an abrupt end when she is roused by a kiss. Not only does she discover love, but she realizes that her family, who had promised her everything, has kept the most valuable gift from her.

Edeet Ravel was born on a Marxist kibbutz near the Israeli-Lebanese border and grew up in Montreal. At 18 Ravel returned to Israel to study English literature. Ravel's first novel, Ten Thousand Lovers, was a finalist for the 2003 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and many other awards.

© Scotiabank Giller Prize. For more info bookshorts.com/watch_giller.htm

The Making of *Angel Takes All* with Director Bert Kish - BookShorts VIDEO

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BookShorts.com -- in this behind-the-scenes special feature "Betting on a Shot," Director Bert Kish deconstructs the intricacies of making the film for author Angel Largay's BookShort "Angel Takes All: No-Limit Texas Hold'em" and explains how tricky it really is to get the perfect "one-shot."

For more on the film and the book, visit www.bookshorts.com.

Judith Keenan Featured in SXSW Interview for JPod BookShort

Matthew Odam of Austin 360 took the time to interview a whole bunch of filmmakers whose work was being premiered at SXSW Film Festival. Interesting glimpses into the machinations and minds of the nutty people that make this their life's work, including yours truly, makers of the JPod BookShort based on Douglas Coupland's novel.



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JPod Premiere at SXSW w/ Coupland, Costanzo - BookShorts Video News

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www.BookShorts.com -- Well folks, despite myriad challenges, we were there, with fandom and appreciation abounding. Mr. Coupland was in fine charming form, the audience -- they laughed, they sighed, they chuckled in all the right places. Oh, and they did that for the feature too. A taste with JPod (dare I say) gives one the taste of EGG, and we wait with baited breath for JPod the series.

(c) BookShorts.com For more info on screenings and broadcasts.

New Dogs, New Tricks from SXSW - BookShorts Conference Report

BookShorts.com -- Moderated by Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech, this was the first session I attended at SXSW and it set the bar high, at least in terms of a successfully moderated session. All too often at these kinds of things, the organizers do their best to get people on the dias who are well-regarded in their respective fields, but the context of the actual presentation, any useful information is either fragmented or has to be forcefully inserted into proceedings, which inevitably makes the person delivering seem like a shill. So, kudos to Scott, he is well-informed, up-to-date, and gave the panellists solid guidance through a cogent session.

A full report is available in this .PDF or at BookShorts.com/news.htm and here are some of the interesting comments from this collective braintrust that really does bare considered attention in the immediate future:

* iTunes made its first acquisition recently, a film whose duration was between 30 and 60 minutes which they priced at a TV-episode fee of 1.99 – watch to see if it leads to an ongoing initiative from the company most feel is in the best position to become the new power-player

* Watch the talent – they’ll develop properties that take more advantage of the attributes of the media they’re playing with, for instance, story-telling in environments like Second Life

* Break-out producers will use the behaviour differences of audiences on different platforms to create new economies, and help monetize content in ways particular to each

* Building strong characters is one of the most exciting aspects across all these modes of delivery; a distinct personality, whether fictional or real, has even greater opportunity to find exactly its niche audience in a multimodal distribution strategy; case study: Four Eyed Monster

* Micro-financing, or cinema shares, where audiences are invited to invest in films at the pre-production stage has an increasing number of precedents; although there are security laws that impact this type of financing, and some dud examples like One Second Film (will it ever actually come out?) in other sessions during SXSW the topic was broached repeatedly which several successful implementations (more on this next post).

Lots of food for thought, and practical tips from those who are walking the walk. I'll break it into blog-like bits and post over the next few days. Hit the feed :)

New Dogs, New Tricks: New Media Goes to the Movies
Conference Session at SXSW
Moderator, Scott Kirsner Editor, CinemaTech
David Gale, Exec. VP, MTV New Media
Rick DeVos, CEO, Spout LLC
Seth Nagel, VP Content & Acquisitions, iKlipz
Scilla Andreen, Co-Founder, IndieFlix

Agent Uses YouTube Clip to Land Seven-Figure Deal *How to USE BookShorts!

Curtis Brown’s Elizabeth Sheinkman asked author Rupert Isaacson to hold off posting footage on MySpace and YouTube until she had sent his about-to-be-book proposal to editors; then included links to the five-minute clip in the final pitch. She sold the title for seven figures; not a BookShort, but could be! www.bookshorts.com



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Bruce Cockburn, Gibb, Bezmozgis for PEN Canada: BookShorts VIDEO

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www.BookShorts.com -- Freedom to read means a great deal to people around the world, especially in times of conflict and war.  This is why PEN Canada asked these award-winning writers and musicians from Canada and beyond to explore what it means to "bear witness," literally and figuratively.  Presented in partnership with the Toronto Public Library, this Freedom to Read Week event (part of Keep Toronto Reading) was an amazing evening -- watch for part two (and maybe even three!) to be posted asap.

Event video coverage (c) 2007 BookShorts Moving Stories; for more info contact www.PENCanada.ca.

BookShorts OPINION: Online Video Gets Real

Good basic description of companies that host and distribute video - Revver, Metacafe -- where content is screened for quality, and put into a context where revenues are earned based on appeal and entertainment value to the audience. Here at BookShorts we agree with the editor that "eventually, viewers will get tired of watching silly video pranks and seek out more creative video material online." In the world of digital media, "eventually" is not often very far away.



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BookShorts NEWS: Jaded is not jaded at all

www.bookshorts.com -- EXCERPT FROM JADEDEXPRESSIONS.com: "Second City alumnus, actor, writer, director and producer Bruce Pirrie has collaborated with BookShorts' mastermind Judith Keenan on multiple BookShorts (ahem short films), the latest, JPod, being inspired by beloved Canadian writer Douglas Coupland's novel of the same name."

Melanie Chung and her team at the online magazine Jaded Expressions write and assemble an electic mix of articles and media; congrats to Melanie on releasing her own short film too. Check out her film and the full article at JadedExpressions.com