Fizzle is a compilation, a journal if you will, of events and snippets from my experience in the film industry for over forty years. There was no place to log the bumpy ride that led to the demise of the American Independent film movement, an industry that once sizzled. You might say this book is about the Fizzle of the Sizzle. It is wishful thinking on my behalf to believe this book will explain how the sharks got away with fleecing filmmakers, and why they will continue to do so. Indie filmmakers, unlike the dinosaurs, will reinvent themselves. The hope is that this journal might save a few schmucks who are as naive as I was when I made my first two films. The nightmare is that it might attract a new generation of scumbags who can learn how to screw filmmakers. Both scenarios will undoubtedly play out. To paraphrase Shaw in my sole disclaimer: I often quote myself, in order to spice things up a bit. Norman Gerards tome is full of sound and fury. Hes got an impassioned viewpoint about why it all went wrong. The time has come for someone to offer a bruising critique, to speak truths about the indie world that the media has largely either chosen to ignore, or missed while they fell in love with the colorful young characters and the so-called spirit of American indie cinema. Gerard would argue that spirit is more like a disease, that the so-called honesty of the American indie film movement masked essential business deceptions that would inevitably lead to the current disastrous landscape... Prepare for a rollicking ride through good times and bad, high art and low-lifes, auteurs and con artists. Gerard has them all in the pages of this book. If there were any money left for indie film productions, it might make a great film and it clearly won't be a studio-backed picture. Its got corrosive honesty, hard-hitting political implications, sleazy characters no major star would want to play, all topped off by a downbeat ending. Theres one word for the spirit of this tome: Its truly INDEPENDENT. -- Steven Gaydos Variety, Executive Editor
Kansas-born journalist David Kane never expected he would land a lucrative position at New Yorks Crawley News. Still, he does, and the position is all he could have hoped for until illegal phone hacking allegations by Crawley land on the backs of several New York staffers. The Big Apple isnt so glitzy anymore, even for David. A position opens in Crawleys Nigerian office when a journalist was murdered while investigating the fraudulent testing and distribution of a meningitis vaccine. Despite some of the obvious dangers associated with a foreign country, David gladly accepts his relocation to Africa. After all, Nigeria is a cultural mecca, leading the country in wealth and oil exportation. He receives his first assignment immediately: investigating a bloody coup in Central Africa. The small town boy is soon thrust into a front-line political and religious conflict. Hes captured, caught in the deadly Ebola outbreak, and even has a steamy affair with his married translatoran irresistible Nigerian woman recruited by the CIA. David receives the help of a seasoned Scottish journalist, and the newbie Crawley recruit will certainly have a lot to write aboutif he has better luck than his dead predecessor.
The British-supplied dossier on WMDs was what the Americans were looking for to justify invading Iraq. President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Dr. David Dunsmore was relieved as an U.N. weapon's inspector in Iraq and went back to work for the Ministry of Defense at the government's biological warfare facility. "We're at the brink of war, and I have betrayed my friends," he said. "Do you know how they deal with people who betray them? I will probably be found dead in the woods if the Americans invade Iraq." After Saddam's defeat no WMDs were found, and the government was pressured to explain its deception. The blame was defrayed to Dunsmore, and he was ordered to reveal the names of those he had disclosed classified information to. The night before he was to testify he was found dead in the woods near his home, as he had predicted. The government concluded that Dr. Dunsmore's "suicide was regrettable." The unanswered question remained: Who were the "friends" Dr. Dunsmore believed he had betrayed?
STORYLINE: John "Spider" Barrach was a securities analyst, an occupation allowing him little time for family. So it wasn't unusual when his kid brother came asking for money that he was ignored. The next day his brother was found dead, his heart ritualistically ripped from his chest. Not caring for his brother when he was alive, hit John hard, & in an effort to free himself from that guilt, he retraced his brother's life - to be closer to the brother he never knew. SPIDER is about tough people & tough love, & is one man's resolve to find himself. AUTOBIO: Norman Gerard is both a novelist & filmmaker. He released his first film, "Snake Skin Jacket" in 1997. SPIDER is his second novel & follows "Wreck of the Alamo," printed in 1996. His newest film "China Basin" should be completed in 1998. Order directly from the publisher: Gerard Films, P.O. Box 16905, Beverly Hills, CA 90209. FAX: 213-654-2852.
Fizzle is a compilation, a journal if you will, of events and snippets from my experience in the film industry for over forty years. There was no place to log the bumpy ride that led to the demise of the American Independent film movement, an industry that once sizzled. You might say this book is about the Fizzle of the Sizzle. It is wishful thinking on my behalf to believe this book will explain how the sharks got away with fleecing filmmakers, and why they will continue to do so. Indie filmmakers, unlike the dinosaurs, will reinvent themselves. The hope is that this journal might save a few schmucks who are as naive as I was when I made my first two films. The nightmare is that it might attract a new generation of scumbags who can learn how to screw filmmakers. Both scenarios will undoubtedly play out. To paraphrase Shaw in my sole disclaimer: I often quote myself, in order to spice things up a bit. Norman Gerard's tome is full of sound and fury. He's got an impassioned viewpoint about why it all went wrong. The time has come for someone to offer a bruising critique, to speak truths about the indie world that the media has largely either chosen to ignore, or missed while they fell in love with the colorful young characters and the so-called spirit of American indie cinema. Gerard would argue that spirit is more like a disease, that the so-called honesty of the American indie film movement masked essential business deceptions that would inevitably lead to the current disastrous landscape... Prepare for a rollicking ride through good times and bad, high art and low-lifes, auteurs and con artists. Gerard has them all in the pages of this book. If there were any money left for indie film productions, it might make a great film and it clearly won't be a studio-backed picture. It's got corrosive honesty, hard-hitting political implications, sleazy characters no major star would want to play, all topped off by a downbeat ending. There's one word for the spirit of this tome: It's truly INDEPENDENT. -- Steven Gaydos Variety, Executive Editor
HAROLD B. GERARD AND NORMAN MILLER In the fall of 1965, when the school board of the Riverside Unified School District made its momentous decision to desegregate the ele mentary schools in Riverside, both of us were faculty members in the psychology department on the Riverside campus of the University of California. The riots in Watts had occurred the previous August and the shock waves were being felt around the cou~try. Although the black population of Riverside at the time was only 6% or 7%, people were ap prehensive. A story appeared in the local paper, The Rzverside Press Enterprzse, about several Blacks who were watching the burning and looting in Watts on TV. One of them, excited by what he saw, ex claimed, "Man-let's burn here, too. " The others in the bar were more level-headed and fortunately dissuaded him from following his impulse. Barely two weeks later, however, someone set fire to one of the build ings of Lowell School, in the eastside ghetto area. Nothing was left of the building but a charred shell. People in Riverside, of all ethnic groups, were generally edgy in the face of a seemingly volatile situation. Agitation by minority parents for improved education for their children seemed to be reinforced by the general unrest.
The small rural villages of Mattituck and Laurel remained relatively unchanged for more than 100 years until the railroad arrived in 1844. The Long Island Rail Road launched Mattituck-Laurel into a modern era of material progress, where business flourished and the area became a desirable location for summer visitors from New York City. The railroad station stood at the center of commerce and industry. Immigrants arrived and embarked upon new enterprises alongside the already thriving small shops and businesses. During the second half of the 19th century, Mattituck was home to a pickling factory, canning factory, large-scale creamery, and successful fertilizer business. Mattituck and Laurel presents a fascinating glimpse into the historic people and businesses that shaped these two iconic hamlets on the North Fork of Long Island.
The classic book on the Lower East Side's synagogues and their congregations, past and present-now back in print in a completely revised and expanded edition
Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is a new and exciting hybrid separation technique that seeks to exploit the combined advantages of both capillary electrophoresis (high efficiencies) and HPLC (mobile and stationary phase selectivity). It is a technique with tremendous potential, especially in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. This is the first book to be devoted to the topic and presents reviews by the world leaders in the field on the theory and development of the technique and current and potential future applications. Capillary Electrochromatography provides an excellent introduction to the field for graduates and professionals in industry and academia with an interest in separation science.
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