“…Making and finishing a film is just the half way point, getting it out there into the real world so it can have a life is the other half.”

Jonathan Harris is another artist using technology and the web in interesting ways. I love how Harris is constantly interrogating our relationship with technology and rooting everything in a deep sense of the human. The Whale Hunt is one of my favorite projects because of the way he creates a “photographic heartbeat”, taking more photos during periods of high adrenaline. Harris is working on a new storytelling platform called Cowbird where every story has to be dedicated to someone (we…

I’m a sucker for iPhone camera apps. These are some of my favorites. Any great ones I’ve missed? Hipstamatic – make your world look like 1972 ShakeItPhoto – shake it like a Polaroid picture OldCamera – make your world look like 1892 Andigraf – lots of great options for creating multiple frames Pencil Illusion – pretend you’re a great artist Instagram – kind of like Hipstamatic but Instagram makes it really easy for you to share your pics iTimeLapse –…

I have finally gotten around to reading Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget and it’s thought-provoking stuff. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with people recently about the future of digital culture (as you do) and Lanier has really forced me to re-consider some of my more optimistic ideas about a free and open source digital future. He talks about the peasants and lords of the cloud (hint: artists are not the lords) which brings to mind Astra…

Sean Combs interrupted an interview between Carson Daly and Bellflower’s Evan Glodell at SXSW and ended up giving Evan $1,000. As you do. More on Bellflower.

Ok we know film competitions are a dime a dozen but we’ve gotten behind this one from Mofilm because the prizes are awesome (and there are lots of them) and if you enter through Shooting People you also stand the chance of winning a bonus prize: the Canon 5D. Plus you’ll get flown to Barcelona which ain’t half bad. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to make an ad of less than 90 seconds for any one…

If you make films about social issues and you think about how your films can make a difference in the world then make sure you catch up on all the topics covered at the Making Your Media Matter Conference that took place in DC in February. On the Center for Social Media website you can watch video from the conference and read a summary of everything that was discussed, including: Ethics in Social Issue Film: Reenactments vs. Cinema Verite Money…

The call for entries is now open for the Good Pitch at Hot Docs. The Good Pitch gives filmmakers a unique opportunity to pitch social-issue documentary projects and associated campaign strategies to an audience of NGOs, foundations, campaigners, advertising agencies, brands and media. The Good Pitch at Hot Docs welcomes submissions from filmmakers of any nationality working on documentary projects with a human rights focus. There is no entry fee to apply. Deadline: 20 Feb 2009. Apply at www.britdoc.org/goodpitch. The…

Ted Hope Art House Convergence Closing Remarks from joe zina on Vimeo. You can also read the full text of Hope’s keynote address, delivered at the Arthouse Convergence in Salt Lake City just before Sundance, on indieWIRE.

Lance Weiler is live streaming from The Conversation which started this morning here in Berkeley, California. Update: You can follow The Conversation blog here – the blog includes links to photos, tweets and other joys.