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January 10, 2006

Current TV: Gore's Guerilla Film School Introduces New Faculty

Current's DIY filmmaking tutorial, featuring Sean Penn and Jonathan Caouette

For all the shit Al Gore takes for the myth saying he claimed responsibility for the Internet, he actually did help create the Current TV network last year. Blending broadband technology with a user-generated content free-for-all, Current is not quite yet what you would call totally watchable. However, the AP reports that Gore and Co. have gone off and recruited some fairly heavy cultural hitters to motivate your ass:

To help would-be contributors, the network has just produced a "survival guide" that it is making available online that includes advice on journalism and storytelling from (Robert) Redford and (Sean) Penn, along with academics, authors and filmmakers.

"We, and by we I mean everyone from a Hollywood director like me to a teenager in rural Texas, can all tell stories about our hopes and fears," said Catherine Hardwicke, writer-director of the movie Thirteen.

"Every day I'm intrigued and sometimes outraged by things that no one talks about," Hardwicke said. "Current is a chance to be heard, and send think-bombs out into the world."

Right. That is "think-bombs," as opposed to just plain old "bombs" like The Lords of Dogtown or... well, never mind. The point is that when you get past the grave platitudes of guys like Sean Penn, there are actually a few interesting tidbits from NYC faves Sarah Vowell, Jonathan Caouette and graffiti laureate Bonz Malone, the latter of whom equates Current's open submission policy with the "white train" of his spray-painting dreams.

Elsewhere on Current's Web site, novice filmmakers can find tutorials on editing, sound, framing and a dozen or so other Film School 101 lessons. So, to paraphrase Caouette's segment, there really is no excuse not to know the basics and get your story out there. Getting viewers, of course, is another question. But look at it this way--Gore is surely inventing them as fast as he can.

Posted by stvanairsdale at January 10, 2006 04:05 PM

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