Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Culture War
So Penda started this idea on her blog, and I thought it might be a good idea here too. For those of you who read regularly (or just stop by on occasion), what about me — personal, professional, political, potpourri — do you think you probably should know but don’t? Ask me anything in the comments (anonymity is perfectly fine); can’t promise I’ll give you the knowledge you seek (unlike Penda, there probably are some things I won’t answer), but I’ll do my best.
William R. Coughlan is one of the founders of Tohubohu Productions (so even on pictures he doesn’t direct, he can squeeze in an Executive Producer credit) and in-house video producer for The Advisory Board Company. He dabbles in screenwriting, acting, 3-D animation, and writing autobiographical comments in the third person. He is also a published illustrator, has provided schematic graphics for several HBS case studies, designed the acclaimed Protégé clay poker chip line, wrote for the (now-dormant) online literary magazine Inkblots, and acts as editor for the MotherReader weblog (which is not-so-coincidentally written by his wife). He currently resides at a secret compound in Burke, Virginia, with his wife Pam and their two daughters.
All content © 2002–2006 Bill Coughlan.
Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all original material created by Bill Coughlan — including, but not limited to, writing, illustration, audio, photography, video and digital composition — included in this weblog and any related pages, including the weblog’s archives, is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some rights reserved.
The views expressed herein are strictly my own, and even that’s not a given all of the time. In any case, nobody in the remainder of the Coughlan family was even consulted on the content herein, so don’t even think about blaming any of them — they had nothing to do with this. (Especially not Pam. Seriously.) Come to think of it, neither did any of the folks you might hear mentioned, or any of the people at the other end of any links you may find here. You know, just to be safe, assume pretty much everything here is a load of crap. That’s probably safer for all concerned.
Anything posted here or e-mailed to me with regard to this weblog or its content is considered suitable for publication. That ain’t to say I’m gonna publish it. Just that if, in my sole opinion, I want to, I can. Don’t want to see your name in lights? Don’t talk to me. Most of you won’t have to worry about that — it’s basically a disclaimer warning the hate-mail folks that their comments are fair game.
Oh, and one more thing: The commenting function is here for everyone’s benefit, so play nice, or it’ll be taken away. And just so everybody’s clear: I accept no responsibility for what anyone may write there — I don’t monitor things 24/7, and even if I did, I figure it’s probably a dangerous precedent to set. Post and read at your own risk. Still, if I don’t like something, it’s gone. And keep in mind that your posting becomes my property, meaning I can republish, edit, delete, or modify it at will; doesn’t mean I can claim credit for your intellectual work, but it does mean that I have absolute editorial control if I choose to exercise it (which is not required). I’ll make a reasonable effort not to radically alter the meaning or tone of your work, but that’s my prerogative. Don’t like that policy? Get your own weblog and you can do whatever you want, but this is my house.
Privacy policy? Don’t have one. This site is not secure, and is available to the public at large. The whole “at your own risk” mantra applies across the board here.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
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4 Comments:
Two questions:
One - When did you decide that making movies was how you wanted to spend you time.
Two - what is your happy food?
I first realized I wanted to make movies in high school. There were a couple of catalysts for this. One, my family got one of these newfangled "VCRs," and I figured out that I could do simple editing with just a camera and the VCR's "pause" button (and I was still doing that with my brother throughout college). And two, I took a filmmaking course that gave me the chance to get down and handle 8mm film. I'd always been interested (some may say "obsessed") with movies, but at that point I finally realized that I could directly apply the creative writing, theatrical, and visual artist skills I already had to this new medium.
Probably why I've been more interested in making "story" films than "documentary" ones -- it's just what I've always enjoyed doing.
And my "happy food" is crab. Mostly Alaskan king crab, though that's hard to come by these days. I've often joked that my wife and I are on the "twenty-year" vegetarian plan (first we eliminated most major predators from our diet...), and I know that from a humane killing standpoint, crab ain't all that palatable, but I doubt I'll ever be able to cut it out entirely.
(We have stopped eating pork products, but that's probably thanks more to Babe than anything else.)
Disney or Warner Brothers? Simpsons or Family Guy? Coke or Pepsi?
If we’re talking the movie world in general, I’d probably give Disney the edge. Yes, they’re pure evil, but they do (at least for now) have Miramax under their umbrella. Not to mention that I’m still bitter about Warners’ complete destruction of the DC Comics properties (the “Death to Schumacher!” rallying cry has merely shifted to “Death to Pitof!”).
But in terms of the most obvious comparison — the world of classic cartoons — there really is no comparison. Warners all the way.
As appealing as Family Guy is, I have to give the edge to Simpsons, if only for maintaining its satirical edge — largely undiluted — for so long.
And I’ve been a Pepsi man since I was a kid. I can actually trace that back to my Uncle Bob, who impressed the importance of Pepsi (and Bosco, but that’s another story) upon me at an impressionable age.
Of course, I’m also cheap, so I’ll gladly grab whatever the free fountain machine is dispensing (Coke, in the case of my office).
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