A Quick Heads Up To AICN Readers From HOWARD TV!!
Published at: March 30, 2006, 4:07 p.m. CST by staff
Earlier this week, I conducted an interview with Doug Goodstein, the Executive Producer of Howard TV (the recently launched Howard Stern On-Demand cable service). I’ve been hustling to transcribe the entire interview, but I’m the world’s shittiest typist and it’s moving slowly.
However, Doug asked if I could go ahead and pass on a time sensitive message to AICN readers regarding an upcoming film festival. You can find out more about the festival HERE. This is the same fest being touted on Stern’s Sirius broadcast, but if you haven’t heard their plugs, the upshot of this is: “The contest will set the standard for low brow, high-quality entertainment.” I wonder which part of that made them think of AICN?
GOODSTEIN: Films should be 5 minutes or less - there are a lot of rules and details on howard.tv. The prizes are pretty substantial now - $21,000 for the first prize. It used to be $15,000 – but we added some really great Avid software and some screenwriting software. It has to be Howard Stern themed…
MERRICK: You know someone’s gonna send you some angst ridden, freaky thing in French…
GOODSTEIN: Yeah, we’ve gotten some weird ones that have nothing to do with anything.
All entries should be submitted on DVD or high-quality VHS. THE DEADLINE IS APRIL 11…hence the time sensitivity here. The contest’s second place prize is $7,500, the prize for third place is $2,500
Even though your film should be Stern-centric, there’s still a surprising amount of latitude given his impact on media, issues of free speech, etc. Personally (and I’m not entering the fest), I’d think about telling a film from an outside perspective, looking at the ripple effects Stern has already made by fighting the system, standing against censorship, etc. Or, conjecture how he may yet influence our country: Maybe have fun with a spin on V FOR VENDETTA, featuring a nation dominated by crusading (and often heinously defective) Superfans…answering only to the voices coming from their Sirius receivers (Howard, Robin, Artie, the whole gang)…stuff like that. No, I’m not being 100% serious about these ideas…just trying to prompt a thought process.
Doug wanted to be sure you guys knew about this…they'd LOVE to get some contributions from AICNers...so there you have it! I hope to have the full interview posted by early next week.
