Death of DEN Addressed; Washington Wins in Newport; Academy Honors Students; IFILM Shift

DAILY NEWS: Death of DEN Addressed; Washington Wins in Newport; Academy Honors Students; IFILM Shift

>>STREAMING MEDIA EAST 2000: Newman Addresses the Death of a Dotcom

(indieWIRE/6.13.00) -- David Neuman, former President of the
recently-deceased Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), made good on his
promise to serve as a keynote speaker on the first day of the Streaming
Media East conference in New York City yesterday (Monday), reflecting on the
reasons for the demise of his next-generation entertainment company.

In humorous and cautionary speech, the former NBC and Disney executive
dispeled numerous rumors about DEN, including reports of super-high
salaries, and offered a list of ten tips for those pursuing start-ups in the
streaming media space. "The creative opportunity in our industry is bigger
than ever," began Neuman, "The audience is out there -- I am resolutely
optimistic (about the future of this industry)."

Commenting on the mistakes at DEN, and in many ways aiming to redeem his own
reputation, David Neuman offered a picture of a triangle with the words
"good," "fast," and "cheap" on either sides of the shape, explaining that he
quickly learned that no more than two of those options were possible at one
time -- "If you want it fast and good," then it isn't going to be cheap and
"if you want it fast and cheap," then it isnt going to be good, etc. The
executive admitted that DEN was "suckered into the Internet timeline" which
encourages rapid site development. The race to secure venture capital and
the subsequent desire to make enough money to get those investors out, led
Neuman to offer the simple phrase to would-be entrepreneurs, "Its all about
the benjamins."

The high-profile death of DEN "shouldn't dim optimism for this industry,"
Neuman concluded, offering that the first true "hit" of the Internet has yet
to be developed. He added that while he was a "hired gun" at DEN, he is
seeking new opportunities and is "out of the hired gun business after being
in Dodge City for two years." [Eugene Hernandez]

>> "George Washington" Wins Big in Newport

(indieWIRE/6.13.00) -- David Gordon Green's "George Washington" was the big winner at the 3rd Newport International Film Festival which concluded on
Sunday. The film, which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival and had its
U.S. premiere at the LAIFF, won the award for Best Dramatic film while Green
won the Best Director award and the Best Actor award went the entire cast of
the indie film. "George Washington" will be released this Fall by Cowboy
Booking. The film has been a festival favorite in the States and will soon
screen at Festivals in Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Edinborough, Melbourne,
Helsinki, Stockholm, Taipei, and Vienna.

The award for Best Documentary went to Amir Bar-Lev's "Fighter," while the prize for Best Short Film went to Tom Shankland's "Bait" and Alexandra Kondracke's "Ice Fishing." Jean Stephane's "La Bonne Conduite" (subtitled Five Stories from Driving School) won the Clairborne Pell Award for Original Vision, while Leon Desclozeaux won the jury award for Best Director and Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffman's "Long Night's Journey into Day" won the jury award for Best Documentary. [Eugene Hernandez]

>> Academy Honors Best Student Films

(indieWIRE/6.13.00) -- Twelve film students were honored with Gold Medals at
Sunday night's Student Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Joan L.
Stein from Columbia won the top award in the Narrative category for "One Day
Crossing" while Kennedy Wheatley from USC won the Gold Medal in the
Documentary Category. Tod Polson from Cal Arts won the animation Gold
for "Al Tudi Tuhak" (Long, Long Ago) and Ari Gold from NYU won the top prize in the Alternative category for "Helicopter." The Gold Medal winners
received $2,000, while the silver medalists were awarded $1,500 and the
bronze winners won $1,000. [Eugene Hernandez]

A complete list of winners follows:

Alternative Category

Gold Medal: "Helicopter," Ari Gold, New York University.

Silver Medal: "Dear Sir: Letters to a Union Soldier," Michael Mullan and
Jessica Lakis, University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

Bronze Medal: (No award was presented in this category).

Animation Category

Gold Medal: "Al Tudi Tuhak" ("Long, Long Ago"), Tod Polson, California
Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California.

Silver Medal (Tie): "The Bad Plant," Amy Winfrey, University of California,
Los Angeles and "Luz," Jose Javier Martinez, University of California, Los
Angeles.

Documentary Category

Gold Medal: "Iron Ladies," Kennedy Wheatley, University of Southern
California.

Silver Medal: "Slender Existence," Laura C. Murray, Stanford University,
Palo Alto, California.

Bronze Medal: "Between Two Fires," Douglas Noel Smith, Regent University,
Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Narrative Category

Gold Medal: "One Day Crossing," Joan L. Stein, Columbia University, New
York.

Silver Medal: "Homeland," Doug Scott, New York University.

Bronze Medal: "6 Miles of 8 Feet," Ben Tomlin, New York University.

Honorary Foreign Film

"Quiro ser" Florian Gallenberger, Hochschule f