Lars and the Real Girl Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Nancy Oliver about Lars and the Real Girl

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Not Currently Available

New Statesman demands inquiry into dropped case against guy who leaked...to them

In a fine display of chutzpah, The New Statesman, the British current affairs weekly is demanding a government inquiry into the dropping of charges against a foreign office civil servant accused of leaking documents to the magazine.According to a story in the U.K. Press Gazette, the case against Derek Pasquill collapsed after the Foreign Office accepted that his leak had not caused damage.The New

Culling the herd; the stragglers will get picked off in '08 says Ad Age

One of the trends that Advertising Age writer Jonah Bloom forecasts for 2008 is that there will be a culling of the traditional media heard.Even the quadrennial kick of Olympics and election won't be enough to hide the fact that advertisers are spending more time and money speaking directly to consumers or trying to insert themselves into word-of-mouth networks. Along with marketers'

A visual valentine: B.C. design workshop helps to recharge your book's look

The stunningly hip and handsome Vancouver Public Library is the site for an intensive workshop into how to recharge your magazine visually.The Magazines Canada workshop is be on February 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and explores the dynamic use of strong contrast and great typography as the primary tools for a revitalization of a book's look.The leader is design consultant Dave Donald, currently the

ON Nature gives up in its battle to hold onto postal subsidy

[UPDATE: Click on comments below.]ON Nature, the magazine of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists has apparently given up a protracted struggle to retain the federal PAP postal subsidy. According to a story in mastheadonline (sub req'd), editor Victoria Foote has decided that she will not make the latest round of changes required by the Department of Canadian Heritage (DCH) to meet the rules of

Ten trend-setting domestic designers featured by Fashion

Fashion magazine features 10 top Canadian fashion designers as part of its February 2008 trends issue. For instance, Rad Hourani's spring line (right) is in black and white: "It's always beautiful, it's always nice, it's always chic and it's always sophisticated."Other designers and design teams featured are Paul Sinclaire, Arthur Menonca, Lida Baday, Renata Morales, Joeffer Caoc, Paul Hardy,

Scrunch down a little, will you?

The appetite for coverlines among women's service magazines continues apace. Look at the renewed Ladies' Home Journal, one of North America's oldest titles (125 years), which Meredith Corporation has thoroughly renovated effective with its February issue, according to a story in the Des Moines Register. Diane Keaton can barely peep through the forest of heads and decks.

Offshore copyediting; will it come to a magazine near you?

Signs of the times dept: The Miami Herald, owned by McClatchy & Co., is outsourcing copy editing of a weekly community news section to Mindworks Global Media, based in New Delhi, India. Mindworks will also monitor reader comments posted to online stories.Earlier in December, The Sacramento Bee also owned by McClatchy said it would outsource some of its advertising production work to India. And in

Adweek shakes itself up

Neilsen Business Media has announced a top-to-bottom redesign of Adweek with a re-launch scheduled for Feb. 4, according to a story in MediaDaily News. Adweek -- which publishes 36 issues a year and 10 special editions -- is one of the U.S. counterparts to Rogers's Marketing magazine and Brunico's Strategy in Canada (Marketing recently went through a remake of its own.) The Adweek makeover will

Znaimer to launch Zoomer, with Suzanne Boyd as editor

Moses Znaimer, who completed his takeover of the company that publishes CARP, the magazine for the 50-plus and its accompanying website at the end of the year, announced to his staff last week that his company, Fifty-Plus.Net International Inc. will be launching a new fashion and lifestyle magazine for boomers with a new editor.The new magazine is probably to be called Zoomer and is aimed at

The art of the profile to be PWAC seminar topic

Profile writing is the topic as the Professional Writers Association of Canada's 2008 seminars begin. A panel will be moderated by veteran freelance writer David Hayes and will include David Macfarlane, Alec Scott and Sharon Crawford. You can find out more about this and forthcoming seminars here.The even is held Tuesday, January 22, at Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Boulevard, Room

Rogers increases dividend, buys back shares

[UPDATE: Rogers Communications Inc. stock dropped 6% Monday, despite the company doubling its dividend, announcing it intends a 15% stock buyback and making a rosy forecast for 2008. Investors are apparently skittish about a decline in the uptake of wireless services, despite Rogers adding 183,000 net new wireless subscribers in the past 6 months.]Rogers Communications Inc., Canada's largest

Oops just doesn't cut it. Parade prints interview as though Bhutto wasn't dead

Every editor of a print publication lives in fear of being overtaken by events; this is what happened to the editors of Parade magazine which distributed the 32 million copies of its January 6 issue throughout the United States (71 million readers) to more than 400 Sunday newspapers.Only trouble was that the cover story was on an interview with Benazir Bhutto and she was assassinated in Pakistan

Circles within circles: study says media trends will blur commercial and creative

The future of magazines -- may lie in understanding the longer-term trends among younger readers (consumers, though I hate that word). International research carried out on behalf of cellphone maker Nokia suggests that over the next five years, entertainment will be created, edited and shared within peer groups, rather than being delivered by traditional media providers. It's been dubbed "

Adbusters lawsuit seeks permission to go to court against networks

On Monday, the British Columbia Supreme Court will hear presentations about the merits of a lawsuit that could ultimately determine whether Global Television and the CBC -- indeed all broadcasters -- should be required to accept counter-advertising from Adbusters magazine. If the lawsuit is allowed to proceed, Adbusters will finaly see its suit, filed in 2004, come to trial. This, according to a

The Walrus is/is not cutting back on entries to National Magazine Awards

[UPDATE: According to the editor of The Walrus, Ken Alexander, the magazine is actually going to make more entries to the Magawards than last year. In a note he said the following:Your blog posting about "The Walrus" and the NMAs was sent to me. Sticking to budgets is always important, of course, but because the staff here feels that were so many worthy pieces published in 2007, we agreed before

Quebecor World may have no choice but to be sold, say analysts

The giant multinational printing arm of Quebecor Inc., Quebecor World, may not have any choice but to put itself up for sale, according to unnamed analysts quoted in a wire story by Reuters. (You can read some of the lamentable background in earlier posts here and here.)The company said this week its lenders have effectively given it until mid-month to come up with $125 million of new financing

Founding editor of Green Living, Gardening Life, Owl and Chickadee dies suddenly

Mary Anne Brinckman, founding editor and editor-in-chief of Green Living magazine, died on December 31 of a heart attack while snorkelling in the Dominican Republic. Her friend of 60 years, Michael de Pencier,chairman of Key Publishers Co. Ltd. and director of Green Living Enterprises, wrote a touching and revealing tribute on the Green Living website which we thought was worth reprinting:I

Aaron Sorkin - Charlie Wilson's War Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Aaron Sorkin about Charlie Wilson's War

Copyright Unlikely Films, Inc. 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Not Currently Available

Harry goes online

Harry magazine, the custom publication produced for high-end clothier Harry Rosen Menswear is now extending its reach with an online version. The biannual men's fashion and culture title (spring and fall) is edited by James Chatto and art directed by Barb Wooley and Bob Hambly of Hambly and Wooley Inc. Executive publisher and CEO is Larry Rosen.The print edition, which will continue to be

Up Here Publishing launches one business magazine in place of two

Up Here Publishing Ltd. of Yellowknife is merging two of its trade magazines -- Far North Oil and Gas and Canadian Diamonds -- into one business magazine called Up Here Business, according to a story on CBC.ca. The first issue will be out in mid-January and will be available at newsstands across Canada and delivered to businesses in all three territories -- Yukon, Northwest Territories and

Rule changes at BPAWW

Catching up on some minor rules changes announced before Christmas by circulation auditor BPA Worldwide, according to MediaDaily News. The rule changes, mostly of interest to controlled or request circulation b-to-b titles, were announced mid-December.Publishers of email newsletters tied to print publications can offer readers the option of opting out of receiving an email alert every time a

Regret the Error names corrections of the year

Craig Silverman's website Regret the Error continuously publishes some jaw-dropping howlers, but annually highlights some of the best, or worst in the Crunk awards. Our particular favourite for 2007 was his runner-up, from the Woodstock Sentinel-Review in Woodstock, Ontario:In an article in Monday’s newspaper, there may have been a misperception about why a Woodstock man is going to Afghanistan

Former Condé Nast head Stephen Florio dies

Stephen Florio, who led U.S. publishing giant Condé Nast during years of spectacular growth, died late last week at the age of 58 after a heart attack, according to a story in MediaDaily News.Among his other triumphs was the launch of Lucky magazine, which went from nowhere in 2001 to virtually establish the whole category of shopping magazines (LouLou magazine from Rogers Publishing is a clone

Open letter asks justice minister to quash extradition of Cannabis Culture publisher

Belleville libertarian lawyer Karen Selick has written an open letter in the National Post to Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson urging him to intervene in the extradition hearing for Cannabis Culture magazine publisher Marc Emery. Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams (front) have been dubbed the "BC3" and the U.S. is asking for their extradition to serve up to 10 years in prison . The