Customers at any price?

Has anyone out there received a direct mail offer for Maclean's that effectively means it is being sold to some subscribers for 57 cents a copy? If so, it is the lowest rate ever having been charged for the magazine. Its usual and published rate is 56 issues (52 + 4 free) for $55.08 or 98 cents an issue. In the past it has offered the magazine for as low as 78 cents an issue as an incentive for

His money is where his mouth is: a class act

Paul Jones is a class act, and his thank you note in the current issue of Masthead is proof. He took out an ad to thank his friends and supporters in the industry for the honour of receiving the Outstanding Achievement award at the recent National Magazine Awards in Toronto. It is worth noting whom he thanked (including wife Rona Maynard, his son, and longtime Maclean Hunter and Rogers colleague

The Island Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

Not Currently Available

Our First Podcast is up!

Folks -

Without further delay - look above - and you'll find our first ever Podcast which features The Island Q&A we did with co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. In our interview they talk about breaking into TV with Sam Raimi, writing for JJ Abrams on Alias and Mission Impossible 3, working with Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks on The Island and next summer's tentative film The Transformers.

Not sure what a podcast is?

Think - Ham Radio mixed with drunken CB radio, but as a downloadable file on your computer.

Don't have an Ipod? No worries.

You can still listen to these shows for free on your regular computer desktop, through your computer speakers. Of course, if you do have an Ipod, you can transfer the file to your Ipod and then take it with ya wherever you go.

While there's a ton of ways to listen to a podcast - here's the easiest Eight Step process:

1. Download the LATEST version of the program, Itunes (version 4.9) for FREE (on Mac or PC) at:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

---you must use version 4.9 since the Podcasting features described below can only be found in that version.

2. Follow the easy directions to install Itunes 4.9

3. Open Itunes 4.9

4. Click on the purple button toward the top of your left menu which reads: Podcasts

5. In the bottom of the new page that opens - click on the circle with the arrow for: Podcast Directory

6. The Itunes window will take you to the Podcast section of the Apple Music store and in the blank search window toward the bottom left - type in Creative Screenwriting Magazine - and you'll be taken to a new page.

7. This is the homepage section for our podcast and here you should click the grey Subscribe button toward the upper center of the window to subscribe for free to this Podcast.

By subscribing you will automatically begin downloading our most recent Podcast and then have the option to download others as they appear, so don't forget to check back from time to time by re-opening that first podcast window you did in step 4- since once you subscribe - our new casts will appear ready for download in that window.

This is about a 20 megabyte file and could take up to three or so minutes to download on a DSL or Cable Modem connection.

8. Press play to begin listening to it on your computer!

Or if you have an Ipod that can accept a podcast - transfer the file over to your Ipod and listen to it on the go. You can do this manually (by dragging the file into your library then onto your Ipod) or by synching your Ipod.

Our first Podcast is of the Q&A that followed our screening of The Island and is with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. During our conversation they discuss; working with Spielberg, JJ Abrams (on Alias and MI-3), Michael Bay, and of course their process for re-writing The Island. The sound begins slightly muffled and then fixes itself - so enjoy!

COMING SOON - possibly later this week - so don't forget to check - we will upload podcasts of co-writer Mark Frost discussing Fantastic Four and a podcast of our Four Brothers Q&A with co-writers David Elliot and Paul Lovett - with many more to come!

Drop us a line and let us know what you think?

Write to us at: rsvp@creativescreenwriting.com

Thanks for listening!

Jeff Goldsmith
Senior Editor
Creative Screenwriting Magazine

Some of us are outa here...maybe

The Western Standard, a handsome, idiosyncratic and feisty publication tried to make news this week by publishing its own poll that says that 36% of westerners consider separatism an option. Of course that means that 64% think it's not. But it still makes for entertaining and stimulating reading, particularly the magazine's weblog called, somewhat ominously, The Shotgun. The Standard's publisher

First project: proofreading

The just-released guidelines for the Ontario Media Development Corporation's Magazine Fund (previously Volume Two, son of Volume One) contain an error. The deadline at the top of the information form says September 30. The deadline for applications at the end of the information form says September 9. The application form itself says September 30.

Pressure for placement

High end advertisers are starting to push for product placement on magazine spreads and covers south of the border. According to an article in AdAge, Lexus is openly asking for exposure for its pricey automobiles. It's not clear yet whether this is a straight payment option or whether the advertiser is making it a condition of signing a contract; perhaps a little of each.Deborah Wahl Meyer, Lexus