It’s a wonderful thing when a community is able to raise money to save, refurbish and reopen its town’s original movie theater. It’s even more wonderful when the people involved with programming at these theaters are interested in presenting silent… Read More »The Park Theater in Glens Falls NY
My rule of thumb with projection speeds and silent comedy films used to be guided by whether there were audience laughs or not. Later, once I’d done a lot of research into the difference between taking speed and projection speed… Read More »The Speed Is Mutual
FaceBook reminded me this morning that I sent out a press release for Accidentally Preserved: Volume 1 six years ago. A quick hop onto Google shows that the sixth anniversary is the iron or candy one. Both seem appropriate. My… Read More »Iron Or Candy
One of the insights I’ve had into film programming has come from my many years’ experience accompanying silent films. Literally, it’s the experience of accompanying films during a show, and sensing the vibe in the theater. One thing I’ve learned… Read More »In Film Programming 1+1+1+1 Can Add Up To More Than 4
On this episode of the podcast, I discuss meeting an audience’s expectations while staying true to the film’s original culture, choosing a comedy short to show newbies, and playing for a show where someone else’s music credit is onscreen; also,… Read More »ep. 32: meeting audience expectations, tips on choosing a comedy short, and a trip to Nebraska
I’ve seen the famous Ernie Kovacs commercial for Dutch Masters a few dozen times, at least, and never noticed the string quartet. Not that they were in the commercial, the one known as “Haydn”, the one that won Kovacs and… Read More »Stringing Along With Ernie Kovacs for Dutch Masters
I can usually recognize the accompaniment styles of a number of my colleagues when I hear them on a home video or broadcast. A few months ago I caught a silent on TCM and didn’t recognize the pianist. Which was… Read More »My Scoring Evolves
As silent film fans, we’re past the point of going to a show, seeing empty seats and blaming the venue for not doing enough to get people in. There’s no budget for advertising for silent film shows, really, and ads… Read More »Why Wasn’t This Advertised More?
Ernie Kovacs show ensemble cast members turn up out of seemingly nowhere in the TV-ography of the shows. Ernie’s penchant for casting or hiring people through unusual channels and based on a personal reaction runs throughout his career. The trajectory… Read More »Singer Peter Hanley – Under-Documented Kovacs Ensemble Player
The Nation’s First Exposure to Ernie Kovacs Was in a Summer Replacement In 1951 After hosting a daily 7-9am wake-up show as well as a number of other programs — cooking, fashion, quiz — for local NBC affiliate WPTZ, Ernie… Read More »How Do You Replace Kukla, Fran and Ollie?