WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.940 Brothers Discovery to form next-generation global media and entertainment company. 00:05.460 --> 00:09.740 That headline comes to us by way of PR Newswire, because this is a literal press release from 00:09.740 --> 00:11.440 Paramount Skydance Corporation. 00:12.620 --> 00:16.360 And if you don't understand the significance of this headline, or why I might refer to 00:16.360 --> 00:22.980 it as world-shaking, well, I guess I could defend that epithet by pointing to such 00:22.980 --> 00:29.920 things as Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, and his 00:29.920 --> 00:37.040 obvious political proclivities and attachments that make it extremely worrying that he is now 00:37.040 --> 00:45.060 in a position of such media dominance, also being positioned in the newly-acquired, spun-off 00:45.060 --> 00:52.280 American TikTok, and, of course, the whole CBS takeover that has happened recently and 00:52.280 --> 00:53.160 all of that shake up. 00:53.280 --> 00:58.940 So we now have someone with some very interesting political connections in an incredibly influential 00:58.940 --> 01:00.040 seat of media power. 01:00.340 --> 01:07.340 We can also talk about David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, who has talked about the merging 01:07.340 --> 01:13.480 of technology with creative content in order to create the next generation of filmmaking 01:13.480 --> 01:20.280 experience and has, of course, floated the thought, the idea, the concept of AI-generated 01:20.280 --> 01:21.040 movies. 01:21.680 --> 01:26.920 So I could talk about that, but I think if I have to explain all of that, well, 01:26.920 --> 01:32.080 then probably we have to get to an even more fundamental layer of this, which is something 01:32.080 --> 01:37.720 that hopefully everyone in my audience is at least somewhat familiar with at this point. 01:37.840 --> 01:38.940 But let's put it out on the table. 01:39.640 --> 01:42.500 Media shapes our reality. 01:42.800 --> 01:47.920 And if you need more explanation about that concept, I would highly recommend the Media 01:47.920 --> 01:48.940 Matrix documentary. 01:49.420 --> 01:55.700 Obviously, I think that is my most in-depth exploration of this concept of how we, in 01:55.700 --> 02:01.060 this media saturated world that we're living in, are influenced and have our 02:01.060 --> 02:05.340 narratives, our worldviews shaped by propagandists that we don't even know, 02:05.480 --> 02:10.080 don't see, don't think about, couldn't even name, but who are incredibly important 02:10.080 --> 02:16.060 and sitting in seats of media power that ultimately reflect on the world that we're 02:16.060 --> 02:19.800 living in, not only reflect that world, but also work to shape it. 02:20.200 --> 02:22.900 So that is the launching point for today's exploration. 02:22.900 --> 02:27.420 And if you are interested in the Ellison's and their political connections that I'm 02:27.420 --> 02:31.420 alluding to and the media consolidation that they're involved in right now, well, 02:31.500 --> 02:35.840 it's your lucky day because I have much more to say on that coming in the very 02:35.840 --> 02:39.400 near future. So stay tuned to corporate report.com for more on that. 02:39.480 --> 02:43.520 But today we are not going to be dwelling and fixating on the problem 02:44.180 --> 02:48.900 of that media control that's consolidating in the hands of people like the Ellison's. 02:48.900 --> 02:53.300 Today, we're going to talk about at least one possible path forward, a solution, 02:53.660 --> 02:59.180 if you will, the decentralization of the media production process, which has become 02:59.180 --> 03:05.380 more and more feasible in this world of technological development that we have 03:05.380 --> 03:09.520 seen over the past few decades, the fact that I am sitting here in my room, 03:09.560 --> 03:15.440 here in Japan, talking to you wherever you are and engaged in whatever activity 03:15.440 --> 03:20.060 you are listening to me on your phone or watching me on a screen or whatever it is 03:20.600 --> 03:26.460 that itself speaks to the power of this technology to decentralize and make it 03:26.460 --> 03:30.360 so that the average person can put out messages that will be listened to 03:30.360 --> 03:33.860 tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of times. 03:33.980 --> 03:39.980 That is a remarkable thing if we embrace that that power and take it 03:39.980 --> 03:44.920 seriously, it is a power to be able to speak to people in that media 03:44.920 --> 03:49.080 environment like that. And there are people who are, I think, are good examples 03:49.720 --> 03:53.200 of taking that and doing something productive with that. 03:53.320 --> 03:56.940 We do not have to give our time and attention to the Paramount Skydances, 03:57.580 --> 04:04.380 Warner Brothers, Netflix's, Hulu's, CBS news or anything else. 04:04.600 --> 04:08.320 We don't have to give all of our time, attention and ultimately energy 04:08.760 --> 04:10.380 to those media conglomerates. 04:10.380 --> 04:15.300 We can support independent filmmakers, independent documentary producers, 04:16.480 --> 04:19.700 independent media production experts. 04:20.160 --> 04:22.100 Well, anyway, amateurs if need be. 04:22.920 --> 04:26.060 So let's take a look at some examples of ways that people are doing this. 04:26.180 --> 04:30.160 And we can get a couple of birds with one stone here by going to 04:30.160 --> 04:36.260 www.readingtheworldmovie.com where you will find the homepage for a new 04:36.260 --> 04:40.220 documentary that is forthcoming, but you can watch the extended trailer. 04:40.580 --> 04:44.960 It is called Reading the World, the Life and Times of Mark Crispinmiller. 04:45.100 --> 04:49.920 And if you go to that website, you can watch the 11 minute extended trailer 04:49.920 --> 04:52.820 for that documentary production to get an idea of what it's about. 04:52.960 --> 04:56.680 But spoiler, of course, it is about Mark Crispinmiller as in previous 04:56.680 --> 04:59.100 Corbett Report guest, Mark Crispinmiller. 04:59.200 --> 05:02.720 So please look in the archives for my previous conversations with Mark where 05:02.720 --> 05:08.240 we talked about, of course, his cancellation from NYU over his verboten 05:08.240 --> 05:14.760 Covid anti-propaganda that he has been talking about on his sub-stack. 05:15.400 --> 05:19.400 And hopefully people are familiar with news from underground and the list 05:19.400 --> 05:22.440 of died sudden leads that he's been keeping track of for years now. 05:23.000 --> 05:24.480 Hopefully you are familiar with that. 05:24.620 --> 05:26.060 Please go to the show notes if you are not. 05:26.360 --> 05:30.660 But here is a documentary film that is being produced and directed by Amy 05:30.660 --> 05:35.900 Smiley about Mark Crispinmiller's work and it is being done on a shoestring budget 05:35.900 --> 05:40.320 as a outside of the studio system. 05:40.320 --> 05:43.220 But it looks and sounds incredible already. 05:43.620 --> 05:47.860 I'll just play a little bit of that trailer so that you get a sense of what 05:47.860 --> 05:48.880 this documentary is about. 05:54.330 --> 05:57.990 Democracy depends on a certain rational 05:57.990 --> 06:00.950 skepticism throughout the public. 06:01.810 --> 06:05.270 That that is that is not a sign of pathology. 06:05.790 --> 06:07.530 That is a civic necessity. 06:08.250 --> 06:10.310 It is a journalistic requirement. 06:11.310 --> 06:15.010 It is also a basic scientific principle. 06:15.510 --> 06:17.190 You don't just accept what you're told. 06:17.810 --> 06:19.090 You look into it yourself. 06:19.730 --> 06:24.210 And if you notice problems with the story you're being given, 06:24.770 --> 06:27.310 you speak out about it loud and clear. 06:28.750 --> 06:33.130 We're joined in our studio here in New York by New York University Professor Mark 06:33.130 --> 06:38.530 Crispinmiller is the sharpest critic of television we have. 06:38.710 --> 06:39.930 He's a modern propaganda 06:39.930 --> 06:42.170 frequent contributor to Harper's magazine. 06:44.190 --> 06:49.470 He is known for his writing on American media and for his activism on behalf 06:49.470 --> 06:51.570 of Democratic media reform. 06:51.750 --> 06:54.290 Henry James says the ideal critic 06:55.990 --> 06:58.490 should be someone on whom nothing is lost. 06:59.130 --> 07:00.870 And I think of Mark that way. 07:00.930 --> 07:04.190 You closed just then by saying you're a journalist a moment ago. 07:04.290 --> 07:05.350 You said you were a commentator. 07:05.650 --> 07:06.890 I just said you can be both. 07:08.690 --> 07:12.990 Whether it was reading an ad or talking about a TV program, 07:13.330 --> 07:16.730 the approach was just original and exciting. 07:21.610 --> 07:25.550 Once again, that is just a small clip from the extended trailer, 07:25.750 --> 07:28.890 the 11 minute extended trailer of the Reading the World documentary. 07:29.270 --> 07:31.350 You can go watch that entire trailer. 07:31.510 --> 07:35.710 And I suggest you do so at www.readingtheworldmovie.com. 07:36.270 --> 07:39.670 And when you do so, you will have an even better sense of some of the people 07:39.670 --> 07:43.330 that have are participating in this documentary project and some of the 07:43.330 --> 07:46.610 well, the incredible work that has gone into editing and putting together 07:46.610 --> 07:50.350 and collecting the archival clips, etc., to put together this documentary 07:50.350 --> 07:54.730 production. And it's the type of thing that we might take for granted because 07:54.730 --> 07:58.330 we are in this media saturated environment where we're constantly being 07:58.330 --> 08:03.030 bombarded with these million dollar or multi-million dollar Hollywood style 08:03.030 --> 08:07.290 projects, and it's generally being streamed to us for free or for little 08:07.290 --> 08:09.390 cost directly onto our devices. 08:09.390 --> 08:12.250 And we don't think about the amount of work that goes into something like 08:12.250 --> 08:18.070 this, but in order to create a slick and polished media product like that, 08:18.090 --> 08:23.350 it takes effort, it takes time, it takes people and resources, and we need to 08:23.350 --> 08:26.950 support independent filmmakers who are putting projects like these together 08:26.950 --> 08:30.190 so that we can counteract the propaganda that comes from the 08:30.190 --> 08:33.750 Ellison's and others of this world who do not want us to know this information. 08:34.030 --> 08:37.890 So it's in that regard that I had the great honor of talking to 08:37.890 --> 08:41.530 both the director and producer Amy Smiley and her husband, 08:41.530 --> 08:45.330 Mark Crispin-Miller, about the reading the world movie documentary, 08:45.870 --> 08:49.350 how it's coming together, the work that has gone into producing it, 08:49.410 --> 08:51.170 and where it is going from here. 08:52.730 --> 08:56.990 Well, the most important part of my work, I think, has been 08:57.790 --> 09:01.990 my own rereading and sometimes reading for the first time. 09:03.310 --> 09:09.110 All the work that Mark has done, Mark has written many essays on film. 09:09.110 --> 09:15.870 That is very exciting to me, like people don't necessarily know him for that, 09:16.170 --> 09:21.550 but he has a real eye for film, and that's very exciting to me. 09:22.650 --> 09:29.730 And he's written countless essays that were put together in the bookboxed in. 09:30.330 --> 09:38.390 He's written very long studies, very long essays about TV, about elections, 09:38.390 --> 09:41.950 et cetera, et cetera, even about rock and roll. 09:43.070 --> 09:49.110 So it's been thrilling for me to read these essays and I 09:49.830 --> 09:56.370 appreciate the development of his voice over time and his extraordinary 09:56.370 --> 09:58.490 grasp of the material. 09:58.830 --> 10:02.250 I used to say to myself, it's not 10:02.970 --> 10:07.910 humanly possible to read as many books as Mark reads. 10:08.290 --> 10:12.150 I used to think he ate them like you only see a little bit. 10:12.250 --> 10:14.550 We have like a 10,000 book collection. 10:14.970 --> 10:18.850 I think he ate books like I don't know how he did it otherwise. 10:19.090 --> 10:21.590 But he has a library in his mind. 10:22.090 --> 10:26.990 And that that's what attracted him to me in the first place. 10:26.990 --> 10:34.170 So it's the mind and his way of thinking, the originality of the thought 10:35.410 --> 10:39.170 that that really is very compelling. 10:39.610 --> 10:42.830 And then on the next level, it's 10:43.610 --> 10:48.310 having conversations with people who have collaborated with Mark, who have either, 10:48.490 --> 10:53.210 you know, published his work or participated. 10:53.830 --> 10:55.070 You know, he had, 10:56.490 --> 11:02.050 he created something called the forbidden bookshelf books that were never really 11:02.050 --> 11:06.330 allowed to see the light of day because they were too controversial. 11:06.610 --> 11:11.430 So looking at all of those books, trying to contact the authors and see if they'll 11:11.430 --> 11:17.630 be interviewed, you know, just in the different iterations of Mark's work, 11:18.630 --> 11:24.290 you know, sitting down with people and asking them what influence Mark had on 11:24.290 --> 11:26.650 their lives and vice versa. 11:27.840 --> 11:30.950 And then, of course, putting together the trailer. 11:31.910 --> 11:37.710 You know, 11 minutes, it may not seem like very much, but you have to practically 11:37.710 --> 11:43.490 work night and day to edit something together because the material is vast 11:43.490 --> 11:49.150 and you want it to be stimulating, visually interesting. 11:49.770 --> 11:52.990 You want people to get drawn in. 11:53.390 --> 11:58.650 You don't want it to be too didactic, but you don't want to simplify. 12:01.010 --> 12:07.430 It's really daunting work, but I was so lucky to be work like the 12:08.170 --> 12:12.570 Jonathan Arthur Ashley, who does the animation, who did the animation, 12:12.570 --> 12:15.010 who also designed the website. 12:15.950 --> 12:19.670 John Kirby and Libby Handros of the Press and the Public Project, 12:20.330 --> 12:23.910 they put together, you know, they came in on the final cut. 12:24.090 --> 12:25.590 It looks absolutely amazing. 12:26.250 --> 12:32.510 I had a great editor, Michelle Yoon, my stepson, Louis, Mark's son worked on it. 12:32.630 --> 12:36.630 My other son, Billy, he is helping me produce this. 12:37.210 --> 12:40.890 So it's it's really and it's an act of love. 12:40.890 --> 12:42.630 You know, it truly is. 12:42.750 --> 12:47.950 And then I can't even begin to tell you all the conversations Mark and I have had 12:47.950 --> 12:54.010 together about this, like night after night, going back over things that he thought 12:54.010 --> 12:56.810 about, how does he think about them now? 12:57.030 --> 12:59.990 What has changed this kind of thing? 13:01.310 --> 13:05.290 Well, I can definitely appreciate how difficult it is to take that much 13:05.290 --> 13:08.530 information and try to condense it into an 11 minute package that will 13:08.530 --> 13:10.330 entice people to want to see more. 13:11.010 --> 13:12.630 It's incredibly difficult to do. 13:12.870 --> 13:15.710 So my hats off to you for putting together such a compelling trailer. 13:16.310 --> 13:17.610 But of course, that's the trailer. 13:17.790 --> 13:18.430 That's just the beginning. 13:18.710 --> 13:21.490 Tell us where you're going with the production from here. 13:21.650 --> 13:23.190 What is the what is the game plan? 13:24.590 --> 13:27.730 Well, I have about 15 more interviews 13:27.730 --> 13:34.390 ahead of me, and the goal is to finish them by the summer or the end 13:34.390 --> 13:35.010 of the summer. 13:35.610 --> 13:40.790 Then there is some pre-editing work to do to get the subject reels together 13:40.790 --> 13:43.070 and get the archival reels together. 13:43.890 --> 13:48.790 I'm hoping that work will be done by the end of the year or the very beginning 13:48.790 --> 13:54.090 of 2027, then I need to hire an editor, which is everything. 13:55.070 --> 14:00.690 And hopefully during that year of 2027, really put the long, 14:00.690 --> 14:05.370 you know, the long feature together so it'll come out in 2028. 14:05.710 --> 14:12.470 We also have an archivist working for us who is going through my voluminous papers. 14:13.990 --> 14:18.750 One document that I hope she finds because I'm so proud of this. 14:19.390 --> 14:26.810 I wrote an essay in the 90s on the Kubrick's 2001 for a sight and sound. 14:27.890 --> 14:30.270 And I got a cold descent. 14:30.690 --> 14:37.890 Yes, 2001, a cold descent that was not my title, but that's the title they put on it. 14:39.490 --> 14:46.070 And I got a letter from the editor of sight and sound informing me that Stanley 14:46.070 --> 14:51.450 Kubrick's office had written to them requesting four copies of that issue. 14:52.070 --> 14:54.970 I mean, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. 14:54.970 --> 14:58.550 You know, I think very highly of him. 15:00.050 --> 15:01.750 You know, there are things like that. 15:03.490 --> 15:06.110 Have you seen Bullworth with Warren Beatty? 15:06.250 --> 15:07.130 Did you ever see that movie? 15:07.410 --> 15:08.870 I know of it. I have not seen it. 15:09.190 --> 15:12.190 Well, you know, it's it's a political comedy of sorts. 15:12.990 --> 15:15.150 Warren Beatty plays a Democratic 15:17.090 --> 15:22.030 senator who becomes sort of disillusioned with the whole system. 15:23.030 --> 15:33.110 And he becomes a kind of homeboy, you know, a rapper, you know, dresses like a rapper. 15:34.330 --> 15:36.750 For reasons too complicated to go into. 15:37.270 --> 15:45.030 Anyway, there's a scene where he's being interviewed live by a newswoman on a stage 15:45.910 --> 15:50.810 and he launches into this riff on media consolidation. 15:50.810 --> 15:59.170 And I happen to meet the screenwriter, Jeremy Pixar, and I asked him, you know, 15:59.750 --> 16:03.690 the stuff that he says in that scene sounds so familiar to me. 16:04.530 --> 16:08.650 Is it possible that you guys read my issues of the nation? 16:08.970 --> 16:12.110 And he said, oh, yes, oh, yes. 16:13.810 --> 16:16.750 Now, it remains to be seen whether Jeremy 16:16.750 --> 16:19.990 Pixar is one of those who will be interviewed. 16:20.630 --> 16:23.090 One never knows, especially with Hollywood people. 16:24.950 --> 16:29.270 But, you know, we're we're we're trying to, you know, 16:29.690 --> 16:35.970 recreate moments like that and make them as fun to watch as they were for me to live. 16:36.610 --> 16:40.310 And there's also a dimension of Mark's work that we haven't mentioned, 16:40.310 --> 16:44.330 which is his teaching, which is very sacred to Mark. 16:45.010 --> 16:48.610 And so we're, you know, interviewing some of the students. 16:49.330 --> 16:53.710 And I think we also have a tape of a class, you know, that there's 16:53.710 --> 17:01.230 some very lively things going on in within those kinds of exchanges that we also want 17:01.230 --> 17:06.670 to bring to light, too lively for NYU, as you may recall, James, 17:06.870 --> 17:08.390 you had me on to talk about that. 17:08.830 --> 17:11.130 We're going to go over all that in the film. 17:11.390 --> 17:11.490 Excellent. 17:12.390 --> 17:13.510 Very much looking forward to it. 17:13.510 --> 17:17.230 And I didn't expect you to put Bullworth on my list of two watch movies, 17:17.390 --> 17:18.590 but I guess it is there now. 17:18.970 --> 17:22.790 And perhaps this is the time for me to admit that I think Dick Tracy is one 17:22.790 --> 17:24.910 of the best films of the 1990s. 17:25.090 --> 17:26.770 But let's not go there. 17:27.130 --> 17:27.750 Let's not go there. 17:27.970 --> 17:30.530 Anyway, Warren, another Warren Beatty movie to add to my list. 17:31.950 --> 17:35.930 Let's let's talk to people about how they can support this work, 17:35.930 --> 17:39.130 because it is a work in progress and obviously is going to take a lot more 17:39.130 --> 17:40.130 work from here forward. 17:40.130 --> 17:44.630 Obviously, they can go to readingtheworldmovie.com to see the extended trailer. 17:44.810 --> 17:47.790 But how can they actually help support and make this film come to fruition? 17:47.930 --> 17:55.790 So I would like to just add that they must type in www.readingtheworldmovie.com 17:55.790 --> 18:00.610 in order to get to Aging Court Productions website where they can click 18:00.610 --> 18:02.510 on the trail or watch the whole thing. 18:02.810 --> 18:07.870 And then if they would like to support the project, which would be so moving 18:07.870 --> 18:13.110 for us, there is a donate button, which will take them to Give, Send, Go. 18:13.950 --> 18:19.690 And they can make any it can be a dollar, five dollars, two hundred dollars, 18:19.990 --> 18:22.130 whatever they feel they can afford. 18:22.670 --> 18:24.610 We're doing this through crowdsourcing. 18:25.590 --> 18:30.230 And it's, you know, we're really trying to spread the word. 18:30.670 --> 18:36.230 And that's the best way that people can help us with this project is by 18:36.230 --> 18:42.130 donating and by, you know, sending the link to the trailer, to their family, 18:42.330 --> 18:46.290 to their friends, and we feel like we're getting a lot of traction. 18:46.290 --> 18:47.710 And it's very exciting. 18:49.930 --> 18:54.590 Once again, that is Amy Smiley, the director and producer of Reading the World 18:54.590 --> 18:58.890 and, of course, the documentary subject himself, Mark Crispin Miller. 18:59.290 --> 19:03.090 And I hope that those who are interested will explore more of that 19:03.090 --> 19:07.690 information at www.readingtheworldmovie.com, where you can find out more, 19:08.050 --> 19:09.150 watch the full extended trailer. 19:09.850 --> 19:13.490 But if you and when you do, I trust that you will see the relevance and 19:13.490 --> 19:18.050 importance of the subject of this documentary, as well as the story of how 19:18.050 --> 19:21.570 this documentary is coming together, being fund self funded and funded 19:21.570 --> 19:27.390 crowdsource funded, not out not in the studio system, but outside of that system. 19:27.410 --> 19:30.990 And I think that points the way forward to the way that we need to go 19:30.990 --> 19:35.970 to this this intermediate and decentralized media production itself. 19:36.370 --> 19:38.410 And if we do not support the independent filmmakers, 19:38.750 --> 19:42.010 well, then what can we expect other than the A.I. 19:42.090 --> 19:46.130 Slop that the Ellicens and their ilk are going to try to force feed down our 19:46.130 --> 19:51.170 throats? So on that happy note, I think another relevant and important aspect 19:51.170 --> 19:56.970 of this support of independent filmmakers is that these creative and 19:57.570 --> 20:02.470 engaged media types are able to condense and put information in ways that 20:02.470 --> 20:05.850 boring old Fuddy Duddy James Corbett can't do himself. 20:06.090 --> 20:10.070 And that struck me again on a recent piece of feedback that came in through 20:10.070 --> 20:13.330 the contact form on Corbett report dot com, where someone was telling me about 20:13.330 --> 20:17.270 how he has been talking to his wife or was it his girlfriend for a number 20:17.270 --> 20:20.010 of years now about these conspiracy reality subjects. 20:20.010 --> 20:23.990 And she puts up with him, but doesn't isn't particularly interested or 20:23.990 --> 20:27.930 quizzical, but he shared with her some sort of 20:28.490 --> 20:32.890 crudely done animation of some sort that was several minutes long that was 20:32.890 --> 20:33.990 condensing some information. 20:34.130 --> 20:36.870 I can't remember if it was on COVID or what it was. 20:37.090 --> 20:39.110 But he sent me the link and he said, 20:39.110 --> 20:43.330 this was what got my girlfriend, my wife, interested in this material. 20:43.410 --> 20:45.270 And she started asking me questions, is that true? 20:45.490 --> 20:46.330 Oh, did that really happen? 20:46.470 --> 20:49.430 And it's something that he has explained to her many, many times and 20:49.430 --> 20:52.250 has attempted to show Corbett report material to her. 20:52.250 --> 20:53.770 But she was not interested in that. 20:53.930 --> 20:55.450 She was interested in this animation. 20:55.650 --> 20:59.350 So it just goes to show the point once again that everybody has a different 20:59.350 --> 21:02.650 style in which they like to understand and receive information. 21:02.990 --> 21:07.050 And the more that we support different filmmakers and other people out there 21:07.050 --> 21:09.990 that are putting this information out in different ways, the further 21:09.990 --> 21:14.090 the information itself will spread and the more likely it will be for 21:14.090 --> 21:17.130 that information to land on the fertile soil of people who are interested 21:17.130 --> 21:20.370 in this information, they just need it presented in their own way. 21:20.370 --> 21:25.910 So who else can we look at on the independent film making landscape as 21:25.910 --> 21:29.170 an example of someone who is out there doing the hard work of attempting 21:29.170 --> 21:32.090 to put this in a different form and format? 21:32.550 --> 21:36.830 Well, hopefully the more astute and longer memory 21:37.890 --> 21:40.310 people in the audience will remember my previous 21:40.310 --> 21:43.830 conversations with Tice Snyder, a Canadian independent filmmaker. 21:44.110 --> 21:45.430 I've talked to him a couple of times. 21:45.790 --> 21:48.390 You'll remember way back in 2012. 21:48.390 --> 21:54.850 I had him on Corbett Report Radio to talk about his short film at that time. 21:54.930 --> 21:59.750 He was talking about Blindfold and I hope you have seen that short film. 22:00.090 --> 22:05.790 We discussed that at that time and we discussed it again in his not so long 22:05.790 --> 22:09.550 ago appearance on Solutions Watch back in 2024, when we specifically talked 22:09.550 --> 22:13.710 about replacing Hollywood, we talked about Blindfold and what happened with that 22:13.710 --> 22:20.030 film. We also talked about Hold Me, the independent media film that Tice Snyder 22:20.530 --> 22:23.630 put together himself and which we talked about in that. 22:23.770 --> 22:26.290 So if you want the details of that, you can go there. 22:26.630 --> 22:30.170 But today I had the pleasure of talking to Tice Snyder about a different one 22:30.170 --> 22:32.710 of his projects. It's called Conspiracy Synergy. 22:33.130 --> 22:35.450 It's at conspiracysynergy.com. 22:35.650 --> 22:39.170 And if you go there, you can see the various, the eight episodes of the 22:39.170 --> 22:43.190 conspiracy synergy that have been put together, as well as several 22:43.190 --> 22:48.870 mini-docs, profile pieces, as it were, of various people in the independent media 22:48.870 --> 22:52.550 landscape, who you know and love as the independent media personalities. 22:53.390 --> 22:57.710 But Tice has gone and actually filmed these people in their homes, 22:57.810 --> 23:01.690 gotten to know these people, show what their day to day personal lives are like. 23:01.890 --> 23:06.450 He's highlighted Derek Brows, Hervoya Morich, Mark Passio, 23:07.630 --> 23:09.750 Ryan Christian and others. 23:09.750 --> 23:14.050 So I would wholeheartedly suggest people take a look at that series if they're at 23:14.050 --> 23:17.630 all interested in that, of course, once again, Tice Snyder is self-funding this, 23:17.790 --> 23:24.270 doing it himself, editing himself, doing everything and needs your support. 23:24.410 --> 23:27.450 So if you do appreciate this, I hope you will go and check check out 23:27.450 --> 23:30.270 conspiracysynergy.com and hopefully contribute to the cause. 23:30.490 --> 23:34.090 But I did have the chance to talk to Tice about this series, 23:34.590 --> 23:37.710 what it is, how it came together and why he's doing it. 23:39.030 --> 23:44.850 So conspiracy synergy is a show that I came up with to try and emotionally calibrate 23:44.850 --> 23:50.530 very painful and depressing information for people who haven't come across the 23:50.530 --> 23:54.290 fact that much of the world is in fact a conspiracy and that is a reality, 23:54.370 --> 23:59.790 not a theory. So conspiracy synergy is how can I use my media skills to 23:59.790 --> 24:03.770 create something that addresses the emotional side of information? 24:04.030 --> 24:06.410 Because we think of information as if it's, oh, well, 24:06.410 --> 24:07.510 I'll just think about that. 24:07.730 --> 24:11.810 Oh, no, no, no, no, how you feel determines whether or not you're able to think. 24:12.170 --> 24:16.650 And so conspiracy synergy, the original curriculum, first eight episodes, 24:16.830 --> 24:20.370 was built around doing just that, allowing people to calibrate their feeling 24:20.370 --> 24:22.310 so they could enter the point of thinking. 24:24.030 --> 24:27.290 And you talk about the first eight episodes, I guess, to differentiate it 24:27.290 --> 24:28.370 from the Minidocs you're doing. 24:28.490 --> 24:32.210 Tell us about the Minidoc idea, how that came about and who you've talked to. 24:33.870 --> 24:37.190 So the miniature documentaries were actually originally a byproduct 24:37.190 --> 24:42.990 of a feature film script that I had done as a project that I had wanted 24:42.990 --> 24:47.270 to move into as an extension of a short film that originally saw me on Corbett 24:47.270 --> 24:49.850 report something like 13 or 14 years ago, and that's called Blind Bolt. 24:50.190 --> 24:54.330 And there was a portion of that script where it was dialogue from a variety 24:54.330 --> 24:57.870 of different content creators that were being interviewed within that film. 24:58.170 --> 25:00.830 And so I thought that, well, that's something that I can just actually go 25:00.830 --> 25:03.850 out in the real world and do, I can go and meet these people and I can make 25:03.850 --> 25:08.550 documentaries telling their story while on the back end, I'm basically 25:08.550 --> 25:10.950 fundraising or building up to the point of making a movie. 25:11.170 --> 25:13.770 Now, at this point, I'm not particularly interested in making that movie anymore. 25:13.890 --> 25:18.710 I'm really more interested in trying to stabilize the geopolitical state 25:18.710 --> 25:22.010 and get people up to the place where they understand what we're facing. 25:22.010 --> 25:26.610 So I'm all in in that regard, but the people that I've spoken to on that 25:26.610 --> 25:28.330 note are Mark Pasio. 25:28.450 --> 25:32.050 Most recently, prior to that was Charlie Robinson from macroaggressions. 25:32.310 --> 25:37.950 I've also talked to Darren and Graham from Grimerica of Herbohemoric 25:37.950 --> 25:43.230 from Geopolitics and Empire from Ryan Christian, Steve Bacoin and Seven Seas, 25:43.370 --> 25:47.410 Sam Tripoli, Kurt Metzger in the Vagabond Union episode. 25:48.390 --> 25:51.810 And there might be one I'm leaving out, but that gives you a sense 25:51.810 --> 25:52.910 of some of the cast characters. 25:53.830 --> 25:56.430 Yeah, I think there's a third gross. 25:56.730 --> 25:57.670 Yeah, there you go. 25:57.770 --> 25:58.770 There it is. OK. 25:59.470 --> 26:04.730 Yeah, so OK, you seem it seems to me like these are one man run and gun productions. 26:05.250 --> 26:06.690 But what about editing? 26:07.010 --> 26:08.250 What about post production? 26:08.470 --> 26:10.750 Do you have any help with that or is it all you know? 26:10.890 --> 26:15.010 I'm very poor, underfunded and underrepresented because in the decentralized 26:15.540 --> 26:20.150 model of media creation, by and large, we're struggling to really 26:21.030 --> 26:25.970 get the headway that we need in a concerted way to be able to have our work 26:25.970 --> 26:27.130 reach the people who need it most. 26:27.550 --> 26:30.390 So I'm a one man show who does everything on my own. 26:30.650 --> 26:34.670 I only survive off of the volunteerist value for value model. 26:35.310 --> 26:37.450 And through the hosting of A.M. 26:37.510 --> 26:39.650 Wake Up, I've been able to scrape by on that. 26:39.750 --> 26:43.430 But insofar as actually being able to like afford or fund anyone other than 26:43.430 --> 26:44.950 myself, no, that's not in the cards. 26:46.530 --> 26:49.910 Well, hopefully it's in the cards, but maybe just not here yet. 26:50.150 --> 26:52.730 But you know what, that's that's simultaneously depressing, 26:52.770 --> 26:56.870 but also somewhat hopeful, because honestly, it gives I think it would 26:56.870 --> 27:00.790 should give sucker to those out there who are in a similar position to not 27:00.790 --> 27:05.170 have the funds to not be funded by million millionaire Hollywood producers 27:05.170 --> 27:08.850 and not to have some great staff behind them, but still able to produce 27:08.850 --> 27:11.470 things that still have emotional resonance with people. 27:12.430 --> 27:14.530 Obviously, I would imagine that you are 27:15.270 --> 27:21.070 aware of in tune with in and working with and knowing other filmmakers, 27:21.250 --> 27:22.470 aspiring would be filmmakers. 27:22.690 --> 27:27.930 Talk about that world and how how that world is surviving in our current 27:27.930 --> 27:28.910 economic situation. 27:29.330 --> 27:31.270 So I actually wouldn't be the best person to be 27:31.270 --> 27:33.930 able to comment on that world in an in-depth way. 27:34.110 --> 27:37.110 And that's because where I live, like I've 27:37.110 --> 27:41.290 sat on the Edmonton Arts Council board before in order to determine 27:41.290 --> 27:44.450 and who gets grants for a particular issuance. 27:44.770 --> 27:46.410 And that's because for my first feature film, 27:46.410 --> 27:47.990 I had been the recipient of one of such grants. 27:48.250 --> 27:51.250 And what I came to realize very quickly in that environment is that it's 27:51.250 --> 27:54.950 who's friends with whom sort of thing and that much less 27:55.630 --> 28:01.830 built around the actual meritocracy and much more who does favors in a. 28:02.190 --> 28:03.150 Do you believe what I believe? 28:03.310 --> 28:04.090 Do you support what I support? 28:04.350 --> 28:04.770 That sort of thing. 28:05.390 --> 28:10.650 So imagine how much worse that environment got come lockdowns or vaccines 28:10.650 --> 28:11.550 or anything like that. 28:11.690 --> 28:14.510 So I have not necessarily been excommunicated. 28:14.870 --> 28:21.230 I have excommunicated myself from a brown nosing swampy environment that 28:21.230 --> 28:25.090 undermines the artistic integrity, not simply of the city nor the nation, 28:25.170 --> 28:29.650 but so too of the world, because that is the cultural backbone that has 28:29.650 --> 28:32.830 swallowed our ability to tell stories and share them with each other. 28:33.290 --> 28:36.550 So I'm not really in a position to talk about that world other than to 28:36.550 --> 28:37.550 speak ill of it. 28:38.430 --> 28:39.650 Fair enough, fair enough. 28:39.650 --> 28:43.150 But yeah, I mean, and combine that with just sort of the natural 28:44.230 --> 28:48.730 tendencies of the art space in Canada, I can imagine not generally receptive 28:48.730 --> 28:49.890 to conspiracy reality. 28:50.150 --> 28:53.450 So yeah, you have your work cut out for you, trying to forge friendships 28:53.450 --> 28:55.610 and meaningful relationships in that community. 28:55.970 --> 28:57.710 But who does support you? 28:57.790 --> 28:58.810 Who have you hooked up with? 28:58.910 --> 29:01.470 Tell us about some of the connections that you've made through your work. 29:02.050 --> 29:04.530 The most supportive people that I've met have been people who actually 29:04.530 --> 29:08.070 understand the truth and prioritize how important that is in a life and death 29:08.070 --> 29:11.530 way in this, the Third World War being fought by unconventional means. 29:12.110 --> 29:16.430 So the most support I've received has been from the sane and the sane, 29:16.550 --> 29:19.510 unfortunately, have spent a disproportionate amount of their life 29:19.510 --> 29:21.770 studying the insane. 29:22.190 --> 29:26.450 And so I am trying to speak to the insanity of the time in a way 29:26.450 --> 29:30.330 in which I can depict that story accurately from a variety of different 29:30.330 --> 29:32.630 cultural lenses, and I've done just that. 29:33.810 --> 29:36.410 As far as the like Drew Tregli is great. 29:36.410 --> 29:39.590 I was on his podcast recently, he directed Jones Plan Station. 29:39.810 --> 29:42.270 I mean, all of the people who I got to meet, 29:43.230 --> 29:46.810 Steve Aquinin, who I co-host and wake up with, 29:47.070 --> 29:48.910 you know, he's been really great in having me on that. 29:49.070 --> 29:52.870 You have appreciated your support, being able to go on Grand Theft World 29:52.870 --> 29:56.430 and co-host that a number of different times after Richard Grove 29:56.430 --> 30:01.550 being a seminal pillar in my development of understanding the insanity 30:01.550 --> 30:04.930 to try and come to a point where I don't lose myself in the midst of it. 30:04.930 --> 30:09.350 And so it's one of those things where the truth movement has been 30:09.350 --> 30:15.070 an online friend environment that unfortunately has been lacking in my direct day to that. 30:16.090 --> 30:18.050 Yeah, well, let's let's speak to that. 30:18.390 --> 30:23.490 The people that are the target audience of your work are the type of people 30:23.490 --> 30:24.610 that you're trying to reach out to. 30:24.670 --> 30:26.970 As you say, the sane who have been studying the insane, 30:26.970 --> 30:29.410 but also the people who are just dipping their toes in this water, 30:29.430 --> 30:33.510 there must be a wide range of people who encounter this work and encounter 30:33.510 --> 30:35.070 it from vastly different perspectives. 30:35.790 --> 30:40.190 How can they, should they, would they, would you like them to support 30:40.190 --> 30:42.730 the work that you and other people in the space are doing? 30:43.570 --> 30:45.410 Well, so the first thing is that people don't understand 30:45.410 --> 30:49.330 how much work goes into film or media construction because we exist 30:49.330 --> 30:51.490 in a media environment where we get everything for free. 30:51.550 --> 30:54.950 And it's usually on a caliber where it costs multiple millions of dollars, 30:55.030 --> 30:58.050 but we just expect it for a Netflix level of subscription. 30:58.850 --> 31:01.590 So whoever you are and whatever you do, 31:01.590 --> 31:05.430 you are uniquely situated with your skill sets, your friend network, 31:05.930 --> 31:08.990 your geographical location and your ability to take action. 31:09.390 --> 31:13.150 One of the things that a lot of people do is that they'll think that 31:13.850 --> 31:17.350 someone else is going to come along and magically solve their problems for them. 31:17.670 --> 31:22.050 And so it's one of those things where in the time treasure and talent or sorry, 31:22.190 --> 31:26.070 the basically the value for value model is the idea that there are 31:26.070 --> 31:28.770 a variety of different ways that support someone like myself. 31:29.230 --> 31:34.030 What I'm trying to do right now is to create the tools that I can offer you 31:34.030 --> 31:38.450 to be able to reach out to your friends and family who might still be a little bit confused. 31:38.710 --> 31:42.410 What are things that you can do with your unique skill sets to offer the world 31:42.410 --> 31:43.650 that in turn might benefit me? 31:44.050 --> 31:46.910 And I offer that because some people might not be financially OK. 31:47.070 --> 31:49.190 If you don't have time for any of that and you want to send me 50 bucks or something, 31:49.270 --> 31:51.050 it would be very much appreciated and needed. 31:51.330 --> 31:55.250 But if conversely, you find yourself facing the problems 31:55.250 --> 31:58.430 that we're looking at right now with a glimmer of hope 31:58.430 --> 32:02.610 than that means that you're in a position to provide a solution and 10 or 20 or 15 32:02.610 --> 32:05.870 years down the line, maybe that's a solution that me and a lot of other people will need. 32:06.170 --> 32:09.250 So I'll say that it's two different ways to support me. 32:09.750 --> 32:14.810 Now, with some sort of monetary contribution would be great via ConspiracyCentergy.com 32:14.810 --> 32:19.230 or now and later through your own contribution into an ongoing movement 32:19.230 --> 32:20.710 in order to change the world at large. 32:20.930 --> 32:24.590 That's something that I'd like to see so that it's not just Corbett and it's not just me. 32:26.550 --> 32:28.410 OK, Tisse, well, today's your lucky day. 32:28.550 --> 32:31.650 I'm your fairy godmother and I am just magically bestowing on you 32:31.650 --> 32:34.530 your multimillion dollar budget and as much staff as you want. 32:34.710 --> 32:37.850 And in such a scenario, what would be your dream project? 32:38.050 --> 32:39.470 What would you like to put together? 32:39.950 --> 32:42.830 So my dream project in the sense of just telling a story for myself 32:42.830 --> 32:45.030 isn't actually priority number one. 32:45.190 --> 32:48.890 I'd really rather see the entire landscape of storytelling change 32:48.890 --> 32:52.830 because right now it is built in a way in which it is poisoning our souls. 32:52.830 --> 32:58.490 Not only is it acclimating us for media intake that is repugnant 32:58.490 --> 33:02.290 and mediocre at best, you know, we're looking at the kind of thing 33:02.290 --> 33:06.190 where people when we're watching a film will have to say what they're doing 33:06.190 --> 33:09.930 because people are looking at multiple screens while they're watching a film. 33:10.130 --> 33:13.630 So the environment of storytelling is atrocious right now. 33:13.730 --> 33:18.210 What I'd want to do is actually create a open source film school 33:18.210 --> 33:21.950 in a decentralized way as kind of a parallel to the curriculum 33:21.950 --> 33:25.350 that I'd receive going to New York Film Academy, which is a hands on learning 33:25.350 --> 33:30.690 environment so that people could in an iterative process of observing that online, 33:31.110 --> 33:34.890 try it for themselves, share that with each other, refine that process. 33:35.470 --> 33:38.050 And within a few years of trial and error, 33:38.190 --> 33:41.830 you would have a viable platform for people who are able to simply 33:42.370 --> 33:44.930 go out there and tell the stories that they think are most important. 33:45.250 --> 33:49.030 I think that allowing other people or enabling other people 33:49.030 --> 33:52.750 to reach a position where they champion their storytelling 33:53.870 --> 33:58.510 power really is more important than me sinking a huge amount of money 33:58.510 --> 34:02.630 into one singular film in order to get people to rally around any issue. 34:02.950 --> 34:06.830 And so I see this as a seminally important time in the transition 34:06.830 --> 34:10.170 of filmmaking and storytelling itself because we're coming out 34:10.170 --> 34:16.250 of a Viper's Den that has been built so that we're wrapped up in it. 34:16.250 --> 34:21.790 And I want to see the species move as far away from that as we possibly can 34:21.790 --> 34:25.210 in every way, and that would be much more meaningful to me 34:25.210 --> 34:28.110 than than just creating a singular project or film in itself. 34:30.010 --> 34:32.990 Once again, that is independent filmmaker, Teess Snyder, 34:33.090 --> 34:36.890 and you can find out more about Teess and his work generally at teess.ca. 34:37.370 --> 34:40.870 But you can go to conspiracysynergy.com for more 34:40.870 --> 34:44.210 about the Conspiracy Synergy series in particular, including those many 34:44.210 --> 34:47.930 documentaries that we're talking about there featuring and profiling 34:47.930 --> 34:51.470 some of the independent media podcasters and hosts that you know only 34:51.470 --> 34:54.430 for through their work, but you can get to know them on a more personal level. 34:55.150 --> 34:58.870 And I think I think Teess has done a very remarkably good job, 34:58.930 --> 35:02.290 especially considering he was doing that all by himself, 35:02.350 --> 35:06.150 completely self-funded, completely self-run. 35:06.550 --> 35:11.030 That's honestly quite an achievement and something that we should be supporting 35:11.590 --> 35:15.410 even if you are not particularly compelled with this or that particular piece. 35:15.590 --> 35:20.790 I think the idea of supporting real actual art from real humans, 35:21.050 --> 35:23.570 from a human perspective with a real vision, 35:23.750 --> 35:29.010 is the obvious counter to the soulless, ugly brutality 35:29.750 --> 35:34.350 of the corporate slop, increasingly AI generated slop 35:34.350 --> 35:37.670 that is being fed to us through our content feeds. 35:37.990 --> 35:40.150 And if we want to counter that, how can we do so? 35:40.150 --> 35:42.170 Unless we support the independent filmmakers. 35:42.610 --> 35:47.310 And on that note, I think that's an excellent answer that Teess gave there to the, 35:47.590 --> 35:50.310 you are a multi-millionaire, what are you going to do with it? 35:50.670 --> 35:55.610 Idea, coming up with an idea for an open source, decentralized film school 35:55.610 --> 36:01.110 to encourage and foster the young and budding visionaries of tomorrow, 36:01.130 --> 36:05.830 who will be the ones who create the new places, 36:05.990 --> 36:09.030 the new imaginariums that we can explore together, 36:09.030 --> 36:13.610 rather than the corporate soulless Marvel comic slop 36:13.610 --> 36:15.670 that most people are watching these days. 36:15.970 --> 36:20.290 So the obvious question becomes, who should we be supporting? 36:20.450 --> 36:21.670 Who should we be looking into? 36:21.790 --> 36:24.870 Well, obviously Amy Smiley in the work she's doing with Mark Crispin Miller, 36:25.030 --> 36:26.770 obviously Teess Snyder in the work he's doing, 36:27.350 --> 36:28.750 conspiracy synergy and elsewhere. 36:29.390 --> 36:31.150 But how about Drew Treglia? 36:31.470 --> 36:36.010 You'll hopefully have picked up on Teess's mention of Drew Treglia. 36:36.010 --> 36:40.330 And I hope my listeners are familiar with Jones Plantation, 36:40.530 --> 36:44.570 the film that he made off of Larkin Rosa's infamous viral video 36:44.570 --> 36:48.570 for many years ago that became a full feature length independent film. 36:48.790 --> 36:51.910 We've talked to Larkin and Amanda Rose about that film 36:51.910 --> 36:54.130 and how it came together and what went into it. 36:54.850 --> 36:57.310 And hopefully you have seen that movie by now. 36:57.370 --> 36:59.150 If not, I would be remiss in my duties, 36:59.310 --> 37:02.190 if I did not direct you to jonesplantationfilm.com, 37:02.190 --> 37:05.970 where you can go and watch and support that independent filmmaking. 37:06.230 --> 37:09.770 I think that's an excellent example of exactly what we are talking about. 37:09.950 --> 37:14.430 The way to undermine the credibility and the power of the elisons 37:14.430 --> 37:18.090 and people of that ilk is to stop giving them our time, 37:18.390 --> 37:19.730 our attention, our eyeballs. 37:19.990 --> 37:22.850 Stop paying them to propagandize to us 37:22.850 --> 37:25.690 and directing our time, our energy, our resources 37:25.690 --> 37:27.890 to the independent filmmakers out there. 37:28.030 --> 37:30.930 So here is a call to the Corbett Report members out there. 37:30.930 --> 37:33.910 Who else is a good independent filmmaker 37:33.910 --> 37:36.230 who deserves more people's support? 37:36.470 --> 37:38.490 I'd be very interested to hear about that. 37:38.590 --> 37:42.470 So I would highly recommend that interested Corbett Report members 37:42.470 --> 37:45.150 go to corbettreport.com, log into the website, 37:45.330 --> 37:49.930 leave your comment, your suggestion in the comment section for this post. 37:50.090 --> 37:54.870 Who are the underappreciated independent filmmakers of today 37:54.870 --> 37:59.890 that we should be supporting if we want to see something different in the media space? 38:00.650 --> 38:03.430 Having said that, that's just some food for thought for today. 38:03.510 --> 38:05.870 I hope you will check out all of the links to all of the various 38:06.430 --> 38:08.770 films and filmmakers that I have talked about today. 38:08.810 --> 38:10.610 They will of course be in the show notes as always, 38:10.750 --> 38:12.170 but that's going to do it for today. 38:12.350 --> 38:14.130 I am James Corbett of corbettreport.com, 38:14.450 --> 38:16.970 looking forward to talking to you again in the very near future. 38:30.490 --> 38:32.470 But it wasn't always this way. 38:33.330 --> 38:34.770 So how did we get here? 38:35.670 --> 38:40.050 And where is the media technology that increasingly governs our lives taking us?