March 2014

Most directors I know do more writing than directing — pitching "treatments" for every video soliciation that comes their way, hoping their idea piques some interest and get them the gig.

Alas, most of these videos never get past the treatment stage, resulting in a backlog of many ideas.

Director Jason Beattie has decided that his ideas don't need to sit in a folder buried deep on a hard drive, deciding to release a new batch of unaccepted video ides every single week.

Week One is out today and you can take it as an exercise of What If, a journey through good ideas that couldn't find a good fit, or, a way for a director to show creativity even when they don't get the jobs.

Check em out and download the PDFs at jasonbeattie.com...

I'm not the best with either Greek or Real Housewives mythology, so there's a chance I've got this all wrong. Maybe Lady Gaga isn't a modern day Icarus, who's been brought down from her artistic heights by money men and in-fighting executives. Maybe Bravo TV mastermind Andy Cohen isn't God, and the Housewives won't serenade us in the afterlife. 

But, I am 100% certain this is 11 minutes of inspired insanity — and that includes the four minutes which are just credits. Shot on-location at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon and featuring a cast of hundreds — we're talking models, Real Housewives, a Michael Jackson impersonator, Gandhi,  and much — this opus plays like a compilation of every idea, big or small, that's struck Lady Gaga and her team since the mixed reaction to her Artpop launch.

And it's open-ended enough that you can run with whatever narrative you want: Take it as proof of Gaga's creative rebirth, or as messy self-indulgence. So long as you take it in, share it, and talk about it, I'm pretty sure it's mission accomplished for this master media manipulator.