Big Screen to Small Scheme

Matters of Size, All Out of Proportion

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen.

These days, individual creators are the brand, the content, and the medium itself. The new studio system? Your phone. The new blockbuster? 15 seconds of viral fame. Meanwhile, I stubbornly clutch my cinematic dreams like a buggy whip. But first…

Junket

Local Media Moves

Publishing in P-Town

The Stable Book Group Launches in Petaluma. Publishing veterans Chris Gruener and Keith Riegert have founded The Stable Book Group, a new publishing collective headquartered in Petaluma and Brooklyn. The venture brings together four independent publishers—She Writes Press, Trafalgar Square Books, Ulysses Press, and VeloPress—along with the newly launched Galpón Press and partner Mountain Gazette Books. Gruener once gave me a copy of his grandfather Robert Cameron’s tome, The Drinking Man’s Diet. I lost weight. And inflamed my liver.

Easy(er) Living?

Local magazine Marin Living has sold. But to whom? Waiting on a source. In the meantime: “Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint of heart, but the unwavering support of our clients, who believed in us from the beginning, will never be forgotten," wrote the magazine’s four co-founders (Jessica Cline, Dina Grant, Daniel Jewett, and Casey Gillespie) in a farewell letter in this month’s issue.

Citizen Kane on the Brain

“Hearst Corp., the New York-based private media conglomerate that owns the San Francisco Chronicle, is nearing an agreement to purchase the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, according to sources close to the deal.” — Kevin Truong, SFStandard

Send Tips to dhowell@dhowell.com.

Encore

Press Pass Podcast: Rat Sandwich

In This Episode:

* The Field Mouse Factor – A deep dive into a bizarre PR crisis from Wine Country’s past, where a deli’s rat-related debacle spiraled into media chaos. Lesson learned? Sometimes the best PR strategy is saying nothing at all.

* My Favorite Press Release – A recent survey claims Stanford-to-Google is the ultimate career path in California. But where’s the love for artists, filmmakers, and musicians? Is finance and tech the only dream left? Let’s discuss.

* AARP at the Movies – How the organization for retired folks has become an unexpected player in Hollywood, bringing top-tier talent to its Movies for Grownups awards.

Creative Dept.

Does (Screen) Size Matter?

For decades, the fundamental unit of media was the magazine, the newspaper, the TV show, and the film—a discrete, branded entity around which audiences gathered. But that’s changing…