$300 Video Gets $30 Million Hollywood Deal

When I saw this in Yahoo, I could not believe it.  I just had to blog about it!

A guy from Uruguay named Fede Alvarez made a $300 4-minute sci-fi video on giant Robots and spaceships invading Montevideo (Uruguay's Capital) and uploaded it on YouTube Thursday and by Monday, his emailbox was loaded with bonafide Hollywood offers. A bidding war ensued and Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures signed him on with a $30 million deal.

After seeing the video, I myself would have offered the same amount if I had it.  This guy is talented.  I was already impressed with "Paranormal Activity" which was done for just around $15,000.  This guy is just blew them out of the water with what he has achieved for just $300.  This story is a great testament to talent over raw budget!  -- as technology starts to equalize the playing field, talent will become king.

 Here is the video titled "Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack)."  The craftsmanship is just amazing:

Invisible Self-Portraits by Liu Bolin

Liu Bolin is a Beijing based artist/photographer, from the Shandong Art College with an MFA in Central Academy of Fine Arts.  He started his "camouflage series" as a protest against the government when it teared down his art cooperative building to make way for the Olympic edifices in 2005.  He says that his work is a statement about how ordinary people do not fit in modern chinese society and as a protest for the government's persecution of artists.  The pictures are straight photographs and does not involve photoshop or manipulations of any sort (Liu is literally painted into the background).  This series has since been exhibited at Paris' galerie Bertin Toublanc, at Eli Klein Fine Art in New York and at a gallery in Maimi.

Here are some examples of his work through the years...


--Pictures by Liu Bolin. Video from YouTube.com by Reuters and bteikoh.

Renato B. Magadia: UP Distinguished Alumni

My parents Vicky & Ato Magadia

Last Saturday morning (Manila time), My father Renato B. Magadia, Sr. was honored by his alma mater, the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration, as a distinguished Alumni Awardee.  It is an honor given once a year by the College to its most esteemed alumni.

Aside from my father, there were only five other receipients this year (2009): Leopoldo M. Clemente, Jr., Anabelle Lim-Chua, Alfredo E. Pascual, Renato Peronilla and Carmelita Salgado.

My father Ato is a business and civic leader back home in the Philippines, who manages and runs several public corporations and has the distinction of being in the Honor Roll as one of Asia's best CEOs by the Asian Business Leaders Awards given by the Wall Street Journal and the Graduate School of the University of Chicago.  An active member of the Rotary Club for the last 35 years, he has served as the Governor for District 3830 and is a Paul Harris Fellow.

But unknown to the general public, one of his most important (at least to me) act of service is giving me my first camera.  That impulsive, probably unconscious and simple act (because he did not know how to use the camera) gave me a love and passion for the Art of Photography that has lasted a lifetime (I actually still have that camera and it is in pristine shape -- Canon FT with a 50mm 1.2 lens).

Thank you so much Pop for all your love. You have given me much more than I have ever ask for.  I am proud of you!

--shot with a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II, Sekor Z 110mm 2.8 lens.

Sense Style & Substance: New Blog/Ezine

I have been busy the last couple of weeks starting a new "Lifestyle" Blog/Ezine with my wife Anne, called Sense Style and Substance.

Anne is a widely published "Feature Writer" for glossy magazines (actually a better writer than I am willing to admit) and we have always wanted to collaborate on a project.  After several months writing about photography and cinema on this blog, I thought it would be a great idea to also blog about other subjects that interest the both of us -- I suggested it to her and http://www.sensestyleandsubstance.com/ was born.

Having worked for magazines (Anne as a writer and Me as a photographer), we have always dreamed of starting our own publication.  Sense Style and Substance.com is our humble attempt at this endeavor.

Combining our skills with our interests (Me as a fashion/commercial photographer specializing in luxury goods and Anne as a lifestyle/personality/food writer) we came up with a blog/Ezine dedicated to positive/aspirational living.  We will be tackling subjects ranging from fashion, celebrity and fine cuisine to health and spirituality--and much more.

Please check it out!  http://www.sensestyleandsubstance.com/

--shot with a Canon 1Ds Mark II, 24-70mm 2.8L lens.