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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like I got my mojo back to face the TV industry crowd.....


Friday got started by driving up to the office and then running some errands. That explains the reason this update is late. But whatever, I noticed on that trip that I was emotionally ready to go to battle with the TV people.....




Scene from the Fortress Variety Show!



This can get complicated as the original way I did it was to sell the complete series for broadcast as a whole. But some of the eight documentaries are better than others. So it would be easier on me if I just showed them the material and ask them if they are interested in airing some of them. But then you get the problem of some of your gang not getting airplay. But the fact that I am thinking like this just shows you that I got my mojo back. I actually sort of know exactly where the series will end up, as long as I don't botch the negotiations, but you still have to go for the best broadcasters to answer the nagging questions in your mind as to "what if". That "what if" has to be scratched. So I now go on this strange Kabuki show tour of broadcasters with my programs and bother them and get bothered back.


But you never know and that is the point.


You have to try and there is entertainment value even in that. The problem with that kind of reality show is that you could fall flat on your face and everybody is there to see it happen. Of course it is better if you end by scoring somehow but the alternative is always there. Keep everything to yourself, and the whole project is mired in obscurity. There is no proper way to do this and keep your dignity. It always feels like your taking a shower with everyone watching. But in the end you are not just producing entertainment; you are pushing ideas on the world stage at a critical time in humanity's development. That does have value to keep the transparency, and to keep posting these daily updates even if they just show too much of your frailties. As time goes on nobody cares about your dignity or feelings - just what happened. Especially after you are dead - there is always that.....


Later.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RGU6Tcvcpk&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't sleep.....


Whatever, anyway my gang is coming out of the woodwork as we gear up for another round of TV land broadcaster shopping. This is in comparison to the advocacy where I am mostly on my own but with broad support. By that I mean you get support for your initiative and who wouldn't support what we have been after in the past, basically that was freedom of expression. But I get it. From the standpoint of the common man your voice basically means nothing, especially on the world stage.


The funny part of it is how I arrived right at the cusp of NGOs finally being allowed a say at a General Assembly Events with member nations present. Usually they (NGOs) are left to themselves or even having their say at places not even at the UN when the event got large. So that speech I made on July 2, 2015 was a bigger deal than I thought, me being the newbie I was. And there was some jealousy about who got selected and so on. But I was more than relevant for the issues at the table and I was not in it for myself, unlike many of those who are also consultants and such. I was there for all the right reasons - so it may as well have been me. That was sort of my intro into advocacy at the UN to the full base of member nations. My actual intro was me reading the home page of the IAIJ website to the NGO Committee (comprised of member states) and getting grilled after that. I figured we would probably never get consultative status with the UN being a journalist organization and all, so I didn't hold back on that first speech during the interactive sessions there. I just told it to them as it was with us at IAIJ and didn't mute the message at all. That is why I read the homepage intro. So that nobody could accuse me of bending to help get status. That first page message was our war cry and I read it verbatim. In time they did give us status surprisingly - never second guess things in the international diplomatic sphere - and while I didn't expect it, now in the passage of time sticking to your morals worked out for the association and for me personally. Then when we got status in 2016, I quickly got our side event ready and luckily got approved and presented the voting app and the positive major mandate for humanity and videotaped it for the masses via the internet and archived at the UN. Many more people saw it outside of the UN then at the UN because this was a closed event and only member nations and NGO with status and such were allowed. But in the short time I had there I made the most of my opportunities, and by that I mean big time!



Maurice begins his speech in General Assembly!


But what that also tells you is how little influence people on the ground have in the end. I basically started from some guy in a park taping a TV show and not even knowing whether I would get airplay. Yup, Michael had some video experience as an amateur videographer for hire but other than that we had no experience. And I made it as hard as I could on myself editing on free software anyone could use and meeting broadcast requirements. We did get it on just by dogged determination and we were off to the races with that home run behind us. So 14 years later we are here. I think I can honestly say that I probably have the most influence an ordinary person can have in the world. Now being part of some country's political system is the usual way but you are tied to that political system you joined. You can join up with some NGO that already has status and try to get influence that way but you joined the NGO with their constitution and rules and history and you buy into that when joined. But I got the unique situation where we rose up that ladder so quickly that the founder who made up the rules and constitution made it to the highest levels and got his say. That usually does not happen but it did for me! Add our luck with events and I got as much influence as any ordinary person could possibly hope to get.


I reached out from a moral imperative to help our fellow peoples and stuck to ideas and concepts and never tried to get any personal compensation through the advocacy and I hoped that pureness of advocacy was one of the reasons we moved up the ladder that fast. Anyway, school is out and now I am contacting member nations of the UN, outside of the UN, and advocating that way. They are under no obligation to have anything to-do with me if they don't want to as I am not part of any UN event - this is all on our own as an NGO. Maybe we get somewhere and maybe we don't. I can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. Personally I wanted to be a "man of the world" and in the end I did become that person! But whether there is a happy ending was never a part of that agreement. It was just to be a man of the world. Although I will admit that that fantasy of walking up those steps in the dream was for me to save the world in some way - as dramatic as that. But the exact circumstance was never fleshed out.




Advocacy at the United Nations side event!



The real thing I want to get across is that I got a sweet heart deal all the way through and in the end you are still faced with almost insurmountable odds; it Is that hard. But if you are smart or a clever sort of chap with good ideas, then you may have a chance. Even if your ideas are presented and dismissed or not really recognized officially; by putting it out there it stews in people's minds and maybe eventually becomes a talking point and then policy. By videotaping my side event meant that anyone from the average Joe on the street to member nations, could watch what I was up to without making an appearance at the actual event, and in this way you can disseminate the idea without making it too political by having them show their face by attending. This was all by design. Nobody owns an idea, all people like me can do is disseminate them and maybe move them along a bit, and if it is a good one maybe something positive happens.

But that is where we are at right now with the advocacy. I knock on doors and hope someone somewhere wants to listen. In sales we used to call it "cold calling" and it is funny that at the end of this advocacy process I am back to cold calling. So my sales experience has held me in good stead but in a very unusual way. Of course the cold calling ability (and I won awards as a sales man BTW) also holds me in good stead with the TV sales and distribution, but that is for another day. I just wanted to freeze this moment in our advocacy and crystallize where we came from and what we are trying to do now. A bit long winded but I can't sleep anyway.....




Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 1:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the big news is that before I go back to the broadcasters and get rejected I will have a movie length version of the series to give to them for a second look.....


I had to have something in my back pocket when I get the old heave ho, and after a short talk with Michael I figured going back to the original idea of the documentary movie would present the experiment in a more entertaining manner. Like the advocacy, I reached for a series and sort of miserably got there but gave myself enough material for a much more compelling movie. I started cutting the shows down and have compressed three into one hour already which should easily get us to two hours and maybe a bit more but people start to squirm in their seats at 120 minutes.


Anyway, the idea is to hear them cut up the series and answer that objection with the movie and also hint that if they like the movie we could still offer the shows off the internet for those that wanted to look deeper into the characters or the events presented in the movie. So we would keep both versions as this is also advocacy and not only entertainment. It's a cool idea, it has that FOF creative zinger on it, it could work.....


Anyway I need some sleep. Also with a movie length sized project I could enter it into larger festivals and meet and hob knob around with people in the industry as we will keep the production house going. In short the experiment will be our mule to get us into real industry events and finally make us real producers. Anyway that is the plan.


So Saturday was a productive day!


I need some sleep.....




Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1HwpoTJ0XE&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm literally forcing myself to punch this out.


Anyway I started cutting the movie doc on Saturday night. I think we were at 7:30 hours on the time line. So Sunday morning I had the onerous job of walking back to that editor and tossing years and years of experiences and such onto the cutting room floor. It almost made you want to cry: "you win " I am beaten. That is how you feel! I put years of my life making a TV series about years of my life and to toss most of it away was just untenable. You just sat there all miserable as the editor loaded up and wondered why you even bothered in the first pace!



A truly miserable moment.



Of course the idea is to sell or distribute the movie version of the show and keep the TV series for low tier viewing by anyone who wanted more after watching the movie. We shall see how that idea is received. Without that plan I would have just kept the show as is and put them out there on any platform that would accept them as is and just use them for the advocacy. Anyway I got the movie down to 2:17 which is where it stands now. I'll take a break and make sure I want to keep everything in place and then go to work finishing up.



I'm thinking about how to end the thing. I was watching Trainspotting on the weekend and love that ending, except mine would be the reverse. No I'm not going to live the life of the everyman, the exact opposite. But I am a good man. That ending will be my middle finger to the industry that forced me to do this. Stripped of all the side players most of the movie becomes the Maurice Ali show and forces you to accept that a brown guy with a Muslim name is a pure idealist only interested in free expression and hitting home run after home run and on the verge of making plays to change the world for the better. Great stuff if I was a white dude. But bad optics with a brown guy like me. They forced me to do this and now the truth will just stare them full in the face. They would probably rather I went back to the series instead. Maybe that is the negotiation strategy? Hehehehehehe.....



Goodnight.......





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0D4ekTODuA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one as there is too much going on today.


The movie is now under two hours and the structure has been set. This will not take too long to complete.



Later.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I owe you guys a proper update.


So I have been nursing a cold since last week. No fever, no snot cold or anything like that. Just coughing and it just stayed there, so much I got a horse voice. Anyway I'm taking it easy today and hopefully turn the corner on this summer cold. Who gets colds in the summer anyway? When I was younger I would just bounce back no matter what I did. But at my advanced age it does not get worse when I burn both ends of the candle - it is just that it doesn't get better. So if I am in the middle of something important you can still stick it through to the end and then recuperate, but if nothing important is on the docket you may as well sit a day out and get back on the road to recovery. One thing I love about my situation is that I take no drugs and no medication for anything. If you ever visit people in the hospital and listen to them tell the pharmacist what they are on, you would think a heroin addict has it better than these guys. Heart medication, blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, pain killers, you name it - some of these guys take it and all at the same time. I figured there would be come type of harmful drug interactions but no, business as usual. I don't want to live that life so I take care of this the old fashioned way. But I digress....


So that is the plan today. My sister should be making me a care package of food to carry me through the day and then it back to me taking care of myself.


So as I am stuck in the house I may as well get back on the editor and finish the first rough draft. We have a long weekend coming up so I intend to really finish the thing up in its basic form by then. Or at least have something presentable to slide across the table when they try to tell me to take a long walk off a short pier.....


So that's the plan, the only plan; as in take it easy sitting in front of a TV screen. Oh joy, oh bliss.....



Goodnight.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Still sick and still on ice.....


This sucks. But it is what it is. The days are alright but the nights are bad. The worst was yesterday but the second half of the night was quiet. So we shall see how tonight goes but I think it will be alright.

In other news: The movie version of The Fortress Experiment goes well. Since I am stuck inside I can work on that thing. The stupid part is that now all I have to do is voice-overs to tie segments together (like plaster between sheet rock), but I can't because the cold had given me this horse voice. I don't even know if it will be good enough over the long weekend to finish the thing!


It is what it is.


But this setback really pisses me off as I keep thinking I am as spry as a 28 year old. Of course I am not but you think you are. Then reality comes crashing down on you and you realize you are not the super man you thought you were.


Reality bites.


Later.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87URSeI6VtQ&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I owe you an early one today.


Some would say my - whenever I feel the urge - postings does harm to the numbers as opposed to posting the same time everyday. But I'm not in this for "likes" or ad revenue. I am just recording the adventure - that is all. But I do try to put something up every day. Just saying.....



That Fortress Experiment movie is basically done! After the voice-overs I will somehow try to fit it onto a DVD which I've never tried before on our in-house software so some excitement there in a few days. The movie is watchable but I've long since given up hope that being watchable would get you broadcast. It's more complicated than that. But the people I meet in the TV industry are basically business types and creators that are doing their own thing and our eyes don't necessarily meet "eye-to-eye". Juxtapose this with my experience at UNESCO and UN level activities and ambitions. For the most part for ordinary people from an established local culture, doors can be opened early on and such just because they are part of the establishment. This is sort of how the broadcast industry still works even today. But if these folk try to go into the international sphere that establishment safety net is no longer there and they are on their own with no friends. I'm sort of the opposite of that. No doors opened early for me. But when I got into the international arena the breaks did start coming my way. Ultimately the people in this international sphere are more educated, smarter, and more savvy in the ways of the world in every way. And basically they see things the way they are and not through some nationalistic/xenophobic or prejudicial filter. So when I got there I could see in retrospect that much of the early UN interactions with member nations were not the "horror" I originally thought they were. They were just being what they always were. And they were doing me a favor (and probably having some fun at my expense too) by letting me trade barbs with them early on. The proof is in the fact we did get consultative status in the end despite what people would say about the nations involved in the NGO Committee. Any one nation could have kept blocking us but they all gave it to us in the end. Or maybe they just gave it to "me" as a kindness or sorts. That speech in July of 2015: and how did I luck into that? Sure, part of it was that I was very relevant, but a newbie like me doesn't get that lucky that fast. Even with the side event these opportunities have to be approved and they did get approved for me - so unlike my experiences on my home turf - the place I call home.



However the reality is that the place I really call "home" is the UN and its special agencies like UNESCO. I am totally comfortable there. There is much idealism. Maybe not the idealism most of you think is best and such. But they are for the most part intellectual and idealistic people. I feel comfortable there - like eating a banana in front of the Security Council in session. Back in Toronto meeting with producers is like going to war. No friends there. They don't like you or anything about you. They just want you gone for the most part. And this is what I face now. Making a watchable TV movie is just a means to eliminate as many possible objections but not all of them. You would come away from my experiences wondering how anything ever got on the air - but it is me and not the material. By hook or by crook our material in The Fortress Experiment will air. I was sold a pack of lies about equality and equal opportunity and access - especially on our public airwaves - and we even have a constitution that says so. The reality says it is all so much bull shit. But I am an idealist and will push that equality/idealism in getting our stuff on the air, and if that does not work I go to the CRTC and prompt change to make it work. I may call the UN home, home as in a goal, home as in a place I feel comfortable and wanted and appreciated; but this is where I live and I am going to force the rights issue and put it all out there if I am denied. It has to be this way. If I can't do it in the position I am in now, the others certainly can't. So it's all on me again. Time to bring out the baseball bat and do some warm up swings. I truly hope things go my way normally and reaffirm my faith in human nature. But the more realist and pragmatic side is also there and prepared.


Oh, and for those who think my bravado is questionable if they (the broadcasters) read this. Well, if I cower and bend because I don't want to offend someone behaving badly, then I am even "less" than they are. My way is the correct way. Transparency on both sides.....



Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coEVbfwkGB0&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another late one.


I'd rather be working on the movie since its going fab so far but I still need to archive this thing.


Jest a few more tweaks and we are good go! Then I just create this huge QuickTime file and somehow manage to compress it onto a DVD, Then I start passing it around and see what they think and what needs correcting and improving. The movie is better than the series minute for minute as it is cut from the series and the cuts are all the best stuff.


This pisses me off a little bit, but then I remember my original idea was to make a documentary movie and show it on the festival circuit. So the last laugh may be on me with a 14 year in the making documentary. That is just too funny.


So funny I don't want to think about it. But it does have the rotten ring of reality to it..... And that is how dreams and their realities unfold - they give you what you want, just not the way you wanted it. And so why should this be any different?


Back to work.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I now have my full rez reference copy of the movie.....


That came in at 186 gigs but is my "shit hit the fan" emergency file to get back everything if the computer blows up or something like that. Next is another QuickTime file at "good quality" and we will see if I can DVD produce that. If not then delete and lower quality until I can get the program to fit it in there. Then hand out the copies and cross the fingers. I will probably tweak some things but they are incredibly minor now. The show is the show.....




Deal with the Devil!



So the strategy is to pester the broadcasters we originally went to. If they hadn't seen it yet then give them the movie in addition to the series and get a meeting. Then play it by ear with all options open. While this is going on get the film into a movie festival somewhere and have some fun with it and meet some people. This is probably my only shot at this lifestyle so I will make the most of it. I am not making a deal with the devil for airplay, you never win that way. The Devil always finds a way to screw it up for you. You can't beat the Devil! So don't play his game. Just try your best and live with it I guess.



Goodnight'..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJL1zlJx41g&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PLEFSJzVoA&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well it took all day but I have my file for the DVD movie.


Actually now I can offer a DVD and an HD QuickTime file to look at the movie. Actually, I can now think about upping the quality on both the DVD and QuickTime file as they don't come near to the limits for each yet.


So we now have a two hour movie option. With this smaller slot I also now have the option of putting it on ourselves like the first two shows. I will keep that in our back pocket in case all hell breaks loose with the traditional way. I'm not paying for these myself anymore. On the Donald Brasseur show General Motors was offering cash for inserting their ads into our programming. The rub was that I would have to have CTV rescreen the show and I could not chance them getting a second opportunity to say no - so we passed on that deal. This was cheaper than buying advertising space from the network and GM was in bankruptcy proceedings at the time. I could also go to places like the Ford Foundation for some cash. They were involved in the Citizen Journalism stuff back in the UNESCO days - so you see we actually have some connection hob knobbing around the UN stuff. At the end of the day The Fortress Experiment will get on the air one way or another. Putting it on ourselves does set up the orgs for putting on more independent productions the same way without the miserable vetting I have to do now; a point in its favor. And remember we own More Vision, an advertising company that has accounts with the largest broadcasters already! But on a personal and emotional level, I want the place where I live to throw me a bone of acceptance and put on the show as usual. Strategically the route is to put on the show by buying the slot and having big business endorse it with advertising and keep doing that as the normal course of supporting independent productions. But I want to try it this way first.....



YDS and the higher sound pods!


In other news I took off for downtown this morning to check out the stage set up at YDS just in case FOFSTOCK 2 becomes a reality. I always wanted the tall speaker assemblies but we needed a building permit to put them up back in the day. The speaker pods they have now look like permanent affairs so this may come with the bill. We shall see.....




Close-up of the sound pods!



Lastly I am getting interested in electric cars, but only Teslas. Two blocks from my house I saw this sight - a whole household converted to Teslas. A sign of the times?



A Tesla household!


Later.....
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the long weekend is over.....


I did meet my goal in getting the movie finished. The only problem now is getting the movie onto a DVD. For some reason I can't get the movie onto the DVD no matter how far down the file size I get there with the bit rate. It seems the program just looks at the actual minutes and starts getting spasms.....


So the quickest method to get the movie on a disk is simply to burn it straight as a QuickTime file to dual layer DVD and start handing that out to my gang and start messing with codec to make a proper DVD. Or I may just take it to a pro and have him cut the DVD. I only want to do this if everyone agrees on the final format. I will also create a new DVD label and then we should be ready to start knocking on doors again.


Like I said before, I really want to submit the thing to a movie festival just for the experience as this may be the only legitimate movie I ever make. At my age things start to look final in all sorts of ways so you may as well live the experiences to the hilt.


In other news:


I watched a DVD from my HMV store closing DVDs. This one was "Getaway" with Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez. One bad movie: The Roger Ebert website almost gave it a "zero stars" except for this one long uninterrupted piece of car driving that I admit was pleasant to watch as opposed to the 50 police cars crashing into things during this 80 minute car chase. However another reviewer threw caution to the wind and gave it -
zero stars! But that got me thinking about an old film called "Rendezvous" by Claude Lelouch. This 1970s era eight minute film was a cult short for driving enthusiasts. The driver of this Ferrari just races down Paris streets in one long uncut film punching red lights and using pedestrians as apexes as he drifts through corners. I heard about it ad nausea back in the day but finally watched the thing on Sunday afternoon because of the Getaway film. At first viewing I was impressed! And the sounds of that Ferrari motor and the squealing tires and the heal and toe throttle - just great! Then I did a little research and found out it was not a Ferrari after all but a 450SEL 6.9 Mercedes with the Ferrari engine noises dubbed in. To do that the shifts have to be redubbed and then the tire squealing. So most of the audio is fake even though the film is original. In fact he may not have recorded any audio at all at the time, just the film. So another cult film legend takes a hit. The director himself turned out to be the driver and he stated he had at least one spotter at the end of the tunnel with a walkie talkie to tell him if there was traffic so that also takes away from the mystic of the film. As for the ethics of such a film. I would say driving like a mad man and putting the lives of innocent people at risk just to meet up with some hot babe in the park is just bad optics. It would have been better if the young man had a booty call and guaranteed intercourse waiting for him at the end of the ride. Most guys could accept that but still bad optics. So instead of naming the film "Booty Call" I would call it "Public Toilet". Instead of meeting the girl at the end he stops at this porta-potty or public washroom to take an emergency dump! Now that - even if unseemly - would be understandable as everyone has been in that situation. They may verbally berate you, but everyone understands that situation and will sympathies even if it is unofficial. Even if a cop caught you coming out of the can with a look of relief on your face owning up to him as to why you were speeding through city streets would get you a tongue lashing but not a ticket as everyone can put themselves in your position. The booty call would get you a ticket and scolding that you should just have kept it in your pants for another twenty minutes. But calling it "Public Toilet" with the guy looking for a place to take an urgent monumental shit would take the morality issues off the table.


Such is life.


And that was Sunday. Monday will have me with the DVD even if it just has a QuickTime file on it. Laura will make the announcement of The Fortress Movie and I will also have her close off submissions for the next edition of the The Fortress and start working on that.


Back to work.


Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJYOMFayruw&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

More fooling around with the movie and trying to make it into a single DVD.....


Now I am actually thinking about the organization years from now. I think I would most likely end up a sort of "Don" or "The Godfather" in the media access or freedom of expression arena. I am careful of my terminology here. I am not "Mr. Big" or anything like that; I would be "The Godfather" as in the ultimate top of the heap decision maker. I take orders from no one. My directives are a moral imperative, as in philosophies and concepts that are best for humanity. As I am getting older the godfather image grows on you naturally. I really am a friend of humanity even if it is used for villains in the past.


I and people like me are not part of the establishment, otherwise I would never have had problems with access to the mass media; I am a second generation Canadian. Born and raised here. Born and taught that everyone has equality and equal rights in access to the various organs of media especially publically regulated media. I want the pillars of or society to retain something of their greatness by their endorsement of equality. I would like nothing other than for some broadcaster to put our show on the air without me having to strong-arm them and having the metaphorical gun to their head to make it happen. Would that happen? Probably not, but right now I would say the material has an outside chance. More problematic is that we have to go it on our own and force it on there. That would cement our organization's constitution of access, and in the years that follow we would become a last resort of media access, forcing society to have true access of ideas and expression as that is best for humanity and humanity's survival. But I do this for ideas and concepts and philosophies. I don't do this for money. Money may eventually be exchanged, but I don't make decisions on money. If you look at the opening to the movie "The Godfather" you see Don try to tell those who ask favors on his daughter's wedding day (an old Sicilian tradition) that he will help them but only through friendship and such, not for money. This is how I operate, I can't be bought. When people who bought into the paradigms of society that they would be treated right and find society failed them, then they come to me and I make it right and ultimately reform those flawed parts of society by political change.


We are upstarts, rough around the edges, but in our minds we are the freedom fighters. While a crime family may look at themselves as nothing more that the idealistic embrace of capitalism, well so do we in freedom of expression. A country's political and established and flawed structure can't satisfy us as we are left out. So we go it this way and possibly become pariahs of the industry. But it is the moral imperative ultimately that sets all the dominos into action.


I can live being the "Don" or "The Godfather" of free expression. I like the fact that people who feel disenfranchised would come to me for help. But they come to me with friendship and not monetary influence as I am a friend of humanity. It's so hard for many to see this. It's not about the money but the clash of ideas and such. Don Corleone prizes his influence with politicians, because they make the laws and ultimately decide what is right and wrong, good and bad. Having control of this faction frees the Don from moral judgment as he can change the parameters as he sees fit. He really becomes above the law.....




Goodnight.....




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBpHO1gZgQ&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5o2yqWTk78&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm now editing before I go to bed and then when I get up.....


I sent Michael a copy of the movie and now wished I had held off and could send him the latest and better version. I wish I had sent the Vatican and Bhutan the movie instead of all those shows they will never watch. But the past is the past. The movie is the best viewable entity yet! It is what it is. I will keep at it and then finalize the thing and maybe have a pro go over the finishing editing and burn a DVD and Bluray and then we start bugging people. So far we had replies from AMC and NBC, both negative. But as for broadcasters who actually looked at the material that is OneThree Media (now United Artists/MGM) who had their developmental people look at it; and TVO. I still sort of have an "in" with United Artists and could take a flyer telling them about the history and that if they wanted - to take a quick look at the movie and see if it catches their interest. Might be worth it. I think we burned our bridges with TVO, but producers have thick skins and if we bump into each other at a festival, well let's say we could talk about things.....


The rest I will contact and I'm sure they never even bothered so I will use the long wait as an excuse to get them to look at the movie, and if interested soft-sell the TV series as on-line extra content. That is the plan. For Thursday it is some taping of filler material and another round of editing then pay bills and so on.


It could be worse. Every week I seem to be doing something new and nothing is happening yet. The mandate advocacy and now the TV stuff and soon the possible UN trip in September. You are like a prize fighter in fifteen round match throwing punches and trying to keep dancing and avoiding punches and even the occasional "haymaker punch". The probabilities say something has to happen sooner or later. I'll put my faith in the numbers.....


Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUFzO12fSak&feature=share


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npz7kFB4Vo4&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7654
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm making one final pass on the movie and then passing out copies to my gang and then see what the reviews are like.....


So Friday is the final pass through for any errors or omissions and then that long 12-13 hour render and then I burn copies of that QuickTime file. I'll leave the DVD and Bluray when we finalized the movie. You people have no idea how much crap and BS and such goes into making these things - Never again! I know I always say that but man did this thing take time to make. Now as for the movie, I cut that quickly, but way longer for the experiment than I ever thought. A large chunk of my lifetime. I gave up other opportunities for this. This is the "why" of all the trepidation on airplay. You gave up other life choices for this, so this has to be successful! Otherwise you just threw your life away. I wouldn't have been the only one, but you get the situation I am in.


So we finalize the thing and keep going. Summer is the best time for this, as no matter how down you get - the weather is always good. Ian Fleming liked this, so in Dr. No, for example, James Bond was in total misery while outside it was warm and beautiful. Not that it worked for him but it does for me.....


Anyway my editor's back up is almost finished.....




Later.....
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