Kate Winslet often plays the role of a strong woman or heroin. In the film Labor Day, she plays someone completely different and lets a more vulnerable side show through. Labor Day is the story of a single mother and her son who allow an escaped prisoner to stay in their home. Over time, Winslet’s character falls for the convict and their meeting changes all of their lives.
Despite grumbling from some quarters that the Discovery series Moonshiners—which shines the camera light on the bootleggers of backwoods Appalachia—is a dramatization, one component of the show just got real: Tim Smith, the series’ bibbed-overall-wearing star, has gone into retail. Prost Beverage has inked a deal with Smith to sell his booze under the name Climax.
Despite grumbling from some quarters that the Discovery series Moonshiners—which shines the camera light on the bootleggers of backwoods Appalachia—is a dramatization, one component of the show just got real: Tim Smith, the series’ bibbed-overall-wearing star, has gone into retail. Prost Beverage has inked a deal with Smith to sell his booze under the name Climax.
Have you had enough snow yet? Get ready for some more as Winter Storm Nika crosses the United States bringing a wintery mix of rain, ice and snow. Last weekend most of the country felt the wrath of Winter Storm Maximus as he brought up to 10 inches of snow to some areas.
Digital video technology has gotten user-friendlier by leaps and bounds in the recent past, with the exception of download-to-own stores plagued with spotty authentication, kludgy interfaces and frustrated consumers who couldn’t take their content from device to device. But it’s getting better. In 2012, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment took steps to streamline its Digital HD offerings and push out digitally owned copies of its films weeks ahead of traditional DVD and Blu-ray releases, and at lower prices than it’d been asking for. Competitors have followed suit.
A source within Disney Interactive has announced that it will begin its first round of layoffs as early as this week. The company has lost more than $200 million a year between 2008 and 2012 and made several other job cuts within the company. Last year, Disney Interactive laid off more than 50 workers and closed Junction Point Studios in Texas. The company also closed Propaganda Games, which resulted in over 200 people losing their jobs.
It was Albert Einstein who said “The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” He was talking about relativity, of course, but just hold the thought for a moment. In case you haven’t looked up from your iPhone lately, an unusual countertrend has crept into our gadget-obsessed world. It’s one that acknowledges the fact that even as we embrace the latest technology, there’s something inside many of us that misses the look and feel of the old stuff.
It was Albert Einstein who said “The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” He was talking about relativity, of course, but just hold the thought for a moment. In case you haven’t looked up from your iPhone lately, an unusual countertrend has crept into our gadget-obsessed world. It’s one that acknowledges the fact that even as we embrace the latest technology, there’s something inside many of us that misses the look and feel of the old stuff.
Janette Yauch, Charmin’s brand manager, is meeting this week with marketers for sister Procter & Gamble brand Duracell to brainstorm how to charge up popularity around the battery’s smartphone app. In the packaged-goods world, Yauch’s word might as well be gospel since her brand’s SitOrSquat app found a strong female following among seekers of clean public rest rooms. A basic tip Yauch plans to share: “You have to think like your users.” More importantly, you have to have a hell of an idea, agreed industry observers.
QuizUp is among the fastest-growing apps on the iPhone, and it barely spent a penny on marketing. That’s rare for a game industry that invests to boost app rankings and push installs. But QuizUp has become more than a game. It’s a trivia-driven social network, one in which niche audiences challenge each other on all manner of topics. Communities are forming around hundreds of categories, and they communicate by messenger and message boards. CEO Thor Fridriksson says the trivia is addictive and the social component is cohesive—which means brands want in. And his ultimate aspiration?