Here is another cool tidbit about Mark Warner.

This weekend in LA was spent with a large crew of production professionals and director Bill Gutentag completing the filming of my documentary, regarding Nanking.

This weekend in LA was spent with a large crew of production professionals and director Bill Gutentag completing the filming of my documentary, regarding Nanking. He led a cast of great actors and actresses through a series of close-up readings and a large ensemble reading of the script before a live studio audience. The audience was filled with sons and daughters, grandchildren and other family members of some of the heroes profiled in the documentary – there wasn’t a dry eye in the building.

It was so sweet and touching to see so many great professionals falling in love with this project and to be part of a collective creative experience that brings to life the words of heroes from 1937. The cast and crew each had a wonderful experience and are proud to be associated with such an important story.

The cast is an ensemble of truly talented and well known film and TV actors and actress with more than 500 IMDb (Internet Movie Database) listings between them. The emotion expressed in their faces, their eyes and their voices – that is what I remember most from the filming.

This great cast includes: (click names below for IMDb information)

Woody Harrelson

Jurgen Prochnow

Mariel Hemingway

Stephen Dorff

John Getz 

Hugo Armstrong

Graham Sibley

Chris Mulkey 

Mark Valley

Rosalind Chao

Michelle Krusiec

Robert Wu

Brian Tee

As well as the stage readings, we have on hand news reel footage, original interviews in China and Japan and interviews with the survivors and soldiers that make up more than 700 hours of material that will be edited for this documentary. Final editing will happen over the next two months.

It feels wonderful to have completed pre production and production on schedule and on budget and I am blessed to be working with such talented people like Dan Sturman, and Michael Jacobs and the large crew who literally spanned the globe.

I would like to offer a consumer perspective — as well as a historical perspective — on some of the differences between the AOL client software and AOL.com with its related web development.

As someone who worked directly on more than half a dozen AOL client designs — including most of the versions from AOL 2.3 on – as well as our Web launches like AOL.com and AIM, I think I have a unique viewpoint on the development process and our thinking related to both types of initiatives.

The AOL software clients were designed to be part of a holistic ecosystem that bundled access, communications, services, third-party solutions, content, and community into an all-in-one bundle for consumers.  Consumers paid a monthly fee and expected us to update the software and take care of all of their online needs, from connectivity to member support.  In effect, consumers were outsourcing their Internet technical needs to us to handle.

That formula worked and still works for a very large portion of the online public.  The true metric of popularity is whether consumers will pay for a service with their time and with their money, and the AOL subscription business has the most paying customers spending the most amount of time online consuming services and pages.  Happy consumers mean you are doing your job, and we’re proud to do our job so well for them. 

Some Web 2.0 observers and analysts denigrate those all-in-one users, but I think in doing so they are showing their arrogance and disconnect from the real world.  Web 1.0 was about getting consumers online and helping them fall in love with the Net, something AOL did better than anyone else.  Web 2.0 is about listening to the user and giving them what they want, and we know that millions of our users still want that all-in-one experience.  That convenient, one-stop solution is why Wal-Mart and Target are so successful, and why the large, multi-service banks are doing so well.  Many consumers want an integrated experience — whether they are shopping, banking, or getting online.

What does that experience mean for typical users?  It means the comfort of knowing that a large and established company is taking care of their needs — keeping them safe, updating their software automatically, putting the right components together for them, blocking spam and ensuring their mail gets delivered, finding interesting and entertaining content, syncing up their messaging and address book, making sure things work, and offering support in case anything goes wrong. 

That integrated set of solutions was at the heart of our past product philosophy:  make it easy for consumers, bundle it together, provide comprehensive 24/7 customer support, and offer it all for a single low price.  (And — on a related note — our employees in member services were and remain one of our strongest selling points.  They are hard-working and technically astute and they help millions of our users solve online problems ranging from the annoying to the dangerous.  Those member services representatives always work to fix what’s broken, even if the problem is caused by non-AOL software, or a third-party security issue, or an unrelated technical breakdown, and they deserve great praise for their efforts.)

However, we are no longer in a Web 1.0 world, and our old one-size-fits-all solution also no longer works for many of our users.  As users spent more time online, many wanted more control and choice over their Internet experience and the ability to choose which specific solutions were right for them.  So AOL has worked to develop a wide range of applications, Web sites, and Web services to allow us to be a key part of that "ala carte" ecosystem.  Among our new initiatives have been the launch of AOL.com last summer, updates for AIM and Mapquest and the release of related APIs to allow third-party developers to integrate them, the popular free AIM Mail service, a new community-media focused relaunch of Netscape.com, our new video portal, new properties like TMZ.com, and much more.

In addition, we have disaggregated many of our services to allow users to pick the ones they want, for free, and use only the ones they want.  If you just want comprehensive free security protections, you can download just the AOL Safety and Security Center.  Instant Messaging and free Web e-mail? Use AIM. Storage? We’re about to offer 5 GB powered by Xdrive for free. Virus protection? Try AOL Active Virus Shield.  From standalone instant messaging to free Web mail, video services, security offerings, leading content, and robust community, we want to offer something for everyone.

In short, I believe AOL is unique in that IT IS THE ONLY company that offers both an all-in-one solution and a high-speed set of standalone applications.  Take it all, or just take the pieces you want.  We want users to invite us into their lives.

Our last major AOL client release was three years ago, and lots and lots of people still PAY for it every month because they like the whole ecosystem, with access and support included.  Our new strategy announced last month basically said that if an AOL member didn’t need access any more but liked the client experience, they could now take the client with them.  AOL’s broadband client was designed for those high-speed users, and now they can keep using the client for free.

Many people — like me — toggle back and forth from the client experience to a more direct Web experience. The client is very well suited for many great applications like blazing fast mail, seamless authentication, and integrated content.  Despite that, I still like viewing video and general Web browsing better in other applications.  AOL allows a consumer to do whatever he/she chooses now.  In client or on the Web.  For free. That is a good thing for us. And we also still provide our integrated services to tens of millions of subscribers, just like we always did.  That is also a good thing.

Moving ahead, we are working to make our Web services even lighter, more atomized, and more syndicated — in other words, more leading-edge Web.2.0.  Our old integrated client isn’t Web 2.0, and to judge it as a Web 2.0 application is misguided.  That is not to say that many previous AOL ISP customers who moved to broadband won’t come back to the comfort of the client now that it’s free.  It’s still a terrific package for users who want an all-in-one solution — or just parts of it at times.

We are also creating a new broadband free client that takes the best of our software and builds in the new sensitivities of Web 2.0.  We understand what the new consumer wants, and we will be sensitive and a good provider of those services..  But most important, we know that we have to provide multiple solutions for the range of users who exist today.

Some want an all-in-one experience.  My mother in law is 75 years old and has subscribed to AOL for 9 years.  She is on AOL 7.0 and hasn’t upgraded in awhile, uses e-mail and instant messaging, reads some newspapers online, and trades some photos with my children.  For her, the AOL all-in-one experience is the best solution.  For my son, however, who is 17 and blogs and posts on Facebook and uses the Firefox browser, well, he still loves AOL music, and the AOL video portal, and lives on AIM.

When you are mass market — which AOL clearly is, with more than 100 million unique visitors each month in the U.S. — it is best to have a wide range of solutions for all walks of life.  That is being humble, following the true consumer market, and listening to true consumer needs.

No company on the Internet has done more to protect users from the dangers of spyware and adware, so we were a little surprised last week to find that StopBadware.org, a think tank jointly run by researchers at Harvard and Oxford, planned to issue a report saying that AOL 9.0, our current three-year-old client software, was in fact itself “badware”.

No company on the Internet has done more to protect users from the dangers of spyware and adware, so we were a little surprised last week to find that StopBadware.org, a think tank jointly run by researchers at Harvard and Oxford, planned to issue a report saying that AOL 9.0, our current three-year-old client software, was in fact itself "badware".

Digging into the details of the report, however, we found that what concerned the group were not malicious or dangerous behaviors, but fairly minor software disclosure issues we had already addressed in the next version of our software (currently in beta). 

We reached out to the group to let them know that we strongly disagreed with their characterization of AOL and to explain the steps we are taking to help address their concerns.  In the end, although we still disagree on a few things in terms of how software should behave, they were very complimentary in their release:

  "AOL is a trusted brand and has always been a leader in the fight against badware," said John Palfrey, co-director of StopBadware.org and executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "Clearly, AOL does not belong in the same category as the malicious badware providers we have previously identified, but the free version of AOL 9.0 that we tested, in our view, does not live up to the company’s rich legacy."

  "Upon providing AOL with an advanced copy of our report, we been very impressed with their response to identify and rectify potential problems," added Palfrey. "We look forward to working with AOL to address the concerns that we are raising in our preliminary findings."

We are always open to improving the ways we serve our customers and to making everything we do as transparent as possible.  Some of the recommendations in the StopBadware.org report were constructive ones, and we look forward to implementing them to make our software even more valuable for our users. 

I have received several comments asking how people can take advantage of the new Free AOL service.  This should answer some of those questions.  

To change your current AOL plan, simply call Member Services at 1-800-984-6207 and select the Billing Option when prompted.

A central part of my film calls for a stage reading of personal diaries, letters and journal notes of some of the people who stayed behind in the city of Nanking, China during the Japanese invasion in 1937.

A central part of my film calls for a stage reading of personal diaries, letters and journal notes of some of the people who stayed behind in the city of Nanking, China during the Japanese invasion in 1937.  The actual eyewitness accounts of events in Nanking and the personal reflection shared with family members is a chilling reminder of the horrors of war as well as the innate goodness of some people.  The words and reflections of these heroes are truly touching, beautiful and heartfelt and provide a narrative that pushes the story along and provides the thread that ties the wide ranging events of this time together into a compelling human drama.

We have been fortunate to create an ensemble of many well known, hard working actors and actresses who will be reading the narration and bringing to life the deeds of these great unsung heroes, individuals who saved countless lives in a selfless manner under great duress. I am personally touched that so many talented people have shared in our vision and agree that this story must be told.

This weekend we will be filming the readings, which will then be stitched together into the main part of the documentary. Next we create the credits, add the original orchestral music, and then add Lou Reed’s anthem at the end – it should be all done by late September.

 Here is a cool interview with Coach Hanlon regarding Alex Ovechkin and  why he is on the cover of EA Sports NHL 07.

Check out the new array of TV content and full-length digital movie downloads available on AOL Video portal.

Check out the new array of TV content and full-length digital movie downloads available on AOL Video portal.

Released at 8:00 AM EST 8/24/06

AOL VIDEO LAUNCHES DIGITAL MOVIE DOWNLOADS

New Partnerships with 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Bring Full-Length Movies to All-In-One Online Video Destination

New On-Demand Channels Featuring Television Content Will Also Be Available from Fox Entertainment Group and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DULLES, VA – August 24, 2006 – AOL, a leader in live and on-demand entertainment video programming and video search, today announced partnerships with 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group that will offer consumers downloadable movies through the AOL Video portal. These new partnerships complement the more than 17 video content partnerships and more than 45 on-demand channels that AOL Video announced in July. Available to anyone on the Web at http://www.aolvideo.com, the AOL Video portal is a one-stop, high-quality entertainment destination to find, watch and share millions of free streaming and pay-to-download video content from across the Web, broadcast and cable television, and movies.

“We’re very excited to add digital movie downloads and additional TV content to the already wide-variety of content that we offer through the AOL Video portal,” said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President of AOL. “As we continue to build AOL Video into the best source to find millions of free as well as pay-to-download videos, we’ll continue to add more and more high quality branded content to the mix and we look forward to working even more closely with 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Warner Bros.”

"We are eager to continue to develop the market for digital downloads by applying our premium content to one of the Web’s strongest brands,” said Peter Levinsohn, President, Fox Digital Media.  “AOL’s wide usage will increase our ability to get Fox’s electronically-delivered movie and TV product in front of a huge number of consumers."

"Viewing online digital content is no longer an esoteric pastime," said Benjamin S. Feingold, President of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Acquisitions. "Online programming services like AOL’s video portal have the potential to become a major distribution stream for consumer entertainment and a viable revenue source for Hollywood."

"Partnering with digital powerhouse AOL further underscores NBC Universal’s steadfast commitment to harnessing new opportunities and providing the most discerning consumers with legitimate and appealing options for purchasing and enjoying our content electronically," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "This collaboration marks another important step in advancing our digital initiatives as we continue to aggressively seek out new technologies and forge critical paths in the digital arena."

“Making our movies available to consumers through AOL Video is a great fit within our overall digital distribution strategy," said Simon Kenny, President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.   "Our goal is to provide access to our content through the widest possible selection of platforms and devices and AOL is a great partner in that effort." 

Through AOL Video, popular movie titles – from recent DVD releases to a large selection of movies representing all genres – from 20th Century Fox, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group will be available for purchase and download with prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 per movie. Once downloaded, movies can be viewed offline as well as on other PCs and compatible portable devices.

More Popular Television Content from Leading Brands

As part of AOL Video’s ongoing expansion of its branded video-on-demand channel line up, television content from Fox Entertainment Group and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be easily accessible through the AOL Video portal’s online interactive programming guide (IPG). The AOL Video IPG brings together free and download-to-own video content and organizes it into more than 50 video-on-demand channels. Additional AOL Video on-demand channels will launch in the coming months.

AOL Video will feature Fox Entertainment Group content, available in the coming months, for paid download within five new on-demand channels.

* FOX – Featuring full-length episodes from current Fox television series including “24,” "Prison Break,” and "Bones."

* Fox Classic Television – Featuring full-length episodes from cult classic and award-winning series including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Hill St. Blues," and many more.

* FX – Featuring the FX Network’s original series "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

* Speed – Featuring the original series "Pinks" and "Unique Whips.” 

* Fuel TV- Featuring "Firsthand," which offers a glimpse into the lives of the best freestyle sports athletes from around the world.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be programming two new on-demand channels on AOL Video, featuring free, ad-supported television content. Additional channels programmed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are planned for the coming months.

* AXN – This action-packed channel features full-length episodes from retro classics including "Charlie’s Angels," "Starsky & Hutch," and "SWAT."

* FunnyBone – Episodes from some of TV’s treasured sitcoms like "Action."

The new AOL

Here is a story on Mark Warner (former Governor of Virginia) and his support of the blogosphere. I have been advising Mark on Web 2.0 and the changing consumer behavior and he "gets it" and innately understands the new American consumer.

Virginia is no longer just for lovers. Forbes study shows that Virginia is ranked the top state for business, proving to be a very business friendly, offering a great talent pool and an excellent quality of life.