In a three-part Facebook photo album series, Robert Newman Design has posted a whole bunch of Voice covers and inside design pieces dating back to when Newman himself was at the paper in the early 90s. In addition to Newman, the photosets also feature design work from Florian Bachleda, Jennifer Gilman, Ted Keller and IvyLise Simones, as well as illustration work from a number of artists. Check them out here, here and here.
The Voice's recent feature from A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson titled "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script" was apparently popular enough to land on the Google News front page late yesterday -- a development that a few folks decided was worth complaining about.
As daily newspaper publishers and even magazines continue to mull charging for content online, little has been written about how such a move would help or harm alt-weeklies. Village Voice Media new media director Bill Jensen, for one, says he's licking his chops. "We're praying for the day that [daily newspapers] go behind a pay wall," he tells Mediaweek. "That's good for us. We've always been free and we know free. We're not complaining about it."
Independent film is more reliant on film critics than mainstream big-budget film, with critics often having the ability to "help drive positive word of mouth and nudge arthouse moviegoers into seats without a big marketing spend," Variety reports. And the distributors of indie film say they're feeling the pain from "the loss of regional movie reviewers and diminishing newspaper space." Strand Releasing's Marcus Hu says his company has been particularly hurt by Village Voice Media's practice of assigning reviews to a few critics that run in every VVM market. "Before, at least, you had a new shot in each market," he says.
Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World" returns to the Village Voice this week after a seven month absence. Tomorrow's comic was cut from all Village Voice Media papers -- along with all syndicated comics -- back in January. The strip is only returning to the Voice for now, but that may change in the coming months. "Altweekly cartooning overall has kind of been on the ropes for the past year or two, and any editor who takes a stand in support of the art form deserves profound thanks," Tom Tomorrow writes on his blog. "This is a first step, but it's a huge one in the right direction -- for me personally, of course, but with any luck, for other cartoonists as well."
Eastbay Express Publishing LP, an entity controlled by former Express owner Village Voice Media, has reached a settlement with two of the paper's current owners to settle a suit VVM filed earlier this year. The suit alleged that Hal Brody and Express editor Stephen Buel still owed VVM $500,000 under the terms of the 2007 deal in which the paper was sold. Brody and VVM executive vice president Scott Spear say the parties have resolved that dispute and all other issues raised by the two parties in connection with the transaction. "We are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement satisfactory to both parties," Brody says in a statement. "It puts aside this distraction so we can all concentrate on running our daily business."
Village Voice Media executive associate editor Andy Van De Voorde tells the Tennessean that the Scene's rumored financial troubles were not what led the company to sell the paper to Nashville-based SouthComm, Inc. "I have no reason to believe that anyone wasn't pleased with [the Scene] financially," he says. Van De Voorde also says that Scene editor Pete Kotz, who came to Nashville after VVM's Cleveland Scene was merged with Free Times, will leave the paper but remain in the VVM chain. Whether other staffing changes are in the works is not yet clear, though Van De Voorde notes that all Scene and Nfocus magazine employees will receive two weeks severance, plus a week of pay for every year of service and unpaid vacation time from VVM -- whether or not they keep their jobs under the new owners.
Village Voice Media today confirmed the rumors that it is selling the Nashville Scene to SouthComm, Inc. VVM will also sell Nfocus magazine to the Nashville-based media company run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell. SouthComm also owns AAN member LEO Weekly. The deal is expected to close this Friday, and terms of the transaction are not being divulged. MORE: See SouthComm's statement on the transaction.
The Tennessean is reporting that Village Voice Media and SouthComm Communications are discussing the sale of the Nashville Scene, which VVM acquired in 2006. SouthComm, which is based in Nashville and run by former Scene publisher Chris Ferrell, also owns AAN member LEO Weekly and a handful of Nashville websites and publications.
We missed the news of the feature film WTC View when it was released in 2005, but this month Logo is airing the movie, which uses a Voice classified ad as plot springboard, so we figured we'd let you know about it. "[The] film is about a young gay man who places an ad in the Village Voice for a roommate the night before September 11," according to the Los Angeles Times' synopsis. "In the coming weeks, he desperately interviews potential roomies to share his pad that has -- you guessed it -- a WTC view."
